The Hulton family of Hulton lived and owned land in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

for more than eight hundred years from the late-12th to the late-20th centuries. The family took its name from the three townships surrounding their Hulton Park Estate, Over, Middle and

Little Hulton Little Hulton is an area in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, south of Bolton, northwest of Salford, and northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Little Hulton is bordered by ...

Origins

The first family members to live in Lancashire were Iorwerth and Madoc the sons of Bleiddyn who left North Wales in about 1167 after

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to be ...

expelled Norman and English settlers. Iorwerth, was granted by charter the town of Pendleton by King John in 1199. The family expanded its influence and in 1304 Richard de Hulton held parts of Hulton, Ordsall, Flixton and Heaton. He built the first Hulton Hall, establishing the family seat in Hulton Park which covered 325 acres of parkland approximately five kilometres south-west of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

. Richard's grandson, also Richard squandered much of the family's estate and died in poverty without an heir.

15th-17th century

The Hultons regained and expanded their estate spent during the 15th and 16th centuries often through marriage. In 1485 a marriage was arranged between the infants, Adam Hulton and Alice Hulton, daughter of John Hulton of Farnworth. In 1521, Henry VIII arbitrated a dispute that arose between the two branches of the family, ruling that lands in

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester in North West England, three miles north east of the city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 census was 17,652. Areas of Harpurhey include Kingsbridge Estate, Bar ...

, Denton, Openshaw and

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hig ...

should be assigned to Adam and Alice's male heirs. From this time this branch of the Hultons became much prominent than their namesakes in Farnworth. The Hultons worshipped at Deane Church and some are buried in its Hulton Chapel. They were devout Catholics, and, in common with many Lancastrians, kept the old faith during the Reformation but remained allied to the sovereign. William Hulton joined the association of Lancashire magistrates committed to defending

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

in the Anglo-Spanish War in 1585. His successor and grandson, Adam Hulton converted to Protestantism, and developed connections with Puritan families in the area. The family was involved in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

of 1642–51 when Adam summoned his tenants to Parliament's cause and may have taken an active role in the conflict. A letter addressed to George Rigby of Peel, Clerk of the Peace for Lancashire in January 1643 relates that Rigby's brother-in-law, 'Captaine Hilton', was kept prisoner in Chester Castle after acting as a captain in the Parliamentary army. 'Captaine Hilton' could be Adam or his brother Edward.

17th-19th century

Adam's son, William, inherited the estate as the Hulton's wealth and influence was increasing. He represented

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

in the Convention Parliament of 1660 that invited Charles II to return to the throne, and was the only family member to sit in the House of Commons. He built the second Hulton Hall. The Hultons occupied positions of political influence during the 18th and 19th centuries. From 1767–75, Henry Hulton of the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

branch of the family was the First Commissioner of Customs in the American Colonies in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and responsible for collecting taxes levied on the American population which they denounced as 'taxation without representation'. Hulton was reviled and attacked and at the onset of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

returned to England in 1776. DDHU ACC9356 Box 14

William Hulton William Hulton (23 October 1787 – 30 March 1864) was an English landowner, magistrate and collier who lived at Hulton Park, in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The Hultons owned the estate since the late-12th century. Biograp ...

was appointed

High Sheriff of Lancashire The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient officer, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lanc ...

in 1811. After a cotton mill in

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Luddite The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver ...

s in 1812, Hulton ordered the execution of four of the suspects, one of them reported to be twelve years old. Hulton was a magistrate who dealt harshly with the working-class crime and social unrest. On 16 August 1819. 60,000 pro-democracy reformers gathered in St Peter's Field in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to listen to the radical orator, Henry Hunt. Hulton, chairman of the Lancashire and Cheshire magistrates, a body set up to deal with the growing problem of civil unrest was in Manchester to ensure order was maintained. Observing from a nearby house, Hulton issued an arrest warrant for Hunt and his associates, but was advised that military assistance was required. He called on the local yeomanry to arrest the radicals and disperse the meeting. The yeomanry attacked the crowd indiscriminately. It is estimated that 18 were killed and 600 to 700 injured. The event became known as the '

Peterloo Massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

'. Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth conveyed

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

's 'great satisfaction' at Hulton's 'prompt, decisive and efficient measures',Lancashire Archives, DDHU 53/76 but among the working classes he was known as 'old Peterloo', his reputation was forever sullied. In 1820 he turned down a Tory seat in Parliament, while in 1841 Hulton and his family were attacked in Bolton during an election campaign demonstrating how the massacre had influenced public opinion.

Coal

The Hultons accrued much wealth from the coal under their estate. It was mined from the 1550s, but its worth became clear as industrialisation took hold in the late-18th and early-19th centuries.

, who inherited the family estate in 1800, was responsible for the major developments that exploited the coal reserves in Hulton Park. He was a principal supporter of the

Bolton and Leigh Railway The Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR) was the first public railway in Lancashire, it opened for goods on 1 August 1828 preceding the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) by two years. Passengers were carried from 1831. The railway operated inde ...

, which transported the Hulton's coal to markets in Bolton, Manchester and Liverpool. The railway pioneer,

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

, stayed at Hulton Hall for three months while overseeing the railway's construction. The line was opened for traffic on 1 August 1828, with 40,000 people in attendance to witness what the Bolton Chronicle described as an 'interesting and novel spectacle'. The Bolton and Leigh Railway was the first railway line to operate in Lancashire. In 1858, William Hulton founded the Hulton Colliery Company in partnership with Harwood Walcot Banner. Their partnership was dissolved ten years later and from 1868 onwards the company traded under the Hulton name. The Hultons gave up control of the coal mines in 1886 after the Hulton Colliery Company was founded. In December 1910 a defective safety lamp caused an explosion in the Pretoria Pit killing 344 men and boys. It was the worst coal mining disaster in Lancashire, and the third worst in Britain. By 1947, the Hulton coal empire could claim to be the largest in Lancashire, but it gradually diminished in the second half of the 20th century due to a nationwide fall in demand.

19th-20th century

In the late-19th and 20th centuries the Hulton family fortunes gradually declined. However, in 1902 William Wilbraham Blethyn Hulton was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

for services to Lancashire. The second baronet, Sir William Rothwell Hulton, was the last patriarch to live in Hulton Hall before moving into an estate cottage towards the end of the First World War. Hulton Hall fell into a state of disrepair before being demolished in 1958. The fourth and last baronet, Sir Geoffrey Alan Hulton served as an officer in the Royal Navy Marines on board

HMS Repulse Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Repulse'': * was a 50-gun galleon also known as ''Due Repulse'', launched in 1595 and in the records until 1645. * was a 32-gun fifth rate, originally the . She was captured in 1759 by and fo ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He was held prisoner by the Japanese for three and a half years, during which he 'lived in the depths of squalor'.Lancashire Archives, DDHU ACC 9301 Box 3 Geoffrey Hulton's death without heir in 1993 signalled the end of the Hulton dynasty.

20th-21st century

Descendants of the Hulton dynasty can be found throughout the world. Some remain in the United Kingdom while other, by way of migration have resettled throughout the commonwealth, most prominently in Australia and New Zealand. Thomas Henry Hulton served the New Zealand Army Corps in the First World War, while his children; Henry Hulton
Fergus Hulton
an
Douglas William Hulton
served in the

. Fergus Hulton, serving the Royal New Zealand Air Force, died in a mid-air collision over the town of Wooler. Thomas Henry Hulton's grave can be found in an above ground tomb outside St Faith's Church near

Te Papaiouru Marae Te Papaiouru is a marae at Ohinemutu, Rotorua, New Zealand. It is the home marae of the Ngāti Whakaue subtribes Ngāti Tae-o-Tū and Ngāti Tūnohopū. The marae's carved wharenui (meeting house), Tamatekapua, is named after Tama-te-kapua, the ...

in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Notes

References

External links

Hulton of Hulton, Lancashire Archives
Politicians from Lancashire English families