Thomas Nothogh of Tottington Hall was the son and heir of his father Ralph.  He was born c. 1500, and admitted to the copyhold lands of his father in 1530, on paying a fine of 20s.

Copyhold land was land held from a manor. Copyhold land was land held from a manor.

Manors themselves were freehold property, and were bought and sold between major landowners. The sales of manors were recorded in the usual ways for freehold property – for example by feoffment, bargain and sale, or lease and release. Manors could also be mortgaged and could form part of marriage settlements.

Smaller landholdings within manors were held by copyhold tenure. Title deeds for these pieces of land do not exist in the same form as for freehold land. This is because copyhold land was technically still owned by the Lord or Lady of the Manor. The people who actually lived on and farmed manorial lands were only tenants of the manor. They held their land by custom, which varied between manors.

Nevertheless, most copyhold land could be bought and sold, inherited by descendants, left in a will, mortgaged, and settled, just like freehold estates. Many landholdings were held by members of the same family for generations. However, every transfer of land had to go through the Lord or Lady of the Manor. The land was surrendered back to them before the new tenant was admitted. The Lord or Lady had the right to take fees from new tenants, and to receive a payment called a ‘heriot’ on the death of one of their old tenants.

The official record of the transfer of copyhold land was written up in the manorial court rolls. In addition, the steward of the manor wrote out an official copy of the court roll entry, which was kept by the tenant as their proof of title. This is where the term ‘copyhold’ comes from.

Admittances begin by stating the type of court, the name of the Lord or Lady of the Manor, and the date. A description of the property will be given, together with details of why the new tenant is entitled to enter. This could be because they had purchased the property, or because they were the heir of the previous owner.

The property was officially handed over to the new tenant ‘by the rod’. This was a public ceremony in which the steward of the manor gave the tenant a rod as a symbol of the transfer. Many tenants did not appear in court in person, but were represented by an attorney.

New tenants had to pay an entry fine to the Lord or Lady of the Manor, which could be a large lump sum, or a nominal payment of a couple of shillings depending on the custom of the manor. Admittances were signed by the steward of the manor.

His name appears (spelt Thomas Nuttawe) in the Subsidy Roll for Tottyngton of 1541.

It was by means of “subsidies,” granted by Acts of Parliament, from time to time, and levied upon the whole of the kingdom, that the Kings of England, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, were enabled to carry on the affairs of the nation, to wage war and to provide money for their private expenditure.

A certain sum having been granted by Parliament, it was divided pro rata amongst all the counties, in proportion to their size and relative wealth, and Commissioners were nominated in each county to collect the amount levied on that county.

These Commissioners again subdivided themselves into smaller bodies of Commissioners for each of the Hundreds in that county, who assessed those of the inhabitants, liable to contribute, according to the rate-books then in force, and placed the collecting of the money to be raised from each Hundred in the hands of one or more persons of position as “Collectors.” Lists of all those who had to contribute to each subsidy were made out, arranged in Hundreds and parishes, and opposite to each name was placed the amount at which he was assessed, either in lands or goods, and the amount at so much in the pound which he was called upon to pay.

These long lists of names written out on narrow pieces of parchment, sewn together so as to form a long roll, were sent up to the Exchequer, and are now preserved in the Record Office. Duplicates of these lists were retained either by the Commissioners or the Collectors for each Hundred, and thus it frequently happens that amongst the muniments of any old county family, members of which took an active part in county management in days gone by, that these duplicate Subsidy Rolls are found. In some cases, too, these duplicates are now the only records of the Subsidies to be found, those which were sent to the Exchequer having been accidentally destroyed or lost.

In the Subsidy Roll for 1541, the rate was a shilling in the pound for land, and sixpence in the pound for goods. The Subsidy Roll for Salford Hundred has been taken from the copy made by the late Canon Raines in vol. xxii of his manuscripts now in the Chetham Library, Manchester, from the original found by him among some family deeds. The other two were found by the late Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart, among his muniments, and were by him generously presented to the Chetham Library, where they are now carefully preserved. 

Thomas died in 1578.