Lees Hall, still a neat well conditioned mansion, half a mile west of the centre of the town, seems to have given to, or received its name from the family of Lee, Lees, or Leigh, which has long flourished as one of the most numerous and principal families of the district. It has been conjectured that Sir John de Assheton, of Ashton-under-Lyne, held this property in socage of the Lords of Werneth as early as 1380, and at the time of his marriage with Margaret, daughter of Perkin de Legh, of Lyme, by the descendants of one of whose relatives it is said to have been possessed for several centuries. This assertion, however, comes in collision with the fact, that in the seventh year of Henry the Eighth,1516, Sir thomas Assheton, the last of the ancient family of Ashton-under-Lyne, held lands in Oldom, in socage, from John Cudworth, worth £3, and these lands appear to have comprised the estates of Coldhurst and Lees. According to tradition, the place was the seat and property of Lieutenant Lees, during the reign of Elizabeth, 1558--1603; and in the military muster rolls of 1574, occurs the name of Thomas Lees, gentleman, as a contributor of one coat of plate, one long bow, one sheaf of arrows, one steel cap, one bill, and a caliver. Thomas Chadderton, gentleman, who contributed £4 to the subsidy levied in the reign of James the First, 1621, was one of the principal landholders in Oldham in his day. Alice, co-heiress of George Chadderton, gentleman, was the third wife of John Greenhalgh, Esq., of Brandlesome, but died without issue. In the seventeenth century, this once extensive estate became divided; the northerly portion passed to the family of Lingard, whose memory is still preserved in the name of Lingard clough. The hall and the land immediately adjacent became vested in the family of Lyon, of whom was Henry Lyon, gentleman, living in 1681. In 1702, occurs a John Lyon, gentleman, and in 1747, two-thirds of the estate were in the possession of Nicholas John Lyon, Esq., a barrister, who appears to have died before 1751. The

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