holders of land in the parish being consequently free from the galling shackles of feudal usages, the families of all who had an interest in land, and who had acquired some degree of standing, however trivial, from trafficking in rural merchandise, gradually became possessed of an independence of action and freedom of opinion, that infused itself into the minds of all classes of the population, and these qualities of mind have descended to the present times, as is frequently manifested in the proceedings attending local movements of a popular character.

"At a time when Lancashire husbandmen of extraordinary powers were receiving three-pence per day (fifth of Edward the First, 1277) for their labour, the price of wheat was nine-pence per bushel, and taking the average of wages in England for the six hundred years following, it will be found (unfavourable seasons apart) that the wages of labour have generally been in the proportion of a peck of wheat per day. In large towns, the price of manufacturing labour has often been higher, and in many cases, especially amongst the weavers, much lower; but as a standard, none can approach nearer than the one which is here suggested."

Whether Alwardus de Aldholm was the founder of the family of the Oldhams, of Oldham, it is difficult, and I fear now impossible to determine. A Matthew de Oldham is recorded to have been living in the thirteenth year of King John, 1212, but his existence is matter of doubt, for he probably never existed except in the imagination of manufacturers of pedigrees. Amongst the ancient documents of the family of Cudworth, there was a deed without date, stating Adam de Eccles (who is said to have been of the Oldham family) lord of Oldham and Werneth, to have granted the fourth part of the town of Werneth to his son William, with homage and service, including twenty-two pence from William, the son of Simon de Werneth. Another deed without date,

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