One of the De Lascys, Norman Lord of Clitheroe Honor,granted the fee of Billington to Hugh, Son of Leofwyne, a Saxo; and William, son of Hugh, conveyed his rights in this manor to Ralph, son of Geoffrey De Bilyngton.
After Ralph, appears Adam de Bilyngton, who occurs in 1211, and next comes Elias de Bilyngton, who had a son Adam.
Adam de Bilyngton, living temp, Henry 111,had a daughter and heiress Avicia, who married first,Geoffrey de Whalley, and secondly, Henry del' Choe, by whom she had sons Richard and Thomas. To Henry del'Cho, Adam de Bilyngton granted land in Billington called the Halgh.
Geoffrey de Whalley, first husband of Avicia de Bilyngton, settling on this estate, aquired the surname de Bilyngton. To Geoffrey de Bilyngton, who occurs before 1250, his wife Avicia bore sons,Adam,Roger,Richard, Robert, Ralph, William and Henry.
Avicia de Bilyngton is named as in widowhood about AD 1270. Of the younger sons of Geoffrey and Avicia,Roger had a wife Agnes who survived him; Richard, by his wife Cicilia, had a son Geoffrey, who had a son Richard, who had a daughter Mabile, wife of Roger Ingol of Elston; William had six acres in Billington of his mothers gift and Henry had lands in the township conveted by him to Richard Pountchardon.
Adam de Bilyngton, son and heir of Geoffrey, had a son Adam. But the father conveyed his estate, being a moiety of Billington vill, to Adam de Hudleston,Knt.,AD 1288, and so terminated the record of the family as the manorial owners in the township.
The following extracts from the Liber Feodorum (Book of Fees), compiled by Ralph de Nevill in the reign of Henry 11, have references to the landed tenures in this parish...
Inquisitors of the Wapentake of Blakeburnscire-Simon le Harris,Adam de Blakeburn, Adam Noel, Henry de Cleyton, Adam de Billinton, William de Caldecotes, John de Wynketley, and Richard de Katlauhe.A Manuscript printed by Gregson in the Portfolio of Fragments supplied a category of tenants of the Duchy of lancaster in Blackburnshire at the period of the tenure of Henry, the first Duke (created AD 1352), in which the feudal tenants in Blackburn Parish are named as under...
FEES OF THE HEIR OF THE EARL OF LINCOLN IN
BLAKEBURNSCIRE
BILLINGTON-The Abbot of Whalley holds half a knight's fee in Billington, of the demesne of the duke, which Adam de Billington once held.
So now you have it ! The 'de' between the surnames,
simply means 'of' eg Adam of Billington. - contributed by James Blazier