I have traced my line of Morts back to Ralph Mort who married Agnes Pininton (Pennington?) at Leigh in 1598. He died in 1631 leaving a will which mentioned his sons Arnold (a maternal ancestor) and Henry (a paternal ancestor).

Arnold's line lived for several generations in Leigh parish before eventually moving to Farnworth. Henry lived in Middle Hulton, but later generations moved back to Astley, before arriving in Little Hulton in about 1770.

In his will Ralph also mentioned a brother Thomas and desired to be buried at Eccles Parish Church, despite having lived all his married life in the Leigh area. There are possible baptisms for Ralph in 1574 and Thomas in 1577 at Eccles, but the register at this time fails to name the parents so I cannot be sure that they are brothers.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who can trace the line further back, or connect them with the Mort family who spread out to occupy most of the Halls in the area - Highfield, Dam House, Peel (Wicheves, Little Hulton), Wharton etc.