Nicholas Atherton was a younger son of Sir William de Atherton of Atherton. He was a knight in 1401, when he represented the county in Parliament. He died in 1420, and by will desired to be buried at Ormskirk. His son Nicholas Atherton succeeded, but his tenure was brief, as he died at the beginning of 1424. Just before his death he gave his manor of Bickerstaffe to trustees. His son and heir Henry was then aged nine years or more. Little is recorded of Henry Atherton; he had four sons: Hamlet (Hamnet), his successor, William, Henry, and Charles. Hamlet had a son Thomas, whose heir was his daughter Margaret Atherton born about 1486. Margaret, the heiress married James Scarisbrick, a younger son of James Scarisbrick (who died about 1495), lord of Scarisbrick. Margaret Atherton died 18 Jan 1517/18, leaving an infant daughter Elizabeth Scarisbrick as heir to the Bickerstath properties. Elizabeth Scarisbrick, born about the beginning of 1516, married Peter Stanley, a younger son of Sir William Stanley of Hooton, and she died about 1560, leaving an only daughter Margaret Stanley. Peter Stanley retained Bickerstaffe throughout his lifetime. Peter Stanley married again.
