By the 12th century Heywood was identified as a hamlet in the township of Heap, and the Heywood Family can be traced back to 1164 when a Peter Heywood was living here. In 1286, it was recorded that Adam de Burgo (or Bury) 'granted land in Heywood, in the parish of Bury county of Lancaster,' to Peter de Heywood. Heywood Hall, the family seat, was built in the 13th Century and rebuilt in 1611. The Heywood family were Royalists in the Civil War and their fortune much reduced. As a result in 1717 the Hall was sold to John Starkey of Rochdale. One of the officers that apprehended Guy Fawkes in the vault of Parliament House on 5th November 1605 was a Peter Heywood. And yet another Peter Heywood was a midshipman on board the Bounty' when the crew mutinied. (A model of the ship is in Heywood Library). St Luke's church, which dominates the centre of the town, started life as a chantry chapel for the Heywood family. Robert Heywood rebuilt the chapel in 1640. Regrettably, though the Starkeys left the Heywood Hall to Heywood Council, it was finally demolished in 1960.

Another Heywood family, possibly related to those in Heywood, lived at Little Lever in Bolton. Of this branch, Sir Benjamin Heywood was elected MP for Lancaster in 1832 and knighted in Queen Victoria's Coronation Honours. The family were by then merchant bankers in Liverpool and Manchester. John Heywood and his son Robert (1786-1868) had founded a successful cotton quilt manufacturers firm, in Bolton in 1803. Difficult to establish, but much written of were suggestions that the Heywoods were involved in slavery, though some years later, Robert Heywood gave a public lecture in Bolton deprecating the practice of slavery, and was indeed on the list of subscribers for an anti-slavery publication published in 1842.
The Heywood family however contributed greatly to the improvement of Manchester during the nineteenth century. The family's latest wealth was derived from banking, Heywood's Bank in St Ann's Square being one of the city's best-known banks. Oliver's father, Benjamin Heywood, was a key figure in the establishment of the Manchester Mechanics' Institute and the movement to provide public parks. In 1888 Oliver Heywood's work was recognised when he was made Manchester's first Honorary Freeman. In the same year he as made High Sheriff of Lancashire. Heywood died in 1892 and was buried at St John's, Irlam-o'-th'-Heights. A statue to honour him is located in Albert Square facing the Town hall.

The old family of de Hoghton (or Houghton) and their country seat at Hoghton Tower, sometimes known as Houghton Castle, dominate the area of central Lancashire around Darwen and Preston. This old family is of Norman descent, tracing its history back to before the Invasion of 1066. It is reputed that a Houghton came over on the same ship as William the Conqueror himself, and that the Houghton coat of arms is the oldest in Cheshire and the second oldest in England. By the mid-16th century the Houghtons were fervent covert supporters of Catholicism, at a time when the Catholic Faith was outlawed. It is believed that none other than William Shakespeare stayed with the Houghtons for a while in the role of school teacher. Richard de Hoghton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.

Records show a Robert de Holden owning lands around Haslingden in Rossendale from the 13th century. The Holdens were to remain one of the most prominent and influential Lancashire families in the area until the 19th century.
Holden Hall, their home in Haslingden, was built in the 15th century and is said at one time to have been named "Haslingden Hall" and the residence of Robert de Haslingden. The hall was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century to allow expansion of the adjacent cemetery. The Holden family lived at Holden Hall for over five centuries until Ralph Holden, the last male heir of the family line, died in 1702. For many years the family made a living from the management of surrounding mature forests, but by the middle of the 19th century very little woodland was left.

The Hollands (or de Hollands) have a long and influential history around the districts of Clifton and Prestwich, north of the present day City of Manchester. In 1341 Sir Thurstan de Holland purchased a piece of land, known as Roden, (or Rooden) in Prestwich - land nowadays known as Heaton Park. In 1666 a William Holland inherited the estate of Heaton (or Heton) just outside Prestwich township. William was buried in Prestwich in 1682. His daughter Elizabeth eventually inherited the estate and upon her marriage to Sir John Egerton ownership passed to the Egerton family at Heaton Hall which was extensively rebuilt in 1777. William de Holland also came into possession of the Clifton Hall in Salford on the borders of Prestwich, and the Holland family retained the property for over three centuries. Later, in the English Civil Wars, the Hollands, particularly Thomas Holland and son William, who had supported the Royalist cause, suffered extreme punishments for their bad fortune.

The Hollingworth family were Lords of the Manor of Hollingworth in Longendale from the mid-thirteenth century until the early 18th century, and were the most prominent and influential family in the Longendale area for more than five centuries. The family held two major properties in the area, Hollingworth Hall and the Old Hall and by the late 17th century held almost 700 acres of the surrounding lands including five farmsteads. In 1734 the family influence and prosperity declined and its properties passed to Daniel Whittle, before, in 1831, being sold to one Robert de Holyngworthe, who claimed to be a descendant of the original Lords of the Manor. His ownership was short lived however, and the larger of the estates passed through a variety of hands until in 1924 it was sold to Manchester Corporation Waterworks. The Hall was demolished in 1943, having previously served as a school and a mental asylum. The remainder of the estate, based on the Old Hall, was sold by the Hollingworth family in 1800 to Samuel Hadfield.

It is recorded that Iorweth and Madoc Hulton, came to Bolton from Wales in 1167. In 1304 Richard de Hulton, of Hulton Park south-west of Bolton in Westhoughton, is recorded as having freehold of lands in the districts of Hulton, Ordsall, Flixton and Heaton. At Hulton he built Hulton Hall, which, by the late 19th century was surrounded by a 1,316 acre park of plantations and pleasure grounds with 4 acres of water. The estate which is rich in coal mines was the sole property of the Hulton's of Hulton Park.
The old Hulton family was highly respected, influential and long lasting. The last surviving member of the Hulton family, Sir Geoffrey Hulton, died only a few years ago after more than eight centuries dominating the land west of Bolton. It was in 1819, at the infamous "Peterloo Massacre", that magistrate William Hulton ordered the Yeomanry Cavalry in to arrest Orator William Hunt as he addressed the great demonstration at St Peter's Field in Manchester, thus setting off a train the events which were to go down in history as a less than glorious event.

The township of Hyde in modern Tameside bears local name of one of its oldest and most distinguished families. It began with one Matthew de Hyde (or Mathaeus de Hide) whose son Robert acquired the title Robert de Norbury from King Edward II, as well as Lordship of the Manors of Hyde and Newton in Cheshire, Shalcross in Derbyshire and of Halghton in Lancashire. The family is related by ancestry to the Hydes of Wiltshire at Tisbury and West Hatch and to Edward Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon. The Hydes (or Hides) held estates at one time comprised of one hundred and ninety one acres. Their county seat was at Hyde Hall, a sixteenth century building, much altered in subsequent centuries by brick face work. Probably the most famous member of the Hyde family was Anne, wife to King James II and mother of Queen Anne.

During the 13th century, 'Irrewilham' as the district known was in the possession of the de Irlam family. Two centuries later the de Irlam's lived at Irlam Hall but by 1688 this seat had become the property of Thomas Latham who played a major part in bringing William of Orange to the throne. The Irlams were an influential family in what is modern-day Trafford, though they seem to have disappeared into antiquity and little trace of them seems to have survived. We do know that, later, Irlam Hall was in the possession of John Greaves - when he died in 1848 he bequeathed land and money for a church and vicarage to be built in Irlam - the present day St John the Baptist Church.

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