Penny I have information from William de Halton forwards and believe I come from the same roots. I have a suggestion that Adam de Halton (d. 1301) was Williams grandfather. Digging further back I uncovered an article listing the owners of Halton Manor. Interestingly at the time the de Halton family appesred at Greenthwaite Hall, Halton manor among others was held by the Gurnet family. To distinguish themselves form other members of the family they began to use surnames like Gurnet de Halton. I seems possible that they eventually dropped the Gurnet and became de Halton. This certainly seems to have hapenned in the adjascent manor where they eventually became the de Caton family.