A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Crombleholme was appointed in 1467 89 and was 

 still there in I496 90 ; James Schlacter, chaplain, 

 held it in 1504"*; James Tarleton appears in 

 I525 91 and was still celebrating according to his 

 foundation in I547, 92 when the chantry was sup- 

 pressed. The confiscated estates were in 1550 

 granted by the Crown to Thomas Reeve and others. 93 



Land had also been given for the maintenance of a 

 light in the church. 94 



Cecily the Recluse is mentioned in I292. 96 



A school was founded in I793-7- 96 



Apart from the school and religious 

 CHARITIES endowments there are several bene- 

 factions for the benefit of the poor. 



An official inquiry was held in 1898, and the report, 

 printed the following year, contains a reprint of that 

 of i826. 97 For the township of Ribchester about 

 54 is distributed annually in money doles, of which 

 over 42 is derived from a bequest by Mrs. Elizabeth 

 Dewhurst in l842. 98 In addition for Ribchester and 

 Stidd is a sum of over 10 yearly, with ' preference 

 for poor Catholics ' " and almshouses with an income 

 f j53 llt - zd- lw In Dilworth 12 is given in 

 money doles 101 and another endowment has been 

 lost. 102 In Dutton calico is distributed to the value 

 of j7. 103 For Alston over 16 is available, distri- 

 buted in gifts of money 104 ; and some benefactions 

 for this township 106 and Hothersall have been lost. 1011 



Robert Whittingham was still chaplain in 

 1443 ; Add. MS. 32106, no. 341. 



89 Raines MSS. xxii, 399 ; Henry 

 Hoghton presented. 



90 In 1487 John son and heir of Thomas 

 Blackburn released to Ellis Crombleholme, 

 chaplain of the perpetual chantry of 

 B. Mary on the north side of Ribchester 

 Church, all right in certain lands, part 

 lying between the house of St. Saviour at 

 Stidd and Chester Brook and part in Rib- 

 chester Eyes, called the Crookedroyds j 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 310. This grant 

 was followed by an arbitration ; ibid. no. 

 419, fol. 316. John Boyes of Ribchester 

 in 1496 granted to the same chantry a 

 part of his land in the corner of the south 

 side of Bernard Park, inclosed by a new 

 ditch ; ibid. no. 471, fol. 326. 



"a He was described in 1504 as 'pos- 

 sessor of the chantry of Dutton founded 

 in the church of Ribchester ' ; Kuerden 

 MSS. iv, P 121, no. 74. 



91 In 1527 it was recorded that he had 

 been chantry priest for two years, having 

 been presented by Sir Richard Hoghton. 

 He is again named as priest in 1535 ; 

 Valor Ecd. (Rec. Com.), v, 263. 



M Raines, Chantries, 194. From a note 

 on p. 195 it seems that the rector (George 

 Wolset) had in 1543 procured the next 

 presentation for himself. 



98 Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. vii. Part was 

 soon afterwards sold to James son of 

 William Jenkinson, innkeeper of Rib- 

 chester, the occupier ; Townelcy MS. 

 OO, no. 1229-30. The chapel seems to 

 have been acquired by the Townleys of 

 Dutton, but it had previously been known 

 as Dutton chapel. The Hoghton chapel, 

 on the south side of the church, does not 

 seem to have had an endowed chantry. 



94 Raines, op. cit. 253 ; the yearly 

 value was 71. 



115 Assize R. 408, m. 18 ; there is a 

 further notice of her land in Assize R. 

 I299,m.i6d. Diana, the Anker maiden, 

 possibly servant of another recluse, is 

 named in a deed of 1349; Add. MS. 

 32106, fol. 322. 



96 The master began teaching in 1793 

 and a schoolhouse was erected on the 

 waste in 1797 ; End. Char. Rep. for Rib- 

 chester (1899), 2, ii. 



97 The details in the following notes are 

 taken from these reports. 



In 1624 an inquiry was made as to ,50 

 bequeathed to the parish by Robert Jen- 

 kinson, citizen and merchant tailor of 

 London in 1616, the sum being supposed 

 to be in danger ; and John Dewhurst and 

 Thomas Waring, executors of Robert 

 Dewhurst, were ordered to pay the 50 

 to James Norcross, churchwarden, who 

 was to give security for its safe trans- 

 mission to succeeding wardens ; Harl. MS. 



2176, fol. 32^, 33*. From what follows 

 it appears that the capital sum was 

 divided among the townships, and that all 

 has been lost except the ,10 appropriated 

 to Ribchester. 



93 This is called the Waterworth Dole. 

 The capital sum is ,1,300, invested in 

 Preston Corporation stock. The distri- 

 bution takes place at Christmas time, 

 there being about 180 recipients. 



William Norcross left ,20 towards 

 binding poor apprentices and Robert 

 Jenkinson jio for the poor. These sums 

 were in 1732 invested in a house and land, 

 known as Dods Hall. The property was 

 in 1871 sold for 379 and the money 

 invested in consols in the name of the 

 official trustees ; the annual income is 

 ,1 1 5*. The portion which should be 

 applied to apprenticing children is 7 ios., 

 but no such use has been made of it for 

 sixty years, the whole income being dis- 

 tributed in small doles (u. to 2;.) on 

 St. Thomas's Day. Another sum of ,40 

 was lent to the township, as was supposed, 

 but the poor law auditor having disallowed 

 the 361. formerly paid out of the rates as 

 interest, this charity has been lost. 



Miss Harriett Jane Quartley in 1878 

 bequeathed ,19 191. to the vicar of 

 Ribchester for the poor. This is invested 

 in consols and produces an income of i is., 

 distributed among six poor and aged 

 persons at Christmas. 



89 This was founded by James Stand- 

 ford in 1695, he bequeathing ,1 50 for the 

 poor of Stidd, Bailey and Ribchester, and 

 ,300 for ' other purposes.' The money was 

 invested in land near Skipton and the gross 

 income is now 41 2s. The net income 

 is paid to the Roman Catholic priest at 

 Stidd, who reserves two-thirds to his own 

 use (for the ' other purposes ') and distri- 

 butes the rest in small money doles, Pro- 

 testants being among the recipients. 



loo These almshouses were founded 

 under the will of John Shireburne of 

 Bailey and Sheffield, who died in 1726, 

 as will be seen in the account of Stidd 

 below. The connexion of the Walmsley 

 family with them seems to have been that 

 of trustees. In 1728 the churchwardens 

 of Ribchester made the following present- 

 ment to the Bishop of Chester : ' We 

 have an almshouse erecting, but whether 

 the revenues be according to law we know 

 not ' ; Visit. Returns. ' Alice Worthing- 

 ton, widow, pauper from the hospital at 

 Stidd,' was buried 24 May 1732 ; Church 

 Reg. There are six sets of rooms, one of 

 which is occupied by the schoolmistress 

 and the others by the five almswomen 

 who are appointed by the priest. Stidd 

 Manor Farm was in 1867 transferred by 

 Thomas George Walmsley to the use of 

 the Rt. Rev. William Turner, Bishop of 



44 



Salford, and others as an endowment for 

 the almshouses. The income, after pro- 

 viding for repairs and 10 worth of coals 

 for the inmates, is divided equally among 

 these. 



101 Frances Roades in 1696 bequeathed 

 her house and land for the benefit of poor 

 distressed housekeepers of Dilworth for all 

 eternity.' The yearly rent is now 12, 

 of which between 8 and 10 is distri- 

 buted annually on St. Thomas's Day in 

 sums of ii. to 5. 



102 Henry Townley in 1776 left personal 

 estate amounting to ,100 for 'poor 

 necessitous persons.' The money was 

 applied in 1824 to the building of a work- 

 house, interest being paid out of the rates 

 until 1862, when the poor law auditor 

 disallowed it. 



Bishop Gastrell mentions a gift of 20 

 by Hugh Shireburne to Ribchester and 

 Dilworth, and another of 10 by Grace 

 Ward to Dilworth ; Notitia Cestr. ii, 474. 



103 Henry Townley, Ann his wife and 

 their descendants Jennet Ward and Town- 

 ley Ward between 1747 and 1790 gave 

 sums amounting to ,125 to be laid out 

 in cloth. The capital, with accumulations, 

 is now represented by ^255 consols, pro- 

 ducing 7 a year. The distribution of 

 calico is made about the end of January, 

 some thirty families receiving doles of 7 to 

 24 yds. 



1M Richard Hoghton in 1613 left a close 

 called Wood Crook in Whittingham 

 charged with various sums for the poor, 

 including ,1 ics. to be distributed 'at 

 the cross near Longridge Chapel in Alston." 

 The whole income of the land (now sold) 

 was applied to the charity, and Alston now 

 has ,6 in. i o^. from the endowment. 

 Alston also has a share (a sixth) of the 

 income of the charity founded by Thomas 

 Hoghton of Woodplumpton in 1 649 ; it 

 now amounts to 9 1 2s. 



105 For ' Jenkinson's charity ' 9s. a 

 year was paid out of the rates in 1826, 

 but nothing is now known of it. 



Thomas Gregson in 1742 and Thomas 

 Eccles in 1777 left sums for the poor, but 

 these had been lost before 1826. 



James Berry of Alston was stated to 

 have given Seth Eccles ,200 with a 

 verbal injunction to distribute the interest 

 to the poor. Seth died in 1822, but his 

 son Thomas continued an annual distribu- 

 tion of j8. This gift has, however, long 

 ceased. 



106 In 1826 there was paid yearly from 

 the rates 91. or loj. for the poor, distri- 

 buted in small doles about Christmas, the 

 endowment being attributed to Robert 

 Jenkinson. Nothing has been paid for a 

 long time, and the cottages supposed to 

 have been built for the poor are now 

 claimed as private property. 



