A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



oc. 1 153-60 . 



c. 1 1 90 . . 



c. 1196 . . 

 25 Feb. 1 200-1 

 ?8 July 1202 

 oc. 1219-40 



3 Ny 12 

 25 Aug. 1252 

 22 May 1256 

 20 June 1262 

 oc. 1286-94 

 oc. 1306 . . 

 oc. 1312 . . 



1321 . 

 24 Sept. 1348 



Patron 



The following is a list of the incumbents : 



RECTORS 

 Name 



William 166 



Robert 166 



Adomar de la Roche *.-.. Theobald Walter . . 



Randle de la Tour 168 The King . . . . 



Mr. Peter Russinol 168 .... 



Amery des Roches iro .... 



William de Haverhill '" . . . . 



Arnulf 17 ' .... 



Henry de Wingham "'.... .... 



Walter de Merton m 



Aubrey de Roserits 17J 



Eustace de Cottesbach 176 . . . . 



James de Fairford 1 " 



Thurstan de Holland 178 , Thomas Earl of Lane. 



Cause of Vacancy 



d. P. Russinol 



d. W. de Haverhill 



d. Arnulf 



d. Bp. Wingham 



Henry de Walton in Henry Earl of Lane. . 



exch. J. de Fairford 



its \villiam the priest of Preston was 

 first witness to an important charter ; 

 Farrer, op. cit. 323, 325. 



1M Ibid. 361. He is called only Robert 

 de Preston, but is one of a number of 

 witnesses, all apparently clergymen. In 

 another ecclesiastical deed of 1193 he 

 appears as Master Robert de Preston ; 

 Lane. Ch. (Chet. Soc.), i, in. 



187 After making the settlement with 

 the Abbot of Sees recorded in the text, 

 Theobald Walter presented Adomar de la 

 Roche ; ibid, ii, 519. 



168 Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 101. 



The dates in the first column are 

 often those of presentation, the institu- 

 tions not being known. 



" 9 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 14. He 

 was precentor of York in 1213 5 Le Neve, 

 Fasti, iii, 1 54. The statement that Peter 

 was dead in 1222 shows that the Master 

 Peter de Russinol who occurs later must 

 be a different person. 



170 He was nephew of the Bishop of 

 Winchester and is said to have been pre- 

 sented by Henry III ; Lanes. Inq. and 

 Extents, i, 1 20 (where he is called Henry). 

 Americus, rector of Preston, had letters 

 of protection in 1219 and 1222; Cal. 

 Pat. 1216-25, PP- '99> 336- He occur* 

 again in 1228, when Herbert the clerk 

 and other guardians of the church had 

 letters of protection; ibid. 1225-32, 

 p. 189. He was still rector in 1240, 

 when he claimed Chipping as a chapel of 

 Preston ; Abbrru. Flac. (Rec. Com.), 

 no, 1 1 1 . 



171 Haverhill was one of the king's 

 clerks in 1223, as appears by the Patent 

 Rolls, the calendars containing many 

 references to him. He became the king's 

 treasurer and died in 1252. He was a 

 canon of St. Paul's ; Le Neve, Fasti, ii, 

 400. According to T. C. Smith (op. cit. 

 9, 26) he was presented to Preston 

 3 July 1 243, referring to Pat. 27 Hen. Ill, 

 m. 3. The entry does not appear in the 

 printed calendar, where instead it is re- 

 corded that on 22 July 1243 Guy de 

 Russilun (Rousillon) was presented to 

 Preston; Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 387. 

 Guy was the king's clerk and kinsman 

 (Cal. Papal Litters, i, 201) and there are 

 a number of references to him in the 

 Patent Rolls. 



There is probably some error, for in 

 1246 the church of Preston was of the 

 king's presentation. William de Haverhill, 

 the treasurer, was rector, and it was 

 worth 140 marks a year ; Assize R. 404, 

 m. 1 9 d. 



A papal dispensation to hold two addi- 

 tional benefices was given to William de 

 Haverhill in 1244 ; Cal. Pafal Litters, 

 i, zii. 



17> Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 149 ; he wa 

 archdeacon of *Tours* or Thouars. 

 Matthew Paris, whose description must 

 be considered that of a hostile partisan, 

 says that Arnulf was a Poitevin and 

 chaplain to Geoffrey de Lusignan, the 

 king's brother, and played the fool to 

 amuse the king and court, being a dis- 

 grace to the priesthood ; * we have seen 

 him pelting the king, his brother Geoffrey, 

 and other nobles while walking in the 

 orchard of St. Albans with turf, stones 

 and apples, and pressing the juice of 

 grapes in their eyes, like one devoid of 

 sense' ; Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), v, 329. 

 Such behaviour, though undignified, does 

 not seem vicious. 



Arnulf was also a prebendary of York ; 

 Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 414. 



173 Ibid. p. 471. He was an im- 

 portant public official, becoming keeper 

 of the great seal 1255-9, ""d ne ' t ' 

 a number of benefices and dignities, in- 

 cluding the rectory of Kirkham. He 

 became Bishop of London in 1259, but 

 retained Preston, Kirkham and some 

 other churches till his death in 1262. 

 See Diet. Nat. Siog. ; Foss, Judges ; 

 Le Neve, Fasti, ii, 285, &c. 



In 1254 Henry de Wingham, sub- 

 deacon, one of the king's clerks, was 

 made a papal chaplain ; Cal. Pafal 

 Letters, \, 300. There are several other 

 privileges and dispensations recorded for 

 him in the same volume, including per- 

 mission (in 1259) to hold for five years 

 all the benefices he had at the time of 

 his election to the see of London ; ibid. 

 366. 



174 Pat. 46 Hen. Ill, m. 9 (quoted by 

 Smith, op. cit. 31). This, tie most 

 famous of the rectors of Preston, was 

 also a great State officer holding many 

 ecclesiastical preferments. He was Chan- 

 cellor of England 1261-3 and again 

 1272-4, being made Bishop of Rochester 

 in 1274. He founded Merton Coll., Oxf. 

 He was drowned while crossing the 

 Medway in 1277. See Diet. Nat. Siog. ; 

 Foss, Judges ; Lc Neve, Fasti, ii, 561, &c. 



Walter de Merton, chancellor of the 

 Bishop of Durham, obtained a papal dis- 

 pensation in 1246 ; Cal. Papal Letters, 

 i, 225. 



175 Protections were granted him in 

 1286 and 1294; Cal. Pat. 1281-92, 

 p. 249 ; 1292-1301, p. 121. He occurs 



84 



also in pleadings of 1292, the surname in 

 one case being given as De Roseys ; 

 Assize R. 4.08, m. 39 d., 99, 24. 



He made a gift to Henry de Haydock 

 of Ashton in return for land in Dobcroft 

 given to Preston Church ; Kuerden MSS. 

 iv, C 25. 



176 Cal. Pat. 1301-7^.457 ; 'Preston* 

 may be an error for Prescot (q.v.), but 

 Eustace was defendant in a plea regard- 

 ing land in PresLon in 1305 ; De Banco 

 R. 153, m. 206 d. 



177 The name is also given as Fair- 

 stead. In Jan. 131112 letters dimissory 

 were granted by the Archbishop of 

 York to James de Fairford, rector of 

 Preston in Amounderness ; note by J. P. 

 Earwaker, Raines MSS. (from the York 

 records). James de Fairford is named as 

 the immediate predecessor of Thurstan de 

 Holland, rector in 1323, in a claim for 

 tithes by the Prior of Lancaster ; Lane. 

 Ch. ii, 448. 



178 Thurstan de Holland is stated to 

 have exchanged the rectory of Hanbury 

 for Preston with James de Fairford ; the 

 reference given is Add. MS. 6065, fol. 267 

 (Fishwick, Preston). 



As Thurstan is often named in plead- 

 ings, &c., it is probable that he, unlike 

 most of the other rectors, was resident. 

 He when eighteen (about 1314) accepted 

 the rectory of Hanbury, and obtained 

 a papal dispensation in 1319 to retain 

 it, his intercessor being Thomas Earl 

 of Lancaster ; Cal. Papal Letter^ ii, 189. 



The Abbot of Sees' claim against 

 Thurstan for the annuity of 10 marks, 

 already recorded, occurs in the Plea 

 Rolls from 1325 onwards ; De Banco R. 

 258, m. 140 ; 292, m. 257 ; 3OO,m. 185. 



Thurstan de Holland occurs as rector 

 down to the beginning of 1348 ; ibid. 350, 

 m. 20; 353, m. 302. 



179 For the presentations about this 

 time reference is given to Torre's Re- 

 gisters of the Archdeacons of Richmond ; 

 Fishwick's Preston. 



Henry de Walton was of the family of 

 Walton-le-Dale, and became Archdeacon 

 of Richmond in 1349 by papal provi- 

 sion, he then holding the church of 

 Preston and canonries at Salisbury and 

 York ; Cal. Papal Letters, iii, 290. 

 There are many other references to him 

 in the same volume, including dispensa- 

 tions from residence and for further 

 benefices, &c. He incurred sentence of 

 excommunication in 1357, but it was 

 suspended ; ibid, iii, 584. See also 

 Le Neve, Fatti, iii, 138, &c. 



