AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



Instituted 



c. 1259 . . 



22 Aug. 1277 



c. 1286 . 



oc. 1331 . . . 

 oc. 1332-49 



c. 1350 . . . 



oc. 1357 . . . 



28 Aug. 1362 . 



oc. 1394-1401 . 



28 Dec. 1418 . 



9 Sept. 1420 

 14 Mar. 1452-3 



oc. 1504 . . . 



c. 1510 . . . 



c. 1542 . . . 



6 Sept. 1585 . 



17 Nov. 1591 . 

 20 Nov. 1 594 



1 8 Aug. 1598 . 

 22 Jan. 1627-8 . 



Ni 



Mr. Henry de Gaunt 60 

 John de Kirkby" . . 

 John de Conisburgh 51 . 



The King 



Patron 



VICARS 



John de Ardern M . . . 

 Robert de Newton M . . 

 William de Slaidburn M . 

 William de Bolton 5<i . . 

 Philip de Greenhul " . . 

 Thomas de Hornby M . . 

 Roger Diring .... 

 William Torfot 69 - 40 . . 

 Mr. John Cottam " . . 

 Edmund Lache 61 . . . 

 Richard Davy . . . 

 Thomas Smith M . . . 

 James Smith * . . . . 

 James Smith ** . 

 James Sharpies, M.A. 87 

 Nicholas Helme, M.A. 18 . 

 Arthur Greenacre, M.A. 6 ' 

 John Gerard, M.A. 70 . . 



Ab. of Vale Royal 

 Ab. of Vale Royal 



Ab. of Vale Royal 



KIRKHAM 



Caute of Vacancy 

 res. H. de Wingham 

 res. H. de Gaunt 



d. R. Diring 

 d. W. Torfot 

 d. J. Cottam 



M Matter Henry de Gaunt teemi to 

 hare succeeded Artaud at the Wardrobe ; 

 Exetrfta i Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 364. 



M Col. Pat. 1172-81, p. 117. The 

 king having obtained the advowton pre- 

 sented John de Kirkby, no doubt the 

 linhnp of Ely, 1286-90 ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 



"He occur* at rector in 1290, 1291 

 and 1297; De Banco R. 86, m. 214; 

 Auize R. 408, m. 91, loid. ; Cat. Pat. 

 1192-1301, p. 237. He muit have been 

 appointed before the appropriation of the 

 rectory to Vale Royal. 



u He atteited a Freckleton deed in 

 1331 j Kuerden MSS. iii, F 3. 



M He atteated deedi in Oct. 1331 and 

 in 1349; Dods. MSS. cliii, fol. 73 

 (J.P.E.) ; Kuerden MSS. iv, K 17. He 

 ia named a< vicar in a pleading in 1344 ; 

 Assize R. 143;, m. 43. In the arch- 

 deacon'a claim for duel it wai alleged that 

 the vicarage of Kirkham wai twice vacant, 

 on account of the plague, between 8 Sept. 

 1349 and II Jan. 1349-50 ; Engl. Hiit. 

 Rrv. v, 526. 



u He wai vicar early in 1354 ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Aiiize R. 3, m. ij. In 1357 he 

 wai deicribed at ' lately vicar ' ; ibid. 6, 

 m. 3 d. He wai Dean of Amounderneia 

 and appear! to have been guilty of oppret- 

 lion in hit office, Kcuring a pardon tome 

 time between 1354 and 1361 j Dtp. 

 Keeper's Rtf. xxxii, App. 344. 



5 * Thii name ii given by Fishwick (op. 

 cit. 70} on the authority of 'the record! 

 of the Thirty-men.' He may be identical 

 with Slaidburn. 



' Rainei MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 387. 

 Thii and tome later inatitutioni are given 

 in Whitaker, Hut. of RichmonJiliirt, ii, 437 

 (from Torre). Greenhill (or Greenhalgh) 

 wai a monk of Vale Royal. 



** In 1394 Hornby (or Hernby) wai 

 going acrou the leaa and nominated 

 attorney! j Towneley MS. CC (Chet. 

 Lib.), no. 392. Hit eitate in the vicar- 

 age wai ratified in 1 399 ; Cat. Pat. i 399- 

 1401, p. 3. He wai plaintiff in 1401 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. I, m. 5 d. 



**> Rainei MSS. xjrii, 395. He wai 

 a prieit. 



' Ibid, xxii, 397 ; he wai a prieit. He 

 ii named in varioui charter!, tec. ; Kuerden 

 fol. MS. p. 383 (1422) ; Kuerden MSS. 



iv, Kl7 (1427-8); Pal. of Lane. Plea 

 R. 3, m. 28* (1441) ; Fishwick, op. cit. 



51 (1450-')- 



In 1448 it waa ordered that he and 

 othen should be put in priion till they 

 should pay 200 to the Abbot of Vale 

 Royal ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 1 1, m. 

 2oi. 



He teems to have had a ion Peter in 

 1429; Kuerden MSS. iv, K 18. Hit 

 father wai named William and hit grand- 

 father wai John Cottam. 



M Rainei MSS. nii, 379. He wai 

 vicar in 1458 ; Lanci. hj. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), ii, 8 1. 



* Kuerden MSS. iv, P 121, no. 74. 

 He founded a chantry or added to the 

 endowment of the old one. A Richard 

 Davy of Gonville Hall, Camb., became 

 M.A. in 1495-6 ; Grace Book B (Luard 

 Mem.), i, 82, 119. One of the name 

 wai rector of Norton in Norfolk ia 153;; 

 Valor Eccl. iii, 320. 



M In a return compiled in 1 527 Thomaa 

 Smith ii given at vicar for eighteen yeara 

 past, having been presented by the Abbot 

 and convent of Vale Royal ; hii benefice 

 wai worth 40 a year ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Rental!, bdle. 5, no. 15. He occun ai 

 vicar in 1512; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iv, no. 12. He wai buried at Kirk- 

 ham 23 Oct. 1541 ; Fiihwick, op. cit. 

 72, 122. 



William Stringer wai ' parish priest ' 

 (curate-in-charge) in 1537; ffilli (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanci. and Chet.), 73. 



u A Pretifevrit addreited to the Bishop 

 of Cheiterand Jamei Smith, clerk, on 27 

 Mar. i 542, that they ihould permit Milci 

 Spencer and William Wright to present to 

 the vicarage, then vacant and in their 

 gift ; PaL of Lane. Writ! Proton. (67, 34 

 Hen. VIII). From thii it seems that 

 Smith wai already in poueuion. Hit 

 name appears in the visitation lists of 

 1(48, 1554 and 1 562. He waa buried at 

 Kirkham II July 1585; Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 73, 124. For church goodi in 1552 

 aee Chet, Miic. (new aer.), i, 4. 



M Some of the institutions and notea 

 have been taken from Raines' Lam. 

 (ed. Croaton), v, 361-2, and Fiihwick'i 

 Kirkham, 73-87, where notice! of the 

 ditlerent vican will be found. The records 



'47 



in the Diocesan Registry, Chester, have 

 also been searched. 



John Smith of Stalmine Grange wai 

 patron in virtue of a grant by William 

 Troutbeck, true patron ; Earwaker 

 MSS. 



67 Educated at St. John'i Coll., Camb., 

 of which he wai scholar; M.A. 1(91 ; 

 information of Mr. R. F. Scott. Buried 

 at Kirkham 21 Sept. 1594. 



M The patron presented in virtue of a 

 grant from the Dean and Chapter of Christ 

 Church, Oxf., dated 8 Dec. 1591. 

 Nicholai Helme wai educated at Brasenose 

 ColL, Oxf. 5 M.A. 1585; Foiter, 

 Alumni. A complaint to the Bishop of 

 Chester in 1598 (Visit. Paperi) alleged 

 that Helme wai supposed to have come 

 into the vicarage by simony, that he kept 

 another man's wife in his house under 

 suspicious circumstances that he refused 

 to wear the surplice and 'administered 

 the wine as it came from the cellar, with- 

 out any prayers or revertnc:,' and that 

 he was ready to minister th- sacrament 

 to a blind woman and another who 'had 

 beads in their hands ' ; Fishwick, op. cit. 

 75. The charges may have been malicious 

 merely, but Helme'i death would render 

 inquiry unnecessary. He wai buried at 

 Kirkham, 16 July 1(98. 



69 The patron wai ion of John Sharpies. 

 Greenacre wai described as ' a preacher ' 

 in i nio ; Hiit. MSS. Com. Kef. xiv, App. 

 iv, 9. He died in 1627, and his widow 

 afterwards practised as a midwife, attesting 

 a monstrous birth in or about 1646 ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 79. The surname ii 

 given at Gatacrc. 



70 Act Bk. at Cheiter, 1579-1676, fol. 

 96. The institution! from thii time have 

 been compared with those in the Institu- 

 tion Books, P.R.O. as printed in Lanci. 

 and Chti. Anna. Notti. 



John Gerard compounded for first-fruits 

 13 Feb. 1627-8 ; Land, and Ckti. Rec. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanci. and Ches.), ii, 412. He 

 appears to be the John Gerard of Christ 

 Church, Oxf. (M.A. 1615), who waa 

 beneficed in Norfolk in 1630; Foiter, 

 Alumni Oxon. He ii laid to have 'ei 

 changed with Mr. Fleetwood, who patted 

 over to hit ion ' (son-in law) ; note in the 

 Reg. by Vicar Clegg. 



