A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



17 July 1630 



1650 



31 Mar. 1663 



20 June 1666 



10 June 1720 



7 July 1 744 



9 Aug. 1771 



1 8 Jan. 1813 

 15 Dec. 1847 

 24 Aug. 1852 



1862 



15 June 1875 

 20 Nov. 1902 



Name 

 Edward Fleetwood, M.A. 71 



Patron 



Christ Ch., Oxf. 



} John Fisher 



Cause of Vacancy 

 res. J. Gerard 

 res. E. Fleetwood 



Richard Clegg, M.A. 73 .... 

 William Dickson, B.A. 7 * .... 



Charles Buck, M.A. 78 



Humphrey Shuttleworth, M.A. 76 

 James Webber, D.D. 77 .... 

 George Lodowick Parsons, M.A. 78 . 

 William Law Hussey, M.A. 78 . . 

 George Richard Brown, M.A. 80 . . 

 Henry Williams Mason, M.A. 81 . 

 Welbury Theodore Mitton, M.A. 82 



[Christ Ch., Oxf. 



d. J. Fisher 

 d. R. Clegg 

 d. W. Dickson 

 d. C. Buck 

 d. H. Shuttleworth 

 d. J. Webber 

 d. G. L. Parsons 

 res. W. L. Hussey 

 d. G. R. Brown 

 d. H. W. Mason 



It will be observed that the early rectors, presented 

 by the kings, were as usual busy public officials who 

 discharged their duties by deputy, and that the dona- 

 tion to Vale Royal was probably of advantage to the 

 parish, as giving it a permanent and properly paid 

 vicar instead of a stipendiary curate. These vicars, 

 however, do not seem to have been of more than 

 local importance, and even since the Reformation, 

 while the advowson has been held by Christ Church, 

 Oxford, none of them calls for special mention. Before 

 the Reformation the due service of the parish church, 

 chantry and chapels at Lund, Singleton and Hambleton 

 would require five priests. 83 This was the staff 



recorded at the bishop's visitations 84 in 1548 and 

 1554; but in 1562 only the vicar and two others are 

 named, and the vicar alone seems to have conformed 

 fully to the Elizabethan requirements. 85 He had 

 apparently been brought up under the Reform of 

 Henry VIII and accepted all the changes made by the 

 civil power, holding the benefice till his death. No 

 zeal can be looked for in such cases, 86 and the three 

 chapels appear to have been left to decay, but it may 

 be noted that the organ in the church was allowed to 

 remain. 87 The vicars appear usually to have had a 

 curate. 88 In the Commonwealth time additional 

 places of worship seem to have been provided, but it 



71 For pedigree see Dugdale's Putt. 

 (Chet. Soc.), in. Fleetwood com- 

 pounded for first-fruits 29 Oct. 1630. 

 He had various quarrels with the parish- 

 ioners and bishop. He seems to have 

 been a Puritan, 'sometimes* omitting to 

 use the surplice, though he said the Litany 

 regularly thrice a week. In 1634 the 

 sum of 41. 3</. was * paid for the exercise 

 and for the moderators and the preacher* ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 98. 'Exercise days' 

 are again mentioned in 1646 ; ibid. 102. 

 He readily conformed to the Presbyterian 

 discipline in 1646 (Baines, op. cit. i, 228) 

 and signed the ' Harmonious Consent ' 

 in 1648. 



In 1646 he published, under the title of 

 Strange Signs from Heaven, an account of 

 the strange birth above mentioned. A 

 parishioner, Mr. Hoghton, 'a great Papist 

 and of great parentage,' and his mother- 

 in-law 'did usually scoff and mock the 

 Roundheads, and in derision of Mr. 

 Prynne and the others cut off the cat's 

 ears and called it by his name ' ; his wife 

 also, being pregnant, wished that rather 

 than be a Roundhead, or bear one, her child 

 might have no head, which monstrosity 

 was accordingly borne by her ; Fishwick, 

 op. cit. 78-9. 



72 Fisher had been minister of Bispham, 

 and was regarded as ' a godly and orthodox 

 divine, 1 succeeding Fleetwood (whose 

 daughter he married) at Kirkham in or 

 before Feb. 1650-1, when the 50 out of 

 Thomas Clifton's sequestered tithes was 

 confirmed to him ; Plund. Mim. Accts. i, 

 59, 96. He conformed at the Restoration 

 and died in possession 18 Mar. 1665-6. 



It ia a token of his conformity that in 

 1662 a font was 'put up' at a cost of 

 2 151. 4< ; Fishwick, op. cit. 105. At 

 the same time the king's arms and the 

 Commandments were painted. 



78 Educated at University Coll., Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1663 ; Foster, Alumni. He is 

 chiefly known for his violent opposition 

 to Cuthbert Harrison, the Nonconformist 

 minister at Elswick ; he had also disputes 



with his parishioners. There is extant a 

 letter from him dated 1684, in which he 

 complains that the Quakers, ' the most 

 incorrigible sinners that I know,' had 

 opened a burial-ground, and desires that 

 the sheriff may be informed ; Hisf. MSS. 

 Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 146. He was 

 'conformable' in 1689; ibid. 229. He 

 founded a charity for the poor at Kirk- 

 ham, and also established a school and a 

 loan fund at Todmordcn. There is a 

 monument to him in the church. 



74 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf. ; 

 B.A. 1701 ; Foster, Alumni. The name 

 is also spelt Dixon. 



75 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1736 ; Foster. On his epitaph in 

 the church he is described as 'most famous 

 for piety and learning.' His son Charles 

 was curate of Lund (d. 1808) and had 

 among other issue a son Henry Rishton 

 Buck, lieutenant 33rd Reg., who fell at 

 Waterloo ; Fishwick, op. cit. 131-2. 



76 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1760 ; Foster. He was also vicar 

 of Preston 1782-1809; see the account 

 of that church. He was buried in the 

 chancel of Kirkham Church. 



77 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf., 

 becoming tutor and censor ; M.A. 1796 ; 

 D.D. 1829. He was vicar of St. Mary 

 Magdalen, Oxf., 1803, Prebendary of 

 York 1812, Dean of Ripon 1828, and 

 had other preferments at various times ; 

 Foster, Alumni. He vigorously asserted 

 his rights, recording his satisfaction at 

 making the vicar ' as he ought to be, the 

 first person in the place.' He procured 

 the rebuilding of the church (the cost 

 being borne by a rate) and raised the 

 vicar's income from ^250 to over ^l, 600 

 a year ; but in the opinion of his parish- 

 ioners he grossly neglected his duties, 

 being non-resident and rendering no 

 additional service for the increased income, 

 and they petitioned Parliament on the 

 matter; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 

 486. 



78 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf., 



148 



of which he was student ; M.A. 1834. 

 Incumbent of Bensington 1835. 



79 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf., 

 of which he was student ; M.A. 1837. 

 He was hon. canon of Manchester 1856 

 and rector of Great Ringstead 1862-88. 



80 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1841. Incumbent of Maiden 

 Bradley 1851-62. 



81 Educated at Christ Church, Oxf, 

 of which he was student; M.A. 1851. 

 Incumbent of Wigginton 1858-75, hon. 

 canon of Manchester 1887. He died 

 20 June 1902. 



** Educated at Pembroke Coll., Camb.; 

 M.A. 1888. Formerly bcncficed in 

 Canada; vicar of Peel 1899-1902. 

 Some details in the text and notes are 

 due to him. 



88 At an inquiry made in 1362 it was 

 stated that in the church of Kirkham 

 there used to be of right two priests 

 celebrating daily and serving the parish, 

 which 'chantries' had been withdrawn 

 by the Abbot of Vale Royal, one of them 

 thirteen years before and the other a year 

 ago ; Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, pt. i, no. 

 1 20. 



84 Lists at Dice. Reg., Chester. 



85 The vicar, James Smith, appeared 

 and subscribed. William Nickson seems 

 to have stayed at home and Lawrence 

 Kempe appeared but did not subscribe 



86 He maybe the vicar who in 1581 (?) 

 reported the presence of two seminary 

 priests in his parish ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 

 1868), i, 180 (from Harl. MS. 360, fol. 



3 2 )- 



87 In 1576 for 'dressing the organs' 

 2s. was paid, and in 1643 'for organ 

 pipes, which had been pulled asunder by 

 the soldiers,' 35. 4^. ; Fishwick, op. cit. 

 91, 102. The parish clerk in 1572 and 

 1576 was ordered to teach singing ; ibid. 

 91. 



88 Curates are noticed in the registers 

 in 1596, 1608, 1619, &c. ; see also Misc. 

 (Rcc. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 68, 

 124. 



