A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



but part returned by marriage to Thomas Westby of 

 Rawcliffe, a distant cousin. 48 His estate descended to 

 two of his sons, 49 and then by will to the son of a 

 nephew, 50 George Westby, 61 who was in 1842 

 followed by his son Joscelyn Tate Fazakerley 

 Westby. 52 It was in 1 893 purchased from the mort- 

 gagees by the Earl of Derby, the present owner. 53 



BRADKIRK, 6 * though recently accounted as part 

 of Medlar, seems always to have belonged to the lords 

 of Wesham. 54a It gave a surname to a family of long 

 continuance in the district. 66 Adam de Bradkirk 

 died in September 1349 holding in conjunction with 

 Ismania his wife the manor of Bradkirk of Edmund 

 de Heaton by fealty and the service of 4/. yearly. 

 John his son and heir was only two years of age. 56 



Later the estate was held on lease of the Earl of 

 Derby 66 " by the Parkers, 57 and in 1653 was purchased 

 by Christopher Parker. 58 It did not continue much 

 longer in his family, being sold in 1723. After 

 passing through several changes it was again sold in 

 1797 to Joseph Hornby of Ribby, 59 and has since 

 descended with his estates. 



James Hornby of Medlar, as a recusant, had part 

 of his estate sequestered under the Commonwealth, 

 and John Swarbrick of Wesham, as a ' Papist," 

 registered his estate in I7i6. 61 



Christ Church, Wesham, was built in 1 894 as a 

 chapel of ease to the parish church of Kirkham. 



There is a Primitive Methodist chapel. 



During the times of persecution mass was said at 



brother, is named ; ibid. 370, from Roll 

 3Z of Geo. II. An indenture of 1769 

 respecting lands, &c., in Wesham and 

 Medlar was enrolled in the Common 

 Pleas Hil. 10 Geo. Ill (R. 15) ; see also 

 ibid. Mich. 13 Geo. Ill, m. 3 for the 

 manor of Mowbreck. 



48 The descent is thus given : John 

 Westby (d. 1638) -s. George (Rawcliffe) 

 s. John -s. John- s. Thomas, who had a 

 brother George, as below. 



49 John, who died in 1 8 1 1, and Thomas, 

 who died in 1829, both unmarried. 



50 Thomas Westby, son of George, 

 above-named. 



61 The pedigree in Burke's Commoners, 

 i, 597, after stating that George Westby 

 had held office in Honduras, recorded 

 that the family ' is one of those ancient 

 Catholic houses still numerous in Lanca- 

 shire which through good and bad repute 

 adhered to the faith of their forefathers.' 

 The tradition seems to have been ended 

 by George Westby' s act, for 'his widow, 

 a recent convert, went to reside with her 

 young family in London. Here she re- 

 lapsed, and the children were not educated 

 in the faith of their forefathers ' ; Gibson, 

 op. cit. 205. 



M Mr. Westby married in 1863 Matilda 

 Harriett daughter and co-heir of H. 

 Hawarden Fazakerley of Gillibrand Hall, 

 near Chorley, and then assumed the name 

 Fazakerley in addition to his own. 



53 Inform, of Mr. Windham E. Hale, 

 who adds that a century ago the Mow- 

 breck estate was held by four lords, all 

 Westby descendants. On a division au- 

 thorized by a Private Act in 1857 the 

 hall and 331 acres became the property of 

 J. T. Westby. The former estates of the 

 family are now held chiefly by Lord 

 Derby and the representatives of the late 

 John L. Birley of Kirkham. 



64 The name was commonly spelt 

 Bredkirk. 



M <>The land of Bradkirk had before 

 1189 been granted by Hervey Walter and 

 Theobald his son to Roger son of Augus- 

 tine de Heaton ; Farrer, op. cit 437. In 

 1249 the land of Bradkirk and Mowbreck 

 had paid 41. yearly to Theobald le Boteler ; 

 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 172, 265. This 

 rent was in later times paid by Mowbreck 

 alone. 



65 Adam de Bradkirk about 1230 gave 

 lands in Elswick in marriage with his 

 daughter Amabil ; Whalley Couc/ier (Chet. 

 Soc.), ii, 459. He in 1235 purchased an 

 oxgang of land in Wesham from Ellen 

 widow of Richard de Rimington for which 

 he was to render ftd. a year ; Final Cone. 

 i, 72. He (or his son Adam) had also 

 land in Greenhalgh in 1242 ; Lanes. Inq. 

 and Extints, i, 152. Adam de Bradkirk 



was living in 1262, Roger in 1286 and 

 another Adam in 1293 ; ibid. 231, 264, 

 277. Adam de Bradkirk and Adam his 

 son attested a charter c. 126070 ; Dods. 

 MSS. liii, fol. 8;, no. 24. Adam son of 

 Adam de Bradkirk about 1250 confirmed 

 land in Elswick to the monks of Stan- 

 law ; ffhalley Coucher, ii, 464. John son 

 of Adam de Bradkirk made a grant in 

 1281 ; Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 86/>, no. 45. 

 Another John was a free tenant of Wesham 

 in 1328-30 ; Final Cone, ii, 78. 



John de Bradkirk and Alice his wife 

 had a grant from Lytham Priory in 1327 ; 

 they had a son John, who was succeeded 

 before 1344 by his brother Edmund and 

 he by another brother Adam j see the 

 account of Lytham. 



A little light is thrown on the descent 

 by pleadings of I 349, in which Adam (son 

 of John) de Bradkirk produced the charter 

 granting his land, made by Roger son of 

 Augustine de Heaton, to Adam the clerk 

 son of Richard. This last-named Adam 

 was great-grandfather (? ancestor) of the 

 former, who then had a dispute with his 

 superior lord as to the tenure, he alleging 

 that he held by the service of 41. only, 

 while Edmund son of William de Heaton 

 alleged that he held by the fourth part of 

 a knight's fee ; De Banco R. 349, m. 

 209 d. i 356, m. 353. 



** Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 

 no. it. Adam also held land in Green- 

 halgh, Newton-by-Freckleton, Whitting- 

 ham and Poulton. 



John died in or before 1363, when the 

 wardship of the heir (his brother Adam), 

 under age, was in dispute ; De Banco R. 

 413, m. 8 1 d. ; 420, m. 257 d. An Adam 

 de Bradkirk was verderer for Amounder- 

 ness till 1384 ; Dtp. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, 

 App. 356. Adam de Bradkirk (with 

 Olive his wife) occurs in 1390 and 1398 ; 

 Final Cone, iii, 3 5 ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), i, 70. 



In 1401 John de Bradkirk granted to 

 Robert son of John the Smith of Kirk- 

 ham part of his burgage in that town ; 

 Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv, 137. 

 There are other Bradkirk deeds in the 

 same volume. John de Bradkirk wa 

 living in 1420 ; Final Cone, iii, 86. 



William Bradkirk was described as of 

 Greenhalgh in 1477 ; Pal. of Lane. Writs 

 Proton, file 17 Edw. IV. In 1492-3 

 Philip son of William Bradkirk was 

 ordered to hold with Sir Thomas Wolton 

 a convention as to the manor of Bradkirk 

 with messuage and land there, &c. j ibid. 

 Ric. Ill and Hen. VII. In 1479 was 

 issued a writ of diem cl. extr. after the 

 death of Roger Bradkirk; Add. MS. 

 32103, no. 1417. 



56(1 It does not appear when the estate 



was acquired by the Earl of Derby. It ii 

 not named in the rental of 1522, but 

 was owned by Edward, the third earl, in 

 1570 ; Add. MS. 32104, fol. 415. 



57 John Parker of Bradkirk held by 

 lease of the Earl of Derby in 1625. He 

 was a recusant, and his estate was seques- 

 tered by the Parliament and put in the 

 act of sale, 1652, but as he was dead his 

 infant grandson and heir William Parker 

 (son of William) petitioned for discharge 

 in 1652 ; Cal. Com. for Camp, iv, 2445 ; 

 Index of Royalists (Index Soc.), 43. It 

 was perhaps the same John Parker ol 

 Radholme Laund in Yorkshire whose 

 estate was sequestered for delinquency and 

 recusancy in 1643. 



His son Christopher was in 1650 de- 

 scribed as ' of Bradkirk ' ; Cal. Com. Jar 

 Comp. loc. cit. He was son of John by a 

 wife Margaret, daughter of Anthony 

 Parker, and had come of age in 1649, 

 and, his father being dead, claimed 

 relief. 



A pedigree was recorded by Christopher 

 Parker of Bradkirk in 1664. It shows : 

 William Parker, d.c. 1612 -s. John, d. 

 1649 -s. (by second wife) Christopher -s. 

 Anthony, aged seven ; Dugdale, fitit. 

 (Chet. Soc.), 227. 



18 This, like Mythop, Swarbreck and 

 other lands in the neighbourhood, formed 

 part of the forfeited estates of the seventh 

 earl sold by the Parliament ; Cal. Com. 

 for Comp. ii, 1117. The purchaser 

 agreed with Charles Earl of Derby to 

 receive from him an absolute conveyance 

 on paying three years' value to him ; 

 Piccope MSS. iii, 126. From other 

 deeds in the same volume (11432) it 

 appears that Christopher Parker made his 

 will in 1 693, and that the estate descended 

 by 1710 to a son of the same name, who 

 made a settlement of Bradkirk in that 

 year. His sister and heir Catherine wife 

 of Thomas Stanley of Cross Hall in 

 Lathom in or about 1723 sold to Townley 

 Rigby of Middleton in Goosnargh, and he, 

 though a Quaker, claimed a seat in Kirk- 

 ham Church in 1726 in right of Brad- 

 kirk. 



69 The details are recorded in Fish wick, 

 Kirkham (Chet. Soc.), 178-80. It appears 

 that the real purchaser in 1723 was John 

 Richardson of Preston, and Bradkirk 

 descended in 1767 to Edward Hurst, 

 whose initials 'E. H. 1761,' and 'E. H. 

 1764,' appear on the buildings. He 

 devised it to his sister Margaret and her 

 husband James Kearsley, the vendor in 

 1797. 



60 Royalist Comp. Papers (Rcc. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 261. 



61 Estcourt and Payne, Eng. Cath. Nan- 

 jurors, 135. 



I 5 6 



