Chap. 7.] PARISH OF EIBCHESTER. 175 



urgently needed reforms in the parish. He was instrumental in getting 

 the living doubled in value, and also in the restoration of the Church 

 at a large cost. He also obtained a grant of £1,500 fi'om the Ecclesi- 

 astical Commissioners towards the erection of a new rectory. Mr. 

 Perrin was proud of the historical associations of his parish, and had 

 formed a large collection of antiquarian curiosities. As a preacher, 

 Mr. Perrin inclined to the old school of parsons ; and his sermons 

 were, we fear, rather dull and prosy. He died rather suddenly on 

 May lOth, 188.5, aged 68, and his remains were consigned to the grave 

 amidst the evident lamentations of a large concourse of his fi'iends and 

 parishioners. 



REV. F. J. DICKSON, M.A. 



The present Rector of Eibchester, and Vicar of Stydd, is the Rev. 

 Francis John Dickson, M.A. Mr. Dickson was formerly Tutor of St. 

 Columba's College, near Dublin ; Curate of Christ Church, Preston ; 

 Rector of Bispham ; and was appointed Rector of Ribchester on the 

 death of Mr. Perrin, and is, we believe, the Secretary of the Clerical 

 Association of the Pylde. Already, Mr. Dickson has proved himself 

 to be a model parson for Ribchester. About forty years old, middle- 

 sized, and somewhat slenderly built, Mr. Dickson is capable of a great 

 deal of hard work, and does his duty in such a cheerful and kindly 

 way as to endear himself to all who meet him. We should say — 

 though quite conscious of the odiousness of comparisons — that Mr. 

 Dickson is one of the best preachers in the district. So quietly, but 

 yet impressively, and with such a wealth of forcible illustration, does 

 he drive home the moral of his sermons ; and we are confident that in 

 time the fruit of Mr. Dickson's preaching will be clearly manifested in 

 the raising of the tone of a somewhat neglected and obscure parish. 



The Aggrieved Parishioners of Ribchester. 



Under the above heading appears an article in " The Palatine Note 

 Book," Feb., 1883, compiled fi-om the MSS. of Mr. C. T. Talent Bate- 

 man, which contains a mass of interesting information. I reproduce 

 the most important portions of the article : — A man named John 

 Warde was chosen, without his consent, by the xxiv. of Ribchester 



