A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



24 Aug. 1370 . 

 oc. 1415-31 . . 



oc. 1432-47 

 oc. 1451 . . . 

 oc. 1485 . . . 



9 Aug. 1504 . 

 1 6 Aug. 1506 

 10 Oct. 1519 

 oc. 1528-32 . . 

 oc. 1532-3 

 24 Mar 1534-5. 



8 Aug. 1543 . 



? March 1550 , 



1550 , 



2 Mar. 1554-5 



Name 



James de Langton 4i . 

 William de Langton 46 . 

 James de Langton 41 . 

 Oliver de Langton 48 . 

 John Langton 49 

 Thomas Langton * . 

 Richard Wyot, D.D. ". 

 Thomas Linacre, M.D 53 

 Nicholas Towneley" . 

 Richard Langton M . . 

 Richard Kighley M . . 

 John Herbert M . . . 

 John Standish, D.D." . 

 Richard Smith s8 . . 

 Richard Gerard . . 



Presented by 

 Ralph de Langton . 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. W. de Campdcn 



Langton feoffees 

 The King . . 

 Thos. Langton . 



d. J. Langton 

 d. T. Langton 

 res. R. Wyot 



Sir T. Langton 

 Thos. White . 

 The King . . 



10 Aug. 1558 . Thomas Stanley 



Earl of Derby, &c. 

 fjohn Fleetwood . 

 \Peter Farington . 



d. R. Langton 

 d. R. Kighley 



d. R. Smith 

 d. R. Gerard 



Lich. Epis. Reg. iv, fol. 85* ; v, fol. 

 28^, 30. He had received only the ton- 

 sure, but was made priest n April 1371 ; 

 ibid, v, fol. loob. 



James de Langton is mentioned as rec- 

 tor down to 1414, about the end of which 

 year he died ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, 

 App. 12, 'late rector.' He was one of 

 the feoffees of Richard de Molyneux of 

 Sefton in 1394; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), i, 70 ; ibid. 103. 



46 William de Langton is mentioned as 

 rector a number of times from 1417 to 

 1430 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, 13, &c. 

 In 1431-2 he was 'late rector '; ibid. 32. 



*7 In a plea of 1441 mention is made 

 of William de Langton as rector before 

 10 Hen. VI, and James de Langton as 

 rector in the same year ; a note is added, 

 recording a pardon to the latter, dated 

 1446-7 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 3, m. 31 A. 



In 1436 James de Langton, rector of 

 Wigan, was proceeding to France in the 

 retinue of the Duke of York ; Dep. 

 Keeper's Rep. xlviii, App. 310. 



He appears to have been a violent and 

 lawless man, and his name frequently 

 occurs in the plea rolls. In 1442 the 

 sheriff" was ordered to arrest Christopher, 

 Edward, Edmund, and Oliver de Langton, 

 sons of James de Langton, the rector ; also 

 Margaret Holerobyn of Wigan, the rector's 

 mistress ; Pal. of Lane. Plea" R. 4 (quoted 

 by Canon Bridgeman). 



46 Oliver Langton in 1451 covenanted 

 to pay the 20 yearly to Lichfield ; 

 Bridgeman, op. cit. 69. He was still living 

 in 1462 ; ibid. 70. 



In 1457 the Bishop of Lichfield issued 

 a commission to Dr. Duckworth, vicar of 

 Prescot, and others to inquire as to the 

 pollution of the churchyard of Wigan by 

 bloodshed, forbidding it to be used for in- 

 terments until it should be reconciled ; 

 Lich. Epis. Reg. xi, fol. gib. 



49 John Langton, rector of Wigan, 

 occurs in July 1485 ; Local Glean. Lanes. 

 and Ches. i, 266. In 1498 he was called 

 upon to show by what title he claimed 

 various manorial rights in Wigan ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Writs, Lent, 1 3 Hen. VII. 



60 Lich. Epis. Reg. xiii-xiv, fol. 53 ; 

 the patrons were James Anderton, Wil- 

 liam Banastre, Thomas Langton (brother 

 of Gilbert Langton of Lowe), and William 

 Woodcock, feoffee* of Ralph Langton, de- 

 ceased. 



61 Lich. Epis. Reg. xiii-xiv, fol. 54^ ; 

 Act Bks. at Chester ; the king presented 

 on account of the minority of Thomai 

 Langton. Dr. Wyot was a man of some 

 university distinction, being at one time 



master of Christ's College, Cambridge ; 

 and he held several benefices ; see Atbe- 

 nae Cantab, i, 26. 



* a Lich. Epis. Reg. xiii-xiv, fol. 6ob. The 

 biography of this distinguished man may 

 be read in Dr. J. N. Johnson's Life of 

 him $ also in the Diet. Nat. Biog., and 

 Canon Bridgeman, op. cit. 73-95- He 

 appears to have exchanged the Precentor- 

 ship of York Minster for the rectory of 

 Wigan, Dr. Wyot receiving the former 

 office on 13 November 1519 ; Le Neve, 

 Fasti, iii, 156. It was only in his later 

 years that Linacre, though made rector of 

 Mersham in 1509, devoted himself to 

 theology, and he was not ordained priest 

 until 22 December 1520, the rectory of 

 Wigan giving him a title. 



58 Nicholas Towneley,as rector of Wigan 

 and chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey, com- 

 plained of a disturbance in his court at 

 Wigan in Apr. 1528 ; Duchy Plead. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 173. He was 

 appointed to a prebend in York Minster 

 in Dec. 1531 ; Le Neve, Fasti, iii, 181 ; 

 and died at Hampton Court on or about 

 10 Nov. 1532; Duchy Plead, ii, in 

 (where there is an error in the year ; cf. 

 Le Neve). 



54 There is mention of him in Piccope's 

 Wills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 247 n. 



66 Lich. Epis. Reg. xiii-xiv, fol. 34 ; he 

 made oath that he would pay the^2O to the 

 dean and chapter of Lichfield, according 

 to ancient custom. 



Soon after his appointment he leased 

 the rectory for five years for 106 i 3*. $d. 

 a year, the odd 6 131. 4^. being payable 

 to the curate in charge. The lessee, John 

 Kitchin, a lawyer, had become surety for 

 the first-fruits, which had now become 

 part of the royal revenue. This transac- 

 tion was the origin of much disputing. 

 Kitchin was not satisfied with this short 

 lease, and appears to have obtained the 

 promise of an extension for thirty-three 

 years, and to this he obtained the patron's 

 consent. When, therefore, the rector 

 attempted to regain possession in 1 540 he 

 was resisted, and though he had the as- 

 sistance of a number of persons 'of cruel 

 demeanour,' who ' in a riotous and forcible 

 manner ' entered the glebe lands and 

 turned the lessee's cattle out, the inquiry 

 which took place was so far favourable to 

 Kitchin that the rector granted a lease for 

 thirty years at the same rent ; Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 164 ; ii, 64. The 

 evidence is given very fully in Canon 

 Bridgeman's History, 102-7. 



M Act Bks. at Ches. Dioc. Reg. ; Bridge- 

 man, op. cit. 113. Paid first-fruits 6 Aug. 



62 



1543 ; Lanes, and Ches. Recs. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 408. John Kitchin 

 had purchased the right of next presenta- 

 tion from Sir Thomas Langton in 1538, 

 and afterwards sold it to Sir Richard 

 Gresham and Thomas White, citizens of 

 London. 



John Herbert became one of the canons 

 of St. Stephen's, Westminster, in Dec. 

 1530 ; L. and P. Hen. Vlll, iv, 6803 

 (19). He was vicar of Penistone from 

 1545 to 1550, the patron being the dean 

 of the Chapels Royal ; Hunter, Doncaster, 



"> 339- . 



*7 It is possible that Dr. Standish was 

 never actually rector of Wigan, though 

 Edward VI presented him on the death of 

 John Herbert ; Strype, Mem. iv, 260. 

 He does not appear to have paid first- 

 fruits. His singular and discreditable 

 career is sketched by Canon Bridgeman, 

 op. cit. 115-21. See Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. } Diet. Nat. Biog. 



88 He paid his first-fruits ii Feb. 

 1550-1. He had much trouble with the 

 tithepayers, or rather the sub-lessees under 

 Kitchin' s lease ; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. 

 Com.), ii, 141 ; Bridgeman, 123-7. 



69 Act Bks. at Chester. The patrons 

 were the Earl of Derby, Lord Strange, 

 and others, under a demise by Sir Thomas 

 Langton in 1551. The new rector, a son 

 of William Gerard of Ince, had been pre- 

 sented to Grappenhall as early as 1522, 

 and to Bangor on Dee in 1542, resigning 

 the former on becoming rector of Wigan ; 

 Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 600. He 

 took part in 1554 in the examinations of 

 George Marsh at Lathom ; speaking of 

 the second Prayer Book of Edward VI he 

 remarked, ' This last Communion was the 

 most devilish thing that ever was devised ' ; 

 Foxe, Acts and Monuments (ed. Cattley), 

 vii, 42. 



60 Act Bks. at Chester ; Bridgeman, 

 op. cit. ; the patrons acted under a grant 

 made by Sir Thomas Langton on 10 May 

 1558. 



Thomas Stanley, supposed to have been 

 an illegitimate son of Lord Mounteagle, 

 was Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1558 

 to 1568 ; Moore, Sodor and Man, 96, 138. 

 He also held the rectories of Winwick 

 and North Meols in Lancashire and Bar- 

 wick in Elmet. He was living quite un- 

 disturbed in South Lancashire about 1564 

 to the great indignation of the Protestant 

 Bishop of Durham ; Parker, Carres. (Par- 

 ker Soc.), 222. The metrical history of 

 the house of Stanley is attributed to him. 

 See Foster, Alumni Oxon. ; Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. 



