A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted Name 



1686 . . . Thomas Cartwright, D.D. ro . . . 



1689 . . . Nicholas Stratford, D.D 71 . . . 



Mar. 1706-7. Hon. Edward Finch, M. A." . . . 



30 April 1714 . Samuel Aldersey, M.A. 73 . . . . 



12 May 1741 . Roger Bridgeman, D.D. 74 . . . 



(3 J ul y) '75 shirle y Cotes, M.A. 75 . . . . 



27 Feb. 1776 . Guy Fairfax, M.A. 76 



30 July 1 790 . George Bridgeman 77 



4 Jan. 1833 . Sir Henry John Gunning, M.A 78 . 



17 Oct. 1864 Hon. George Thomas Orlando 



Bridgeman, M.A. 79 



24 Feb. 1896 . Roland George Matthew, M.A. 80 . 



Presented by 



Bridgeman Trustees 



Wm. Lord Digby . . 

 Sir H. Bridgeman . 

 Sir H. Bridgeman, &c. 

 Earl of Bradford . . 

 Bishop of Chester . . 



Earl of Bradford . 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. Bp. Pearson 

 d. Bp. Cartwright 

 d. Bp. Stratford 

 res. E. Finch 

 d. S. Aldersey 

 d. R. Bridgeman 

 d. S. Cotes 

 res. G. Fairfax 

 d. G. Bridgeman 

 res. Sir H. Gunning 



d G. T. O. Bridgeman 



The earlier rectors of Wigan, when presented by men of no distinction, whose only recommendation 

 the kings, were busy public officials, who probably was their family connexion. 



never saw the church from which they drew a small 

 addition to their incomes ; and when presented by 



The Vahr of 1535 does not record any chapelries 

 or chantries nor mention any clergy except the rector 



the hereditary patrons were, with few exceptions, and the Bradshagh chantry priest, but Upholland 



70 Thomas Cartwright was a grandson 

 of his namesake the famous Puritan of 

 Queen Elizabeth's days. His parents 

 were Presbyterians, and he was educated 

 at Queen's College, Oxford, while it was 

 under Puritan rule ; M.A. 1655. This 

 makes it the more noteworthy that he 

 ignored the laws in force and was ordained 

 in the year just mentioned according to 

 the Anglican form by Dr. Skinner, who 

 had been Bishop of Oxford, but was then 

 living in retirement. He took a benefice 

 under the existing rule, but as might be 

 expected, at once conformed on the Resto- 

 ration, and received various preferments. 

 He also secured the firm friendship of 

 the Duke of York, and was one of the 

 very few who thoroughly devoted them- 

 selves to his cause when he became king. 

 He was made Bishop of Chester and also 

 rector of Wigan in 1686, and retired to 

 Ireland with the king, dying in Dublin 

 15 Apr. 1689. His diary, printed by the 

 Camden Society, contains many particulars 

 of local interest. 



See Bridgeman, op. cit. 564-78 ; Fos- 

 ter, Alumni Oxon. ; Diet. Nat. Biog. ; 

 Chester Arch. Soc. Trans, (new ser.), iv, 



1-33- 



7 1 He was the son of a tradesman at 

 Hemel Hempstead ; educated at Trinity 

 College, Oxford ; M.A. and fellow 1656 ; 

 D.D. 1673 ; warden of Manchester 

 1667-84 ; dean of St. Asaph 1674 ; noted 

 for his tolerance of Dissenters ; Bishop of 

 Chester and rector of Wigan, 1689, being 

 jne of the first bishops nominated by 

 William III. He resided at Wigan oc- 

 casionally, and rebuilt the parsonage 

 house in 1695. See Bridgeman, op. cit. 

 578-601 ; Foster, Alumni Oxon. } Diet. 

 Nat. Biog. 



7* The bishopric of Chester was at this 

 time kept vacant for a year, while the 

 rectory of Wigan was filled by the appoint- 

 ment of the Hon. Edward Finch, a son of 

 the first Earl of Nottingham, and a brother 

 of Henry Finch, dean of York and rector 

 of Winwick. He was educated at Christ's 

 College, Cambridge, of which he was a 

 fellow ; M.A. 1679. He represented his 

 university in the Parliament of 1690 ; Le 

 Neve, Fasti, iii, 650. The patrons were 

 Sir John Bridgeman, the Bishop of Lon- 

 don, Lord Digby, and John and Orlando 

 Bridgeman. The old organ, situated in a 

 gallery in or near the arch between the 

 nave and chancel ' between the two 

 hollow pillars which divide the new and 



old chancel,' was the phrase used had 

 been pulled down in the Commonwealth 

 period, and in its place the mayor and 

 corporation had in 1680 made themselves 

 a pew. This was pulled down in 1709 

 and a new organ erected, the rector 

 being himself a musician ; while the rents 

 from the west end gallery, originally in- 

 tended for the singers, were appropriated 

 to the organist's salary. Members of the 

 corporation did not take kindly to this 

 ejection from their gallery, and it was 

 probably owing to the ill-feeling and dis- 

 putes thus engendered that Rector Finch 

 resigned in 1713, apparently before the 

 new organ had been brought into use. 

 He died at York, where he had a canonry, 

 in 1738. See Bridgeman, op. cit. 601-13 ; 

 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 447 ; 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; Le Neve, Fasti, iii, 223 ; 

 i, 48. 



" 8 He was the second son and eventual 

 heir of Thomas Aldersey of Aldersey ; was 

 born in 1673, educated at Brasenose Col- 

 lege, Oxford ; M.A. 1700. He no doubt 

 owed this promotion to his marriage with 

 Henrietta, daughter of Dean Bridgeman of 

 Chester ; Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 

 740. He appears to have resided at 

 Wigan. Among the improvements in the 

 church during his incumbency were the 

 recasting of the bells, including ' the little 

 bell called the Catherine bell,' a new 

 clock, ' repairing the curtains at the altar,' 

 a new gallery, &c. At other times (e.g. 

 p. 658) 'a small bell called the Ting- 

 tang' is named. The dispute as to the 

 corporation seat was settled by assign- 

 ing them the western gallery. See Bridge- 

 man, op. cit. 614-28 ; Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. 



7* He was a son of Sir John Bridgeman ; 

 educated at Oriel College, Oxford, of which 

 he became fellow; M.A. 1725; D.D. 



1736. He held several benefices, and was 

 appointed vicar of Bolton in 1737. He 

 appears to have resided at Wigan from 

 time to time. He died unmarried in June 

 1750. See Bridgeman, op. cit. 628-34 ; 

 Foster, Alumni Oxon. 



75 Lord Digby was the only surviving 

 trustee. 



The new rector was a son of John 

 Cotes of Woodcote in Shropshire, &c. ; 

 educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford ; M.A. 



1737. He appears to have resided at 

 Wigan until the last years of his life. He 

 died at Woodcote, n Dec. 1775. His 

 eldest son John was member for Wigan 



64 



from 1782 to 1802. See Bridgeman, op. 

 cit. 635-8 ; Foster, Alumni Oxon. 



' 6 Guy Fairfax, a son of Thomas Fair- 

 fax of Newton Kyme, and a cousin of 

 Lady Bridgeman, was educated at Christ 

 Church, Oxford ; M.A. 1759. A new 

 church, St. George's, was built in 1781. 

 It appears that the 'prayer bell' was 

 rung twice a day on week days. Mr. 

 Fairfax resided at Wigan during his 

 tenure of the rectory, which he resigned 

 for Newton Kyme in 1790. See Bridge- 

 man, op. cit. 638-40 ; Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. 



77 The other patrons were Richard 

 Hopkins and John Heaton. The new 

 rector was a son of Sir Henry Bridgeman, 

 who in 1794 was created Lord Bradford. 

 He was educated at Queens' College, Cam- 

 bridge ; M.A. 1790. He also became 

 rector of Weston under Lizard and of 

 Plemstall. He died 27 Oct. 1832. See 

 Bridgeman, op. cit. 640-59. 



7 8 H. J. Gunning was a younger son 

 of Sir George W. Gunning, bart., and a 

 nephew of the patron. He was educated 

 at Balliol College, Oxford; M.A. 1822. 

 On the death of his brother Sir Robert 

 in 1862, he succeeded to the baronetcy. 

 The parish church was restored during 

 his tenure of the rectory; and in 1837 

 he obtained an Act of Parliament en- 

 abling the rector of Wigan to grant min- 

 ing leases for working the coal under 

 the glebe. In 1860 with the consent 

 of the patron he sold the manorial rights 

 to the mayor and corporation. See 

 Bridgeman, op. cit. 659-73 ; Foster, 

 Alumni Oxon. 



7* The new rector, a son of the second 

 Earl of Bradford, was collated by the 

 Bishop of Chester, to whom the right had 

 lapsed. He was educated at Trinity Col- 

 lege, Cambridge; M.A. 1845; ordained 

 in 1849, an d ne ^ various preferments. 

 He was chaplain to Queen Victoria, rural 

 dean of Wigan, hon. canon of Chester and 

 then^ of Liverpool. He procured the 

 passing of the Wigan Glebe Act, 1871, 

 enabling him to rebuild the rectory, much 

 shaken by coal-mining, and to sell part of 

 the glebe. Canon Bridgeman died in 

 1896. See his work, already cited, 



673-83. 



80 Son of David Matthew of London ; 

 scholar of Wadham College, Oxford ; 

 M.A. 1877; vicar of St. Michael and 

 All Angels', Wigan, 1881 ; hon. canon 

 of Liverpool, 1904. 



