SALFORD HUNDRED 



PRESTWICH WITH 

 OLDHAM 



Institution Rector Patron Cause of Vacancy 



5 April 1525 . William Langley, M.A. 47 .... Rob. Langley . . . . d. T. Langley 



28 May 1552 . William Langley 58 W. Davenport . . . . d. W. Langley 



19 July 1569 . . William Langley, M.A. 69 .... James and Dorothy Ashton depr. W. Langley 



I o May 1 6 1 1 . John Langley, M.A. 60 James Ashton .... res. W. Langley 



26 Sept. 1632 . Isaac Allen, M.A. 61 Edm. Ashton .... d. J. Langley 



30 Oct. 1660. . Edward Kenyon, B.D. M .... .... d. I. Allen 



1668 . . . John Lake, D.D. 63 d. E. Kenyon 



19 Nov. 1685 . William Ashton, B.D. 64 .... Edward Ashton . . . res. Bp. Lake 



W Raines, Rectors of Prestwich (Chet. 

 Soc.), 29, quoting ' Reg. Blythe, Lichfield." 

 This William Langley was rector in 1534; 

 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 226. He was 

 the son of Robert Langley of Agecroft ; 

 Piccope, frills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 17. 



58 Raines, 30, quoting 'Reg. Brid. 

 Chester," where it is recited that Robert 

 Langley of Agecroft had in 1542 granted 

 the next presentation to William Daven- 

 port of Bramhall, Thomas Holt of Gristle- 

 hurst, and Geoffrey Shakerley, of whom 

 the first nominated. First-fruits were 

 paid on 8 June 1552 ; Lanes, and Ches. 

 Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 408, 

 where will be found dates of payment by 

 following rectors. Though at first William 

 Langley conformed to the religious 

 changes made by Elizabeth, he grew bolder 

 at length, and was deprived as a recusant 

 in 1569; Chet. Misc. (Chet. Soc.), v, 

 17-19, and below. 



He had a number of suits respecting 

 the property of his church, of which the 

 following short notes may be given here. 

 At Michaelmas 1555 he complained that 

 though the rectors had always been seised 

 of thirteen messuages, two barns, and 

 1 60 acres of land, meadow and pasture, in 

 Prestwich and Oldham, Sir Robert Lang- 

 ley had recently caused the tenants to pay 

 rents to him and had taken away the 

 tithe corn in Alkrington and Royton ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead, xxxix, L II ; and 

 again, xxxvi, L 6. A little later he com- 

 plained that Sir Robert had broken into 

 the tithe-barn at Cowleyshaw and seized 

 the corn therein ; ibid, xxxv, L 3. In 

 reply to a further complaint by the rector 

 the tenants in Oldham averred that the 

 lands claimed belong to Sir Robert, to 

 whom they had always paid their rents ; 

 ibid, xxxv, L4, and xxxix, L6. Sir Robert 

 Langley also appeared as plaintiff respect- 

 ing the two tithe-barns at Cowleyshaw in 

 Crompton ; the rector said the barn had 

 been erected on the waste about 1521, by 

 his uncle, William Langley, the preceding 

 rector, with the consent of the owners, 

 and had always been used for the tithe 

 corn ; ibid, xxxix, L 9, Liz; Depos. 

 Ixxv, L i . With respect to the lands in 

 Oldham the disputes went on after Sir 

 Robert's death, James Ashton and Dorothy 

 his wife being defendants ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Plead, xlix, L 5. Some of these 

 statements are printed in Duchy Plead, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 222, 249. 



59 Raines, loc. cit. quoting ' Reg. Down- 

 ham,' where it is stated that James 

 Ashton of Chadderton and Dorothy his 

 wife, daughter and co-heir of Sir Robert 

 Langley, presented. He was 'a preacher ;' 

 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App.iv, 1 1 . First- 

 fruits were paid 24 Aug. 1 569. Though or- 

 dained by Bishop Scott in 1558 (Ordin. Bk. 

 Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches. 109), he became 

 a zealous Protestant of the Genevan 

 school ; Chet. Misc. v, 19-27. He was 

 buried at Prestwich 14 Oct. 1613 ; and 

 his widow Anne, on 12 Jan. 1627-8. 



The autobiography of the son of his 

 curate in 1596 (who was a cousin) is 



printed in Chet. Misc. (Chet. Soc.), vi, 

 with introduction and notes by Canon 

 Raines. 



60 Raines, loc. cit. quoting * Reg. Lloyd." 

 First-fruits were paid 25 Oct. 1611. 



He contributed to the clergy subsidies 

 of 1620 and later; Misc. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 54, 66. He was 

 buried at Prestwich 16 Aug. 1632. 



61 Raines, loc. cit. quoting ' Reg. Bridge- 

 man.' First-fruits were paid 6 Oct. 1632. 



He was educated at Oxford Queen's 

 and Oriel Colleges graduating as M.A. 

 in 1618 ; Foster, Alumni. In 1622 he 

 married Anne, daughter of Richard Ashton 

 of Chadderton, and thus was connected 

 with the patron. His wife was buried at 

 Prestwich 17 Oct. 1634. He contributed 

 to various subsidies levied from the clergy; 

 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), i, 95, 



112. 



In politics he was Royalist, and objected 

 to the religious changes made by the 

 Parliament. His benefice was sequestered 

 in 1645. From the evidence given before 

 the committee it appears that he had dis- 

 suaded his parishioners from bearing arms 

 for the Parliament, had refused to allow 

 the bells of the church to be rung as a 

 signal for the people to assemble to resist 

 Lord Derby's attack on Manchester, 

 would not sign the Covenant, as being 

 against his oath of allegiance ; had objected 

 to the removal of the font, and defended 

 the ceremonies in the Book of Common 

 Prayer. It was fully admitted that his 

 life was unblamable and his doctrine 

 sound, that he faithfully discharged his 

 ministerial functions, and was ' indifferent ' 

 as to the best mode of church govern- 

 ment ; and that the majority of the 

 parishioners would prefer him to any other. 

 In June 1645 he had endeavoured to 

 secure a vote by the people as to whether 

 he or Mr. Furness should be rector, but 

 the churchwardens opposed. In December 

 the sequestration took effect, but 40 a 

 year was allowed for his maintenance. 

 His books and goods were also allowed 

 him. The document* are given fully in 

 Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 18-34. He took refuge at 

 Ripponden in Yorkshire, preaching to a 

 congregation which ' loved him well ' ; 

 O. Heywood, Diaries, iv, 7. In 1648 he 

 made an attempt to regain his church, but 

 was defeated. About 1650 he petitioned 

 for the removal of the sequestration, urging 

 that he had shown 'his good affection to 

 the Parliament ' by subscribing to its 

 funds, and had taken the Solemn League 

 and Covenant ; Manch. Classis, iii, 402-5. 

 The sequestration seems to have been re- 

 moved about 1653 ; he returned to Prest- 

 wich in 1656, and died there just before 

 the Restoration, being buried 2 Feb. 

 1659-60. Elizabeth, his widow, was 

 buried there on 7 April 1661. Some 

 further notes are given in Local Gleanings 

 Lanes, and Ches. i, 119. For pedigree see 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 2. 



The dates of institution from this time 

 have been compared with those in the 



73 



Institution Books, P.R.O. printed in 

 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Notes. 



62 Son of Roger Kenyon of Parkhead, 

 Whalley, educated at Manchester and St. 

 John's College, Cambridge ; fellow, 1653; 

 B.D. 1663 ; see Admissions St. John's C. i, 

 92. 



He was appointed before the Restora- 

 tion ; writing to his mother from London 

 on 4 May 1660, he says : 'The commis- 

 sioners having heard counsel on both 

 sides, were fully satisfied with my patron's 

 right, and proceeded to make trial of my 

 fitness for the ministry, and thereupon did 

 approve of me and give me the instru- 

 ment ' ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. 

 iv, 67. Another of his letters is printed, 

 ibid. 80. 



His connexions and training would put 

 him on the Presbyterian side, but he seemt 

 to have conformed readily to the restora- 

 ation of episcopacy and the Prayer-book 

 services, and held the rectory till his 

 death. He was buried at Prestwich, 

 1 8 July 1668. Tablets commemorate 

 him and his wife Anne, daughter of 

 Richard Holland of Heaton ; she died 

 23 Sept. 1706. 



88 Son of Thomas Lake, grocer, of 

 Halifax ; entered St. John's College, Cam- 

 bridge, in 1637, when thirteen years of 

 age ; D.D. (by royal mandate), 1661 ; Ad- 

 missions St. John's C. i, 38. Though a reso- 

 lute adherent of the king and episcopacy, 

 he accepted various charges during the 

 Commonwealth period, including those of 

 Prestwich and Oldham for a few years, 

 and the vicarage of Leeds in 1659. In 

 addition to Prestwich Dr. Lake had other 

 preferments, becoming Bishop of Sodor and 

 Man in 1682, and of Bristol in 1684, 

 when he resigned the rectory. Charles II 

 in 1682 granted letters patent allowing 

 the Bishop of Sodor and Man to hold in 

 commendam the rectory of Prestwich and 

 the prebend of Fridaythorp in York Min- 

 ster ; Lanes. Charters (Turner and Coxe), 

 7. The patron had expected him to resign 

 on appointment to Sodor and Man, but this 

 he refused to do for reasons given at length 

 in a letter to Roger Kenyon ; Hist. MSS. 

 Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 147 5 see also 153. 

 He did resign Carlton-in-Lindrick, being 

 succeeded by William Ashton, who also 

 followed him at Prestwich. 



Later as Bishop of Chichester he refused 

 to publish the Declaration of Indulgence by 

 James II, and was one of the famous seven 

 bishops sent to the Tower in 1688. On 

 the Revolution he refused the oaths to 

 William and Mary and was suspended, 

 but died in Aug. 1689, before the depriva- 

 tion he anticipated ; see Diet. Nat. Biog. 

 and a contemporary account in T. Baker's 

 Hist, of St. John's, Camb, (ed. Mayor), ii, 

 681-97. 



64 He was presented also by the king ; 

 Act Bks. at Chester. He was son of the 

 patron ; educated at St. John's College, 

 Cambridge, of which he was elected 

 fellow; B.D. 1684. He was also rector 

 of Carlton-in-Lindrick. His name does 

 not occur in the list of 'conformable 



10 



