SALFORD HUNDRED 



BURY 



Institution 



oc. 1275 . . 



Name 



Patron 



14 Jan. 1318-19. 

 23 Dec. 1323 



12 Dec. 1331 



13 Mar. 1334-5 . 



17 May 1335 

 22 Oct. 1367 

 28 Aug. 1406 

 17 July 1442 

 9 May 1462 

 1 6 Feb. 1482-3 . 



19 Oct. 1507 



4 Feb. 1554-5 

 21 Aug. 1568 



Geoffrey" 



Roger de Freckleton * 3 



Richard de Radcliffe S4 Margery, lady of Bury 



Adam de Radcliffe 5 



John de Radcliffe w Margaret de Radcliffe . . 



Henry de Over " Henry s. of Sir Henry de 



Bury 



John de Radcliffe ts Henry de Bury . . . 



John de Pilkington 59 Sir Roger de Pilkington . 



Thomas de Hulton M Sir John de Pilkington . 



Roger Bradeley 31 



George Pilkington S2 Thos. Pilkington 



John Nabbs, B.Can.L. 33 . . , 



Richard Smith, LL.B. 34 . . 



Richard Jones, M.A. 3S . . . , 



Gowther Kenyon K 



John Shireburne, B.D." . . . 



Cause of Vacancy 



Sir T. Pilkington 

 f John Ireland . 

 \Thos. Stanley . 

 Hugh Jones . 

 Earl of Derby . 



res. R. de Freckleton 

 d. R. de Radcliffe 

 d. A. de Bury 

 res. John 



res. H. de Over 

 d. J. de Radcliffe 



d. R. Bradeley 

 d. G. Pilkington 



res. J. Nabbs 



d. last rector 

 d. R. Jones 



82 There was in 1275 a dispute as to 

 2 acres of land between Geoffrey, rector 

 of Bury, and Richard son of Robert, the 

 former claiming them as the free alms of 

 his church, and the latter as his lay fee ; 

 De Banco R. 7, m. 33. 



About the same time a Geoffrey de 

 Bury, not described as parson or clerk, 

 was witness to a grant to Stanlaw Abbey; 

 Wballey Coucber (Chet. Soc.), ii, 481. 



23 He was ordained deacon in 1311 on 

 the presentation of Siegrith, lady of Urms- 

 ton ; Lich. Epis. Reg. i, fol. 1 14,6. 



24 Ibid, i, fol. 86 ; he was a priest, 

 and exchanged the rectory of Radcliffe 

 for that of Bury. He took part in the 

 rebellion of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, 

 in 1322, being present with Robert de 

 Holland at Ravensdale after the king had 

 forbidden the assembly. He was fined 

 10 marks ; Coram Rege R. 254, m. 6 1 

 (where he is called Richard de Bury, 

 parson of the church of Bury). 



25 Lich. Epis. Reg. ii, fol. ioo&; he 

 was a clerk. He is no doubt the Adam 

 de Bury of the next presentation. Adam, 

 rector of Bury, was ordained subdeacon 

 in Sept. 1325, and priest a year later; 

 ibid, i, 150, 152. 



26 Ibid, ii, fol. 107^ ; a clerk. In 

 1334 John son of Robert de Radcliffe, 

 rector of Bury, was accused of mainten- 

 ance ; Coram Rege R. 8 Edw. Ill, 

 m. 3. He was among those charged 

 with complicity in the death of Sir Wil- 

 liam de Bradshagh ; Cal. Fat. 1330-4, 

 PP .498, 572. 



2 ' Lich. Epis. Reg. ii, fol. no ; a 

 priest. It is probable that John de Rad- 

 cliffe had failed to comply with the canons, 

 or had incurred censure through the pro- 

 ceedings mentioned in the last note, and 

 that he resigned, Henry de Over taking 

 his place for three months, so that he 

 might secure a fresh presentation. 



It should be noted that an Adam, par- 

 son of Bury, and Roger his brother are 

 named in 1337; Cal. Pat. 1334-8, p. 452. 



28 Lich. Epis. Reg. ii, fol. no; an 

 acolyte. John de Radcliffe, as a trustee, 

 is frequently mentioned. In 1343 he 

 was charged with trespasses against the 

 peace, including a part in the murder of 

 Adam de Lever at Liverpool ; Assize R. 

 430, m. i8d. ; Coram Rege R. 344, 

 m. 8 ; and two years later secured a 

 pardon by offering to go to Gascony, or 

 elsewhere, for a year at his own charges 

 on the king's service; Cal. Pat. 1343-5, 

 p. 53 1 ' He died on 22 Aug. 1367. His 



son John became lord of Chadderton, but 

 was illegitimate, the next-of-kin and 

 heir of John the rector being Ralph ton 

 of William de Radcliffe ; De Banco R. 

 426, m. 35 ; R. 435, m. 139. 



29 Lich. Epis. Reg. iv, fol. 83 ; a priest. 

 He was still rector in 1394, and perhaps 

 in 1402 ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 38. 



80 Lich. Epis. Reg. vii, fol. 95*; he 

 had only the first tonsure. A Thomas 

 de Hilton was prebendary of York in 

 1401 and 1404 ; Le Neve, Fasti, ill, 171, 

 224. 



Thomas de Hulton in 1427 agreed to 

 allow Thurstan de Langley, rector of 

 Prestwich, to receive all the tithes, mor- 

 tuaries, oblations, &c., within the town 

 of Tottington and Tottington Frith, ac- 

 cording to the sentence given in the 

 Court Christian at Warrington, before 

 Richard de Stanley, Archdeacon of Ches- 

 ter, or his official ; Agecroft D. 75. 



81 Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 126 ; a 

 priest. 



82 Ibid, xii, fol. ioo ; a priest. 

 George Pilkington, chaplain, was a 

 younger son of Robert Pilkington, and 

 was about 1462 a defendant with his 

 brothers, Thomas, Edmund, &c., in a 

 charge of robbery made by Peter Legh ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 24, m. 27 d. In 

 1481 George Pilkington, rector of Bury, 

 Robert Pilkington, late of Little Lever, 

 and others, were summoned to answer for 

 aiding and abetting divers felonies ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Writs Proton, file 22 Edw. IV b. 



83 Lich. Epis. Reg. xii, fol. 116 ; he is 

 called Master John Nebbe. 



34 Ibid, xiii-xiv, fol. 55. Richard 

 Smith appears to have been presented a 

 second time, on 21 Oct. 1507, by Sir 

 Henry Halsall and Sir John Ireland ; 

 Act Bks. at Chester. He held the rec- 

 tory for fifty years, appearing at the 

 bishop's visitation in 1554. In 1523 it 

 was reported to the Chancellor of the 

 Duchy that he had been presented by the 

 Earl of Derby, and that the rectory was 

 worth 40 marks. 



A few years later Richard Smith com- 

 plained that he had appointed a parish 

 clerk, but John Greenhalgh and others, 

 probably as claiming a voice in the nomi- 

 nation, had combined against the new 

 clerk and the rector. On the Sunday 

 before All Saints' Day 1526, they came 

 to church in the morning, 'making 

 semblance as though they had come to 

 hear there divine service,' but bearing 



125 



weapons concealed under their clothes. 

 The rector, having said his hours, went in 

 procession, the clerk preceding him with 

 the crucifix as usual, when the confede- 

 rates sprang up and attacked them, 

 snatching the crucifix from the clerk's 

 hands and casting it down, using them- 

 selves more like Jews and Paynims than 

 otherwise.' There was 'no mass nor 

 other divine service ' in church that Sun- 

 day. On Hallowmass itself the rector, 

 ' fearing to come abroad in the daylight, 

 came into the said church early in the 

 spring of the day, intending to have served 

 Almighty God as to him of duty did apper- 

 tain," but found John Greenhalgh and the 

 others lying in wait, and had to refrain 

 ' from saying of mass and other service.' 

 This seems to have gone on until the 

 following January ; Duchy Plead. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 151-3. 



In 1542 Smith was official of 

 Chester ; Duchy Plead, ii, 154. He built 

 a chapel on the north aisle of his church, 

 no doubt intending to found a chantry 

 there, but lived to see the spoliation of 

 these endowments and the restoration of 

 the old religion under Mary. Hugh 

 Watmough, rector in 1614, allowed 

 Roger Kay of Widdell to make a seat 

 in the north chapel, which chapel had 

 been erected by Richard Smith, formerly 

 rector, and repaired by his successors ; 

 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxxi, fol. 265. 



84 Act Bks. at Chester Dioc. Reg. 

 Hugh Jones presented by grant of the 

 Earl of Derby. The new rector paid 

 first-fruits I Oct. 1557 ; Lanes, and Ches. 

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

 409. He was probably one of the Jones 

 family of Middleton. His will, made in 

 1568, is printed in Piccope, Wills (Cher, 

 Soc.), ii, 223. To the curate, Sir Roger 

 Hodgkinson, he bequeathed, among other 

 goods, his surplice and 5. 



86 Church Papers at Chester Dioc. Reg. 

 Paid first-fruits 26 Nov. 1568 ; Lanes. 

 and Cbes. Rec. ii, 409. 



87 In 1572 there was a disputed pre- 

 sentation to the rectory. One John Shire- 

 burne, brother of Roger Shireburne of 

 Chipping, claimed to be admitted, but had 

 to submit to a searching examination. 

 He professed himself ' obedient to the 

 Queen's Majesty's proceedings in religion.' 

 He had been in the company of Sir John 

 Southworth. Though he had not preached 

 at Blackburn denouncing the ' nakedness of 

 the Church of England for want of cere- 

 monies,' he had extolled good works in a 



