AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



KIRKHAM 



Instituted 



c. 1259 . . 



22 Aug. 1277 



c. 1286 . 



oc. 1331 . . . 

 oc. 1332-49 



c. 1350 . . . 



oc. 1357 . . . 

 28 Aug." i 362 



oc. 1394-1401 . 



28 Dec. 1418 . 



9 Sept. 1420 

 14 Mar. 1452-3 

 oc. 1504 . 



c. 1510 . . . 



c. 1542 . . . 



6 Sept. 1585 . 



17 Nov. 1591 . 

 20 Nov. 1 594 



1 8 Aug. 1598 . 

 22 Jan. 1627-8 . 



Name 



Mr. Henry de Gaunt 50 

 John de Kirkby 51 . . 

 John de Conisburgh 52 . 



The King 



Patron 



VICARS 



John de Ardern 53 . 

 Robert de Newton 54 . 

 William de Slaidburn 55 

 William de Bolton 5G . 

 Philip de Greenhul 57 . 

 Thomas de Hornby 58 . 

 Roger Diring 

 William Torfot 59 - 60 . 

 Mr. John Cottam 61 . 

 Edmund Lache 62 . . 

 Richard Davy 63 . . 

 Thomas Smith 64 . . 

 James Smith G5 . . . 

 James Smith 66 . . . 

 James Sharpies, M.A. 67 

 Nicholas Helme, M.A. (8 

 Arthur Greenacre, M.A. 6 

 John Gerard, M.A. 70 . 



Ab. of Vale Royal 

 Ab. of Vale Royal 



Ab. of Vale Royal 



John Smith 

 Christ Ch., Oxf. . 

 John Sharpies . 

 Cuthbert Sharpies . 

 Christ Ch., Oxf. . 



Cause of Vacancy 

 res. H. de Wingham 

 res. H. de Gaunt 



d. R. Diring 

 d. W. Torfot 

 d. J. Cottam 



d. Jas. Smith 



d. J. Sharpies 

 d. N. Helme 

 d. A. Greenacre 



50 Master Henry de Gaunt seems to 

 have succeeded Artaud at the Wardrobe ; 

 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 364. 



81 Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 227. The 

 king having obtained the advowson pre- 

 sented John de Kirkby, no doubt the 

 Bishop of Ely, 128690 ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 



M He occurs as rector in 1290, 1292 

 and 1297; De Banco R. 86, m. 214; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 91, told. ; Cal. Pat. 

 1292-1301, p. 237. He must have been 

 appointed before the appropriation of the 

 rectory to Vale Royal. 



a He attested a Freckleton deed in 

 1331 ; Kuerden MSS. iii, F 3. 



44 He attested deeds in Oct. 1332 and 

 in 1349; Dods. MSS. cliii, fol. 73 

 (J.P.E.) ; Kuerden MSS. iv, K 17. He 

 is named as vicar in a pleading in 1344 ; 

 Assize R. 143$, m. 43. In the arch- 

 deacon's claim for dues it was alleged that 

 the vicarage of Kirkham was twice vacant, 

 on account of the plague, between 8 Sept. 

 1349 and ii Jan. 1349-50 ; Engl. Hist. 

 Rev. v, 526. 



ss He was vicar early in 1354 ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Assize R. 3, m. ij. In 1357 he 

 was described as ' lately vicar ' ; ibid. 6, 

 m. 3 d. He was Dean of Amounderness 

 and appears to have been guilty of oppres- 

 sion in his office, securing a pardon some 

 time between 1354 and 1361 ; Dep. 

 Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 344. 



56 This name is given by Fishwick (op. 

 cit. 70) on the authority of ' the records 

 of the Thirty-men.' He may be identical 

 with Slaidburn. 



s7 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 387. 

 This and some later institutions are given 

 in Whitaker, Hist, of Richmondshire, ii, 437 

 (from Torre). Greenhill (or Greenhalgh) 

 was a monk of Vale RoyaL 



58 In 1394 Hornby (or Hernby) was 

 going across the seas and nominated 

 attorneys ; Towneley MS. CC (Chet. 

 Lib.), no. 392. His estate in the vicar- 

 age was ratified in 1399 ; Cal. Pat. 1399- 

 1401, p. 3. He was plaintiff in 1401 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. i, m. 5 d. 



69 -8 Raines MSS. xxii, 395. He was 

 a priest. 



61 Ibid, xxii, 397 ; he was a priest. He 

 is named in various charters, &c. ; Kuerden 

 fol. MS. p. 383 (1422) ; Kuerden MSS. 



iv, Ki7 (1427-8); PaL of Lane. Plea 

 R. 3, m. 28^ (1441) ; Fishwick, op. cit. 

 51 (1450-1). 



In 1448 it was ordered that he and 

 others should be put in prison till they 

 should pay ,200 to the Abbot of Vale 

 Royal; PaL of Lane. Plea R. n, m. 

 2oi. 



He seems to have had a son Peter in 

 1429 ; Kuerden MSS. iv, K 18. His 

 father was named William and his grand- 

 father was John Cottam. 



82 Raines MSS. xxii, 379. He was 

 vicar in 1458 ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), ii, 8 1. 



83 Kuerden MSS. iv, P 121, no. 74. 

 He founded a chantry or added to the 

 endowment of the old one. A Richard 

 Davy of Gonville Hall, Camb., became 

 M.A. in 1495-6 ; Grace Book B (Luard 

 Mem.), i, 82, 119. One of the name 

 was rector of Norton in Norfolk in 1535 ; 

 Valor Eccl. iii, 320. 



64 In a return compiled in 1527 Thomas 

 Smith is given as vicar for eighteen years 

 past, having been presented by the Abbot 

 and convent of Vale Royal ; his benefice 

 was worth ^40 a year ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. He occurs as 

 vicar in 1512; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. iv, no. 12. He was buried at Kirk- 

 ham 23 Oct. 1541 ; Fishwick, op. cit. 

 72, 122. 



William Stringer was ' parish priest ' 

 (curate-in-charge) in 1537; Wills (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 73. 



85 A Precipe was addressed to the Bishop 

 of Chester and James Smith, clerk, on 27 

 Mar. 1542, that they should permit Miles 

 Spencer and William Wright to present to 

 the vicarage, then vacant and in their 

 gift ; PaL of Lane. Writs Proton. (67, 34 

 Hen. VIII). From this it seems that 

 Smith was already in possession. His 

 name appears in the visitation lists of 

 1548, 1554 and 1562. He was buried at 

 Kirkham 1 1 July 1585 ; Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 73, 124. For church goods in 1552 

 see Chet. Misc. (new ser.), i, 4. 



86 Some of the institutions and notes 

 have been taken from Baines" Lanes. 

 (ed. Croston), v, 361-2, and Fishwick's 

 Kirkham, 73-87, where notices of the 

 different vicars will be found. The records 



in the Diocesan Registry, Chester, have 

 also been searched. 



John Smith of Stalmine Grange was 

 patron in virtue of a grant by William 

 Troutbeck, true patron ; Earwaker 

 MSS. 



67 Educated at St John's Coll., Camb., 

 of which he was scholar; M.A. 1591 ; 

 information of Mr. R. F. Scott. Buried 

 at Kirkham 21 Sept. 1594. 



68 The patron presented in virtue of a 

 grant from the Dean and Chapter of Christ 

 Church, Oxf., dated 8 Dec. 1591. 

 Nicholas Helme was educated at Brasenose 

 Coll., Oxf. ; M.A. 1585 ; Foster, 

 Alumni. A complaint to the Bishop of 

 Chester in 1598 (Visit. Papers) alleged 

 that Helme was supposed to have come 

 into the vicarage by simony, that he kept 

 another man's wife in his house under 

 suspicious circumstances, that he refused 

 to wear the surplice and 'administered 

 the wine as it came from the cellar, with- 

 out any prayers or reverence,' and that 

 he was ready to minister the sacrament 

 to a blind woman and another who 'had 

 beads in their hands ' ; Fishwick, op. cit. 

 75. The charges may have been malicious 

 merely, but Helme's death would render 

 inquiry unnecessary. He was buried .at 

 Kirkham, 16 July 1598. 



89 The patron was son of John Sharpies. 

 Greenacre was described as ' a preacher ' 

 in 1 6 10 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. 

 iv, 9. He died in 1627, and his widow 

 afterwards practised as a midwife, attesting 

 a monstrous birth in or about 1646 ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 79. The surname is 

 given as Gatacre. 



70 Act Bk. at Chester, 1579-1676, fol. 

 96. The institutions from this time have 

 been compared with those in the Institu- 

 tion Books, P.R.O. as printed in Lanes, 

 and Ches. Antiq. Notes. 



John Gerard compounded for first-fruits 

 23 Feb. 1627-8 ; Lanes, and Ches. Rec. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 412. He 

 appears to be the John Gerard of Christ 

 Church, Oxf. (M.A. 1615), who was 

 beneficed in Norfolk in 1630; Foster, 

 Alumni Oxon. He is said to have 'ex- 

 changed with Mr. Fleetwood, who passed 

 over to his son ' (son-in law) ; note in the 

 Reg. by Vicar Clegg. 



