A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



to 8 OJ. 3</. a year given in money. 100 Bryning- 

 with-Kellamergh has a special fund of 2 I zs. 6d. a 

 year 101 ; Freckleton, l $}. m ; Medlar- with- Wesham, 

 2 ios. m -, Ribby-with-Wrea, 2 I2s. 6d. w all 

 given in money ; Treales, Roseacre and Wharles, 

 13 los., which maybe distributed in several ways 105 ; 

 Warton, 3 15*. 8</. 106 ; Westby-with-Plumpton, 

 \os. Sd'. 107 both distributed in goods; Hambleton, 

 2 m ; Greenhalgh-with-Thistleton, 6 6s. m ; and 

 Little Eccleston-with-Larbreck, i icv. 110 all in 



money 

 lost. 111 



doles. Two or three charities have been 



KIRKHAM 

 Dom. Bk. ; Kirkeheim, 



1196; 

 Kirkham, 



Chicheham, 



Kirkeham, c. 1200; Kirkam, 1260 

 1271. 



This township, which contains the church, is com- 

 paratively central for the main portion of the parish. 

 It has an area of 857 acres, 1 and the population in 



1901 numbered 3,693. The surface is generally 

 level ; the highest ground is in the centre and at the 

 west end here 100 ft. above sea level is attained 

 and it slopes away to the north and east, forming 

 a slight valley, through which the boundary brook 

 flows. 



The principal road is that from Preston westwards ; 

 along it the town is built, as it descends from the 

 Mill Hill on the east, rises, falls and rises again to 

 the Willows at the west. A road branches south to 

 Freckleton, from the old market square, and another 

 north to the church. Further west is the road leading 

 to the railway station in Wesham. The market cross 

 was demolished about a hundred years ago. 1 



The town had in 1825 manufactures of sail-cloth 

 and cordage, and also of fine and coarse linen ; 

 and the cotton manufacture had been introduced. 8 

 This last has continued to expand, and affords em- 

 ployment to the majority of the people. 



The soil is boulder clay, sand and gravel, overlying 

 red marls. 



each for the poor. Land was purchased 

 and the bailiffs of the town have ad- 

 ministered the income sometimes irregu- 

 larly. Some of the land has been sold 

 and the proceeds, with accumulations, 

 are now represented by ,628 consols. 

 The gross income is ,27 14*.) and it 

 may be applied, under a scheme of the 

 Charity Commissioners made in 1898, 

 in various ways subscriptions in aid of 

 hospitals, provident clubs, &c. ; provision 

 of nurses, outfit on entering a trade, 

 supply of food, fuel, clothes, &c., or 

 money grants. 



100 Elizabeth Brown in 1739 left 

 40 on trust for poor widows. The 

 interest has been distributed in small 

 money gifts. The capital, now amount- 

 ing to 48 14*., has been paid over to 

 the official trustee. 



William Harrison's gift of ,140 for 

 Bibles and other religious books, for 

 poor people in Kirkham and Little 

 Eccleston-with-Larbreck, is now applied 

 to school prizes, &c. 



Mary Bradkirk in 1816 gave 100 for 

 five poor persons of Kirkham, members 

 of the Church of England and regular 

 attenders of the parish church. The 

 present income, 2 121. 6d. t is distri- 

 buted accordingly. 



A sum of 180, trust money of un- 

 known origin, was in 1892 invested for 

 the benefit of poor widows. The income 

 is ,5 31. 9</., which is given in small 

 lums to between fifty and sixty widows. 



101 This was a gift of the above-named 

 Mary Bradkirk. The income is divided 

 among five poor persons ; attendance at 

 Warton or Wrea Green Church is a 

 qualification, in accordance with recent 

 ecclesiastical arrangements. 



102 This sum appears to be due to 

 ancient gifts by Andrew Freckleton and 

 others, once charged upon the Marsh, 

 and to a rent-charge of ioj. on a close 

 called Swainson Butts. The former gift 

 it now provided for in this manner : 

 'There are 230^ cattle gates on Freckle- 

 ton Marsh, but in practice 231 are let 

 yearly, the rents received being paid into 

 the general fund . . . except that of the 

 odd half-gate, which is now paid to the 

 parish council. As it represents nothing 

 corporeal and only exists as a fiction for 

 the sake of this charity it is not assessed 

 for rates, &c., like the other cattle gatet.' 



The rent varies from time to time. The 

 doles are given on St. Thomas's Day and 

 vary from 6d. to 41. 6d. 



103 This charity was in existence in 

 1789. It is the income of two cattle- 

 gates on Freckleton Marsh purchased 

 with the original endowment said to have 

 been given by Thomas Thompson and 

 William Crookall. The money is dis- 

 tributed on St. Thomas's Day to about 

 forty poor persons. 



104 This is another of Mary Bradkirk's 

 benefactions, similar to that for Kirkham. 

 It is given to five poor persons in equal 

 shares. 



105 William Grimbaldston, M.D., in 

 1725 left ,300 for binding out poor chil- 

 dren of Treales as apprentices ; ,400 for 

 the master of Kirkham School, provided 

 he had been bred at Westminster, Win- 

 chester or Eton, or in default for appren- 

 ticing, as before ; ,50 for classics, for 

 Kirkham School ; ,500 for the saying 

 of daily prayers in Kirkham Church, or 

 in default for poor housekeepers born in 

 Treales ; ,50 for books for poor children 

 of the parish belonging to the Church of 

 England. The money was invested in 

 land, and, as there were few applications 

 for apprenticing, a school was founded in 

 Treales. The gift for daily prayers 

 remains as directed ; the rest of the 

 income is now devoted to Kirkham 

 Grammar School. 



Ellen and John Bolton m 16578, 

 James Porter and his brother in 1729 

 and others gave money for the poor which 

 was invested in a house and land at Cat- 

 forth in Woodplumpton. The rent, now 

 ,13, is administered under a scheme 

 made by the Charity Commissioners in 

 1899. The scheme, however, is prac- 

 tically disregarded, and the net income is 

 divided on St. Thomas's Day among poor 

 persons belonging to the hamlet of Treales. 

 Old 'charity money' of ^15, supposed 

 to be the gift of one Bridgett, is now 

 represented by 20 in Kirkham Savings 

 Bank. The income (ios.) is given in 

 doles of is. or n. 6d, to poor people of 

 Wharles. 



106 Mrs. Mary Southworth in 1870 

 bequeathed ,200 for the benefit of the 

 school and scholars of the Established 

 Church of England at Wharton. The 

 portion for the scholars is spent on clogs 

 for those who attend most regularly. 



I 5 



107 Anne Moor of Westby in 1805 left 

 the residue of her estate, 40, for the 

 school and the poor. The capital is now 

 invested in consols, and the poor's moiety, 

 formerly distributed in kind, seems for 

 many years to have been allowed to 

 accumulate. 



108 This was a rent-charge on Lent- 

 worth Hall and other lands made by Sir 

 Nicholas Shireburne in 1706. The 

 charge was in 1868 placed upon a farm in 

 Hambleton, and since its sale has been 

 paid by the purchasers of the different 

 portions. It is collected by the vicar and 

 churchwardens and distributed at Christ- 

 mas among about ten poor families. 



109 Mary Hankinson, a benefactor of 

 Esprick School, also bequeathed 200 in 

 1805 for the benefit of the poor of that 

 hamlet. In 1901-2 there were only two 

 poor persons in Esprick, and the money 

 was paid to them in monthly instalments. 



One Lawrenson, of date unknown, 

 left 20 to the poor of Greenhalgh. 

 This sum was invested in the highways, 

 but only 12 has been repaid; the 6s. 

 interest is divided among the two or three 

 poor persons in the hamlet. 



110 In 1697 William Gillow of Little 

 Eccleston charged a close called Porter's 

 Harlow with a rent of 10*. a year for the 

 poor of the township, and George 

 Gillow in 1720 added 201. a year from 

 the same land. The 301. continues to 

 be paid to the overseers, who distribute 

 it in doles of 41. to 7*. among poor widows 

 and others. 



111 For Kirkham generally and Freckle- 

 ton there was in 1824 a rent of 6s. due 

 to a gift of Elizabeth Clitherall in 1675, 

 and another rent of 271. of unknown 

 origin. This was given in money doles. 

 The rent-charges have long ceased to be 

 paid owing to disputes as to liability and 

 as to the lands charged. 



Mrs. Nightingale (before 1786) gave 

 ,10 for the poor of Hambleton. The 

 money was spent on paving a lane. 

 Interest was paid until 1885, when the 

 auditor disallowed it. It appears that 

 the jio would have been repaid to the 

 vicar and churchwardens as trustees, if 

 these wardens had not opposed it, fearing 

 loss of interest. 



1 Including 2 acres of inland water. 



* Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xx, 1 84. 



8 Baines, Dir. 1825, i, 655-6. 



