A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



6 Nov. 1565 . 

 9 SeP 1 - '573- 



Name 



William Wrightington 68 

 Richard Greenhall 68 , 



ii Jan. 1582-3 . Peter White 67 



1 6 Jan. 1644-5 



oc. 1650 . . 



oc. 1653 . . 



I Aug. 1662 



6 Oct. 1674 



6 Aug. 1714 



4 July 1726 



28 Nov. 1770 



28 Dec. 1 8 10 



13 July 1828 



6 Oct. 1835 

 21 June 1864 



Mar. 1869 

 10 June 1889 



7 Apr. 1907 



Robert Freckleton 68 . . 

 Peter White 69 . . . . 

 Thomas Rigby, M.A. 70 . 

 George Shaw 71 .... 

 Richard Harrison, B.A. 72 . 

 Timothy Hall, B.A. 73 . . 

 Robert Loxham, M.A. 74 . 

 Thomas Turner, B.A. 75 . 

 Nathaniel Hinde, M.A. 76 . 

 Charles Hesketh, M.A. 77 . 

 John Hull, M.A. 78 . . 

 Thomas Clark, M.A. 79 . . 

 William Richardson, M.A. 80 

 Thomas Hill Guest, M.A. 81 

 John Young, M.A. 82 . . 



Presented by 



John Fleetwood . . . 

 I Bridget and William 

 1 Fleetwood . . . 

 (Edward Fleetwood 

 t William Parson . . 

 John Browne .... 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. R. Cropper 



, x , , . , . 



W. Wrightington 



Bishop of Chester . . 

 Richard Fleetwood . 

 Edward Fleetwood 







Frances Hesketh . 

 Bold Fleetwood Hesketh 

 Peter Hesketh . . . . 

 Rev. C. Hesketh . 



Mrs. Hesketh . . . 

 C. H. Fleetwood-Hesketh 



d. G. Shaw 

 d. R. Harrison 

 d. T. Hall 

 d. R. Loxham 

 d. T. Turner 

 res. N. Hinde 

 res. C. Hesketh 

 res. J. Hull 

 d. T. Clark 

 d. W. Richardson 

 res. T. H. Guest 



The list of clergy contains nothing of note except 

 the long incumbency of Peter White, nearly seventy 

 years except for a very brief interval. Before the 

 Reformation there was no endowed chantry, 83 and 

 those at Staining and Carleton, of which there is early 

 mention, were probably not permanent. The Visita- 

 tion List of 1548 shows four clergy in addition to the 



vicar; one of them would serve Bispham. 84 In 15 54 

 there were the vicar and an assistant at Poulton and 

 another at Bispham, but in 1562 the vicar and the 

 curate at Bispham were the only clergy recorded. 

 This probably continued to be the regular staff till 

 recent times, the building of Marton Chapel, about 

 1750, leading the way to further changes. 



64 This and later institutions are from 

 the church papers in the Diocesan 

 Registry at Chester. Many of the par- 

 ticulars concerning these incumbents have 

 been derived from Fishwick, op. cit. 71 

 87, where biographies will be found. 



John Fleetwood presented by virtue of 

 a grant from Thomas Fleetwood ; Kuerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 267. William Wrightington 

 by his will 1573 made his brother John 

 his executor ; ibid. His family had land 

 in Shevington, &c. 



66 The patrons were Bridget Fleetwood 

 of the Vache, widow, and William Fleet- 

 wood her son. 



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

 gb. This vicar's name appears constantly 

 in the registers until about 1633. He 

 was a ' preacher,' but not resident in 

 1590 ; S.P. Dom. Eliz. xxxi, no. 47. He 

 was then or soon became a Puritan, for in 

 1604 it was reported that he did not wear 

 the surplice nor use the sign of the cross 

 in baptism. There was only one com- 

 munion in the year, and the chancel of 

 the church had fallen down ; Visit. Papers 

 at Chester Dioc. Reg. In 1610 the report 

 of him was 'a preacher but never 

 preacheth ' ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, 

 App. iv, 8. 



68 His institution and later ones are 

 recorded in the Institution Books, P.R.O., 

 and printed in Lanes, and Ches. Antij. 

 Notes, i, 95, &c. Freckleton was son-in- 

 law of Peter White and had charge of 

 Bispham. He was in Chester when the 

 city was taken by the Parliamentary 

 forces (Feb. 16456), and had his goods 

 seques:ered for his 'delinquency.' He 

 was pro tempore placed in charge of Back- 

 ford and received an augmentation from 

 the Committee of Plundered Ministers ; 

 Common-w. Ch. Sur-v. 218 ; Plund. Mins. 

 Accts. i, 20411. It is reasonable to sup- 

 pose that he was appointed to Poulton as 

 a relief to the vicar, not to supersede him. 



69 In 1650 the vicar was 'Mr. Peter 

 White, formerly an able and painful 



minister, but now very aged and infirm. 

 The cure was supplied by Mr. John 

 Brereley, who had no allowance ; the 

 parishioners desired he might have allow- 

 ance and encouragement ' ; Common-w. Ch. 

 Sur-v. 151. 



70 Educated at St. John's Coll., Camb.; 

 M.A. 1638, Fellow 1639 ; Mayor, 

 Admissions, i, 5 ; Baker, Hist, of St. John's 

 (ed. Mayor), i, 295. He was a son of 

 Alexander Rigby of Burgh and Layton, a 

 Cavalier. Thomas Rigby, who occurs at 

 Broughton-in-Furness in 16501, was 

 vicar before Nov. 1653, when a son f his 

 was baptized at Poulton. In 1660 it was 

 agreed that an additional sum of 30 

 should be paid to a 'godly and painful 

 minister ' at Poulton, approved by the 

 committee, and it was next ordered that 

 it be paid to Thomas Rigby ; Plund. Mins. 

 Accts. ii, 316. Soon after the Restoration 

 he went to Ireland and acquired bene- 

 fices and prebend there. For pedigree 

 see Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 244. 



71 An entry in the registers states that 

 ' Mr. George Shaw was presented vicar 

 and took quiet possession according to a 

 legal form the i6th day of December, 

 1661.' The presentation and institution 

 by the bishop in 1662 show there was 

 some defect in his title to Poulton. 



He was of Cockerham, son of Robert 

 Shaw, clerk ; and after two years at 

 Queen's Coll., Oxf., was admitted to St. 

 John's Coll., Camb., in July 1658 ; 

 Mayor, Admissions, i, 137. He married 

 a daughter of Sir Paul Fleetwood, and 

 sister of the then patron. 



73 Educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf. ; 

 B.A. 1668 ; Foster, Alumni. He was 

 'conformable' in 1689 ; Hist. MSS. Com. 

 Ref>. xiv, App. iv, 230. He enlarged the 

 vicarage-house. For pedigree see Misc. 

 Gen. et Her. iv, 1 1 8. 



73 Educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf. ; 

 B.A. 1703 ; Foster, op. cit. He adminis- 

 tered the holy sacriment seven times in 

 the year at least ; Visit. Ret. 1725. 



224 



74 Educated at Trinity Coll., Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1715 ; Foster, op. cit. He was 

 rector of Workington 1724-6. In 1749 

 he obtained another benefice, being pre- 

 sented to Poulton a second time. 



75 The actual nominators were Richard 

 Wilbraham Bootle of Lathom, Thomas 

 Hunt and Robert Moss ; with the con- 

 sent of Frances Hesketh, widow. 



Thomas Turner, described as formerly 

 curate of Bradford, was educated at St. 

 John's Coll., Camb., which he entered in 

 1743 ; R. F. Scott, Admissions, iii, 109, 

 538. 



' This vicar purchased the living, then 

 worth ^75 per annum, for the sum of 

 200 ' ; Thornber, Blackpool, 288. His 

 funeral is said to have been the last con- 

 ducted at night by torchlight ; on such 

 occasions each householder illuminated 

 his windows with candles ; ibid. 294. 



76 Educated at St. Mary Hall, Oxf. He 

 was vicar of Shifnal 181131, and rector 

 of Kingswinford 1814. 



77 Educated at Trin. Coll , Oxf. ; M.A. 

 1830. He was also incumbent of Bisp- 

 ham. In 1835 he became rector of North 

 Meols (q-v.). 



78 Educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1826. Hon. Canon of Manchester 

 1852. Presented to the rectory of Eagles- 

 cliffe, Durham, 1864. 



79 Educated at Queens' Coll., Camb. ; 

 M.A. 1829. Incumbent of Christ Church, 

 Preston, 1834-64. 



S() M.A. by Archbishop of Canterbury, 

 1859. He was rector of St. John's, Miles 

 Platting, 1852-69. 



bl Educated at Christ's Coll., Camb. ; 

 M.A. 1865. Rector of St. Mark's, 

 Hu'.me, 1871-89. 



** Educated at Christ's Coll., Camb. ; 

 M.A. 1904. 



83 A Thornton chantry is mentioned in 

 the i ^th century; Lanes. Inq.p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), ii, 25. 



84 These details are from the Visit. 

 Lists in Chester Dioc. Reg. 



