AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



ST. MICHAEL 

 ON-WYRE 



Instituted 



oc. 1322-60. 

 oc. 1367-88. 

 i Mar. 1390 



oc. 1428 . . . 

 5 June 1444 . 

 oc. 1451-2 . . 

 1 8 June 1463 . 

 oc. 1504-8 . . 

 oc. 1509-30. . 

 [IS32 

 1535 

 23 Sept. 1537 . 

 1 6 July 1549 . 

 27 June 1577 . 

 31 Dec. 1628) 



8 May 1629) ' 

 oc. 1651-2 . 

 1 6 Feb. 1658-9 



5 Mar. 1663-4 

 25 Feb. 1668-9 

 29 Feb. 1715-16 



Name 



William de Balderston 50 

 William de Hornby 61 . 

 Thomas de Herdwick a 



Richard Raby 63 . . . 

 Thomas Wainwright M . 



Peter 55 . . . 



William Houghton 46 . 

 Robert Richardson " . 

 John Preesall M . . . 

 Robert Hill .... 

 Christopher Gradell 59 . 

 Michael Thornborow M 

 Thomas Cross 61 

 Adam Wolfenden . . 



Nicholas Bray 61 . . 



Henry Jenny, M.A. 64 . 

 Nathaniel Baxter, M.A. 65 

 John Greenwood M . 

 Thomas Robinson, B.A. 67 

 Richard Crombleholme 68 



Patron 



Cause of Vaca 



ncy 



VICARS 



Battlefield Coll. 



d. R. Raby 



Battlefield Coll. 



Battlefield Coll. . 



Exors. Bp. Blythe. 



Battlefield Coll. . 



G. Kirkby, &c. . 



The Queen 

 ( William Johnson ) 

 \ The King ) 



Alex. Johnson . 



William Johnson 

 Thomas Clitherall 



d. J. Preesall 

 d. C. Gradell 

 d. M. Thornborow 

 d. T. Cross 



res. A. Wolfenden 



exp. N. Baxter 



d. T. Robinson 



50 He had a dispute as to the tithes of 

 Myerscough with the monks of Lancaster 

 in 1326 ; it was stated that he had carried 

 away the tithes for five years past ; Lane. 

 Ch. (Chet. Soc.), 453-5. He seems to 

 have been resident, as he occurs in local 

 deeds; in 1348, Towneley MS. C 8, 5 

 (Chet. Lib.), Edw. Ill, no. 10 ; in 1360, 

 Towneley MS. OO, no. 1565. The sur- 

 name is given as Balderston and Bolleron ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 6, m. 4 ; 7, 

 m. 6. 



51 Rector of Ribchester (q.v.) 1350-65. 

 He is named as rector of St. Michael's, 

 De Banco R. 426 (1367), m. 221 ; 440, 

 m. 33 ; 463 (1376), m. 67. He was 

 still rector in 1386 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. 

 xxxii, App. 3615. He was living in 1389, 

 receiver of the duke, and probably re- 

 tained the benefice till his death; ibid. 365. 



In 1383 Margaret daughter of William 

 son of Robert de Hornby called upon 

 William de Hornby, rector of St. Michael's, 

 and John de Hornby, rector of Tatham, to 

 hold to an agreement regarding lands in 

 Bentley, &c. ; De Banco R. 491, m. 574. 



M Fishwick, op. cit. 109, quoting reg. 

 of Richmond. He complained to the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury as Lord 

 Chancellor that Thomas de Urswick 

 held the church (which was in the king's 

 patronage) and would not allow him to 

 take the profits, disregarding the king's 

 order ; Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 16, no. 47. 

 The date must lie between 1392 and 

 1396 or 1407 and 1409. 



Thomas de Herdwick had a prebend in 

 Lincoln Cathedral, which he exchanged 

 for one at Lichfield in 1394. He died in 

 1411, and was buried in the latter 

 cathedral ; Le Neve, Fasti, i, 587 ; ii, 

 223. His executors in 1416 gave fine 

 for a writ ; Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iii, 85. 



58 He is named in local deeds ; Dods. 

 MSS. Ixii, fol. 90 ; cxlix, fol. 332 (quoted 

 by Fishwick) ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 

 178. 



54 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 373. 



8S Brockholes of Claughton D. 



56 Fishwick, op. cit. 1 1 o. He is named 

 as vicar in deeds from 1465 to 1478 ; 

 Kuerden fol. MS. 72, 37. He was vicar 

 in Dec. 1496; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 



(Chet. Lib.), 6204. Also in 1503; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 73. 



57 Kuerden MSS. iv, P 121, no. 74; 

 Fishwick, loc. cit. 



58 In a return of 1527 already cited 

 John Preesall (Presewe) is stated to have 

 been vicar for eighteen years ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. See 

 Fishwick, op. cit. in. 



49 The vicarage was vacant in 1532, 

 when William Knight, Archdeacon of 

 Richmond, Humphrey Thomas alias 

 Lashford, clerk, and Robert Hill, clerk, 

 were ordered to permit the executors of 

 Geoffrey (Blythe), Bishop of Lichfield, 

 to present ; Pal. of Lane. Writs Proton. 

 no. 46, 24 Hen. VIII. 



A grant of the presentation by the 

 master and brethren of the college led to 

 a dispute. It appears that they granted 

 the bishop the next presentation as early 

 as 1515, but on the vacancy presented 

 the above-named Robert Hill. Judgement 

 was in 1535 given in favour of the 

 executors and Christopher Gradell was 

 instituted. Hill was ordered to restore 

 half of the fruits of the vicarage which 

 he had received ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 

 158, m. 9. 



Gradell was vicar in 1 5 3 5 ; Valor Eccl. 

 v, 263. 



60 Mr. Earwaker's note from ' Ledger, 

 P- 33.' 



61 The patrons for the turn were George 

 Kirkby and Nicholas Lawrenson by grant 

 of John Hussey, Master of Battlefield 

 College ; Earwaker. Cross had been one 

 of the chantry priests. 



63 Earwaker. Wolfenden was curate 

 of Wigan in 1576 ; Pennant's Acct. Bk. 

 John Cottam as executor of Lawrence 

 Cottam claimed the right to present on 

 the ground of a further grant (1544) by 

 the college to the said Lawrence ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 241, m. 28. Robert 

 Worsley was joined in the defence with 

 the Bishop of Chester and Wolfenden. 



At the visitation in 1598 the chancel 

 was reported to be ' very ruinous,' and a 

 sequestration was ordered. 



The vicar was returned as ' no preacher ' 

 both in 1590 and 1610 ; S. P. Dom. Eliz. 

 xxxi, no. 47 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xir, 

 App. iv, 8. 



265 



Being above the age of eighty, and 

 having been vicar for fifty years and more, 

 he in 1628 resigned the vicarage, desiring 

 the bishop to institute Nicholas Bray ; 

 Ch. Papers at Chester Dice. Reg. 



For fuller accounts of the vicars see 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 113-25. 



63 The double presentation (a resigna- 

 tion intervening) was due to a doubt as 

 to Johnson's right. See Chester Act Bks. 

 1579-1676, fol. <)\b, 114^5 Inst. Bks. 

 P.R.O. as printed in Lanes, and Ches. 

 Antiq. Notes, i, 95, &c. 



Bray is said to have been a zealous 

 Independent; Fishwick, op. cit. 115. 

 St. Michael's was not recognized in the 

 Presbyterian Classis of 1646, and its 

 minister did not sign the ' Harmonious 

 Consent' of 1648. 



An anecdote of his hostility to Charles I 

 is given in Loc. Glean. Lanes, and Ches. 

 ii, 20. 



64 Plund. Mins. Accts. i, 106, 141. 



65 Ibid, ii, 288. He was educated at 

 Jesus Coll., Camb. ; M.A. 1660 ; and 

 was ordained at Manchester in 1659, 

 having obtained the vicarage through the 

 influence of Isaac Ambrose, vicar of 

 Garstang ; Manch. Classis (Chet. Soc.), 

 412 ; Newcome's Autobiog. and Diary. 

 Like Ambrose he was ejected in 1662, 

 and afterwards laboured as a Nonconfor- 

 mist minister at Beauchief Hall, Derby- 

 shire, and afterwards at Sheffield. He 

 died in 1697 ; Calamy, Nonconf. Mem. 

 (ed. Palmer), ii, 99-101. 



In 1660 Baxter secured the king's 

 patent for his vicarage, the patronage 

 apparently being still doubtful ; Pat. 12 

 Chas. II, pt. i, no. 82 ; Dep. Keeper's 

 Rep. xlvi. 



66 Nothing seems to be known of this 

 vicar. He was buried in the chancel of 

 the church on 6 Dec. 1668. 



67 Educated at Trinity Coll., Dublin ; 

 Visit. List at Chester. He was 'con- 

 formable* to the government in 1689; 

 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 229. 



68 The church papers at Chester Dioc. 

 Reg. record the institutions from this 

 time. As already stated, this vicar acquired 

 the patronage, in which he was succeeded 

 by his son Edward. The name is also 

 spelt Cromleholme. 



34 



