A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



14 June 1729 



Z4 Sept. 1765 



2 Aug. 1768 



1 4 July 1784 

 19 Oct. 1789 



Mar. 1847 



15 Sept. 1885 



Name 



William Crombleholme 69 . 



Robert Oliver, M.A. 70 . . 

 Anthony Swainson, M.A. 71 



Charles Buck, M.A. 71 . . 



Hugh Hornby, M.A/ 1 . . 



William Hornby, M.A. 74 . 

 Phipps John Hornby, M.A. 74 



Patron 



Edw. Crombleholme 

 Richard Whitehead 







John Swainson . , 



Joseph Hornby . 



William Hornby . 



This list of clergy does not call for any comment, 

 though one or two of the early rectors were men of 

 eminence. The service of the parish church, chantries 

 and chapelries before the Reformation would require 

 a staff of at least five priests. The list of 1548 does 

 not seem to have been preserved, 76 but in 1554, and 

 again in 1562, three names are entered in the Bishop 

 of Chester's visitation list." Afterwards there were 

 apparently only the vicar at the parish church and the 

 curate at Woodplumpton. 78 Copp chapel was added 

 in 1723. A religious census was made in 175 5, when 

 the vicar and churchwardens recorded the 367 families 

 in the parish (apart from Woodplumpton) thus : 

 Church of England, 297 ; Protestant Dissenters or 

 Presbyterians, 26 ; Quakers, 3 ; Papists, 4i. 79 



There were two endowed chantries. One was 

 founded by John Boteler of Out Rawcliffe (d. 1534) 

 at the altar of St. Katharine in the north aisle of the 

 church. 80 The priest was to celebrate for the souls 

 of the founder ind others and to teach a grammar 

 school. The clear revenue at the confiscation in 

 1547-8 was 5 los. %d., derived from lands in 

 Great and Little Eccleston, Esprick and Staynall 

 Mill. 81 The other chantry, of the B.V. Mary, was 



Cause of Vacancy 



d. R. Crombleholme 

 d. W. Crombleholme 

 res. R. Oliver 

 d. A. Swainson 

 res. C. Buck 

 d. H. Hornby 

 res. W. Hornby 



founded by William Kirkby of Upper Rawcliffe, and 

 had an endowment of 4 i$s. io</. 8i A gift of 

 land in Great Sowerby, made by Thomas Urswick in 

 1423 for the support of a chaplain in the parish 

 church, 85 may have become merged in the general 

 endowment. 



The old grammar school was destroyed with the 

 chantry, and the next schools were not founded till 

 the beginning of the 1 8th century. 



Official inquiries as to the endowed 

 CHARITIES charities of the parish were made in 

 1824 and 1898, and the report of 

 the latter M contains also a reprint of the former 

 report. It appears that the gross income is 303 a 

 year, but 104 is devoted to the schools and 6j to 

 ecclesiastical purposes. It is singular that there are 

 no funds for apprenticing children and no almshouses. 

 For the whole parish there is an ancient bread 

 charity of 2 yearly, distributed after morning 

 service at the parish church on the second Sunday of 

 the month in ' cobs ' of bread. 



For the poor of Great Eccleston there are sums of 

 3 ijs. 6<t. from the benefactions of William 

 Gualter, 8 ' Jonathan Dobson 86 and William Fyld, 87 



Richard Crombleholme had been curate 

 of Hambleton 170617 (q.v.). For his 

 epitaph and will see Fishwick, op. cit. 

 73, 120. 



69 In 1730 there was ' communion four 

 times a year at least ' ; Visit. Ret. In 



. 1 742 the report was ' Lord's Supper six 

 times in the year ' ; ibid. 



70 Educated at Worcester and Merton 

 Colls., Oxf. ; M.A. 1734 ; Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. He was schoolmaster of Preston, 

 curate of St. George'* in that town, and 

 vicar of Warton. 



71 Educated at Worcester Coll., Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1767 ; Foster, Alumni. For an 

 account of him ee Hewitson, Our Country 

 Churches, 445. 



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

 M.A. 1781. Became curate of Warton 

 in KJrkham in 1789. 



73 Younger brother of the patron, from 

 whom he obtained the advowson. Hugh 

 Hornby was educated at Christ's Coll., 

 Camb. ; M.A. 1790. He was incumbent 

 of Whitworth near Rochdale 180429. 



74 He was the only son of the preceding 

 vicar, and was educated at Christ Church, 

 Oxf.; M.A. 1836. He was appointed 

 Hon. Canon of Manchester in 1850 and 

 Archdeacon of Lancaster in 1870. He 

 died 20 Dec. 1899. 



75 Archdeacon of Lancaster 1909. He 

 is a younger son of the late Archdeacon 

 Hornby ; educated at Balliol Coll., Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1879. He has afforded information 

 to the editors on several points. 



76 The record of church goods in 1552 is 

 printed by Fishwick op. cit. 63. 



77 Chester Dioc. Reg. One of the 

 three, Christopher Thompson, is noted as 

 extra ; see Chester Ordin. Bk. (Rec. Soc.), 

 1 08, and the account 



78 This was the case in 1622 ; Misc. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 689. 



79 Visit. Ret. 



80 The altar existed before the chantry 

 and St. Katharine's aisle is named in the 

 will of Alice Boteler, widow, 1504 ; she 

 left 2od. for the light burning there ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 55. 



81 Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc.), 217. 

 Neither of the chantries is mentioned in 

 the Valor Eccl. of 1535. William 

 Harrison wat the priest of the Boteler 

 chapel in 1548 and fifty-four years old. 

 There is a fuller account by Fishwick 

 loc. cit., it being shown that this chantry 

 was founded about 1528. 



In 1 548 the king allowed Thomas Cross 

 a pension of 4 1 31. loJ. in respect of the 

 late chantry ; Add. MS. 32106, no. 890. 



82 Raines, op. cit. 220. Thomas Cross 

 (afterwards vicar) was incumbent and 

 forty years of age. It was part of his 

 duty to ' assist the curate ' of the parish. 

 From the full account in Fishwick (op. 

 cit. 5862) it appears that this chantry 

 was founded before 1505, and that 

 William Richardson, Edmund Clarkson 

 (there in 1526) and Thomas Cross had 

 been the chantry priests. William 

 Kirkby, the reputed founder, died about 

 that time. 



88 Add. MS. 32106, fol. 309, no. 384. 

 Lord Derby's rental of 1522 (quoted 

 below) shows that 14$. was paid yearly. 



At an inquiry made in 1561 it was 

 stated that lands in Claughton called 

 Mickle and Little 'Tirlaweys' (Terle- 

 ways) of the yearly rent of 6j. had been 

 given by Dame Ellen Urswick (see Upper 

 Rawcliffe) to St. Michael's Church. The 

 tradition was that she had intended to 

 give them to Garstang, but someone had 



266 



remarked that it would be more meri- 

 torious to give to the other church, 

 ' because St. Michael must weigh her 

 soul,' and so she changed her mind ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Special Com. 33. 



The land was secured for the church 

 (see Ducatus Lane. [Rec. Com.], ii, 283), 

 and now yields 46 a year. It was 

 formerly the custom to have a dinner 

 for vicar and wardens out of the funds on 

 5 November, on which day a sermon 

 ' against popery ' was preached ; the rest 

 was applied to the church rate. The dinner 

 and sermon are things of the past, and 

 the net receipts are given to the church 

 expenses account ; End. Char. Rep. In 

 1796 it was ordered that the balance, 

 after paying for the dinner and a quart of 

 ale for each participant, should accumulate 

 for the purchase of an organ ; Porter, 

 Fylde, 465. 



84 Issued in 1899. 



85 By his will, dated 1748, he left two 

 messuages and a close called the Town 

 Field in Great Eccleston to support two 

 poor widows of the township. The sale 

 produced 58, which is now held by the 

 trustees of Copp School. The interest, 

 i igs. 6d. t is distributed by the clerk of 

 the parish council in money doles to 

 poor widows, the number not being 

 limited. 



86 Jonathan Dobson the elder about 

 1760 left 20 for the poor. This sum 

 also is held in part by the Copp School 

 trustees, but part was lost through the 

 failure of Pedder's Bank, Preston, and 

 1 8i. is paid as interest. It is distributed 

 in doles at the same time as Gualter' s 

 charity. 



87 By his will in 1719 he left a rent- 

 charge of 40;. a year on land called the 



