WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WIGAN 



Instituted Name Presented by 



Apl. 1569 . William Blackleach. B.A." . . . John Fleetwood . . 



8 Feb. 1 570-1 . Edward Fleetwood '^^ The Queen .... 



9 Oct. 1604 . Gerard Massie, D.D.^^ .... The King .... 

 21 Jan. 1615-16. John Bridgeman, D.D.**' .... „ .... 



c. 1643 . . . James Bradshaw, M.A.^^ . . . Parliamentary Comm'rs. 



1653 . . . Charles Hotham, M.A.^^ .... [Hotham Trustees] . 



1662 . . . George Hall, D.D." Sir O. Bridgeman . . 



1668 ,. . John Wilkins, D.D.«« Bridgeman Trustees . 



1673 . . . John Pearson, D.D.''* , „ 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. Bp. Stanley 

 res. W. Blackleach 

 d. E. Fleetwood 

 d. G. Massie 



[d. Bp. Bridgeman] 

 ejec. C. Hotham 

 d. Bp. Hall 

 d. Bp. Wilkins 



61 Church P. at Chester. First-fruits 

 paid 22 June 1569. 



63 Ches. Reg. (quoted by Canon Bridge- 

 man) J first-fruits paid 12 Feb. The 

 queen presented by reason of the minority 

 of Thomas Langton, and opportunity was 

 taken to place in this important rectory a 

 staunch adherent of the newly-established 

 religious system. Edward Fleetwood was 

 a younger son of Thomas Fleetwood of 

 the Vache, Buckinghamshire. He was 

 but a young man, and established a good 

 example by residing in his rectory ; he 

 was * the first beginner ' of monthly com- 

 munions at Wigan ; Bridgeman, op. cit. 

 235. He also caused forms to be placed 

 in the nave j they were made from the 

 timber of the rood-loft ; ibid, 272, He 

 instituted various suits for the recovery of 

 the revenues and rights of his church ; 

 Bridgeman, op. cit. 143-63. 



He took part in the persecution of 

 'Popish recusants,' and it is clear from 

 the letter printed in Bridgeman, 166-71, 

 as from his not wearing the surplice in 

 1589 (Visit. Bks.), and his joining in the 

 petition to Convocation in 1604., that he 

 was d Puritan ; he was indeed charged 

 with 'neglect and contempt' in not ob- 

 serving the forms of the Book of Common 

 Prayer, op. cit. 160 ; also Hist. MSS. Com, 

 Rep. xiv, App. iv, 597. A sympathizer 

 with the victims of his zeal 'could not 

 stay his pen from writing unto him to 

 commend him to leave ofF blaspheming 

 against this our Catholic faith or else he 

 would drink of Judas' sop,' and threw 

 the protest into the rector's pew j Bridge- 

 man, op. cit. 1 74. For some of the present- 

 ments made by Rector Fleetwood against 

 parishioners alleged to have received 

 priests, see Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 239, 

 240. 



63 On 21 June 1604 the benefice was 

 sequestered to preserve the fruits for the 

 next incumbent ; on 6 Oct. Brian Vin- 

 cent, B.D.jWas presented by John Sweet- 

 ing and William Hobbes, acting by demise 

 of Sir Thomas Langton ; but this grant 

 not being satisfactory, the Bishop of Ches- 

 ter referred the matter to the king, who 

 had presented Gerard Massie, B.D., as 

 early as 17 July; Bridgeman, op. cit. 

 179. The first-fruits were paid 23 Feb. 

 1604-5. See also Pal. of Lane. Plea 

 R. 296, m. 5, where it is stated that the 

 advowson was held by the fifth part of a 

 knight's fee. 



The new rector was son of William 

 Massie of Chester and Grafton, near 

 Malpas ; Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 

 706. He was educated at Brasenose Col- 

 lege, Oxford ; B.A. 1592 ; D.D. 1609 ; 

 Foster, Alumni Oxon, In 1 61 5 he was 

 nominated to the bishopric of Chester, 

 but died in London, 16 Jan. 1615-16, 

 before consecration j Bridgeman, op. cit. 

 180. 



64 Bridgeman, op. cit. 181-455, the 

 whole of pt. ii. The following is a brief 

 outline : — John son of Thomas Bridgeman 



was born at Exeter in 1577 5 educated at 

 Oriel College, Oxford, and Peterhouse, 

 Cambridge, being elected fellow of Magda- 

 lene in the latter university in 1599 ; he 

 also took degrees at Oxford ; D.D. at 

 Cambridge, 1612. He soon obtained pre- 

 ferment, and married ; having attracted 

 the attention of James I his advance was 

 rapid (pp. 181-6). At Wigan he recovered 

 many rights of the church, and thus greatly 

 increased the rectorial income (pp. 188- 

 262). In 1619 he was appointed Bishop 

 of Chester, retaining in commendam the 

 rectory of Wigan and the prebends he 

 held at Exeter and Lichfield (p. 236). 

 He compiled the valuable ' Wigan Leger' ; 

 caused the church to be repaired, procured 

 the erection of an organ (destroyed under 

 the Commonwealth), and made the seats 

 in the body of the church uniform ; with- 

 out interfering with claims to particular 

 sitting places, * he advised them to rank 

 the best in the highest seats, and so place 

 on the one side only men and on the 

 other side their wives in order ; and to 

 seclude children and servants from sitting 

 with their masters or mistresses ' (pp. 272, 

 273). Down to 1629 he usually resided 

 at Wigan (p. 333). In ecclesiastical 

 matters he was a somewhat strict disci- 

 plinarian, though not unduly harsh to the 

 Puritans. 



Adhering to the king at the outbreak 

 of the Civil War, he was ejected from the 

 bishopric and rectory and fined ^^3,000 by 

 the Parliament (pp. 437-40). He died at 

 his son Orlando's residence, Morton Hall, 

 near Oswestry, in Nov. 1652 (p. 440). 

 This son was made a judge on the Re- 

 storation, and was Lord Keeper from 

 1667 to 1672; the Earl of Bradford is his 

 descendant and heir. Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 



6» James Bradshaw, son of John Brad- 

 shaw of Darcy Lever, was educated at 

 Brasenose College, Oxford ; M.A. 1637 ; 

 Bridgeman, op. cit, 462 ; Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. He was placed in the rectory by 

 the Committee of Plundered Ministers 

 ' upon the delinquency of Dr. Bridgeman,' 

 but was never legally the rector 5 in 

 1650 he was described as 'a painful, able, 

 preaching minister,' but he had refused 

 to observe the last fast day ; Common- 

 •wealth Ck. Surv. 59 ; Plund. Mini, Accts. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 41. He 

 lost the benefice in 1653 because of the 

 legal rector's death, but was soon after- 

 wards appointed to Macclesfield, where 

 he remained till the Act of Uniformity 

 of 1662 was enforced j ibid. 470. After- 

 wards he ministered as a Nonconformist 

 in Lancashire. 



66 Charles Hotham was a son of Sir 

 John Hotham and ancestor of the present 

 Lord Hotham. He was educated at 

 Christ's College, Cambridge ; M.A. 1639 ; 

 fellow of Peterhouse, 1640-51, being de- 

 prived by Parliament. He was probably 

 presented by his father's trustees, after 

 the death of Bishop Bridgeman, and paid 



63 



his first-fruits 9 May 1653. Soon after 

 the restoration of Charles II John Burton 

 was presented to the rectory by the king, 

 Hotham being accused of heterodoxy ; 

 but on 8 October 1660 the latter was re- 

 instated, only to be ejected in 1662 on 

 refusal to comply with the Act of Uni- 

 formity ; Bridgeman, op. cit. 473-6 ; Dep. 

 Keeper's Rep. xliv, App. 34^ 68. He after- 

 wards resided in the Bermudas ; returned 

 to England and became a fellow of the 

 Royal Society ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 



67 Son of Dr. Joseph Hall, Bishop of 

 Norwich ; educated at Exeter College, 

 Oxford , of which he became fellow ; M.A. 

 1634 ; D.D. 1660. He was made Bishop 

 of Chester in 1662, and held the arch- 

 deaconry of Canterbury and the rectory of 

 Wigan in commendam. While he was rector 

 communion was administered at Wigan six 

 times a year. Bishop Hall died 23 Aug. 

 1668 from a wound inflicted by a knife 

 in his pocket when he chanced to fall in 

 his garden at Wigan. See Bridgeman, 

 op. cit. 485-96 J Foster, Alumni Oxon. i 

 Diet, Nat. Biog. 



An inventory of the church goods in 

 Apr. 1668 is printed by Canon Bridge- 

 man, op. cit. p. 551 ; the vestments con- 

 sisted of two surplices j there was a green 

 carpet cloth for the communion table j 

 the books included a copy of "Juell and 

 Hardin ,■ there were an hour-glass, a 

 great chesty and other miscellaneous ar- 

 ticles. 



6^ Son of Walter Wilkins of Oxford ; 

 educated there, graduating from Magdalen 

 Hall; M.A. 1634. He was made vicar 

 of Fawsley in 1637; conformed to the 

 Presbyterian discipline under the Com- 

 monwealth ; D.D. 1649 ; readily accepted 

 the Prayer Book on the Restoration and 

 rose rapidly, being made Bishop of Chester 

 in 1668, and receiving with it the rectory 

 of Wigan. As bishop he was extremely 

 lenient to the Nonconformists. He was 

 devoted to scientific studies, and was one 

 of the founders of the Royal Society in 

 1660. He died 19 Nov. 1672. See 

 Bridgeman, op, cit. 497-513; Foster, 

 Alumni Oxon. j Diet, Nat. Biog, 



69 Bishop Pearson, the most famous of 

 the modern rectors of Wigan, was the son 

 of Robert Pearson, archdeacon of Suffolk. 

 He was born in 161 3, educated at Queens' 

 and King's Colleges, Cambridge, becoming 

 fellow of the latter in 1634; M.A. 1639. 

 He retired into private life on the success 

 of the Parliament and devoted himself to 

 study and controversy, his Exposition of 

 the Creed first appearing in 1659. In 

 1662 he was made master of Trinity Col- 

 lege, Cambridge. In 1673 he was ap- 

 pointed Bishop of Chester and also rector 

 of Wigan. He resided part of the summer 

 at Wigan, employing three curates, two 

 being preachers and the third a reader in 

 deacon's orders. He died 16 July 1686 

 at Chester, and was buried In the cathedral. 

 See Bridgeman, op. cit. 513-64; Diet. 

 Nat. Biog, 



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