A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 

 19 Mar. 1568-9 



7 >n. 1575-6. 



18 Feb. 1596-7 . 

 27 Mar. 1616 . 

 27 June 1626 



19 Oct. 1660 



24 July 1689 



30 July 1692 



9 Sept. 1725 . 



13 Sept. 1740 . 



18 May 1742 . 



24 Aug. 1764 . 



Name Presented by 



Christopher Thompson, M.A. " , . Thomas Handford . 



John Caldwell, M.A. ^ . , . . Earl of Derby . . 



John Ryder, M.A. '' 



Josiah Home '' The King . . . 



Charles Herle, M.A. " .... Sir Edward Stanley 



Thomas Jessop ^^ 



Richard Sherlock, D.D. ^ . . . . Earl of Derby . . 



Thomas Bennet, B.D.^^ .... John Bennet . . 



Hon. Henry Finch, M.A." . . . Earl of Derby . . 



Francis Annesley, LL.D. ®^ . . . Trustees .... 



Hon. John Stanley, M.A. ®^ . . . Charles Stanley 



Thomas Stanley, LL.D. «' . . . Earl of Derby . . 



Hon. John Stanley, M.A. ^® . . . „ . . 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. Bp. Stanley 

 (depr. or removal of 

 [ Chr. Thompson 



prom. Bp. Ryder 

 d. J. Home 



d. R. Sherlock 

 d. T. Bennet 

 res. H. Finch 

 d. F. Annesley 

 res. J, Stanley 

 d. T. Stanley 



compromise the hall and manor were given 

 to the rector, but the remainder continued 

 to be held by the Earl of Worcester, Sir 

 John and Dame Frances Fortescue, and 

 Petronilla Stanley, representatives of Sir 

 Thomas Stanley, -whose son, Sir Edward, 

 had left four daughters as co-heirs. It 

 continued to give trouble until its expiry 

 in 1662. See Beamont, M^inivick, 32, 

 37, 41, 56 ; also references in Lanes, and 

 Ches. Recs. ii, 263, 346, 



^' Church Papers at Chester Dioc. Reg. 

 Thomas Handford presented by grant of 

 the Earl of Derby. The new rector paid 

 his first-fruits 31 March 15695 Lanes, 

 and Ches. Rees. ii, 409. He afterwards 

 renounced Protestantism, went to Douay, 

 and being ordained priest, was sent on the 

 English mission in 1577; Knox, Douay 

 Diaries, 8, 25, 276. He was very soon 

 apprehended by the Earl of Derby 'as a 

 vagrant person and one suspected of some 

 lewd practices by reason of his passing to 

 and fro over the seas ' ; Acts of Priiry C. 

 ^577~^> P* 3°9' After suffering seven 

 years' imprisonment in the Marshalsea 

 and Tower he was sent into exile in 

 1585; Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc), i, 70; 

 ii, 228 ; Knox, op. cit. 288. 



58 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 52. 

 It appears that the Bishop of Chester 

 claimed the presentation, perhaps by lapse, 

 John Shireburne, B.D., being nominated 

 by him (see Brindle). The Earl of Derby's 

 nomination prevailed, and Caldwell paid 

 his first-fruits on 20 Feb. 1575-6 ; Lanes, 

 and Ches. Recs. ii, 410. He was also 

 rector of Mobberley ; Ormerod, Ches. 

 (ed. Helsby), i, 412,428. He was one 

 of the earl's chaplains, and a favourite 

 preacher ; Derby Household Bks. (Chet. 

 Soc), 132, 133. 



^^ Lanes, and Ches. Recs. ii, 411. He 

 was born at Carrington in Cheshire, and 

 educated at Jesus Coil. Oxf. ; M.A. 

 1583. He had a number of preferments 

 in England and Ireland, and does not 

 seem to have resided at Winwick, On 

 being made Bishop of Killaloe in 1613 

 he was allowed to hold Winwick * in 

 commendam ' ; but resigned it in 161 5 ; 

 Foster, Alumni Oxon. ; Diet, Nat. Biog. 



John Andrews, M.A., was presented by 

 the Earl of Worcester in 1609 ; Act 

 Bks. at Ches. 



^^ Lanes, and Ches. Recs. ii, 412 ; Pat. 

 13 Jas. I, pt. xxiii. The king presented 

 on the ground that the previous rector 

 had been appointed to a bishopric ; but 

 the claim was challenged, and Thomas 

 Bold, M.A., was presented by the Earl 

 of Worcester ; later still John Mere, a 

 prebendary of Chester, was presented. 

 Home, however, retained the rectory till 

 his death in 1626. There was a lecturer 



at Winwick, Mr. Golty, who paid £1 to 

 a subsidy in 1622 : Mtsc, (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 53, 65. 



^^ From this point the dates of institu- 

 tion have been taken from those in the 

 Inst. Bks. P.R.O. printed in Lanes, and 

 Ches. Antiq. Notes. Herle paid his first- 

 fruits 1 July 1628 ; Lanes, and Ches, Recs. 

 ii, 412. This, the most distinguished of 

 the modern rectors of Winwick, was born 

 at Prideaux Herle, in Cornwall ; educated 

 at Exeter Coll. Oxf.; M.A. 161 8 5 had 

 various preferments, and was chaplain to 

 the Countess of Derby ; was a zealous 

 Puritan, and became president of the 

 Westminster Assembly, 1643. He was 

 not resident at Winwick during the war, 

 but returned in 1650, and was buried at 

 Winwick in 1659. See Diet. Nat. Biog.^ 

 Fuller, Worthies ,■ Foster, Alumni Oxon. 

 For his conduct in 1 65 1 see Royalist 

 Comj}. Papers {Kcc. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 iii, 175. 



^^ As early as 20 June 1660 Dr. Sher- 

 lock petitioned for admission to the 

 rectory, stating that he had been pre- 

 sented by the true patron, whereas Mr. 

 Jessop had only *an illegal grant from 

 the commissioners of the pretended Great 

 Seal, after the interruption of the late 

 Parliament so called ; ' Hist. MSS. Com. 

 Rep. vii, App. 500. Mr. Jessop conformed, 

 and in Oct. 1662 became vicar of Cog- 

 geshall in Essex ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 

 Croston), iv, 359. 



^^ Dr. Sherlock was a kinsman of 

 Richard Sherlock, rector of Woodchurch, 

 Cheshire ; educated at Trinity Coll., Dub- 

 lin ; M.A. 1633 ; he was a zealous ad- 

 herent of the royalist party during the 

 Civil War, and employed by the Earl of 

 Derby in the Isle of Man. He published 

 various works, including Mercurius Chris- 

 tianus } the Practical Christian, in 16735 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. The 6th edition of the 

 Practical Christian, printed in 1713, con- 

 tains a portrait of Sherlock and a memoir 

 by Bishop Wilson. He did not obtain full 

 possession of Winwick for some time, 

 owing to the disputes with his predecessor. 

 He received a presentation or confirmation 

 of the rectory from the king in 1663 ; 

 Pat. I 5 Chas. II, pt. iv, no. 27. He con- 

 stantly resided on his benefice and em- 

 ployed three curates ; Beamont, ^Finivicky 

 61. His will is printed m TVills (Chet, 

 Soc. new sen), i, 173. The inventory 

 shows a hbrary valued at ^^64. The 

 funeral sermon, preached by his curate 

 Thomas Crane (see Newburgh in Lathom), 

 was printed ; N. and Q, (2nd Ser.), ii, 

 233- 



fi^ He was the son of John Bennet of 

 Abingdon, Cambridgeshire 5 educated at 

 University Coll. Oxf. ; M.A. 1681 ; B.D. 



128 



1689. He became master of the college 

 in 1690, and died there 12 May 1692; 

 Foster, Alumni Oxon. The patron for 

 this turn was probably the John Bennet 

 of Abingdon, who was one of the mem- 

 bers for Newton from 1691 to 1695, and 

 afterwards a master in Chancery ; Pink 

 and Beaven, Lanes. Farl. Representationf 

 284. 



^= A son of Sir Heneage Finch, Earl of 

 Nottingham. He was educated at Christ*8 

 Coll. Camb., of which he was fellow j 

 M.A. 1682. His brother Edward was for 

 a time rector of Wigan, Henry was in 

 1702 made Dean of York, but held Win- 

 wick also until 1725 ; Le Neve, Fasti, 

 iii, 127. 



^^ The patrons were the Earl of Angle- 

 sey and Francis Annesley, trustees of the 

 Hon. Henrietta Ashburnham, granddaugh- 

 ter and heir of William, ninth Earl of 

 Derby. Annesley was educated at Trinity 

 Coll. Dublin ; LL.D, 1725 ; married 

 Elizabeth Sutton, divorced 1725 5 and 

 secondly, Anne, daughter and co-heir of 

 Sir Robert Gayer, by whom he had a son 

 Arthur, ancestor of the present Viscount 

 Valentia ; Baines, op. cit. iv, 361. 



^7 The patron exercised his right ac- 

 cording to the wish of James, Earl of 

 Derby. The earl's will reads ; ' To the 

 same Charles Stanley (eldest son of 

 Thomas Stanley, of Cross Hall, deceased), 

 the first and next turn of presentation 

 and right of nomination to the rectory 

 of the parish church of Winwick, when- 

 soever vacant ; providing he instituted 

 the said Thomas Stanley (younger brother 

 of Charles) if of age and ordained ; if 

 not, then to appoint some other clerk 

 who should give security to resign the 

 said rectory when the said Thomas was 

 of age, if then ordained.' 



The new rector was a younger son of 

 Sir Edward Stanley of Bickerstaffe, who 

 became Earl of Derby in 1735 ; educated 

 at Sidney-Sussex Coll. Camb. of which he 

 became a fellow ; M.A. 1717. He held 

 many benefices — Liverpool, 1726 to 1740; 

 Winwick, 1740 to 1742, and 1764 to 

 1781 ; Bury, 1743 to 1778 ; Halsall, 

 1750 to 1757. For his character see 

 Beamont, op. cit. 67. He took Winwick 

 tilt his successor was ready. 



S8 Of Trinity Hall, Camb.; LL.B. 1744; 

 LL.D. 1757. Second son of Thomas 

 Stanley of Cross Hall, Lathom ; from 

 his son James descends the present owner. 

 This was the relation the late earl had 

 wished to appoint, but in 1735 he was at 

 Cambridge, and had not been ordained 

 when Dr. Annesley died ; Gregson, Frag- 

 ments (ed. Harland), 285. 



«5 He died 16 May 1781, and there is a 

 tablet to his memory in Winwick Church. 



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