LEYLAND HUNDRED 



The following have been rectors and vicars of the parish church : 



Rectors 



Name Presented by 



Sweyn ' . . 



Thomas Bussel ' . . . , 



William [de Meols] ' . . . . 

 Mr. William de Cruce Roys* . . Evesham Abbey 



John de Bohun ' 



Mr. Thomas de Astley ' , . , 



Instituted 

 c. 1190 . . 



OC. 1220 . . 



oc. 1246 . . 

 15 Jan. 1303-4 

 9 Nov. 1 308 

 21 June 1322 



22 Sept. 1 33 1 

 22 Sept. 1339 

 13 Oct. 1350 



27 May 1357 



27 Oct. 

 13 Sept. 



10 Mar. 

 1 6 Oct. 



16 Oct. 

 23 Jan. 



6 Nov. 



3 Nov. 



30 Apr. 



1 1 Sept. 



28 Apr. 



[IS 



17 June 

 II Feb. 



1369 



•39+ 

 1402- 

 1411 

 1433 

 HS7-' 

 1461 

 1463 

 1488 

 1494 

 1516 

 36] 

 1538 

 1562- 



VlCARS 



John le White ' Evesham Abbey 



Robert de Preston a/ias Woodward * „ 



John de Halsnead ' „ 



Adam Wylot de Meols "'.... „ 



Thomas de Aston _ 



3- 



John le Serjeant " Evesham Abbey 



John de Alston '^ „ 



John Weston " „ 



John Walton " 



Ralph Farington '^ „ 



Humphrey Farington '".... „ 



Thomas Awton (Cocks) "... „ 



Thurstan Shorrock" ,, 



Ralph Blacklache '* 



Seth Woodcock '" 



Edward Molyneux" „ 



Mr. Thomas Powell 



Charles Wainwright ^' - . . . . Evesham Abbey 



Thomas Buckley " T. Gwent . . 



LEYLAND 



Cause of Vacancy 



d. J. de Bohun 



exch. 



res. R. le Woodward 



d. J. de Halsnead 



d. T. de Aston 

 res. J. le Serjeant 

 d. last vicar 

 res. Mr. J. Weston 



res. R. Farington 

 d. H. Farington 

 res. T. Cocks 

 d. T. Shorrock 

 d. Ralph Blacklache 

 d. S. Woodcock 



res. T. Powell 

 d. C. Wainwright 



^ fVhdky Couchsr {Chei.SoQ.), iii, 853. 

 As he is called * chaplain ' only, he was, 

 perhaps, not the rector. 



* Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 115, 118, 

 charters of the early part of the reign of 

 Henry III. Thomas Bussel, />frjonijr;Kj of 

 Leyland, was one of the witnesses to an early 

 Cuerden charter ; Add. MS. 32109, fol. 9. 

 There were two rectors at that time, for 

 Thomas Bussel, son of Thomas rector of 

 a mediety of the church of Leyland, granted 

 to John son of Adam de Heskin a ridding 

 in Leyland called Antishaw, at the rent 

 of \2.d. ; Kuerden fol. MS. B, fol. 59. 

 Benedict son of the rector of Leyland 

 also occurs; Add. MS. 32109, fol. 12. 

 He gave an oxgang of land in Cuerden, In 

 free marriage with Alice his daughter, to 

 Grolamby de Clayton, whose son Robert 

 was plaintiff in 1292 ; Assize R. 408, m. 

 24'i. 



^ Ibid. 404, m. 9 d. ; also m Kuer- 

 den MSS. (Coll. of Arms), li, fol. 219 ; 

 Kuerden fol. MS. (Chet. Lib.), fol. 247. 

 He is probably the William de Meols who 

 occurs as rector of a mediety in 1261 j 

 Farington charter in Arch, yourn, 1875, 

 p. 480. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. i, fol. qb. 



^ Ibid. fol. 30; he was a priest, and 

 the rectory was * commended' to him for 

 lawful causes and the utility of the church, 

 he being presented according to the tenor 

 of the constitution of Gregory X, Poss'i- 

 denda. The reason of vacancy is not stated. 

 John de Bohun was already rector of Red- 

 marshall in Durham, and in 1 3 1 1 obtained 

 a dispensation from Clement V to retain 

 both ; CaU Papal Letters^ ii, 84. He 

 occurs as rector in a pleading of 1319 ; 

 De Banco R. 231, m. 163 d. 



In 1317 Robert de Asshehou was by the 

 king nominated to the rectory of Leyland, 

 no doubt in error; Cat. Pat, 1313-171 

 p. 648. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. il, fol, 99 ; a sub- 



deacon. In the following August he ob- 

 tained leave to be absent from his rectory 

 for two years while acting as advocate in 

 the Court of Arches ; ibid, ii, 7. In 1325 

 he obtained licence of three years* absence 

 for study ; ibid, ii, 5. He was a king's 

 clerk, and his name occurs a number of 

 times in the Cal, Papal Letten^ il, iii ; 

 he held canonrles at Lincoln, London, 

 Lichfield, Hereford, Exeter and Salisbury, 

 at different times, and was Archdeacon of 

 Middlesex i 3 3 2-3, Treasurer of St. Paul's 

 ^333) Le Neve, Fasti ; Cal. Pat. 1 3 24-7, 

 p, 88, He died In 1348 or 1349. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. ii, fol. 107^. He Is 

 described as 'of Baddesley,' and a chap- 

 lain. He exchanged Leyland for North 

 Meols. For an alienation of land In his 

 time see Coram Rege R, Trin.45 Edw. IH, 

 pt. ii, m. 24 d. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. fol. 113^; a priest. 

 He had been rector of North Meols since 

 1 3 14, 'Robert de Preston, called the 

 Woodward, rector of the church of North 

 Meols,' occurs in a deed of 1325; Harl. MS. 

 2042, fol. \o\b. As Robert le Woodward, 

 vicar of Leyland, he occurs in pleadings 

 from 1345 onwards; De Banco R. 344, 

 m. 470 d., &c, 



^ LIch.Epis. Reg. II,fol. 128; a chaplain. 



^'^ Ibid. fol. 134; a chaplain. He is 

 often called Adam de Meols simply, but 

 must be distinguished from his namesake, 

 the contemporary rector of North Meols, 

 He was still vicar at the beginning of 

 1368 ; Harl, MS, 2042, fol. 169^. 



Early in 1358 John de Ralnford, rector 

 of St, Clement's, Hastings, claimed from 

 Adam Wylot of North Meols, vicar of 

 Leyland, an account for the time during 

 which Adam was his bailiff at Hastings ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 6, m. 4 d. 



" Lich, Epis, Reg. iv, fol. 85, He 

 occurs as * chaplain of the church of Ley- 

 land ' in 1366 ; Add, MS. 32109, fol. 37, 



In his time Thomas, sor> of the vicar, 



occurs as plaintiff in a Leyland case ; he 

 may have been son of an earlier vicar; 

 De Banco R, 440, m, 377. 



^^ Lich. Epis. Reg. vi, fol. 59; chaplain. 

 He was still vicar in 1 399-1400 (Harl, 

 MS. 2112, fol. 121), and in Aug. 1401 ; 

 Add. MS. 32109, fol. 62. 



^3 Lich. Epis. Reg, vll, fol, 88*^ ; chap- 

 lain. He may be the John Weston, rector 

 of Iweley (Uley), B. Can. & Civ. Law, 

 to whom Boniface IX in 1402 granted a 

 dispensation to hold another benefice ; Cal. 

 Papal Letters, iv, 350 ; v, 504. 



1^ Lich. Epis. Reg. vli, fol. loib ; chap- 

 lain. He was still vicar in 14 19 jTowneley 

 MS. DD, no. 92. 



^^ Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 122 ; priest. 



^■^ Ibid, xl, fol. 43 ; chaplain. He agreed 

 to pay a pension of to marks yearly to the 

 retiring vicar, Ralph Farington ; Ibid, xi, 

 fol. 91, 



'' Ibid, xli, fol, 99/". 



^^ Ibid. fol. loi ; priest, 



'^ Ibid, fol, 121A; priest, 



20 Ibid, xiii, fol. 158 ; priest. 



^' Ibid, xiii-xlv, fol. 59/1 ; he was also 

 rector of Sefton, &c. He held Leyland till 

 his death, 1535 ; Valor Eccl. v, 232. 



^^ Lich, Epis. Reg. xiii-xlv, fol. 37, He 

 refused to appear at the visitation of 1559 

 (Gee, Elizabethan Clergy)y but his name 

 occurs in the visitation lists down to 1562, 

 in which year probably he died. The 

 * ornaments ' existing in 1 5 52, including a 

 Bible, are recorded in Church Goods (Chet. 

 Soc), 125, 



23 Raines MSS. (Chet, Lib,), xxii, 46, 

 from Chest, Dioc, Reg. Thomas Gwent 

 was the survivor of the trustees to whom 

 in 1538 the Abbot of Evesham had granted 

 the next presentation ; ibid. 26. Thomas 

 Buckley or Bulkeleypaid first-fruits 2 Mar. 

 1 562-3, and later In the year Is named as 

 vicar, 'lately instituted,' In the bishop's 

 visitation list ; Lanes. andChes, Recs. (Rec, 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 409, 



