A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



19 May 1421 . 



16 Sept. 1435 . 



I Aug. 1439 . 



oc. 1443 . . . 



II Aug. 1453 . 



3 Feb. 1475-6 



8 Jan. 

 24 Jan. 



1+77-8 

 1504-5 



526 

 20 July 1557 . 



17 Sept. 1594 . 



1607 . 

 23 Mar. 1623-4 



18 Aug. 1625 . 

 28 Oct. 1662 . 

 25 May 1683 . 



4 Oct. 1688 . 

 14 Mar. 1689-90 



\'lCARS 



Name Patron 



William Abraham' Syon Abbey . . . • 



John Occleshaw ^ ,, 



Richard Dalton ^ „ 



Thomas Tarleton ■* 



Christopher Holme ' Syon Abbey . . . . 



Roger Haslingden, B.D.^ ... , 



Thomas Mawdesley, D.D.' ... „ 



Robert Beconsaw, D.D.' ... „ 



Thomas Bond, B.D.' „ 



Thomas Leeming i" Ant. Bro\vne .... 



Rectors 



Robert Whittaicers" 



George Comey '- 



John Bartlett, M.A.'^ Bishop of Chester . . 



James Hyett, B.D." The King 



James Pillcington, B.D.'^ .... „ 



Charles Layfield, B.D.16 . . . . W. Layfield, &c. . . . 



John Ryley '' Chas. Layfield .... 



Robert Pickering, D.D.i» . . . C. Layfield & W.Haydock 



Cause of Vacancy 



res. J. Occleshaw 



d. T. Tarleton 



d. Chr. Holme 



d. R. Haslingden 



d. T. Mawdesley 



d. T. Bond 



d. R. Whittakers 

 d. G. Comey 



exp. J. Hyett 

 d. J. Pilkington 

 res. C. Layfield 

 d. J. Ryley 



^ Lich. Epia. Reg. ix, fol. 1 1 1 ; a chaplain, 



Thomas Tarleton, chaplain, was one 



of the executors of the will of William 



Abraham, late vicar of Croston, in 



1435-6 ; DeJ>. KeeperU Rep. xxxiii, App. 



36- 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 123 j a 

 deacon. 



^ Ibid. fol. 124A ; a priest. 



* Thomas Tarleton, as vicar, acknow- 

 ledged the reception of a relic of St. 

 Lawrence at Charley in March 1442-3 ; 

 Notiru Ceitr. ii, 355. On the other 

 hand Richard Dalton, vicar of Croston, 

 occurs in pleadings as late as 1448 j Pal. 

 of Lane, Plea R. 6, m. 2^ ; 1 1, m. -^b. 



An indenture of Tarleton's time as to 

 the tithes of Croston is in Lich. Epia. 

 Reg. X, fol. 37. 



^ Ibid, il, fol. 36 ; a chaplain. 



In 1467 Christopher Holme, vicar of 

 Croston, was among -those charged with 

 breaking the free warren of Thomas 

 Ashton in Croston and Mawdesley j Pul. 

 of Lane. Writs Proton, 7 Edw. IV. 



* Lich. Epis, Reg. xii, fol. 1 10, 



' Ibid, fol. \i\b. He was educated 

 at Cambridge ; Grace BoA A (Luard 

 Memorial), 86, &c. 



® Act Bks. at Chester. Robert Becon- 

 saw, D.D., was president of Queens' Coll., 

 Camb., almoner to Queen Catherine, 

 canon of Lincoln and Windsor, i&c^ and 

 as he died 21 Jan. 1525-6 may be iden- 

 tified with this vicar of Croston ; Cooper, 

 Athen. Cantab^ i, 33 ■ Le N'e\e, Fjsfi, ii, 

 loi ; iii, 391 ; L. and P. Hen. fllly i, 



3+87; 



Baines' i!.<Mci. (ed. Croston), iv, 125, 

 &c., gives full accounts of the modem 

 rectors. 



^ Mr. Thomas Buynde, vicar of Cros- 

 ton, is named in 1525-6; Exch. Aug. 

 Off". Misc. Bks. xixir, no. 82. In a 

 return made to the Crown in 1527 

 Thomas Bond, B.D., is stated to have 

 held the vicarage for two years, by 

 the presentation of the Abbess of Syon j 

 Duchy of Lane Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. 

 Bond appears as vicar in the f'alor and 

 the Visitation Lists of 1548 and i5-;4. 

 In a lease of the rectory by him and the 

 Abbess of Syon in 153S he undertook to 

 pay the * parish priest ' of Croston £^ as 

 usual, ani the sub-curate or chaplain of 

 Chorley 4 marks ; Raiaes MSS. (Chet. 

 Lib.), xjtv, p. lyi. 



" Church Papers and Act Bks. at 

 Chester. Leeming was made an acolyte 

 in 1542, and appears to have been curate 

 of Pcnwortham in 1554. He gave bond 

 as vicar 15 July 1557 (Raines MSS. 

 xxii, 34), and occurs m 1562 and later, 

 being there in 1571; and 1584. He re- 

 fused to appear at the Visitation of 1559 

 (Gee, E/izabefAan CUrgy)^ but must 

 have conformed to the new order sub- 

 sequently. The name of the patron is 

 given by Bishop Gaatrcll, Notitia^ ii, 357. 

 The vicar of Croston was *no preacher' 

 in I 590 ; S. P. Dom. Eliz. xxxi, no. 47. 



^' First-fruits were paid for the * rectory 

 and vicarage' on 23 Nov. 1594 j Lanes, 

 and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), ii, 411, where other such pay- 

 ments are recorded. The institutions are 

 printed in Lanes, and Ches. Ant'iq. Notesy 

 from the Institution Books, P.R.O. ; but 

 this * vicar' is miscalled Walter Whit- 

 takers. He was resident In 1598, but 

 had no curate, and ministered the com- 

 munion without any sen-ice ; Raines 

 MSS. xiii, 180, He was buried at 

 Croston 14 Dec. 1606. 



12 Firit-frmts paid 7 July 1607 for 

 'rectory and vicarage.* The vicar was 

 described as *a preacher' about 1610, 

 when the patron and farmer of the rectory 

 was Sir Edmund Huddleston ; llist, MSS, 

 Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, n. Mr. Char- 

 nock was * rector' in 1622 ; Misc. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 67, 



" The bishop collated by lapse to the 

 * rectory and vicarage * ; no payment of 

 first-fruits is recorded. See Gastrell, loc, 

 sup, cit. The Act Bks. at Chester give 

 ^5 1 May 1624 as the date of collation. 

 It appears that the king also presented 

 Bartlett, by reason of the outlawry of the 

 patron for that turn j Cal. S. P. Dom. 

 1 640-1, p. 340. 



" Act Bks. at Chester. The king 

 presented by lapse or resignation. First- 

 fruits paid 17 Feb. 1626—7 for' vicarage,* 

 but Hyett is styled 'rector' about 1624 -, 

 Mi:c. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 81. 

 The king in 1637 presented Dr. Edward 

 Morton by lapse, but this did not have 

 effect. Hyett had been vicar of Childwall, 

 and was a strong Puritan, taking part in 

 the establishment of the Presbyterian 

 discipline in 1646, and signing the 'Har- 

 monious Consent' in 1648. He was 

 deprived in 1662 under the Act of Uniiur- 



mity, and did not long survive, being 

 buried at Croston 8 Apr. 1663 without 

 the Prayer-book service, the new rector 

 protesting but giving way ; Newcome*s 

 Diary (Chet. Soc), 176. 



Hoolc became a separate parish in 1642. 



^^ He was instituted to the 'vicarage,' 

 and on 9 Jan. following Ralph Wittic 

 was instituted to 'rectory and vicarage* 

 on the king's presentation, John Kay 

 also was presented on 15 Dec. 16625 

 Pat. 14 Chas. II, pt. ii, no. 27. It was 

 alleged that Pilkington had committed 

 simony ; Loc. Gleanings Lanes, and Ches. 

 ii, 281. The first presentation must 

 have held good, for James Pilkington is 

 described as ' rector and vicar ' on 3 1 Jan. 

 1663-4 in the parish register, and was 

 buried as 'parson* on 25 Apr. 1683. He 

 purchased the advowson. He is said to 

 have been descended from the Pilkingtons 

 of Salford, but was son of William Pil- 

 kington of Wigan. He was educated 

 at St, John'a Coll., Camb., of which he 

 was a fellow; M.A. X657, B D, 1664, 

 and incorporated at Oxford j Foster, 

 Alumni Oxon. 



^^ Act Bks. at Chester. The patrons 

 were William Layfield, Robert Pickering 

 and William Haydock. He was educated 

 at St. John's Coll., Oxf, ; M.A. 1674, 

 D.D. 1 692 J and was rector of Wrotham 

 1677, Croston 1683, Buriton 1688 and 

 Chilbolton 1699-1715 ; Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. Dr, Layfield was a benefactor of 

 the parish. 



On 25 July 1683 Edmund Townley, 

 M.A., was instituted on the king's pre- 

 sentation (Act Bks. at Chester) by lapse 

 or simony, but Layfield retained the 

 benefice. He became prebendary of 

 Winchester in 1688 ; Le Neve, Fasti, 

 iii, 34. 



*^ John Lowe, B.A., was presented by 

 William Pilkington of Wigan on 2 July 

 1688, but nothing further is known of 

 him. 



John Ryley was probably of Jesus 

 Coil., Camb,; B.A. 1682. He was 

 'conformable' in 1689 ; Hisf.MSS. Com. 

 Rep. xiv, App. iv, 229. 



'^ He was also rector of Ecclestoa 

 (q,v.). He was deprived for simony, but 

 appears to have been restored, or may 

 have refuted the charge. No second 

 institution is recorded. He signed the 

 registers as rector in 1695 and later, 



