A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



benevolence of l.ii auditory and the inhabitants 

 there.'' The registers begin in 1670. Bishop 

 G.istrell about 1720 found that the income \va3 

 j(^22 13/., of which £zo was paid by the rector 

 of Croston,- who appointed the curate in charge. 

 The chapel in 1793 became a parish church, 

 endowed with the tithes of Rufford and Ulnes 

 W.dton, though the latter township remains within 

 Croston. The rector of Rufford was to pay a fifth 

 part of the rent of £^\^ \\s. \d. payable to the 

 Crown by the rector of Croston. The patronage and 

 the benefice were given by the Rev. Robert Master, 

 patron and rector of Croston, to his son Edward, 

 who in 1 8 1 8 sold the advow=on to the trustees of 

 Le Gendre Starkie of Huntroyd,' and it has since 

 descended with this estate, Mr. E. A. Le Gendre 

 Starkie being the patron. 



The following have been among the curates and 

 rectors : — 



oc. 1610-19 Lawrence Bradshaw * 

 oc. 1632 Thomas Kirkham ^ 



oc. 1650 — Woods'' 



oc. 1 67 1 Thomas Thompson' 



oc. 1674 James Thompson 



1676 Richard Croston, B.A. (Emmanuel 



Coll., Camb.) 

 1684 Edward Atherton ' 



1706 John Wright, B.A.' 



1734 John Gray, B.A. 



1752 Thomas Barker, M.A. (Fellow of 



Brascnose Coll., Oxf ) 

 '75 7 John Kynaston, M.A. (Fellow of 



Brasenose Coll., Oxf) 

 Samuel Smith "* 

 William Ion 



175S 

 1790 



179S 



1835 



1S43 



1868 

 1905 



Rectors 



1793 Robert Master, D.D. (rector of 



Croston) 



Edward Master, B.A." (Balliol 



Coll., Oxf) 

 Edward Moorhouse Hall, M.A.'- 



(Lincoln Coll., Oxf) 

 Thomas Foster Chamberlain, M.A." 



(Christ's Coll., Camb.) 

 James Frederick Hogg-Goggin '^ 

 William George Procter, B.A." 

 (Queens' Coll., Camb.) ; d. 191 I. 

 The Wesleyan Methodists have had a chapel since 

 1813. They have also another at Holmes Wood. 



The school founded by Thomas Hesketh in 1523 

 was destroyed with the chantries. Another was 

 built in 1712."^ 



This parish had formerly some 

 CHARITIES special benefactions, but they have 

 been lost.'' It shares in the Lathom, 

 Layfield and Crooke and Master charities, accounts 

 of which are given in the history of Croston.'" 

 A board \vith a list of benefactors has recently been 

 found by the rector and again set up. It reads : — 



'The names of the several donors, together with 

 each respective donation to the chapel, school and 

 the poor of Rufford : — 



James Hesketh in part of the £ s. d. 

 Creed, the Lord's Pr.iyer, and 

 Decalogue, with the King's Arms 10 o o 

 Oliver Tittrington in part of the 



Chandelier 

 Jennet Hesketh to the Chapel 

 Thos. Baldwin to the School 

 Robert Turner „ „ 



Jennet Hesketh ,, „ 



Thos. Baldwin to the Poor 

 Richard Berrey ,, ,, 



As there is a reference to the king's arms (dated 

 1763) the board cannot have been erected before 

 that year. 



' Commoniv. Ch, Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iio. It was then 

 recommended th.it Rufford be made a 

 separate parish, and some steps were taken 

 towards that end ; PlunJ, Mir.s. Acca. 

 (Rcc. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 262. 



- Soiitij Ccitr. (Chet. Soc), il, 366-8, 

 Part of the stipend was ^^i 141. 6J. 

 received from the duchy (said to be 

 £1 21. zd. in 1588). It is added that in 

 I 664., upon the petition of the inhabitant^, 

 it was ordered that the rector should pay 

 the curate ^25 a year as former possess- 

 ors of the tithes had done, and that the 

 bishop should appoint a curate in case 

 the rector neglected to do so within a 

 month of a vacancy. 



A grant of ;^200 was obtained from 

 Queen Anne's Bounty in 1720 to aug- 

 ment a similar amount from Thomas 

 Heiketh. 



^ Ibid, notes bv Canon Raines. 



■* Note by Mr. Earwaker ; and see 

 text above. 



5 Ibid. 



^ Cotnmon'w. Ch. Sur-v. ITO; he was 

 *a godly minister, we'.l qualiiied and con- 

 farmable to the state and government.* 



' Visitation list at Chester. 



^ Ibid. His will was proved in 1705. 



He was 'conformable' in 1689; fli.r. 

 MSS. Com. Ref>. xiv, App. i\, 230. 



'^ These names arc from the papers in 

 the Diocesan registry at Chester. From 

 1-0- to 1727 occurs the name of Henry 

 Walker as officiating. 



'" Buried at Ormskirk 30 Oct. 1789, 



" From a return made to the Bishop 

 of Chester in 1S21 it appears that the 

 rector then lived at Tarleton, but had a 

 curate. There were services on Sunday 

 morning and afternoon, and sermons were 

 promised on both occasions j the sacra- 

 ment was administered once a quarter, 

 also on Easter Sunday and Good Friday. 

 The plate consisted of a cup and flagon, 

 and there were two surplices. 



EJward Master was buried at Croston 

 23 July i834._ 



^- He was incumbent of Corringham 

 and Idle 1830-57, and did not reside at 

 Rufford. He and his successor were 

 nominated by the Crown by reason of 

 the lunacy of Le Gendre Pierce Starkie. 



*^ Hon. Canon of Manchester 1859, 

 afterwards vicar of Great Limber. 



^^ Previously rector of Luckington, 

 Wilts. 1863-7. ^r* Goggin assumed the 

 additional surname of Hogg in 1884. 



^^ Previously vicar of St, Cuthbert's, 



Darw:-n. The editors owe him their 

 thanks for many particulars in the pre- 

 ceding account. *^ Nod.'ia Ceilr. ii, 36-. 



"" An official inquiry was made in 

 1 899 J the report includes a reprint of 

 that of 1826. 



Thomas Baldwin and others gave sums 

 amounting to ^34 loj., the interest of 

 which was before 1816 paid by the over- 

 seers to the school j but in that year a 

 new school was built by Sir Thomas 

 liu-^keth and maintained by him, so that 

 the payment out of the rates was dis- 

 continued. 



Thomas Baldwin and Richard Berry 

 had given ^20 each for the fuor, and 

 40J. as interest had been paid out of the 

 rates till about 1815, but discontinued. 



*^ The share of the Lathom charity 

 now received by Rufford amounts to 

 ^78 5j. lod.f and is distributed chiefly 

 in clothing, blankets and coaL 



From Dr. Layfield's charity £\ ft. \od. 

 is received ; it is distributed in doles of 

 calico or flannel. 



The income of the Crooke and Master 

 charity (;^i i 1 81. 6*/.) is received by 

 Rufford once every ten years j it is ipcnt 

 in Bibles, prayer-books and other religiouj 

 works for the church and iadividuali. 



\Z\ 



