LEYLAND HUNDRED 



Instituted 



6 Sept. 1660 . 

 3 Jan. 1 67 1-2 

 19 Apr. 1704 . 

 23 Nov. 1706 

 30 Dec. 1736 . 

 17 Mar. 1 740- 1 

 II June 1766 . 

 ig June 1770 . 

 17 June 1812 



1854 . 



1883 . 



Name 

 Thomas Mallory, D.D.' 

 Robert Pickering, M.A.' 

 James Egerton, B.C.L.^ . 

 Jolin Mercer, M.A.'' . . 



John Pearson 



John Doughis, M.A.' . . 

 Thomas Walicer " . . . . 

 Thomas Whitehead, M.A.' 

 William Yates, M.A." . . 

 John Sparling, M.A.' . . 

 Humphrey William Bretherton,M.A 



Patron 

 The King . 

 John Crisp . 

 William Lathom . 



Thomas Mercer . 

 John Douglas 

 Martha Horncastle 



Ric. Whitehead . 

 William Yates 



W. C. Yates . . 



Wm. Bretherton . 



ECCLESTON 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. E. Gee 

 d. T. Mallory 

 d. R. Pickering 

 res. J. Egerton 

 d. J. Mercer 

 res. J. Pearson 

 d. J. Douglas 

 res. T. Walker 

 d. T. Whitehead 

 d. W. Yates 

 res. J. Sparling 



The rapid succession of incumbents at several 

 periods is a noteworthy feature. In many cases the 

 rectory appears to have been held as a stepping-stone 

 to further promotion, and often with other benefices. 

 The most noteworthy names among the pre- Reforma- 

 tion clergy are those of Travers and Mapleton ; 

 Dr. Layton points an aspect of the transition period, 

 and among the later rectors Bishop Parr and Edward 

 Gee are most prominent, the last-named, a Puritan 

 of good type, being the only one of those mentioned 

 who was intimately associated with the parish. 



Before the Reformation, in addition to the rector, 

 perhaps non-resident, the curate and the chantry 

 priests at Eccleston and Parbold, there seem to have 

 been one or two other resident clergy. The list of 

 1 541 records no one but the curate." The visitation 

 lists of 1548 and 1554 show five or six names, but 

 those from 1562 to 1565 contain none but those 

 of the rector and his curate, William Brindle." This 

 was probably considered a sufficient staff under the 

 new conditions, services at Douglas Chapel being 

 neglected for a time,'' and even in the Common- 

 wealth period the rector and the curate of Douglas 

 seem to have been the only ministers.'* 



There was a chantry at the altar of our Lady in 

 the parish church, founded by the Earl of Derby and 



William Wall, rector from 1493 to 1 5 1 1. Lawrence 

 Halliwell was the cantarist in 1535 and at the 

 confiscation in 1548, being at the latter date eighty 

 years of age ; probably therefore he had been the sole 

 chaplain of the foundation.'* 



The parish has a share amount- 

 CHARITIES ing to ^313 a year in the charity 

 founded by Peter Lathom in 1700.'° 

 The money in the townships of Eccleston and Heskin 

 is distributed principally in money and school prizes, 

 in Parbold chiefly in clothing and coal, and in 

 Wrightington chiefly in clothing, under a scheme of 

 the Charity Commissioners made in 1879, allowing 

 great latitude in the application." Adam Rigby, 

 rector from 1601 to 1627, charged Bradley Hall and 

 other lands with £20 a year for the use of 'the most 

 religious, painful and honest poor inhabitants ' of 

 the parish, half the amount to be spent on 'grey 

 coats or gowns,' and half on a Sunday distribution 

 of bread. The rent-charge is still operative, and 

 the distribution made according to the founder's 

 wishes ; but, while the cloth gift is shared by all 

 the townships of the ancient parish, the bread is 

 practically restricted to Eccleston and Heskin, the 

 distribution being still made only in the porch of 

 the parish church." 



1636), was 'minister of Eccleston' as 

 early as 1640 (Reg.), and was presented 

 to the rectory in or about 1643 by Lord 

 Saye, in right of Ricllard Lathom, a 

 minor. Lord Saye allowed the people a 

 choice, and thus Gee was nominated ; 

 Local Gleanings Lanes, and Ches. ii, 275. 

 He took a leading part among the Pres- 

 byterians of the county and signed the 

 'Harmonious Consent' of 1648 as 

 ' minister of the Gospel at Eccleston.' 

 In 1650 he was commended as 'an 

 orthodox godly preaching minister ' 5 

 Commomv, Ch, Surv, 116. He wrote 

 a Treatise of Prayer and the Di'vine 

 Right of Civii Magistrates, He died in 

 1660, being buried at Eccleston on 29 

 May. There are notices of him in Diet. 

 Nat. Siog. and Athenae Oxon. 



^ His presentation is in Pat. 12 Chas, 

 II, pt. iii, no. 53. He was .educated at 

 New Coll., Oxf. ; D.D. 1660. He 

 was rector of Northenden but expelled 

 by the Parliament, and on the Restoration 

 regained it, as also Eccleston and a stall 

 at Chester ; Earwaker, East Ches. i, 

 293-5. ^^ ^^3 buried at Eccleston 8 

 Sept. 1671. He also has a notice in 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



^ Act Eks. at Chester. Educated at 

 St. John's and Caius Colls., Camb.; M.A. 

 1671. He was also rector of Croston 

 from 1690, being temporarily deprived 

 for simony. He died in 1703 ; Ormerod, 

 op. cit. i, 749. 



' Educated at Brasenose Coll., 0»f. ; 

 B.C.L. 1698 ; Foster, Alumni. 



* Chester Visit. Bk. 1709. John 

 Mercer was married in 1708 at Walton- 

 le-Dale to Mary Hodgkinson of Preston ; 

 Parish Reg. He was a Chester man, 

 educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf. ; M.A. 

 1704 ; Foster, op. cit. 



* He was buried at Eccleston 4 Mar. 

 1766. A John Douglas was educated at 

 Trinity Coll., Camb. ; M.A. 1740. 



^ He resigned to be curate of 

 Douglas. 



' Son of the patron ; educated at 

 Manchester School and Peterhouse, 

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



1773- , , 



" Son of the patron, who had pur- 

 chased the advowson from the preceding 

 rector. William Yates was educated at 

 Brasenose, Coll. Oxf.; M.A. 1805; 

 Foster, Alumni. 



From returns made to the Bishop of 

 Chester in 1821 it appears that there 

 were services -on Sunday morning and 

 afternoon with sermon at each ; the 

 sacrament was administered eight times 

 a year ; the rector resided and had a 

 curate. There were three surplices, six 

 bells, and plate — two flagons, two cups 

 and covers and two plates of silver. The 

 tithes were due in kind. The rector was 

 then the patron. 



8 Educated at Oriel Coll., Oxf. ; M.A. 

 1841. 



161 



'» Educated at Trinity Coll., Camb. ; 

 M.A. 1883. 



" Clergy List (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iV- 



'2 Visit, lists at Chester Dioc. Reg. 



" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 

 1 1. 



^^ Commonzv. Church Sur'vey^ 116— 17. 



'^ Valor Ecel. v, 231 ; Raines, Chan- 

 tries, i, 156-8. It was endowed with, 

 lands in Freckleton, Wrightington and 

 Welch Whittle, the rental being 791. T,d. 

 in 1548. There was no plate. 



The chantry lands were in 1548 leased 

 to Thomas Fleetwood for twenty-one 

 years, a dispute with the chantry priest 

 following ; Duchy Plead, iii, 69. The 

 lands were in 1558 given by Queen Mary 

 to her refounded hospital of the Savoy ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiii, 168. 



'^ The last official inquiry was made in 

 1899 ; the report published the same year 

 includes a reprint of that of 1826. 



" For Lathom's charity see the account 

 of Croston. The distribution in Eccleston 

 township in 1897 was as follows : School 

 prizes, ^n 51.; children's penny bank, 

 ^3 loj. ; clothing club, £7 15s. 51/.; 

 medical attendance and other gifts to the 

 ailing, ^18 loj. ; spectacles, 30J. 6rf. ; 

 boots and blankets, 35s. ; money (in gifts 

 of 10s., £1 and ^2), ^34- The total 

 was ^^78 51. lid. 



18 The cloth is divided into twenty 

 portions, allotted thus : to Eccleston and 



21 



