A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



of Ecclcston married Anne daughter of a later 

 John Wrightington,' and is said to have succeeded 

 to the family lands.' A brief pedigree was recorded 

 in 1664.' It is certain that the Dicconsons acquired 

 a large portion of the land in the township,' and in 

 1723 Edward Dicconson and Mary his wife made 

 a settlement of their ' manors ' of Wrightington, 

 Shevington and Welch Whittle.' Edward \vas suc- 

 ceeded by his sons William ' and Edward, and on the 

 death of the latter in 1812 the estates went to his 

 nephew Thomas Eccleston, who resumed his family 

 name of Scarisbrick and died in i 809. His younger 

 son Charles took the name of Dicconson on succeed- 

 ing to Wrightington, but he also afterwards resumed 

 his family name on becoming lord of Scirisbrick. 

 On his death in i860 Wrightington passed to the 

 son of his sister Elizabeth, who had married Captain 

 Edward Clifton. She took the name and arms of 

 Dicconson, and died in 1862. The estate was held 

 in turn by her sons Thomas, William Charles and 

 Ch.irles. The last-named died without issue in 1895, 

 and was followed, according to his dispositions, by his 

 nephew Robert Joseph Gerard, a younger son of the 

 first Lord Gerard by his wife Harriet Clifton, who 

 has added the name of Dicconson to his own.' 



The Dicconson family in the main adhered to the 

 old religion.' Inquiry was made in 1694 as to lands 

 of Hugh and William Dicconson alleged to be appro- 

 prl.ued to 'superstitious uses.'' William Dicconson, 

 eldest son of Hugh, was a zealous Jacobite ; much of 





his estate was confiscated, and he went into exile 

 dying at St. Germains in I 7+3.'" Kogcr, a younger 

 brother, was outlawed in i 7 i 5, 

 but appears to have retained 

 the family estates, the above- 

 named Edward Dicconson of 

 1723 being his son." The 

 most distinguished member of 

 the family was a younger 

 brother of William and Roger, 

 Dr, Edward Dicconson, 

 professor at Douay, and after- 

 wards Bishop of Malla and 

 \''icar Apostolic of the 

 Northern Province. Heresided 

 at Finch Mill in Shevington, 

 and is buried in Standish 

 Church, where there is a 

 monument." 



irRIGHTI N G TON 

 Hj4LL is a plain two-storied 



classic building erected in 1748,'* the main front 

 facing east with slightly projecting ends with hipped 

 roofs. The entrance is on the west side under a 

 large modern porch added in iS6o, when the interior 

 of the house was partially gutted and renewed 

 and a servants* wing added on the north. The 

 building is of stone with wood cornice and green 

 slated roofs» but the original barred windows have 

 given place to modern plate glass. On the first floor 



Dicconson "of Wright- 

 ington. Or on a cross 

 quarter - pierced hetiveen 



four hinds' heads erased 

 •vert two crosslets fitchy 

 in pale and as many 

 escallops in fesse of the 



field. 



one of her executor?, ihe provided for 

 * her four children,' Alexander and others ; 

 ff'illi (Chct, Soc, new ter.), i, 77, John 

 Wrightington was a freeholder and justice 

 of the peace in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Chcs.}, i, 244. 



William Wrightington, vicar of Poul- 

 ton-Ic-Fylde from 1 566 to i ^'* ', made 

 his brother John his executor ; Ruerden 

 MSS. ii, fol. 267. 



Sir Edward Wrightington of Gray's Inn 

 was the son and heir of John Wrighting- 

 ton. He entered Brasenosc Coll., Oxf., 

 in I 594, being then thirteen years of age ; 

 F -UT, .Hlumni Oxon, Ha paid ^z$ on 

 ret .=;ing knighthood in 1631 ; M:sc. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 214. Sir 

 Edward Wrightington was a Royalist and 

 therefore removed from the commission of 

 the peace In 164.2 by the Parliament ; Civil 

 War Tracts (Chct. Soc), 60. Attcrwnr is 

 he appears among the captors of Liver- 

 pool, but made his peace with the Parlia- 

 ment ; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc, 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 45 ; Cal. Ccm. f.r 

 Camp, i, 506. He died in Oct, i6^S, 

 aged seventy-eight, and was buried in 

 Standish. Church, where a monument 

 still remain*, erected by his nephew 

 {nepos) and heir Hugh Dicconson, 



^ Two other daughters of Jch-i 

 Wrightington are named : Martha wife 

 of Roger Winklcy, living in 1613 {J'nit. 

 'Chct. Soc.]. *S}, and Mary wife of 

 William LcigS, rector of Standish ; Dug- 

 dale's T'isit. 183. This family's * manor' 

 of Wrightington is first mentioned in 

 1632; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xrvii, 

 no, 2". One of the h'agmcnts of the 

 manor may have been purchased by that 

 time. 



' For the Dicconson family see alio 

 the account of Ecclcston township. 

 Fines concerning lands in Wrightin^rn, 

 Mawdcslcy and Lathom, in which W, 'iam 

 and Edward Dicconson were concerned, 



arc Pal, of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 

 222, 241. Hugh Dicconson, grandson of 

 Edwird and Anrc, is stated to have in- 

 herited the Wrightington fam;ly estates 

 under the will of Sir Edward Wrighting- 

 ton \ Piceope, loc. sup. cit. For a dis- 

 pute as to the estate in 1663 sec Exch, 

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



37- 



« Dugdalc, Pisit. (Chct. Soc), 98, 

 Hugh Dicconson and his sons William, 

 Roger, Hugh and Edward were enrolled 

 at Preston in 1682; Preston Guild Roll 

 (Rec. Soc. L.incs. and Ches.), 185. 



* William Dicconson, father of Edward 

 above-named, died in 1604 holding only 

 a few acrcj m Wrightington of Roger 

 K.irkby ; I^ncs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 16-18. 



* Pal, of Lane. Feet of F. bdlc. 291, 

 m. 126, For a settlement in 1753 see 

 Pal. of Lane Plea R. 579, m. 8. 



® It was William who bought the 

 Parbold estates. 



" The above account is taken chiefly 

 from Burke's Landed Gentry ; sec also 

 the account of Scarisbrick, 



^ Gillow, Bibl. Diet, of Engl. Cath. ii, 

 60, 61, 



Jme v,Ife of Wiliam Dicconson and 

 daughter and heir of Hugh Ncl'-on was a 

 recusant in 1628, but her husband was 

 not \ Misc. (Rec Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), 

 i, 186, Hugh Dicconson, a jus'ice of 

 the peace in 1664, was a rec-.sant in 

 1679 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App, Iv, 

 no, 152, 



^ Hugh Dicconson and his wife Ague?, 

 parents of William, Juliana wife of 

 William and daughter of Richard Walmes- 

 ley of Dunkenhalgh, as to lands in 

 Wrightington and Shevington : whether 

 ^300 a year was secured by William 

 Dicconson for the support of the secular 

 priests of the Church of Rome or main- 

 tcnaoec of the Romiih religion, or any 



such uses ; Exc/i. Dep. 86. Agnes widow 

 of Hugh Dicconson registered her annuity 

 of ;^200 in 1717 ; Engl. Cath. Non- 



jiiroriy 1 16. 



'** (hUow, op. cit. William Dicconson 

 in 1699 granted to Thurstan Heskin of 

 Hcskin and others the hall of Wrighting- 

 ton with the demesne lands for ninety- 

 nine years, they paying ;^2oo a year to 

 Agnes Dicconson and discharging certain 

 t>f William's debts; Duchy of Lane. 

 Misc. Bkfl, XXV, p. 1 1 1 d. He was 

 accused of participation in the so-called 

 Lancashire Plot of 1694, and there are 

 numerous references to him in the re- 

 ports, e.g. in the Kenyon MSS. [Hist. 

 MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App, iv), where 

 two of his letters are printed (357, 

 375). In the former he expresses the 

 opinion that the Government should 

 acquit him and others tried for their 

 lives *from double taxes for seven 

 years, but I doubt they will scarce con- 

 sider us so far.* See also Month^ cix, 



573-90- 



Some notices of the family estates arc 

 given in Payne's Rec. of Engl. Cath. 119, 

 120. See also Duchy of Lane. Special 

 Com, no, 1264 — a forfeiture by William 

 Dicconson in 1707. 



" Gillow, op. cit. In a deed (c. 1730) 

 Edward son of Roger Dicconson refers to 

 his wife Mary and his possession of a 

 capital messuage at Wrightington with 

 the fifth part of the manor ; Piccope 

 MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, p. 196, quoting 

 R. 10 of Geo, II of deeds at Preston. 



*' He was born in 1670, left Douayfor 

 the English mission in 1720, made viear 

 apostolic in 1740 and died in 1752 ; 

 Gillow, op. cit. ii, 56-9 ; Diet. Nat. Biog. 

 His will is in Piccope, op, cit. iii, 278, 

 from R. 26 of Geo. II at Preston \ m it 

 he is described simply as *gcnt.' 



^ The spoilt heads have this date with 

 the initials E. D. 



