LEYLAND HUNDRED 



STANDISH 



income was ^^4 1 5/., and the chantry priest was duly 

 celebrating for the souls of the founder and his ances- 

 tors ; he was further bound to find thirteen tapers 

 before the sacrament and to maintain the service in 

 quire every holy day.^ The chantry at the altar of St. 

 Nicholas was founded by Dr. Alexander Fairclough, 

 rector, in 1479,^ for a chaplain to celebrate for the 

 souls of himself and his ancestors and to maintain the 

 service in quire every holy day, and in 1548 the in- 

 cumbent was celebrating accordingly. The income 

 was ^5 6/. 1 1^., derived from lands in Rivington, 

 Whittle, Adlington and Heath Charnock.^ The third 

 chantry was at the rood altar, and founded by James 

 Standish of Arley In Blackrod about 1520^; the 

 priest does not appear to have had quire duty. The 

 lands belonging to it in Langtree, Worthington and 

 Chorley produced a rental of only 67;. 4^/.^ None 

 of the chantries had any plate. The lands of the 

 last-named chantry were sold by the Crown in 1550 

 to William Place and Nicholas Spakeman,*' and those 

 of the two older ones in 1583 to Thurstan Anderton.^ 

 One of the chantry priests at Standish, as at other 



places, kept school.^ A new school was founded in 

 I 603.^ 



Apart from a few large benefac- 

 CHJRITIES tions there are but scanty funds 

 for the aged and destitute.^*^ Foi 

 the whole parish a rent-charge of j^i2 is available, 

 derived from ancient gifts. ^^ For Standish-with- 

 Langtree John Johnson by his will of 1697 gave 

 lands for the poor, which now produce an income of 

 j^ii9 4;. I ^., distributed in gifts of calico and linen. ^^ 

 This township has other poor funds, producing in all 

 about _£30.^** John Shaw in 1627 and George Shaw 

 in 1650 left money for the poor of Rivington and 

 Anglezarke in Bolton, and Heath Charnock and 

 Anderton in Standish, which was invested in lands^ 

 and the moiety of the income applicable to the general 

 benefit of the poor of the latter townships is now 

 ^^197 I4J.6(/.^* The portion of Peter Lathom's charity 

 available for Welch Whittle amounts to_£78 ^s. iO(/.^^ 

 Thomas Johnson in 1680 gave a tenement in Tock- 

 holes for the benefit of the poor of Coppull and 

 Anderton ; the income is now £'^ 1 9;. 4^'.^*^ Coppull 



increment of the chantry endowment, 

 with the obligation of praying for the soul 

 of Roger Standish, lately rector, and sup- 

 plying thirteen candles a year before the 

 altar of St. Wilfrid ; Standish D. no, 187. 



Thomas Worsley, appointed by Sir 

 Alexander Standish, had in 1527 been 

 chaplain for sixteen years ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. Roger Lyney 

 was chaplain in 1535 ; Valor Ecd. v, 232. 



William Bimson was appointed about 

 June 1 541, and remained there until the 

 Suppression, being described in 154.8 as 

 ' aged forty-six, a lame and impotent man.' 

 He had a pension of ^^4 55. 6d. He was 

 buried at Standish on 23 Jan. 1562-3. 

 See Lanes, and Ches. Rec. ii, 407 ; Raines, 

 Chantries (Chet. Soc), ii, 178-80 ; 

 Church Goodsj 129. 



^ Raines, Chantries, loc. cit. 



2 Standish deeds (Mrs. Tempest), no. 

 173. The priest was to say mass daily at 

 the altar In the chapel of St. Nicholas for 

 the souls of Mr. Alexander (Fairclough), 

 Mr. Thomas Fairclough, his brother 

 (rector of Walton), their parents, 

 &c. The feoffees included Alexander 

 Standish, Ralph his son and heir, 

 Lawrence Fairclough (called * esquire'), 

 Ralph his son and heir, and many others, 

 ending with Nicholas Bibby and John 

 Greenhalgh, priests. A change of trus- 

 tees was made in 1502 ; ibid. no. 192. 



St. Nicholas' chapel appears to have 

 been in the north aisle. 



Robert Pilkington, chaplain, who died 

 In 1498, appears to have augmented the 

 endowment by a rent of 6 marks ; Raines, 

 Chantries, ii, 176 note. James Never was 

 the chaplain in 1527, having held the 

 place for eighteen years j Duchy of Lane. 

 Rentals, 5/15. He was there also in 

 1535 and 1547 ; Valor Ecd. v, 232, He 

 probably died in the latter year, as his 

 name does not appear in the visitation 

 list, 1548. ^ Raines, loc. cit. 



'* In 1525 Alexander Standish, as 

 executor of James Standish of Arley, 

 inducted Peter Bower to celebrate in the 

 chantry of the Holy Cross in Standish 

 Church, agreeably to the will of the said 

 James ; Standish deeds {Local Glean.), 

 no, 281. Peter Bower was still there in 

 1535 and at the Suppression j Valor Eccl. 

 V, 232; Raines, Chantries, ii, 180. In 

 1548 he was 72 years of age ; he after- 



wards had a pension of ^3, and was 

 buried at Standish 20 Mar. 1556-7; 

 Ibid. ; Church Goods, p. 129, 



^ Raines, loc. cit. 



fi Pat. 4 Edw. VI, pt. vlii. 



^ Ibid. 25 Eliz. pt. i. The lands of 

 St. Nicholas' chantry were among those 

 assigned by Queen Mary to the Savoy 

 Hospital on refounding it ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Misc. Bks, xxiii, 168. 



^ William Thompson, rector of Ash- 

 ton-under-Lyne, in 1553 bequeathed * to 

 Sir Peter Bower, my schoolmaster at 

 Standish, 401. and one of my jackets, and 

 a doublet' ; Piccope's fVills (Chet. Soc), 

 i, 92. There was probably no endow- 

 ment for the school. 



^ GastreU, Notitia, ii, 392 ; Local Glean. 

 Lanes, and Ches. ii, 112 ; Charity Report. 



There are two other small educational 

 endowments In the parish. One of these, 

 founded in 1794 by Mary Smalley, has an 

 income of ^^46 1 31., half of which is spent 

 on clothing seventeen girls in the schools, 



^^ For the charities existing about 1720 

 see Gastrell's NotiUa, il, 393, 394. 



An official report was made in 1826, 

 reprinted in the report of the inquiry of 

 1899, from which the details in the fol- 

 lowing notes are taken. 



^^ Elizabeth widow of Hugh Cooper 

 in 1686 gave ^50 to the poor of the 

 parish, and this sum, with ;^i54 derived 

 from the gifts of Elizabeth Lathom, 

 William Lathom, Edward Hatton and 

 Catherine Haydock, was invested In a 

 mortgage of houses, &c., at Scholes in 

 Wigan. The interest used to be divided 

 among the different townships In a fixed 

 proportion, but from 1 86 1 none was paid. 

 In 1 894 the property was demolished, and 

 the land has been sold to the Corporation 

 of Wigan, a rent-charge of £iz being 

 payable in respect of the charity fund. 



1* The income is derived from cottages 

 and land in the Grove In Standish, Moss 

 o* Lee in Wrightington, &c. Four of 

 the cottages were in 1828 used as a work- 

 house. The distribution takes place on 

 26 Dec, about 260 doles of calico and 

 linen being given away. 



^^ From an unknown donor £^0, 

 Thomas Birchall j^ioo, Catherine Hay- 

 dock j^20 (and j^5o for poor clergymen's 

 widows) and Mary Smalley ^100. These 

 sums were joined together, though BIr- 



chall's was a Sunday dole of bread and 

 Smalley's for linen cloth, and the capital 

 is now represented by ;^240 Great West- 

 ern 5 per cent, rent-charge stock. The 

 income is ;^I2, of which £1 los. gd. 

 belongs to Shevlngton. Catherine Hay- 

 dock's gift has been merged In the general 

 Standish charity. The charity is known 

 as the 'Bread and Shift' fund, a gift of 

 bread being made every Sunday after 

 morning service, doles of flannel from time 

 to time, and shifts at Christmas time. 



An eighth part of Henry Blspham's 

 clothing charity, 1728 (see Wigan), la 

 given to Standish, and under a schema 

 approved by the Charity Commissioners 

 in 1891 may be distributed In various 

 ways for the sick or distressed. The 

 income varies ; the share of Standish in 

 1898 was ^5 14J. 



Margaret Aspinall in 1759 left £100 

 for the purchase of linen cloth for the 

 poor of Standish township. The money 

 was used to purchase the Clay Croft in 

 Wigan Woodhouses, which up to 1888 

 produced a rent of ^9 los. 



Standish also has ^4 from John Threl- 

 fall's Shevington charity, given partly in 

 bread and partly in cloth. 



^^ Lands In Heath Charnock, Adling- 

 ton, Swinton and WItton were purchased. 

 The total income in 1825 was about 

 ^65, but has greatly Increased owing to 

 the development of SwInton ; half the 

 income of ;^394 Is given to the grammar 

 school at Rivington and the other half to 

 the poor of Heath Charnock and Ander- 

 ton, distributed according to a scheme 

 made by the Charity Commissioners In 

 1 8g8. Pensioners are appointed, hos- 

 pitals assisted and medical assistance pro- 

 vided, and gifts of clothing, coal and 

 money made. 



1^ For this charity see the account of 

 Croston. To Welch Whittle about a 

 twentieth part Is given, distributed In a 

 great variety of ways according to a scheme 

 sanctioned in 1879. 



Thurston Heskin In 1704 left ;^2o for 

 the poor, but it had been lost before 1826. 

 Thomas Whalley in 1758 left £^, and 

 5j. a year was given to a poor person as 

 interest ; this has now been lost also. 



^^ The tenement was sold In 1883 

 and the proceeds invested in ^^ 1,144 

 consols. A third of the net income I3 



