BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



BLACKBURN 



grant of j(^50 was made to provide a weekly lecture 

 at Blackburn, Mr. Michael Briscoe, a godly minister, 

 being appointed." These additions would cease at 

 the Restoration, but Archbishop Juxon gave the vicar 

 an additional ^^70 a year.'' The income was about 

 j(^i5o a year in 1717.'' An Act of Parliament ob- 

 tained in 1796 enabled the vicars to grant leases of 

 the glebe lands, which, being in the centre of the 



town, were desirable building sites.'™ At that time 

 the value of the benefice was only ^^275 a year ; the 

 net value is now ^1,452.'°' 



The Abbot and convent of Whalley as rectors used 

 to appoint the vicars, who were later appointed 

 by the Archbishops of Canterbury. The patronage 

 was in 1859 transferred to the Bishop of Man- 

 chester,"" in whom it is now vested. 



The following is a list of the vicars : — 



Instituted Name Patron 



? 1260 . . . John de Habindon '™ 



oc. 1289 . . . William de Lench "" ■ 



i6Junei3i7 . Adam de Wallbank '"'^ Whalley Abbey . . 



6 July 1320 . Simon de Chester '* „ 



26 May 1328 . John de Gresthwaite '" .... „ 



15 Oct. 1362 . John de Lindley ™ 



27 Oct. 1369 . William de Wetherby '™ .... Whalley Abbey . . 

 3 June 14.19 Geoffrey Banastre, J.U.B."" ... „ 



8 Oct. 1458 . Bro. Robert Salley '" 



16 Dec. 1489 . Bro. Henry Salley "» 



12 Mar. 1535-6 Randle Linney "' „ 



24 Oct. 1555 . James Hargreaves "* King and Queen . 



18 June 1562 . John Hulton, B.D."' Abp. of Canterbury . 



10 Nov. 1580 . Edward Walsh '"= 



23 Feb. 1606-7. John Morres, M.A.'" [ „ ] 



20 June 1628 . Adam Bolton, B.A.'" „ 



— May 1647 . Wgjj^^j^ ci tQ„ M A ■" (Election of the people 



Cause of Vacancy 



d. W. de Lench 



d. Simon 



d. J. de Lindley 



d. G. Banastre 

 d. R. Salley 

 res. H. Salley 

 res. R. Linney 

 depr. J. Hargreaves 

 res. J. Hulton 

 [depr. E. Walsh] 

 d. J. Morres 



fd. last incumbent 



" Plund. Mins. AccB. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 96, 116, 234. The stipend 

 was provided out of the sequestered estates 

 of Sir Thomas Tyldeslcjr and Lord Morley 

 and then out of the rectory of Black- 

 burn. Briscoe held the lectureship till the 

 Restoration ; he was also minister of 

 Walmesley in Bolton. 



^^ Gastrell, op. cit. ii, 275. A terrier 

 made in 1663 is printed in Abram, Slack- 

 burn^ 291. A new vicarage was built in 

 1680. A list of tenants in 1706 is printed 

 ibid. 293. 



^ Gastrell, op. cit. ii, 274. The vicar 

 nominated to all the chapelries. The 

 Osbaldestons, and then the Claytons of 

 Little Harvrood, had the right of appoint- 

 ing the parish clerk. The four church- 

 wardens were appointed by Livesey, 

 Osbaldeston, Warren of Dinckley and 

 the rector. There were four assistants. 

 '™ Abram, op. cit. 297. 

 l»l Manch. Dioc. Dir. 

 ^<^ Lond. Gax. 5 Aug. 1859. The 

 Bishop of Manchester presented in 1854. 

 103 Whalley Couch, i, 95. 

 ^"^ Ibid. 96—7. In 1309 he had the 

 bishop's licence to go on pilgrimage for a 

 year ; Lich. Epis. Reg. i, fol. 57. 



^°* Ibid. fol. 85 ; he is described as a 

 chaplain. "" Ibid. fol. 87 ; a chaplain. 

 "" Ibid, ii, fol. 104 ; a priest. This 

 vicar appears a number of times as trustee 

 or otherwise ; Whalley Couch, iv, 949, 

 1034 (1337), 1082 (1342) ; alsoTowneley 

 MS. DD, no. 1210 (1349). He is said 

 to have been vicar in 1356. 



In 1345, being styled Dean of Black- 

 burnshire, he was accused of having taken 

 fines by extortion ; Assize R. 430, m. 28. 

 Lawrence son of John the vicar of Black- 

 burn was charged with assault ; ibid. 

 m. 25 d. 



'™ The date of institution is from 

 Whitaker ; Whalley, ii, 312. This vicar 

 has been confused with his namesake, 

 Abbot of Whalley, 1 342-77. 



'»' Lich. Epis. Reg. iv, foL 85. On 

 10 Oct. 1387 the bishop granted the vicar 

 licence to absolve his parishioners ; ibid, 

 vi, fol. 123. Wetherby's name occurs a 

 number of times in local deeds. In 1404 

 he was trustee for Thomas Livesey of 

 Feniscowles ; Whitaker, loc. cit. 



"» Raines, Chantriei (Chet. Soc), 152. 

 He is called Geoffrey Hesketh in a 

 deed of 1424-5 in Towneley MS. HH, 

 no. 1712. He occurs in 1425 and 1429 \ 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 46 ; Dep. 

 Keeper s Rep. xxxiii, App. 30. 



In 145 1 the Bishop of Lichfield sent 

 word to the vicar of Blackburn that he 

 had received the Peter's pence which had 

 been in arrears in Blackburn parish, by 

 the hands of William Starkie and Henry 

 Grimshaw ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 

 1638. 



^^^ Lich. Epis, Reg. xi, fol. 43^ ; a 

 monk of Whalley. 



^^^ Ibid, xii, fol. 122^ ; a monk of 

 Whalley. 



*'^ Ibid, xiii-xiv, fol. 35. He com- 

 pounded for first-fruits 12 Feb. 1535-6; 

 Lanes, and Ches. Rec. ii, 407. He was 

 said to have sympathized with the risings 

 of 1536-7, promising to bear the cross 

 before the insurgents should they come 

 into Lancashire ; L. and P. Hen. VIII, 

 xii (l), 853. He resigned for a pension 

 and afterwards lived with Sir John Byron ; 

 Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 312. For the 'orna- 

 ments' of the church in 1552 see Ch. 

 Goods (Chet. Soc), 119. 



'1* The church papers at Chester Dioc. 

 Reg. begin with this institution. 



^^^ The presentation is dated 20 Mar. 

 1561-2, so that Hargreaves must have 

 been deprived earlier. John Hulton was 

 of the Farnworth family ; the name is 

 also spelt Hilton or Hylton. His degree 

 of B.D. is given in the record of his 

 successor's appointment. His will, dated 

 and proved in 1582, ordered burial at 

 Blackburn and provided numerous lega- 



241 



cies for relatives, including a Geneva Bible 

 to Roger Grundy, one of his executors. 

 He left half his books to his nephew John 

 Grundy (a student) and the other half to 

 John Hulton. 



^^^ In 1590 he was reputed to be *a 

 preacher,' but * not painful ' ; S. P. Dom. 

 Eliz. xxxi, 47. He was buried at Black- 

 burn 18 Apr. 1628. 



11^ Act Bks. at Chester Dioc. Reg. ; 

 Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 313, quoting Add. 

 MS. 6094, fol. 59. He was buried at 

 Blackburn 22 May 1628 



^18 Act Bks. The entries in the In- 

 stitution books, P.R.O., begin here ; 

 they have been printed in Lanes, and 

 Ches. Aniiq. Notes. Adam Bolton was edu- 

 cated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf. ; B.A. 1626; 

 Foster, Alumni. He readily adopted the 

 Presbyterian discipline in 1646, becoming 

 a member of the classis. He died soon 

 afterwards. 



On 26 Mar. 1647 it was ordered that 

 Robert Worthington, * a godly and ortho- 

 dox divine,' should act as vicar ; Piund, 

 Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 51- It is not known whether he was 

 instituted, for on 21 May Leonard 

 Clayton was appointed to the vicarage, 

 ' void by death' ; ibid, i, 54. 



^^9 He was educated at St. Mary Hall, 

 Oxford J M.A. 1642; Foster, Alumni. 

 He was described as 'godly and orthodox ' 

 at his appointment in 1647, but the ap- 

 pointment of a lecturer soon afterwards 

 may indicnte that Clayton was not found 

 sufficiently zealous, or was otherwise un- 

 equal for the place. In 1649, however, 

 he was considered 'an able and painful 

 divine'; Abram, op. cit. 288. In 

 Aug. 1660 the parishioners sent a 

 petition to the king, asking for the con- 

 firmation of Clayton's title, stating that 

 he was *a man of able parts . . , very 

 industrious and painful in his calling and 

 pious in his conversation, as also one that 

 is faithful and hath testified good affection 



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