A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Name Patron 



. 13 % i» l.Ahp. of Cintcrbury 



rrancis Price, B.A.'™ "ii-i i" 



' I I lie King 



John Holme '" Abp. of C.intcrburv 



John Potter, M.A.'" ... „ ' 



John W'oollin, B.D.'" 



John White, B.A.'" 



-Thomas Starkie, M.A."' ... 



Thomas Dunham Whitaker, D.D.'"' ,, 



John William Whittaker, D.D.'"' . 

 John Rushton, D.D."' . . 

 Edward Birch, !\I.A.'-' . . 

 Francis Alexander Randal Cramer- 

 Roberts, D.D.''" 

 Samuel Thornton, D.D.'" . . 



Thomas Rawlinson Sale, M.A. 



Bp. of Manch-Stcr 



C.1U9C of Vacancy 



[d. L. Clayton 



d. F. Price 

 d. J. Holme 

 res. J. Potter 

 d. J. Woollin 



d. J. White 



d. T. Starkic 

 d. T. D. Whit..k,:r 

 d. J. W. Whittaker 

 d. J. Rushton 

 d. E. Birch 



d. Bp. Cramer- Rohcrt- 

 rcs. Bp. Thornton 



The earlier vicars are unknown men, and it will be 

 noticed that the monks of Whalley appointed members 

 of their own body in the century before the Reforma- 

 tion and seem to have paid a much lower stipend 

 than was due. Randle Linney's sympathy with the 

 Pilgrimage of Grace does not seem to have led to any 

 penalty, and he remained vicar all through the time 

 of Edw.Trd VI, though he was Induced or compelled 

 to resign in i 55 i. The j roper service of the church, 

 chantries and chapels of case would require a large 

 st.iff of priests and the list of 1541-2 affiirJs six 

 names in addition to the vicar and cantarists, two 

 being paid by the vicar and others by neighbouring 

 landowners.'" The visitation list of I54S gives the 

 vicir and thirteen others, three being m.irLcd m'j luui 

 by the registrar, two (or three) at Harwood and three 

 (or two) at \\alton-le- Dale, giving a staff of fifteen at 

 least.'" The confiscation of the chantries and the 

 religious changes of the time naturally led to a con- 

 siderable reJuction, but in 1554 there were left at 

 Blackburn the vicar and six others, at Harwood one 

 (or two), and at Walton three (or four). The Roman 



Catholic reviv.ll, probably led by the new vicar, 

 James Hargreavcs, caused the erection or repair of 

 chapels at Langho, Samlesbury and perhaps D.irwen. 

 Hargreaves does not seem to have refused to appear 

 before the queen's commissioners in 1559, but he 

 soon made up his mind and in 1561 or early in 1562 

 he was deprived of his benefice '^* and spent the rest 

 of his life in mlniftcring in secret to those who 

 remained constant to the old religion,'" or in prison ; 

 it is supposed that he died in SalforJ gaol about 

 1584.''° The visitation record of I 562 is defective 

 for Blackburn and Harwood, but at Walton the old 

 curate kept his place,"" subscribing to the queen's 

 supremacy in 1563, together with a new curate of 

 Blackburn and the old curate of Harwood.'^' These 

 with the vicar probably constituted the clerical staff 

 that year as for long afterwards.'^' It is obvious that 

 four ministers could do little to serve the large parish, 

 and it is probable that the new statutory services were 

 maintained fully at the parish church only, the chapels 

 being visited in turn. Pilklngton, Bishop of Durham, 

 has provided a description of the state of things about 



to \ our Sacred M 'jcuy ' \ ibid. 289. He 

 was confirnn.'i, .ind retained ific benefice 

 till his death in Oct. 1677. In 1674 

 he was appointed to the rectory of Stock- 

 port also ; Earwak'T, Eat Chci. i, 392. 



120 Two separate presentations were 

 made, on 25 Oct. and 23 Nn\. ; no 

 renson is assigned for the king's inter- 

 ference. Francis Price was educated at 

 University Coll., Oif. ; B.A. 1662. He 

 rebuilt the vicarage 1680. 



*-' Abram, op. cit. 294. 



'-"2 Educated at Christ Church, Oxl ; 

 M.A. 1 73+, D.D. 1745 ; Foster, 

 Alumni. He was son of Archbishop 

 Potter, who in 1739 procured for him 

 the sinecure rectory of Elme with Em- 

 neth, and in 1-42 presented him to the 

 vicarage of Lydd and rectory of Chidding- 

 stone, he resigning Blackburn. He became 

 Dean of Canterbury in 1766 and died in 

 1770; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 313-14. 



'^3 Rector of Elmley. He was edu- 

 cated at Merton and Oriel Colls., Oxf. ; 

 M.A. 1722, B.D. 1735 ; Foster, Alumni, 



'2< Brother of Gilbert White of Sel- 

 bome, and himself a naturalist. He died 

 21 Nov. 1780, aged hfty-three, and was 

 buried under the communion table \ 

 M.I. 



'■■"S Educated at St. John's Coll., Camb., 

 of which he was elected fellow, graduating 

 as senior wrangler in 1771 ; M.A. 1774. 



There is a full memoir of this vicar in 

 Abram, op. cit. 297-9. 



*** The historian of Whallcv, Craven, 

 &c. Also vicar ot Whalley (q. v.) 1809-22. 



'-' Educated at St. John's Coll., Camb., 

 of which he was elected tellow ; M.A. 

 1 81 7, D.D. 1830. He won fame as a 

 Hebraist, and was one of the founders of 

 the Astronomical Society. In 1852 he 

 was appointed hon. canon of Manchester. 

 For a notice of his life and works see 

 Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 314-16 ; Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. 



'■^' This vicar has been noticed already 

 as rector of Prestwich, 1847-54 j O" 

 being appointed to Blackburn he resigned 

 the archdeaconry of Manchester. 



129 Educated at St. John's Coll., Camb. ; 

 M.A. 1844. He was rector of St. 

 Saviour's, Manchester, 1836-68. In 1878 

 he was appointed Archdeacon of Black- 

 burn. He was * decidedly Evangelical * ; 

 see notice in Baines, Lanes, (ed. Croston), 

 iv, 12. 



'*> Educated at Trinity Coll., Camb. ; 

 M.A. 1868, D.D. 1878. He held 

 several benefices before being appointed 

 Bishop of Nassau in 1878, and on re- 

 signing in 1885 became vicar of Milford, 

 Hants. He died 9 Feb. 1901. 



"' The date is diat of ind jction. Dr. 

 Thornton was educated at Queen's Coll., 

 Oxf., of which he was fellow 5 M.A. 



242 



1858, D.D. 1874. Formerly incumbent 

 of St. Jude, Whitcchapel, i860 ; rector 

 of St. George, Birmingham, 1864; and 

 Bishop of Ballarat 1875-1(^00. 



"^ Clergy List (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 17. 



"*^ These and later details are from the 

 visitation lists preserved at Chester. 



'"' See the list of vicars, and Gee, 

 Elizabethan Clergy. 



13.'. pje \vag named with Vaux, Allen 

 and others of the obnoxious clergy in 

 1568 ; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 200, 2'.'8, 

 quoting S. P. Dam. Eliz. xlviii, 367. He 

 occurs again in 1570; ibid. 212. In 

 1576 the Bishop of Chester reported him 

 as 'obstinate'; Abram, op. cit. 78. 

 Robert Singleton of Brockholes was in 

 1583 charged with having given notice to 

 James Hargreaves, priest, to hide himself, 

 as his arrest was determined on ; Exeh. 

 Dep^ (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 2. 



'*> I'aux's Catechism (Chet. Soc), In- 

 trod. p. Ixxvii ; Gibson, op. cit. 237. 



'^' He afterwards took sides with his 

 former chief; Gibson, loc. cit. 

 "« Ches. Sheaf {Sts. 3), i, 34-5. 

 '^9 The visitation list gives another 

 name, Edward Rolt'.n, but the note *in 

 France ' is added. The same four names 

 occur in the list of 1565, ao that the old 

 staff of fifteen had been effectually re- 

 duced. 



