BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



William Walmesley for the lands called the 



Barkers' lands ...... 6d. 



Thomas Creichlow for his lands there . . 6d. 



Richard Houlden for Greene Tockholes . , 41/. 



John Abbot for Dickenson's tenement . . zd. 



John Walkden for the same . . . . zd. 



James Piccop for the lands late of Thomas 



Wilton 4a'. 



The notable family of Walmsley of Showley and 

 Dunkenhalgh probably descended from a branch of 

 the family long settled here." 



Mr. Abram gives some account of the local families 

 of yeomen in his History of Blackburn.^ 



In 1666 there were fifty-eight hearths in the town- 

 ship which paid duty, of which Edward Warren 

 had eight in his house at Hollinshead.'* 



In 1788-9 the executors of Mr. Partington, Mr. 

 Walmesley Richardson and Mr. John Hollinshead 

 were the principal contributors to the land tax.'° 



Tockholes is an ancient parochial 

 CHURCH chapelry, and in 1 842 was formed into 

 a district chapelry,'^ which includes por- 

 tions of the townships of Livesey and Lower Darwen. 

 In 1874 parts of the parish were assigned to the new 

 parish of St. Cuthbert, Darwen, and in 1877 parts 

 to the new parish of St. Andrew, Livesey. 



The old chapel is supposed to have been built late 

 in the 15 th century." It had no endowment, and 

 there is little known of its history. About 1 6 1 o it 

 was served by a ' reader,' John Shawcross, who was 

 paid by the inhabitants.^' On the establishment of 

 Presbyterianism in 1646 an allowance of ^^40 a year 

 was made to the chapel, but it was perhaps Ijadly 

 paid,^' and in 1652 j^30, which had formerly been 

 paid to the Archbishop of Canterbury out of Blackburn 

 rectory, was ordered to be paid to Mr. Joshua Barnett, 

 minister of Tockholes." In 1658 it was proposed 

 to make a separate parish for this chapel.*' A 

 dwelling-house and piece of land were given in 1 649 

 for the use of a resident ' preaching minister,' " and 

 after the Restoration there was probably a curate 

 there. Some additional endowments were obtained, 

 and in 17 17 the certified income was ^^15; the 

 capital fund was in the hands of Presbyterian trustees, 

 who would give no account of the benefactors, but 



BLACKBURN 



paid the curate punctually, deducting what was spent 

 on repairs. The curate served Darwen also, so that 

 Tockholes had a service every other Sunday. There 

 was no chapelwardcn." In 172 1 this arrangement 

 ceased, and Tockholes was better served ; further 

 endowments were procured," and now the net 

 value is said to be £300 a year.'* The vicar of 

 Blackburn is patron. The church was rebuilt in 

 1833 and is called St. Stephen the Martj'r's. 

 The following have been incumbents : — 

 1689 William Stones 



1 72 1 Samuel Simpson " 



1722 William Clayton, B.A. 

 1726 William Crombleholme " 



I 729 Thomas Holme, B.A.<» (Brasenose Coll , Oxf ) 



1737 William Parker, B.A. (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) 



1746 John Hadwen, B.A. 



1766 Thomas Baldwin " (Peterhouse, Camb.) 



1769 John Wilson 



1 79 1 William Fletcher 



1805 James Dodgson ™ 



1826 Richard Garnett 



1830 Gilmour Robinson 



1857 William Maude Haslewood, B.A." (St. John's 



Coll., Camb.) 



1 86 1 Charles Hughes, B.A. (T.C.D.) 



1877 William Thomason *' 



1889 Ashley Tregoning Corfi eld 



In 1662 a number of parishioners refused com- 

 pliance with the Act of Uniformity ; ten years later 

 licences were granted for nonconforming preachers 

 and meetings, Mr. John Harvey being licensed to be 

 a Presbyterian teacher here.*^ Later the Presby- 

 terians obtained the use of the chapel of ease on 

 alternate Sundays" until the bishop inhibited this 

 arrangement. In 17 10 a site was obtained and a 

 chapel erected, which appears to have been attended 

 by the Episcopalians when there was no service of 

 their own at Tockholes. At this time the Hoghton 

 family of Hoghton Tower were patrons of the Non- 

 conformist chapel, which was endowed with a small 

 estate here by an unknown donor. The building 

 was used for Congregational services till 1880, when 

 it became unsafe. The present church was opened 

 later in the same year." Bethesda Chapel, occasionally 



^' Sec the account of Dunkenhalgh In 

 Clayton-le-Moors, 



'^ Aspdcn of Red Lee ; Baron of Wens- 

 head ; Halliwell of Halliwell Fold ; 

 Hoghton of Red Lee, whose estate is now 

 the property of Capt. J. H. G. Feilden of 

 Witton Park ; Marsden of Ryall, a small 

 property under Tockholes Moor with a 

 substantial farm-house probably erected 

 in the 17th century; Marsden of Brad- 

 ley ; Walmsley of Ryall and Walmsley 

 of the Hill ; Abram, op. cit. 686-91. 



°^ Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9. 

 William Marsden, William Walmsley and 

 Thomas Ainsworth each had four, 

 Richard Barker, William Crichlow and 

 James Marsden each three hearths. 



'* Land tax returns at Preston. Out 

 of jQiz OS. \id. they paid jQz 151. T^d. 



'* Lond. Gaz. 20 Sept. 1 842. 



^^ See the account in Abram, Black- 

 burn, 691-6, from which that in the text 

 is mainly taken. The chapel had the 

 date 1620 over the porch. In one place 

 the writer calls it St. Michael's (p. 698), 

 perhaps in error. There was the base of 



an old cross in the chapel yard ; Baines, 

 Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 81. 



»8 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 

 10. Mr. Shawcross (or Shalcross) was 

 still minister in 1623 when he married a 

 couple in a private house at midnight, 

 but * with the use of a ring and other 

 ceremonies set down in the Book of 

 Common Prayer' ; Chest. Consistory 

 Ct. Rec. He was buried at Blackburn 

 5 Feb. 1623-4. 



In 1628 John Atkinson, preacher of 

 God's Word, was at Tockholes ; Raines 

 MS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 70. 



^^ Abram, loc. cit. ; Commoniv. Ch. 

 Sur-v. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 160. 

 John Worthington was minister in 1646, 

 but none is named in 1650. 



■"> Plund. Mini. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 116 ; ii, 27. Joshua Bar- 

 nett was at Darwen in 1650. 



<' Ibid. 241. ■'^ Abram, loc. cit. 



« Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), 

 ii, 296. 



** The gross value in 18 13 was ;^ii9 

 a year. 



283 



^5 Manch, Dioc. Dir. 



*^ The church papers at Chester DIoc. 

 Reg. begin with this curate. 



^^ Afterwards vicar of St. Michael's on 

 Wyre. 



^^ Master of Blackburn Grammar 

 School 1731-6; son of the vicar. 



^^ Afterwards vicar of Leyland. 



^^ He was 'willing to hold the curacy 

 for T. Starkie's younger son,' then 

 thirteen years old. He does not appear 

 to have resided in the curacy, which he 

 held till his death. 



^1 Afterwards vicar of Great Harwood. 



*2 Afterwards vicar of St. Michael's, 

 Blackburn. 



58 CaL S. P. Dom. 1671-2, pp. 436-7. 



5^ The chapel was formally licensed as 

 a Dissenters' meeting-place in 1689 ; 

 Hiit. MSS. Com, Rep. xiv, App. iv, 231. 

 Ralph Walmsley's house was also 

 licensed ; ibid. 232. 



55 Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf. ii, 42- 

 52 (with views). Mr. Nightingale wrote 

 a separate history of this chapel, which 

 was published in 1886. Sec also Abram, 



