AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



ST. MICHAEL- 

 ON-WYRE 



The Whites can be traced back to the 14th 

 century. 3 ' John White died in July 1557 holding 

 a capital messuage, &c, in Great Eccleston of the 

 heir of William Pleasington in socage by 4/. rent, and 

 other property in Esprick and Upper Rawclifte. His 

 heir was a cousin Nicholas, son of William White, 

 aged twenty-two. 33 The residence of the family was 

 known as Cross House, 34 and remained with them 

 till about a century ago. 35 



A small piece of land was granted to Cockersand 

 Abbey, 36 but more considerable gifts were made to 

 Dieulacres, 37 which, together with Rossall, were 

 acquired by the Fleetwoods after the Dissolution. 38 



Some sequestrations are recorded in the Common- 

 wealth period, 33 and in 1 7 1 7 several ' Papists ' regis- 

 tered, estates.' 



There are four places of worship in the township. 

 For the Church of England, St. Anne's, Copp, 

 was erected in 1723, because, Elswick Chapel ' being 

 never consecrated and in the possession of Dissenters, 

 it was thought more proper to build a new chapel 

 here than to seize upon that.' " The vicar of 

 St. Michael's presents to this church. 



The Wesleyan Methodists, after holding meetings 

 in a cottage, built a chapel in 1 841." The Bapti.-ts 

 also have a chapel. 



As the chief resident families adhered to Roman 

 Catholicism at the Reformation, it is probable that 

 mass was said with comparative regularity during the 

 times of proscription, but no connected story of the 

 mission in the township can be given before 1 700, 

 soon after which there appears to have been a chapel 

 of St. Lawrence at Raikes, rebuilt in 1760. The 

 present church of St. Mary, in the village, was 

 opened in 1835." 



INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY 



Inscip, Dom. Bk. ; Inskyp, 1246 ; Insckyp, 1285; 

 Ineskyp, 1331. 



Sorbi, Dom. Bk. ; Soureby, 1256. 



This township has a total area of 2,979 i acres, 1 of 

 which Inskip proper has 2,046, Sowerby 868 J, and 

 Carr House Green Common 65. The north and 

 east portions are flat and lie low, but the south-west 

 quarter has two rather higher plateaux, 50 ft. above 

 sea level, divided by a small valley running from west 

 to east. On the more northerly of these elevations 

 stands the village of Inskip ; the southerly contains 

 Higham. Crossmoor lies on the western border ; 

 Sowerby is in the lower land to the east. There was 

 a population of 450 in 1901. 



The principal road goes north-west and west from 

 Woodplumpton, through the village of Inskip to Els- 

 wick and Singleton, with two branches going north by 

 Sowerby and by Inskip to St. Michael's, and another 

 south-west through Higham to Wharles and Kirkham. 



There is a parish council. 



The soil is light and peaty, with subsoil gravel. 

 Wheat and oats are grown. Rush wicks were 

 formerly made in Sowerby. 



Though INSKIP, assessed as two 

 MANORS plough-lands, is named in Domesday 

 Book among the manors of Earl Tostig 

 in 1 066,' its subsequent history is very obscure. In 

 the I 3th century it seems to have been held by the 

 Carleton family, 3 and to have been joined to their 

 part of Great Eccleston. Walter son of Sir William 

 de Carleton about 1280 granted his son William the 

 homage and service of Sir Richard le Boteler for his 

 tenement in Inskip and Eccleston. 4 In 1285 Henry 



Richard Leckonby, described as * of 

 Elswick,' took arms against the Parlia- 

 ment, and submitted at Greeahalgh Castle 

 in 1645 j he took the National Covenant 

 and Negative Oath, and compounded for 

 his estate ; Royalist Comp. Papers, iv, 76—7. 



The family afterwards became Roman 

 Catholics, and in 1717 William Leckonby 

 as a * Papist ' registered his estate at 

 Eccleston and Elswick, subject to a rent- 

 charge of £25 to Anne his wife ; Estcourt 

 and Payne, Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 132. 

 Through this marriage the Leckonbys 

 acquired the manor of Hothersall. The 

 son Richard, named in the text, by his 

 marriage acquired Stockenbridge and other 

 estates ; his wife was Mary daughter of 

 William Hathornethwaite of Stonyhurst 

 and in 1757 heir to her brother John 5 

 Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 288, from 

 R. 31 of Geo. II at Preston. For the 

 bankruptcy see ibid, iii, 372, 380, 384. 



31 Roger the White contributed to the 

 subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. 62. 

 John son of Roger the White had a dispute 

 concerning land with Adam son of Roger 

 the White and Adam son of Hugh de 

 Elswick in 1348; De Banco R. 355, 

 m. 124. 



53 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 55. 

 A settlement of messuages, &c, in Much 

 Eccleston and Tarnacre was made in 

 1590 by Nicholas White and Isabel his 

 wife; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 52, 

 m. 119. 



Thomas White in 1560 claimed a 

 capital messuage, Ice, in Eccleston, Tarn- 

 acre, Upper Rawcliffe and Charnley Eaves 

 against Nicholas White ; Ducatus Lane. 

 "» 2 3S* I Q 15S9 the tenure was in 



dispute, Robert Pleasington alleging that 

 it was by fealty and a rent of 4s., while 

 Nicholas White asserted that it was in 

 socage by a castle-guard rent of 6s. ; 

 ibid, iii, 225. 



34 This was part of the rectory estate, 

 having belonged to Battlefield College ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 190. 



3j Ibid. 191—2. An account of a dis- 

 pute as to a settlement by Thomas White 

 in 1675 was printed in Preston Guard. 

 Loc. Notes, 16 Feb. 1878. For the 

 family, who were recusants, see Misc. 

 (Cath. Rec. Soc), v, 190. 



36 Cockersand Chartul. i, 190. 



37 Dieulacres Chartul. (Wm. Salt Soc), 

 324. Uctred son of Swain released to 

 the monks Roger and Adam sons of Elsi 

 of Great Eccleston, and William son of 

 Uctred confirmed this grant, as he did 

 also that of half an oxgang of land made 

 by Adam son of Richard de Eccleston. 

 The dates range from about 1210 to 1230. 



38 Pat. 7 Edw. VI, pt. ix ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. xii, no. 2. 



39 See preceding notes. Two-thirds of 

 a small tenement in Much Eccleston was 

 sequestered for the recusancy of William 

 Gurnall. He being dead in 1653, his son 

 Robert, aged six, who was ' a conformable 

 Protestant,' petitioned for the discharge 

 of the sequestration, and it was granted ; 

 Royalist Comp. Papers, iii, 137. 



40 Elizabeth Butler, widow ; Thomas 

 Penswick, Alice Taylor and Joan Caton, 

 widow ; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. 

 Nonjurors, 105, 135, 141. 



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

 ii, 453-4. From correspondence printed 

 in the notes ibid, it appears that the 



279 



chapel was built by subscription and that 

 Mr. France was the chief promoter. See 

 also Fishwick, op. cit. 89-95, where a 

 list of curates and vicars is given j Hewit- 

 son, Our Country Churches, 420. 



42 Fishwick, op. cit. 133 $ Hewitson, 

 426. 



43 Fishwick, op. cit. 96— 102 ; Hewitson, 

 423. The first resident priest known is 

 William Caton, of a local family, educated 

 at the English College, Rome, 1 694— 

 1701 ; Foley, Rec. S, J. vi, 445 ; Tyldesley 

 Diary, 61, 109, 174. There is a short 

 notice of the Caton family in Misc. (Cath. 

 Rec. Soc), v, 191. 



In 1774 there were confirmed 114 

 persons, and ten years later thirty-seven. 

 Belonging to the church are a portable 

 altar-stone such as the missionary priests 

 carried with them in the penal times, 

 two early chalices, and another of Queen 

 Anne's time ; Fishwick, loc. cit. 



1 The Census Rep. of 190 1 says that there 

 are 2,984 acres, including 7 of inland 

 water. 



2 V.CM. Lanes, i, 288.7. 



3 In 1246 Richard de Whittingham 

 and Hawise his wife claimed common of 

 pasture against William de Carleton re- 

 specting certain lands in Inskip, but were 

 non-suited ; Assize R. 404, m. 3. Robei t 

 son of Adam at the same time unsuccess- 

 fully claimed certain pieces of land 

 (ckeviciae), about 2 acres in all, against 

 William de Carleton ; ibid. m. 7. 



4 Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 83. Ellen 

 widow of Robert de Stockport in 1275 

 claimed from Richard le Boteler a third 

 part of zs. rent in Inskip ; De Banco 

 R. 10, m. 71 d. 



