A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1 702 

 1723 



•735 

 1772 



177Z 

 1793 

 '79+ 



1832 

 1847 



1894 



Timothy Ellison ' 

 — Clayton ' 

 Thomas Mercer ' 

 to 1772 James Mount, B.A. 

 Lancelot Graham 

 Robert Cort * 

 Richard Formby, LL.B. (Brasenose 



Coll. Oxf.) » 

 Isaac Bowman 

 Lonsdale Formby, B.A. (St. Catharine's 



CoU. Camb.) ' 

 Thomas Bishop, M.A. (St. Catharine's 

 Coll. Camb.) 

 St. Luke's Church was built in 1852-5 near the 

 site of the ancient chapel ; ' a district was formed for 

 it in 1888. Holy Trinity Church was erected in 

 1890, and a district was assigned in 1893.* At 

 Ainsdale, St. John's has been licensed for services 

 since 1887.' 



A school was erected on the waste in 1659 by '^^ 

 inhabitants; an endowment was given in 1703 by 

 Richard Marsh.'" 



The Church of England Victoria Home for Waifs 

 and Strays w.is opened in 1897. 



Protestant Nonconformity appears to have been un- 

 known in Formby until 1816, when the Rev. George 

 Greatbatch, a Congregationalist minister of Southport, 

 preached here. No regular services were held by this 

 denomination until I 88 I, when the Assembly Room 

 was used ; a school chapel was opened two years 

 later." The Wcsleyan Methodists built a chapel in 

 1S77 ; they have also a mission room. 



The Wesleyan Methodists and the Congregationa- 

 lists also have places of worship at Ainsdale, the latter 

 an offthoot of the Southport churches, 1877—9." 



As already stated, the greater part of the population 

 adhered to the Roman Church at the Reformation, and 

 so late as 1718 Bishop Gastrell found that a quarter 

 of the inhabitants were still faithful." In 1767 the 

 number of 'papists' had increased to 363." The 

 names of the priests have not been recorded before 

 1 701, when Fr. Richard Foster, S.J., was here, his 

 stipend being £\(>, of which ;^lo was given by the 



people." The Jesuits had charge of the chapel down 

 to 1779, but secular priests also visited the place. 

 After a short interval one of the latter, the Jesuit 

 order having been suppressed, received charge here in 

 1784, and the succession is continuous from that time. 

 A new chapel was built in 1 798 on the old site." 

 The church of Our Lady of Compassion was erected 

 in 1 864 at some distance from the old one." 



The church of St. Anne, Freshfield, erected in 

 1886, is connected with a girls' industrial school in 

 charge of the Sisters of Charit)-, formerly carried on 

 in Mason Street, Liverpool. It is served from Formby. 

 At Freshfield also is St. Peter's school for Foreign 

 Missions, begun in 1 884, associated with the Mill 

 Hill College founded by the late Cardinal Vaughan." 



KIRKBY 



Cherchebi, Dom. Bk. ; Karkebi, 11 76; Kirkeby, 



1237- 



This township has a length from east to west of 

 4^ miles, with an average breadth of a mile and a half. 

 The area is 4,175 acres," and in 1901 the population 

 was 1,283. The country is open, generally flat, with 

 a slight rise in the centre of the township of some 

 130 ft. above sea-level. The soil is mostly reclaimed 

 ' moss,' portioned out into arable fields, divided by 

 low hawthorn hedges. There is but little pasture. 

 Potatoes, wheat, and oats are largely cultivated in a 

 sandy and clayey soil. There are scattered farmsteads 

 and isolated plantations of different kinds of trees, with 

 undergrowths of rhododendrons. These plantations 

 are strictly preserved, and afford cover to much game, 

 chiefly hares and pheasants. There still exists in the 

 east of the township a patch of original moss-land 

 covered with birch-trees, heather, and cotton-sedge. 

 Stacks of peat are to be seen piled up by the sides of 

 deep ditches which intersect the moss. The roads 

 are typical of this part of Lancashire, being made of 

 roughly-laid sets. The quaint fences of flag-stones, 

 clamped together with iron bands, are frequently seen 

 in the neighbourhood. The geological formation of 



* The inhabitants * consented to re- 

 ceive ' thim on condition tllat he offi- 

 ciated at Formby in the forenoon and at 

 Altcar in the afternoon ; Chcs. Dioc. Reg. 



He laid an information in 1708 against 

 Henry Blundell, one of the lords of the 

 manor, as a recusant j N. Blundell, Diary, 

 60. 



* These and later presentations are 

 from records in Ches. Dioc. Reg. 



' Described as ' of West Derby.' 

 < Went to K.irkby. 



* Also lord of the manor. Nominated 

 by the rector of Walton 31 Jan. 179+. 

 In the same year he became incumbent of 

 Holy Trinity Church, Liverpool, Formby 

 being served by his curate. He died in 

 1832, and there is a monument to him in 

 the church. 



^ Also lord of the manor. 



' A stone inscribed to commemorate 

 Richard Formby, esquire to the king, who 

 died 22 Sept. 1407, was brought from 

 York Minster and placed here. 



The patronage is vested in Mrs. C. 

 Formby and Mr. J. Formbv. 



^ Trustees hold the patronage. 



' It is a chapel of ease to St. Peter's. 

 •" £11,/. Cbar.Ref.{?aTm\i\\ 1901, p. 5. 

 " Nightingale, Ljia. Ninconf. vi, 45, 

 48. 



" Ibid. 



^ Notitia CestT. ii, 227. 



*^ Trans. Hisf. Soc. (New Ser.),xviii, 215. 



•' Foley, Rtc. S. J. v, 321 ; vii, 65. 



" A letter printed in Gillow, Haydock 

 Paper i, 2IO-I2, gives a graphic account of 

 the mission as it was about 1800. The 

 following extracts may be given : ' As to 

 Formby it would do very well if you wish 

 to tarm and to be among a set of humble, 

 well-meaning people. The congregation 

 at Easter is about 250 ; great numbers of 

 children, but not employed In any manu- 

 factory, so that any day or hour they come 

 for instructions. I had 80 at catechism 

 every Sunday, and about I 5 of the oldest 

 every Wednesday and Friday evening at 

 my house for instructions. The people 

 are a blunt, honest people, and, as old 

 Bordley [Aughton] calls them, "a loving 

 people " ; but you must lord it over them, 

 or at least keep a high hand, and not be 

 too easy with them or they will be mas- 

 ters of you. They are a people, if they 

 see you wish their good, you may mould 

 as you please. I was happy in the ex- 

 treme, had the congregation been about 

 100 fewer. There are no rich people, and 

 none very poor like what we find in the 

 weaving countries. The house and ground 

 is rented of a Protestant clergyman [Rev. 



52 



R. Formby], and the ground will clear the 

 house rent. He lives at Formby, is a 

 most agreeable young man, and will do 

 anything for you that you could wish.' 

 After mentioning the priests in the neigh- 

 bourhood the writer gives an estimate of 

 the income, ^^59, derived as to ^24 from 

 the bench rents, with about ,^28 from 

 interest and rent, and ^^8 as alms. He 

 proceeds : *The rent of your house and 

 ground is ^24, or as I had it ,^8 for the 

 house alone without any land ; but if you 

 have the ground it will, I think, bring you 

 in free. The bench money is paid very 

 regular, quarterly, all the other yearly, 

 sent without any trouble. . . . Your con- 

 gregation will lie very compactly about 

 you ; there is no need at all of a horse, 

 unless for your own private satisfaction, a 

 mile and a half being the farthest you have 

 any off. The house is, or at least was, 

 entirely furnished, so that I had not a 

 farthing to lay out when I went, which is 

 a great object for a beginner.' The old 

 house in Priesthouse Lane has a carved 

 wooden awmbry. 



'Mbid. 213-6; Liverpool Cath. Ann. 

 1 90 1, 



19 Ibid. 



" 4,180, including 10 of inland water ; 

 Census Rep. of igoi. 



