A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Instituted 



26 Jan. 1353-4 . 



6 Mar. 1386-7. 

 oc. 142 I 



16 Aug. 1426 

 oc. 1430-35 . . 

 24 Jan. 1443-+ . 

 oc. 1464 . 



16 May, 1473 

 I I Nov. 1496 



17 Oct. 1514. . 

 10 July, 1 546 

 oc. 1562 . 



12 Jan. 1569-70. 

 24 Oct. 1588. . 



18 Jan. 1588-9 . 

 28 June, 1589 . 

 oc. 1616 . . . 



17 April, 1617 . 

 10 Aug. 1624 



20 May, 1625 



7 Dec. 1632 



c. 1645 . . . 



18 Dec. 1657. . 

 2 Mar. 1661-2 . 

 5 Mar. 1663-4 • 



15 Oct. 1664. . 

 18 Feb. 1686-7 • 



Name Presented by 



John Dibbleda ' 



Roger de Poghden ' Holland Priory 



Richard de Moston ' „ 



Thomas Caton ' 



William Walton * Holland Priory 



William Mercer^ 



Christopher Lee ' Holland Priory 



Geoffrey Whalley' 



r Richard Dey, LL.B. ' . . . . Holland Priory . 



John Merton '° „ 



Robert Greves " „ 



John Ainsdale " W. J. & R. Ainsdale 



William Crosse 



David Catton " Bishop of Chester . 



Lawrence Blackbome " .... 



Thomas Williamson, M.A. " . . . Bishop of Chester . 



Edmund Hopwood '* 



William Knowles " 



Henry Taylor " Bishop of Chester . 



James Hyett, B.D. " 



James Critchley ,, 



William Lewis, M.A. " .... 



David Ellison " Com. of the County 



),,,.,,,_ f Lord Protector . 



- ohn Litherland 1 o- l r /-l .. 



J -" (Bishop of Chester 



William Thompson " 



Joshua Ambrose, M.A. " . . . . 



Thomas West, M.A. " . . . . 



Ciuie of Vacancy 



pro. J. Dibbleda 

 d. 01 R. de Poghden 



d. of T. Caton 



res. G. Whalley 

 d. of Richard Dey 

 re;, last, incum. 

 d. of R. Greves 



res. W. Crosse 

 [d. D. Catton] 



dep. or cession of H. 



Taylor 

 res. Jas. Hyett 



res. J. Ambrose 



^ He was made rector of Heysham ; 

 Lich. Epis. Reg. it, fol. 131. 



* Ibid. fol. 131. Roger de Poghden (or 

 Pokcden) is frequently mentioned in local 

 deeds. 



In 1386 the cemetery of Childwall was 

 suspended at the visitation held at Prescot, 

 on account of the burial therein of a cer- 

 tain Adam de Mossley ; the suspension 

 was soon afterwards removed by the 

 assistant bishop of Lichfield on the repre- 

 sentation of the Ho-^pitallers, whose privi- 

 leges were concerned in the matter j 

 Norris D. (B.M.), n. 966. 



' Lich. Epis. Reg. vi, fol. 52*. R. de 

 Moston's name occur? in various deeds 

 down to 1 + 13; sec Norrij D. (B.M.), 

 Moore charters (n. 74.2), Kuerden MSS. ii, 

 fol. 230. 



* He occurs as vicar in Jan. 1420—1 ; 

 Norris D. (B.M.), n. 892. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 1 16. 



* William Mercer, who had been chap- 

 lain at Hale, is named as vicar of Child- 

 wall in I4.::q ^o and in Aug. 1435; 

 Blundell of Crosby D. K.. l6g ; Norris D. 

 (B. M.), n. 899, 900. 



' Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 1 26A. No 

 reason is assigned for the vacancy. 



® Geoffrey Whalley was vicar in 1464 ; 

 Norris D. (Rydal Hall), F.a. 



» Lich. Epis Reg. xii, fol. 106A. The 

 registrar has omitted the name of the clerk 

 presented ; probably it was Richard Dey, 

 the next vicar known. 



'» Ibid, xii, foL 230*. 



" Ibid, xiii-xiv, fol. 58A. 



1' Act Books at Chest. ; John Porte, 

 prior, and the convent of L'pholland had 

 in 1 53 1 granted the next presentation to 

 Robert Brerewood, Richard Johnson, and 

 Thomas Brerewood (probably of the Ches- 

 ter family), and these in 1540 released 

 their right to William, John, and Richard 

 Ainsdale of Wallasey. Ainsdale paid 

 first-fhiits 15 July, 1546 ; Lanes, and Chts. 

 Ric. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 408. 



" Act Books at Chest. David Catton 

 was one of the old clergy ; ordained priest 

 in 1542. He remained at Childwall till 

 his death, being buried there 25 May, 

 1588. 



'< Act books at Chest. 



^* Ibid. Thomas Williamson became 

 vicar of Eccles and fellow of Manch. 



^^ Ibid. Edmund Hopwood, literate, 

 was licensed to act as * reader ' at Little- 

 borough in June, 1576 ; he was described 

 as *no preacher' in 1590, but had become 

 one in 160^. He was in 161 5 presented 

 by the earl of Derby to Holy Trinity, 

 Chester. His will was proved in 1630. 

 See Pennant's Acct. Book (MS.) ; Gibson, 

 Lydiate Hall, 249 j Kenyan MSS. (Hist. 

 MSS. Com.), 12 J Ormerod, Chei. (ed. 

 Hi-Ubv), i, 5 32. «• 



1" Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 74. 

 Sec the account of Ormskirk church. 



" Act Books at Chest. The institu- 

 tions from this time are printed in Lanes, 

 and Ches. Antiq. Notes from the books at 

 P.R.O. 



*• Hyett was promoted to Croston. 



*• William Lewis was reported in 1635 

 to be *vcry diligent in his calling' j Con- 

 trlb. from Clergy (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 94, 1 10; but ejected on the out- 

 break of the Civil War. He was dean of 

 Warrington in 1640. William Lewis, 

 minister, residing at Little Woolton, was 

 buried at Childwall 6 Jan. 1659—60. 



In 1640 he had trouble with some of 

 his parishioners over a question of pews. 

 He had * enlarged' the pulpit, which had 

 before been indecent and unseemly, and 

 by this improvement the seat of Henry 

 Ellison and his mother had been removed 

 altogether. In 1636 the bishop had issued 

 a commission *for the uniforming the 

 seats in the said church and placing the 

 parishioners therein according to their 

 rank and estates ' ; and it was thought 

 the matter had been settled ; Con. Court 

 Rec at Chest. 



106 



*' David Ellison was described by the 

 P.Trl. Com. in 1650 as 'a painful godly 

 preaching minister, observing the Lord's 

 days, fast days, and days of humiliation 

 appointed ' ; Commonivcaltb Church Sur-v. 

 (Rec. Soc), 67. It was ordered in 

 Aug. 1645, that £^0 should be paid him 

 out of the profits of the rectory, seques- 

 tered from James Anderton, recusant con- 

 vict and delinquent ; Plund. Mins. Accts. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 9, 50, 247. 



"^ John Litherland was admitted on 

 18 Dec. 1657, to the parish of Childwall 

 on a presentation from the Lord Protector 

 Cromwell j the cause of the vacancy is 

 not stated, but it was probably the death 

 of the previous incumbent, who does not 

 occur in later lists ; Plund. Mins. Accts. 

 ii, 209, 300. Litherland was instituted 

 again on the restoration of episcopacy ; 

 the Act Books at Chest, give 26 Nov. 

 1661 as the date of collation. 



^ Inst. Books, P.R.O. 



^ A Joshua Ambrose was B.A. of 

 Harvard, New England, and was incorpo- 

 rated at Pembroke Coll. Oxf. 1655, be- 

 coming M.A. in the following year. He 

 is probably the same as this vicar of Child- 

 wall, who had before the Restoration been 

 minister of West Derby ; Foster, Alumni 

 Oxon. ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. Croston), v, 42, 

 quoting Calamy's Nonconf. Memorial, ii, 3. 



^ Thomas West's promotion is recorded 

 by Bishop Cartwright : 'The parishioners 

 of Childwall brought me Mr. Ambrose his 

 resignation, and I promised to present a 

 new vicar before Christmas, and wrote 

 word to my cousin Peter Whalley that I 

 would give it to my cousin Thomas West,' 

 who was accordingly instituted and made 

 a chaplain to the bishop. He resigned 

 at the Revolution, being reckoned as a 

 Jacobite. Thomas, son of William West 

 of Northampton, of Merton College, Ox- 

 ford, took the M.A. degree in 1684 ; see 

 Cartwright's Diary (Camd. Soc), 16, 33 ; 

 Foster's Alumni ; Pal. Note Book, ii, 239. 



