A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Date 



lO Nov. 1 369 

 8 May, 1389 . 

 7 Aug. 1+24 . 



14 Dec. 1436 



17 Sept. 1+74 . 

 21 May, 1477 . 



2 July, 1505 . 



2 5 May, 1 5 1 9 . 



f. 1524 . . . 



I Nov. I 530 



21 Oct. 1537. . 



15 Aug. 1554 . 

 23 Dec. 1557 . 

 c. June, 1569 



23 June, 1591 . 

 c. May, 1595 



21 April, 1600 . 

 26 Jan. 1 614-1 5 



18 Mar. 1638-9. 



28 May, 1684 . 

 15 Nov. 1688 . 



24 July, 1708 

 28 Dec. 1726 

 20 Nov. 1733 



Rector Patron 



Thomas de Seynsbury ' . . . . Evesham Abbe)- 



John de Liverpool' „ 



Richard Brekell ' 



John Ireland * „ 



William Fowler ' Thomas Wulton 



Thomas Bolton ' Evesham Abbey 



John Wallys, LL.B. ' 



John Pryn, Decr.D. » 



Thomas Copland ' „ 



Robert Farington '" „ 



Lawrence Waterward " . . . . „ 



Peter Prescot " Henry Forshaw 



Thomas Stanley, bishop of Sodor " . John Fleetwood 



Peter Clayton " 



John Hill " Rd. Fleetwood 



Robert Bamforde "" „ 



Matthew French '' „ 



Henry Wright '* 



. ,5 (King Charles 



James Starkie" | John Fleetwood . 



Henry Rycroft " Edward Fleetwood 



Richard Hardy'' 



Ralph Loxam " Hy. Fleetwood . . 



James Whitehead, M.A. " ... „ . . 



Christopher Sudell, M.A. "... 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. A. del Meols 

 d. T. de Seynsbury 

 res. J. de Liverpool 

 d. R. Brekell 

 d. J. Ireland 

 res. W. Fowler 

 res. T. Bolton 

 d. J. Wallys 

 res. J. Pryn 

 d. T. Copland 

 res. R. Farington 

 depr. L. Waterward 

 d. P. Prescot 

 (d. Bp. Stanley) 

 d. of P. Clayton 



res.*R. Bamforde 

 d. Mat. French 



id. H. Wright 



d. J. Starki'j 

 d. H. Rycroft 

 d. R. Hardy 

 d. R. Loxam 

 d. J. Whitehead 



* Lich. Epis. Reg. iv, fol. 81;. Thomas de 

 Seynsbury died at Cartmcl 20 Feb. i 388-9. 



^ Ibid, vi, fot. ^ib. In 14.01 Roger 

 de Blyth of Lathom was accused of having 

 thrown John de Liverpool, rector of 

 North Meols, on a bed, poured water 

 into his mouth and compelled him to say 

 where his treasure was, then robbing 

 him of j^20 in money, jewels, &c. j Pal. 

 of Lane. Plea R. 1, m. 18. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 114. 



■* Ibid. fol. 123 ; another entry- is dated 

 exactly a year btcr, fol, 1 23A. 



^ Ibid, xii, fol. 109. 



* Ibid, xii^ fol. III. The cause of 

 vacancy was an exchange, Thomas Bolton 

 having held West Kirby church. 



^ Ibid, xiv, fol. 54. 



8 Ibid. fol. 60b, This is probably the 

 Dr. John Pryn who in 1528 became a 

 prebendary of Lincoln, advancing to the 

 sub-deanery in i<=;3$i he died in 15^8 

 and was buried in Lincoln Cathedral j Le 

 Neve's Fash^ ii, 40. 



* Thomas Copland was instituted before 

 18 June, 1524, on which day Dr. Fit/- 

 herbcrt, vicar-general of the bishop of 

 Lichfield, sanctioned the payment by him 

 of j^io a year as pension to the retiring 

 rector, to be paid upon the font in the 

 church of Evesham Abbey ; after £^7 

 had been paid the pension would be 

 reduced to 10 marks j Lich. Reg. xiv, 

 fol. 67. 



10 Ibid. fol. 66b. Sir Henry Farington, 

 perceiving that his third son Robert *was 

 disposed to learning and the priesthood,' 

 procured for him the next presentation 

 to North Meols, of the yearly value of 

 j^20, and kept him at Cambridge. Robert, 

 however, became * weary of holy orders,' 

 resigned, and married ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Pleadings, Hen. VIII, xiii, B. 18. A 

 Farington was bachelor of the civil law 

 at Cambridge as eariy as 1531 ; Grace 

 Book B. (Luard Mem.), ii, 164, i66. 



^^ Lich. Epis. Reg. xiii-xiv, fol. 36A. 

 He married and was deprived in 1554 j 

 Ducby PU^dmgi (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iil, 163. 



^^ The Composition Books show that he 

 paid his first-fruits on 8 Oct. 1554. He 



was probably tiie same who was chantry 

 priest at Our Lady's Altar in Ormskirk 

 church in i 546. One of the same name 

 was prior of UphoUand at the dissolution. 

 " Institution Book, 50 [Noiiitd Cestr. ii, 

 194). Bishop Stanley also held Winwick, 

 Wigan, and Barwick in Elmet ; see the 

 account of Wigan church. 



" Peter Clayton paid his composition 

 for first-fruits on 18 June, 1569. He was 

 ordained subdeacon in 1557, deacon and 

 priest in March and April, 1558, so that 

 he belonged to the old clergy ; Ordination 

 Book (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 95, 

 100, 105. He was still rector in 1583 \ 

 Duchy of Lane. Pleadings, Eliz. cxxviii, 

 C. 6. 



^* He paid his composition for first- 

 fruits on 24 Aug. 1591. He was *a 

 preacher' ; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 249, 

 quoting Dom. S.P. Eliz. ccxxxv, n. 4. 



1* Robert Bamforde compounded for 

 first-fruits on 23 May, 1595 \ possibly he 

 was the Robert Bamforde of Brasenose 

 Coll., Oxf. who graduated B.A. in 1574 

 and M.A. in 1580, and became canon 

 of Lichfield in 1597. He had another 

 benefice in Derbyshire, where he resided ; 

 Visit. Book of 1598, at Chest. 



*<" He paid his first-fruits on 9 June, 

 1600. He was reported in 1606 to wear 

 the surplice very seldom ; it seems, how- 

 ever, that he did so on Sundays ; Visit. 

 Books. He was buried 25 January, 1615, 

 at North Meols, and his will was proved 

 at Chester in the same year ; he mentions 

 his wife Ellen and several children, also 

 his mother Agnes. He bequeathed his 

 book called * Maginis Geography ' to his 

 brother-in-law Edmund Wearden. It may 

 be noted that a Matthew French of 

 Northampton, son of John French of 

 Dunstable, matriculated in 1597 at the 

 age of seventeen at Balliol College, Ox- 

 ford ; Foster, Alumni. If this is the same 

 he would be only twenty when appointed. 

 He was described as *a preacher' ; Kenyon 

 MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), 13. 



^ Henry Wright paid his first-fruits 

 composition 3 Feb. 1614-15. In 1625 it 

 was reported that he did not always wear 

 the surplice when serving the Communion; 



228 



Visit, Papers. By his will he desired to 

 be buried in the middle of the chancel, 

 where his first wife's body lay. The great 

 chest, bedstocks, and table in his house at 

 Leyland were to be heirlooms ; and his 

 books were to be divided between his sons. 

 1^ From this point the presentations 

 have been compared with those in the 

 Institution Books, P.R.O., as In Lanes, and 

 Ches, Antiq. Notes. It is not known why 

 the king presented at this time. There 

 were three presentations in all : By the 

 king on 10 Feb. 1638-9 ; by John Fleet- 

 wood, the patron, on 22 Mar. — done, no 

 doubt, to safeguard his rights ; and by the 

 king again on 8 April. The first-fruits 

 were paid 22 July. Starkie was a gra- 

 duate of Cambridge, and had been master 

 of Heskin Grammar School ; he was a 

 vicar of Preston from 1630 to 1639. He 

 conformed to the Presbyterian establish- 

 ment in 1646, and signed the * Har- 

 monious Consent' of 1648. He may have 

 conformed again in 1662, as he retained 

 the benefice till his death in May, 1684. 

 It is to be remarked, however, that he 

 was considered a Nonconformist for many 

 years after 1662. He appeared at the 

 visitations of 1671, 1674, and 1677, 

 exhibiting his letters of orders ; see Night- 

 ingale, Lanes. Nonconf. vi, 8. The case of 

 Rainford shows what was possible, with 

 the connivance of those in authority. 



20 Henry Rycroft of Penwortham was 

 a foreign burgess at Preston Guild in 

 1682, He was burled at North Meols 

 12 Sept. 1688. 



21 Richard Hardy was * conformable * in 

 \6%<^\ Kenyon MSS. 229. 



^ He is probably the Ralph Loxam who 

 was admitted sizar of Jesus College, 

 Camb. in May, 1700. He was buried 

 at Penwortham, 19 Oct. 1726. 



23 James, son of John Whitehead of 

 Saddleworth, was educated at Oxford ; 

 M.A. 1698. He was buried at North 

 Meols, 3 Sept. 1733. 



** Christopher Sudell was of the Preston 

 family of that name, and was educa- 

 ted at Emmanuel ColL Camb. ; M.A. 

 1696. He had previously been rector of 

 Aughton (ejected for simony), and vicar 



