A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



were none presented lor recusancy ; but ludith 

 \\'hitstones was reported to have prayed upon beads.' 

 There were three endowed chantries in the church. 

 The most ancient of them was founded in the latter 

 half of the fifteenth centur)' by Thomas the first earl 

 of Derbv, and others, at the altar of Our Ladv.* 

 The rental amounted to 7S/. 6d'., derived from lands 

 in Aughton and Ormskirk ; out of this 4/. 5^. was 

 paid to the king in right of Burscough Priory* and dd. 

 to Richard Whitstones.' The second chantry was at 

 the altar of Our Lady of Pity, founded by Thomas 

 Atherton of BickerstafFe, for a priest to sing and cele- 

 brate for the souls of himself and his ancestors. The 

 priest had an annual rent of 7 marks from the heirs of 

 the founder, charged upon their lands in Aughton, 

 BickerstafFe, and Sutton.* The third chantry was 

 that at the altar of St. Man,- Magdalen, founded by 

 Peter Gerard, clerk, brother of Miles Gerard of 

 Aughton. The stipend of \(>s. was derived from 

 tenements in Aughton and Formby."" Afterwards the 



Gerards endeavoured to secure the propcrt) of the 

 chantry on the ground that it was not founded in 

 perpetuity.* None of the chantry priests had 

 other benefices. The lands of the Gerard and 

 Atherton chantries were leased in 1583 to Henry 

 Stanley of BickerstafFe, but making default in his 

 payments he forfeited the lease, and it was trans- 

 ferred to Nicholas Dickson in 1599/ Six years 

 later the chantry of St. Peter was leased to Robert 

 Caddick for twenty-one years,® but shortly afterwards 

 transferred to George Johnson.® It appears to have 

 been finally disposed of by the crown in 1670.'° 



The grammar school was founded about 1612, and 

 the charity school, now incorporated with the national 

 schools, in 1725. 



The charities of the parish, in addition to the 

 schools, are numerous and valuable. Bishop Gastrell 

 records many as existing in 1720." Details elicited 

 at the inquiry in October, 1898, are given in the 

 notes.'* 



I The churchwardens and others were 

 excommunicated for showing their con- 

 tempt either by not coming or by leaving 

 without showing their presentments ■, and 

 several persons were excommunicated * for 

 standing in the street at service time and 

 giving the churchwardens evil words.' A 

 fornicator condemned to public penance 

 on three successive Sundays in Ormskirk 

 church in linen clothes humbly asked for 

 a commutation j he was therefore ordered 

 to pay 131. 41/. to the vicar and church- 

 wardens, to be applied to the use of the 

 poor, or other pious purposes. See Trans. 

 Hist, Soc. (New Scr.), x, 183. 



^ Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc), 103-5 ; 

 f'alor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 22V The 

 latter names the founders thus : — The 

 earl of Derby, Hamlet Atherton of Bickcr- 

 staffe, Thomas Hesketh of Ormskirk and 

 loan his wife, Godfrey Hulme, Hugh 

 Standish, Otwell Aughton, Thomas Huy- 

 ton, and Ellen Shakerlcy. Peter Prescot 

 was the priest there in 1534 and 1547 ; 

 in the latter year he was forty-six years 

 of age and celebrating, according to his 

 foundation, for the souls of the carl of 

 Derby and his ancestors. 



' Raines, Chantries^ loc. cit. In the f'alor 

 loc. cit. a third payment is mentioned — • 

 iSi/. to the rector of Aughton. In the 

 Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. (bdle. 168, n. 

 2682) this is erroneously called ' the chan- 

 try at the altar of B. Mary Magdalen.' 



* Raines, Chantries^ 101-3. Roger 

 Burscough was the celebrating priest in 

 15345 Valor^ loc. cit.; and Humphrey 

 Jackson in 1 54"*. The latter was fifty-four 

 years of age ; he had in 1553 a pension of 

 £1 iS*. Chjntrit'i^Xoz.Qxi, In the Mins. 

 Accts. loc. cit. this is called the 'chantry 

 at the altar of St. Peter.' From a dispute 

 in the time of Elizabeth (1596) it appears 

 that both names — Our Lady of Pity and 

 St, Peter — were in use ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Pleadings, Eliz. clxxri, A. 4. 



* Raines, Chantries^ loo-i ; Vahr^ loc. 

 cit. The priest of this chantry in i534and 

 1 54;* was Roger Shaw ; he was fifty years 

 of age. In the Mins. Accts. loc. cit, this is 

 called * the chantry at the altar of B. Mary.' 



* Duchy of Lane. Pleadings, Eliz. cxc, 

 W. 12. See the account of Aughton. 



' Duchy of Lane. Books, Leases, 37<3, 

 fol. 8 2 A. 



■^ Duchy of Lane. Draft Leases, bdle. 57 ; 

 Pat. 3 Jas. I, pt. ix (2 Deer.). 



9 Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. i, 1. 



10 Pat. 22 Chas. II, pt. ii, 1. 



II Notitia^ ii, 199, &c. 



" End. Char. Rep. 1899, in which 

 is reprinted the report of 1 828. The 

 following is an abstract : — 



The Blackleech charity was founded 

 in accordance with the will of James 

 Blackleech (or Blackledge) of London, 

 dated 1631, by which ^5 a year was to 

 be paid to the churchwardens of Orms- 

 kirk (or trustees) for the benefit of the 

 poor, and j^i to the maintenance of a 

 weekly lecture. The £6 a year is now 

 charged on premises in Burscough owned 

 by the War Office ; ^5 is distributed to 

 the poor of the township of Ormskirk, and 

 ^i is paid to the vicar, whose weekly 

 sermon is supposed to be equivalent to the 

 'lecture' of the will. 



Henry Smith in or before 1641 gave 

 to trustees the manor of Longney in 

 Gloucestershire with the impropriate rec- 

 tory, the income to be divided among 

 twenty-four parishes in different propor- 

 tions, Ormskirk receiving ^gj of the 

 whole. In 1828 this share was about 

 j^2i, but in 1897 only ^9 was received, 

 the churchwardens distributing this in 

 calico or flannel to poor persons in Orms- 

 kirk, Burscough, and Scarisbrick ; half the 

 income is devoted to the first-named town- 

 ship, and a quarter to each of the others. 



The charity founded by Peter Lathom 

 (1700) will be described under Cros- 

 ton. In consequence of the development 

 of the coal mines the income has greatly 

 increased, amounting in 1897 to ,^1,486, 

 Of this the townships of Ormskirk, Scaris- 

 brick, Burscough, Bickerstaffe, and Skcl- 

 mcrsdalc, and the hamlet of Newburgh in 

 Lathom used each to receive one-seven- 

 teenth share, amounting to ^17 loj. in 

 1828, distributed chiefly in linen, calico, 

 or cloth ; but in 1879 the Charity Com- 

 missioners made a new scheme, by which 

 Lathom (excluding Newburgh) was ad- 

 mitted to participate, and the share of 

 each was reduced to one-eighteenth, 

 amounting in 1897 to ^^78 51. lod. The 

 trustees are now allowed to distribute the 

 money in a large number of ways, includ- 

 ing subscriptions to hospitals, education, 

 libraries, tools and other outfit, as well as 

 in money and goods. Thus in Ormskirk 

 in 1897 ^6 was given to the District 

 Provident Society, £j 6s. to the Dispen- 

 sary, and ^6 to the Ladies* Charity ; £j 

 for prizes at the national schools ; and the 

 rest in coals or food, rarely in money, to 

 nearly 200 persons. 



Jane Brooke, widow, having given an 

 organ to the church, by will dated 17^7, 



246 



left ;^3oo to the earl of Derby, the in- 

 terest to be paid to an organist to be 

 chosen by him. The net income, ^10 3*., 

 is paid to the organist, who is appointed 

 by the vicar. 



Catherine Brandreth, widow, by her 

 will of 182;*, bequeathed ;^200 for the 

 benefit of the poor of Ormskirk parish. 

 The money was given by the executor to 

 the Dispensary, but it being held that this 

 was an improper use, the subscribers in 

 1842 repaid the ^^200 j this was invested, 

 and now produces an income of ^6 1 8f. 8(/., 

 distributed in flannel to widows and others 

 in Ormskirk, Lathom, Burscough, and 

 Scarisbrick. 



The Dispensary is said to have been 

 founded in May, 1705. Dr. Brandreth, a 

 physician in Liverpool at the beginning of 

 the last century, took a great interest in 

 It, having been born in Ormskirk, and the 

 ^200 left by his widow was, as already 

 stated, applied by their son to the pur- 

 chase of a house for it. The scheme was 

 generally approved, and a dispensary built 

 in 1831 in Burscough Street, for the 

 benefit of the sick poor of Ormskirk and 

 the neighbourhood. In 1896 a cottage 

 hospital was erected on a site in Hants 

 Lane, and further buildings and a nurses' 

 home In 1898, after which the former 

 house was sold. In addition to annual 

 subscriptions the invested funds amount 

 to about j^6,86o, yielding a gross income 



of ;^i3I- 



Besides the preceding general charities 

 there are a number limited to particular 

 townships or classes. 



Catherine Crosby, widow. In 1741 left 

 £10 for a chalice for the parish church, 

 £\Q each for the charity school and the 

 grammar school, and ^^46 for the benefit 

 of poor widows and for a monthly distribu- 

 tion of bread at the church. The capital 

 purchased ^^loo consols. The income It 

 now £z 151., and Is administered by the 

 churchwardens together with Crane'* 

 Charity, eighteen loaves being distributed 

 every Sunday afternoon ; attendance at 

 the service Is not obligatory. Elizabeth 

 Kippax, granddaughter of a former vicar, 

 before 1800 left j^ioo for bread for the 

 poor of Ormskirk ^ this Is now represented 

 ^Y £.^7^ >8j. \od, consols in the hands 

 of the official trustees, and the interest, 

 j^4 141., is distributed in bread. Mary 

 Fairclough, by will in 1830, bequeathed 

 the residue of her effects to the poor of 

 Ormskirk, the Interest to be laid out in 

 blankets. The capital sum is ;^233 con- 



