WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



The following is a list of the rectors and vicars : 



Rectors 



Date Name Patron 



c. 1 200 . . . Patrick ' 



c. 1245 • • • Richard' 



1266 ... Mr. Alan le Breton ^ Bp. of Lichfield. . . 



f. 1303 . . . Eustace de Cottesbech * .... 



13 May, 1309 . William de Dacre ' Sir Wm. de Dacre and 



Joan his wife . . . 



5 May, 1 346 . Ranulf de Dacre * Sir Wm. de Dacre . . 



l8Apl. 1375. . John Fairfax' Sir John de Nevill . . 



25 June, 1393 . Mr. William de Ashton * . . . . John duke of Lancaster 



23 Oct. 1403. . Mr. Edmund Lacy ' The King . . . . 



28Apl. 1417. . Philip Morgan, J.U.D.'" .... „ . . . . 



(?) 1419. . Robert Gilbert, S.T.P." .... 



6 Nov. 1436 . Richard Praty, S.T.P." .... The King . . . . 



PRESCOT 



Cau3e of Vacancy 



d. Eust. de Cottesbech 

 d. W. de Dacre 

 res. R. de Dacre 

 d. John Fairfax 

 d. W. de Ashton 



cons. R. Gilbert 



1 Farrer, Lancs^ Pipe R. 350-4. Patrick 

 is not actually described as * parson ' of 

 Prescot, but he is included among the 

 clergy, as is shown by his name appearing 

 before that of Richard, son of Henry de 

 Lathom. From another deed Patrick and 

 Richard seem to have been clerks at 

 Prescot in 1191 ; WhalUy Coucher (Chet. 

 Soc), i, 40, Richard, clerk of Prescot, 

 appears earlier (1177) as paying a fine of 

 1 mark for a breach of the forest laws ; 

 Lanes. Pipe R. 38, 



a Whalley Gaucher, iii, 809. Patrick de 

 Prescot and Richard are named as preced- 

 ing rectors in pleas by Alan le Breton ; 

 De Banc. R. 59, m. 31 ; 92, m. 138. 



3 It appears that Alan le Breton was 

 presented to Prescot by Roger bishop of 

 Lichfield, who by some lapse was patron 

 for that turn in 1266 j Alan was already 

 rector of Coddington, and was allowed to 

 hold Prescot also in consideration of the 

 numerous and heavy labours and grave 

 perils he had undergone for the bishop 

 and his church. This grant was recited 

 in the ratiBcation of it by Walter, the 

 bishop in 1299 ; Lich. Epis. Reg. i, fol. 22. 

 Alan was made treasurer of Lichfield 

 Cathedral about 1276, and retained the 

 office till his death in June, 1306; Le 

 Neve's Fasti, i, 581. His tenure of 

 Prescot was marked by a series of conten- 

 tions with his secular neighbours respect- 

 ing church lands J Assize R. 1265, m. 

 5; 1268, m. 19*^.; 1277, m. 31^.; 

 408, m. ly d. Bishop Walter specially 

 noticed these efforts for the benefit of the 

 church of Prescot, its rights and liberties 

 having been almost lost by the negligence 

 of preceding rectors and its property 

 alienated, and encouraged him to go 

 forward in his task of recovery and 

 reformation. In one matter his zeal 

 seems to have been excessive ; for in 

 1386-7 a successor, John Fairfax, had to 

 give twenty marks for the king's pardon, 

 Alan le Breton having acquired lands for 

 the church (without licence) from Richard 

 de Churchlee ; Fines R. 190, m. 3 ; 

 Assize R. 1 27 1, m. 11 d. 



^ Alan le Breton appears to have 

 resigned Prescot in 1303, in which year 

 he called upon Master John le Norreys of 

 Lichfield for an account of the time he 

 had acted as his bailiff at Prescot ; De 

 Banc. R. 148, m. iy6d, Eustace de 

 Cottesbech is mentioned as rector in 1304 

 (ibid, R. 152, m. 180) ; he. was rector of 

 Halton in 1303 ; ibid. R. 148, m. i^d. 

 There was a sequestration in 1308, the 

 bishop granting the custody to William 

 de Tatham and Roger de Shelton ; Lich. 

 Reg. i, fol. 5 63. The rector had been 



appointed chamberlain and receiver in 

 Scotland by Edward II in Sept. 1307; 

 CaL Docs, relating to Scotland, ii. 2. He 

 was dead in Feb. 1308-9; ibid. p. 14. 

 He is mentioned a number of times in 

 the Close and Patent Rolls of the first 

 years of Edward II and probably spent 

 most of his time in Scotland. 



' William de Dacre was clericus on 

 appointment ; Lich. Reg. i, fol. 57 ; was 

 ordained subdeacon in the following 

 Lent; ibid, i, fol. 109^. Nine years 

 later he received permission to be absent 

 for a year's study (ibid, i, fol. 85/*) ; this 

 was renewed in 1320 (ibid, i, fol. 87^). 

 Two years later he seems for a time to 

 have resigned the rectory, for John Bone 

 was instituted on 29 July, 1322, the 

 patrons being Henry de Tunstall and Joan 

 de Dacre his wife, *with the permission 

 of John, prior of Burscough*; ibid, ii, 

 fol. 99. William de Dacre, however, 

 continued rector until his death, being 

 so styled in 1325 ; De Banc. R. 257, 

 m. 148. Complaint was made in 1330 

 of a violent breach of sanctuary at 

 Prescot church ; Coram Rege R. 302, 

 Rex, m. 6 d, 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. Ii, fol. 119. Ranulf de 

 Dacre in 1361 became head of the family, 

 and was summoned to Parliament as 

 Lord Dacre; he died in 1375, probably 

 soon after his resignation ; see G. E. C. 

 Complete Peerage, iii, i. In Aug, 1350, 

 Clement VI confirmed to Ralph de 

 Dacre the church of Prescot, to which he 

 had been instituted three years pre- 

 viously, when five months under the 

 canonical age ; CaL Papal Letters, iii, 397. 

 He died intestate ; De Banc. R. 463, m. 

 142^. 



7 Lich. Epis. Reg. iv, fol. 87^. Sir 

 Ranulf, having sold the advowson, retired 

 to allow the new patron to exercise his 

 right. John Fairfax was a younger son of 

 William Fairfax of Walton, near York, 

 His will, dated at Prescot 7 June, 1393, 

 and proved a week later, shows that he 

 was a man of some wealth. He wished 

 to be buried in the church of Walton, 

 where he founded a chantry, and gave 

 directions as to his funeral and its 

 attendant dinner. To Prescot he be- 

 queathed jfio for the stone bell-tower 

 recently built, and a great breviary with 

 musical notes according to the use of 

 Sarum ; legacies were also made to Sir 

 Thomas Gerard and Maud his wife, to 

 John Gerard, the testator's godson, and 

 to Richard, son of Henry de Bold ; 

 Test, Ebor, (Surtees Soc), i, 186-190. 

 There is a deed of his in P. R. O. Anct. D. 

 B. 3522. 



343 



In 1389 the king, for reasons un- 

 known, presented William Strickland 

 to the rectory ; CaU Pat, 1388-92, 

 p. 90. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. vi, fol. 57, He was 

 canon of Lincoln from 1388, and for a 

 time (1390) was dean of St. Martin's le 

 Grand; Le Neve's Fasti, ii, 158-63. 

 He was also prebendary of Lichfield ; 

 ibid, i, 601 ; Cal, of Pat. 1388-92, p. 295. 

 It appears he was of the family of 

 Ashton of Croston, relations of the 

 Winwicks ; ibid. 1386-9, p. 10; Pal. 

 of Lane. Plea R. i, m. 25A. 



^ Lich. Epis. Reg. vii, fol. 91. Master 

 of University Coll. Oxf. 1398; pre- 

 bendary of Hereford and Lincoln ; dean 

 of Chapel Royal under Henry V, bishop 

 of Hereford 1417, and of Exeter 1420 to 

 ^455 J Le Neve's Fasti j Diet. Nat, 

 Biog, 



^•^ Lich. Epis. Reg. vlil, fol. 19. No 

 reason is given for the vacancy, but Ed- 

 mund de Lacy was consecrated to Hereford 

 18 April, 1417 ; Le Neve, i, 464. Dr. 

 Philip Morgan was continually employed 

 on foreign missions, 1414 to 141 8 ; pre- 

 bendary of Lincoln 141 6; bishop of 

 Worcester and privy councillor 1419 j 

 elected archbishop of York 1423, but 

 translated by the pope to Ely in 1426; 

 vigilant in putting down clerical abuses ; 

 Le Neve's Fasti ; Diet. Nat. Biog, 



^^ The name of this rector is known 

 only by the record of appointment of his 

 successors. He was a man of distinc- 

 tion ; warden of Merton Coll. Oxf. 

 from 141 7 to 1 42 1 ; held prebends in 

 York and Lincoln ; was at different times 

 precentor of Salisbury, archdeacon of 

 Durham, treasurer and dean of York ; 

 and finally became bishop of London, 

 when *in consideration of his great virtue 

 and knowledge and the services he had 

 rendered to Henry V and the reigning 

 king ' he was allowed to go to Rome in 

 person to obtain confirmation of his 

 election. He died In 1448 ; see Le 

 Neve's Fasti, ii, 296, &c. 



^2 On Gilbert's promotion to the see of 

 London he may have been allowed to retain 

 Prescot for a time, or else the Lichfield 

 registrar made a slip in his record ; for two 

 years later a second presentation was 

 made, the same reason for the vacancy 

 being assigned. 



Richard Praty, whose institution to 

 Prescot may have been null, Is described 

 as *Sacre Pagine Professor* ; Lich. Epis. 

 Reg. ix, fol. 123 ; in 1438 he, being dean 

 of the Chapel Royal and chancellor of 

 Salisbury, was made bishop of Chichester ; 

 Le Neve's Fasti, i, 246. 



