THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 HISTORY OF THE FYLDE 
 
 OF LANCASHIRE, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN PORTER, M.R.C.S.,L.S.A, 
 
 FLEETWOOD AND BLACKPOOL : 
 W. PORTER AND SONS, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1876. 
 \All rights reserved^
 
 FLEETWOOD AND BLACKPOOL: 
 PRINTED BY W. PORTER AND SONS.
 
 TO 
 
 BENJAMIN WHITWORTH, ESQUIRE, M.P., 
 
 IN ADMIRATION OF HIS ENTERPRISE, GENEROSITY, AND PHILANTHROPY, 
 
 DISPLAYED IN THE FYLDE, AND ELSEWHERE, 
 
 AND AS 
 A TRIBUTE OF PERSONAL REGARD AND ESTEEM, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 629895
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 FEW, and only a few, words are needed to introduce 
 the History of the Fylde to the public. In its 
 preparation my aim has been to make the work 
 as comprehensive in description and detail as the prescribed 
 limits would allow, and I have endeavoured to write in a style free 
 from any tendency to pedantry, and I hope, also, from dulness. 
 How far these conditions have been fulfilled I must now leave 
 to the judgment of the reader, doing so with some degree of 
 confidence that at any rate the attempt will be generally 
 appreciated, if the success be not universally acknowledged. 
 In the course of my labours I have availed myself of the 
 
 A 
 
 works of various authors, and desire to acknowledge my 
 indebtedness, especially to Baines's Lancashire, Fishwick's 
 Kirkham, Thornber's Blackpool, and many volumes of the 
 Cheetham and other historical societies. My thanks for 
 valuable aid are also due to the following gentlemen, amongst 
 others, the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby, of St. MichaePs-on-Wyre ; 
 the Rev. W. Richardson, of Poulton-le-Fylde ; Col. Bourne, M.P., 
 of Hackensall and Heathfield ; John Furness, esq., of Fulwood ; 
 W. H. Poole, esq., of Fleetwood ; and the Bailiffs of Kirkham. 
 
 JOHN PORTER. 
 
 Fleetivood, August, 1876.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 7, line 15, after the word crossing, insert the Main Dyke from. This Dyke 
 is crossed after leaving, and not before reaching, Staining, as stated. 
 Page 147, line 9 from the bottom, for Gulph, read Gulf. 
 Page 183, line 2, for 1857, read 1657. 
 Page 256, dele the heading Coasting. 
 
 Page 286, line 2 from the bottom, lor fortified, read forfeited. 
 Page 289, line 13 from the bottom, for the first funds, read expenses.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE. 
 
 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, ANGLO-SAXONS AND DANES 1-29 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO JAMES THE FIRST 30-54 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 JAMES THE FIRST TO QUEEN VICTORIA 55-86 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 CONDITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE 87-114 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, RIVERS AND SEA 115-150 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE PEDIGREES OF ANCIENT FAMILIES 151-185 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 PARISH OF POULTON-LE-FYLDE. POULTON 186-217 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE 218-267 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THORNTON, CARLETON, MARTON, AND HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON.. 268-296 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PARISH OF BISPHAM. BISPHAM-WITH-NORBRECK. LAYTON- ) 
 WITH-WARBRECK j 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 BLACKPOOL 311-362 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 PARISH OF KIRKHAM. KIRKHAM 363-401 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 FRECKLETON. WARTON. RIBBY-WITH-WREA. WEETON-WITH- 
 
 PREESE. GREENHALGH-WITH-THISTLETON. GREAT AND g 
 
 LITTLE SINGLETON. CLIFTON-WITH-SALWICK. NEWTON- 
 
 WITH-SCALES. HAMBLETON, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 PARISH OF LYTHAM. LYTHAM. ST. ANNES-ON-THE-SEA 429-453 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL'S-ON-WYRE. UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH- \ 
 
 TARNACRE. GREAT ECCLESTON. OUT RAWCLIFFE. [ 454-474 
 ELSWICK. WOOD PLUMPTON. INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY... ) 
 
 PAUPERISM AND THE FYLDE UNION 475-480
 
 HISTORY OF THE FYLDE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 
 
 " See ! in what crowds the uncouth forms advance : 
 Each would outstrip the other, each prevent 
 Our careful search, and offer to your gaze, 
 Unask'd, his motley features. Wait awhile, 
 My curious friends ! and let us first arrange 
 In proper order your promiscuous throng." 
 
 [HE large district of western Lancashire, denominated 
 from time immemorial the Fylde, embraces one third 
 at least of the Hundred of Amounderness, and a line 
 drawn from Ashton, on the Ribble, to Churchtown, 
 on the Wyre, forms the nearest approach to an eastern boundary 
 attainable, for although the section cut off by its means includes 
 more land and villages than properly appertain to the Fylde, a 
 more westerly division would exclude others which form part of it. 
 The whole of the parishes of Bispham, Lytham, Poulton, and 
 St. Michael's ; and the parish of Kirkham, exclusive of Goosnargh- 
 with-Newsham and Whittingham, are comprised in the Fylde 
 country. 
 
 The word Amounderness was formerly considered to signify 
 the " Promontory of Agmund," or " Edmund," and this origin is 
 alluded to in a treatise written some years since by Mr. Thomas 
 
 B
 
 2 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 Baines on the " Valley of the Mersey," -in which the following 
 remarks occur : "In the year 911 the Northumbrians themselves 
 began the war, for they despised the peace which King Edward 
 and his 'Witan' offered them, and overran the land of Mercia. 
 After collecting great booty they were overtaken on their march 
 home by the forces of the West Saxons and the Mercians, who 
 put them to flight and slew many thousands of them. Two 
 Danish Kings and five Earls were slain in this battle. Amongst 
 the Earls slain was Agmund, the governor, from whom the 
 Hundred of Agmunderness (Amounderness) was probably named." 
 In order that the reader may properly comprehend why Mr. 
 Baines should surmise that Amounderness received its title from 
 the Danish Earl, Agmund, it may be stated that the extensive 
 province of Northumbria, then colonised by the Northmen or 
 Danes, embraced, amongst other territory, the district afterwards 
 called Lancashire, and, consequently, the Hundred of Amoun- 
 derness would be in a great measure under Danish governance. 
 When, however, we call to mind that the Danes did not invade 
 England until A.D. 787, and learn that this Hundred was entered 
 in the Ripon grant in A.D. 705, as Hacmunderness, it becomes 
 obvious that the name cannot have been conferred upon it by that 
 nation, and some other source must be looked to for its origin. 
 In Gibsons' Etymological Geography there is "Anderness" (for 
 Ackmunderness) described as a " promontory sheltered by oaks, 
 (ac, oak ; and mund, protection)." As many large trunks of 
 trees have been discovered beneath the layers of peat in the 
 extensive local mosses, whilst others have been laid bare along 
 the shore by the action of the tides, it can be readily believed 
 that at one time the greater share of the district was clothed 
 with forests. Leyland, who was antiquary to Henry VIII., and 
 surveyed the Hundred during the reign of that monarch, 1509-47, 
 says : " Al Aundernesse for the most parte in time paste hathe 
 been full of woods, and many of the moores replenished with hy 
 fyrre trees ; but now such part of Aundernesse as is towarde the 
 se is sore destitute of woodde." With such irrefutable evidences 
 of the early woodland condition of Amounderness, there need be 
 no hesitation in accepting the signification which Messrs. Gibson 
 have given to the name the Ness or Promontory protected by 
 oaks. The word Fylde is regarded simply as a corruption of
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 
 
 " Field." Camden in his "Britannia" of 1590, writes : 
 " Tota est campestris, unde Fild pro Field appellatur." I 
 (The whole is champaign, whence it is called Fild for Field.) 
 
 Iii a subsequent edition of the same work Fild is spelt File, and 
 the latter orthography was used inFileplumpton, in the Duchy 
 records, afterwards called Fylde Plumpton, and now Wood 
 Plumpton. The Fylde section of this Hundred is a level 
 well-watered country, highly cultivated and richly productive, 
 especially of grain, from which circumstance it was formerly 
 designated the corn-field of Amounderness. 
 
 Anterior to the third invasion of the Romans in A.D. 43, the 
 inhabitants of the Fylde and other portions of Lancashire lying 
 between the range of mountains which separates this county 
 from Yorkshire, and the coast about the Bay of Morecambe, 
 were called the Setantii or Segantii, " the dwellers in the country 
 of water," but at that date the whole tract populated by these 
 people was included in the more extensive province of the 
 Brigantes, comprehending what are now known as the six 
 counties of York, Durham, Northumberland, Westmoreland, 
 Cumberland, and Lancaster. The Fylde at that epoch would be 
 composed chiefly of morasses and forests, interspersed with limited 
 areas and narrow paths of more stable land, and there can be 
 little doubt that the dwellers on such an uninviting spot must 
 have been very few, but that it was traversed and, as far as 
 practicable, inhabited by the ancient Setantii is evident from 
 the several relics of them which have been discovered amongst 
 the peat in modern days. Two or three canoes, consisting of 
 light wooden frameworks, covered with hides, were found by a 
 man named Jolly, about half a century ago, when cutting the 
 "Main Dyke" of Marton Mere; 2 Celtic hammers, axes, and spears 
 have also been taken out of the mosses in the district, all of 
 which were doubtless originally the property of the aboriginal 
 Britons. The bay of Morecambe and the river Wyre acquired 
 their distinctive appellations from the Setantii, the one being 
 
 1. William Camden was born in London in 1551. His most celebrated 
 publication is entitled " Britannia," and consists of a survey of the British isles, 
 written in elegant Latin. He died in 1623, at Chiselhurst, in Kent. 
 
 2. The reader must not confound these canoes with some others found in 
 Martin Meer, North Meols.
 
 4 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 derived from the Celtic gwyr } pure or fresh, and the other from 
 tnawr, great, and cam, winding or bent. 
 
 The hardihood of the native Britons of these parts is attested by 
 Dion Cassius, who informs us that they lived on prey, hunting, 
 and the fruits of trees, and were accustomed to brave hunger, 
 cold, and all kinds of toil, for they would " continue several days 
 up to their chins in water, and bear hunger many days." In the 
 woods their habitations were wicker shelters, formed of the 
 branches of trees interwoven together, and, in the open grounds, 
 clay or mud huts. They were indebted to the skins of 
 animals slain in the chase for such scanty covering as they 
 cared to wear, and according to Caesar and other writers, dyed 
 their bodies with woad, which produced a blue colour, and had 
 long flowing hair, being cleanly shaved except the head and 
 upper lip. That the power of endurance possessed by the 
 Setantii, and the neighbouring Brigantes is not to be understood 
 literally as expressed by Cassius may, we venture to think, be 
 taken for granted. It can scarcely be credited that the human 
 frame could ever be reduced or exalted to such an amphibious 
 condition as to be indifferent whether it passed a number of days 
 on dry land or under water ; it seems more probable that in his 
 description Cassius referred to the hunting and other expeditions 
 of the fhhabitants into the forests and morasses of the Fylde and 
 similarly wooded and marshy tracts, where there is no question 
 the followers of the chase would be more or less in a state of 
 immersion during the whole time they were so engaged. 
 
 The religion of the Setantii was Druidical, and their deities 
 resembled those of other heathen nations, such as the Romans 
 and Greeks of that era, but differed in their names. Caesar tells 
 us that this order of priesthood was presided over by a superior, 
 who was known as the chief Druid, and had almost unlimited 
 authority over all the rest. The Druids were settled at various 
 points of the island, where they erected their temples, but in 
 addition to these principle stations, many of their order were 
 scattered amongst the native tribes of Britain, over which they 
 appear to have exercised the functions and power of judges, 
 arranging both public and private disputes, and deciding all 
 criminal cases. It was part of the creed professed by the Setantii, 
 to vow, when they were engaged in warfare, that they would,
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 
 
 through the agency of the Druids, immolate human victims as 
 an atonement for slaughtered enemies, believing that unless 
 man's life were given for man's life, the divine anger of the 
 immortal Gods could not be appeased. There were other 
 sacrifices of the same kind instituted at regularly appointed 
 seasons and on special occasions. The Setantii also believed in 
 an immortal soul, but seem to have had no idea of a higher 
 state, as their priests inculcated the doctrine that after death the 
 soul was transported to another body, " imagining that by this 
 the men were more effectually roused to valour, the fear of death 
 being taken away." 1 Ornaments called "Druids' eggs," and 
 worn only by these priests, have been found in the Fylde. 
 
 How Caesar, in B.C. 54 and 55, invaded Britain a first and a 
 second time, achieving at best an empty conquest, and how, 
 after his death, the emperor Claudius sent over an army with a 
 determination to exterminate the Druids, and after thirty pitched 
 battles, subdued province after province, is beyond the limits of 
 this work to state, but as a connecting link of the history of the 
 country with that of our own county, and that portion of it 
 especially under examination, it may be stated that Britain was 
 finally conquered by the Romans under Julius Agricola, and that 
 the best investigation of the subject leads to the opinion that the 
 district which we call Lancashire, was brought into subjection 
 to the Roman conqueror in A.D. 79. A vigorous resistance was 
 for long offered to the army of invaders in the territory of the 
 Setantii by the natives under the Brigantine chief Venutius, but 
 the well drilled legions of the Romans, when commanded by 
 Agricola, proved too formidable to be checked or broken by the 
 wild, undisciplined valour of the Setantii. Tacitus, the son-in-law 
 of the general, informs us that early in the summer of A.D. 79, 
 Agricola personally inspected his soldiers, and marked out many 
 of the stations, one of which, either made at that time or later 
 by the same people, was situated at Kirkham, on the line of the 
 Roman road running from the mouth of Wyre, which will be 
 described hereafter. He explored the estuaries and woods 
 along the western coast of Lancashire, and harassed the enemy 
 by sudden and frequent incursions. When the Brigantes and 
 
 I. Caecar's Bell. Gall., v. 14.
 
 6 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 Setantii had been thoroughly overawed and disheartened by the 
 invincible Romans, Agricola stayed his operations in order to 
 shew them the blessings of peace, and in that way many towns 
 which had bravely held out were induced to surrender and give 
 hostages. These places he surrounded with guards and 
 fortifications. The following winter was passed in endeavouring, 
 by various incentives to pleasure, to subdue the warlike nature of 
 the Britons, thereby diminishing the danger of an outbreak, 
 especially amongst such tribes as the Setantii, whose intrepid 
 spirits had been so difficult to quell, and who were not likely to 
 submit quietly to the yoke of the conqueror, unless some means 
 were adopted to allure them by the charms of civilised luxury 
 from their free field and forest mode of existence. Temples, 
 courts of justice, and comfortable habitations were first erected ; 
 the sons of the petty chiefs were next instructed in the liberal 
 arts, and Agricola professed to prefer the genius of the Britons 
 to the attainments of the Gauls. The Roman dress became the 
 fashion, and the toga was frequently worn. The " porch, 
 luxurious baths, and elegant banquets" were regularly instituted, 
 and by degrees the crafty design of the Roman general was 
 accomplished, and the vanquished Britons had ceased to be the 
 hardy warriors of old. 
 
 About one century after the subjugation of Britain by Agricola 
 no less than seven important Roman stations, or garrisoned 
 places, had risen up in the county of Lancaster, and were situated 
 at Manchester, Colne, Warrington, Lancaster, Walton-le-dale, 
 Ribchester, and Overborough. The minor ones, such as Kirkham, 
 supposing their sites to have been first built upon in a season of 
 warfare, subsequently became small settlements only, and were, 
 in all probability, unused as military depots. The rivers which 
 flowed in the neighbourhood of the several encampments, 
 terminated in three estuaries, denominated by Ptolemy, 1 the 
 ancient geographer, in his book, completed in A.D. 130, the 
 Seteia ./Estuarium, the Moricambe ^Estuarium, and the Belisama 
 
 I. Ptolemy was a native of Egypt, and lived at Alexandria during the first 
 half of the second century. He was an astronomer, chronologer, and geographer. 
 His geographical work was in use in all schools until the 1 5th century, when it 
 was supplanted by another treatise containing the more recent discoveries of 
 Venetian and other navigators.
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 
 
 ^Sstuarium. The first of these estuaries is generally regarded as 
 the mouth of the Dee, the second is identified with Morecambe 
 Bay, and the third with the Ribble by some historians and the 
 Mersey by others. The same authority mentions also a Portus 
 Setantiorum, which has been located on the banks of the Ribble, 
 Lune, and Mersey, by different antiquarians, but in the opinion 
 of the most recent writers the ancient harbour of the Setantii was 
 situated at the mouth of the river Wyre. Further reference to the 
 Setantian port will be made in a later page of the present chapter. 
 At the shore margin of the warren at Fleetwood there was 
 visible, about forty years ago, the abrupt and broken termination 
 of a Roman road, which could be traced across the sward, along 
 the Naze below Burn Hall, and onward in the direction of Poulton. 
 From that town it ran in a southerly line towards Staining, 
 crossing Marton Mere, on its way, in the cutting of which its 
 materials were very apparent, and lying on the low mossy lands 
 to the depth of two yards in gravel. From Staining it proceeded 
 to Weeton, and in a hollow near to the moss of that township, 
 consisted of an immense stony embankment several yards in 
 height ; in the moss itself the deep beds of gravel were distinctly 
 observable, and from there the road continued its course up the 
 rising ground to Plumpton, the traces as usual being less obvious 
 on the higher land. From Plumpton it travelled towards the 
 elevated site of a windmill between Weeton moss and Kirkham, 
 at which point it turned suddenly, and joined the public road, 
 running in a continuous straight line towards the latter town. 
 The greater part of the long street of Kirkham is either upon 
 or in the immediate vicinity of the old Roman road. From 
 Kirkham the road directed its course towards Lund church, 
 somewhere in the neighbourhood of which it was joined by 
 another path formed by the same people and commencing at the 
 Neb of the Naze near Freckleton. 1 Leaving Lund it ran through 
 Lea on to Fulwood moor, where it took the name of Watling 
 street, and proceeded on to Ribchester. This road has always been 
 known in the Flyde as the Danes' Pad, from a tradition that 
 those pirates made use of it at a later period in their incursions 
 into our district, visiting and ransacking Kirkham, Poulton, and 
 
 I. Mr. Thornber mentions this path in his History of Blackpool.
 
 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 other towns or hamlets of the unfortunate Saxons. Numerous 
 relics, chiefly of the Roman soldiery, have been dug or ploughed 
 up at different times out of the soil, bordering on the road, or 
 found amongst the pebbles of which it was composed, and 
 amongst them may be mentioned spears, both British and Roman, 
 horse shoes in abundance, several stone hammers, a battle axe, 
 a broken sword, and ancient Roman coins, all of which were 
 picked up along its line between Wyre mouth and Weeton. 
 Several half-baked urns marked with dots, and pieces of rudely 
 fashioned pottery were discovered in an extensive barrow or cairn 
 near Weeton-lane Heads, which was accidentally opened, and is 
 now pointed out as the abode of the local hairy ghost or boggart. 
 In the neighbourhood of Kirkham there have been found many 
 broken specimens of Roman pottery, stones prepared for building 
 purposes, eight or ten urns, some containing ashes and beads, 
 stone handmills for corn grinding, ancient coins, " Druids' eggs," 
 axes, and horse shoes ; in the fields near Dowbridge, where several 
 of the above urns were discovered, there was found a flattened 
 ivory needle, about five or six inches long with a large eyelet. 
 A cuirass was also picked up on the banks of the Wyre ; but the 
 most interesting relic of antiquity is the boss or umbo of a shield, 
 taken out of a ditch near Kirkham, which will be fully described 
 in the chapter devoted to that township. The Romans were 
 accustomed to make three kinds of roads, the first of which, 
 called the Viae Militares, were constructed during active warfare, 
 when they were engaged in pushing their way into the territory 
 of the enemy, and easy unobstructed communication between 
 their various encampments became a matter of the utmost 
 importance. The second, or public roads, were formed to facilitate 
 commerce in time of peace ; and the third were narrower paths, 
 called private roads. The county of Lancaster was intersected by 
 no less than four important Roman routes, two of which ran from 
 north to south, and two traversed the land from west to east. 
 The course of one road, and perhaps the best constructed of the 
 whole four, we have just followed out ; of the remainder, the first, 
 commencing at Carlisle, passed near Garstang and Preston, crossed 
 the Irwell at Old Trafford, and maintaining its southerly direction, 
 ultimately arrived at Kinderton, in Cheshire. The second 
 extended from Ovcrborough to Slack, in Yorkshire, passing on its
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 
 
 way through Ribchester, the Ribble, Radcliffe, Prestwich, and 
 Newton Heath ; whilst the third had its origin at a ford on the 
 Mersey, in close proximity to Warrington, and from that spot 
 could be traced through Barton, Eccles, Manchester, Moston, 
 Chadderton, Royton, and Littleborough, thence over Rumbles 
 Moor to Ilkley, where was located the temple of the goddes 
 Verbeia. It is conjectured that these roads, which consisted for 
 the most part of pavement and deep beds of gravel, were begun, 
 or at least marked out, by Agricola during the time he was 
 occupied in the subjugation of Lancashire, and if this very 
 probable hypothesis be correct the course taken by that general 
 in his exploration of the woods of the Fylde, and the estuaries 
 of Morecambe and the Ribble is clearly indicated by the direction 
 of the ancient path communicating with the mouth of Wyre and 
 the Naze. 
 
 At the opening of the third century the Roman governor of 
 Britain found it necessary to obtain the personal co-operation 
 of Severus, in order to put an effectual check to the repeated 
 outbreaks of the natives ; in A.D. 207, that emperor having landed 
 and established his head-quarters at York, a considerable force 
 marched northwards under his leadership to punish the revolting 
 tribes, and it is surmised that the curious road, running across 
 the mosses of Rawcliffe, Stalmine, and Pilling, was constructed 
 by the legionaries whilst on this tour. The pathway alluded to, 
 and commonly known as Kate's Pad, was deeply situated in the 
 mosses, and had apparently been formed by fastening riven oak 
 planks on to sleepers of the same material, secured and held 
 stationary by means of pins or rivets driven into the marl a little 
 above which they rested. Its width was about twenty inches, but 
 in some places rather more. 1 Herodian, in describing the 
 expedition of Severus to quell the insurrection of the Briton, 
 says : " He more especially endeavoured to render the marshy 
 places stable by means of causeways, that his soldiers, treading 
 with safety, might pass them, and having firm footing fight to 
 advantage. In these the natives are accustomed to swim and 
 traverse about, being immersed as high as their waists : for going 
 
 I. "In the memory of man large portions of Kate's Pad existed with various, 
 but irregular interruptions : these, however, the moss cutter yearly removes, and 
 shortly no remains of it will be found." Rev. W. Thornber, Blackpool, 1837.
 
 io THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 naked as to the greater part of their bodies they contemn the 
 mud. His army having passed beyond the rivers and fortresses 
 which defended the Roman territory, there were frequent attacks 
 and skirmishes, and retreats on the side of the barbarians. To 
 these indeed flight was an easy matter, and they lay hidden in the 
 thickets and marshes through their local knowledge ; all which 
 things being adverse to the Romans served to protract the war." 
 There can be no doubt that, when the path, which consisted in 
 some parts of one huge tree and in others of two or more, was 
 formed, timber must have been very plentiful in the vicinity, and 
 at the present day numbers of tree trunks of large size are to be 
 found in the mosses, further corroborating the conclusions arrived 
 at by Leyland, whose words have already been quoted, and 
 Holinshed, who wrote : " The whole countrie of Lancaster has 
 beene forests heretofore." An iron fibula, a pewter wine-strainer, 
 a wooden drinking bowl, hooped with two brass bands and having 
 two handles, a brass stirrup, and other relics have been taken out 
 of the moss fields ; and in the same neighbourhood an anvil, 
 several pieces of thin sheet-brass, and a pair of shears were 
 discovered in a ditch. 
 
 About the year 416 the Romans finally removed themselves 
 from our island, taking with them many of the brave youths of 
 Britain, and leaving the country in the hands of a people whose 
 inactive habits, acquired under their dominion, had rendered 
 them ignorant of the art and unfit for the hardships of warfare. 
 According to Ethelwerd's Chronicle, in the year 418 those few of 
 the Roman race who were left in Britain, not being able to put 
 up with the manifold insults of the natives, buried their treasure 
 in pits, hoping that at some future day, when all animosity had 
 subsided, they would be able to recover it and live peaceably, but 
 such a fortunate consummation never arrived, and weary at 
 length of waiting, they assembled on the coasts and " spreading 
 their canvass to the wind, sought an exile on the shores of Gaul." 
 The Saxon Chronicle says : "This year, A.D. 418, the Romans 
 collected all the treasures that were in Britain, and some they hid 
 in the earth so that no one since has been able to find them ; and 
 some they carried with them into Gaul." It is far from unlikely 
 that the silver denarii, discovered in 1840 by some brickmakers 
 near Rossall, and amounting to four hundred coins of Trajan,
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. n 
 
 Hadrian, Titus, Vespasian, Domitian, Antonius, Severus, Sabina, 
 etc., were deposited in that spot for security by one of those 
 much harassed Romans, previous to his departure from our coast. 
 A prize so easily to be obtained as Britain in its practically 
 unprotected state appeared, was not long in attracting the 
 covetousness of the neighbouring Picts and Scots, who came 
 down in thousands from the north, forced their way beyond the 
 Roman Wall erected by Hadrian, occupied the fortresses and 
 towns, and spread ruin and devastation in their track. The 
 northern counties were the chief sufferers from these ruthless 
 marauders. Cumberland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, were ravaged 
 and plundered to such an extent that had it not been for the 
 seasonable assistance of the Saxons, the whole country they 
 embrace would have been utterly devastated and almost 
 depopulated. Gildas, the earliest British historian 1 , born about 
 500, described our land before the incursions of the Picts and 
 Scots as abounding in pleasant hills, spreading pastures, cultivated 
 fields, silvery streams, and snow-white sands, and spoke of the 
 roofs of the buildings in the twenty-eight cities of the kingdom 
 as " raised aloft with threatening hugeness." We may readily 
 conceive how this picture of peace and prosperity was marred and 
 ruined, as far as the three counties above-named were concerned, 
 by the destroying hand of the northern nation. The British 
 towns were still surrounded by the fortified walls and embattled 
 towers, built by the Romans, but the unfortunate inhabitants, so 
 long unaccustomed to 
 
 " The close-wedged battle and the din of war," 
 
 and deprived of their armed soldiers and valiant youth, were 
 panic stricken by the fierce onslaughts of the Scottish tribes, and 
 fled before their advancing arms. Some idea of the critical and 
 truly pitiable condition to which they were reduced may be gleaned 
 from the tenor of an appeal for help sent by them to their old 
 rulers, which the author last quoted has preserved as follows : 
 The Lamentation of the Britons unto Agitius, 
 
 thrice Consul. 
 
 " The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us back to the barbarians. 
 Thus of two kinds of death, one or other must be our choice, either to be 
 swallowed up by the waves or butchered by the sword." 
 
 I. Gildas, the wise, as he was styled, was the son of Caw, Prince of Strathclyde, 
 and was born at Dumbarton.
 
 12 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 The Romans were full)' occupied with enemies of their own, the 
 Goths, and consequently were unprepared to offer any assistance 
 to the Britons, whose position was shortly afterwards rendered 
 additionally wretched by famine and its attendant evils. At that 
 period both the state of Lancashire itself and of its inhabitants 
 must have been exceedingly deplorable the country ravaged and 
 still exposed to the depredations and barbarities of the enemy, 
 had now become a prey to a fearful dearth. Many of the 
 descendants of the old Setantii, unable any further to support 
 the double contest, yielded themselves up to the Picts and Scots 
 in the hope of obtaining food to appease the fierce cravings of 
 hunger, whilst others, more hardy, but outnumbered and weakened 
 by long fasts, sought refuge in the woods and such other shelters as 
 the neighbourhood afforded. Disappointed in the Romans, the 
 Britons applied for aid to the Saxons, or Anglo-Saxons, a mixed 
 and piratical tribe, dwelling on the banks of the German Ocean, 
 and composed of Jutes, Angles, and pure Saxons. The men of 
 this race are described as determined, fearless, and of great size, 
 with blue eyes, ruddy complexions, and yellow streaming hair. 
 They were well practised in warfare, and armed with battle-axes, 
 swords, spears, and maces. Their chief god was Odin, or Woden, 
 and their heaven Valhalla. About one thousand of these warriors, 
 under the command of Hengist and Horsa, embarked in three 
 vessels, built of hides, and called Cyulce or Ceols. They landed on 
 the coast of Kent, about the year 449, and by the direction of 
 Vortigern, king of the Island, marched northwards until they 
 arrived near York, where an encounter of great moment took 
 place, terminating in the utter defeat of the Picts and Scots. 
 Inspirited by so early and signal a success the Saxons followed up 
 their advantage with alacrity, drove the baleful marauders out of 
 the counties of Lancaster and York, and finally compelled them 
 to retreat across the frontier into their own territory. After 
 having rescued the kingdom from these invaders the Saxons 
 settled at York and Manchester, and not only evinced no sign of 
 returning to their own country, but even despatched messengers 
 for fresh troops. This strange and suspicious conduct on the part 
 of their allies excited considerable alarm and anxiety amongst 
 the Britons, who practically expressed their disapproval by 
 refusing to make any provision for the reinforcements. After a
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 13 
 
 short interval a mandate was issued to the Saxon leader ordering 
 him to withdraw his army from the soil of Britain. Incensed and 
 stimulated by such decisive action Hengist determined at once 
 to carry out the object he had cherished from the first the 
 subjugation of the people and the seizure of the island. Having 
 procured a further supply of men under his son Octa, he 
 established them in the country of the Brigantes, and almost 
 immediately invited the native nobles to a friendly conference 
 with his chiefs on Salisbury plain. The Britons, who were far 
 from suspecting his treacherous design, attended the assembly 
 unarmed, and in that defenceless state fell an easy prey to their 
 Saxon hosts, who in the midst of feasting and revelry, brutally 
 massacred the whole of their guests. Successful in his cowardly 
 and murderous stratagem, Hengist took possession of the southern 
 counties, whilst his son Octa maintained his sway over the 
 Brigantine province of Northumbria, in which the Fylde was 
 included, as intimated at the beginning of the chapter. 
 
 The ancient warlike spirit of the Setantii, which had lain 
 almost dormant for centuries, was once more thoroughly aroused 
 in the natives of Lancashire, and a determined and valiant 
 opposition offered by them to Octa and his army. Overborough 
 capitulated only when its inhabitants were worn out by fatigue 
 and famine, whilst Warrington and Manchester sustained severe 
 and protracted sieges before they fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 Nennius, another early historian, who was born towards the end 
 of the sixth century, informs us that the famous King Arthur and 
 his sixty Knights of the Round Table worsted the Saxons in 
 twelve successive battles, four of which were fought on the banks 
 of the Douglas, near Wigan. In those conflicts our county was 
 well and effectively represented in the person of Paulinus, the 
 commander of the right wing of the army, who after many brave 
 and sanguinary struggles overthrew the hitherto unconquered 
 Octa, and for a time, at least, delivered the Fylde and other parts 
 of Northumbria from the rule of the Saxons. This gallant soldier 
 was the offspring of a union between a Roman warrior and a 
 British maiden, who had established themselves in Manchester. 
 The chieftain Ella, however, compelled the Britons to submission, 
 and assumed the government over part of Northumbria. Clusters 
 of Saxon huts, soon growing into villages, now sprang up on the
 
 i 4 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 soil of the Fylde, which under the wood-levelling and marsh- 
 draining Romans had lost much of its swampy and forest 
 characters and been transformed into a more habitable locality. 
 We need have little hesitation in conjecturing that the valour 
 displayed by the inhabitants of our county was greatly increased, 
 and often rendered almost desperate, by the knowledge that if 
 their land were subdued and occupied by the Saxons the key, if 
 it may so be called, to their mountainous strongholds would be 
 lost, and the line of communication between them impassably 
 and irretrievably obstructed ; for the venerable Bede 1 tells us that 
 a portion of the Britons fled to the hills and fells of Furness, and 
 we are aware that a much larger share sought refuge amongst the 
 mountains of Wales, lying to the south-west, and visible from the 
 shores of the Fylde. Others escaped over to Armorica in France, 
 and from them it acquired the name of Brittany. Additional 
 evidence that Furness was peopled by the Britons, even for more 
 than two centuries after the arrival of the Saxons, is to be found 
 in the writings of Camden, who says : " The Britons in Furness 
 lived securely for a long time, relying upon those fortifications, 
 wherewith nature had guarded them ; for that the Britons lived 
 here in the 228th year after the coming of the Saxons, is plain 
 from hence ; that at that time Egfrid, the king of the 
 Northumbrians, gave to St. Cuthbert the land called Cartmell, 
 and all the Britons in it ; for so it is related in his life." 
 
 The Saxons were great idolaters, and soon crowded the country 
 with their temples and images. The deities they worshipped 
 have furnished us with names for the different days of the week, 
 thus Sunday is derived from Sunan the sun, Monday from Monan 
 the moon, Tuesday from Tuisco a German god, Wednesday from 
 Woden, Thursday from Thor or Thur, Friday from Friga, and 
 Saturday from Seater. 
 
 When the nation was once more at peace, all the towns and 
 castles which had been damaged during the wars were repaired, 
 and others, which had been destroyed, rebuilt. The Britons were 
 brought by degrees to look with less disfavour on their conquerors, 
 and as time progressed adopted their heathenish faith and offered 
 up prayer at the shrines of the same idols, drifting back into 
 
 I. Bede died in A.D. 734. His chief work was an Ecclesiastical History.
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 15 
 
 darkness and forgetting or ignoring those true doctrines which, 
 it is said, had been declared and expounded to them at the very 
 commencement of the Christian era. According to Clemens 
 Romanus and Theodoret, the Apostle Paul was one of the earliest 
 preachers of the Gospel in Britain, but whatever amount of truth 
 there may be in this statement, it is certain that at the Council 
 of Aries in A.D. 314, and ten years later at that of Nicene, three 
 British bishops were present. All traces of their former religion 
 quickly vanished from amongst the native population of 
 Lancashire under the pagan influence of their rulers ; and it was 
 during that unhallowed age that Gregory, surnamed the Great, 
 and afterwards pontiff, being attracted by the handsome appearance 
 of some youths exposed for sale in the market-place at Rome, and 
 finding, on inquiry, that they came from the kingdom of Deira, 
 in Britain, determined to send over Augustine and Paulinus to 
 Christianise the inhabitants. In 596 Augustine landed with forty 
 missionaries on the coast of Kent, the king became a convert, and 
 the new faith spread rapidly throughout the island. Thousands 
 were baptised by Paulinus in the river Swale, then called the 
 Northumbrian Jordan, and the waters of Ribble were also resorted 
 to for the performance of similar ceremonies. 
 
 The advent of the Roman mission initiated a fresh epoch in the 
 ecclesiastical history of the county, monasteries and religious 
 houses sprang up in different parts, and at the consecration of the 
 church and monastery of Ripon, lands bordering on the Ribble, 
 in Hacmundernesse (Amounderness), in Gedene, and in Duninge 
 were presented amongst other gifts to that foundation. Paulinus 
 was created bishop of Northumbria in 627, and it is to his 
 ministrations and pious example that the conversion of the 
 inhabitants of the Fylde and vicinal territory is generally 
 attributed. The Saxon Chronicle records, however, that in 565 
 Columba " came from Scotia (Ireland) to preach to the Picts." 
 Columba was born at Garten, a village in county Donegal, and 
 according to Selden and other learned writers, the religion 
 professed by him and the Culdees, as the priests of his order were 
 called, was strictly Presbyterian. Bede writes : " They preached 
 only such works of charity and piety as they could learn from 
 prophetical, evangelical, and apostolic writings." Columba 
 established a monastery at lona. Dr. Giles states that " the
 
 16 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 ancient name of lona was I or Hi, or Aoi, which was Latinised 
 into Hyona, or lona ; the common name of it now is I-colum-kill, 
 the Island of Colum of the Cells." Bishop Turner affirms that 
 " the lands in Amounderness, on the Kibble," were first presented 
 to a Culdee abbot, named Eata, on the erection of a monastery at 
 Ripon, but that before the building was finished he was dismissed 
 and St. Wilfred made abbot of Ripon, sometime before 66 1. If 
 the foregoing assertion be correct there is certain evidence that 
 the Culdee doctrines were also promulgated in Lancashire, and 
 doubtless in our own district, at that early date. Bede seems to 
 support such an assumption when he states that the Ripon lands 
 were originally granted to those who professed the creed of the 
 Picts to build a monastery upon, and did not pass to St. Wilfred, 
 bishop of Northumbria, until afterwards, in 705, when he re-edified 
 the monastery. Whatever discrepancies may exist as to the exact 
 period and manner in which Christianity was introduced or 
 revived in the bosoms of our forefathers, there is ample and 
 reliable proof that the majority of them had embraced the true 
 faith about the middle of the seventh century, when churches 
 were probably erected in the hamlets of Kirkham and St. Michael's- 
 on-Wyre. 
 
 About the year 936 the Hundred of Amounderness was granted 
 by Athelstan to the See of York : " I, Athelstan, king of the 
 Angles, etc., freely give to the Omnipotent God, and to the 
 blessed Apostle Peter, at his church in the diocese of York, a 
 certain section of land, not small in extent, in the place which 
 the inhabitants call Amounderness," etc. The Hundred of 
 Amounderness when this grant was made must have been pretty 
 thickly peopled, for Athlestan states that he " purchased it at no 
 small price," and land at that date was valued chiefly by the 
 number of its residents. Here it will be convenient to observe 
 that in some instances, as in that of Amounderness, the Hundreds 
 acquired the additional titles of Wapentakes, and, in explanation of 
 the origin of the term, we learn from "Thoresby Ducat Leodiens," 
 that when a person received the government of a Wapentake, he 
 was met, at the appointed time and usual place, by the elder 
 portion of the inhabitants, and, after dismounting from his horse, 
 he held up his spear and took a pledge of fealty from all according 
 to the usual custom. Whoever came touched his spear with
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 17 
 
 theirs, and by such contact of arms they were confirmed in one 
 common interest. So from wcepnu, a weapon, and tac, a touch, or 
 taccare, to confirm, the Hundreds were called Wapentakes. 
 Traces of the above antique ceremony are still to be met with in 
 the peculiar form of expression used when the tenantry and others 
 are summoned by the manorial lords of Amounderness to attend 
 their court-barons and court-leets. 
 
 The Heptarchy, established about 550, and consisting of seven 
 sovereign states, was finally abolished in 830, and Egbert became 
 king over the whole island. The province of Northumbria, more 
 especially the Fylde and tracts of adjoining territory, had at 
 that date been the scene of irregular and intermittent warfare 
 during the previous forty years. Lancashire had suffered cruelly 
 from the visitations of the Northmen, or Danes, who spared 
 neither age, sex, nor condition in their furious sallies. In the 
 years 787, 794, and 800, these pirates invaded the soil, ravaged 
 the country, butchered the inhabitants, and on the last occasion 
 shot Edmund, the king of the West Saxons, to death with arrows, 
 because he refused to renounce the Christian faith and embrace 
 the errors of heathenism. Egbert was no sooner seated on the 
 throne than the Danes re-appeared off the coasts, and there can 
 be little doubt that some of their bands made their way down the 
 western shore of the island, entered the Bay of Morecambe, and, 
 guided by the old Roman road near the mouth of the Wyre, 
 pushed onwards into and through the heart of the Fylde, 
 plundering and laying waste villages, hamlets, and every trace of 
 agriculture in their path. u The name of the Danes' Pad" says 
 Mr. Thornber, " given to the Roman agger is and ever will be an 
 everlasting memorial of their ravages and atrocities in this 
 quarter." 1 In addition it may be stated that many warlike relics 
 of the Danes have been found along the road here indicated, 
 and that the names of the Great and Little Knots in the channel 
 of Wyre, opposite Fleetwood, were of pure Scandinavian derivation, 
 and signified " round heaps," probably, of stones. These mounds 
 were, during the formation of the harbour entrance, either 
 destroyed or disfigured beyond recognition. Several localities, 
 also, along the sea. boundary of the Fylde bear Danish denomin- 
 
 I. History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood.
 
 1 8 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 ations, which will be treated of hereafter. In 869 Lancashire was 
 again visited by a dreadful famine, and many of the people in every 
 part of the county fell victims either to the dearth itself or the fatal 
 disorders following in its train. Those who were fortunate enough 
 to escape the wholesale destruction of the scourge suffered so 
 severely from the merciless massacres of the Danes that at the 
 accession of Alfred the Great, in 871, our Hundred was but 
 sparsely populated. During the reign of that illustrious monarch 
 England was divided into counties, which again were subdivided 
 into Hundreds. Each Hundred was composed of ten Tithings, 
 and each Tithing of ten Freeholders and their families. When 
 this division of the kingdom was effected the south-western 
 portion of the old province of Northumbria was separated from 
 the remainder, and received the name of Lonceshire, from the 
 capital Lancaster, the castle on the Lone, or Lune. Alfred, as we 
 are told by his biographer Asser, did much to improve the 
 condition of his subjects both for peace and war ; referring to 
 their illiterate state, on his accession the king himself says : 
 " When I took the kingdom there were very few on the south 
 side of the river Humber, the most improved portion of England, 
 who could understand their daily prayers in English, or translate 
 a letter from the Latin. I think they were not many beyond the 
 Humber. There were so few that I cannot, indeed, recollect one 
 single instance on the south of the Thames." 1 After suffering a 
 defeat at Wilton almost at the outset of his career, Alfred 
 surprised and overthrew the Danish camp at Eddington ; 
 Guthrum, their leader, and the whole of his followers were taken 
 prisoners, but afterwards liberated and permitted to colonise East 
 Anglia, and subsequently Northumbria, an act of clemency which 
 entailed most disastrous consequences upon the different sections 
 of the latter province. The Fylde now became the legalised 
 abode of numbers of the northern race, between whom and the 
 Saxon settlers perpetual strife was carried on ; in addition the 
 restless and covetous spirit of the new colonists constantly 
 prompted them to raids beyond the legitimate limits of their 
 territory, rebellions amongst themselves, and conspiracies against 
 the king ; insurrection followed insurrection, and it was not until 
 
 I. Alfred's Preface, p. 33.
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 19 
 
 Athelstan had inflicted a decisive blow upon the Danish forces, 
 and brought the seditious province of Northumbria under his 
 own more immediate dominion, that a short lull of peace was 
 obtained. In the reign of his successor, however, they broke out 
 again, and having been once more reduced to order, agreed to 
 take the name of Christians, abjure their false gods, and live 
 quietly henceforth. These promises, made to appease the anger 
 of Edmund, were only temporarily observed, and their turbulent 
 natures were never tranquilised until Canute, the first Danish 
 king, ascended the throne of England in 1017. The Norse line 
 of monarchs comprised only three, and terminated in 1041. 
 Reverting to Athelstan and the Danes we find that about ten 
 years after the subjugation of the latter in 926, as recorded in the 
 Saxon Chronicle, Anlaf, a noted Danish chieftain, made a 
 vigorous attempt to regain Northumbria. The site of the 
 glorious battle where this ambitious project was overthrown and 
 the army of Anlaf routed and driven to seek refuge in flight from 
 the shore, on which they had but a short time previously 
 landed exulting in a prospect of conquest and plunder, is a 
 matter of dispute, and nothing authentic can be discovered 
 concerning it beyond the fact that the name of the town or 
 district where the forces met was Brunandune or Brunanburgh, 
 and was situated in the province of Northumbria. The former 
 orthography is used in Ethelwerd's Chronicle : " A fierce battle 
 was fought against the barbarians at Brunandune, whereof that 
 fight is called great even to the present day ; then the barbarian 
 tribes were defeated and domineer no longer ; they are driven 
 beyond the ocean." Burn, in Thornton township, is one of the 
 several rival localities which claim to have witnessed the 
 sanguinary conflict. In the Domesday Survey, Burn was written 
 Brune, and it also comprises a rising ground or Dune, which 
 seem to imply some connection with Brunandune. From an 
 ancient song or poem, bearing the date 937, it is clear that 
 the battle lasted from sunrise to sunset, and that at night-fall 
 Anlaf and the remnant of his followers, being utterly discomfited, 
 escaped from the coast in the manner before described. This 
 circumstance also upholds the pretentions of Burn, as it is situated 
 close to the banks of the Wyre, and at a very short distance both 
 from the Irish Sea and Morecambe Bay, as well as being in the
 
 20 
 
 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 direct line of the road called Danes' Pad, the track usually taken 
 by the Northmen in former incursions into the Fylde and county. 
 In addition it may be mentioned that tradition affirms that a large 
 quantity of human bones were ploughed up in a field between 
 Burn and Poulton about a century ago. Sharon Turner says : 
 " It is singular that the position of this famous battle is not yet 
 ascertained. The Saxon song says it was at Brunanburgh ; 
 Ethelwerd, a contemporary, names the place Brunandune. These 
 of course are the same place, but where is it ? m Having done our 
 best to suggest or rather renew an answer presenting several 
 points worthy of consideration to Mr. Turner's query, we will, 
 before bidding farewell to the subject, give our readers a 
 translated extract from the old song to which allusion has been 
 made : 
 
 Athelstan king, 
 
 Of earls the Lord, 
 
 Of Heroes the bracelet giver, 
 
 And his brother eke, 
 
 Edmund Atheling, 
 
 Life-long glory, 
 
 In battle won, 
 
 With edges of swords, 
 
 Near Brunanburgh. 
 
 The field was dyed 
 
 With warriors blood, 
 
 Since the sun, up 
 
 At morning tide, 
 
 Mighty planet, 
 
 Gilded o'er grounds, 
 
 God's candle bright, 
 
 The eternal Lord's, 
 
 Till the noble creature 
 
 Sank to her rest. 
 
 West Saxons onwards 
 Throughout the day, 
 In numerous bands 
 Pursued the footsteps 
 
 Athelstan, in order to encourage commerce and agriculture, 
 enacted that any of the humbler classes, called Ceorls, who had 
 crossed the sea thrice with their own merchandise, or who, 
 
 Of the loathed nations. 
 They hewed the fugitives, 
 Behind, amain, 
 With swords mill-sharp. 
 Mercians refused not 
 The hard-hand play 
 To any heroes, 
 Who with Anlaf, 
 Over the ocean, 
 In the ship's bosom, 
 This land sought. 
 * 
 
 There was made to flee 
 The Northmens' chieftain, 
 By need constrained, 
 To the ships prow 
 With a little band. 
 The bark drove afloat. 
 The king departed. 
 On the fallow flood' 
 His life he preserved. 
 The Northmen departed 
 In their nailed barks 
 On roaring ocean. 
 
 I. History of the Anglo-Saxons.
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 21 
 
 individually, possessed five hides of land, a bell-house, a church, 
 a kitchen, and a separate office in the king's hall, should be raised 
 to the privileged rank of Thane. Sometime in the interval 
 between the death of this monarch, in 941, and the arrival of 
 William the Conqueror, the Hundred of Amounderness had been 
 relinquished by the See of York, probably owing to frequent wars 
 and disturbances having so ruined the country and thinned the 
 inhabitants that the grant had ceased to be profitable. 
 
 During the earlier part of the Saxon era the clergy claimed 
 one tenth or tithe of the produce of the soil, and exemption for 
 their monasteries and churches from all taxations. These 
 demands were resisted for a considerable period, but at length 
 were conceded by Ethelwulf " for the honour of God, and for his 
 own everlasting salvation." l In 1002, it is recorded in the Saxon 
 Chronicle, that " the king (Ethelred) ordered all the Danish men 
 who were in England to be slain, because it was made known to 
 him that they would treacherously bereave him of his life, and 
 after that have his kingdom without any gainsaying." In 
 accordance with the royal mandate, which was circulated in secret, 
 the Anglo-Saxon populace of the villages and farms of the Fylde, 
 as elsewhere, rose at the appointed day upon the unprepared and 
 unsuspecting Northmen, barbarously massacring old and young, 
 male and female alike. Great must have been the slaughter in 
 districts like our own, where from the Danes having been 
 established for so many generations and its proximity to the 
 coast and the estuaries of Wyre and Kibble, a safe landing and a 
 friendly soil would be insured, and attract numbers of their 
 countrymen from Scandinavia. The vengeance of Sweyn, king 
 of Denmark, was speedy and complete ; the country ol 
 Northumbria was laid waste, towns and hamlets were pillaged 
 and destroyed, and for four years all that fire and sword, spurred 
 on by hatred and revenge, could effect in depopulating and 
 devastating a land was accomplished in Lancashire, and the 
 neighbouring counties, by the enraged Dane. Half a century 
 later than the events just narrated, earl Tosti, the brother ol 
 Harold, who forfeited his life and kingdom to the Norman 
 invaders on the field of Hastings, was chosen duke of Northumbria. 
 
 I. Saxon Chronicle.
 
 22 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 The seat of the new ruler has not been discovered, but as far as 
 his personal association with the Fylde is concerned it will be 
 sufficient to state that almost on its boundaries, in the township 
 of Preston, he held six hundred acres of cultivated soil, to which 
 all the lands and villages of Amounderness were tributary. As a 
 governor Tosti proved himself both brutal and oppressive. In a 
 very limited space of time his tyrannical and merciless conduct 
 goaded his subjects to rebellion, and with one consent they ejected 
 him from his dukedom and elected earl Morcar in his stead, a 
 step commended and confirmed by Harold, when the unjust 
 severity of his brother had been made known to him. Tosti 
 embraced the Nprman cause, and fell at the head of a Norwegian 
 force in an engagement which took place at Standford a few 
 months before the famous and eventful battle of Hastings. 
 
 We have now traced briefly the history of the Fylde through a 
 period of eleven hundred years, and before entering on the era 
 which dates from the accession of William the Conqueror, it will 
 be well to review the traces and influences of the three dissimilar 
 races, which have at different epochs usurped and settled on the 
 territory of the old Setantii ; our reference is, of course, to the 
 Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Danes. Under the first, great 
 advances were made in civilisation ; clearings were effected in 
 the woods, the marshes were trenched, and lasting lines of 
 communication were established between the various stations 
 and encampments. The peaceful arts were cultivated, and 
 agriculture made considerable progress, corn even, from some 
 parts of Britain, being exported to the continent. Remains of the 
 Roman occupation are to be observed in the names of a few 
 towns, as Colne and Lincoln, from Colonia, a Colony, also Chester 
 and Lancaster, from Castra, a Camp, as well as in relics like those 
 enumerated earlier. The word " street " is derived from Stratum, 
 a layer, covering, or pavement. Their festival of Flora originated 
 our May-day celebrations, and the paraphernalia of marriage, 
 including the ring, veil, gifts, bride-cake, bridesmaids, and 
 groomsmen, are Roman ; so also are the customs of strewing 
 flowers upon graves, and wearing black in time of mourning. 
 That the Romans had many stations in the Fylde is improbable, 
 but that they certainly had one in the township of Kirkham is 
 shown by the number and character of the relics found there.
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 23 
 
 This settlement would seem to have been a fairly populous one, 
 if an opinion may be formed from the quantity of cinereal urns 
 discovered at various times, in which had been deposited the 
 cremated remains of Romans, who had spent their days and done 
 good service in levelling the forests and developing the resources 
 of the Fylde. The traffic over the Roman road through the 
 district must have been almost continuous, to judge from the 
 abundance of horse-shoes and other matters picked up along its 
 route, and whether the harbour of the Setantii was on Wyre, 
 Ribble, or elsewhere, it is evident from the course taken by the 
 well constructed path that something of importance, say a 
 favourable spot for embarcation or debarcation, attracted the 
 inhabitants across the soil of the Fylde towards its north-west 
 boundary. Now arises the question what was the boundary here 
 denoted, and in reply we venture to suggest that the extent of 
 this district, in both a northerly and westerly direction, was much 
 greater in ancient days than it is in our own, and that the Lune 
 formed its highest boundary, whilst its seaward limits, opposite 
 Rossall, were carried out to a distance of nearly eight miles beyond 
 the existing coast, and comprised what is now denominated 
 Shell Wharf, a bank so shallowly covered at low water spring 
 tides that huge boulders become visible all over it. Novel as 
 such a theory may at first sight appear, there is much that can be 
 advanced in support of it. From about the point in Morecambe 
 Bay, near the foot of Wyre Lighthouse, where the stream of 
 Wyre meets that of Lune at right angles, there is the 
 commencement of a long deep channel, apparently continuous 
 with the bed of the latter river as defined by its sandbanks, which 
 extends out into the Irish Sea for rather more than seven miles 
 west of the mouth of Morecambe Bay, at Rossall Point. This 
 channel, called " Lune Deep," is described on the authorised 
 charts as being in several places twenty-seven fathoms deep, in 
 others rather less, and at its somewhat abrupt termination twenty- 
 three fathoms. Throughout the entire length its boundaries are 
 well and clearly marked, and its sudden declivity is described by 
 the local mariners as being " steep as a house side." Regarding 
 this curious phenomenon from every available point of view, it 
 seems more probable to us that so long and perfect a channel was 
 formed at an early period, when the river Lune was, as we
 
 24 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 conjecture, continued from its present mouth, at Heysham Point, 
 through green plains, now the Bay of Lancaster, in the direction 
 and to the distance of " Lune Deep," than that it was excavated 
 by the current of Lune, as it exists to-day, after mingling with 
 the waters of Morecambe and Wyre. The course and completeness 
 of Wyre channel from Fleetwood, between the sandbanks called 
 Bernard's Wharf and North Wharf, to its point of junction with 
 the stream from Lancaster, prove satisfactorily that at one time 
 the former river was a tributary of the Lune. Other evidence can 
 be brought forward of the theory we are wishful to establish 
 that the southern portion of Morecambe Bay, from about 
 Heysham Point, bearing the name of Lancaster Bay, as well as 
 " Shell Wharf" was about the era of the Romans, dry or, at least, 
 marshy land watered by the Wyre and Lune, the latter of which 
 would open on the west coast immediately into the Irish Sea. If 
 the reader refer to a map of Lancashire he will see at once that 
 the smaller bay has many appearances of having been added to 
 the larger one, and that its floor is formed by a continuous line of 
 banks, uncovered each ebb tide and intersected only by the 
 channels of Wyre and Lune. The Land Mark, at Rossall Point, has 
 been removed several times owing to the incursions of the sea, and 
 within the memory of the living generation wide tracts of soil, 
 amounting to more than a quarter of a mile westward, have been 
 swallowed up on that part of the coast, as the strong currents of 
 the rising tides have swept into the bay ; and in such manner 
 would the land about the estuary of " Lune Deep," that is the 
 original river of Lune, be washed away. As the encroachments 
 of the sea progressed, the channel of the river would be gradually 
 widened and deepened to the present dimensions of the " Deep " ; 
 the stream of Wyre would by degrees be brought more 
 immediately under the tidal influence, and in proportion as the 
 Lune was absorbed into the bay, so would its tributary lose its 
 shallowness and insignificance, and become expanded to a more 
 important and navigable size. About the time that "Lune Deep" 
 had ceased to exist as a river, and become part of the bay, the 
 overcharged banks of the Wyre would have yielded up their 
 super-abundance of waters over the districts now marked by 
 Bernard's Wharf and North Wharf, and subsequently, as the 
 waves continued their incursions, inundations would increase,
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 25 
 
 until finally the whole territory, forming the site of Lancaster 
 Bay, would be submerged and appropriated by the rapacious hosts 
 of Neptune. The "Shell Wharf" would be covered in a manner 
 exactly similar to the more recently lost fields off Rossall ; and as 
 illustrations of land carried away from the west coast in that 
 neighbourhood, may be instanced a farm called Fenny, at Rossall, 
 which was removed back from threatened destruction by the 
 waves at least four times within the last fifty years, when its 
 re-building was abandoned, and its site soon swept over by the 
 billows ; also the village of Singleton Thorp, which occupied the 
 locality marked by " Singleton Skeer" off Cleveleys until 1555, 
 when it was destroyed by an irruption of the sea. Numerous 
 other instances in which the coast line has been altered and driven 
 eastward, between Rossall Point and the mouth of Ribble, during 
 both actually and comparatively modern days might be cited, 
 but the above are sufficient to support our view of the former 
 connection of " Shell Wharf" with the main-land, and its gradual 
 submersion. If on the map, the Bay of Lancaster be detached 
 from that of Morecambe, the latter still retains a most imposing 
 aspect, and its identity with the Moricambe ^stuarium of 
 Ptolemy is in no way interfered with or rendered less evident. 
 The foregoing, as our antiquarian readers will doubtless have 
 surmised, is but a prelude to something more, for it is our purpose 
 to endeavour to disturb the forty years of quiet repose enjoyed by 
 the Portus Setantiorum on the banks of the Wyre and hurl it far 
 into the Irish Sea, to the very limits of the " Lune Deep," where, 
 on the original estuary of the river Lune, we believe to be its 
 legitimate home. No locality, as yet claiming to be the site of 
 the ancient harbour, accords so well with the distances given 
 by Ptolemy. Assuming the Dee and the Ribble to represent 
 respectively, as now generally admitted, the Seteia yEstuarium 
 and the Belisama yEstuarium, the Portus Setantiorum should lie 
 about seven miles 1 to the west and twenty-five to the north of the 
 Belisama. The position of the " Lune Deep " termination is just 
 about seven miles to the west of the estuary of the Ribble, but is, 
 like most other places whose stations have been mentioned by 
 Ptolemy, defective in its latitudinal measurement according to 
 
 i. Ptolemy gives the longitude as ten minutes, but at such a height a minute 
 would scarcely represent a mile.
 
 26 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 the record left by that geographer, being only fifteen instead of 
 twenty-five miles north of the Belisama or Ribble estuary. 
 Rigodunum, or Ribchester, is fully thirty miles to the east of the 
 spot where it is wished to locate the Portus, and thus approaches 
 very nearly to the forty-mile measurement of Ptolemy, whose 
 distances, as just hinted, were universally excessive. As an 
 instance of such error it may be stated that the longitude, east 
 from Ferro, of Morecambe Bay or Estuary given by Ptolemy, is 
 3 40' in excess of that marked on modern maps of ancient Britannia, 
 and if the same over-plus be allowed in the longitude of the 
 Portus Setantiorum a line drawn in accordance, from north to 
 south, would pass across the west extremity of the " Lune Deep," 
 showing that its distance from the Bay corresponds pretty 
 accurately with that of the Portus from the Morecambe 
 ^Estuarium as geographically fixed by Ptolemy. In describing 
 the extent and direction of the Roman road, or Danes' Pad, in his 
 " History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood," Mr. Thornber writes: 
 " Commencing at the terminus, we trace its course from the 
 Warren, near the spot named the ' Abbot's walk ' ; " but that the 
 place thus indicated was not the terminus, in the sense of end or 
 origin, is proved by the fact that shortly after the publication of 
 this statement, the workmen engaged in excavating for a sea-wall 
 foundation in that vicinity came upon the road in the sand on 
 the very margin of the Warren. Hence it would seem that the 
 path was continued onwards over the site of the North Wharf 
 sand bank, either towards the foot of Wyre where its channel 
 joins that of Lune, and where would be the original mouth of the 
 former river, or, as we think more probable, towards the Lune 
 itself, and along its banks westward to the estuary of the stream, 
 as now marked by the termination of " Lune Deep." The Wyre, 
 during the period it existed simply as a tributary of the Lune, a 
 name very possibly compounded from the Celtic al, chief, and 
 aun, or tin, contractions of afon, a river, must have been a stream 
 of comparatively slight utility in a navigable point of view, and 
 even to this day its seaward channel from Fleetwood is obstructed 
 by two shallows, denominated from time out of mind the Great 
 and Little Fords. The Lune, or " Chief River," on the contrary, 
 was evidently, from its very title, whether acquired from its 
 relative position to its tributary, or from its favourable comparison
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 27 
 
 with other rivers of the neighbourhood, which is less likely, 
 regarded by the natives as a stream of no insignificant magnitude 
 and importance. As far as its navigability was concerned the 
 Portus may have been placed on its banks near to the junction of 
 Wyre, but the distances of Ptolemy, which agree pretty fairly, 
 as shown above, with the location of the Portus on the west 
 extremity of the present u Lune Deep," are incompatible with 
 such a station as this one for the same harbour. The collection 
 of coins discovered near Rossall may imply the existence in early 
 days of a settlement west of that shore, and many remains of the 
 Romans may yet be mingled with the sand and shingle for 
 centuries submerged by the water of the still encroaching Irish 
 Sea. Leaving this long-argued question of the real site of the 
 Portus Setantiorum, in which perhaps the patience of our readers 
 has been rather unduly tried, and soliciting others to test more 
 thoroughly the merits of the ideas here thrown out, we will 
 hasten to examine the traces of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. 
 
 Many, in fact most, of the towns and villages of the Fylde were 
 founded by the Anglo-Saxons, and have retained the names, 
 generally in a modified form, bestowed upon them by that race, 
 as instance Singleton, Lytham, Mythorp, all of which have Saxon 
 terminals signifying a dwelling, village, or enclosure. The word 
 hearb, genitive hearges, indicates in the vocabulary of the same 
 people a heathen temple or place of sacrifice, and as it is to be 
 traced in the endings of Goosnargh, and Kellamergh, there need 
 be no hesitation in surmising that the barbarous and pagan rites 
 of the Saxons were celebrated there, before their conversion to 
 Christianity. Ley, or lay, whether at the beginning of a name, as 
 in Layton, or at end, as in Boonley, signifies a field, and is from 
 the Saxon hag ; whilst Hawes and Holme imply, respectively, a 
 group of thorps or hamlets, and a river island. Breck, Warbreck, 
 and Larbreck, derive their final syllables from the Norse brecka, a 
 gentle rise ; and from that language comes also the terminal by, 
 in Westby, Ribby, and other places, as well as the kirk in Kirkham, 
 all of which point out the localities occupied by the Danes, or 
 Norsemen. Lund was doubtless the site of a sacred grove of these 
 colonists and the scene of many a dark and cruel ceremony,, its 
 derivation being from the ancient Norse lundr, a consecrated 
 grove, where such rites were performed.
 
 28 THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, 
 
 At the present time it is difficult, if indeed possible, to 
 determine from what races our own native population has 
 descended, and the subject is one which has provoked more than 
 a little controversy. Palgrave, in his " History of the Anglo- 
 Saxons," says : " From the Ribble in Lancashire, or thereabouts, 
 up to the Clyde, there existed a dense population composed of 
 Britons, who preserved their national language and customs, 
 agreeing in all respects with the Welsh of the present day ; so 
 that even to the tenth century the ancient Britons still inhabited 
 the greater part of the west coast of the island, however much 
 they had been compelled to yield to the political supremacy of 
 the Saxon invaders." Mr. Thornber states that he has been 
 " frequently told by those who were reputed judges " that the 
 manners, customs, and dialect of the Fylde partook far more of 
 the Welsh than of the Saxon, and that this was more perceptible 
 half a century ago than now (1837). "The pronunciation," he 
 adds, "of the words laughing, toffee, haughendo, etc., the 
 Shibboleth of the Fylde always reminds me of the deep gutterals 
 of the Welsh, 1 and the frequent use of a particular oath is, alas ! 
 too common to both." Another investigator, Dr. Robson, holds 
 an entirely different opinion, and maintains in his paper on 
 Lancashire and Cheshire, that there is no sufficient foundation 
 for the common belief that the inhabitants of any portion of 
 those counties have been at any time either Welsh, or Celtic ; 
 and that the Celtic tribes at the earliest known period were 
 confined to certain districts, which may be traced, together 
 with the extent of their dominions, by the Celtic names of places 
 both in Wales and Cornwall. From another source we are 
 informed that at the date of the Roman abdication the original 
 Celtic population would have dwindled down to an insignificant 
 number acting as serfs and tillers of the land, and not likely 
 to have much influence upon future generations. Mr. Hardwick, 
 in his History of Preston, writes : " Few women would accom- 
 pany the Roman colonists, auxiliaries, and soldiers into Britain ; 
 hence it is but rational to conclude, that during the long 
 period of their dominion, numerous intermarriages with the 
 
 I. The Welsh language is the oldest of all living languages, and is of Celtic 
 origin, being in fact the tongue spoken by the ancient Britons but little altered 
 by modern innovations.
 
 ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES. 29 
 
 native population would take place." Admitting the force of 
 reasoning brought forward by the last authority, it can readily be 
 conceived that the purity of the aboriginal tribes would in a great 
 measure be destroyed at an early epoch, and that subsequent 
 alliances with the Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans, have 
 rendered all conjectures as to the race of forefathers to which the 
 inhabitants of the Fylde have most claim practically valueless. 
 
 The dense forests with which our district in the earliest historic 
 periods abounded must have been well supplied with beasts of 
 chase, whereon the Aborigines exercised their courage and craft, 
 and from which their clothing and, in a great measure, their 
 sustenance were derived. The large branching horns of the 
 Wild Deer have been found in the ground at Larbrick, and during 
 the excavations for the North Union and East Lancashire Railway 
 Bridges over the Ribble, in 1838 and 1846 respectively, numerous 
 remains of the huge ox, called the Bos primigenius, and 
 the Bos longifrons, or long-faced ox, as well as of wild boars 
 and bears, were raised from beneath the bed of the river, 
 so that it is extremely likely that similar relics of the brute 
 creation are lying deeply buried in our soil. Such a supposition 
 is at least warranted by the discovery, half-a-century ago, of 
 the skull and short upright horns of a stag and those of an 
 ox, of a breed no longer known, at the bottom of a marl pit 
 near Rossall. Bones and sculls, chiefly those of deer and oxen, 
 have been taken from under the peat in all the mosses, and two 
 osseous relics, consisting each of skull and horns, of immense 
 specimens of the latter animal, have been dug up at Kirkham. 
 In the " Reliquiae Diluvianse " of Mr. Buckland is a figure of 
 the scull of a rhinoceros belonging to the antediluvian age, and 
 stated to have been discovered beneath a moss in Lancashire.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO JAMES THE FIRST. 
 
 |HEN the battle of Hastings, in 1066, had terminated in 
 favour of William the Conquerer, and placed him on 
 the throne of England, he indulged his newly acquired 
 power in many acts of tyranny towards the vanquished 
 nation, subjecting the old nobility to frequent indignities, 
 weakening the sway of the Church, and impoverishing the middle 
 and lower classes of the community. This harsh policy spread 
 dissatisfaction and indignation . through all ranks of the people, 
 and it was not long before rebellion broke out in the old province 
 of Northumbria. The Lancastrians and others, under the earls 
 Morcar and Edwin, rose up in revolt, slew the Norman Baron set 
 over them, and were only reduced to order and submission when 
 William appeared on the scene at the head of an overwhelming 
 force. The two earls escaped across the frontier to Scotland, and 
 for some inexplicable reason were permitted to retain their posses- 
 sions in Lancashire and elsewhere, while the common insurgents 
 were afterwards treated with great severity and cruelty by their 
 Norman rulers. Numerous castles were now erected in the north 
 of England to hold the Saxons in subjection, and guard against 
 similar outbreaks in future. Those at Lancaster and Liverpool 
 were built by a Norman Baron of high position, named Roger de 
 Poictou, the third son of Robert de Montgomery, earl of Arundel 
 and Shrewsbury. When William divided the conquered territory 
 amongst his followers, the Honor 1 of Lancaster and the Hundred 
 
 I. An Honor has a castle or mansion, and consists of demesnes and services, 
 to which a number of manors and lordships, with all their appurtenances and 
 other regalities, are annexed. In an Honor an Honourable Court is held once 
 every year at least.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 31 
 
 of Amounderness fell, amongst other gifts, amounting in all to 
 three hundred and ninety-eight manors, 1 to that nobleman, and, 
 as he resided during a large portion of his time at the castle 
 erected on the banks of the Lune, our district would receive a 
 greater share of attention than his more distant possessions. 
 
 After the country had been restored to peace, William deter- 
 mined to institute an inquiry into the condition and resources of 
 his kingdom. The records of the survey were afterwards bound 
 up in two volumes, which received the name of the Domesday 
 Book, from Dome, a census, and Boc, a book. 
 
 The king's commands to the investigators were, according to 
 the Saxon Chronicle, to ascertain " How many hundreds of 
 hydes were in each shire, what lands the king himself had, and 
 what stock there was upon the land ; or what dues he ought to 
 have by the year from each shire. Also he commissioned them 
 to record in writing, how much land his archbishops had and his 
 diocesan bishops, and his abbots and his earls ; what or how much 
 each man had, who was an occupier of land in England, either in 
 land or stock, and how much money it was worth. So very 
 narrowly, indeed, did he commission them to trace it out, that 
 there was not one single hide, nor a yard of land ; nay, moreover 
 (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame to do it), 
 not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine, was there left that was 
 not set down in his writ." The examination was commenced in 
 1080, and six years afterwards the whole of the laborious task was 
 accomplished. In this compilation the county of Lancaster is 
 never once mentioned by name, but the northern portion is joined 
 to the Yorkshire survey, and the southern to that of Cheshire. 
 
 The following is a translation of that part of Domesday Book 
 relating to the Fylde : 
 
 AGEMUNDERNESSE UNDER EVRVIC SCIRE (YORKSHIRE). 
 
 Poltim (Poulton), two carucates; 2 Rushale (Rossall), two carucates; Brune (Burn), 
 two carucates ; Torentun (Thornton), six carucates ; Carlentun (Carleton), four 
 
 1. A Manor is composed of demesne and services, to which belong a three 
 weeks Court, where the freeholders, being tenants of the manor, sit covered, and 
 give judgement in all suits that are pleading. To every manor a Court Baron is 
 attached. 
 
 2. A carucate was generally about one hundred acres of arable soil, or land in 
 cultivation ; this word superseded the Saxon hyde, which signified the same thing.
 
 32 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 carucates ; Meretun (Marton), six carucates ; Staininghe (Staining), six carucates. 
 
 Biscopham (Bispham), eight carucates ; Latun (Layton), six carucates. 
 
 Chicheham (Kirkham), four carucates ; Salewic (Salwick), one carucate ; Cliftun 
 (Clifton), two carucates ; Nevitnne (Newton-with-Scales), two carucates ; Frechel- 
 tune ( Freckleton), four carucates ; Rigbi (Ribby-with-Wray),six carucates; Treueles 
 (Treales), two carucates ; Westbi (Westby), two carucates ; Pluntun (Plumptons), 
 two carucates ; Widetun (Weeton), three carucates ; Pres (Preese), two carucates ; 
 Midehope (Mythorp), one carucate ; Wartun (Warton), four carucates ; Singletun 
 (Singleton), six carucates ; Greneholf (Greenhalgh), three carucates ; Hameltune 
 (Hambleton), two carucates. 
 
 Lidun (Lytham), two carucates. 
 
 Michelescherche (St. Michael's-on-Wyre), one carucate ; Pluntun (Wood Plump- 
 ton) five carucates ; Rodecliff ( Upper Rawcliffe), two carucates ; Rodeclijf( Middle 
 Rawcliffe), two carucates ; a third Rodediff (Out Rawcliffe), three carucates ; 
 Eglestun (Ecclestons), two carucates ; Edeleswic (Elswick), three carucates ; Imcip 
 (Inskip), two carucates ; Sorbi (Sowerby), one carucate. 
 
 All these vills belong to Prestune (Preston) ; and there are three churches (in 
 Amounderness). In sixteen of these vills 1 there are but few inhabitants but how 
 many there are is not known. 
 
 The rest are waste. Roger de Poktou had [the whole]. 
 
 When we read the concluding remark " The rest are waste," 
 and observe the insignificant proportion of the many thousands 
 of acres comprised in the Fylde at that time under cultivation, we 
 are made forcibly cognizant of the truly deplorable condition to 
 which the district had been reduced by ever-recurring warfare 
 through a long succession of years. There is no guide to the 
 number of the inhabitants, excepting, perhaps, the existence of 
 only three churches in the whole Hundred of Amounderness, and 
 this can scarcely be admitted as certain evidence of the paucity of 
 the population, as in the harassed and unsettled state in which 
 they lived it is not very probable that the people would be much 
 concerned about the public observances of religious ceremonials or 
 services. The churches alluded to were situated at Preston, Kirk- 
 ham, and St. Michael's-on-Wyre. The parish church at Poulton 
 was the next one erected, and appears to have been standing less 
 than ten years after the completion of the Survey, for Roger de 
 Poictou, when he founded the priory of St. Mary, Lancaster, in 
 1094, endowed it with " Pulton in Agmundernesia, and what- 
 soever belonged to it, and the church, with one carucate of land, 
 and all other things belonging to it." 2 The terminal paragraph 
 
 I. The whole of the vills of Ampunderness, here signified, amounted to sixty-one. 
 2. Regist. S. Maria- de Lane.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 33 
 
 of the foundation-charter of the monastery states that Geoffrey, 
 the sheriff, having heard of the liberal grants of Roger de Poictou, 
 also bestowed upon it " the tithes of Biscopham, whatever he 
 had in Lancaster, some houses, and an orchard." It is difficult to 
 determine whether a church existed in the township of Bispham 
 at that date or not, but as no such edifice is included in the above 
 list of benefactions, we are inclined to believe that it was not 
 erected until later. The earliest mention of it occurs in the reign 
 of Richard I., 1189 to 1199, when Theobald Walter quitclaimed 
 to the abbot of Sees "all his right in the advowson of Pulton, 
 with the church of J3iscopham. m 
 
 The rebellious and ungrateful conduct of Roger de Poictou 
 ultimately led to his banishment out of the country, and the 
 forfeiture of the whole of his extensive possessions to the crown. 
 The Hundred of Amounderness was conveyed by the King on the 
 22nd of April, 1194, being the fifth year of his reign, to Theobald 
 Walter > the son of Hervens, a Norman who had accompanied the 
 Conqueror. " Be it known," says the document, " that we give 
 and confirm to Theobald Walter the whole of Amounderness with 
 its appurtenances by the service of three Knights' fees, namely, 
 all the domain thereto belonging, all the services of the Knights 
 who hold of the fee of Amounderness by Knight's service, all the 
 service of the Free-tenants of Amounderness, all the Forest of 
 Amounderness, with all the Venison, and all the Pleas of the 
 Forest." His rights " are to be freely and quietly allowed," 
 continues the deed, " in wood and plain, in meadows and 
 pastures, in highways and footpaths, in waters and mills, in 
 mill-ponds, in fish-ponds and fishings, in peat-lands, moors and 
 marshes, in wreck of the sea, in fairs and markets, in advowsons 
 and chapelries, and in all liberties and free customs." Amongst 
 the barons of Lancashire given in the MSS. of Percival is 
 " Theobald Walter, baron of Weeton and Amounderness," but, as 
 Weeton never existed as a barony, it is clear that the former title 
 is an error. The "Black Book of the Exchequer," the oldest 
 record after the " Domesday Book," has entered in it the tenants 
 and fees de veteri feoffamento* and de novo fcoffamento* and 
 amongst others is a statement that Theobald Walter held 
 
 I. Regist. S. Mariae de Lane. 2. Held in the reign of Henry I., 110x3-1135. 
 3. Held in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II., 1135-1189. 
 
 D
 
 34 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 Amounderness by the service of one Knight, thus the later 
 charter, just quoted, must be regarded as a confirmation of a 
 previous grant, and not as an original donation. He was an 
 extensive founder of monastic houses, and amongst the abbeys 
 established by him was that of Cockersand, which he endowed 
 with the whole Hay of Pylin (Pilling) in Amounderness. He was 
 appointed sheriff of the county of Lancaster by Richard I. in 1 1 94, 
 and retained the office until the death of that monarch five years 
 afterwards. His son, Theobald, married Maud, sister to the 
 celebrated Thomas a - Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and 
 assumed the title of his office when created Chief Butler of 
 Ireland. The family of the same name which inhabited Rawcliffe 
 Hall until that property was confiscated through the treasonable 
 part played by Henry Butler and his son Richard in the rebellion 
 of 1715, was directly descended from Theobald Walter-Butler. 
 The Butlers of Kirkland, the last of whom, Alexander Butler, 
 died in 1811, and was succeeded by a great-nephew, were also 
 representatives of the ancient race of Walter, and preserved the 
 line unbroken. Theobald Walter, the elder, died in 1206, and 
 Amounderness reverted to the crown. 
 
 Richard I. a few years before his death presented the Honor of 
 Lancaster to his brother, the earl of Moreton, who subsequently 
 became King John, and it is asserted that this nobleman, when 
 residing at the castle of Lancaster, was occasionally a guest at 
 Staining Hall, and that during one of his visits he so admired the 
 strength and skill displayed by a person called Geoffrey, and 
 surnamed the Crossbowman, that he induced him to join his 
 retinue. How far truth has been embellished and disguised by 
 fiction in this traditional statement we are unable to conjecture, 
 but there are reasonable grounds for believing that the story is 
 not entirely supposititious, for the earl of Moreton granted to 
 Geoffrey 1'Arbalistrier, or the Crossbowman, who is said to have 
 been a younger brother of Theobald Walter, senior, six carucates 
 of land in Hackinsall-with-Preesall, and a little later, the manor 
 of Hambleton, most likely as rewards for military or other services 
 rendered to that nobleman. John, as earl of Moreton, appears to 
 have gained the affection and respect of the inhabitants of 
 Lancashire by his liberal practices during his long sojourns in 
 their midst. He granted a charter to the knights, thanes, and
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 35 
 
 freeholders of the county, whereby they and their heirs, without 
 challenge or interference from him and his heirs, were permitted 
 to fell, sell, and give, at their pleasure, their forest woods, without 
 being subject to the forest regulations, and to hunt and take 
 hares, foxes, rabbits, and all kinds of wild beasts, excepting stags, 
 hinds, roebucks, and wild hogs, in all parts within his forests 
 beyond the desmesne hays of the county. 1 On ascending the 
 throne, however, he soon aroused the indignation of all sections of 
 his subjects by his meanness, pride, and utter inability to govern 
 the kingdom. His indolent habits excited the disgust of a 
 nobility, whose regular custom was to breakfast at five and dine 
 at nine in the morning, as proclaimed by the following popular 
 Norman proverb : 
 
 Lever a cinque, diner a neuf, 
 
 Souper a cinque, coucher a neuf, 
 
 Fait vivre d'ans nonante et neuf. 2 
 
 Eventually his evil actions and foolish threats so incensed the 
 nation, that the barons, headed by William, earl of Pembroke, 
 compelled him, in 1215, to sign the Magna Charta, a code of laws 
 embodying two important principles the general rights of the 
 freemen, and the limitation of the powers of both king and pope. 
 
 About that time it would have been almost, if not quite, 
 impossible to have decided or described what was the national 
 language of the country. The services at the churches were read 
 in Latin, the aristocracy indulged only in Norman-French, whilst 
 the great mass of the people spoke a language, usually 
 denominated Saxon or English, but which had been so mutilated 
 and altered by additions from various sources that the ancient 
 " Settlers on the shores of the German Ocean " would scarcely 
 have recognized it as their native tongue. Each division of the 
 kingdom had its peculiar dialect, very much as now, and from the 
 remarks of a southern writer, named Trevisa, it must be inferred 
 that the patois of our own district, which he would include in the 
 old province of Northumbria, 3 was far from either elegant or 
 
 I. Duchy Rolls, Rot. f. 12. 
 
 2. To rise at five, to dine at nine, to sup at five, to bed at nine, makes a man 
 live to ninety-nine. 
 
 3. Although England had been divided into counties the different districts were 
 for long classified under the names of the old provinces or petty kingdoms of 
 the Heptarchy.
 
 36 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 musical. " Some," he says, " use strange gibbering, chattering, 
 waffling, and grating ; then the Northumbre's tongue is so sharp, 
 flitting, floyting, and unshape, that we Southron men may not 
 understand that language." Such a list of curious and 
 uncomplimentary epithets inclines us at first sight to doubt the 
 strict impartiality of their author, but when it is remembered that, 
 in spite of the greatly increased opportunities for education and 
 facilities for intercommunion amongst the different classes, the 
 provincialisms of some of our own peasantry would be utterly 
 unintelligible to many of us at the present day, we are constrained 
 to admit that Trevisa may have had just reason for his remarks. 
 
 In 1268 the Honor of Lancaster, the Wapentake of 
 Amounderness, and the manors of Preston, Ribby-with-Wray, 
 and Singleton were given by Henry III. to his son Edmund 
 Crouchback, and in addition the king published an edict 
 forbidding the sheriffs of neighbouring counties to enter 
 themselves, or send, or permit their bailiffs to enter or interfere 
 with anything belonging to the Honor of Lancaster, or to the men 
 of that Honor, unless required to do so by his son. Edmund was 
 also created earl of Lancaster, and became the founder of that 
 noble house, whose possessions and power afterwards attained to 
 such magnitude as to place its representative, Henry IV., upon the 
 throne, although nearer descendants of his grandfather Edward III. 
 were still living. 
 
 We have now arrived at the unsettled era, comprising the 
 reigns of the three Edwards and Richard II., and during the 
 whole of the time these monarchs wore the crown, a period of one 
 hundred and twenty-six years, the nation was engaged in 
 continual wars with the Welsh under Llewellyn, the Scotch 
 under Bruce and Wallace, and the French under Philip. The 
 reign of Richard II. was additionally agitated by the insurrection 
 of Wat Tyler. Looking at that long uninterrupted season of 
 excitement, we cease to wonder at the riotous and disorganized 
 state into which society was thrown. The rulers, whether local 
 and subordinate, or those of a higher grade, were too actively 
 engaged in forwarding the efficiency of the army, to devote much 
 attention to the welfare and proper government of the people. 
 Crimes and disturbances were allowed to pass unpunished, and 
 evil-doers, being thus encouraged to prosecute their unlawful
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 37 
 
 purposes, carried their outrages to the very confines of open 
 rebellion against all power and order. It was not until such a 
 dangerous climax had been reached that a commission, consisting 
 of the following judges, Peter de Bradbate, Edmund Deyncourt, 
 William de Vavasour, John de Island, and Adam de Middleton, 
 was appointed to deal summarily and severely with all offenders 
 in the counties of Lancaster and Westmoreland. During those 
 troublesome times Sir Adam Banastre and a number of others 
 assaulted Ralph de Truno, prior of Lancaster, and his train of 
 attendants at Poulton-le-Fylde, seized and carried him off to 
 Thornton, where they brutally ill-used and finally imprisoned 
 him. An inquiry into the disgraceful proceeding was instituted 
 by order of Edward I., but the result has not been preserved, at 
 least no record of it has as yet been discovered amongst any of the 
 ancient documents concerning this county. Leyland, who was 
 antiquary to Henry VIII., alluding to the death of the disorderly 
 knight, says, "Adam Banastre, a bachelar of Lancastershire, 
 moved ryot agayne Thomas of Lancaster by kraft of kynge 
 Edward II., but he was taken and behedid by the commandment 
 of Thomas of Lancaster." The first part of the quotation has 
 reference to a quarrel between the earl of Lancaster and Sir 
 Adam, who for his own aggrandizement and to curry favour with 
 the king, as well as to divert the attention of that monarch from 
 his own misdeeds, declared that Thomas of Lancaster wished to 
 interfere with the royal prerogative in the choice of ministers; 
 and, professedly, to punish such presumption he invaded the 
 domains of that nobleman. An encounter took place in 
 the valley of the Ribble, not far from Preston, in which the 
 followers of Sir Adam were vanquished anct put to flight. Their 
 leader secreted himself in a barn on his own lands, but, being 
 discovered by the soldiers of his opponent, was dragged forth and 
 beheaded with a sword. Subjoined is an account of a disturbance 
 which occurred at Kirkham during the same period, transcribed 
 from the Vale Royal 1 register : " A narrative of proceedings in a 
 dispute between the abbot of Vale Royal, and Sir Will, de Clifton, 
 knt., respecting the tithes in the manor of Clifton and Westby, in 
 the parish of Kirkham, A.D. 1337, in the time of Peter's abbacy. 
 
 I. Vale Royal, Cheshire, obtained a grant of the manor, etc., of Kirkham in 1296.
 
 38 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 The charges alleged against Sir William state, that he had 
 obtained twenty marks 1 due to the abbot ; had forcibly obstructed 
 the rector in the gathering of tithes within the manor of Clifton 
 and Westby ; seized his loaded wain, and brought ridicule on his 
 palfrey : that he had also burst, with his armed retainers, into the 
 parish church of Kirkham, and thereby deterred his clerks from 
 the performance of divine service ; had prevented the parishioners 
 from resorting to the font for the rite of baptism ; and that, 
 having seized on Thomas, the clerk of the abbot of Vale Royal, 
 he had inflicted on him a flagellation in the public streets of 
 Preston. After a complaint, made to the abbot of Westminster, a 
 conservator of the rights and privileges of the order to which 
 Vale Royal belonged, Sir William confessed his fault and threw 
 himself on the mercy of the abbot of the Cheshire convent, who 
 contented himself, after receiving a compensation for his rector's 
 losses, with an oath from the refractory knight, that he would in 
 future maintain and defend the privileges of the abbey, and would 
 bind himself in forty shillings to offer no further violence to the 
 unfortunate secretary of the abbot." 
 
 During the reign of Edward III., Henry, earl of Lancaster, was 
 created duke of the county with the consent of the prelates and 
 peers assembled in parliament. This nobleman, whose pious and 
 generous actions earned for him the title of the " Good duke of 
 Lancaster," received a mandate from the king during the war with 
 France, when there were serious apprehensions of an invasion by 
 that nation, to arm all the lancers on his estates, and to set a strict 
 watch over the seacoasts of Lancashire. These precautions, 
 however, proved unnecessary, as the French made no attempt to 
 cross the channel. Irfhis will, bearing the date 1361, (the year of 
 his death), Duke Henry bequeathed the Wappentakes or Hundreds 
 of Amounderness, Lonsdale, and Leyland, with other estates, to 
 his daughter Blanche, who had married John of Gaunt, the earl 
 of Richmond and fourth son of Edward III. John of Gaunt 
 succeeded to the dukedom in right of his wife. 
 
 " In the " Testa de NevuT," a register extending from 1274 to 
 1327, and containing, amongst other matters, a list of the fees and 
 serjeanties holden of the king and the churches in his gift, it is 
 
 i. 1$ 6s. 3d.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 39 
 
 stated under the latter heading : " St. Michael upon Wyre ; the 
 son of Count Salvata had it by gift of the present king, and he 
 says, that he is elected into a bishoprick, and that the church is 
 vacant, and worth 30 marks 1 per an. Kyrkeham ; King John 
 gave two parts of it to Simon Blundel, on account of his custody 
 of the son and heir of Theobald Walter. Worth 80 marks 2 per 
 an." In another part of these records it is named that Richard de 
 Frekelton held fees in chief in Freckleton, Newton, and 
 Eccleston ; Alan de Singilton, in Singleton, Freckleton, Newton, 
 and Elswick ; and Adam de Merton, in Marton ; also that Fitz 
 Richard held serjeanties in Singleton, by serjeanty of 
 Amounderness. 
 
 The earliest intimation of members being returned to represent 
 our own district, in conjunction with the other divisions of the 
 county, is to the parliament of Edward I., assembled in 1295, 
 when Matthew de Redmand and John de Ewyas were elected 
 knights of the shire for Lancaster, and in his report the sheriff 
 adds "There is no city in the county of Lancaster." The 
 members of parliament in 1297 were Henricus de Kigheley and 
 Henricus le Botyler ; in 1302 Willielmus de Clifton and 
 Gilbertus de Singleton ; and in 1304 Willielmus de Clifton and 
 Willielmus Banastre. Henricus le Botyler, or Butler, belonged 
 to the family of the Butlers of Rawcliffe ; Gilbertus de Singleton was 
 probably connected with the Singletons whose descendants 
 resided at Staining Hall ; Willielmus de Clifton was an ancestor 
 of the Cliftons of Lytham, and here it may be stated that 
 Lancashire was represented in 1383 by Robt. de Clifton, of 
 Westby, and Ric'us de Hoghton ; and in 1844 by J. Wilson 
 Patten, now Lord Winmarleigh, and Jno. Talbot Clifton, esq., of 
 Lytham Hall. Thos. Henry Clifton, esq., son of the last 
 gentleman, and the Hon. F. A. Stanley are the present members 
 for North Lancashire. 
 
 During the Scottish wars of Edward III., John de Coupland, of 
 Upper Rawcliffe, valiantly captured David II., king of Scotland, 
 at the battle of Durham, and although that monarch dashed out 
 Coupland's teeth and used every means to incite the latter to slay 
 him, the brave soldier restrained his wrath and delivered up his 
 
 I. 20 os. od. 2. ^"53 6s. 8d.
 
 40 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 prisoner alive. For that signal service Edward rewarded him 
 with a grant of ^"500 per annum, until he could receive an 
 equivalent in land wherever he might choose, and created him a 
 knight banneret. 1 " I have seen," says Camden, "a charter of 
 King Edward III., by which he advanced John Coupland to the 
 state of a banneret in the following words, because in a battle 
 fought at Durham he had taken prisoner David the Second, King 
 of Scots : ' Being willing to reward the said John, who took 
 David de Bruis prisoner, and frankly delivered him unto us, for 
 the deserts of his honest and valiant service, in such sort as others 
 may take example by his precedent to do us faithful service in 
 time to come, we have promoted the said John to the place and 
 degree of a banneret ; and, for the maintenance of the same state, 
 we have granted, for us and our heirs, to the same John, five 
 hundred pounds by the year, to be received by him and his heirs," 
 etc. 
 
 For some time after a truce had been concluded with Scotland, 
 the war, in which the incident narrated occurred, continued with 
 little abatement, and in 1322 this county with others was called 
 upon to raise fresh levies. These constant drains upon its 
 resources, and the devastations committed by riotous companies 
 of armed men, so impoverished our district that the inhabitants of 
 Poulton forwarded a petition to the Pope, praying him to forego 
 his claims upon their town on account of the deplorably distressed 
 condition to which they had been reduced. The taxations of all 
 churches in the Fylde were greatly lowered in consideration of the 
 indigency of the people ; that of Kirkham from 240 marks per 
 annum to 120, and the others in like proportion. Further 
 evidence of the poverty of this division may be gathered from a 
 census taken in 1377, which states, amongst other things, that 
 " There is no town worthy of notice anywhere in the whole of the 
 county " ; and again, twenty years later, when a loan was raised 
 to meet the enormous expenditure of the country, Lancashire 
 furnished no contributors. 
 
 In 1389, during the reign of Richard II., it was enacted, with a 
 
 I. Knights banneret were so called from a privilege they possessed of carrying 
 a small banner. This privilege and the title of " Sir" were conferred as a reward 
 for distinguished military service, and were usually accompanied by a pecuniary 
 provision.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 41 
 
 view to the preservation and improvement of the salmon fisheries 
 throughout the kingdom, " that no young salmon be taken or 
 destroyed by nets, at mill-dams or other places, from the middle 
 of April to the Nativity of St. John Baptist"; and special 
 reference is made to this neighbourhood in the following sentence 
 of the bill : "It is ordained and assented, that the waters of Lone, 
 Wyre, Mersee, Ribbyl, and all other waters in the county of 
 Lancaster, be put in defence, as to the taking of Salmons, from 
 Michaelmas Day to the Purification of our Lady (2nd of February), 
 and in no other time of the year, because that salmons be not 
 seasonable in the said waters in the time aforesaid ; and in the 
 parts where such rivers be, there shall be assigned and sworn good 
 and sufficient conservators of this statute." The foregoing is the 
 earliest regulation of the kind, and the wisdom and utility of its 
 provisions are evinced by the existence of similar measures at the 
 present day. 
 
 From -the annals of the Duchy may be learnt some interesting 
 particulars relative to changes in ownership at that period of 
 certain portions of the territory comprised in the Fylde. In 1380 
 John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, issued a " precept to the 
 Escheator to give seisin of the Lands of William Botyler in 
 Layton Magna, Layton Parva, Bispham, Warthebrek, and Great 
 Merton," etc. ; and shortly afterwards gave orders to " seize the 
 Lands of William Botyler." In 1385 mandates were issued by 
 the same nobleman to his Escheator to " seize into the Hands of 
 the King and himself the Lands of Thomas Banastre, (deceased, 
 1384), in Ethelswyk, Frekculton, Claughton in Amoundernes, 
 Syngleton Parva, Hamylton, Stalmyn," etc. ; also those of 
 "Emund Banastre, (deceased, 1384), in Wodeplumpton, Preston," 
 etc. In the Rolls the subjoined entries also occur : 
 
 1381. 
 
 GRANTORS. GRANTEES. MATTERS AND PREMISES. 
 
 John Botyler, Knt. Henry de Bispham, Enrolment of the Grant of the 
 
 Richard de Carleton, Manors of Great Layton, Little 
 
 Chaplains. Layton, Bispham, and Warde- 
 
 brek ; lands in Great Merton, 
 
 and the whole Lordship of 
 
 Merton Town. 
 
 Henry de Bispham, John Botyler, Knt., Enrolment of the Grant of the 
 
 Richard de Carleton. and Alice his wife. above Manors, Lands, and 
 
 Lordship, in Fee Tail special.
 
 42 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 1382. 
 
 Robert de Wasshyngton. William de Hornby, Enrolment of Grant of Lands, 
 
 Parson of St. Michael- etc., in Carleton in Amounder- 
 
 upon-Wyre, and Wil- ness, for a Rose Rent per ann. 
 
 Ham le Ducton. 8 years, and increased rent 20 
 
 per ann. 
 
 There is nothing of interest or importance to recount affecting 
 the Fylde from the death of Richard II. until the year 1455, when 
 the battle of St. Albans, resulting in the defeat of Henry VI. and 
 the royal forces by the Duke of York, initiated those lamentable 
 struggles between the rival houses of York and Lancaster ; and 
 the inhabitants of our section shared, like the rest, in the ruin and 
 bloodshed of civil war. Those contests, which lasted no less than 
 thirty years, and included thirteen pitched battles, were finally 
 terminated in 1485, by the union of Henry VII. with Catherine of 
 York, daughter of Edward IV. 
 
 In 1485 a malady called the " Sweating Sickness " visited the 
 different districts of Lancashire, and so rapid and fatal were the 
 effects, that during the seven weeks it prevailed, large numbers 
 of the populace fell victims to its virulence. Lord Verulam, 
 describing the disease, says : " The complaint was a pestilent 
 fever, attended by a malign vapour, which flew to the heart and 
 seized the vital spirits ; which stirred nature to strive to send it 
 forth by an extreme sweat." 
 
 In 1487 the impostor Lambert Simnel, who personated Edward, 
 earl of Warwick, the heir in rightful succession to Edward IV., 
 landed at the Pile of Fouldrey, (Peel harbour) in Morecambe Bay, 
 with an army raised chiefly by the aid of the Duchess of Burgundy, 
 and marched into the country. At Stoke, near Newark, he was 
 defeated and taken prisoner, and subsequently the adventurer 
 was made a scullion in the king's kitchen, from which humble 
 sphere he rose by good conduct to the position of falconer. 
 Henry VIII., soon after his accession in 1 509, became embroiled 
 in war with France, and whilst he was engaged in hostilities on 
 the continent, James IV. of Scotland crossed the border, and 
 invaded England with a force of fifty thousand men. To resist 
 this aggression large levies were promptly raised in Lancashire 
 and other northern counties, and on the field of Flodden, in 
 Northumberland, a decisive battle took place in 1513, in which 
 the Scottish monarch was slain, and his army routed. The
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 43 
 
 Lancashire troops were led by Sir Edward Stanley, and their 
 patriotism and valour are celebrated in an ancient song call the 
 " Famous Historic or Songe of Floodan Field." In the following 
 extract certain localities in and near the Fylde are mentioned as 
 having furnished their contingents of willing soldiers : 
 
 " All Lancashire for the most parte 
 The lusty Standley stowte can lead, 
 A stock of striplings stronge of heart 
 Brought up from babes with beef and bread, 
 From Warton unto Warrington, 
 From Wiggen unto Wyresdale, 
 From Weddecon to Waddington. 
 From Ribchester to Rochdale, 
 From Poulton to Preston with pikes 
 They -with ye Standley howte forthe went, 
 From Pemberton and Pilling Dikes 
 For Battell Billmen bould were bent 
 With fellowes fearce and fresh for feight 
 With Halton feilds did turne in foores, 
 With lusty ladds liver and light 
 From Blackborne and Bolton in ye moores." 
 
 The office of High Sheriff is one of considerable antiquity, and 
 in early times it was no uncommon thing for the elected person 
 to retain the position for several years together. Annexed is a 
 list of gentlemen connected with the Fylde who have been High 
 Sheriffs of the county of Lancaster at different times, with their 
 years of office : 
 
 1194 \ 
 
 to > Theobald Walter, of Amounderness. 
 1199. ) 
 
 1278. Gilbert de Clifton, of Clifton and Westby. 
 1287. Gilbert de Clifton, of Clifton and Westby. 
 1289. Gilbert de Clifton, of Clifton and Westby. 
 
 1393. Sir Johannes Butler, Knt., of Rawcliffe. 
 
 1394. Sir Johannes Butler, Knt., of Rawcliffe. 
 
 1395. Sir Johannes Butler, Knt., of Rawcliffe, 
 
 1397. Sir Richard Molyneux, Knt., of Larbrick (for life). 
 
 1566. Sir Richard Molyneux, Knt., of Larbrick. 
 
 1606. Edmund Fleetwood, of Rossall. 
 
 1677. Alexander Rigby, of Layton. 
 
 1678. Alexander Rigby, of Layton. 
 
 1691. Sir Alexander Rigby, Knt., of Layton. 
 
 1740. Roger Hesketh, of Rossall. 
 
 1797. Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, of Rossall.
 
 44 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 1820. Robert Hesketh, of Rossall. 
 
 1830. Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, of Rossall. 
 
 1835. Thomas Clifton, of Lytham. 
 
 1842. Thomas Robert Wilson ffrance, of Rawcliffe. 
 
 1853. John Talbot Clifton, of Lytham. 
 
 It may be here noticed that Edmund Dudley, so notorious in 
 English history as the infamous agent of Henry VII. in the 
 wholesale and scandalous extortions that monarch practised upon 
 his subjects, held many and large territorial possessions in the 
 county of Lancashire, the reward in all probability of his 
 unscrupulous services to the king. After the death of his royal 
 patron a loud outcry for the punishment of Dudley was raised by 
 the nation, and in the first year of Henry VIII. a proclamation 
 was issued inviting those subjects, who had been injured by 
 Dudley and his fellow commissioner, Sir Richard Empson, to 
 come forward and state their complaints ; the number of 
 complainants who appeared was so great that it was found 
 impossible to examine all their claims, so in order to pacify the 
 universal indignation, the two obnoxious agents were thrown into 
 prison on a charge of treason. From the Inquisition for the 
 Escheat of the Duchy of Lancaster taken on the attainder of 
 Edmund Dudley, in 1509, it is discovered that amongst his 
 numerous estates, were lands in Elswick, Hambleton, Freckleton, 
 Thornton, Little Singleton, Wood Plumpton, Whittingham, 
 Goosnargh, and Claughton. Stow, writing about the circum- 
 stances alluded to, says : " Thereupon was Sir Richard Empson, 
 Knight, and Edmund Dudley, Esquire, by a politicke mean 
 brought into the Tower, where they were accused of treason, and 
 so remained there 'prisoners, thereby to quiet men's minds, that 
 made such suit to have their money restored. On the seventeenth 
 of July Edmund Dudley was arraigned in the Guildhall of 
 London, where he was condemned, and had judgement to be 
 drawn, hanged, and quartered. * Henry VIII. sent 
 
 commandment to the Constable of the Tower, charging him that 
 Empson and Dudley should shortly after be put to execution. 
 The Sheriffs of London were commanded by a special writ to see 
 the said execution performed and done, whereupon they went to 
 the Tower and received the prisoners on the iyth of August, 1510, 
 and from thence brought them unto the scaffold on Tower Hill, 
 where their heads were stricken off."
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 45 
 
 The most conspicuous event which happened during the 
 sovereignty of Henry VIII. was the Protestant Reformation. 
 Henry, having quarrelled with the Supreme Head of the Church 
 at Rome, determined to suppress all religious houses in his 
 kingdom whose incomes amounted to less than 200 per annum. 
 Doctors Thomas Leigh and Thomas Layton were appointed to 
 inspect and report on those in Lancashire ; and amongst the 
 number condemned on their visit was a small Benedictine Cell at 
 Lytham. This Cell owed its origin to Richard Fitz Roger, who 
 towards the latter part of the reign of Richard I. granted lands at 
 Lytham to the Durham Church, in order that a prior and 
 Benedictine monks might be established there to the honour of 
 St. Mary and St. Cuthbert. Its yearly revenue at the time of 
 suppression was only $$. A little later, in 1540, the larger 
 monastic institutions suffered the fate of the smaller ones ; and 
 amongst. the chantries closed were two at St. Michael's-on-Wyre. 
 All Catholic places of worship were closed by a proclamation, 
 bearing the date September 23rd, 1548, and issued by the lord 
 protector Somerset on behalf of the young king Edward VI. On 
 the death of that monarch in 1553 the crown descended to his 
 sister Mary, only daughter of Catherine of Arrogan ; and one of 
 her first acts was to re-establish the old faith and re-open the 
 churches and chantries which her predecessors had closed. Mass 
 was again celebrated in the churches of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, 
 Kirkham, and Singleton, as in former days, the officiating priests 
 being : 
 
 Kirkham Thomas Primbet, annual fee 2 ids. od. 
 
 Singleton Richard Goodson, 2 95. od. 
 
 St. Michael's-on-Wyre, Thomas Cross ^ 133. lod. 
 
 In the early part of this reign a grand military muster was 
 ordered to be made in the county palatine of Lancaster, and 
 towards the 300 men raised in the Hundred of Amounderness the 
 Fylde townships contributed as follows : 
 
 Warton 4 men. Thornton 8 men. 
 
 Carleton 8 Out Rawcliffe 4 
 
 Hardhome with Newton.. 8 
 
 Much Eccleston 5 
 
 Clifton 6 
 
 Bispham and Norbreke ... 5 
 
 Freckleton 5 
 
 Thilston .. ,8 
 
 Upper Rawcliffe and Tornecard i 
 
 Pulton 3 
 
 Weton 3 
 
 Threleyle 6 
 
 Little Eccleston and Larbreke 6 
 
 Little Singleton and Grange... 5
 
 46 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 Newton with Scales ... 3 men. Westbye and Plumpton 8 men. 
 
 Layton with Warbrick ... 8 Rigby with Wraye 8 
 
 Elliswicke 5 Lithum 5 
 
 Kelmyne and Brininge ... 5 Much Singleton 7 
 
 Kirkham 3 Plumpton II 
 
 The commanders of the regiment were Sir Thomas Hesketh, 
 Sir Richard Houghton ; George Browne, John Kitchen, Richard 
 Barton, William Westby (of Mowbreck), and William Barton, 
 Esquires. 
 
 Dodsworth, who lived in the latter part of the sixteenth and 
 early part of the seventeenth centuries, informs us that sometime 
 during the year 1555 " a sudden irruption of the sea" took place 
 near Rossall grange, and a whole village, called Singleton Thorp, 
 was washed away by the fury of the waves. " The inhabitants 
 were driven out of their ancient home, and erected their tents at a 
 place called Singleton to this day." It has been surmised that 
 Singleton Thorp was the residence of Thomas de Singleton, who 
 opposed Edward I. in a suit to recover from that king the manors 
 of Singleton, Thornton, and Brughton. The site formerly 
 occupied by the ancient village is now called Singleton Skeer. 
 Dodsworth also declares that the Horse-bank lying off the shores 
 of Lytham was, in 1612, during the reign of James I., a pasture 
 for cattle, and that, in 1601, a village called Waddum Thorp 
 existed between it and the present main-land. 
 
 In January, 1559, about two months after the accession of 
 Elizabeth, another muster took place throughout the several 
 counties of the kingdom, and subjoined are enumerated the bodies 
 of soldiers furnished by the different Hundreds of Lancashire : 
 
 BLACKEBURNE HUNDRED 407 harnessed men, 406 unharnessed men. 
 AMOUNDERNES HUNDRED 213 harnessed men, 369 unharnessed men. 
 LoNDESDALL HUNDRED 356 harnessed men, 114 unharnessed men. 
 LEYLONDE HUNDRED 80 harnessed men, 22 unharnesed men. 
 SALEFORDE HUNDRED 394 harnessed men, 649 unharnessed men. 
 WEST DERBY HUNDRED 459 harnessed men, 413 unharnessed men. 
 
 Sum Total of harnessed men 1919. 
 
 Sum Total of unharnessed men 2073.! 
 
 An epidemic, described by Hollinworth as a " sore sicknesse," 
 prevailed in this county during some months of 1565, and carried 
 off many of the inhabitants. 
 
 I. Ilarl. Mss. cod. 1926, fol. 4 b.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 47 
 
 Queen Elizabeth on her accession wrought another change in 
 the national religion, but taking warning from the outcries and 
 disturbances produced by the sudden and sweeping policies of 
 Henry VIII. and Mary, proceeded to affect her purpose in a more 
 deliberate manner. She retained some of her Catholic ministers, 
 taking care, however, to have sufficient of the reformed faith to 
 outvote them when occasion required, and appointed a commission 
 to inquire into the persecutions of the last reign, with orders to 
 liberate from prison all those who had been confined on account 
 of their attachment to Protestant principles. In her own chapel 
 she forbade several Popish practices, and commanded that certain 
 portions of the services should be read in the English tongue. 
 Shortly afterwards a proclamation was issued, ordering that all 
 chantries should conduct their services after the model of her 
 own chapel. This comparative moderation was succeeded at a 
 later period of her sovereignty by sterner measures, and many 
 Catholic recusants were placed in confinement, being subjected to 
 heavy penalties and degradations. During the same reign the 
 military strength of the nation was again ascertained by a general 
 muster. The gathering took place in 1574, when six gentlemen 
 of our neighbourhood were thus rated : 
 
 Cuthbert Clifton, esq., to furnish : Light horse I, Plate-coate 
 i, Pyke i, Long bows 2, Sheaves of arrows 2, Steel caps 2, Caliver 
 I, Morion I. 
 
 James Massey, George Alane to furnish : Plate-coat i, Long 
 bow i, Sheaf of arrows I, Steel cap i, Caliver i, Morion i, Bill i. 
 
 William Hesketh to furnish of good will : Caliver I, Morion I. 
 
 William Singleton, John Veale to furnish : The same as 
 William Hesketh doth. 
 
 The whole complement raised in the Hundred of Amounderness 
 consisted of 5 Light horse, I Demi-lance, 2 Corslets, 17 Plate- 
 coats, ii Pykes, 22 Long bows, 22 Sheaves of arrows, 27 Steel 
 caps, 15 Calivers, 20 Morions, and 10 Bills. 
 
 Father Edmund Campion, the notorious Jesuit, was apprehended 
 in 1581, immediately after travelling through Lancashire 
 endeavouring to spread the doctrines of his faith, and imprisoned 
 in the Tower. Under the cruel influence of the rack he divulged 
 the names of several persons by whom he had been received and 
 entertained whilst on his journey, and amongst them were Mrs.
 
 48 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 Allen of Rossall Hall, the widow of Richard Allen, and John 
 Westby of Mowbreck and Burn Halls. Shortly before his 
 execution Campion deplored his compulsory confession in a letter 
 to a friend in these words : " It grieved me much to have offended 
 the Catholic cause so highly, as to confess the names of some 
 gentlemen and friends in whose houses I have been entertained ; 
 yet in this I greatly cherish and comfort myself, that I never 
 discovered any secrets there declared, and that I will not, come 
 rack, come rope." 
 
 The following extracts are taken from some manuscripts in the 
 Harleian collection, and will explain themselves : 
 
 " Names of such as are detected for receiptinge of Priests, Seminaries, etc., in 
 the County of Lancashire. 
 
 " This appeareth by the presentment One named little Richard receipted at 
 
 of the Vicar of Garstang. Mr. Rigmaden's of Weddicar by report. 
 
 " This appeareth by the presentment Ricard Cadocke, a seminary priest, also 
 
 of the Vicar of Kirkham. Deiv. Tytmouse conversant in the 
 
 Company of two widows viz. Mis- 
 tress Alice Clyfton and Mistress Jane 
 Clyfton, about the first of October last, 
 1580, by the report of James Burie. 
 
 " This also appeareth by the present- Richard Brittain, a priest receipted in 
 ment of the Vicar of Kirkham. the house of William Bennett of 
 
 Westby, about the beginning of June 
 last, from whence young Mr. Norrice 
 of Speke conveyed the said Brittain to 
 the Speke, as the said Bennett hath 
 reported. 
 
 " The said Brittain remayneth now at the house of Mr. Norrice of the Speke, as 
 appeareth by the deposition of John Osbaldston. 
 
 " Diocese of Chester 
 
 " Amounderness Deanery 
 
 Cuthb. Clifton, Esq. - - - Obstinate. 
 
 Will. Hesketh, gent. - - - Obstinate. 
 
 John Singleton, gent. - - - Obstinate." 
 
 At that period it was customary to levy a tax of live stock and 
 different articles of food on each county, for the supply of the 
 royal larder, and Sir Richard Sherburn, of Carleton and 
 Hambleton, and Alexander Rigby, of Middleton, near Preston, 1 
 ratified an agreement with the treasurer and controller of 
 Elizabeth's household, that Lancashire should provide annually 
 
 I. Alexander Rigby was related to the branch of that family residing at Layton 
 Hall.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 49 
 
 forty great oxen, to be delivered alive at her majesty's pasture at 
 Crestow. Afterwards the sums to be contributed by each 
 Hundred for the purchase of these animals was arranged, and 
 Amounderness rated at 16 los. od. per year. The latter agree- 
 ment was ratified by Sir Richard Sherburne and Edward Tyldesley, 
 of Myerscough, amongst others. Grievous complaints were made 
 in the Fylde and other parts of the county of the desecration of the 
 Sabbath by "Wakes, fayres, markettes, bayrebaytes, bull baits, 
 Ales, Maygames, Resortinge to Alehouses in tyrne of devyne 
 service, pypinge and dauncinge, huntinge and all manner of 
 unlawfull gamynge." A letter praying that these profanations 
 might be reformed was signed by the magistrates of the several 
 districts, amongst whom were Edmund Fleetwood of Rossall, and 
 R. Sherburne of Carleton, etc., and forwarded to London. A 
 commission of inquiry was appointed, and after an investigation, 
 the commissioners charged all mayors, bailiffs, and constables, as 
 well as other civil officers, churchwardens, etc., to suppress by all 
 lawful means the said disorders of the Sabbath, and to present the 
 offenders at the quarter sessions, that they might be dealt with for 
 the same according to law. They also directed that the minstrels, 
 bearwards, and all such disorderly persons, should be immediately 
 apprehended and brought .before the justices of the peace, and 
 punished at their discretion ; that the churchwardens should be 
 enjoined to present at the sessions all those that neglected to 
 attend divine service upon the Sabbath day, that they might be 
 indicted and fined in the penalty of twelve pence for every 
 offence ; that the number of alehouses should be abridged, that 
 the ale-sellers should utter a full quart of ale for one penny, and 
 none of any less size, and that they should sell no ale or other 
 victuals in time of divine service ; that none should sell ale 
 without a license ; that the magistrates should be enjoined not to 
 grant any ale-licenses except in public sessions ; that they should 
 examine the officers of the commonwealth to learn whether they 
 made due presentment at the quarter sessions of all bastards born 
 or remaining within their several precincts ; and that thereupon a 
 strict course should be taken for the due punishment of the 
 reputed parents according to the statute, as also for the con- 
 venient keeping and relief of the infants. 1 
 
 I. Harl. MSS. cod. 1926, fol. 80. 
 
 E
 
 50 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 In 1588, the year following the execution of Mary, Queen of 
 Scots, Philip of Spain, urged on by an ambition to conquer the 
 kingdom of England and re-establish the Romish religion, 
 equipped an immense fleet, consisting of seventy-two galliasses 
 and galleons, forty-seven second-class ships of war, and eleven 
 pinnaces, to which he gave the name of the " Invincible Armada." 
 The rumour of this invasion spread great alarm throughout the 
 country ; and the magistrates, gentry, and freeholders of Lancashire 
 were summoned to meet Lord Strange at Preston, to consider 
 what steps should be taken for the defence of their coast, on 
 which, at Peel in Morecambe Bay, it was deemed probable the 
 Spaniards would attempt a landing. So doubtful does Elizabeth 
 appear to have been of the loyalty of her Lancashire subjects that 
 Lord Strange was commanded to append to his summonses the 
 words, " Fayle not at your uttermost peril." Nor were these 
 suspicions on the part of the queen without good reason, for the 
 principal landed proprietors and gentry of the county were 
 members of the Romish Church, and it was to be feared that they 
 would be only lukewarm in repelling, if not, indeed, active in 
 encouraging, an enemy whose professed object was the restoration 
 of their religion. Baines, in reviewing the Reformation, says, 
 " In the county of Lancashire it was retrograde. The Catholics 
 multiplied, priests were harboured, the book of common prayer 
 and the service of the Church, established by law, were laid aside ; 
 many of the churches were shut up, and the cures unsupplied, 
 unless by the ejected Catholics." Numerous crosses on the 
 highways, as well as the names of several places, as Low-cross, 
 High-cross, Norcross, etc., also testify to the Romish tendency of 
 the inhabitants. Cardinal Allen, who had for many years been 
 living on the continent at Douai and elsewhere 1 was suspected 
 of having, in conjunction with Parsons, the Jesuit, instigated 
 Philip to this invasion. The harbour of " Pille," (Peel) is 
 described in the Lansdowne manuscripts as the " very best haven 
 for landings with great shyppes in all the west coast of England, 
 called St. George's Channel," and further in the same folio we 
 read : " What the Spanyerd means to do the Lord knows, for all 
 the countrie being known to Doctor Allen, who was born harde by 
 
 i. See "Allen of Rossall," in Chapter vi.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 51 
 
 the pyle," (Rossall Hall was the birth-place of Allen,) " and the 
 inhabytentes ther aboutes all ynfected with the Romish poyson, 
 it is not unlike that his directione will be used for some landinge 
 there. # * # One Thomas Prestone (a papyshe atheiste) is 
 deputye steward, and commandes the menrede, and lands ther, 
 wch were sometyme appertayning to the Abbeye of Fornes." 
 
 Whilst preparations for resisting the Spaniards were being 
 pushed forward with as much expedition as possible, the 
 " Invincibles " appeared in the English Channel, and arranged 
 themselves for battle in the form of a crescent. The British fleet, 
 numbering only thirty-four ships of war, and sundry private 
 vessels equipped for the occasion, under the command of Lord 
 Howard, sailed out to engage them. A series of actions took 
 place, and although nothing decisive had been effected, the 
 advantage seemed to be leaning towards the English fleet, when 
 eight fire-ships drifted in amongst the Armada and threw them 
 into utter confusion. This coup de maitre took place on the 29th 
 of July, 1588. The panic-stricken Spaniards, fearing that the 
 whole of their ships would be destroyed in a general conflagration, 
 severed their cables, and fled. A westerly gale, however, sprang 
 up, and wrecked many of the vessels on the coast between Ostend 
 and Calais ; the shores of Scotland and Ireland were also covered 
 with fragments of their ships and bodies of their mariners, while 
 tradition asserts that one of the galleons was stranded on the Point 
 of Rossall, where it was attacked by the country people, either for 
 the sake of pillage or in the hope of capturing it. Whether one 
 or both of these desires actuated the rustics they were doomed to 
 disappointment, for the Spaniards successfully resisted their first 
 attempt, and escaped on the returning tide, before further efforts 
 could be made by the little band on shore. Two cannon balls 
 were formerly to be seen at Rossall Hall, and it was stated that 
 they were the identical ones fired by this vessel, as a parting 
 salute, when she sailed away. They were found on removing 
 some of the walls belonging to the old mansion. 
 
 The annexed is a list of free-tenants residing in the Fylde 
 district about the year 1585, the 2yth of the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth : 
 
 Molyneux, Sir Richard, of Larbrick, knight. 
 Clifton, Thomas, of Westby, esq.
 
 52 THE NORMAN CONQUEST 
 
 Rigby, Edward, of Layton and Burgh, esq. 
 Veale, John, of Mythorp, esq. 
 Butler, Henry, of Out-Rawcliffe, esq. 
 Parker, William, of Bradkirk, esq. 
 Westby, John, of Mowbreck, esq. 
 Kirkby, William, of Upper Rawcliffe, esq. 
 Singleton, George, of Staining, esq. 
 Hesketh, William, of Little Poulton, esq. 
 Stanley, Thomas, of Great Eccleston, esq. 
 
 Warren, , of Plumpton, esq. 
 
 White, Nicholas, of Great Eccleston, gent. 
 Rogerly, George, of Lytham, gent. 
 Banister, William, of Carleton, gent. 
 Sharpies John, of Freckleton, gent. 
 
 The dress of the priests previous to the Protestant Reformation is 
 thus described by Harrison : " They went either in divers colours 
 like plaiers, or in garments of light hew, as yellow, red, greene, 
 etc., with their shoes piked, their haire crisped, and their girdles 
 armed with silver ; their shoes, spurs, bridles, etc., buckled with 
 like mettall ; their apparell chiefly of silke, and richlie furred, 
 their cappes laced and buttoned with gold ; so that to meet a 
 priest in those days, was to beholde a peacocke that spreadeth his 
 taile when he danseth before the henne." " The manners and 
 customs of the inhabitants of Lancashire," writes John de 
 Brentford, " are similar to those of the neighbouring counties 
 except that the people eat with two pronged forks 1 ; the men are 
 masculine, and in general well made, they ride and hunt the same 
 as in the most southern parts, but not with that grace, owing to 
 the whip being carried in the left hand ; the women are most 
 handsome, their eyes brown, black, hazel, blue, or grey ; their 
 noses, if not inclined to the aquiline, are mostly of the Grecian 
 form, which gives a most beautiful archness to the countenance, 
 such indeed as is not easy to be described, their fascinating 
 manners have long procured them the name of Lancashire 
 witches." Leyland in his "Itinerary" says : "The dress of the 
 men chiefly consists of woollen garments, while the women wear 
 those of silk, linen, or stuff. Their usual colours are those of 
 
 i. Table forks were introduced into England from Italy at the close of the 
 Tudor dynasty ; previously the people of all ranks used their fingers for the 
 purposes to which we now apply a fork. A kind of fork was used as far back as 
 the Anglo-Saxon times, but only to serve articles from the dish.
 
 TO JAMES THE FIRST. 53 
 
 green, blue, black, and sometimes brown. The military are 
 dressed in red, which is vulgarly called scarlet." In the time of 
 Henry VIII. the custom of placing chimneys on the tops of the 
 houses was first introduced amongst the English ; before that 
 period the smoke usually found its way through an opening in the 
 roof or out of the doorway. The houses of the middle classes 
 were for the most part formed of wood, whilst those of the 
 peasantry were built of wattles plastered over with a thick 
 coating of clay. The few stone mansions existing in Lancashire 
 were the residences of the nobility or of the most opulent gentry. 
 Harrison, referring to the improvements in accommodation 
 gradually gaining ground, remarks : " There was a great, 
 although not general, amendment of lodging ; for our fathers, 
 yea, and we ourselves also, have lien full oft upon straw pallets, 
 on rough mats, onelie covered with a sheet under coverlets made 
 of dagswam or hopparlots, and a good round log under the head 
 instead of a bolster or pillow, which was thought meet onelie for 
 women in childbed ; as for servants, if they had anie sheets above 
 them, it was well, for seldome had they anie under their bodies to 
 keep them from the prickly straws that ran oft through the 
 canvas of the pallet, and raised their hardened hides." Holinshed, 
 also, notices the better style of entertainment at the inns of 
 Lancaster, Preston, etc. ; at which he tells us the guests were well 
 provided with " napierie, bedding, and tapisserie," and each was 
 sure of resting " in cleane sheets wherein no man had been lodged 
 since they came from the laundress." Camden, writing of our 
 more immediate neighbourhood a little later than the period we 
 are now discussing, says : " The goodly and fresh complexion of 
 the natives does sufficiently evince the goodness of the county ; 
 nay and the cattle too, if you will ; for in the oxen, which have 
 huge horns and proportionate bodies, you will find nothing of that 
 perfection wanting that Mago, the Carthagenian, in Columella 
 required. This soil (Amounderness) bears oats pretty well, but is 
 not so good for barley; it makes excellent pasture especially 
 towards the sea, where it is partly Champain ; whence a great 
 part of it is called the File, probably for the Field. But being in 
 other places Fenny 'tis reckoned less wholesome. In many places 
 along the coast there are heaps of sand, upon which the natives 
 now and then pour water, till it grows saltish, and then with turf
 
 54 
 
 THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 
 
 boyl it into white salt." Several of these salt manufacturies were 
 located near Lytham, and it is very likely that the two brass pans 
 and an ancient measure, discovered about forty years since deeply 
 imbedded in the peat not far from Fox Hall, were used in the 
 production of salt somewhere in that vicinity.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 JAMES THE FIRST TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 the accession of James I., in 1603, the crowns of 
 England and Scotland became legally united, although 
 it was not until a considerable time afterwards that 
 they could be regarded as practically so. This 
 monarch was the first to assume the title of King of Great Britain. 
 A custom prevailed in former days of relieving the secular 
 portion of the community by imposing exclusive taxes on the 
 clergy, and hence it is seen, that in 1608 a rate was levied upon 
 the latter by the Right Reverend George Lloyd, D.D., the eighth 
 bishop of Chester. The following is a copy of the impost so far as 
 the Hundred of Amounderness was concerned : 
 
 " Archid. Decanatus \ A Rayte imposed by me George Bushoppe of 
 
 Cestrie in Com. Lancastrie S Chest 1 " upon the Clergie within the Countye 
 of Chesshyre and Lancashyre within the Dyoces of Chest, r By vertue of Ires from 
 the lordes grace of Yorke grounded upon + from the lordes and others of his ma tes 
 most honorable privye counsell for the fyndinge of horses, armes, and other 
 furniture, the xxvinth of October 1608. 
 
 Amounderness Decanatus Archid. Richm. 
 Mr. Porter, vicar of Lancast 1 " ... ... ... ... ... a corslet furnished. 
 
 Mr. Paler, vicar of Preston 
 
 Mr. Norcrosse, vicar of Ribchest r 
 
 Mr. Whyt, vicar of Poulton & ) 
 
 Mr. Greenacres, vicar of Kirkham ... ... j 
 
 Mr. Ayns worth, vicar of Garstange ... ... ) 
 
 Mr. Woolfenden, vicar of St. Michael's upon Wyre ) 
 
 Mr. Calver, vicar of Cockerham ... ... 
 
 Mr. Parker, vicar of Chippin ... ... ... j 
 
 a musket furnished, 
 a musket furnished, 
 a musket furnished. 
 
 ... a caliver furnished. 
 George Cestriensis." 1 
 Here it may be mentioned that, although about 636, Honorus, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to divide the kingdom into 
 parishes, it was not until many years later, in the reign of Henry 
 
 i. Harl, MSS.
 
 56 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 VIII., that the diocese to which Lancashire belonged was clearly 
 defined. At that date Chester was created a distinct bishopric, 
 and the southern part of our county included in the archdeaconry 
 of Chester, whilst the northern portion was attached to the 
 archdeaconry of Richmond. 
 
 In 1617 James I., on his return journey from Scotland to 
 London, was entertained at Myerscough Lodge, near Garstang, by 
 Edward Tyldesley, the grandfather of the gentleman who erected 
 Fox Hall, at Blackpool. Thomas Tyldesley, a cousin of the owner 
 of Myerscough Lodge, and attorney-general of the county of 
 Lancaster, had been knighted by the monarch at Wimbleton in 
 the previous year. From Myerscough the King proceeded to 
 Hoghton Tower, where a petition was presented to him by the 
 agricultural labourers, petty tradesmen, and ordinary servants in 
 this and other districts lying near Preston, praying that the edict 
 of the late queen, whereby sports and games had been prohibited 
 on the Sabbath, might be repealed. The prayer of the petitioners 
 found favour with James, and shortly afterwards he caused it to 
 be proclaimed "that his majesty's pleasure was, that the bishops 
 of the diocese should take strict order with all the puritans and 
 precisians within the county of Lancaster, and either constrain 
 them to conform themselves, or to leave the countrie, according 
 to the laws of this kingdom and the canons of the church ; and 
 for his good people's recreation his pleasure was, that after the 
 end of divine service, they be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged 
 from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women ; 
 archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any such harmless 
 recreation ; nor having of May-games, Whitson-ales, and Morice- 
 dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other sports 
 therewith used ; so as the same be had in due and convenient 
 time, without impediment or neglect of divine service ; and that 
 women should have leave to. carry rushes to the church, for 
 decorating of it according to the old custom ; but withal his 
 majesty did here account still as prohibited, all unlawful games to 
 be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baitings, interludes, 
 and, at all times, in the meaner sort of people, by law prohibited, 
 bowling." A few months after this concession to the wishes of a 
 portion of his subjects, James issued a publication designated the 
 " Book of Sports," in which he explained what were to be
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 57 
 
 considered lawful sports to be indulged in on " Sundays and 
 Festivals." 
 
 The gentlemen enumerated below were free-tenants, residing in 
 the Fylde, during his reign : 
 
 Clifton, Sir Cuthbert, of Westby, knight. 
 Banister, Sir Robert, of Plumpton, knight. 
 Fleetwood, Edward, of Rossall, esq. 
 Westby, Thomas, of Mowbreck, esq. 
 Kirkby, William, of Upper Rawcliffe, esq. 
 Veale, Edward, of Whinney Heys, esq. 
 Burgh, Richard, of Larbrick, esq. 
 Leckonby, John, of Great Eccleston, esq. 
 Longworth, Richard, of St. Michael's, esq. 
 Parker, John, of Bradkirk, esq. 
 Hesketh, William, of Mains, esq. 
 Singleton, Thomas, of Staining, esq. 
 Brown James, of Singleton, gent. 
 Leigh, Robert, of Plumpton, gent. 
 Smith, John, of Kirkham, gent. 
 Sharpies, Henry, of Kirkham, gent, 
 ffrance, John, of Eccleston, gent. 
 Thompson Wm., of Little Eccleston, gent. 
 Dobson, William, of Bispham, gent. 
 Hornby, Henry, of Bankfield, gent. 
 Bradley, James, of Bryning, gent. 
 Taylor, James, of Poulton, gent. 
 Bamber, Thomas, of Poulton, gent. 
 Bailey, Lawrence, of Layton, gent. 
 Bonny, Robert, of Kirkham, gent. 
 Whiteside, Robt., of Thornton, gent. 
 
 In the Registers of Kirkham is the annexed statement, from 
 which it appears that a few years from the death of James I. the 
 Fylde, or at least a considerable tract of it, was visited by some 
 fatal epidemic, but its peculiar nature cannot be ascertained : 
 " A.D. 1630. This year was a great plague in Kirkham, in which 
 the more part of the people of the town died thereof. It began 
 about the 25th of July and continued vehemently until Martinmas, 
 but was not clear of it before Lent ; and divers towns of the parish 
 was infected with it, and many died thereof out of them, as 
 Treales, Newton, Greenall, Estbrick, Thistleton. N.B. The 
 great mortality was in the year 1631 ; 304 died that year, and 
 were buried at Kirkham, of whom 193 in the months of August 
 and September.^ Charles I. soon after ascending the throne in
 
 1626, provoked a breach with his parliament by endeavouring to 
 enforce subsidies, with which to carry on his foreign wars, and 
 further, he alienated the affections and respect of the Puritan 
 section of his subjects by confirming the regulations of the " Book 
 of Sports." Dissatisfaction and murmurings were quickly 
 fermented into rebellion, and the closing of the gates of Hull 
 against the king in 1642 initiated those fearful wars, which 
 desolated and disorganised the country for so many years. In 
 1641, Alexander Rigby, 1 esq., of Layton Hall, Sir Gilbert de 
 Hoghton, with eight other gentlemen, were removed from the 
 commission of the peace, by order of parliament, on suspicion of 
 being favourably disposed towards the royal party. The chief 
 supporters of the king in the ensuing conflicts were the nobility, 
 in great numbers ; the higher orders of the gentry, and a 
 considerable portion of their tenantry ; all the High-churchmen ; 
 and a large majority of the Catholics. The parliamentarian army, 
 on the other hand, was mainly composed of freeholders, traders, 
 manufacturers, Puritans, Presbyterians, and Independents. An 
 engagement near Wigan roused up the people in our vicinity to a 
 sense of the dangers menacing them, and a public meeting of 
 royalists was called at Preston under the presidency of the earl of 
 Derby. Amongst other gentlemen who took a prominent part 
 in the assembly were Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, and 
 Alexander Rigby, esq., of Layton. Several resolutions were 
 adopted, the most important being that a sum of money, 
 amounting to ^"8,700, should be raised and devoted to the 
 payment of a regiment, consisting of 2,000 foot and 400 horse, in 
 the following scale of remuneration : 
 
 DRAGOONERS. 
 
 Captain I2s. od. per diem. 
 
 Lieutenant 6s. od. 
 
 Cornet 43. od. 
 
 Sergeant 35. od. 
 
 Corporal 2s. od. 
 
 Dragooner is. 6d. 
 
 Kettle-drum... 2s. od. 
 
 I. This Alex. Rigby must not be confounded with the gentleman of that name 
 mentioned in the former chapter, and who in the civil contests was a parliamen- 
 tary general. A. Rigby here denoted, was a royalist officer.
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 59 
 
 FOOT. HORSE. 
 
 Captain los. od. per diem. Captain i6s. od. per diem. 
 
 Lieutenant 43. od. Lieutenant ...... 8s. od. 
 
 Sergeant is. 6d. Cornet 6s. od. 
 
 Drummer is. 3d. ,, Corporal 43. od. 
 
 Corporal is. od. Trumpeter 5s. od. 
 
 Private os. gd. Private 2s. 6d. 
 
 And to every Commissary 5 s - d- P er diem. 
 
 Parliamentary commissioners were sent this year, 1642, into all 
 parts of Lancashire to visit the churches and chapels and to 
 remove therefrom all images, superstitious pictures, and idolatorous 
 relics, which any of them might contain. 
 
 Preston and Lancaster were amongst the earliest towns to fall 
 into the hands of the Roundheads, and about ten days after the 
 surrender of the former place, when the people of this district were 
 labouring under the excitement of war on their very frontier, 
 Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall, accompanied by Captain 
 Thomas Singleton, of Staining, and other officers, appeared near 
 Poulton at the head of a number of horsemen, and threw the 
 inhabitants into a state of great consternation and alarm, 
 fortunately proving unnecessary, for the cavalcade had other 
 designs than that of bringing devastation and bloodshed to their 
 own doors, and continued their journey peacably northward. A 
 few weeks later a Spanish vessel was seen at the entrance of 
 Morecambe Bay, off Rossall Point, and as it evinced no signs of 
 movement, either towards the harbour of Lancaster or out to sea, 
 the yeomen and farm servants of that neighbourhood at once 
 surmised that some sort of an invasive attack was meditated on 
 their coast, nor were these fears in any way allayed by the constant 
 firing of a piece of cannon from the deck of the ship, and it was 
 not until the discharges had been repeated through several days 
 that they realised that distress and not bombardment was intended 
 to be indicated. On boarding the vessel they found that she 
 contained a number of passengers, all of whom, together with the 
 crew, were reduced to a pitiable and enfeebled condition through 
 exposure and scarcity of provisions, for, having lost their way in the 
 heavy weather which prevailed, they had been detained much over 
 the time expected for the voyage, blindly cruising about in the 
 hope of discovering some friendly haven or guide. The craft was 
 piloted round into the mouth of the river Wyre, opposite the
 
 bo JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 Warren, and relief afforded to the sufferers. Rumour of the 
 presence of the ship was not long in reaching the ears of the earl 
 of Derby, who, with promptitude determined to march down and 
 seize it in the king's name. On the Saturday he arrived at 
 Lytham Hall with a small troop of cavalry, where he sojourned 
 for the night, with the intention of completing his journey and 
 effecting his purpose the following day before the parliamentarians 
 had got word of the matter ; but here his calculations were at 
 fault, for the parliamentary leader had already dispatched four 
 companies of infantry, under Major Sparrow, to take possession of 
 the prize, and on the same Saturday evening they took up their 
 quarters at Poulton and Singleton, having arrived by a different 
 route to the earl, who had forded the river at Hesketh Bank. On 
 the Sunday Major Sparrow, who throughout showed a lively 
 horror of risking an encounter with the renowned nobleman, 
 posted scouts with orders to watch the direction taken by the 
 latter, and convey the information without delay to the chief 
 station at Poulton, where the soldiers were injreadiness, not for 
 action, as it subsequently turned out, but to put a safe barrier 
 between themselves and the enemy, for no sooner was it ascer- 
 tained that the earl, " all his company having their swords drawn," 
 was marching along Layton Hawes towards Rossall, than Sparrow 
 conducted his force across the Wyre, at the Shard, and followed the 
 course of the stream towards its outlet "until he came over 
 against where the shipp lay, being as feared of the earle as the 
 earle was of him." 1 The earl of Derby advanced along the shore 
 line and across the Warren to the mouth of the river without the 
 naked weapons of his followers being called into service, but find- 
 ing when he boarded the ship that two parliamentary gentlemen 
 had forestalled his intention by seizing her for the powers they 
 recognized, he unhesitatingly took them prisoners, and set fire to 
 the vessel, whilst Sparrow and his men stood helplessly by, on the 
 opposite side of the water, where the gallant major perhaps con- 
 gratulated himself on his caution in having avoided a collision 
 with so prompt and vigorous a foe. Some of the Spaniards 
 attached themselves to the train of the earl, whilst others were 
 scattered over the neighbourhood, depending for subsistence upon 
 
 i. A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont (Cheet- 
 ham Society.)
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 61 
 
 the charity of the cottagers and farmers, but their final destiny is 
 unknown. The noble general, enraged at the unlocked for frus- 
 tration of the main object of his journey, determined that it 
 should not be altogether fruitless, and on his return forced admit- 
 tance into the mansion of the Fleetwoods, at Rossall, and bore off 
 all the arms he could lay hands upon. Resuming his march he 
 re-passed through Lytham, forded the Ribble, and finally made 
 his way to Lathom House, his famous residence. 
 
 Inactivity, however temporary, was ill suited to the tempera- 
 ment of the earl, and on receiving the news that the solitary piece 
 of artillery belonging to the luckless Spanish vessel had been 
 appropriated by the parliamentary officials before he appeared upon 
 the scene, and transferred to their stronghold at Lancaster, he 
 conceived the idea of reducing the ancient castle on the Lune, and 
 so taking vengeance on those who had anticipated him in the 
 Wyre affair, as well as removing a formidable obstacle to the 
 success of the royal arms. Before entering on an undertaking of 
 such importance it was necessary that his small body of troops 
 should be materially increased, and after exhausting the districts 
 south of the Ribble, he crossed it, in search of recruits amongst the 
 yeomanry and peasantry of the Fylde. The earl lodged his 
 soldiers in and about Kirkham, and fixed his own quarters at 
 Lytham Hall. Dreadful stories are related by the old historian, 
 from whose work we have already quoted, of the doings of the 
 troops for the short time they remained in the neighbourhood, 
 but it is only fair to state that their rapacity was directed exclu- 
 sively against the property of those whose sympathies were with 
 their opponents, whose houses and farms they plundered most 
 mercilessly, driving off their horses, and carrying away ornaments, 
 bedding, and everything which could either be turned to immediate 
 use or offered a prospect of future gain. Warrants were issued on 
 the first day of their arrival, from the head quarters at Lytham, 
 over the whole of our section, calling upon every male above six- 
 teen years of age and under sixty, " upon payne of death to appear 
 before his Honor at Kirkham the next morning by eight of the 
 clock, in their best weapons, to attend the King's service." 1 The 
 officers to whom fell the task of heralding the mandate over the 
 
 I. A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont.
 
 62 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 large area in the brief interval allowed, fulfilled their duties with 
 energy, and a goodly company responded to the arbitrary sum- 
 mons of the commander. After having seen that the fresh levies 
 were as suitably equipped for warfare as means would permit, the 
 earl appointed John Hoole, of Singleton, and John Ambrose, of 
 Wood Plumpton, as captains over them, and gave the order to 
 march. On reaching Lancaster Lord Derby summoned the 
 mayor and burgesses to surrender the town and castle into his 
 hands, to which the chief magistrate replied that the inhabitants 
 had already been deprived of their arms and were unresisting, but 
 that the fortress, now garrisoned by parliamentary troops, was out 
 of his keeping, an answer so far unsatisfactory to the besieger 
 that he set fire to the buildings, about one hundred and seventy 
 of which were destroyed, and inflicted other injury on the place. 
 Colonel Ashton, of Middleton, who had been sent to relieve the 
 castle, arrived too late, when the earl was some distance on his 
 return towards Preston, from which town he dislodged the enemy. 
 A little later the tide of fortune turned against the royalists, and 
 the earl of Derby was one of the earliest to suffer defeat. Colonel 
 Thomas Tyldesley, a staunch partizan of the king, and the father 
 of Edward Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, Blackpool, retreated before 
 Colonel Ashton, from Wigan to Lathom, and afterwards to Liver- 
 pool, where he was beseiged and forced again to fly by his inde- 
 fatigable opponent. (Later he distinguished himself at Burton-on- 
 Trent, by the desperate heroism with which he led a cavalry 
 charge over a bridge of thirty-six arches, and for that display of 
 valour as well as his faithful adherence to Charles, he received 
 the honour of knighthood.) Driven from Liverpool, Tyldesley, 
 in company with Lord Molyneux, withdrew the remnant of his 
 regiment towards the Ribble, crossed that stream, and quartered 
 his men in Kirkham, whilst Molyneux occupied the village of 
 Clifton. In these places they rested a night and a day, keeping a 
 vigilant look out for their pursuer, Ashton, from the old windmill, 
 situated at the east end of Kirkham. About one o'clock on the 
 day succeeding the evening of their arrival the soldiers, acting 
 under orders, repaired to their several lodgings to further refresh 
 themselves after their prolonged fatigues, but before four hours 
 had elapsed, a report came from the outpost that the enemy was 
 approaching. An alarm spread through the camp, and with
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 63 
 
 difficulty Lord Molyneux and Colonel Tyldesley assembled their 
 forces in the town of Kirkham, where they elected once more to 
 make a stand against the victorious Ashton. Command was 
 given that all the women and children should confine themselves 
 within doors, and preparations were hurried forward to offer the 
 parliamentarians a vigorous resistance ; but as daylight waned and 
 the besiegers were momentarily expected, the courage of the royal 
 troops seems to have oozed away, and they precipitately vacated 
 the town, fording the Wyre, and flying towards Stalmine, whence 
 they continued their retreat to Cockerham, and so on northwards. 
 When Colonel Ashton entered Kirkham he found the enemy 
 gone and the inhabitants in a state of extreme trepidation, but 
 their fears were soon dismissed by the action of the gallant soldier 
 who, on learning the course taken by Tyldesley and Molyneux, 
 pushed on without delay. Ashton followed up the pursuit as far 
 as the boundaries of Lancashire, without overtaking any of the 
 royalists, and then returned to Preston. The rear of his troops 
 diverged from the main road at Garstang, unknown to their 
 leader, and marched into the Fylde for plunder. They passed 
 through St. Michael's, and visiting the residence and estate of 
 Christopher Parker, of Bradkirk, drove away many of his cattle, 
 and stripped his house of everything of value. In Kirkham they 
 laid the people under heavy toll, and even spared not those who 
 were notoriously well affected towards parliament. At Clifton 
 they found more herds of cattle, which were joined to those 
 already with them ; but at Preston they fell to quarrelling over 
 the booty, and it is questionable whether their ill-gotten stores 
 did not prove rather a curse than a blessing to them. 
 
 Towards the end of 1643, the year in which the events just 
 narrated occurred, Thurland Castle, the seat of Sir John 
 Girlington, was captured by the parliamentary colonel, Alexander 
 Rigby, of Middleton, near Preston. In the engagement the 
 Lancashire troops were under the command of Alexander Rigby, 
 of Layton, who allowed his small regiment to be surprised and 
 routed by his namesake. After his success at Thurland, Colonel 
 Rigby, of Middleton, proceeded to raise fresh levies in Amoun- 
 derness. Mr. Clayton, of Fulwood Moor, was appointed to 
 superintend the whole of the recruiting and directed to place 
 himself at the head of the new regiment. Mr. Patteson, of
 
 64 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 Ribby, and Mr. Wilding, of Kirkham, were each apportioned half 
 of the parish bearing the latter name, in which they were 
 respectively ordered to raise a company. In the parishes of 
 Poulton and Bispham, Mr. Robert Jolly, of Warbreck, Mr. 
 William Hull, of Bispham, Mr. Richard Davis, of Newton, and 
 Mr. Rowland Amon, of Thornton, were made captains, and had 
 similar duties imposed upon them. In Lytham parish, Mr. 
 George Sharpies, of Freckleton, received a commission, but was 
 unable to muster more than a very few followers, as the people of 
 that neighbourhood reflected the loyal sentiments of the lord of 
 the manor, and could neither be coerced nor seduced, from their 
 allegiance to the king. Captains Richard Smith and George 
 Carter, of Hambleton, raised companies in Stalmine, Hambleton, 
 and the adjacent townships and villages. Mr. William Swarbrick 
 recruited a company in his native parish of St. Michael's, and 
 Mr. Duddell obtained another in Wood Plumpton. 
 
 At the siege of Bolton, in May, 1644, when the town was 
 stormed and surrendered after a valiant resistance, to Prince Rupert, 
 with an army of over nine thousand royalists, Duddell and Davis 
 were amongst the officers slain, whilst their companies were 
 literally cut to pieces. Captain George Sharpies, of Freckleton, 
 was taken prisoner, and dragged, almost naked and barefooted, 
 through the miry and blood-stained streets to the spot where 
 Cuthbert, the eldest son of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, was 
 standing after the carnage, in which he had led a party of the 
 besiegers. Captain Clifton and others near him were in a mood 
 for a somewhat rude and ungenerous entertainment, and placed the 
 hapless Sharpies, in his dilapidated attire, in a prominent position 
 and, thrusting a Psalter into his hand, compelled him to sing a 
 Psalm for their delectation. After they had amused themselves 
 in such fashion for some time the prisoner was handed over to 
 the guard, from whom he ultimately made his escape. Captain 
 Cuthbert Clifton was elevated to the rank of colonel as an 
 acknowledgment of his gallant services at Bolton, after which he 
 returned for a few days into the Fylde, where he engaged himself 
 in procuring a fresh detachment of soldiers, who readily flocked to 
 his standard. For their provision and comfort he did not hesitate 
 or scruple to appropriate a number of cattle on Layton Hawes, 
 and to relieve some of the Puritans of Kirkham, Bispham, and
 
 . TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 65 
 
 Poulton, of their bedding, etc. Having fully supplied his 
 commissariat department by these means, he marched to 
 Liverpool, and joining Prince Rupert, was present at the sacking 
 of that town. 
 
 The Civil War had proved' most disastrous to Lancashire, 
 where the constant movements and frequent collisions of the 
 contending parties had ruined the towns, destroyed almost all 
 attempts at agriculture, and reduced the inhabitants to a state of 
 wretchedness and poverty, in many instances to the verge of 
 starvation ; and notwithstanding the fact that in not one single 
 instance had the Fylde been the scene of an encounter, the people 
 of this section were in as lamentable a condition of penury and 
 suffering as those of the less fortunate districts, a circumstance 
 not to be wondered at when the incessant plunderings are taken 
 into consideration, and when it is remembered that the youth 
 and strength of the neighbourhood were serving as volunteers or 
 recruits, either under the banner of parliament or that of the king. 
 The I2.th of September, 1644, was appointed by the Puritans as a 
 day of solemn prayer and fasting throughout the country, and 
 parliament decreed that half of the money collected " in all the 
 churches within the cities of London and Westminster and within 
 the lines of communication," should be devoted to the relief of 
 the distressed and impoverished in this county. 
 
 Sir Thomas Tyldesley accompanied the army of Prince Rupert 
 to York, near to where the sanguinary and famous battle or 
 Marston Moor, in which no less than sixty thousand men were 
 engaged on both sides, was fought on the 2nd of July, 1644. 
 Oliver Cromwell commanded the parliamentarians in person, and 
 after a fierce struggle discomfited the troops of Prince Rupert 
 and drove them in confusion from the field. Sir Thomas 
 Tyldesley retreated with his shattered regiment in hot haste 
 towards Amounderness, where he made diligent search for 
 arms and ammunition, but hearing that the* enemy, under 
 Sir John Meldrum, was marching in quest of him he hurried 
 to the banks of the Ribble, and crossed the ford into the 
 Fylde. This latter incident happened towards the end of the 
 week, and on Saturday he was joined in his ambush by the 
 immense royalist force of Colonel Goring, so great indeed that 
 " before the last companies had marched over the bridge at St. 
 
 P
 
 66 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 Michael's Church the first company was judged to be at Kirkham." 1 
 There is probably some little exaggeration in the quoted state- 
 ment, but even allowing it to be verbally correct, there can be no 
 doubt that it is unintentionally misleading, as the extreme length of 
 road covered would be due more to the wide intervals between the 
 companies and the straggling manner in which they proceeded 
 than to their actual numerical strength. Nevertheless the detach- 
 ment, chiefly composed of cavalry, was enormous, and completely 
 inundated the towns and villages in the parishes of Poulton, Kirk- 
 ham, and Lytham. The men were lodged twenty, thirty, forty, 
 fifty, and even sixty in a house, and on the Sunday morning they 
 set out on an errand of pilfering without respect to persons, pillag- 
 ing those who were friendly with as much eagerness and apparent 
 satisfaction as others who were inimical to their cause, an impar- 
 tiality so little appreciated by the inhabitants that they are said to 
 have blessed the Roundheads by comparison with these insatiate 
 freebooters. Horses, money, clothes, sheets, everything that was 
 portable or could be driven, was greedily seized upon, and, in spite 
 of threats and entreaties, remorselessly borne away. Hundreds of 
 households were stripped not only of their ornaments, bedding, 
 etc., but even of the very implements on which the family depended 
 for subsistence. It is in truth no figure of speech to state that by 
 far the larger share of the people were reduced to utter and seem- 
 ingly hopeless destitution, and grateful indeed were they when 
 their portion of the parliamentary grant of collections in the 
 metropolis, before mentioned, was distributed amongst them, 
 coming like manna from the heavens to comfort their desolated 
 homes. To add insult to injury the graceless troopers compelled 
 their entertainers to employ the Sabbath in winnowing corn in 
 the fields for their chargers, and even refused to allow them to 
 erect the usual curtains to protect the grain from being carried 
 away by the high wind, so that the loss and waste amounted to 
 barely less than the quantity utilised as fodder, and completely 
 exhausted the fruits of their harvest. Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Lord 
 Molyneux, and others of the leaders, fixed their lodgment near 
 the residence of a gentleman named Richard Harrison, and 
 were supplied with necessaries from Mowbreck Hall. Freckleton 
 
 I. A discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont.
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 67 
 
 marsh was the rendezvous, and there the entire forces assembled 
 on the morning of Monday, but were compelled to remain until 
 one o'clock at noon before the Ribble was fordable, when they took 
 their departure, to the intense joy of all those who had trembled 
 for their lives and suffered ruin in their small properties during 
 their brief sojourn. Sir John Meldrum appeared in the district 
 only a few hours after the royalists had left, and thus the Fylde 
 had again a narrow escape of adding one more to the long list of 
 unnatural battles, most truly described as suicidal massacres of the 
 nation, where men ignoring the ties of friendship or kinship im- 
 brued their swords in the blood of each other with a relentless and 
 inhuman savagery, reviving as it seemed the horrid butcheries of 
 the dark ages. Sir John Meldrum hastened in the direction of 
 the retreating foe, but failed to overtake them. 
 
 "In 1645," writes Rushworth, "there remained of unreduced 
 garrisons belonging to the king in Lancashire only Lathom House 
 and Greenhalgh Castle." 1 This castle was erected about half a 
 mile eastward of Garstang, overlooking the Wyre, by Thomas, the 
 first earl of Derby, in 1490, after the victory of Bosworth Field, as 
 a protection from certain of the outlawed nobles, whose estates in 
 that vicinity had rewarded the services of the earl to Henry VII. 
 The castle was built in a rectangular form almost approaching to 
 a square, with a tower at each angle. The edifice was surrounded 
 and protected by a wide moat. The garrison occupying the small 
 fortress at the date under consideration held out until the death of 
 the governor, when a capitulation was made, and, about 1649, the 
 castle was dismantled. In 1772 Penant spoke of the "poor 
 remains of Greenhalgh Castle." 2 
 
 The fall of Lathom House and other strongholds of the king and 
 the surrender of Charles himself to the Scotch army of Puritans, 
 brought the contests for a time to a close in 1647, and Sir Thomas 
 Tyldesley, with several more, received instructions to disband the 
 troops under his command. During the foregoing struggles 
 parliament, in order to provide the necessary funds for the in- 
 creased expenditure, had allowed " delinquents, papists, spies, and 
 intelligencers" to compound for their sequestered estates, and 
 amongst those connected with this locality who had taken 
 
 I, Hist. Collect. P. 4, vol. I, p. 22. 2. Tour, p. 20.
 
 68 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 advantage of the permission were : 
 
 Brown, Edward, of Plumpton, compounded for ^127 8s. od. 
 Breres, Alexander, of Morton, gent., 82 45. $d. 
 
 Bate, John, of Warbreck, 
 Leckonby, Richard, of Elswick, esq., 
 Nicholson, Francis, of Poulton, yeoman 
 Rigby, Alexander, of Layton, esq., 
 Walker, William, of Kirkham, gent., 
 Westby, John, of Mowbreck, esq., 
 
 ^"n os. od. 
 
 ^58 6s. od. 
 
 /I33 as. 4d. 
 
 ^381 35. 4d. 
 
 17$ os. od. 
 
 ^"1,000 os. od. 
 
 Presbyterianism became the national, or at least, the state 
 religion, and for the regulation of ecclesiastical matters the 
 Assembly of Divines, at Westminster, suggested that the country 
 should be divided into provinces, whose representatives should 
 hold annual conferences at the larger towns. The county of 
 Lancaster was divided into nine Classical Presbyteries, and the 
 seventh Classis, embracing the parishes of Preston, Kirkham, 
 Garstang, and Poulton, consisted of 
 
 Mr. Isaac Ambrose, of Preston, minister. 
 
 Mr. Robert Yates, of Preston, minister. 
 
 Mr. Ed. Fleeetwood, of Kirkham, minister. 
 
 Mr. Thos. Cranage, of Goosnargh, minister. 
 
 Mr. Chr. Edmondson, of Garstang, minister. 
 
 Mr. John Sumner, of Poulton, minister. 
 
 LAYMEN. 
 
 Alexander Rigby, of Preston, Esq. Thomas Nickson, of Plumpton, gent. 
 
 William Langton, Esq. Robt. Crane, of Layton, gent. 
 
 Alderman Matt. Addison, of Preston, gent. Wm. Latewise, of Catterall, gent. 
 Alderman Wm. Sudall, of Preston, gent. Wm. Whitehead, of Garstang, gent. 
 Alderman Wm. Cottam, of Preston, gent. Edward Veale, of Layton, Esq. 
 Edward Downes, of Wesham, gent Rd. Wilkins, of Kirkham, yeoman. 
 
 Edmund Turner, of Goosnargh, yeoman. 
 
 One of the duties of these Classes was to examine, ordain, and 
 appoint ministers, or presbyters, as they were called, whenever 
 vacancies occurred in the district over which, respectively, they 
 had jurisdiction ; subjoined is the certificate given in the case of 
 Cuthbert Harrison, B.A., when selected and appointed presbyter 
 of Singleton chapel : 
 
 "Whereas Cuthbert Harrison, B.A., aged 30 years, hath addressed himself to 
 us, authorised by ordinance of parliament of 22 Aug. 1646, for ordination of 
 ministers, desiring to be ordained a presbyter, being chosen by the inhabitants 
 within the chapelry of Singleton to officiate there ; and having been examined by 
 us the ministers of the Seventh Classis, and found sufficiently qualified 
 for the ministerial functions, according to the rules preserved in the said ordinance,
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 69 
 
 and thereupon approved we have this day solemnly set him apart to the office of 
 presbyter and work of the ministry of the gospel, by laying on of hands by us 
 present, with fasting and prayer, by virtue whereof we declare him to be a lawful 
 and sufficiently authorised minister of Jesus Christ. In testimony whereof we 
 have hereunto put our hands the 27th Nov., 1651." 
 
 (Here follow the signatures.) 
 
 In 1648 General Langdale, a royalist officer, appealed to the 
 loyalty of the northern counties to attempt a rescue of the im- 
 prisoned monarch from the hands of his enemies. Many rushed 
 to his standard, and the parliamentarians of the Fylde shared the 
 general consternation which pervaded Lancashire at the success of 
 his effort to rekindle the still smouldering embers of civil war. 
 There is no necessity to trace the steps of this ill-judged enterprise 
 to its disastrous issue, but suffice it to say that the defeat and 
 routing of the little army was followed at a very short interval by 
 the execution of Charles I., after a formal trial in which he dis- 
 claimed the jurisdiction of the court. 
 
 On. the 22nd of June, 1650, a meeting of Commissioners under 
 the Great Seal of England was held at Preston " for inquiring 
 into and certeifying of the certeine numbers and true yearely 
 value of all parsonages and vicariges presentative, of all and every 
 the sp'uall and eccli'call benefices, livings, and donatives within 
 the said countye " ; and after examining the good and lawful men 
 of Kirkham and Lytham, it was recommended by the assembly 
 that Goosnargh and Whittingham should be formed into a 
 separate parish on account of their great distance from the church 
 at Kirkham. At this inquiry it was also stated that " the 
 inhabitants of Newsham desired to be annexed to Woodplumpton ; 
 the inhabitants of Clifton and Salwick, together with the 
 inhabitants of Newton-cum-Scales, and the upper end of Treales, 
 desired to be united in one parish. Singleton chappell, newly 
 erected, desired that it might be made a parish. The inhabitants 
 of Weeton-cum-Preese desired that that township might be made 
 a parish, and the inhabitants of Rawcliffe desired to be annexed to 
 it. The townships of Rigby-cum-Wraye, and of Warton, and of 
 Kellamore-cum-Bryning, and Westbye-cum-Plumpton, all humbly 
 desired to be made a parish. The several townships of Eccleston 
 Parva-cum-Labrecke, and the inhabitants of Medlar and Thistleton, 
 and the inhabitants of Rossaker-cum-Wharles, desired to be 
 annexed to Elswick, and that it might be made a parish." Al-
 
 70 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 though at that time these petitions failed in obtaining their 
 objects, much the same thing has been accomplished in more 
 recent years by Lord Blandford's Act, by which separate parochial 
 districts, as far as ecclesiastical matters are concerned, have been 
 appropriated to each church, thus rendering it independent of the 
 mother-church of the ancient parish in which it might happen to 
 be situated. 
 
 In 1651 the son of the unfortunate monarch, who had been 
 proclaimed king by the Scotch under the title of Charles II., 
 crossed the frontier and invaded England with a force of fourteen 
 thousand men. That year the earl of Derby, Sir Thomas 
 Tyldesley, and several other officers, sailed from the Isle of Man, 
 whither they had retired, in obedience to the call of the young 
 prince, and landed either on the Warren, at the mouth of the 
 river Wyre, or at Skippool higher up the stream, with a regiment 
 of two hundred and fifty infantry and sixty cavalry. Two of the 
 vessels grounded during the operation of disembarking the horses, 
 and in the heavy winds that ensued were reduced to total wrecks. 
 As soon as the news of the earl of Derby's arrival on the banks of 
 the Wyre was rumoured abroad, " all the ships," says the Perfect 
 Diurnall, "were wafted out of the rivers of Liverpool, and set 
 sail with a fair wind fore Wirewater ; where the Frigots rid that 
 brought the Lord Derby over with his company, to surprise them 
 and prevent his Lordship escaping any way by water." The earl 
 marched through the Fylde, but the martial ardour of the 
 inhabitants was not so readily excited as on former occasions, for 
 the recollection of their abusive and piratical treatment by the 
 troopers of Colonel Goring, in 1644, was still fresh in their minds, 
 and effectually checked any feelings of enthusiasm at seeing the 
 royal banners once again unfurled in their midst. A scattered 
 few, however, there were who were willing to forget the misdeeds 
 of the agents in their eagerness for the success of the cause, and 
 with such meagre additions to his strength the carl hastened on. 
 At Preston he raised six hundred horse, and shortly afterwards 
 encountered the parliamentarians, under Colonel Lilburne, at 
 Wigan-lane, where the royalists were defeated with great 
 slaughter. Sir Thomas Tyldesley was slain, and the gallant earl 
 escaped from the field only to be taken prisoner in Cheshire and 
 suffer the fate of his late regal master, Charles I. Alexander
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 71 
 
 Rigby, the grandson of the Alexander Rigby, of Layton, before 
 mentioned, and only seventeen years of age, also took part in this 
 eventful engagement, and twenty-eight years subsequently, when 
 High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster, erected a monument to 
 the memory of Major-General Sir Thomas Tyldesley near the 
 spot where he fell. So universally esteemed was the valiant 
 knight for his bravery and honourable conduct that the title of 
 " Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche " was conferred upon him 
 alike by friends and enemies. Charles II., after the overthrow of 
 his army by Cromwell, adopted the disguise of a peasant, and 
 having narrowly escaped detection by hiding himself amidst the 
 foliage of an oak tree, fled at the first opportunity over to France. 
 Cromwell was now installed in the chief seat of authority and held 
 the reins of government under the style of Lord Protector. 
 
 In 1660, two years after the death of Cromwell, Charles II. 
 was recalled and placed upon the throne; and in 1662 
 a law was passed by which it was enacted that before St. 
 Bartholomew's Day of that year, all ministers should arrange 
 their services according to the rules contained in the new book of 
 Common Prayer, under pain of dismissal from their preferments. 
 The following letter was received by the churchwardens of 
 Garstang, ordering the ejectment of the Rev. Isaac Ambrose, who 
 was a member of the family of Ambrose of Ambrose Hall, in 
 Wood Plumpton, from his benefice on account of his refusal to 
 conform to the arbitrary regulation : 
 
 " Whereas in a late act of Parliament for uniformitie, it is enacted that every 
 parson, vicar, curate, lecturer, or other ecclesiasticall person, neglecting or refusing, 
 before the Feast Day of St. Bartholomew, 1662, to declare openly before their 
 respective congregations, his assent and consent to all things contained in the 
 book of common prayer established by the said act, ipso facto, be deposed, and that 
 every person not being in holy orders by episcopall ordination, and every parson, 
 vicar, curate, lecturer, or other ecclesiasticall person, failing in his subscription to 
 a declaration mentioned in the said act to be subscribed before the Feast Day of 
 St. Bartholomew, 1602, .-h;ill be Utterly disabled, and ipso facto deprived, and his. 
 place be void, a.s if the person so failing he naturally dead. And whereas Isaac 
 Ambrose, late Vicar of Garstang, in the county of Lancaster, hath neglected to 
 declare and subscribe according to the tenor of the said act, 1 doe therefore declare 
 the church of Garstang to be now void, and doe strictly charge the said Isaac 
 Ambrose, late vicar of the said church, to forbear preaching, lecturing, or officiating 
 in the said church, or elsewhere in the diocese of Chester. And the church- 
 wardens of the said parish of Garstang are hereby required (as by duty they are 
 bound) to secure and preserve the said parish church of Garstang from any
 
 72 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 invasion or intrusion of the said Isaac Ambrose, disabled and deprived as above 
 said by the said act, and the churchwardens are also required upon sight hereof to 
 show this order to the said Isaac Ambrose, and cause the same to be published 
 next Sunday after in the Parish Church of Garstang, before the congregation, as 
 they will answer the contrary. Given under my hand this 2gth day of August, 
 1662. 
 
 "Geo. Ceslriens. 
 
 " To the Churchwardens of Garstang, in the County Palatine of Lancaster." 
 
 In this county sixty-seven ministers refused to submit to the 
 mandate, and were removed from their churches by the authority 
 of documents similar to the above, and prohibited from officiating 
 in their priestly capacity anywhere within the diocese. Amongst 
 the number, so interdicted, were the Rev. W. Bullock, of 
 Hambleton, the Rev. Joseph Harrison, of Lund chapel, and the 
 Rev. Nathaniel Baxter, M.A., of St. Michael's-on-Wyre. The 
 Nonconformists were subsequently subjected to even greater 
 harshness and injustice by an act which decreed that no 
 clergyman, belonging to any of their sects, should reside within 
 five miles of the town or place at which he had last preached, 
 unless he took an oath as under : 
 
 " I do swear that it is not lawful, upon any pretence whatsoever, to take arms 
 against the king, and that I do abhor the traitorous position of taking arms 
 against his authority ; against his person ; or against those that are commissioned 
 by him, in- pursuance of such commissions ; and that I will not at any time 
 endeavour any alteration of government either in church or state." 
 
 The sufferings experienced by those ministers who had been 
 deprived of their benefices are described as having been extreme, 
 nay, almost intolerable, and it was doubtless owing to the great 
 severity practised towards the body of Nonconformists that the 
 old creed gained such little popularity for some time after its 
 re-establishment. 
 
 Charles II., soon after the restoration of monarchy at his 
 coronation, determined to create a new order of knighthood, to 
 be called the u Royal Oak," as a reward to some of the more 
 distinguished of his faithful adherents, and amongst the number 
 selected for the honour were Col. Kirkby, of Upper Rawcliffe, 
 Richard Butler, of Out Rawcliffe, and Edward Tyldesley, of Fox 
 Hall, Blackpool. 1 The design was shortly abandoned by the advice 
 
 I. From a M.S. of Peter Le Neve., Norroy, among the collection of Mr. Joseph 
 Ames. The knights of this order were to wear a silver medal ornamented with a 
 device of the King in the Oak, suspended by a ribbon from their necks. The
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 73 
 
 of the crown ministers, who foresaw that the necessarily limited 
 distribution of the distinction would give rise to jealousy and 
 animosity amongst those who had been active in the late wars. 
 
 In 30 Charles II. a statute was passed entitled "An act for 
 lessening the importation of linen from beyond the seas, and the 
 encouragement of the woollen and paper manufactories of the 
 kingdom" ; and by it was provided, under a penalty of ^"5, half of 
 which was to be distributed to the poor of the parish, that at 
 every interment throughout the country a certificate should be 
 presented to the officiating minister stating that the winding 
 sheet of the deceased person was composed of woollen material and 
 not of linen, as heretofore. The certificate ordered to be used 
 at every burial ran thus : 
 
 " A, of the parish of B, in the county of C, maketh Oath that D, of the parish 
 of It, in the county of C, lately deceased, was not put in, wrapt or wound up or 
 Buried, in any Shirt, Shift, Sheet, or Shroud, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, 
 Silk, Hair, Gold, or Silver, or other than that which is made of Sheep's Wool 
 only. Nor in any Coffin lined or faced with any cloth, stuff, or anything whatso- 
 ever, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold, or Silver, or any other 
 material but Sheep's Wool only. 
 
 " Dated the * * day of * * in the xxxth year of the reign of our 
 Sovereign Lord, Charles the second, king of England, Scotland, France, and 
 Ireland, etc. 
 
 " Sealed and Subscribed by us, who were present and witnesses to the Swearing 
 of the above said affidavit 
 
 (Signatures of two wttnesses.) 
 
 "I, * * , esq., one of the King's Majesties Justices of the Peace for the 
 County above said, do hereby certify that the day and year above said A came be- 
 fore me and made such affidavit as is above specified according to the late Act of 
 Parliament, entitled An Act for burying in Woollen. 
 
 (Signature.)" 
 
 The foregoing statute was amended two years later, and the 
 modified enactment continued in force for some time, when it was 
 
 following is a list of persons in the county of Lancashire who were considered fit 
 and qualified to be made Knights of this Order with the value of their estates : 
 
 Thomas Holt per annum 1000 
 
 Thomas Greenhalgh 1000 
 
 Colonel Kirkby ... 1500 
 
 Robert Holt 1000 
 
 Edmund Asheton... 1000 
 
 Christopher Banister 1000 
 
 Francis Anderton... 1000 
 
 Col. James Anderton 1500 
 
 Robert Nowell 1000 
 
 Henry Norris 1200 
 
 John Girlington ... per annum ^"1000 
 Thomas Preston ... 2OOO 
 
 Thomas Farrington of Worden 1000 
 Thomas Fleetwood of Penwortham 1000 
 William Stanley ... 1000 
 
 Edward Tyldesley 1000 
 
 Thomas Stanley .. looo 
 
 Richard Boteler (Butler) 1000 
 
 John Ingleton, senior 1000 
 
 Walmsley of Dunkenhalgh 2000
 
 74 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 repealed. In the registers of old churches, such as Bispham, 
 Poulton, Kirkham, and St. Michael's-on-Wyre, where they have 
 been preserved, notices of burials according to this regulation 
 during the two years it was in operation, may be seen ; and 
 amongst the records of the Thirty-men, or governing body of 
 Kirkham, is an entry of expenses incurred when they went " to 
 justice Stanley" to obtain his authority to " demand 505. for 
 Tomlinson's wife buried in linen," contrary to the law. 
 
 Three years from the accession of James II., his repeated 
 attempts to curtail the civil and religious liberties of his subjects 
 had so far incensed them against him that William, Prince of 
 Orange, was invited over to free them from his rule. In 1688 
 James abdicated the throne, and the following year William and 
 Mary were crowned at Westminster. Annexed is a list of the 
 gentry residing in the Fylde from the reign of Henry VIII, to 
 their accession, as prepared from original records and private 
 manuscripts : 
 
 Allen of Rossall Hall. Lowde of Kirkham. 
 
 Ambrose of Ambrose Hall. Massey of Carleton. 
 
 Bradley of Bryning. Molyneux of Larbrick Hall. 
 
 Bradshaw of Preese and Scales. Parker of Bradkirk Hall. 
 
 Butler of Rawcliffe Hall. Rigby of Layton Hall. 
 
 Butler of Layton and Hackensall. Sharpies of Freckleton. 
 
 Clifton of Westby. Shuttleworth of Larbrick. 
 
 Eccleston of Great Eccleston Hall. Singleton of Singleton. 
 
 Fleetwood of Plumpton. Singleton of Staining Hall. 
 
 Fleetwood of Rossall Hall. Stanley of Great Eccleston Hall. 
 
 Hesketh of Mains Hall. Tyldesley of Fox Hall, Blackpool. 
 
 Kirkby of Upper Rawcliffe. Veale of Whinney Heys. 
 
 Kirkby of Mowbreck. Westby of Rawcliffe. 
 
 Leigh of Singleton. Westby of Mowbreck and Burn 
 Longworth of St. Michael's Hall. Halls. 
 
 James II., when force of circumstances had driven him into 
 exile, left a considerable number of supporters behind him, chiefly 
 amongst the Roman Catholics, who were not dilatory in devising 
 -clu'incs for his re-establishment. On the l6th of M;iy. 1690, 
 Robert Dodsworth deposed upon oath, before Lord Chief Justice 
 Holt, that the following' Popish gentry of the Fylde, amongst 
 others, had entered into a conspiracy to restore James, and that 
 they had received commissions as indicated for the purpose of 
 raising troops to carry out the enterprise : Colonel Thomas
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 75 
 
 Tyldesley, son of the late Sir Thomas ; Captains Ralph Tyldesley, 
 son of the late Sir Thomas ; Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, 
 nephew to the two preceeding ; Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, 
 and Henry, his eldest son ; Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck Hall, 
 and William, his third son, who was designated a lieutenant ; and 
 Lieutenant Richard Stanley, of Great Eccleston Hall. Nothing 
 is recorded as to the result of the above information, but in 1694 
 Sir Thomas Clifton, brother to Cuthbert Clifton, of Lytham, was 
 arraigned, with several more, on a charge of treason in connection 
 with a reported Jacobite plot, but was acquited, as also were those 
 with him. During the course of the trial, Thomas Patten, of 
 Preston, as witness to the loyalty of Sir Thomas Clifton to the 
 existing government, stated that " in 1689 he received orders from 
 the Lord Lieutenant to secure several Popish gentlemen, and that 
 amongst them Sir Thomas Clifton was one who was taken and 
 brought prisoner to Preston upon the i6th day of June in that 
 year ; that Sir Thomas being a very infirm man and unfit to be 
 carried so far as Manchester, which was the place where the rest 
 of the Popish gentlemen then made prisoners were secured, he 
 undertook for Sir Thomas, and prevailed to have him kept at his 
 (Patten's) own house in Preston, where he continued prisoner, and 
 was not discharged until the January following, at which time all 
 the gentlemen were set at liberty ; that during Sir Thomas 
 Clifton's confinement he expressed to him much zeal and affection 
 to the present government, saying how much the persons of his 
 religion ought to be satisfied with their usage, as putting no differ- 
 ence betwixt them and other subjects save the public exercise of 
 their religion, so long as they themselves would be quiet, and 
 protested for himself that he could never endure to think of 
 practising any change." Further Mr. Patten affirmed " that he 
 knew Sir Thomas's disposition to have always been peaceful and 
 quiet." During the time that James IT. was engaged in inciting 
 the Irish nation to espouse his cause and furnish him with an 
 army to invade England and regain his throne, Thomas Tyldesley, 
 of Fox Hall, prepared a secret chamber in that mansion for his 
 reception. The disastrous battle of the Boyne, however, in which 
 James was vanquished by William, Prince of Orange, and King 
 of England, crushed all hope of future success in the fallen 
 monarch, and at the earliest opportunity he escaped to France.
 
 76 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 In 1715, during the reign of George L, his son, the Chevalier de 
 St. George was proclaimed king in Scotland under the title of 
 James III. The earl of Mar and several other influential suppor- 
 ters of the Stuarts assembled a large force and marched south- 
 wards ; on arriving at the border five hundred of the Highlanders 
 refused to proceed further, but the remainder passed through the 
 northern counties as far as Preston. Here they were besieged by 
 the loyal troops under Generals Carpenter and Wills, who 
 stormed the town and forced the rebels to an unconditional 
 surrrender. Many of the leaders were executed, whilst others 
 were incarcerated for various terms ; the general treatment of 
 their unfortunate followers may be gleaned from the journal of 
 William Stout, of Lancaster, in which it is written : " After the 
 rebellion was suppressed about 400 of the rebels were brought to 
 Lancaster Castle, and a regiment of Dragoons was quartered in 
 the town to guard them. The king allowed them each 4d. a day 
 for maintenance, viz., 2d. in bread, id. in cheese, and id. in small 
 beer. And they laid on straw in stables most of them, and in a 
 month's time about 100 of them were conveyed to Liverpool to be 
 tried, where they were convicted and near 40 of them hanged at 
 Preston, Garstang, Lancaster, etc. ; and about 200 of them con- 
 tinued a year, and about 50 of them died, and the rest were 
 transported to America." Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, died in 
 1715, just before the outbreak of the rebellion, but his son Edward, 
 who succeeded him, joined the rebels. For this act of treason he 
 was put on his trial, but escaped conviction and punishment 
 through the favour of the jury, by whom he was acquitted 
 in spite of clear and reliable evidence that he had entered 
 Preston at the head of a company of insurgents with a 
 drawn sword in his hand. After the capitulation, when 
 the king's troops had entered the town and were marching 
 along the streets, many men from our district, who had 
 congregated on Spital's Moss, armed with fowling pieces and 
 implements of husbandry, joined their ranks, and a huge duck-gun 
 belonging to a yeoman named Jolly, from Mythorp, near Black- 
 pool, was instrumental in doing good service to the besiegers by 
 slaying one Mayfield, of the Ashes, Goosnargh. The rebel had 
 secreted himself behind a chimney on one of the houses, and was 
 engaged in picking off the loyal soldiers as they made their way
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 77 
 
 along the thoroughfare below. His murderous fire was at length 
 put an end to by a charge from the famed gun of Jolly, whose 
 keen eye had detected the assassin in his hiding place. Jolly 
 himself appears to have had an aversion to causing the death of a 
 fellow-creature in cold blood, even though a rebel, and the credit 
 of the shot is due to a soldier, whose own weapon failed in reaching 
 the object. The Rev. W. Thornber tells us in his History of 
 Blackpool, that the family of the Jollys, for many years, treasured 
 up the wonderful gun, and that the tale of its exploit was circu- 
 lated far and wide in the neighbourhood of their home. From 
 the remarks of the Rev. Patten, who accompanied the army of 
 the Chevalier, as chaplain to General Forster, we learn that those 
 who joined the insurgents in Lancashire were chiefly Papists, 
 and that the members of the High-church party held aloof, much 
 to the disappointment and chagrin of General Forster, who, in his 
 anger, declared " that for the time to come he would never again 
 believe -a drunken tory." Edward Tyldesley, Henry Butler, of 
 Rawcliffe Hall, and his son Richard Butler, were the most distin- 
 guished personages amongst the small body of men belonging to 
 this section who openly espoused the cause of the Pretender. The 
 paucity of the recruits attracted by the insurgent standard from our 
 neighbourhood is easily to be accounted for, when it is remembered 
 that for many years the county of Lancashire had enjoyed an 
 immunity from strifes and disturbances, so that the inhabitants of 
 the rural districts, such as the Fylde, had settled down to the 
 cultivation of the soil, and would care little to assist in a work 
 which as far as they were privately concerned, could only terminate 
 in the devastation of their fields, and, probably, in the ruin of 
 many of their households. Especially, in 1715, would the people 
 be disinclined to take part in or encourage insurrectionary and war- 
 like proceedings, for in that year extraordinarily bountiful 
 harvests had rewarded their labours, and general prosperity had 
 taught them the blessings of peace. 1 After the rebellion of 1715 
 many Papists registered their estates and the respective yearly 
 values thereof, according to an Act of Parliament passed in the 
 reign of George I., and amongst the number may be observed the 
 
 I. " This year (1715) provisions were plentiful and cheap, as also corn and hay" 
 -the Journal of W. Stout of Lancaster.
 
 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 names of sundry local personages as : 
 
 Sherburne, Sir Nicholas, 
 
 Butley, Mary, ) 
 
 Butler, Catherine, j 
 Butler, Elizabeth, 
 
 Butler, Christopher 
 
 Brockholes, John, 
 Clifton, Thomas, 
 Clifton, Bridget, 
 Blackburne, Thomas 
 Blackburne, Richard, 
 Hesketh, William, 
 Hesketh, George, 
 Hesketh, Margaret, 
 Singleton, Anne, 
 Stanley, Anne, 
 
 of Carleton, Hambleton, and 
 Stonyhurst, 
 
 wife and only child of Rich. Butler, 
 who died in gaol, 
 
 of Kirkland, afterwards the third 
 wife of Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe, 
 second son of H. Butler, of Raw- 
 cliffe, 
 
 of Claughton, etc., 
 of Lytham, Clifton, etc., 
 
 Annual Value. 
 
 1210 
 
 100 
 
 537 
 
 6s. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 of Wood Plumpton, 
 
 of Stockenbridge, near St. Michael's, 
 
 of Mains, 
 
 brother to W. Hesketh, 
 
 widow of Thos. Hesketh, of Mains, 
 
 of Staining and Bardsea, 
 
 widow of Richard Stanley of Great 
 
 Eccleston, 
 
 of Little Eccleston, 
 
 of Fox Hall, and Myerscough, 
 
 half-sister of Edward Tyldesley, 
 
 of Wood Plumpton, 
 
 of White Hall, St. Michael's, 
 
 of Mowbreck, 
 
 bros. of J. Westby, of Mowbreck, 
 
 of Leckonby Honse, Elswick, etc., 
 
 of Kirkham, 
 
 of Salwick, 
 
 of Thistleton, 
 
 Prince Charles Edward, the son of the former Pretender, 
 landed in the Hebrides, in 1745, with a well-officered force of two 
 thousand men, and after defeating Sir John Cope, seized the city 
 of Edinburgh and commenced his march southwards. Crossing 
 the border, he passed through Lancashire, and arrived at Preston 
 with- an army barely six thousand strong. At Preston he met 
 with an enthusiastic welcome, the church bells were rung, and 
 loud cheers greeted the proclamation of his father, the Chevalier, 
 as king of Great Britain and Ireland. His sojourn in the town 
 was brief, and on the 2yth of November the rebel troops set out 
 for Manchester, inspirited by the lively strains of " The King 
 shall have his own again." Arriving at that city, they continued 
 
 Swartbreck, John, 
 Tyldesley, Edward, 
 Tyldesley, Agatha, 
 Threlfall, Cuthbert, 
 Westby, John, 
 Westby, John, 
 Westby, Thomas, 
 Westby, Cuthbert, 
 Leckonby, William, 
 Walley, Thurstan, 
 Charnock, Anne, 
 Knott, Thomas, 
 
 10 19 
 
 6 
 
 522 19 
 
 i 
 
 1548 16 
 
 IOJ 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 
 i 6 
 
 o 
 
 21 2 
 
 o 
 
 198 3 
 
 4* 
 
 13 6 
 
 8 
 
 57 o 
 
 o 
 
 76 15 
 
 IO 
 
 118 15 
 
 o 
 
 23 15 
 
 o 
 
 720 9 
 
 2 
 
 52 10 
 
 O 
 
 31 12 
 
 6 
 
 119 II 
 
 i 
 
 230 5 
 
 If 
 
 20 o 
 
 o 
 
 2O 
 
 o 
 
 79 " 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 I 4 
 
 
 
 20 o 
 

 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 79 
 
 their march towards Derby, where, on receiving the news that the 
 Duke of Cumberland was at Lichfield on his way to intercept 
 them, Prince Charles Edward hastened to beat a retreat, and on 
 the 1 2th of December re-passed through the streets of Preston, 
 the wearied feet of his followers keeping time to the doleful but 
 appropriate air of " Hie the Charlie home again." 
 
 The battle on the moor of Culloden, in which the rebel army 
 was defeated by the Duke of Cumberland, finally decided the fate 
 of the House of Stuart, and after experiencing many hardships, 
 Prince Charles Edward escaped across the channel into France. 
 James, the son of Edward Tyldesley who took part in the 
 insurrection of 1715, served in the army of the Young Pretender. 
 During the excitement and alarm produced by these rebellions, 
 silver spoons, tankards, and other household treasures, were 
 deposited for safety in a farm house at Marton ; cattle and other 
 farm-stock were driven to Boonley, near Blackpool, whilst money 
 and articles of jewelry were buried in the soil of Hound Hill in 
 that town. The Scots who accompanied Prince Charles were so 
 renowned for their voracious appetites that the householders of 
 the Fylde prepared for their expected visit by laying in an 
 abundant supply of eatables, hoping that a good repast, like a soft 
 answer, would turn away wrath. Mr. Physic, of Poulton, was an 
 exception to the general rule, and having barricaded his house, 
 determined vigorously to resist any attack of the rebels either 
 on his larder or his purse. Hotly pursued by the Duke of 
 Cumberland in their retreat towards Scotland, the insurgents 
 were quickly hurried through the country, but some of the 
 stragglers found their way to Mains Hall, where they were 
 liberally provided with food by Mrs. Hesketh. It is probable that 
 these rebels formed part of the number of Highlanders, who were 
 afterwards captured at Garstang, and that one of them was the 
 bare-footed Scot who seized the boots of John Miller, of Layton, 
 dragging them from his feet with the cool remark " Hout mon, 
 but I mon tak' thy brogues." William Hesketh, of Mains, had 
 considered it prudent to secrete himself on the warren at Rossall 
 until the excitement had subsided, as in some way or other he 
 had been mixed up with the former outbreak, and wished to 
 avoid any suspicion of having been implicated in this one also. 
 At the sanguinary and decisive battle of Culloden, two notorious
 
 8o JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 characters from Layton and Staining were present ; one of them, 
 named Leonard Warbreck, served in the capacity of hangman at 
 the executions following the rebellion, whilst the other, James 
 Kirkham, generally known as Black Kirkham, was a gallant 
 soldier, remarkable for his giant-like size and immense strength. 
 The country people near his home were wont to declare that, 
 for a small wager, this warrior carried his horse and accoutrements 
 round the cross at Wigan to the astonishment and admiration of 
 the by-standers. One incident of these times, reflecting little 
 credit on this neighbourhood, but which, as faithful recorders, 
 we are bound to relate, was the journey of Henry Hardicar, of 
 Little Poulton, to London, a distance of two hundred and thirty- 
 three miles, all of which he travelled on foot, solely to gratify a 
 morbid taste by witnessing the legal tragedies performed on 
 Tower Hill. "I saw the lords heided" was his invariable 
 answer to all inquiries as to the wonders he had seen in the 
 metropolis. In this rising, as in the earlier one, the inhabitants 
 of the Fylde evinced their prudence and good sense by remaining 
 as nearly neutral as their allegiance to the reigning monarch 
 would permit them. Those insurgents who found their way into 
 the district were treated with kindness, but no encouragement 
 was given them to prolong their stay, either by professions of 
 sympathy or offers of assistance in their insurrectionary enterprise. 
 We have at last come to the end of the long chain of wars and 
 disturbances which from the period of the struggles between the 
 Houses of York and Lancaster, had exercised their baneful 
 influence on the territory and population of the Fylde, and are 
 now entering on an era of peace and unbroken prosperity. The 
 small water-side hamlets of Blackpool and Lytham put forth 
 their rival claims to the patronage of the inland residents, 
 
 " And had their claims allow'd." 
 
 In 1788, Mr. Hutton described the former place as consisting of 
 about fifty houses and containing four hundred visitors in the 
 height of the season. This historian also informs us, that the 
 inhabitants were remarkable for their great longevity, and relates 
 the anecdote of a woman who, forming one of a group of 
 sympathising friends around the couch of a dying man, exclaimed 
 " Poor John ! I knew him a clever young fellow four score 
 years ago." Lytham, also, attracted a considerable number of
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 81 
 
 visitors during the summer, and for many years was a more 
 popular resort than Blackpool. In Mr. Baines's account of 
 Lytham, published in 1825, we read as follows : " This is one of 
 the most popular sea-bathing places in the county of Lancashire ; 
 and if the company is less fashionable than at Blackpool, it is 
 generally more numerous, and usually very respectable." 
 
 A list of the Catholic Chapels and Chaplains, together with 
 the number of their respective congregations, in the county of 
 Lancaster, was collected in 1819, and subjoined are enumerated 
 those situated in the Hundred of Amounderness : 
 
 Place. Chapels. 
 
 Preston .. 2 
 
 Alston Lane 
 
 Fernyhalgh 
 
 The Hill 
 
 Claughton 
 
 Scorton 
 
 Garstang 
 
 NewHouse 
 
 Cottam 
 
 Lea 
 
 Willows 
 
 Westby 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Great Eccleston . . . 
 
 Priest. No. of Congregation. 
 
 Revd. Dunn \ 
 
 Morris f g 
 
 Gore I b ' 000 
 
 >, - Bird ) 
 
 Cowburne 400 
 
 Blakoe 500 
 
 Martin 450 
 
 Gradwell 800 
 
 Lawrenson 350 
 
 Storey 600 
 
 Marsh 600 
 
 Caton 300 
 
 Anderton 400 
 
 Sherburne 600 
 
 Butler 300 
 
 Dawson 500 
 
 Platt 400 
 
 Parkinson 450 
 
 Total 16 12,650 I. 
 
 In 1836 the first house of Fleetwood was erected, and in a few 
 years the desolate warren at the mouth of the Wyre was converted 
 into a rising and prosperous town. The rapidity of its early 
 growth may be inferred from the following paragraph, extracted 
 from a volume on Lancashire, published during the infancy of this 
 new offspring of the Fylde : " As a bathing place, it possesses 
 very superior attractions : hot water baths, inns, and habitations 
 of all kinds have sprung as if by magic on one of the most 
 agreeable sites it is possible to imagine, very superior to any other 
 
 I. A tract in the library of the British Museum, entitled " Catholic Chapels, 
 Chaplains," etc., and bearing the date 1819.
 
 82 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 in Lancashire, admitting, as from a central point, excursions by 
 land and water in all directions, amongst some of the most 
 beautiful scenery in the empire. A couple of hours steaming takes 
 the tourist across Morecambe Bay to the Furness capital, and into 
 the heart of a district of surpassing interest. Charming indeed 
 is Fleetwood in the height of the summer, with its cool sands, 
 northern aspect, and delightful prospects. First there is a noble 
 bay in front, an ocean of itself when the tide is in ; and when it 
 is out offering firm sands of vast extent, for riding or walking." 
 Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., of Rossall Hall, lord of the 
 manor, and founder of the town to which he gave his name, was 
 returned on four occasions as one of the parliamentary representa- 
 tives of Preston : 
 
 MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR PRESTON. 
 
 1832. Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and the Hon. Henry Thos. Stanley. 
 1835. Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and the Hon. Henry Thos. Stanley. 
 1837. Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and Robert Townley Parker. 
 1841. Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., and Sir Geo. Strickland, Bart. 
 
 The year 1 840 was an auspicious one in the history of the Fylde. 
 On the 25th of July, the Preston and Wyre Railway, running 
 through the heart of this district, was completed and declared 
 open for traffic. By its means the farmer became enabled to 
 convey his produce to the extensive market of Preston ; and 
 Kirkham, Poulton, and Garstang were no longer the only towns 
 accessible to our agriculturists for the sale of their crops. The 
 early appreciation of the utility and benefit of the line is apparent 
 from the rapid increase of its traffic, as shown by the annexed 
 tables, in which the official returns of passengers and goods for 
 the week ending Dec. I4th, 1842, and the corresponding weeks 
 of the four succeeding years are stated : 
 
 Week ending Dec. I4th, 1842. 911 Passengers. ^65 los. 5d. 
 
 Goods. 62 8 I 
 
 127 18 6 
 
 Corresponding week in 1843. 1105 Passengers. 88 I 6 
 
 Goods. 140 ii 9 
 
 228 13 3
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 83 
 
 Corresponding week in 1844. 1601 Passengers 139 4 6 
 
 Goods. 163 18 ii 
 
 303 3 5 
 
 Corresponding week in 1845. 1997 Passengers. 144 12 I 
 
 Goods. 234 13 4 
 
 379 5 5 
 
 Corresponding week in 1846. 2820 Passengers. 243 19 o 
 
 Goods. 308 1 8 5 
 
 552 17 5 
 
 At the present date, 1876, the average weekly traffic on this 
 railway and its branches to Lytham and Blackpool, amounts 
 in round numbers to ^"1,200 for passengers, and ^~8oo for goods. 
 
 The Preston and Wyre Railway was amongst the earliest formed, 
 and the impression made on the natives of this district, who had 
 been accustomed to the slow-going coaches, must have been one 
 of no little amazement, when, for the first time, they beheld the 
 " iron horse " steaming along the rails at a speed which their past 
 experience of travelling would make them regard as impossible. 
 The following lines were written by a gentleman named Henry 
 Anderton, a resident in the Fylde, on the opening of the railway : 
 
 " Some fifty years since and a coach had no power, 
 To move faster forward than six miles an hour, 
 Till Sawney McAdam made highways as good, 
 As paving-stones crushed into little bits could. 
 The coachee quite proud of his horse-flesh and trip, 
 Cried, ' Go it, ye cripples ! ' and gave them the whip, 
 And ten miles an hour, by the help of the thong, 
 They put forth their mettle and scampered along. 
 The Present has taken great strides of the Past, 
 For carriages run without horses at last ! 
 And what is more strange, yet it's truth I avow, 
 Hack-horses themselves have turned passengers now ! 
 These coaches alive go in sixes and twelves,. 
 And once set in motion they travel themselves ! 
 They'll run thirty miles while I'm cracking this joke, 
 And need no provisions but pump-milk and coke ! 
 And with their long chimneys they skim o'er the rails, 
 With two thousand hundred- weight tied to their tails !
 
 84 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 While Jarvey in stupid astonishment stands, 
 Upturning both eyes and uplifting both hands, 
 ' My nags,' he exclaims, betwixt laughing and crying, 
 1 Are good 'uns to go, but yon devils are flying.' " 
 
 The fares on the Preston and Wyre Railway at its commence- 
 ment were : 
 
 1st class. 2nd class. 3rd class. 
 
 Preston to Fleetwood or Blackpool... 43. 6d. 33. od. 2s. od. 
 
 Preston to Poulton 33. 6d. 2s. 6d. is. 6d. 
 
 Preston to Kirkham 2s. od. is. 3d. os. gd. 
 
 Preston to Lytham 33. od. 2s. 6d. is. 6d. 
 
 Until the opening of the branch lines to Lytham and Blackpool 
 respectively, in 1846, passengers completed their journies from 
 Kirkham and Poulton to those watering places by means of 
 coaches. Three trains ran from the terminus at Fleetwood to 
 Preston on each week-day, and one on Sunday, a similar number 
 returning. 
 
 In consequence of the severe distress prevailing throughout the 
 country, a proclamation was issued by Her Majesty for a General 
 Fast to be held on Wednesday, the 24th of March, 1847 ; and 
 from the public prints of that date it is evident that the occasion 
 was observed with great solemnity in our division the shops of 
 the different towns were closed during the whole of the day, the 
 streets were quiet, [the hotels deserted, whilst the churches were 
 crowded even to overflowing. This distress was caused by an 
 almost complete failure in the potatoe harvests ; and at that time 
 these necessary articles of diet were sold at 263. per load in the 
 local markets, whilst meal, also scarce, rose to 523. per load. 
 
 In September of the same year, the Fylde was honoured by a 
 passing visit from Queen Victoria and the late Prince Consort, 
 who arrived at Fleetwood in the Royal Yacht on their return 
 journey from Scotland to London. An address was presented 
 by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart, the Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, 
 Frederick Kemp, esq., James Crombleholme, esq., and Daniel 
 Elletson, esq., on behalf of the inhabitants of Fleetwood, and 
 received by Lord Palmerston, who promised that it should be 
 laid before the Queen. In the course of a few days an 
 acknowledgment was received from the metropolis. In Her 
 Majesty's book, published in 1868, and entitled "Leaves from 
 our Highland Journal," these diarian entries relating to the
 
 TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 85 
 
 above event appear : 
 
 " Monday, September" 20th, 1847. 
 
 " We anchored at seven in Fleetwood Harbour ; the entrance was extremely 
 narrow and difficult. We were lashed close to the pier, to prevent our being 
 turned by the tide ; and when I went on deck there was a great commotion, such 
 running and calling, and pulling of ropes, etc. It was a cheerless evening, 
 blowing hard." 
 
 " Tuesday, September 2lst, 1847. 
 
 " At ten o'clock we landed, and proceeded by rail to London." 
 In 1860, a project was launched for a comprehensive scheme of 
 water supply for the towns of this district ; a company was 
 established, and, in the session of 1861, an act of parliament was 
 obtained " for incorporating the Fylde Waterworks Company, and 
 for authorising them to make and maintain waterworks, and 
 to supply water at Kirkham, Lytham, Blackpool, Fleetwood, 
 Poulton, Rossall, Garstang, South-shore, and Bispham, in the 
 . county palatine of Lancaster, and to shipping at Fleetwood and 
 Lytham." The act granted power to take the water from Grize- 
 dale Brook, a tributary of the Wyre, which rises in Grizedale Fell, 
 one of the Bleasdale range, and, flowing through the gorge or 
 pass, called Nickey Nook, divides the township of Nether- 
 Wyersdale and Barnacre-with-Bonds, and falls into the Wyre a 
 mile or so before that river reaches Garstang. A dam or embank- 
 ment, upwards of 20 feet high, 70 feet wide at the base, and 12 
 feet wide at the top, was raised across the valley, converting the 
 upper portion of it into a reservoir. At the west end of the 
 reservoir, below the embankment, is a culvert, through which 
 the water passes to a guage, where a stipulated quantity is turned 
 into the brook, and the rest enters the pipe for the Fylde. 
 Twelve miles of twelve inch pipes carry the water to the service 
 reservoir at Weeton. The course is down Grizedale, under the 
 railway, through Greenhalgh Green, Bowgrave, leaving Garstang 
 to the right, then past Catterall Mill, through the grounds 
 of Catterall Hall, ' and onward to the east of St. Michael's, 
 through Elswick, to Weeton. The service reservoir, situated on 
 the most elevated ground, called Whitprick Hill, in the township 
 of Weeton, has a diameter at the base of 400 feet, and at the top 
 468 feet. The embankment is at the base 70 feet in diameter, and 
 12 feet at the top, with a puddle trench in it, varying from 8 feet 
 8 inches to 6 feet wide. To the south a 10 inch main takes the
 
 86 
 
 JAMES THE FIRST 
 
 supply of water for Kirkham and Lytham ; and from the west 
 side a main of similar size takes the water for Fleetwood and 
 Blackpool, the supply for the former place branching off near 
 Great Marton, and going by Bispham and Rossall. The Weeton 
 reservoir was formed capable of containing fifteen million gallons 
 of water. An additional pipe, running from Weeton through 
 Singleton, Skippool, and Thornton, to join the Fleetwood main 
 at Flakefleet, near Rossall, was laid in 1875 ; and a new reservoir, 
 to hold 190,000,000 gallons, is in course of formation at Barnacre, 
 above Grizedale.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 JIHERE is little to be remarked, because little is 
 known, respecting the social and moral aspects of 
 the untutored race which, in the earliest historic age, 
 sought a domicile or refuge amidst the forests of 
 the Fylde, or invaded its glades in search of prey. The habits 
 of the Setantii were simply those of other savage tribes who 
 depended for their daily sustenance upon their skill and prowess 
 in the chase, and whose intercommunion with the world beyond 
 their own limited domains, was confined to hostile or friendly 
 meetings with equally barbarous races whose frontiers adjoined 
 their own. Certain disinterred roots were necessary adjuncts 
 to their repasts, and indeed, on many occasions, when outwitted 
 by the wild tenants of the woods, formed the sole item. Their 
 Druidical faith and the supreme power of the priesthood over 
 their almost every action, both secular and religious, have already 
 been referred to in an earlier page. The remorseless sacrifice ol 
 fellow beings on their unhallowed altars, and the general spirit 
 of cruelty and inhumanity which pervaded all their rites, are not 
 to be regarded as disclosing a naturally callous and brutal 
 disposition on the part of the Setantii, but as indications of the 
 deplorable ignorance in which they existed, and the blind 
 obdedience which they yielded to the principles indoctrinated 
 by the Druids. That the Setantii, however submissive to the 
 dictates and requirements of their priests, were far from passively 
 allowing the encroachments of others on their liberties is shown 
 by the promptitude and fierceness with which they combatted 
 the progress of the Roman legions through their territory. No
 
 88 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 portion of the British conquest cost the conquerors more trouble, 
 time, and bloodshed, than did the land peopled by the hardy and 
 valorous Brigantes with their comparatively small, but equally 
 intrepid, neighbours and allies the Setantii. The two most 
 striking characteristics of the aboriginal Fylde inhabitants were 
 their ignorance and bravery, and whilst the former rivetted the 
 chains which held them in subjection to the priesthood, the latter 
 incited them to oppose to the death the usurpations of the 
 stranger. There is nothing of local interest to recount during 
 the period the Romans held the soil, but after their abdication, 
 when the Anglo-Saxons violated their faith and traitorously 
 seized a land which they had come professedly to protect, the 
 Fylde began to evince symptoms of greater animation ; villages 
 sprang up in different spots on the open grounds or clearings in 
 the woods ; the solitary Roman settlement at Kirkham was 
 appropriated and renamed by the new arrivals, and, perhaps, 
 for the first time a population of numerical importance was 
 established in the district. 
 
 During the earlier part of this era the inhabitants were graziers 
 rather than agriculturists or ploughmen. Three quarters, even, 
 of the entire kingdom were devoted to rearing and feeding cattle, 
 so that the grain produce of the country must have been 
 extremely small when compared with the superabundance of 
 live stock, and as a consequence of such a condition of things, 
 those animals which could forage for themselves and exist upon 
 the wild herbage of the waste lands or the fallen fruits of the 
 trees, as acorns and beech-mast, were to be purchased at prices 
 almost nominal, whilst others which required the cultivated 
 products of the fields, as corn and hay, for their sustenance, were 
 disproportionately dear ; thus about the end of the tenth century 
 the values of the former were : 
 
 One Ox 73. o$d. 
 
 Cow 55. 6A 
 
 ,, Pig is. io|d. 
 
 Sheep is. 2d. 
 
 Goat os. 5$d. 
 
 The latter commanded these comparatively high prices 
 
 One Horse i s. 2d. 
 
 Mare, or Colt i 35. $d. 
 
 ., Ass, or Mule o 143. id.
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. . 89 
 
 Trees were valued not by the circumference or magnitude of 
 their trunks, but by the amount of shelter their branches would 
 afford to the cattle, which seem to have lived almost entirely in 
 the open pastures ; and bearing that in mind we are not surprised 
 to read in the Saxon Chronicle of periodical plagues or murrains 
 breaking out amongst them. " In 1054," says that journal, 
 " there was *so great loss of cattle as was not remembered for 
 many winters before." This, however, is only one extract from 
 frequent entries referring to similar misfortunes in different years, 
 both before and after the date quoted. Swine were kept in 
 immense herds throughout the kingdom, and there is every 
 probability that in a locality like the Fylde, where trees 
 would still abound and provender be plentifully scattered 
 from the oaks and beeches, hogs would be extensively bred. 
 Indeed immediately after the close of the Saxon empire, Roger de 
 Poictou conveyed his newly acquired right to pawnage (swine's 
 food) in the woods of Poulton, amongst other things, to the 
 monastery of St. Mary, in Lancaster, a circumstance strongly 
 favourable to the existence of swine there in considerable 
 numbers. Kine, also, are usually reported to have been a 
 favourite stock with the breeders of Lancashire, whilst sheep 
 were rare in proportion, although in other places they were 
 exceedingly popular and- profitable, chiefly from the sale of their 
 wool. 
 
 The Saxon inhabitants of the small villages in the Fylde who 
 were engaged in agriculture had no knowledge of any manure 
 beyond marl, which they mixed with lighter and finer soils ; nor 
 were their farm-lands cultivated all at one time, but a portion 
 only of the estate was subjected to the action of the plough, and 
 when its fertility had been thoroughly exhausted, the remainder 
 was tilled and brought into service, the first plot being allowed 
 to lie fallow for a few years until its productive powers had been 
 renewed. Grain was not, as now, purchased from the growers by 
 dealers and stored up in warehouses, but each of the neighbouring 
 people, as soon as the crops had been gathered into the barns, 
 bought whatever quantity he thought would suffice for his 
 household wants until the ensuing harvest, and removed it to his 
 own residence. The universal waste and improvident consump- 
 tion of grain during this season of abundance, led frequently to
 
 90 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 famines in other parts of the year, and many instances of that 
 punishment following such prodigality are related in the chronicle 
 before named. One notice, bearing the date 1044, says : "This 
 year there was very great hunger all over England, and corn so 
 dear as no man ever remembered before ; so that a sester of wheat 
 rose to sixty pence and even further." 
 
 The ploughs of our forefathers were, as would ^naturally be 
 supposed, somewhat rude and clumsy in construction, differing 
 considerably in appearance, although not in their -modus operandi, 
 from those which may be seen furrowing the same land in the 
 present day. Each plough was furnished with an iron share, 
 in front of which, attached to the extremity of a beam projecting 
 anteriorly, was a wheel of moderate diameter, its purpose being to 
 relieve the labour of the oxen and to facilitate the guiding of the 
 instrument, especially in turning. The oxen employed were 
 ordinarily four, and yoked to the plough by means of twisted 
 willow bands. Horses were prohibited by law from being used 
 on the land, but there must have been little need, one would 
 imagine, for a legal prohibition in the matter when it is 
 remembered that horses were nearly four times as valuable as 
 oxen, and that the latter were fully efficient at the task. The 
 month of January commenced their season for preparing the 
 ground, and during the period thus occupied the labours of the 
 ploughman began each morning at sunrise, when the oxen were 
 tethered and conducted to the fields, where the duty of the 
 husbandman was lightened by the assistance of a boy, who 
 superintended the cattle, driving or leading them whilst at work. 
 In the inclement months of winter these oxen were fed and 
 tended in sheds under the special care of the ploughman, but 
 during summer they shared a common lot with the other cattle 
 and were turned out to pasture in the fields, being transferred to 
 the charge of the cowherd. Other implements of husbandry in 
 use, in addition to the plough, were scythes, sickles, axes, spades, 
 pruning-hooks, forks, and flails, besides which the farmers 
 possessed carts and waggons of rather a cumbersome pattern. 
 It is doubtful whether the harrow was known here so early, but 
 opinion usually refers its introduction to a later date. 
 
 Of the moral tone of our Saxon settlers it is difficult to judge, 
 but that there business transactions were not always governed by
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 91 
 
 a very strict sense of honour is intimated by the following 
 enactment, apparently framed to check repudiations of bargains 
 and, perhaps, to insure fair dealing : " No one shall buy either 
 what is living or what is dead to the value of four pennies without 
 four witnesses either of the borough or of the village." William 
 of Malmesbury, who wrote about a century after the Norman 
 Conquest, informs us that " excessive eating and drinking were 
 the common vices of the Saxons, in which they spent whole 
 nights and days without intermission." It may, however, with 
 much probability be conjectured that not only is the statement in 
 some degree exaggerated, but that its application was designed 
 more particularly for the inhabitants of the larger towns than 
 those of comparatively sparsely populated districts like our own. 
 Nevertheless it cannot be claimed, with any show of reason, that 
 the small section of the nation established in the Fylde was 
 entirely uninfected by the vices which enervated and degraded 
 the wealthier and more populous regions of the kingdom. The 
 evil of intemperance in both food and drink, especially the latter, 
 pervaded the whole community, but as its indulgence required 
 both means and opportunity, its loathsome features were less 
 prominently visible in localities where these were scarce than in 
 others where they abounded. The Church used every effort to 
 awaken a better feeling in the minds of her degenerate sons, 
 and liberate them from the chains of a passion which had so 
 thoroughly enslaved them. Canons were directed against the 
 " sin of drunkenness," and in order that no plea of ignorance 
 could be urged by any who had overstepped the bounds of sobriety, 
 a curious and minute description of the condition of body and 
 brain which constituted inebriation was appended to one of them, 
 as here quoted : " This is drunkenness when the state of the 
 mind is changed, the tongue stammers, the eyes are disturbed, 
 the head is giddy, the belly is swelled, and pain follows." Ale 
 and mead were the beverages on which these excesses were com- 
 mitted, and cow-horns the drinking cups. It would seem that 
 there was yet another national blemish, that of gambling, which 
 even invaded the cloister and threw its veil of fascination over 
 the clejgy themselves, for a canon of the reign of Edgar ordered 
 " That no priest be a hunter, or fowler, or player at tables, but 
 let him play upon his books, as becometh his calling."
 
 92 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 Water-mills, planted on the banks of streams and consisting of 
 square weather-boarded structures, usually open at the top, were 
 the means possessed during the Saxon era for grinding the cereal 
 products of the Fylde. The wheel which received the pressure of 
 the current, and conveyed its motive power to the simple machinery 
 within the fabric, differed little from those still in use in various 
 parts of the country, one of which until recently was connected 
 with a small mill on the brink of the brook which drains the mere 
 at Marton into the river Wyre, and less than a century ago another 
 mill, situated in the township of Marton and worked on a similar 
 principle, was turned by a stream from the same mere. A water- 
 mill is at present in use near Great Eccleston. After the grinding 
 process had been completed the bran and flour were separated by 
 hand-sieves. About seventy or eighty years after the Normans 
 had settled in the district these primitive sheds were superseded 
 by a fresh species of mill, in which sails supplied the place of the 
 wheel, and another element was called into service. The new 
 erections were of wood, and separated from the ground by a pivot 
 of slight altitude, on which they turned bodily in order to be fixed 
 in the most favourable position for their sails to reap a full 
 harvest of wind. Solitary specimens of this early piece of 
 mechanical ingenuity are still visible hereabouts, but most of the 
 old mills were pulled down about a hundred years ago, or less, and 
 rebuilt with more stable material, whilst the modern improvement 
 of a revolving top only, did away with the necessity for the 
 venerable pivot, and allowed the foundations of the edifices to be 
 more intimately associated with mother earth than formerly. 
 
 Throughout the whole of the Saxon dynasty the mass of the 
 inhabitants would be what were termed the " villani," that is, a 
 class forming a link between abject slavery and perfect independ- 
 ence. They were not bound to any master but to the soil on 
 which they happened to be born, and on no plea were they 
 permitted to leave such localities. To the lord of the manor each 
 of the " villani " gave annually a certain portion of the produce 
 of the ground he tilled, but beyond that they acknowledged no 
 claim to the proceeds of their thrift by the large territorial 
 proprietors. When a manor changed ownership the "villani" 
 were transferred with it in exactly the same condition as before, 
 so that really they seem to have occupied the position of small
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 93 
 
 tenants paying rent in kind, with the important addition 
 that they were forced to pass their lives in the district where 
 they had first seen the light of day. It should be noted that 
 any " villani " not having domiciles of their own were com- 
 pelled to enter the service of others who were more fortunately 
 situated in that respect. 
 
 During the twelfth century the house-wife's plan of preparing 
 bread for the table, in the absence of public bakehouses, common 
 in some neighbourhoods, was to knead the dough into large flat 
 cakes and lay them on the hearth in full glare of the fire, Avhere 
 they were permitted to remain until thoroughly baked. Bread 
 from pure wheat of the best quality was a luxury unattainable 
 except by those of high station or wealth, the bulk of the people 
 having to content themselves with an inferior quality, brownish 
 in colour and made from rye, joats, and barley. The amount of 
 this indispensable commodity to be sold at a specified price was 
 regulated by law, and the punishments for not supplying the 
 proper measure, or for " lack of size " as it was termed, were for 
 the first offence, loss of the bread ; for the second, imprisonment ; 
 and for the third, the pillory or tumbrel. 1 In 1185 the maximum 
 charges to be made for certain provisions were settled by an act 
 which decreed that the highest price for a hen should be ^d., a 
 sheep 5^d., a ram 8d., a hog is., an ox 55. 8d., and a cow 45. 6d. 
 
 In the ensuing century no restrictions were placed upon the 
 tenants of the Fylde as to the course of husbandry to be pursued, 
 but each on renting his farm or parcel of ground cultivated it 
 according to the dictates of his own inclination or experience, the 
 only stipulation being that the soil should suffer no deterioration 
 from any ignorant or imprudent action on the part of the holder. 
 Oats and barley mixed, and a light description of wheat, very 
 inferior to the best grain, were the favourite crops, the former 
 being known as " draget," and the latter as " siligo." Arable land 
 was let at 4d. per acre, and the annual yield of each acre sown 
 with wheat, usually amounted to 1 2 bushels, the value of the grain 
 itself averaging about 45. 6d. per quarter. Demand notices were 
 sent in two days after the rent had become due, and if not complied 
 with in two weeks the landlord distrained without further 
 
 I. A kind of Ducking Stool.
 
 94 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 ceremony ; after an interval of another fortnight, if the money 
 still remained unpaid, the tenant was summarily ejected, and the 
 owner seized both farm and stock. 
 
 The meals consumed by the peasantry comprised only two during 
 the twenty-four hours, one, called dinner, being eaten at nine in 
 the morning, and the other, supper, at five in the afternoon. It 
 is very possible, however, that during the summer those farm 
 servants whose arduous duties were entered on at daybreak, partook 
 of some slight repast at an early hour of the morning, but the only 
 meals for which regular times were appointed were the two men- 
 tioned. During harvest the diet of the labourers consisted for the 
 most part of herrings, bread, and an allowance of beer, whilst 
 messes of pottage were far from uncommon objects on the rustic 
 boards. Between the year 1314 and 1326 the prices of live stock 
 were again arranged, as under : 
 
 The best grass fed ox i6s. od. 
 
 The best cow (fat) I2s. od. 
 
 The best short-horn sheep is. 2d. 
 
 The best goose os. 3d. 
 
 The best hen os. i^d. 
 
 The best chickens, per couple os. id. 
 
 Eggs, twenty for os. id. 
 
 In 1338 no domestic or husbandry servant residing in the 
 Hundred of Amounderness was allowed to pass beyond the 
 boundaries of the Wapentake on profession of going to dwell or 
 serve elsewhere, or of setting out on a pilgrimage, without bearing 
 with him a letter patent stating the reason of his departure and the 
 date of his return. This law, which applied to all Hundreds alike, 
 was intended to prevent the threatened decay of agriculture from 
 a dearth of labourers, who heretofore had been in the habit of 
 deserting their employment and wandering away into other 
 divisions of the country, where they supported an idle and 
 frequently vicious existence by soliciting alms and by petty thefts. 
 It will scarcely surprise the reader to learn that superstition was 
 rife amongst the populace during the periods so far noticed, and 
 that nothing was too absurd to be accepted as an omen, either of 
 good or evil, by our credulous forefathers. A timid hare encountered 
 in their walks abroad announced the approach of some unforeseen 
 calamity, as also did a blind or lame man, a woman with dis- 
 hevelled hair, or even a monk ; whilst the visions of a wolf
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 95 
 
 crossing the path, St. Martin's birds flying from left to right, a 
 humpbacked man, or the sound of distant thunder, were welcomed 
 as heralds of prosperity. All amusements were of an athletic 
 kind, and consisted of archery, casting heavy stones, spear darting, 
 wrestling, running, leaping, and sword and buckler playing. On 
 festivals, and occasionally at other seasons, the barbarous and 
 cruel sports of bull and bear-baiting were indulged in, 1 but cock- 
 fighting was considered, until a later epoch, an entertainment only 
 suitable for children, and on Shrove Tuesday each boy took his 
 pet bird to the school-house, which was for that day converted 
 into a cock-pit, superintended by the master. 
 
 In 1444, the wages received by different classes of agricultural 
 servants were : 
 
 A bailiff i 33. 4d. per year, and 5s. for clothing, with board. 
 
 A chief hind } 
 
 ,, carter > i os. od. and 43. for clothing, 
 shepherd ) 
 
 A woman servant o los. od. and 43. for clothing, 
 A boy under 14 o 6s. od. and 33. for clothing, 
 A common husbandman o 153. od. and 4od. for clothing, ,, 
 At harvest time, when special labour was required, the scale of 
 remuneration was : 
 
 A mower 4d. per day, with board. 
 
 6d. without 
 
 A reaper or carter ......... 3d. 
 
 A woman labourer, or 
 
 other labourer 
 
 with 
 without 
 
 with 
 
 without 
 
 The statute which arranged the above rates of payment concluded 
 by saying that " such as deserve less shall take less, and also in places 
 where less is used to be given less shall be given from henceforth ;" 
 so that the table just completed would seem to represent the 
 maximum rather than the ordinary scale of wages. This statute 
 also enacted that farm servants who purposed leaving their em- 
 ployers, must engage themselves to other masters and give 
 reasonable warning before leaving their present ones, by which 
 idleness and mendicancy were effectually guarded against. 
 
 The common pastimes of the inhabitants during the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries, in addition to some of those already 
 
 I. A bear was baited at Weeton fair less than a century ago.
 
 96 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 enumerated which still held their sway, were club, and trap-ball, 
 bowling, prisoners' -bars, hood-man blind, (a game similar to the 
 modern blindman's-buff, but entered into by adults alone,) battle- 
 dore and shuttlecock, and during hard frosts skating, at first by 
 means of the shank bone of a sheep fastened on to the sole of the 
 boot and afterwards with iron-shod skates. Hawking and hunting 
 were confined to the familes of position who resided at the ancient 
 Halls of the Fylde and to others of similar social standing, 
 forming but a small proportion of the entire population. At 
 Christmas the largest log obtainable was lighted on the hearth 
 and denominated the yule log. If the mass burned throughout 
 the night and the whole of the next day, it was regarded as an 
 omen of good fortune by the members of the household, but if it 
 were consumed or extinguished before that time had expired, it 
 was looked upon as auguring adversely for their prosperity. The 
 first Monday after Twelfth Day was called Plough Monday, a 
 name still familar to many an old Fylde man, and was observed 
 as a general holiday by the men whose labours were associated 
 with that instrument, who on this day went about the villages 
 from house to house asking for plough-money to spend in 
 ale. Their processions, if such they could be called, consisted 
 of a plough, which was dragged along by a number of sword- 
 dancers ; a labourer, dressed to resemble an old woman ; and 
 another, who was clothed in skins, and wore the tail of some 
 animal hanging down his back. These two oddly garbed 
 individuals solicited small contributions from the people whilst 
 the remainder were engaged in dancing, and if anyone refused to 
 disburse some trifling sum when requested, they turned up the 
 ground fronting his doorway with the plough. During 
 Christmas week the country people blackened their faces, and thus 
 disguised committed all sorts of frolics and absurdities amongst 
 their neighbours. The chief rustic festival, however, was appointed 
 for the first of May, on which day the May-pole was drawn to the 
 village green by several oxen, whose horns were decorated with 
 bunches of flowers, and accompanied by a joyous band of revellers, 
 who after its erection on the accustomed site held their jubilee of 
 feasting and dancing around it. The pole itself was covered with 
 floral garlands, and streamed with flags and handkerchiefs from 
 its summit. A Lord and Lady, or Queen, of May were elected
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 97 
 
 by a general vote, and to them belonged the honour of presiding 
 over the festivities. The costumes of these pseudo-regal 
 personages were liberally adorned with scarfs and ribbons, so that 
 their appearances should be in unison with the rest of the gay 
 preparations. The morris-dance formed an important feature of 
 the festival, and the performers in that somewhat vigorous 
 exercise wore richly decorated habits on to which small bells, 
 varying in tone, had been fastened. The new year was ushered 
 in with feasting and joviality, whilst friendly interchanges of 
 presents took place amongst all classes. In the evening, a huge 
 wassail-bowl filled with spiced ale was carried to the different 
 houses of the villages, and all who quaffed its exhilerating 
 contents drank prosperity to the coming year, and rewarded the 
 cup-bearers, usually female farm-servants, with some small 
 donation ; the following carol in a more antique form, or some 
 similar one, was sung on the occasion : 
 
 " Good Dame, here at your door, 
 
 Our Wassel we begin, 
 We are all maidens poor, 
 We pray now let us in, 
 
 With our Wassel. 
 " Our Wassel we do fill, 
 
 With apples and with spice, 
 
 Then grant us your good will 
 
 To taste here once or twice 
 
 Of our Wassel. 
 ***** 
 
 " Some bounty from your hands 
 
 Our Wassel to maintain. 
 We'll buy no house nor lands 
 With that which we do gain, 
 
 With our Wassel. 
 
 On Shrove Tuesday a barbarous custom prevailed of tying 
 cocks to a stake driven into the ground, and throwing at them 
 with sticks, until death ensued from repeated blows. St. Valen- 
 tine's day received a merry welcome from the country swains 
 and maidens, who at that auspicious time made choice of, or more 
 properly speaking were mated to, their true loves for the year 
 The all important selection was made by writing the names of an 
 equal number of each sex on separate slips of paper, and then 
 dividing them into two lots, one of which represented the males 
 
 H
 
 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 and the other the females. The women drew from the male 
 heap, and the men from that of the females, so that each person 
 became possessed of two sweethearts, and the final pairing was 
 really the only element of real choice in the matter ; in this the 
 men usually claimed the girl whom each of them had drawn, and 
 thus an amicable settlement was soon arrived at. After the 
 mirthful ceremony had been completed and each happy couple 
 duly united, the men gave treats and dances to their sweethearts, 
 and wore their billets for several days pinned on to their breasts 
 or coat sleeves. Another, and much simpler, plan of choosing a 
 valentine was to look out of the door or window on the eventful 
 morning, and the first person seen was regarded as the special 
 selection of the patron Saint, provided always the individual was 
 of the opposite sex, and unfettered by the silken bonds of Hymen. 
 Whitsun-ales and Easter-ales were assemblies held within, or in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of, the church-yards, at which the 
 beverage, giving the title to these festivities, was sold by the 
 clergy or their assistants, and consumed by the country people, 
 the proceeds being devoted to ecclesiastical purposes and the 
 relief of the poor. Wakes originated in an ancient custom of 
 gathering together on the evening before the birthday of a Saint 
 or the day appointed for the dedication of a church, and passing 
 the night in devotion and prayer. These watches, however, were 
 soon altered in character, and instead of religious exercises 
 employing the period of vigil, feasting and debauchery became the 
 recognized occupations. 
 
 The festival of Rush-bearing is of such antiquity that its origin 
 has become in a great measure obscured, but there is a strong 
 probability that the practice arose from a recommendation given 
 by Pope Gregory IV. to Mellitus, who was associated with St. 
 Augustine in christianising the inhabitants of England, to cele- 
 brate the anniversaries of the dedications of those places of wor- 
 ship, which they had rescued from Pagan influences, "by building 
 themselves huts of the boughs of trees about such churches, and 
 celebrating the solemnities with religious feastings." The rush- 
 cart, decorated with flowers and ribbons, was paraded through 
 the village streets, accompanied by morris-dancers and others 
 bearing flags or banners. One of the mummers, dressed in a 
 motley suit, somewhat resembling that of a circus jester, jingled a
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 99 
 
 horse-collar hung with bells, and kept up a constant succession of 
 small jokes at the expense of the bystanders as the procession 
 advanced. In early days before churches were flagged it was the 
 annual custom to strew their floors with rushes on the day of the 
 dedication of the sacred edifice, and in the parish register of 
 Kirkham we find, as follows : " 1604. Rushes to strew the 
 church cost this year 93. 6d." From the register at Poulton 
 church we have also extracted an entry, at random, from similar 
 ones occurring each year: "Aug. 6th, 1784. To Edward 
 Whiteside for rushes, 6s. 8d." The practice appears to have 
 arisen simply from a desire to promote warmth and comfort 
 within the churches by providing a covering for the bare earth, 
 and its connection with rush-bearing, when it existed, must be 
 regarded as having been purely accidental. Brand has discovered 
 another motive for rush-strewing, more especially in private 
 houses, and one not very flattering to our forefathers : " As our 
 ancestors," writes he, " rarely washed their floors, disguises of un- 
 cleanliness became very necessary." Erasmus, also, a Greek 
 Professor at Oxford in the time of Henry VIII., in describing the 
 hovels in which the agricultural labourers and others of the lower 
 classes lived, says : " The floors are commonly of clay strewed 
 with rushes ; under which lies unmolested an ancient collection 
 of beer, grease, fragments, bones, spittle, and everything that is 
 nasty." 
 
 From 1589 to 1590 inclusive, the daily wages, without board, 
 of a ditcher were 4d., a thresher 6d., a hedger 4d., a gardener iod., 
 and a master-mason I4d. In 1533 it was enacted that no tenant 
 should hold more than two farms at once ; and fifty-five years 
 later sundry penalties were imposed upon any one erecting 
 cottages for the agricultural population without attaching four 
 acres of land to each, also for allowing more than one family to 
 occupy a cottage at the same time. 1 A law was passed in 1597, 
 directing that all houses of husbandry which had fallen into decay 
 within a period of seven years should be rebuilt, and from twenty 
 to forty acres of ground apportioned to each. 2 The average yields 
 of grain per acre on well-cultivated soils during the latter half of 
 the sixteenth century were wheat 20 bushels, barley 32 bushels, 
 
 I. 25 Henry VIII. c. 13, and 31 Elizabeth, c. 7. 2. 39 Elizabeth, c. I.
 
 ioo CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 and oats 40 bu'shels. The subjoined tables contain the average 
 prices of some of the common articles of consumption : 
 
 In 1500. In 1541. In 1590. In 1597. 
 
 12 Pigeons ... 4d. ... os. lod is. od 45. 3d. . 
 
 ioo Eggs ... 7d. ... is. 6d 3s. 6d. 
 
 i Goose 4d. ... os. 8d 
 
 i Chicken ... id os. 8d. 
 
 i Lb. of Butter ... os. 3d os. 4d 
 
 In 1581, the charge for shoeing a horse was iod., and some- 
 times I2d. Here it may be noticed, although perhaps rather 
 digressive, that the herb tobacco was introduced into this country 
 sometime during the summer of 1586, by a party of Englishmen, 
 who for a short time colonised the island of Roanoak, near the 
 coast of Virginia, but, having quarrelled with the aborigines, were 
 removed home in the ships of Sir Francis Drake. Camden, 
 writing of these men, says : " They were the first that I know of 
 that brought into England that Indian plant which they called 
 tabacca and nicotia, or tobacco, which they used against crudities, 
 being taught it by the Indians. Certainly, from that time 
 forward, it began to grow into great request, and to be sold at 
 a high rate ; whilst in a short time many men, everywhere, 
 some for wantonness, some for health sake, with insatiable desires 
 and greediness, sucked in the stinking smoke thereof through an 
 earthen pipe, which presently they blew out again at their 
 nostrils ; insomuch that tobacco-shops are now as ordinary in 
 most towns as tap-houses and taverns." 
 
 The following rhymes, descriptive of the games and recreations 
 common in Lancashire amongst the youth of both sexes, were 
 written in 1600, by Samuel Rowland : 
 
 " Any they dare challenge for to throw the sledge, 
 To jump or leap over ditch or hedge ; 
 To wrestle, play at stool-ball, or to run, 
 To pitch the bar or to shoot off a gun ; 
 To play at loggats, nine-holes, or ten-pins, 
 To try it out at foot-ball by the shins ; 
 At tick-tacke, seize-noddy, maw, and ruff ; 
 At hot-cockles, leap-frog, or blindman's buff ; 
 To drink the halper-pots, or deal at the whole can ; 
 To play at chess, or pue, and inkhorn ; 
 To dance the morris, play at barley-brake ; 
 At all exploits a man can think or speak : 
 At shove-groat, venter-point, or cross and pile ;
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 101 
 
 At ' beshrew him that's last at any style ' ; 
 At leaping over a Christmas bonfire, 
 Or at ' drawing the dame out of the mire ' ; 
 At shoot-cock, Gregory, stool-ball, and what-not ; 
 Pick-point, top and scourge, to make him hot." 
 
 Many of these games have long since become obsolete. Tick- 
 tacke resembled backgammon, but was rather more complicated ; 
 seize-noddy, maw, and ruff were games of cards, the first being 
 somewhat similar to cribbage, while the two latter have no 
 modern representatives, although the expression to ruff is 
 frequently used at the whist-table ; 'cross and pile' is merely an 
 earlier name of 'pitch and toss' ; and shoot-cock has been 
 modernised into shuttlecock. 
 
 During the seventeenth century occasional village fairs were 
 held in the Fylde, at which such uncouth games as " grinning 
 through a horse-collar," as well as trials in whistling, etc., were 
 common amusements, while pedlars' stalls, puppet shows, raffling 
 tables,- and drinking booths were well attended by the holiday- 
 makers. At that period any damsel, wishing to learn something, 
 be it ever so little, of her future mate, was directed to run until 
 out of breath on hearing the first notes of the cuckoo, and on 
 removing her shoe she would find a hair of the same colour as 
 that of the husband whom fate had selected for her. On May-day 
 a snail placed upon the ashes of the hearth would trace the initial 
 letter, or letters, of the lover's name ; or the rind, peeled from an 
 apple and thrown backwards over the head, would by its arrange- 
 ment on falling to the ground effect a similar purpose : 
 " Last May-day fair I search'd to find a snail 
 That might my secret lover's name reveal : 
 Upon a gooseberry bush a snail I found, 
 For always snails near sweetest fruit abound. 
 I seiz'd the vermin ; home I quickly sped, 
 And on the hearth the milk white embers spread, 
 Slow crawled the snail, and if I right can spell 
 In the soft ashes marked a curious L." 1 
 
 This couplet was recited by young maidens after capturing an 
 insect called a Lady-bird, and on releasing it : 
 " Fly, Lady-bird, fly south, east, or west ; 
 Fly where the man is that I love best." 
 The following extracts from an "inventarye of all the goods and 
 
 I. Gay.
 
 102 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 chattels of Peter Birket, late of Borrands," taken after his decease 
 in 1 66 1, will furnish a pretty accurate idea of the monetary worth 
 of certain articles of farming stock at that time : "One outshoote 
 of hay, \ 6s. 8d.; one stack of hay without dores, ics. ; one 
 scaffold of hay, IDS. ; one mare and one colt, ^"3 ; five geese, 43. ; 
 13 sheepe, $ ; one cock and five hens, 2s. ; one calfe, IDS. ; two 
 heiffers, $ ; one heiffer, 2 ; one cow, 2 IDS. ; another cow, 
 $ IQS." Whether this gentleman was a fair representative of 
 his class or not we are unable to say, but if so, the small farmers 
 of Lancashire, to whom he appears to have belonged, were not 
 over indulgent in articles of dress or comfort, for the whole of 
 his wearing apparel was valued at no more than \, whilst 
 his bedding realised only 55. 
 
 In 1725 the Lancashire justices arranged and ordered that the 
 rate of wages in all parts of this county should be : 
 
 A bailiff in husbandry, or chief hind 6 os. od. per year, with board. 
 
 A chief servant in husbandry, able to mow or 
 
 sow 500 
 
 A common servant in husbandry of 24 years of 
 
 age and upwards 40 o 
 
 A man servant from 20 to 24 years of age ... 3 10 o 
 A man servant from 16 to 20 years of age ... 2 10 o 
 
 The best woman servant, able to cook 2 10 o 
 
 Dairy man, or lower servant 200 
 
 Woman servant under 1 6 years of age I 10 o 
 
 The best of millers 500 
 
 They also appointed the hours of labour for those hired by the 
 day to be, between the middle of March and the middle of 
 September, from five in the morning until half-past seven in the 
 evening, and during the remainder of the year from sunrise to 
 sunset, resting half-an-hour at breakfast, an hour at dinner, and 
 half-an-hour at "drinking," as the meal corresponding to our 
 " tea" was termed. " In the summer half," added the magisterial 
 mandate, " the labourers may sleep each day half-an-hour ; else 
 for every hour's absence to defaulk a penny ; and every Saturday 
 afternoon or eve of a holiday, that they cease to work, is to be 
 accounted but half a day." The day wages, as fixed by the same 
 authorities, were : 
 
 The best kind of husbandry labourer 1 2d. without, and 6d. with board. 
 
 An ordinary labourer lod. and $d. 
 
 A male haymaker lod. and 6d.
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 103 
 
 A woman haymaker 7d. without and 3d. with board. 
 
 A mower I5d. and gd. 
 
 A man shearer I2d. and 6d. 
 
 A woman shearer , rod. and 6d. 
 
 Hedgers, Ditchers, Threshers, and persons 
 
 employed in task work lod. ,, and 6d. 
 
 Masons, Joiners, Plumbers, Tilers, Slaters, 
 
 Coopers, and Turners I2d. ,, and 6d. 
 
 Master workman, acting as foreman I4d. without board. 
 
 From 1660 to 1690, the average price of mutton was 2d. per 
 pound ; from 1706 to 1730, 2^d. ; and from 1730 to 1760, 3d. per 
 pound. The prices of beef, veal, and lamb in 1710, were respec- 
 tively ly^d., 2fd., and 2 T %d., per pound. 
 
 During the eighteenth and earlier part of the nineteenth 
 centuries there was perhaps no pastime more popular amongst 
 the adult members of all classes than the callous sport of cock- 
 fighting ; every village and hamlet in the Fylde had its pit, where 
 mains were held at all times and seasons. The following were 
 the rules pretty generally adopted in this neighbourhood for the 
 regulation of the contests : 
 
 "l. To begin the main by fighting the lighter pair of cocks which fall in 
 match first, proceeding upwards towards the end, that every lighter pair 
 may fight earlier than those that are heavier. 
 "2. In matching, with relation to the battles, after the cocks of the main 
 
 are weighed, the match bills are to be compared. 
 
 "3. That every pair of equal weight are separated, and fight against others ; 
 provided it appears that the main can be enlarged by adding thereto." 
 
 Skippool was one of the favourite resorts for the gentry of our 
 
 district when wishful to indulge in their favourite amusement, 
 
 and frequent allusions to the cockpit there are to be found in the 
 
 journal of Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, as "June 9, 1714, 
 
 * thence to Skipall, where at a cockin I meet with a deal 
 
 of gentlemen. Gave Ned M y is. for his expenses ; spent is., 
 
 and won 2s. 6d. of Dr. Hesketh's cockes." In 1790 a notice 
 appeared in Liverpool that " The great main of cocks between 
 John Clifton, Esq., of Lytham, and Thomas Townley Parker, 
 Esq., of Cuerden, would be fought on Easter Monday, the 5th of 
 April, and the three following days, at the new cockpit in Cockspur 
 Street to show forty-one cocks each. Ten guineas each battle, 
 and two hundred guineas the main." The great-grandfather of 
 the present Lord Derby compelled each of his tenants to maintain 
 a game-cock for his benefit, and many were the birds supplied
 
 104 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 from the Fylde to uphold his great reputation as a successful 
 cock-fighter. 
 
 One of the most ancient punishments amongst our forefathers 
 was that of the Brank or Scolds' Bridle, a specimen of which was 
 possessed by Kirkham, and doubtless many others existed in the 
 Fylde. This instrument was but little removed in severity from 
 those implements of torture in vogue at the time of the Inquisi- 
 tion, but differed from them in one important particular it was 
 intended to control or silence, and not to stimulate, the tongue of 
 its victim. The Brank consisted of an iron framework, which 
 was fitted on to the head of the offender, usually some woman 
 whose intemperate language had incensed her husband ; and a 
 metal spike, attached to the front of it, was so inserted into the 
 mouth that the slightest movement of the tongue brought that 
 sensitive organ in contact with its sharp edge or point. Doctor 
 Plott, who appears to have held the Brank in high estimation, 
 and to have considered it greatly superior to another mode of 
 correction, much in fashion during his day, says : "This artifice 
 is much to be preferred to the ducking-stool, which not only 
 endangers the health of the party, but gives liberty of tongue 
 betwixt every dip." 
 
 The Ducking-stool or Cuck-stool consisted of a substantial chair, 
 fastened to the extremity of a long pole, and suspended over a 
 pool of water. The middle of the pole rested on an upright post 
 near the edge of the pond, and was attached to it by means of a 
 pivot-hinge, so that the chair could be swung round to the side to 
 receive its victim, and, after being freighted and restored to its 
 original position, plunged into the water by raising the other end 
 of the shaft as often as those on the bank deemed it necessary to 
 cool the anger of the unfortunate scold. Several pools in 
 different parts of the Fylde still retain their names of Cucking- 
 ponds, and the last person condemned to suffer the barbarous 
 punishment was a young woman at Poulton, but she was happily 
 rescued by the kindly intervention of Madam Hornby, who 
 became surety for her good conduct in future. 
 
 In the belfry of Bispham church there formerly stood a plain- 
 looking wooden frame, which in earlier times had done duty as a 
 pennance-stool, but some years since the chair was removed, and 
 probably destroyed, as no trace of its existence has since been
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 105. 
 
 discovered. The last to perform pennance in this church and sit 
 upon the stool was a woman, who seems to have been living as 
 recently as 1836. A public pennance was exacted by the Church 
 from all frail maidens, who desired to obtain pardon for the sins 
 into which they had fallen. The ceremony consisted of parading 
 the aisles of the parish church with a candle in each hand, bare- 
 footed, and clothed in white. Jane Breckal, of Poulton, was the 
 last to undergo the ceremony at that place, some time during the 
 ministry of the Rev. Thos. Turner, 1770 to 1810. The sobs and 
 cries of the unfortunate girl aroused the indignation of the 
 inhabitants against the pennance, and the cruel and degrading 
 exhibition was never repeated. 
 
 Riding Stang was another plan of punishment formerly inflicted 
 on quarrelsome or adulterous persons, and a woman named Idle, 
 of Great Layton, is mentioned as being the last of its victims in 
 that locality, and very likely in the whole of the Fylde. There 
 seem to have been two ways adopted of Riding Stang, one of 
 which was to mount the offending party or parties on a ladder, 
 supported at each end on the shoulders of one or sometimes two 
 men, and carry them about the neighbourhood for several hours, 
 accompanied by a band of men and boys beating tin kettles, 
 frying-pans, etc. ; the other mode, and perhaps the more antique 
 one, was to place a youth astride a ladder, borne as in the previous 
 case, and arm him with a hand-bell, so that he was fully equipped 
 to undertake the duties of town crier. A procession was then 
 formed, and, amidst the discordant sounds of the instruments just 
 alluded to, paraded through the streets of the village, whilst the 
 crier, who usually did his part with great gusto, shouted out the 
 following doggrel rhymes, varying some portions of them when 
 occasion required : 
 
 " Ran a dan, ran a dan, dan, dan, 
 
 But for * * * has been banging his good dame. 
 
 He banged her, he banged her, he banged her, indeed, 
 
 He banged her, poor woman, before she stood need ; 
 
 For neither wasting his substance nor spending his brass, 
 
 But she was a woman, and he was an ass. 
 
 Now, all good people that live in this row, 
 
 I would have you take warning, for this is our law, 
 
 And if you do your good wives bang, 
 
 For you three nights we will ride this stang. 
 Hurrah ! hurrah ! "
 
 106 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 When the offender happened to be some woman, who had 
 inflicted chastisement on the person of her spouse, the rhyme 
 was altered to suit her sex, and asserted that " he was a coward, 
 and she was an ass." The remains of stocks in various states of 
 preservation, are still to be seen in many old villages, and 
 their use is of too recent a date to require any elucidation in this 
 volume. 
 
 On the fifth Sunday in Lent, Carling Sunday, the villagers 
 prepared a feast, consisting chiefly of peas, first steeped in water, 
 and afterwards fried in butter, which were eaten on the 
 afternoon of that day. Small troops or companies, of pace- 
 egg mummers went from house to house in Passion week 
 enacting a short dramatic piece, and afterwards soliciting 
 money, or, in some cases, eggs, from their audience. The 
 dramatis personce usually represented St. George, the cham- 
 pion of England ; a Turk, dressed in national costume ; the 
 Doctor, of the quack fraternity ; the Fool ; and one or two others. 
 In the play, the Turk was wounded by St. George, and being left 
 for dead upon the field, guarded by the Fool, was restored to 
 health and strength by the Doctor, who opportunely arrived, and 
 concluded his self-laudatory harangue over the body of the 
 apparently defunct Turk, thus : 
 
 " Here, Jack, take a little out of my bottle, 
 And let it run down thy throttle ; 
 If thou be not quite slain, 
 Rise, Jack, and fight again." 
 
 Easter mumming is now rapidly becoming obsolete, and at 
 present amounts to nothing more entertaining than the recital of 
 a few weak, almost meaningless, rhymes, by, usually, five young 
 boys, decorated with ribbons and coloured paper, and supposed to 
 represent Lord Nelson, a Jack-Tar, a Lovely Youth, Old Toss-pot, 
 and Old Bessy Branbags. 
 
 " Lifting at Easter " was an old-established practice, existing in 
 the villages, of hoisting individuals in the air, either in a chair 
 or by any other means that might be convenient, until they 
 purchased their release by payment of a forfeit, generally some 
 small coin. On Ascension-day the parochial schoolmaster 
 conducted his pupils, armed with peeled willow wands, round 
 the limits of the parish, and each pupil struck the various
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 107 
 
 boundary marks with his stick as he passed them. All-Hallows' 
 E'en was the time when the young people tested the durability of 
 love or friendship by burning nuts : 
 
 " Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame, 
 And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name : 
 This with the loudest bounce, me sore amazed, 
 That in a flame of brightest colour blazed ; 
 As blazed the nut, so may thy passion grow, 
 For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow ! "1 
 
 Other pastimes contributed to the evening's amusement, such 
 as "ducking for apples," and "snatch apple" a tub, in the 
 former case, having been nearly filled with water, and the fruit 
 placed in it, each in turn, with hands bound behind them, 
 endeavoured to seize the prize with the teeth ; in the latter game, 
 an apple was fastened to one extremity of a rod and a lighted 
 candle to the other, the whole being suspended by a string from 
 the ceiling, and the players, bound as before, snapped at the 
 apple, and avoided the flame as well as they were able. 
 
 Until within the last fifty or sixty years, the mosses of Marton 
 and the hills in the vicinity of the Fylde were illuminated with 
 bonfires on All-Hallows' Eve, or Teanlay-night, as it was called, 
 kindled by the country people with the avowed object of suc- 
 couring their friends who were lingering in the imaginary regions 
 of a middle state. A field near Poulton received the name of 
 " Purgatory " from the mummery of the " Teanlays " having, on 
 one occasion at least, been celebrated there. 2 This ceremony was 
 simple in its performance, and consisted merely of a circle of men 
 raising masses of blazing straw on high with pitch-forks. On All 
 Souls' Day our Catholic forefathers were accustomed to bake cakes 
 of oatmeal and aromatic seeds, named Soul-cakes, and these, 
 together with pasties and furmety, formed a feast invariably eaten 
 at that season. Remnants of this custom existed even in late 
 years amongst the youths of Marton and some other townships and 
 villages, who on the day of ancient festival solicited money, under 
 the name of Soul-pence, from their neighbours. 
 
 We will now enumerate some of the superstitions and beliefs 
 that have prevailed in the Fylde more recently than those to 
 
 I. Gay. The Spell. 
 2. Hist, of Blackpool and Neighbourhood, by W. Thornber, B.A.
 
 io8 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 which allusion has been made in the earlier part of the chapter. 
 The following adage, showing the signification of certain marks 
 on the nails, will probably be familiar to many of our readers, and 
 it is questionable whether, even yet, it is not regarded by a few of 
 the less enlightened of the peasantry as something more than a 
 mere saying : 
 
 " Specks on the fingers, 
 Fortune often lingers ; 
 Specks on the thumbs, 
 Fortune surely comes." 
 
 No sick person could die if the bed or pillow upon which he lay 
 contained a pigeon's feather ; and, at an earlier date, the dwellers 
 near the coast firmly believed that life could only depart with the 
 ebbing tide. A horse-shoe nailed against the stable or barn-door, 
 or a broom-stick placed across the threshold of the dwelling, 
 prevented the entrance of witches or evil persons ; also a hot 
 heater placed in the churn, and the mark of a cross, protected 
 respectively the cream and baking of dough from their presence. 
 The advent of guests was made known to the family circle by 
 certain conditions of the fire-grate ; thus, a flake of soot hanging 
 from the topmost bar foretold a boy visitor, from the second a 
 man, from the third a woman, and from the fourth a girl. Cats 
 were popularly supposed to have the power of drawing the breath, 
 and as a natural consequence the life, out of children when asleep, 
 and for this reason great care was taken to exclude them from 
 bedchambers. Should a dark complexioned person be the first to 
 enter a dwelling on New Year's morning, the household looked 
 forward with confidence to a prosperous year ; but if the person 
 happened to be light, more especially if he had red hair, the omen 
 was regarded as unpropitious. Moon-beams shining through the 
 windows of bedrooms were considered injurious to the sleepers, 
 and even capable of distorting their features, or rendering them 
 imbecile. Children were taught to recite these simple lines 
 whenever the moon shone into their chambers : 
 " I see the moon, 
 
 The moon sees me ; 
 
 God bless the priest 
 
 That christened me." 
 
 A tooth, after extraction, was sprinkled with salt and thrown 
 into the fire in order to insure peace and comfort to the person
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 109 
 
 from whose mouth it had been removed. A pair of shoes placed 
 under the bed so that the tips of the toes alone were visible, 
 formed a certain remedy for cramp. Warts were removed by 
 rubbing them with a piece of stolen beef, which was afterwards 
 carefully and secretly buried to render the charm complete ; a 
 snail hung on to a thorn was equally efficacious in removing these 
 excrescences, which gradually faded away as the snail itself melted 
 and vanished. A bag, containing small stones of the same number 
 as the warts, thrown over the left shoulder, transmitted them to 
 the person who had the - misfortune to pick up the pebbles. 
 People labouring under attacks of ague, jaundice, or other 
 ailments, applied for relief to the wise-men of the neighbourhood, 
 who professed to cure them by incantations. The two following 
 receipts are taken from an old medical work, published as early as 
 1612, and in its time a highly popular authority on matters of 
 " Phisicke and Chirurgerie " amongst our rural populations : 
 " A good -Medicine to staunch the bleeding of the Nose, although it bleed never 
 
 so freely. 
 
 " Take an egg and breake it on the top, in such sorte that all the white and 
 yolke may issue cleane forthe of it ; then fill the egg-shell with some of the bloud 
 of the party which bleedeth, and put it in the fire, and there let it remaine until it 
 be harde, and then burne it to ashes, and it will staunch the bleeding immediately 
 without all doubt." 
 
 " A very good Medicine to staunch bloud when nothing else will do it, by 
 reason the veine is cut, or that the wound is greate. 
 
 " Take a Toade and dry him very well in the sunne, and then put him in a 
 linen Bagge, and hang him about the necke of him that bleedeth with a stringe, 
 and let it hange so low that it may touch his breaste on the left side neere unto 
 his hart, and commonly this will stay all manner of bleeding at the mouth, nose, 
 wound, or otherwise whatever. Probatum est." 
 
 A woman named Bamber, living at Marton, attained to con- 
 considerable celebrity amongst the peasantry and others by her 
 skill in checking bleeding, which she is reported to have accom- 
 plished by the utterance of some mystic words. 
 
 The people of the Fylde were not exempt from the common 
 belief in the miraculous power of the Royal touch in that 
 particular form of disease known as king's evil, for amongst the 
 records of the Thirty-men of Kirkham is a notice that in 1632 a 
 sum of money was " given to Ricd. Barnes's child, that had the 
 king's evil, to help him up to London," to be touched by 
 Charles I, ,,
 
 i io CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 The fairies of the Fylde were supposed, like those of other 
 localities, to reside in the earth ; the vicinity of a cold spring, 
 situated between Hardhorn and Newton, was one of their 
 legendary resorts, and from such reputation acquired the name of 
 "Fairies' well." Many stories are told of the mischievous, or 
 good-natured doings of these imaginary beings ; one or two of 
 which we will here narrate : A poor woman when filling her 
 pitcher at the above well, in order to bathe the weak eyes of her 
 infant, was gently addressed by a handsome man, who gave her a 
 small box of ointment, and told her at the same time that it would 
 prove an infallible remedy for the ailment of her child. The 
 woman, although grateful for the present, either overcome by that 
 irresistible curiosity which is commonly, but perhaps erroneously, 
 supposed to attach itself to her sex, or doubtful of the efficacy 
 which the stranger had assigned to the drug, applied it to one of 
 her own eyes. A few days afterwards she had occasion to go to 
 Preston, and whilst there detected her benefactor in the act of 
 stealing corn from the open mouths of some sacks exposed for 
 sale, and, having accosted him, began to remonstrate with him 
 on the wickedness of his proceedings, when he inquired with 
 evident surprise, how she became enabled to observe him, as he 
 was invisible to all else. She explained the use that had been 
 made of his ointment, and pointed to the powerful eye ; but 
 hardly had the words been uttered and the organ of supernatural 
 vision indicated, before he raised his clenched hand, and with one 
 blow struck out the offending optic, or rather reduced it to a state 
 of total and irrecoverable blindness. Another anecdote refers to 
 a milkmaid, who, whilst engaged in her avocation, perceived a jug 
 and sixpence placed near to her by some invisible means ; but no 
 way disconcerted by the singular event, and probably attributing 
 it to the agency of one of the elvan tribes, she filled the pitcher 
 with milk, and, having watched its mysterious disappearance and, 
 with unerring commercial instinct, pocketed the silver coin, took 
 her departure. This episode was repeated for many successive 
 mornings, until the maiden, overjoyed at her good fortune, 
 revealed the curious adventures to her lover, and from that hour 
 the hobgoblins appear either to have grown less thirsty, or, 
 annoyed at what they might consider the betrayal of their secret, 
 to have removed their custom to some other dairy, for neither
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE, in 
 
 jug nor sixpence ever gladened the morning labours of the milk- 
 maid again. A ploughman had his good nature, in cheerfully 
 repairing the broken " spittle " of a lady liberally rewarded. 
 The fairy, for such she proved to be, made known her presence 
 to the agriculturist by suddenly crying in a distressed tone " I 
 have broken my speet," and then held out in her hands the 
 useless instrument with a hammer and nails. No sooner had 
 she received her property, restored to a state of utility, than she 
 vanished into the earth, but not, however, without leaving a 
 substantial acknowledgment of his skill and kindness in the 
 palm of the astonished husbandman. 
 
 We can only discover a record of one witch in the Fylde ; this 
 person of unenviable notoriety is stated to have had her abode in 
 Singleton, and to have been known to the villagers as Mag 
 Shelton. Her food, according to local tradition, was composed of 
 boiled groats mixed with thyme or parsley, and numerous are the 
 anecdotes related of her evil machinations and doings in the 
 neighbourhood the cows of the country people were constantly 
 milked by her, whilst the pitcher walked before her in the form 
 of a goose ; lives were blighted and prosperity checked by the 
 influence of her evil eye. Once, however, she was foiled by a girl, 
 who fastened her to a chair by sticking a bodkin, crossed with 
 two weavers' healds, about her dress when seated before a large 
 fire. 
 
 Some idea of the spiritual condition of the peasantry may be 
 obtained from the perusal of the following prayer, a common one 
 amongst the children of the Fylde about one hundred years ago : 
 " Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
 
 Bless the bed that I lie on ; 
 
 There are four corners to my bed, 
 
 And four angels overspread, 
 
 Two at the feet and two at the head. 
 
 If any ill thing me betide, 
 
 Beneath your wings my body hide. 
 
 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
 
 Bless the bed that I lie on." 
 
 Bacon was considered to prove the finest and best if the hogs were 
 slaughtered before the moon began to wane, and in some month 
 whose name contained the letter R : 
 
 " Unless your bacon you would mar 
 Kill not your pig without the R."
 
 ii2 CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND 
 
 The dumb-cake was made by unmarried women who wished to 
 divine the selection of fate as to their future husbands. The cake 
 was baked in strict silence by two maidens on Midsummer's eve, 
 and afterwards broken into three pieces by another, who placed 
 one under each of their pillows ; during sleep the expectant fair 
 ones were rewarded with a vision of their lovers, but the charm 
 was ruined if only a single word were spoken. Hemp-seed, also, 
 was sown by young maidens, who whilst scattering it recited the 
 words " Hemp-seed I sow, hemp-seed I hoe, and he that is my 
 true-love come after me and mow." After repeating the rhyme 
 three times it was only necessary to look over the shoulder, and 
 the apparition of the destined swain would never fail to appear : 
 "At eve last Midsummer no sleep I sought, 
 But to the field a bag of hemp-seed brought ; 
 I scattered round the seed on every side, 
 And three times, in a trembling accent cried : 
 'This hemp-seed with my virgin hand I sow, 
 Who shall my true love be the crop shall mow.' 
 I straight looked back, and, if my eyes speak truth, 
 With his keen scythe behind me came a youth."i 
 
 A spinster who fasted on Midsummer's eve, and at midnight laid 
 a clean cloth, with bread, cheese, and ale, and sat down to the 
 table as though about to eat, would be gratified with a sight of 
 the person to whom she would be married. This individual was 
 supposed to pass through the doorway, left open for the purpose, 
 as the clock struck twelve, and, approaching the table, to salute 
 his future partner with a bow and a pretence of drinking her 
 health, after which he vanished, and the maid retired to her 
 couch to rejoice or mourn, according as she admired or contemned 
 the prospect in store for her. Cuttings or combings from the hair 
 were thrown into the fire, and upon their blazing brightly or 
 smouldering away depended the duration of life likely to be 
 enjoyed by the person from whose head they had been taken. 
 Wishing-wells and gates were visited by credulous rustics, who 
 were anxious to make use of their mysterious power in obtaining 
 their desires in matters of love or business. The forefinger was 
 deemed venomous, and on that account children were instructed 
 not to spread salve or ointment with it. 
 
 About a century ago oats formed the . chief production, and 
 
 i. Gay.
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 113 
 
 nearly, if indeed not quite, the only grain crop cultivated in the 
 Fylde. When reaped, in harvest time, this commodity was 
 carried on the backs of pack-horses to the markets of Poulton, 
 Kirkham, Garstang, and Preston. The " horse bridge " between 
 Carleton and Poulton was originally a narrow structure, capable 
 only of affording passage to a single horse at once, and it was from 
 the practice of the farmers, with their laden cattle, crossing the 
 stream by its aid, when journeying to market, that the bridge 
 derived its name. These horses followed a leader ornamented 
 with a bell, and after they had arrived at their destination and 
 been relieved of their burdens, returned home in the same order 
 without a driver, leaving him to attend to his duties at the 
 market. The old bridge in use at the period to which we allude, 
 still exists, but is built over and hidden by the present erection. 
 Later experience has taught the agriculturist that the soil of the 
 Fylde is capable of producing, under proper tillage, other crops, 
 equal in their abundance to the one to which it appears formerly 
 to have been mainly devoted, and it would be difficult at the 
 present day to enumerate with accuracy the many and varied 
 fruits of the earth that have fonnd a home in the Corn-field of 
 Amounderness. 
 
 We mentioned about the commencement of the chapter that 
 marl was in general use as a manure in the Anglo-Saxon era, and 
 here it is perhaps hardly necessary to state that this substance, so 
 rich in lime and so adapted for giving consistency to the sandy 
 soils, is still occasionally had recourse to by the husbandman. 
 Guano was first introduced into this country about the year 1842, 
 but it is probable that it was not commonly used in our district 
 until the beginning of 1845, when a cargo was imported from 
 Ichaboe to Fleetwood by Messrs. Kemp and Co., and offered for 
 sale to the farmers of the neighbourhood. Other cargoes followed. 
 Subjoined are arranged some tables showing the average market 
 values of certain productions of the Fylde in the two years given: 
 
 1847. 1867. 
 
 Inclusive. Inclusive. 
 
 Jan. to June. July to Dec. Jan. to June. July to Dec. 
 
 Wheat, per windle 393. 6d. 255. 6d. 313. 8d. 325. - 6d. 
 
 Meal, per load 525. 6d. 413. 6d. 373. od. 373. 6d. 
 
 Beans, per windle 2$s. 6d. 22s. 6d. 
 
 Oats, per bushel 53. io ; ',-d. 43. 8d. 43. 5d. 43. 6d. 
 
 I
 
 CONDITION, CUSTOMS. 
 
 Jan. to June. July to Dec. Jan. to June. July to Dec. 
 
 I2s. 8d. us. 6d. 
 
 Butter, per pound ... 
 
 is. 
 
 id. 
 
 is. 
 
 lid. 
 
 is. 
 
 5d. 
 
 IS. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Eggs, per dozen 
 
 OS. 
 
 lod. 
 
 OS. 
 
 lod. 
 
 OS. 
 
 I id. 
 
 IS. 
 
 nH 
 
 Pork, per pound 
 
 OS. 
 
 6d. 
 
 OS. 
 
 6d. 
 
 OS. 
 
 
 OS. 
 
 fid 
 
 Beef 
 
 OS. 
 
 6id. 
 
 OS. 
 
 
 OS. 
 
 7jrd 
 
 OS. 
 
 
 Mutton 
 
 OS. 
 
 63d. 
 
 OS. 
 
 8Ad 
 
 OS. 
 
 8d. 
 
 OS. 
 
 7d 
 
 Geese 
 
 . OS. 
 
 6Jd. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 1. This high price was owing to an almost complete failure in the potatoe crops. 
 
 2. Obtained by striking an average of the weekly market quotations in the local 
 periodicals, published weekly during the respective years.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, RIVERS, AND SEA. 
 
 [HE history of the dresses and costumes of the 
 inhabitants of the Fylde is interesting not only on 
 account of the multifarious changes and peculiarities 
 which it exhibits, but also as a sure indication of the 
 progress in civilisation, wealth, and taste, made in our section at 
 different eras. To Julius Caesar we are indebted for our earliest 
 knowledge of the scanty dress worn by the aborigines of this 
 district, and from that warrior it is learnt that a slight covering 
 of roughly prepared skins, girded about the loins, and the 
 liberal application of a blue dye, called woad, to the rest of the 
 body constituted the sole requisites of their primitive toilets. 
 Caesar conjectures that the juice or dye of woad was employed by 
 the people to give them a terror-striking aspect in battle, but here 
 he seems to have fallen into error, for the wars engaged in by the 
 Setantii would be confined to hostilities with neighbouring tribes, 
 stained in a similar manner, and it is scarcely reasonable to 
 suppose that either side would hope to intimidate the other by 
 the use of a practice common to both. A more probable explana- 
 tion of the custom is, that it was instituted for the ornamental 
 qualities it possessed in the eyes of the natives. Such a view 
 is supported by the remarks of Solinus, a Roman author, who 
 informs us that the embellishments usually consisted of the 
 figures of animals, " which grew with the growth of the body " ; 
 and from this it is evident that before the frame had arrived at 
 maturity, in either youth or childhood, the skin was subjected to 
 the painful and laborious process of tattooing, for such according 
 to Isidore, appears to have been the nature of the operation. The 

 
 ii6 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 latter asserts that the staining was accomplished by squeezing out 
 the juice of the plant on to the skin, and puncturing it in with 
 sharp needles. When the Romans established a station at 
 Kirkham, and opened out the Fylde by means of a good road-way 
 to the coast, the Setantii modified their wild uncultivated habits, 
 and, taking pattern from the more civilised garb of their 
 conquerors, adopted a covering for the lower limbs, called bracks, 
 hence the modern breeches, whilst many of the chiefs were not 
 long before they strutted about in all the pride of a toga, or gown. 
 About four hundred years later, when the Anglo-Saxons had 
 taken possession of the soil of the Fylde, and had either 
 appropriated the deserted settlements and renamed them, or 
 reared small and scattered groups of dwellings of their own, a 
 marked change became visible in the nationality, character, 
 and costumes of the people. No longer the semi-civilised and 
 half-clad Briton was lord of the domain, but the more refined 
 Saxon with his linen shirt, drawers, and stockings, either of 
 linen or woollen, and bandaged crosswise from the ankle to the 
 knee with strips of leather ; over these a tunic of the same 
 material as the stockings was thrown, and reached as low as the 
 knees, being plain or ornamented according to the means or rank 
 of the wearer. This garment was open at the neck and for a 
 short distance over the chest ; the sleeves, extending to the wrists, 
 were generally tight, and a girdle frequently, but not universally, 
 confined the gown round the waist. In addition a small cloak 
 was worn for out-door purposes over the tunic, and fastened on 
 the breast or shoulder with brooches or clasps. The shoes of the 
 Saxon settlers were open down the instep, where they were laced 
 or tied with two thongs. Even the very lowest of the population, 
 although poverty might reduce them to miserable straits, seldom, 
 if ever, went barefooted. Caps, on the contrary, were not in great 
 request, and rarely to be seen, unless on the heads of some of 
 the more affluent. Our female ancestors at that era were habited 
 in a close-fitting dress, falling to the feet and furnished with tight 
 sleeves, reaching as far as the wrists, over which was placed a 
 shorter gown with loose open sleeves. Their head-dress was 
 simply a strip of linen of sufficient length to wrap round the 
 temples and fall on the neck. Amongst the wealthiest of the 
 nation a flowing mantle, ornaments of precious metal, and sable,
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 117 
 
 beaver, and fox furs were common, but the inhabitants of the 
 Fylde, being of less exalted social standing, were obliged to 
 content themselves with the skins of lambs and cats by way of 
 adornment. The inferior farm servants, called serfs, amongst 
 whom many of the vanquished Britons would be classed, were 
 seldom indulged by their masters with more than a coat, a pair 
 of drawers, and sandals, the shirt, we presume, being deemed ill 
 suited to their positions of servitude and dependence. 
 
 The colonisation of the Danes, whatever effect it may have had 
 upon the habits and condition of the people, exercised no lasting 
 influence upon their dress, and it was not until half a century after 
 the Norman baron, Roger de Poictou, had parcelled out the 
 land amongst his tenants, that the bulk of the males were induced, 
 by the example of the new-comers, to display their taste in the 
 choice of a head-covering. Many varieties were daily open to 
 their inspection on the brows of the Norman landholders and 
 servants, but the diffidence, let us hope, of the now humbled 
 Saxons suggested the adoption of an exceedingly plain flat species 
 of bonnet, which speedily became the common cap of the district. 
 The ladies, however, with a greater aptitude for rising superior to 
 disappointment and affliction, were not dilatory in benefitting by 
 the superior style of the fair partners of their conquerors, and 
 soon, putting aside all semblance of depression, appeared in long 
 cuffs, hanging to the ground from their upper dress sleeves and 
 tied in a large knot ; their kerchiefs, also, whose modest pro- 
 portions had formerly served only to encircle the forehead, were 
 now extravagantly lengthened and fastened in a similar manner. 
 As years rolled on and fashion began to assert her sway with a 
 greater show of authority, the shoes of the men underwent certain 
 changes, becoming more neat in workmanship and having the 
 toes somewhat elongated and pointed, whilst the richer of the 
 gentry, chiefly Normans, wore short boots reaching a little 
 distance up the calf. In the early part of the thirteenth 
 century the female head-dresses consisted of nets, made from 
 various materials, in which the hair was confined ; and the trains 
 of the gowns were lengthened. Later in the same era cowls or 
 hoods, twisted and pinned in fanciful shapes, adorned the heads 
 of the ladies, and formed the main feature of their walking 
 costumes. Aprons also came up at that period. The dress of
 
 ii8 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 the men underwent no alteration of any moment until the first 
 half of the fourteenth century, when the manorial lords of the 
 neighbourhood, and others of the inhabitants, discarded the cloaks 
 and tunics of their forefathers, and substituted in their stead a 
 close-fitting outer garment of costly and handsome material, 
 scarcely covering the hips, immediately above which it was 
 surrounded by a girdle. The sleeves usually terminated at the 
 elbows, and from there long white streamers depended, whilst the 
 sleeves of an under dress reached to the wrists, and were orna- 
 mented with rows of buttons. A long cape and cowl was the 
 general overcoat. The most characteristic dress of the ladies was 
 a habit cut away at the sides so as to expose the under skirt, 
 which was invariably of rich and fine texture. The long white 
 streamers, just alluded to, were part of the female as well as the 
 male attire, and the borders of the habit were bound with fur or 
 velvet. We may mention that an English beau of that era wore 
 long pointed shoes, the toes of which were connected with the 
 knees by gold or silver chains, a long stocking of different colour 
 on each leg, short trowsers, barely extending to the middle of the 
 thigh, a coat, half of which was white and the other blue or some 
 equally bright colour, and a silken hood or bonnet, fastened under 
 the chin, embroided with grotesque figures of animals, and 
 occasionally decked with gold and precious stones. Lest, 
 however, the reputations of our ancestors should suffer in the 
 eyes of the present generation from the existence in their age 
 of the absurdity here pictured, it is our duty and pleasure to 
 assure all readers that such parodies on manhood were strictly 
 confined to the populous cities, and that there is no probability of 
 even a solitary specimen ever having desecrated the modest soil 
 of the Fylde. 
 
 During the greater portion of the succeeding cycle of a hundred 
 years a species of cloth turban was much in favour amongst the 
 male sex of the middle and upper classes, from one side of which 
 a lengh of the same material hung down below the waist, and was 
 either thrust between the girdle and the coat, or wrapped round 
 the neck as a protection from cold. Faces were cleanly shaved, 
 and hair cut as close to the scalp as possible ; hitherto, from about 
 the date of the first arrival of the Normans, the practice had been 
 to allow the latter to grow long and to wear the beard. The hose
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 119 
 
 were long and tight. The boots were either short, or reached 
 half-way up the thighs, both kinds being long toed. Occasionally 
 a single feather relieved the plainness of the turban-shaped cap. 
 The ordinary dress of the gentlewomen was a full trained robe or 
 gown, made high in the neck, and sometimes, with a fur or velvet 
 turn-over collar, its folds at the short-waist being confined by 
 means of a simple band and buckle. Coiffures were mostly heart- 
 shaped, but in some rare instances horned. The sleeves of the 
 above costume were, shortly after its institution, lengthened and 
 widened to a ridiculous extent. Towards the end of the particular 
 era of which we are writing trains were discontinued, and broad 
 borders of fur substituted, whilst round tapering hats, two feet 
 in height, with loose kerchiefs floating from the apex, came 
 much into favour. The last few years of the fifteenth and the 
 earliest ones of the sixteenth centuries were marked by great 
 changes in the male attire ; the Butlers, Cliftons, Carletons, 
 Westbys, Aliens, Molyneux, and many others of the gentry of 
 the neighoourhood, figured at that period in fine shirts of long 
 lawn, embroidered with silk round the collar and wristbands, a 
 doublet with sleeves open at the elbows to allow the shirt to 
 protrude, a stomacher, over which the doublet was laced ; a long 
 gown or cloak, with loose or hanging sleeves and broad turn-over 
 collar of fur or velvet ; long hose or stockings ; broad-toed shoes 
 for ordinary use, and high boots, reaching to the knees, for riding 
 purposes ; and broad felt hats, or variously shaped caps of fur or 
 velvet, adorned with ostrich or other feathers. The hair was 
 permitted to grow enormously long and fall down the back and 
 over the shoulders, but the face was still cleanly shaved, with the 
 exception of military and aged persons, who wore mustaches or 
 beards. The wives and daughters, belonging to such families as 
 those alluded to, were habited in upper garments, cut square at 
 the neck, and stomachers, belts, and buckles, or costly girdles 
 with long pendants in front. The sleeves were slit at the elbows 
 in a manner similar to those of the men. High head-dresses were 
 abandoned, and a cap or caul of gold net or embroidery, which 
 allowed the hair to flow beneath it half way to the ground, took 
 their place. Turbans, also, were fashionable for a brief season. 
 The females of a humbler sphere wore plain grey cloth gowns, 
 ornamented with lambs' skin or wool, and cloaks of Lincoln
 
 120 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 green ; the appearance of such an one upon a holiday is described 
 by Skelton, the laureate of Henry VII., as under : 
 
 " Her kirtle bristow red, 
 With cloths upon her head, 
 They weigh a ton of lead. 
 She hobbles as she goes, 
 With her blanket hose, 
 Her shoone smeared with tallow." 
 
 In the following reign, the commonalty, in imitation of the 
 example set by the resident squires in this and other parts of the 
 kingdom, became so extravagant in their ideas of suitable habili- 
 ments that Henry VIII. issued an edict, prohibiting them from 
 wearing ornaments of even the most simple description, and 
 confining them to the use of cloth at a certain fixed price, and 
 lambs' fur only. At the same time, velvets of any colour, furs of 
 martens, chains, bracelets, and collars of gold were allowed only 
 to those who possessed an income of not less than two hundred 
 marks per annum ; but the sons and heirs of such were permitted 
 to wear black velvet or damask, and tawny-coloured russet or 
 camlet. None but those in the yearly receipt of one hundred 
 marks could venture on satin or damask robes. The dress which 
 may be taken as the most characteristic garb under the sover- 
 eignty of the last Henry and of his two immediate successors, 
 comprised a doublet with long bases, or skirts, and extensive 
 sleeves, over which was thrown a short cloak, provided with arm- 
 holes for the passage of the doublet sleeves. The cloak had a 
 wide rolling collar, made of velvet, fur, or satin, according to 
 taste. The shirt was plaited, and embroidered with gold, silver, 
 or silk. The hose were closely fitted to the limb, being in some 
 cases long and entire, and in others divided, under the names of 
 the upper and nether stocks. Slashed shoes, or buskins of velvet 
 and satin, with broad toes, and a cap of one of sundry forms, 
 either simply bordered, or laden with feathers, completed the 
 costume of every male member of the numerous families inhabit- 
 ing the ancient halls of this section. Sir Walter Scott, who is 
 generally allowed to have been pretty correct in the costumes of 
 his heroes and minor characters, has described the appearance of 
 a yeoman of our county about the middle of the sixteenth century 
 as follows :
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 121 
 
 " He was an English yeoman good, 
 And born in Lancashire. 
 
 * * * 
 
 His coal-black hair, shorn round and close, 
 
 Set off his sun-burnt face ; 
 Old England's sign, St. George's cross, 
 
 His barret-cap did grace ; 
 His bugle horn hung from his side, 
 
 All in a wolf-skin baldric tied ; 
 And his short falchion, sharp and clear, 
 Had pierced the throat of many a deer. 
 His kirtle, made of forest green, 
 
 Reached scantly to his knee ; 
 And at his belt, of arrows keen 
 A furbished sheaf bore he." . 
 
 Shortly after the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, remark- 
 able alterations became evident in the fashions of the inhabitants. 
 The skirts of the doublet were reduced to much smaller dimen- 
 sions, so as thoroughly to expose the upper stocks, which, under 
 the new title of trunk-hose, had risen to a very important 
 place in the toilet. French trunk-hose were the first to render 
 themselves conspicuous in our locality, and consisted of two 
 varieties, the former of which were short, round, and full, 
 becoming, in fact, in course of time, so swollen by padding that 
 their use was abandoned by universal consent; and the second 
 variety, going to the other extreme and fitting tightly to the 
 limb, introduced. The next to arrive were the Gallic hose, very 
 large and wide, and extending to the knee only ; after which came 
 the Venetian hose, reaching below the knee to the garter, where 
 they were secured with silken bands. The trunk-hose, of every 
 kind, were made of silk, velvet, satin, or damask. The nether 
 stocks, or stockings, were of jarnsey, thread, fine yarn, and later, 
 of silk, whilst the shoes partook more of the nature of slippers, 
 and were variously decorated. Ruffs encircled the necks of the 
 males as well as the females. Above the doublet was worn in the 
 Spanish style a cloak of silk, velvet, or taffeta, and of a red, black, 
 green, yellow, tawny, russet, or violet colour, many being 
 bordered with long glass beads. Hats were conical and high, flat 
 and broad, and flat and round, but in all cases were made of velvet 
 or sarcenet, and ornamented with bunches of feathers. The robes 
 of the ladies, made of bright-coloured velvet, silk, or fine cloth,
 
 122 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 had both tight and wide sleeves, and were branched or opened at 
 the front of the skirt to expose the handsome petticoat beneath. 
 The farthingale distended the dresses of our female ancestry from 
 just below the bodice or stomacher, in a manner that few, we 
 opine, of the fair sex would care to see revived at the present day. 
 The ruff was of cambric or lawn, and when first introduced, 
 moderate in its proportions, but like many other fashions of that 
 epoch, became enlarged into an absurdity as years passed on. 
 The hair of the ladies was curled, crisped, and arranged with 
 most elaborate care ; indeed, so curious and changeable were the 
 coiffures that it would be tedious to our readers to offer more than 
 this general description of them. Capes falling but a short way 
 beyond the shoulders, and faced with fringe or velvet, were also 
 worn. The costume of the gentlewomen during the seventeenth 
 century, if the sombre garbs of the Roundhead families be 
 excepted, consisted of an upper gown, which comprised a bodice 
 and short skirt, the former being open over a laced stomacher, 
 and the latter divided anteriorly, and its sides drawn back 
 and looped up behind ; a petticoat or under-dress, of expensive 
 material, reaching to the ground ; a yellow starched neckerchief, 
 overspreading the shoulders and terminating on the bosom in two 
 pointed ends ; and a high crowned hat, beneath which long 
 ringlets escaped and flowed down the back. The peasant girls or 
 female farm servants had plain dresses, falling to the ankles, and 
 usually tight sleeves and aprons. The bodices of some were open 
 to the waist, but the stomachers, although laced, were of a very 
 inferior kind, and the starched neckerchiefs were wanting. The 
 gentlemen of the Fylde were influenced in their choice of gar- 
 ments according as their sympathies were with the King or 
 Parliament, but there can be little question that in a locality so 
 staunchly loyal as our own, the picturesque garb of the Cavaliers 
 would predominate over the affectedly modest and plain attire of 
 the partizans of Cromwell. The existence on the soil of such men 
 as Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Thomas Singleton of Staining Hall, 
 Thomas Hesketh of Mains Hall, who laid down their lives in the 
 service of the crown, and numbers of others, who drew the 
 sword in the cause of the throneless monarch, are fair evidence 
 that the above conjecture is not hazarded without good reason. 
 A doublet of silk, satin, or velvet, with large wide sleeves slashed
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 123 
 
 up the front ; a collar covered by a band of rich point lace, with 
 Vandyke edging ; a short cloak, thrown on one shoulder ; short 
 trousers, fringed and reaching to the wide tops of the high boots ; 
 a broad-leaved Flemish beaver hat, with a plume of feathers and 
 band ; and a sword belt and rapier, constituted the full costume 
 of a Cavalier. Instead of the velvet doublet, a buff coat, richly 
 laced, and encircled by a broad silk or satin scarf, fastened in a 
 bow, was substituted when the inhabitants were under the 
 excitement produced by actual war, in which so many took part. 
 The hair, it should be mentioned, was worn long by the Cavaliers, 
 and closely cropped by the Roundheads, whose dress offers no 
 special features to our notice. 
 
 In the earlier part of last century the occupiers of Layton, 
 Lytham, Fox, Burn, Mains, Rawcliffe, Rossall, Larbrick, etc., 
 Halls, and others of equal social standing, who formed the gentry 
 of the Fylde, and who consequently must be taken as our mirror 
 of fashion, were clothed in straight square-cut waistcoats, extend- 
 ing to the knees, and of very gorgeous patterns ; velvet breeches 
 fastened below the knees ; long silk stockings ; buckled shoes, 
 with high red heels ; periwigs of monstrous size ; hats, cocked on 
 three sides ; long lace neckerchiefs ; and lastly, but far from the 
 least important, a coat of rich material, having long stiff skirts 
 and wide cuffs, turned back and adorned with gold or silver lace. 
 The ladies had laced stomachers beneath a bodice with straight 
 sleeves, ending at the elbow in moderately wide cuffs. The skirt 
 of the dress was divided in front and looped up behind, disclosing 
 a petticoat equalling or surpassing the richness of the upper 
 garment, and trimmed with flounces and furbelows. The boots 
 resembled those just described, but were more delicate in work- 
 manship. The head-dress was composed of a species of cap, the 
 lace material of which rose in three or four tiers, placed one above 
 another, almost to a point, whilst the hair was brushed up and 
 arranged in stiff curls, somewhat resembling a pyramid. This 
 coiffure had only a brief reign, and was superseded by one less 
 exalted, and of more elegant appearance. Hoops were introduced 
 about 1720, and thirty years later silk aprons and gipsy straw hats, 
 or small bonnets, were worn. In 1765 periwigs were discarded, and 
 the natural hair was allowed to grow, being profusely sprinkled 
 with powder, both by males and females. The country people
 
 124 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 were habited in long, double-breasted coats, made from frieze or 
 homespun, and of a dark brown, grey, or other quiet shade ; a 
 light drugget waistcoat, red shag or plush breeches, and black 
 stockings. There is no necessity to trace the costumes of our 
 ancestors further than the point here reached, as their varieties 
 present few phases of special interest, and probably the most 
 striking are already sufficiently familiar to our readers. A sure, 
 though somewhat unsteady, decline was shortly inaugurated in 
 the sumptuous and elaborate dresses of the people, which 
 continued its course of reform until the more economical and 
 unostentatious dress of modern days had usurped the place of the 
 showy habiliments of the eighteenth century. 
 
 THE COUNTRY or district of the Fylde may be briefly described 
 as broad and flat, for although in many places it is raised in gentle 
 undulations, no hill of any altitude is to be seen upon its surface. 
 The fertility of its soil has long been acknowledged, and a visit to 
 its fruitful fields during the warm months of summer would 
 disclose numbers of rich acres yellow with the ripening grain, 
 while potatoe and bean-fields, meadow and pasture-lands, orchards 
 and fruit gardens, are scattered over the wide area. Our design 
 in the present instance is not, however, to enlarge upon these 
 cultivated features, but to notice some of the more striking 
 natural peculiarities, and to arrange in a classified list sundry of 
 the rarer wild plants growing in the neighbourhood, enumerating 
 also the 'different birds and sea-fowl, which are either natives or 
 frequenters of the locality. 
 
 The features most calculated by their singularity to attract the 
 attention of the stranger on surveying this division of the county 
 are the moss-lands, the sand-hills, the mere at Marton, and the 
 stunted appearance and inclination from the sea of those trees 
 situated anywhere in the vicinity of the coast. 
 
 The great moss of the Fylde lies in the township of Marton, 
 and extends six miles from north to south, and about one mile 
 from east to west. On examining the structure of this moss, 
 below the coarse herbage covering its surface, is discovered 
 a substance called peat, brown and distinctly fibrous at its upper 
 part, but becoming more and more compact as we descend, until 
 at the bottom is presented a firm, dark-coloured, or even black 
 mass, betraying less evidence, in some cases barely -perceptible, of
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 125 
 
 its fibrous formation. Beneath the peaty layer is a thick bed of 
 clay, having imbedded in it, either partially or wholly, large 
 trunks of trees oak, yew, fir, etc., which, by their frequency and 
 arrangement, show that at some period the extensive tract must 
 have been a dense woodland, but at what particular era it is 
 impossible, Avith any degree of exactness, to determine. The 
 disinterment, however, of certain Celtic relics from the substance 
 of the peat, which may be supposed to have belonged to the 
 aboriginal Britons of the section, inclines us to the opinion that 
 the lower layers of the moss were formed, and consequently the 
 forest overthrown, anterior to the Roman occupation of our island, 
 but how long before that time it was standing, must remain 
 purely a matter of conjecture, unless some reliable proofs of its 
 more precise antiquity are disclosed during operations in the turf. 
 The manner in which the demolition of the forest was effected is 
 also somewhat wrapt in obscurity, although it is probable that 
 the noble trees of which it was composed were overturned and 
 uprooted by the fury of some wide-spread inundation or the 
 violence of some terrific hurricane. The fearful devastations, 
 both or either of the elements here brought into action can 
 accomplish, are too well marked in the histories of other countries 
 for us to hesitate in ascribing to them the power of overthrowing, 
 under similar turbulent conditions, even so substantial an obstruc- 
 tion as the forest must have been ; but a careful study of the 
 locality and of the several sudden incursions of the tide which 
 have occurred during recent years, leads to the belief that the sea 
 was the chief destructive agent, and that the gale which hurled 
 the raging volumes of water over the low-lying lands at the south 
 of Blackpool, and the then level wooded tract beyond, assisted only 
 in the ruinous work. In support of such a hypothesis may be 
 instanced the flood of 1833, when a tide, only estimated to rise to 
 a height of sixteen feet, but greatly swollen by a furious storm 
 from the south-west, burst over at that spot, swept away several 
 dwelling-houses in its course, battered down the hedges, and laid 
 waste the fields far into the surrounding country. Had this 
 inundation occurred during the high spring tides, it is impossible 
 to say to what extent its ravages might have been carried, but the 
 incident as it stands, being within the recollection of many still 
 living, and by no means a solitary example of the usual direction
 
 126 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 taken by the storm-driven waves, furnishes an apt illustration of 
 the most natural way in which the downfall of the forest may 
 have been accomplished. The Rev. W. Thornber, who has 
 bestowed much time and labour on the subject, says : u There 
 are some facts that will go far to prove that these forests, once 
 standing on Marton Moss, were overthrown by an inundation of 
 the sea, viz., every tree on the Moss, as well as the Hawes, lies 
 in a south-eastern direction from the shore ; and the bank, which 
 appears to have been the extent of this irruption, commencing at 
 the Royal Hotel, runs exactly in the same direction. The shells, 
 similar to those collected on the shore, intermixed with wrack of 
 the sea, which are found in abundance under the peat, also 
 corroborate this supposition. Moreover the tide is constantly 
 depositing a marine silt similar to that which lies beneath the 
 peat, and in some instances upon it." 
 
 The wreck of such a vast number of trees would cause a great 
 but gradual alteration in the surface of the ground. The masses 
 of fallen timber, blocking up the streamlets and obstructing 
 drainage, would create a more or less complete stagnation of 
 water upon the land ; the bark, branches, and leaves undergoing 
 a process of decay would form the deepest layers of the peat ; 
 rank herbage and aquatic plants springing up and dying in endless 
 succession, would form annual accumulations of matter, which in 
 course of time would also be assimilated into peat, and in this 
 manner the moss overlaying the original clayey surface and 
 burying the ancient forest, would grow step by step to its present 
 dimensions. Again, each layer of peat, as they were successively 
 formed, would press upon those beneath, so that the weight of its 
 own increase would give firmness and solidity to the substance of 
 the moss. Thus we see that the whole secret of the creation or 
 formation of the moss is simply a process of growth, decay, and 
 accumulation of certain vegetable products annually repeated. 
 The huge moss of Pilling and Rawcliffe owes its existence to 
 similar phenomena. 
 
 The large mounds, or star-hills as they are called, which 
 undulate the coast line from Lytham to South-Shore, are com- 
 posed simply and purely of sand, covered over with a coarse 
 species of herb, bearing the name of star-grass. Similar eminences 
 at one time occupied the whole of the marine border of the Fylde,
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 127 
 
 but in many places the encroaching tide has not only annihilated 
 the hills themselves, but even usurped their sites. The town of 
 Fleetwood is erected on a foundation of sand, and several 
 extensive mounds of that nature exist in its vicinity. Below this 
 light superficial substance, in some places very deep and thrown 
 into its elevated forms by the long-continued action of the wind, 
 is a subsoil resembling that found in other parts of the Fylde, 
 and consisting of a clayey loam and alluvial matter. The 
 diminutive size of those trees growing near the coast is due both 
 to the openness and bleakness of the site, and the deleterious 
 effects of the saline particles contained in the air ; whilst the 
 peculiar leaning from the water of their branches, and in many 
 instances their trunks, is caused by the mechanical action or 
 pressure of the strong winds and sea breezes prevailing from the 
 west during three-fourths of the year. 
 
 Marton Mere, situated in the township indicated by its name, 
 was formerly a lake of no inconsiderable extent, but drainage and 
 the accumulation within its basin of sediment have reduced it to 
 its present comparatively unimportant dimensions. Traces of the 
 more extensive boundaries of the sheet of water in former days 
 are still discernible along its banks, and at one time, it is stated, 
 the wheel of a water-mill near to the village of Great Marton, 
 was turned by a stream from the mere. The right of fishery in 
 the lake, for such it was in the earlier periods, was the subject of 
 legal contest in the reign of Edward III., and in 1590 John 
 Singleton^, of Staining Hall, held the privilege. 
 
 There are few districts of similar area which can boast so 
 many and such interesting varieties of the feathered tribes, either 
 natives or visitants, as the Fylde. Some of the rarest sea-fowl 
 are occasionally seen along the coasts, while the fields and hedge- 
 rows abound with most of the melodious songsters of our island. 
 Amongst the number of both land and sea birds which have been 
 observed in the neighbourhood, either during the whole year or 
 only in certain parts of it, may be mentioned the following : 
 ORDER RAPTORES OR RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 
 
 FALCONID^E OR FALCON FAMILY. 
 
 Tinnunculus Alaudarus Kestrel Common 
 
 Accipiter Nisus Sparrow Hawk Common 
 
 Circus ceruginosus Moor Buzzard Very rare
 
 128 
 
 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 Strix flammea 
 Otus vulgaris 
 Otus brachyotus 
 
 Barn Owl 
 Long-eared Owl 
 Short-eared Owl 
 
 Common 
 Common 
 Common 
 
 ORDER PASSERES OR PERCHERS. 
 
 HIRUNDINID/E OR SWALLOW FAMILY. 
 Hirundo rustica Common Swallow 
 
 Cotyle riparia Sand Martin 
 
 Chelidon urbica House Martin 
 
 LUSCINIDjE OR WARBLER FAMILY. 
 
 Sylvia undata 
 Sylvia trochilus 
 Sylvia curruca 
 Sylvia sibilatrix 
 Calamodyta phragmitis 
 Saxicola senanthe 
 Pratincola rubetra 
 Pratincola rubicola 
 Ruticilla phoenicura 
 Parus major 
 Parus cocruleus 
 Parus caudatus 
 Parus ater 
 Motacilla Yarrellii 
 Motacilla sulphurea 
 Motacilla campestris 
 Anthus pratensis 
 Anthus arboreus 
 Regulus cristatus 
 Regulus ignicapillus 
 
 Whitethroat 
 Willow Warbler 
 Lesser Whitethroat 
 Wood Warbler 
 Sedge Warbler 
 Wheatear 
 Whinchat 
 Stonechat 
 Redstart 
 Great Titmouse 
 Blue Titmouse 
 Long-tailed Titmouse 
 Cole Titmouse 
 Pied Wagtail 
 Yellow Wagtail 
 Grey Wagtail 
 Meadow Titlark 
 Tree Titlark 
 Golden-crested Wren 
 Fire-crested Wren 
 
 Turdus musicus 
 Turdus viscivorus 
 Turdns pilaris 
 Turdus iliacus 
 Turdus merula 
 Turdus torquatus 
 
 Lanius collurio 
 
 Corvus Corone 
 Corvus comix 
 Corvus frugilegus 
 Pica caudata 
 
 Sturnus vulgaris 
 
 TURDID.E OR THRUSH FAMILY. 
 Song Thrush 
 Missel Thrush 
 Fieldfare 
 Redwing 
 Blackbird 
 Ring Ousel 
 LANIID^E OR SHRIEK FAMILY. 
 
 Red-backed Shriek 
 CORVID.E OR CROW FAMILY. 
 Carrion Crow 
 Hooded Crow 
 Rook 
 Magpie 
 STURNID^B OR STARLING FAMILY. 
 
 Common Starling 
 
 Common 
 Common 
 Common 
 
 Common 
 Rare 
 Common 
 Rare 
 Rare 
 Common 
 Common 
 Rare 
 Rare 
 Common 
 Common 
 Rare 
 Rare 
 Common 
 Common 
 Rather rare 
 Common 
 Rare 
 Rare 
 
 Very rare 
 
 
 Very common 
 Common 
 Common 
 Rather rare 
 Common 
 Rather rare 
 
 Rare 
 
 Very common 
 Rare 
 
 Very common 
 Rather rare 
 
 Common
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA, 
 
 129 
 
 FRINGILLIDiE OR FINCH FAMILY. 
 
 Fringilla carduelis 
 
 Goldfinch 
 
 Common 
 
 Fringilla caelebs 
 
 Chaffinch 
 
 Common 
 
 Fringilla spinus 
 
 Siskin 
 
 Rare 
 
 Fringilla chloris 
 
 Greenfinch 
 
 Common 
 
 Fringilla cannabina 
 
 Linnet 
 
 Common 
 
 Emberiza citrinella 
 
 Yellow Bunting 
 
 Common 
 
 Emberiza schaeniculus 
 
 Reed Bunting 
 
 Common 
 
 Emberiza miliaris 
 
 Common Bunting 
 
 Common 
 
 Emberiza nivalis 
 
 Snow Bunting 
 
 Rare 
 
 Pyrrhula rubicilla 
 
 Bullfinch 
 
 Rare 
 
 Alauda arvensis 
 
 Skylark 
 
 Very common 
 
 Alauda arborea 
 
 Woodlark 
 
 Rare 
 
 ORDER SCANSORES OR CLIMBERS. 
 
 CUCULID,E OR CUCKOO FAMILY. 
 
 Cuculus canorus Cuckoo Common 
 
 ORDER COLUMB^: OR DOVES. 
 
 COLUMBID^E OR DOVE FAMILY. 
 
 Columba palumbus Ring Dove Rare 
 
 Columba senas Stock Dove Common 
 
 ORDER GALLING OR FOWLS. 
 
 PHASIANID^E OR PHEASANT FAMILY. 
 Phasianus Colchicus Common Pheasant Common 
 
 TETRAONID^E OR TETRAD FAMILY. 
 
 Perdix cinereus Common Partridge Common 
 
 Coturnix communis Quail Common 
 
 ORDER GRALLATORES OR WADERS. 
 
 CHARADRL4IXE OR PLOVER FAMILY. 
 
 Charadrius pluvialis 
 Charadrius hiaticula 
 Charadrius morinellus 
 Vanellus griseus 
 Vanellus cristatus 
 Hsematopus ostralegus 
 Cinclus interpres 
 
 Golden Plover Common 
 
 Ringed Plover or Dotterel Common 
 
 Common Dotterel Common 
 
 Grey Plover Common 
 
 Common crested Lapwing Common 
 
 Oyster-catcher Very common 
 
 Turnstone Common 
 ARDEID^S OR HERON FAMILY. 
 
 Ardea cinerea Common Heron Common 
 
 Nycticorax Europaeus Common Night Heron Rare 
 
 Botaurus stellaris Bittern Very rare indeed 
 
 SCOLOPACID^E OR WOODCOCK FAMILY. 
 
 Tringoides hypoleuca Common Sandpiper Common 
 
 Totanus ochropus Green Sandpiper Rare 
 
 Totanus Calidris Redshank Sandpiper Common 
 
 Numenius arquata Curlew or Whaup Common 
 
 Numenius phaeopus Whimbrel Common 
 
 Limosa vulgaris Common Godwit Rare
 
 130 
 
 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 SCOLOPACIDiE OR WOODCOCK FAMILY continued. 
 
 Philomachus pugnax 
 Tringa Canutus 
 Tringa Temminckii 
 Tringa minuta 
 Tringa cinclus 
 Phalaropus fulicarius 
 Scolopax rusticola 
 Gallinngo media 
 Gallinago gallinula 
 
 Rallus aquaticus 
 Ortygometra crex 
 Gallinula chloropus 
 Fulica atra 
 
 Ruff Rare 
 
 Knot Rare 
 Temminck's Stint " Rare 
 
 Little Stint Very rare 
 
 Dunlin Common 
 
 Grey Phalarope Rare 
 
 Woodcock Common 
 
 Common Snipe Common 
 
 Jack Snipe Common 
 
 RALLID.E OR RAIL FAMILY. 
 
 Water Rail Common 
 
 Land Rail Common 
 
 Water Hen Common 
 
 Common Coot Common 
 
 ORDER NATORES OR SWIMMERS. 
 
 Anser ferus 
 Anser segetum 
 Bernicla leucopsis 
 Cygnus ferus 
 Tadorna vulpanser 
 Mergus Castor 
 Anas boschas 
 Querquedula Crecca 
 Spatula clypeata 
 Moreca Penelope 
 Myroca Terina 
 Margellus albellus 
 Fuligula cristata 
 Fuligula marila 
 Oidemia fusca 
 Oidemia nigra 
 Clangula vulgaris 
 Clangula albeola 
 
 Colymbus glacialis 
 Colymbus arcticus 
 Colymbus septentrionalis 
 Chaulelasmus strepera 
 Podiceps minor 
 
 ANATID.E OR DUCK FAMILY. 
 Grey-lag Goose 
 Bean Goose 
 Bernicle Goose 
 Whistling Swan 
 Common Shieldrake 
 Goosander 
 Mallard 
 Common Teal 
 Shoveller Duck 
 Common Wigeon 
 Common Pochard 
 Smew 
 
 Tufted Duck or Pochard 
 Scaup Duck or Pochard 
 Velvet Scoter 
 Black Scoter 
 
 Golden-eye Duck or Garrot 
 Buffel-headed Duck 
 COLYMBID^E OR DIVER FAMILY. 
 Great Northern Diver 
 Black-throated Diver 
 Red-throated Diver 
 Gad wall 
 Little Grebe 
 
 Fratercula artica 
 Alca torda 
 Uria Troile 
 
 ALCID.E OR AUK FAMILY. 
 
 Puffin 
 Razor-bill 
 Common Guillemot 
 
 Rare 
 
 Common 
 
 Common 
 
 Rare 
 
 Common 
 
 Rare 
 
 Common 
 
 Common 
 
 Rare 
 
 Common 
 
 Rather rare 
 
 Occasional visitor 
 
 Rather common 
 
 Rather rare 
 
 Rare 
 
 Very rare 
 
 Rather common 
 
 Common 
 
 Very rare 
 
 Rare 
 
 Rather common 
 
 Very rare 
 
 Common 
 
 Common 
 
 Rare 
 
 Rare
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 
 
 PROCELLARID^E OR PETRRL FAMILY. 
 
 Thalassidroma pelagica Stormy Petrel Common 
 
 Thalassidroma Leachii Fork-tailed Petrel Rather rare 
 
 LARID.E OR GULL FAMILY. 
 
 Larus canus Common Gull Very common 
 
 Larus ribibundus Black-headed Gull Very common 
 
 Larus fuscus Little Black-headed Gull Common 
 
 Larus tridactylus Kittiwake Gull Very common 
 
 Larus Glaucus Glaucus Gull Rare 
 
 Larus argentatus Herring Gull Very common 
 
 Sterna hirundo Sea-swallow or Tern Common 
 
 Sterna fuliginosa Sooty Tern Rare 
 
 Sterna minuta Lesser Tern Common 
 
 PELECANID.E OR PELICAN FAMILY. 
 
 Graculus Carbo Common Cormorant Common 
 
 Graculus Cristata Crested Cormorant Rather rare 
 
 Sula Bassanea Gannet or Solan Goose Common 
 
 The fertile fields and sunny lanes of the Fylde afford ample 
 opportunity for the botanist to indulge in his favourite pursuit, and 
 a short ramble over any portion of the pleasant country will 
 unfold to his inquiring gaze many of Nature's most beautiful and 
 interesting offsprings. Specimens, especially of the maritime 
 varieties of several of the floral families, unobtainable in the 
 inland districts, may here be found lightly planted on the loose, 
 sandy margins of the shore. In the context it is not intended to 
 enter into a description of the different plants or of the localities 
 in which they may most commonly be found, but merely to 
 enumerate some of the more important ones ; and in the follow- 
 ing list all those inhabitants of the district, which are likely to 
 interest the student of Botany or lover of Nature, are arranged in 
 their various groups or orders : 
 
 RANUNCULACE^; OR BUTTERCUP ORDER. 
 
 Ranunculus aquatilis Water Crowcroft 
 
 Lingua Spearwort 
 
 ,, acris Meadow Crowfoot 
 
 arvensis Corn 
 
 Thalictrum minus Lesser Meadow-rue 
 
 Delphinium consolida Field Larkspur 
 
 NYMPH^ACEiE OR LILY ORDER. 
 
 Nymphaea Alba White Water-lily 
 
 PAPAVERACE^ OR POPPY ORDER. 
 
 Papaver dubium Long Smooth-headed Poppy 
 
 Rhceas Corn Poppy 
 
 Chelidonium majus Common Celandine
 
 1 32 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 CRUCIFERJE OR CABBAGE ORDER. 
 
 Nasturtium officinale Common Water-cress 
 
 Hesperis matronalis Common Damewort 
 
 Cochlearia officinalis Common Scurvy-grass 
 
 Danica Danish 
 
 Cakile maritima Purple Sea Rocket 
 
 Crambe Sea Kale 
 
 Sisymbrium Irio Broad-leaved Hedge-mustard 
 
 Sophia Fine-leaved 
 
 VIOLACEiE OR VIOLET ORDER. 
 
 Viola odorata Sweet Violet 
 
 tricolar Heartsease 
 
 RESEDACE^E OR MIGNONETTE ORDER. 
 
 Reseda Luteola Yellow Weed 
 
 DROSERACEiE OR SUNDEW ORDER. 
 
 Drosera rotundifolfa Sundew 
 
 Parnassia pallustris Grass of Parnassus 
 
 CARYOPHYLLACE^E OR CLOVEWORT ORDER. 
 
 Saponaria officinalis Common Soapwort 
 
 Lychnis Diocia White Campion 
 
 Floscuculi Cuckoo-flower 
 
 Silene inflata Bladder Catchfly 
 
 maritima Sea 
 
 Arenaria marina Sea Sandwort 
 
 serpyllifolia Thyme-leaved Sandwort 
 
 Adenaria peploides Sea Chickweed 
 
 LINAGES OR FLAX ORDER. 
 
 Linnm usitatissiraum Common Flax 
 
 catharticum Purging 
 
 MALVACEAE OR MALLOW ORDER. 
 
 Malva rotundifolia Dwarf Mallow 
 
 Althaea officinalis Marsh Mallow 
 
 GERANIAC&E OR CRANESBILL ORDER. 
 
 Geranium sanguimeum Bloody Crane's-bill 
 
 Geranium pratense Meadow Crane's-bill 
 
 Geranium purpurea Odoriferous Cranes-bill 
 
 Erodium cicutarium Hemlock Stork's-bill 
 
 LEGUMINOS.* LEGUMINOUS ORDER. 
 
 Anthyllis vulneraria Common Kidney-vetch 
 
 Vicia lathyroides Spring Vetch 
 
 Ononis procurrens Procurrent Restharrow 
 
 spinosa Spinous 
 
 Melilotus officinalis Common Melilot 
 
 Trifolium arvense Hare's-foot Trefoil
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 133 
 
 ROSACES OR ROSE ORDER. 
 Rosa canina Dog rose 
 
 spinosissima Burnet-leaved Rose 
 
 eglantaria Sweet Briar 
 
 Agrimonia Eupatoria Agrimony 
 
 Spiraea ulmaria Meadow Sweet 
 
 Rubus fruticosus Blackberry Brambles 
 
 ONAGRACK< OR CENOTHERA FAMILY. 
 
 Epilobium hirsutum Great Willow-herb 
 
 montanum Small 
 
 LYTHRACE/E OR LYTHRUM FAMILY. 
 Lythrum salicaria Spiked purple Loosestrife 
 
 HALORAGEACE^ OR THE MARE'S TAIL ORDER. 
 Hippuris vulgaris Common Mare's-tail 
 
 PORTULACACE^E OR PURSLANE ORDER. 
 Montia foutana Water Blinks 
 
 CRASSULACE.E OR THE CRASSULA ORDER. 
 Sedum acre Biting Stonecrop 
 
 allbum White 
 
 Sempervivum tectorum Houseleek 
 
 SAXIFRAGACE^E OR SAXIFRAGE ORDER. 
 Saxifraga granulata White Saxifrage 
 
 stellaris Starry 
 
 aizoides Yellow 
 
 UMBELLIFERJE OR UMBELLIFEROUS ORDER. 
 Crithmum maritimum Samphire 
 
 Hydrocotyle vulgaris Marsh Pennywort 
 
 Conium maculatum Hemlock 
 
 Cicuta virosa Cowbane 
 
 Eryngium maritimum Sea-holly 
 
 Apium graveolens Wild Celery 
 
 Bupleurum tenuissimum Slender Hare's-ear 
 
 (Enanthe Crocata Dead-tongue 
 
 Peucedanum ostruthium Master-wort 
 
 officinale Sea Sulphurwort 
 
 Daucus Carato Wild Carrot 
 
 Anthriscus sylvestris Wild beaked Parsley 
 
 Scandix Pecten-Veneris Venus' Comb 
 
 CAPRIFOLIACE^E OR HONEYSUCKLE ORDER. 
 Louicera Periclymenum Pretty piped Woodbine 
 
 ,, Caprifolium Common Woodbine 
 
 Sambucus Nigra Elder 
 
 RUBIACE^ OR MADDER ORDER. 
 Galium verum Yellow Bedstraw 
 
 mollugo Hedge 
 
 Sherardia arvensis Little Spurwort
 
 134 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 VALERIANACE/E OR VALERIAN ORDER. 
 Valeriana officinalis Common Valerian 
 
 Valerianella olitoria Lamb's Lettuce 
 
 DIPSACACE> OR TEAZEL ORDER. 
 Dipsacus sylvestris Wild Teazel 
 
 COMPOSITE OR COMPOSITE ORDER. 
 Aster Tripolium Sea Starwort 
 
 Apargia hispida Rough Hawkbit 
 
 Hieracium pallidum Hawkweed 
 
 umbellatum Narrow-leaved Hawkweed 
 
 Carduus tenuiflorus Slender-flowered Thistle 
 
 palustris Marsh Thistle 
 
 Chysanthemum maritimum Sea Feverfew 
 
 Tanacetum vulgare Common Tansey 
 
 Centaurea Cyanus Corn Bluebottle 
 
 Pryethrum parthenium Common Feverfew 
 
 inodorum Corn 
 
 Senecio vulgaris Common Groundsell 
 
 aquaticus Marsh Groundsell 
 
 Silybum Marianum Milk Thistle 
 
 Tragopogon pratense Yellow Goatsbeard 
 
 Helminthia echioides Bristly Oxtongue 
 
 VACCINIACEiE OR CRANBERRY ORDER. 
 Oxycoccus palustris Cranberry 
 
 CAMPANULACE^E OR HAREBELL ORDER. 
 Campanula rotundifolia Harebell 
 
 PYROLACE^E OR WINTERGREEN ORDER. 
 Pyrola media Intermediate Wintergreen 
 
 APOCYNACE.E OR DOGBANE ORDER. 
 Vinca major Greater Periwinkle 
 
 GENTIANACE^E OR GENTIAN ORDER. 
 Gentiana Pneumonanthe Marsh Gentian 
 
 Campestris Field 
 
 Chironia Centaurium, var. White-flowered Centaury 
 
 ,, latifolia Broad-leaved ,, 
 
 pulchella Dwarf-branched 
 
 CONVOLVULACE<E OR CONVOLVULUS ORDER. 
 Convolvulus Soldanella Sea Bindweed 
 
 Sepium, var. Great Ditto, Pink-flowered 
 
 arvensis Small Bindweed 
 
 SCROPHULARIACE^E OR FIGWORT ORDER. 
 Veronica Anagallis Water Speedwell 
 
 arvensis Wall 
 
 ,, Beccabunga Brooklime 
 
 Serpyllifolia Thyme-leaved Speedwell
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 135 
 
 SCROPHULACE^E OR CONVOLVULUS ORDER continued. 
 Digitalis purpurea Purple Foxglove 
 
 Linaria vulgaris Yellow toadflax 
 
 Antirrhinum Cymbalaria Ivy-leaved Snapdragon 
 
 Scrophularia vernalis figwort 
 
 LABIATE THE DEAD-NETTLE ORDER. 
 Thymus Serpyllum Wild Thyme 
 
 Marrubium vulgare White Horehound 
 
 Prunella vulgaris Selfheel 
 
 Mentha viridis Spearmint 
 
 arvensis Corn mint 
 
 Betonica officinalis Wood Betony 
 
 Lamum album White Dead-nettle 
 
 purpureum Red 
 
 Galeopsis ladanum Red Hemp-nettle 
 
 Scutellaria galericulata Skullcap 
 
 PLUMBAGINACE^E OR LEADWORT FAMILY. 
 Armeria vagaris Common Thrift 
 
 Statice Limonium Lavender 
 
 BORAGINACE^E OR BORAGE ORDER. 
 Myosotis palustris Forget-me-not 
 
 coespitosa Water Scorpion-grass 
 
 arvensis Field ,, 
 
 versicolor . Yellow and Blue 
 
 LENTIBULARIACE^E OR BLADDERWORT ORDER. 
 Utricularia vulgaris Greater Bladderwort ' 
 
 PRIMULACE^: OR PRIMROSE ORDER. 
 Primula vnlgaris Primrose 
 
 veris Cowslip 
 
 Glaux maritima Black Saltweed 
 
 Samolus Valerandi Brookweed 
 
 Anagallis cserula Blue Pimpernel 
 
 tenella Bog 
 
 Hottonia palustris Water Featherfoil 
 
 Lysimachia vulgaris Yellow Loosestrife 
 
 PLANTAGINACE^E OR RIBGRASS ORDER. 
 Plantago major Plantain 
 
 media Hoary Plantain 
 
 ,, maritima Sea-side Platain 
 
 Littorella lacustris Plantain Shoreweed 
 
 POLYGONACEJE OR BUCKWHEAT ORDER. 
 Rumex crispus Curled Dock 
 
 acetosa Common Sorrel 
 
 EUPHORBIACE^E OR SPURGEWORT ORDEF. 
 Euphorbia paralias Sea purge
 
 136 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 URTICACE^: OR NETTLE ORDER. 
 
 Humulus Lupulus Hop 
 
 Urtica pilulifera Roman nettle 
 
 Parietaria officinalis Common Wall-pellitory 
 
 SALICACE.E OR WILLOW ORDER. 
 Salix argentea Silky Sand Willow 
 
 repens Dwarf Willow 
 
 Myrica Gale Sweet Gale 
 
 IRIDACE^E OR IRIS ORDER. 
 Iris Pseudacorus Yellow water-iris 
 
 AMARYLLIDACE^ OR THE AMYRILLIS ORDER. 
 Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus Common Daffodil 
 
 Galanthus nivalis Snowdrop 
 
 ALISMACE^E OR WATER-PLANTAIN ORDER. 
 Butomus umbellatus Flowering-rush 
 
 Alisma ranunculoides Lesser Thrumwort 
 
 POTAMOGETONACE/E OR PONDWEED ORDER. 
 Ruppia maritima Sea Tasselgrass 
 
 Zannichellia palustris Common Lakeweed 
 
 ORCHIDACE.E OR ORCHID ORDER. 
 Orchis morio Green-winged Orchis 
 
 pyramidalis Pyramidal 
 
 Epipactis latifolia Broad-leaved Helleborine 
 
 palustris Marsh 
 
 JUNCACEiE OR' RUSH ORDER. 
 
 Juncus effesus Soft Rush 
 
 filiformis Threadrush 
 
 squarrosus Heathrush 
 
 Narthecium ossifragrum Bog Asphodel 
 
 ARACE^ OR ARUM ORDER. 
 Lenna minor Lesser Duckweed 
 
 CRONTIACE.-E OR SWEET-FLAG ORDER. 
 Acorus Calamus Sweet-flag 
 
 CYPERACE.E OR SEDGE ORDER. 
 Carex limosa Mud Sedge 
 
 flava Yellow 
 
 arenaria Sea 
 
 Eriophorum polystachyon Broad-leaved Cotton-grass 
 
 EQUISETACEiE OR HORSETAIL ORDER. 
 Equisetum arvense Corn Horsetail 
 
 variegatum Variegated Horsetail 
 
 THE RIVER WYRE rises in the hills of Wyersdale and 
 Bleasdale ; running in a south-westerly direction and passing 
 the towns of Garstang and Church Town, it arrives at St. 
 Michael's, from which point its tortuous course is continued 
 almost due west as far as Skippool. Thence winding past the
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 137 
 
 ancient port of Wardleys, the stream, much widened, flows 
 north and a little inclined towards the west, until it reaches 
 the harbour of Fleetwood, situated at its mouth. From that 
 seaport, the channel of the river, unaltered in direction, lies for a 
 distance of nearly two miles between the sand-banks of North 
 Wharf and Bernard's Wharf, and finally terminates in More- 
 cambe Bay, meeting the well-defined bed of the Lune at right 
 angles. The origins of the Wyre in the hills consist of two small 
 rivulets, and the stream formed by their union is joined near 
 Scorton by the Grizedale Brook, whilst lower down, about two 
 miles beyond the town of Garstang, it receives the Calder, 
 rising on the slopes of Bleasdale. Before leaving the parish of 
 Garstang, the Wyre is further increased by the brook springing 
 from Fairsnape and Parlick Pike, which passes Claughton and 
 Myerscough, not far from where it receives a small tributary from 
 the south. At Skippool also a brook, the Skipton, which springs 
 from the mere and marshy grounds of Marton Moss, pours its 
 contents into the river. 
 
 The Wyre is crossed at Garstang by the aqueduct of the 
 Preston, Lancaster, and Kendal canal, and at St. Michael's, near 
 the Church, it is spanned by a rather narrow but substantial 
 stone bridge. For a distance of about six miles in the neighbour- 
 hood of the latter place the stream is enclosed within artificial 
 banks, which in some parts have a descent of thirty feet. In 
 spite of these precautions, however, high floods occasionally occur, 
 when the swollen waters burst over the embankments and inundate 
 the adjoining country. At Cart Ford there is a wooden structure 
 of very limited width, connecting the opposing banks ; and a few 
 miles further down is the Shard Bridge, built of iron, and present- 
 ing a neat and elegant appearance. The river at that spot is 500 
 yards in breadth, and until the erection of the bridge in 1864, 
 was crossed by means of a ferry-boat, or forded at low water by 
 carts and conveyances. The ancient name of this ford was 
 Ald-wath, and we learn from the following entry in the diary 
 of Thomas Tyldesley, that in 1713 the charge for crossing by boat 
 was 6d. each journey: "September 14, 1713. Went after dinr. to 
 ffox Hall ; pd. 6d. ffor boating att Sharde ; saw ye ferry man 
 carry out of ye boat a Scot and his pack, a sight I never saw 
 beffor, beeing 56 years off age."
 
 138 
 
 About three hundred years since the venerable Harrison 
 described the principal rivers of Lancashire, and from his 
 writings at that time we quote as under : 
 
 " The Wire ryseth eight or ten miles from Garstan, out of an hill in Wiresdale, 
 from whence it runneth by Shireshed chappell, and then going by Wadland, 
 Grenelaw Castle (\vhich belongeth to the erle of Darbie), Garstan and Kyrkeland 
 hall, it first receiveth the seconde Calder, that commeth down by Edmersey 
 chappell, then another chanel increased with sundrie waters, the first water is 
 called Plympton brooke. It riseth south of Gosner, and commeth by Craweforde 
 hall, and eare long receyving the Barton becke, it proceedeth forward till it 
 joyneth with the Brooke rill that commeth from Bowland Forest by Claughton 
 hall, where M. Brokehales doth live, and so throw Mersco forest. After this con- 
 fluence the Plime or Plimton water meeteth with the Calder, and then with the 
 Wire, which passeth forth to Michael church and the Rawcliffes, and above 
 Thorneton crosseth the Skipton, that goeth by Potton, then into the Wire rode, 
 and finally into the sea, according to his nature." 
 
 Drayton also has left the subjoined versified account of the 
 Wyre, and as in addition to its poetic merit, it possesses the 
 virtue of being a faithful description, we need not apologise for 
 giving it unabridged : 
 
 " Arising but a rill at first from Wyersdale's lap, 
 Yet still receiving all her strength from her full mother's pap, 
 As downe to seaward she her serious course doth ply, 
 Takes Calder coming in, to beare her company, 
 From Woolscrag's cliffy foot, a hill to her at hand, 
 By that fayre forest knowne, within her Verge to stand. 
 So Bowland from her breast sends Brock her to attend, 
 As she a Forest is, so likewise doth she send 
 Her child, on Wyresdale Flood, the dainty Wyre to wayte, 
 With her assisting Rills, when Wyre is once repleat ; 
 She in her crooked course to Seaward softly glides, 
 Where Pellin's mighty Mosse, and Merton's on her sides 
 Their boggy breasts outlay, and Skipton down doth crawle 
 To entertain this Wyre, attained to her fall." 1 
 
 White Hall, (formerly Upper Rawcliffe Hall,) Rawcliffe Hall, 
 and Mains Hall, each of which will claim our attention more 
 particularly hereafter, are seated on the banks of the Wyre, so 
 also is the ancient house of Preesall-with-Hackensall, and although 
 not properly comprised within the limits of this work, it has a 
 right from its association with the river, to some description a 
 right the more readily conceded when it is known that in point 
 of antiquity and interest, the hall and domain are well deserving 
 
 I. Faerie Land, Song, edit. A.D. 1622.
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 139 
 
 of our consideration. The site of the mansion is a little removed 
 from the brink of the stream, and almost directly opposite the 
 southern extremity of Fleetwood. The present building is of 
 considerable age, having been erected by Richard Fleetwood, of 
 Rossall, in 1656, as indicated by an inscription over the main 
 entrance, but there can be no question that the origin of its 
 predecessor was co-eval, at least, with the grant of the manor by 
 King John, when earl of Moreton, to Geoffrey, the Crossbowman, 
 who, with his descendants, resided there. The whole of the large 
 estate remained in the family of Geoffrey until the fifteenth 
 century, when it was conveyed in marriage to James Pickering, 
 of Layton, by Agnes, the sole offspring and heiress of the last 
 male Hackensall, the title assumed, according to custom, by the 
 Crossbowman. James Pickering left at his decease four daughters, 
 co-heiresses, and married to Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe, Thomas 
 Aglionby, Nicholas Aglionby, and James Leybourne, each of 
 whom inherited one-fourth of the manor in right of his wife. In 
 1639 Sir Paul Fleetwood, of Rossall, held three-fourths of 
 Hackensall, whilst the remaining quarter had descended to 
 Henry Butler. Under the will of Richard Fleetwood, the 
 re-erector of the hall, at that time occupied by his brother 
 Francis, the three-fourths just named were sold by his trustees, 
 being purchased, in part, for the Hornbys, of Poulton. Geoffrey 
 Hornby, vicar of Winwick, and Robert Loxham, vicar of Poulton, 
 held between them three-quarters of the manor in 1729, and 
 William Elletson, of Parrox Hall, had possession of the other 
 fourth, which is now the hereditary estate of Daniel Hope 
 Elletson, esq., justice of the peace, residing at the same seat. 
 At the end of the last century the Hornbys disposed of their 
 share to John Bourne, gentleman, of Stalmine, from whom it 
 descended to his second son, James Bourne, of Stalmine, and 
 from him to his nephews, Thomas, James, and Peter, successively. 
 The other portion of the manorial rights of the three-fourths was 
 subsequently acquired by the last-surviving nephew, Peter Bourne, 
 of Heathfield and Liverpool. Peter Bourne, esq., of Hackensall, 
 married Margaret, the only daughter of James Drinkwater, esq., 
 of Bent, in Lancashire, and left issue James, who is the present 
 lord of three-quarters of the manor, and owner of the ancient Hall. 
 James Bourne, esq., M.P., of Hackensall, and of Heathfield, near
 
 I 4 o COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 Liverpool, is Col.-Comdt. of the Royal Lancashire regiment of 
 Militia Artillery, a deputy-lieutenant, and a justice of the peace of 
 this county. Colonel Bourne has recently restored the old manor 
 house, but in such a way as to preserve, and not obliterate, its 
 links with a bygone age. The antique fire-places, one of which 
 was protected by a massive arch of stone sweeping across the 
 whole width of the room, have been renewed as before, and 
 although the main doorway has been removed to another part of 
 the building, the stone with the initials F. R. A., being those of 
 Richard Fleetwood and Anne, his wife, has been reinstated in its 
 original position above the newly-constructed lintel. Rumour 
 affirms that during certain alterations two or three skeletons, 
 supposed to be those of females, were found bricked up in a 
 narrow chamber in one of the walls, and whilst confirming the 
 discovery of a long secret recess, we dare not venture, for the 
 evidence is somewhat contradictory, to hold ourselves responsible 
 for the strict accuracy of the other part of the story, which 
 suggests the enactment of a scene of revolting cruelty, similar 
 to that introduced by Sir Walter Scott in the following lines : 
 " Yet well the luckless wretch might shriek, 
 
 Well might her paleness terror speak ! 
 
 For there was seen in that dark wall, 
 
 Two niches, narrow, deep, and tall. 
 
 Who enters at such grisly door 
 
 Shall ne'er I wean find exit more. 
 
 In each a slender meal was laid 
 
 Of roots, of water, and of bread. 
 
 Hewn stones and mortar were display'd, 
 
 And building tools in order laid." 
 
 The moat has now been nearly filled up, but its extent and 
 direction can still be pointed out. There are no indications of a 
 chapel having formerly constituted part of the residential building, 
 but several years since, when an outhouse was destroyed, at a 
 short distance, about twenty yards, two gravestones were dis- 
 covered, and it is probable that they were somewhere near, if not 
 actually on the site of, the private chapel or oratory. One of the 
 stones was broken up immediately, and the other is practically 
 illegible, although three or four words, still preserved, prove that 
 the inscription has not been in raised characters. The rights to 
 wreckage, etc. on the foreshore of the manor have pertained to
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 141 
 
 the lords of Hackensall from time immemorial, and still continue 
 to be held and exercised as portion of the lordship. 
 
 Anterior to the establishment of a port at Fleetwood, or more 
 correctly speaking, to the foundation of a town and the erection 
 of wharfage, etc., on the warren forming the western boundary of 
 Wyre estuary, Wardleys and Skippool, almost facing each other, 
 were the harbours to which all commercial traffic on the river 
 was directed. Ships of considerable size, freighted with cargoes 
 of various sorts, found their way to those secluded havens, and 
 even within the last few years, during high tides, vessels laden 
 with grain have been berthed and unloaded in the narrow creek 
 leading from Skippool bay, while bags of guano have often ter- 
 minated their sea-voyages at Wardleys. A solitary warehouse, 
 however, undated, but bearing on its battered exterior and decay- 
 ing timbers the unmistakable stamp of time, is, at the present 
 day, almost the only remaining witness to the former pretentions 
 of the first named 'place. At Wardleys, three or four spacious 
 warehouses, in a similarly dilapidated condition and now partially 
 converted into shippons, the remainder being unused except as 
 lumber-rooms or temporary storehouses for guano or some local 
 agricultural produce, together with a stone wharf, are evidences 
 of a fair amount of business having once been carried on at that 
 little port. 
 
 In 1825 Baines described Wardleys as "a small seaport on the 
 river Wyre, where vessels of 300 tons register may discharge their 
 burdens, situated in the township of Stalmine with Stainall, in 
 the hundred of Amounderness ;" but in the year 1708 customs 
 were established at Poulton in connection with Wardleys and 
 Skippool. Nor should we be justified in limiting the antiquity of 
 the ports to that date, for as early as 1590 1600, William and 
 James Blackburne, of Thistleton, carried on an extensive trade 
 with Russia, and there can be no doubt that their cargoes of mer- 
 chandise, most likely flax and tallow, were landed on the banks 
 of the Wyre at those ancient harbours. The father of the above 
 merchants was the first of the family to take up his residence in 
 this neighbourhood, and appears to have settled at Garstang, 
 about 1550, from Yorkshire. That the commercial dealings of 
 the partners were both large and successful is shown in the pro- 
 perty acquired by William Blackburne, the elder brother, who
 
 142 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 purchased Newton, lands in Thistleton, and several other estates 
 of considerable magnitude in the Fylde, all of which he bequeathed 
 to his son and heir, Richard. Richard Blackburne married Jane, 
 the daughter of John Aynesworth, of Newton, and had issue John 
 of Eccleston ; Richard, of Goosnargh ; Thomas, of Orford and 
 Newton ; Edward, of Stockenbridge, near St. Michael's-on-Wyre ; 
 Robert, who was suspected of being implicated in the Gunpowder 
 Plot, but acquitted, the evidence being insufficient ; Annie, who 
 married Nickson ; and Elizabeth, the wife of William Standish. 
 When the Singletons of Staining became extinct, the Hall and 
 estate of that name passed to a William Blackburne, as heir-at- 
 law, and there is great probability that he was a descendant of one 
 of the sons of Richard Blackburne of Thistleton, Newton, etc. 
 most likely of John Blackburn, of Eccleston. 
 
 During the years more immediately previous to the opening of 
 the new port at the mouth of the river, a great many large ships 
 from America, laden with timber, and brigs from Russia, with flax 
 and tallow, were discharged at Wardleys. A three masted vessel, 
 for the foreign trade, was also constructed in the ship-yard 
 attached to that place, but as far as can be learnt this was the 
 only vessel of equal dimensions ever built there, repairs being the 
 chief occupation of the workpeople. 
 
 Several of the officers connected with the Custom House at 
 Poulton, were stationed at Knot End, opposite the Warren, 
 living in the small cottage standing near the shore, in order to 
 board the different craft as they entered the river, and pilot them 
 up the stream to Wardleys. A large hotel is situated behind 
 the site of the old ship-yard, and during the summer months is 
 generally well patronised by visitors, to whom, as well as to the 
 pleasure-parties arriving by water from Fleetwood, and by road 
 from Blackpool, the hamlet is now mainly indebted for support. 
 Some large mussels, the " Mytili angulosi," but known amongst 
 the natives of those parts as " Hambleton bookings," were found 
 formerly in large quantities a little lower down the river, but lately 
 specimens of this fine shell-fish have been growing much scarcer. 
 Dr. Leigh, in his Natural History of our county, informs us that 
 pearls have frequently been discovered enclosed within the shells 
 of these molluscs, and also that their popular name arises from the 
 manner in which they are taken, the feat being accomplished " by
 
 RIVERS AND SEA. 143 
 
 plucking them from their Skeers, or Beds, with Hooks." The 
 tidal estuary of the Wyre embraces an area of three miles by two, 
 and it is near to its termination that the port and town of Fleet- 
 wood are situated. Our purpose now is not to enter into a 
 description of the harbour, which will be found in the chapter 
 specially devoted to the seaport itself, but a few words as to the 
 advantages derived from the nature of the river's current and its 
 bed, will not be out of place. Captain Denham, R.N., F.R.S., 
 after inspecting the site of the proposed port on behalf of the pro- 
 moters, issued a report in the month of January, 1840, and 
 amongst other things, stated that during the first half of the ebb- 
 tide, a reflux of backwater was produced which dipped with such 
 a powerful under-scour as to preserve a natural basin, capable of 
 riding ships of eighteen or twenty feet draught, at low water, 
 spring tides ; also that the anchorage ground, both within and 
 without the harbour, was excellent. These facts alone seemed 
 sufficient to warrant the gallant officer's prediction that the 
 undertaking would be successful and remunerative, but when in 
 addition it is called to mind, that " as easy and safe as Wyre 
 water " had for long been a proverb amongst the mariners of our 
 coast, and that the harbour was, and is, perfectly sheltered from 
 all winds, as well as connected with a railway terminus which 
 communicates with Preston, Manchester, etc., we are astonished 
 that comparatively so little encouragement has been given to it, 
 and that now, thirty-five years from the date of this survey, the 
 first dock is only approaching completion. 
 
 The river Wyre is plentifully supplied with fish of various sorts ; 
 in the higher parts of the stream trout and smelts may be found, 
 whilst the lower portion and estuary contain codling, flounders, 
 sea-perch, conger, sand eels, and occasionally salmon. The 
 earliest enactments with regard to the fisheries connected with 
 the last-named fish related to the Wyre, Ribble, and other rivers 
 of Lancashire. In 1389, during the reign of Richard II., a law, 
 which arranged the times and seasons when the fisheries in these 
 rivers should be closed, and other matters affecting them, was 
 passed and brought into force, being the first regulation of its 
 kind. 
 
 The Ribble is associated with the Fylde only in so much as its 
 tidal estuary is concerned, which forms the southern boundary of
 
 144 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 the district. Since 1837 great alterations have been effected in 
 the channel of the river by the Ribble Navigation Improvement 
 Company. The stream for the larger portion of its extent from 
 Preston to the Naze Point has been confined within stone 
 embankments, and its bed considerably deepened by dredging. 
 During the progress of these improvements wide tracts of land 
 have been reclaimed both north and south of the current. 
 From Freckleton the river rapidly widens as it approaches 
 the sea, so that a direct line drawn from Lytham to Southport 
 across its mouth would pass over a distance of seven or 
 eight miles. The channel here is shallow, while the sands on 
 each side are flat and extensive,, and midway in the estuary, at its 
 lowest part, lies the far-famed Horse-bank, which divides the 
 stream into a north and south current, scarcely discernible, 
 however, after the tide has risen above the level of the bank. 
 About one mile from the town of Lytham, in the direction of 
 Preston, is a pool of moderate dimensions, having an open com- 
 munication with the river, and formed into a small harbour or 
 dock for yachts and vessels connected with the coasting trade. 
 In the bed of the river, a little higher up than that locality, 
 trunks of large trees are occasionally observed at low water, and 
 many such remains of a once noble forest, which is believed to 
 have extended from near the Welsh coast as far even as More- 
 cambe, have been raised at different times during the operation of 
 dredging. 
 
 The following descriptions of the Ribble, its source, course, and 
 tributaries, were written, respectively, by the ancient topographer 
 Harrison, and the poet Drayton, whose accounts of the Wyre 
 have been previously quoted : 
 
 " The Rybell, a river verie rich of Salmon and Lampreie, dooth in manner 
 inviron Preston in Andernesse, and it jriseth neere to Ribbesdale above Gisburne. 
 It goeth from thence to Sawley or Salley, Chatburne, Woodington, Clitherow 
 Castell, and beneath Mitton meeteth with the Odder, which ryseth not farre from 
 the Cross of Crete in Yorkshire, and going thence to Shilburne, Newton, 
 Radholme parke, and Stony hirst, it falleth ere long into Ribble water. From 
 thence the Ribble hath not gone farre, but it meeteth with the Calder. Thys 
 brooke ryseth above Holme Church, goeth by Townley and Burneley (where 
 it receiveth a trifeling rill), thence to Higham, and ere long crossing one 
 water that cometh from Wicoler, by Colne, and another by and by named Pidle 
 brooke that runneth by Newechurch, in the Pidle : it meeteth with ye Calder, 
 which passeth forth to Padiam, and thence (receyving a becke on the other side)
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 145 
 
 it runneth on to Altham, and so to Martholme, where the Henburne brooke doth 
 joyn with all, that goeth by Alkington chappell, Dunkinhalge, Rishton, and so 
 into ye Calder as I have sayde before. The Calder therefore being thus inlarged, 
 runneth forth to Reade (where M. Noell dwelleth), to Whalley, and soon after 
 into Ribell,that goeth from this confluence to Salisbury hal, Ribchester, Osbaston, 
 Sambury, Keuerden, Law, Ribles bridge, and then taketh in the Darwent, before 
 it goeth by Pontwarth or Pentworth into the sea. The Darwent devideth Leland 
 shire from Andernesse, 1 and it ryseth by east above Darwent Chappell, and soone 
 after uniting it selfe with the Blackeburne, and Rodlesworthe water it goeth 
 thorowe Howghton Parke, by Howghton towne, to Walton hall, and so into the 
 Ribell. As for the Sannocke brooke, it ryseth somewhat above Longridge 
 Chappell, goeth to Broughton towne, Gotham, Lee hall, and so into Ribell." 
 " From Penigent's proud foot as from my source I slide, 
 
 That mountain, my proud sire, in height of all his pride, 
 
 Takes pleasure in my course as in his first-born flood, 
 
 And Ingleborrough too, of that Olympian brood, 
 
 And Pendle, of the north, the highest hill that be, 
 
 Do wistly me behold, and are beheld of me. 
 ' These mountains make me proud, to gaze on me that stand, 
 
 So Longridge, once arrived on the Lancastrian strand, 
 
 Salutes me, and with smiles me to his soil invites, 
 
 So have I many a flood that forward me excites, 
 
 As Hodder that from Home attends me from my spring, 
 
 Then Calder, coming down from Blackstonedge doth bring 
 
 Me easily on my way to Preston, the greatest town 
 
 Wherewith my banks are blest, where, at my going'down, 
 
 Clear Darwen on along me to the sea doth'drive, 
 
 And in my spacious fall no sooner I arrive, 
 
 But Savock to the north from Longridge making way 
 
 To this my greatness adds, when in my ample bay, 
 
 Swart Dulas coming in from Wigan, with her aids, 
 
 Short Taud and Dartow small, two little country maids, 
 
 In these low watery lands and moory mosses bred, 
 
 Do see me safely laid in mighty Neptune's bed, 
 
 And cutting in my course, even through the heart 
 
 Of this renowned shire, so equally it part, 
 
 As nature should have said, lo ! thus I meant to do, 
 
 This flood divides this shire, thus equally in two." 
 
 The beautiful scenery and historical associations of the Ribble 
 render it the most interesting and charming of the several rivers 
 which water the county of Lancaster. The quietude of its fair 
 valley has on more than one occasion been rudely broken by the 
 clash of arms, and students of our country's history will readily 
 
 i. This is incorrect, as the Ribble and not the Darwent separates the Hundreds 
 of Leyland and Amounderness.
 
 146 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 call to mind that calamitous day to the Duke of Hamilton, when 
 Cromwell routed the Highlanders under his command, near 
 Preston, 
 
 "And Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbrued." 
 
 Other instances of war-like doings along the banks of this river 
 might be recounted, but as the neighbourhoods in which they 
 occurred are not enclosed within the Fylde boundaries, we are 
 perforce obliged to exclude them from this volume, and must 
 refer those of our readers who are anxious to learn more both of 
 them and of the river itself to other sources for the required 
 information. The chief fish of the Ribble is of course its salmon, 
 but in addition the estuary contains numbers of flounders and 
 other varieties of the finny tribes similar to those fouud in the 
 tidal portion of the Wyre. During the sixteenth century 
 sturgeons seem to have been captured occasionally in the Ribble, 
 and amongst the records of the duchy in 1536, there is a com- 
 plaint that when " one certain sturgeon was found within the 
 township of Warton and seized for the use of the King (who held 
 the right of fishery there), and laid up in a house in Warton, one 
 Christopher Bone, of Warton, and James Brad r ton, of the ley, 
 with divers riotous persons, about the 6th of May last, did then 
 and there take out of the said house the said sturgeon, and the 
 said Bone hath at divers times and in like manner taken 
 sturgeons and porpoises to his own use and the injury of his 
 majesty." 1 
 
 As such a small part, and that far from the most important, of 
 of Ribble stream is really connected with the Fylde, and as it is 
 not our intention to trespass beyond the limits of that district, at 
 least not knowingly, and the margin in" the present instance is so 
 clearly defined that no excuse could be offered for overstepping it, 
 we. are compelled to content ourselves with this brief account, 
 leaving much unsaid that is of considerable historical and general 
 interest. 
 
 THE SEA which washes over the westerly shore of the Fylde 
 forms part of St. George's Channel or the Irish Sea, whilst the 
 narrow northern boundary of the same district is limited by the 
 waters of Morecambe Bay. The main peculiarities to be noticed 
 
 I. Record Office, 28 Henry VIII., V. S., c. 6.
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 147 
 
 along the extensive line of this coast swept- over by the billows of 
 the Irish Sea, are the almost entire absence of seaweeds and the 
 levelness of the sands ; indeed, so gentle is the slope of the latter 
 that its average declivity has been estimated at no more than one 
 foot in every fifty yards, and to the flatness of this surface it is 
 due that the beach is in a very great measure freed from putrifying 
 heaps of fish and seaweed, for the rising tides glide with such 
 swiftness over the level sandy beds that most driftmatters and 
 impurities are left behind in the depths beyond low water mark. 
 An analysis, made by Dr. Schweitzer, of the waters of the English 
 coast, furnishes the following result : 
 
 No. of grains. 
 
 Water 964.74 
 
 Chloride of Sodium (Table salt) 27.06 
 
 Chloride of Magnesium 3.67 
 
 Sulphate of Magnesia (Epsom Salts) 2.30 
 
 Sulphate of Lime 1.40 
 
 Carbonate of Lime 0.03 
 
 Carbonate of Magnesia 
 
 Carbonic Acid 
 
 'Potash , Traces 
 
 T j A 1 tlCCo 
 
 Iodine 
 
 Extractive matter 
 
 Bromide of Magnesium 
 
 1,000 
 
 There are few, we imagine, who have not at one time or 
 another admired the luminous appearance of the sea on certain 
 evenings. This astonishing and beautiful phenomenon is brought 
 about by the presence in the water of myriads of tiny beings, 
 called Noctilucse, which possess the power of emitting a phos- 
 phorescent light, and seemingly convert the bursting waves into 
 masses of liquid fire. The immense expanse of sea spreading out 
 from the westerly border of the Fylde has, independently of its 
 association with the Gulph Stream, a marked influence in 
 equalising the climate and averting those sudden and extreme 
 degrees of heat and cold commonly experienced inland. The 
 atmosphere over water does not undergo such rapid alterations in 
 its temperature as that over land, and hence it happens that 
 localities situated near the coast are cooler in summer and 
 warmer in winter than others far removed from its vicinity. 
 Most people will have observed that after a calm sunny day at 
 the seaside, a breeze from the land invariably arises after sunset,
 
 148 COSTUMES, COUNTRY, 
 
 due to the fact that the air over the earth being cooled and 
 condensed much sooner than that over the sea, the heavier body 
 of atmosphere endeavours to displace the warmer and lighter one. 
 A gentle evaporation is daily taking place from the surface of the 
 sea, by which the air becomes loaded with moisture, remaining 
 suspended until the coolness of evening sets in, when it is 
 deposited on the ground as dew. The water thus obtained from 
 the deep is not pure brine, as might at first sight appear, but is 
 freed from its salts by the process of natural distillation which 
 has been undergone. Similar evaporation also goes on from the 
 surfaces of the Ribble and Wyre, and it is doubtless chiefly owing 
 to the Fylde being almost environed by water, constantly dis- 
 seminating dew, that its fecundity is not only so great, but also so 
 constant. The following is a list of the seaweeds to be found on 
 the coast : 
 
 MELANOSPERME.E OR OLIVE GREEN SEAWEEDS. 
 
 TRIBE FUCACE^E. 
 
 Fucus nodosus Knobbed Wrack 
 
 serratus Serrated 
 
 canaliculatus Channelled 
 
 vesiculosus Bladder 
 
 TRIBE SPOROCHNACE/E. 
 
 Desmarestia aculeata Spring Desmarestia 
 
 viridis Green 
 
 TRIBE LAMINARIE<E. 
 
 Alaria esculenta Edible Alaria 
 
 Laminaria digitata Tangle 
 
 saccharina Sweet Laminaria 
 
 bulbosa Sea-furbelows 
 
 Chorda filum Thread Ropeweed 
 
 TRIBE DICTYOTE.E. 
 
 Dictyosiphon faeniculaceus Tubular Netweed 
 
 Asperococcus echinatus Wooly Rough-weed 
 
 compressus Compressed 
 
 TRIBE CHORDARIE.E. 
 
 Chordaria flagelliformis Whiplash weed 
 
 Mesogloia virescens Verdant Viscid-weed 
 
 vermicularis Wormy 
 
 TRIBE ECTOCARPE^. 
 Cladostephus verticillatus Whorled Cladostephus 
 
 spongiosus Spongy 
 
 Sphacellaria scoparia Brown-like Sphacellaria 
 
 plumosa Feathered 
 
 Cirrhosa Nodular
 
 RIVERS, AND SEA. 149 
 
 TRIBE ECTOCARPE^E continued. 
 
 Ectocarpus litoralis Shore Ectocarpus 
 
 siliculosus Podded 
 
 tomentosus Feathered 
 
 RHODOSPERME^E OR RED SEAWEEDS. 
 
 TRIBE RHODOMELE^;. 
 
 Polysiphonia fastigiata Tufted Polysiphonia 
 
 urceolata Hair-like 
 
 nigrescens Dark 
 
 TRIBE LAURENCIE.E. 
 
 Bonnemaisonia asparagoides Asparagus-like Bonnemaisonia 
 
 Laurentia pinnatifida Pinnatifid Pepper-dulse 
 
 ,, caespitosa Tufted 
 
 dasyphylla Sedum-leaved 
 
 TRIBE CORRALLINE,E. 
 
 Corallina officinalis Officinal Coralline 
 
 Jania Jania 
 
 Melobesia Melobesia 
 
 TRIBE DELESSERIE.E. 
 Delesseria alata Winged Delesseria 
 
 TRIBE RHODYMENIE^E. 
 Rhodymenia palmata Dulse 
 
 ,, ciliata Ciliated Rhodymenia 
 
 Hypnea purpurescens Purple Hypnea 
 
 TRIBE CRYPTONEMIE.<E. 
 
 Gelidium Jellyweed 
 
 Gigartina mamillosa Papillary Grape-stone 
 
 Chondrus crispus Irish moss 
 
 Polyides rotundus Round Polyides 
 
 Furcellaria fastigiata Slippery Forkweed 
 
 Halymenia rubens Red Sea-film 
 
 membranifolia Membranous Sea-film 
 
 edulis Edible 
 
 palmata Palmated 
 
 lacerata Lacerated 
 
 Catanella opuntia Catanella opuntia 
 
 TRIBE CERAMIE^;. 
 
 Ceramium rubrum Red Hornweed 
 
 diaphanum Diaphanous ,, 
 
 ciliatum Hairy 
 
 echionotum Irregularly-spined Hornweed 
 
 acanthonotum Spined 
 
 nodosum Nodose 
 
 Callithamnion tetragonum Square-branched Callithamnion 
 
 plumula Feathery 
 
 polyspermum Many-spermed ,,
 
 COSTUAfES, COUNTRY. 
 
 CHLOROSPERME^: OR GRASS GREEN SEAWEEDS. 
 
 TRIBE CONFERVA. 
 
 Couferva rupestris Rock Crowsilk 
 
 lanosa Woolly 
 
 fucicola Wrack 
 
 tortuosa Twisted 
 
 TRIBE ULVEJE. 
 
 Oyster Green or Laver 
 Lettuce Laver 
 Intestinal Entermorpha 
 Branched ,, 
 
 of some of 
 
 Ulva latissima 
 Lactuca 
 
 Entermarpha intestinalis 
 compressa 
 
 The subjoined table contains the names of some of the 
 crustaceous animals and molluscs commonly met with in the 
 neighbourhood : 
 
 Arctopsis tetraodon 
 Hyas araneus 
 Portunus puber 
 Corystes dentata 
 Gonoplax angulata 
 Pinnotheres pisum 
 Porcellana platycheles 
 Cancer pagurus 
 Cancer maenas 
 Pagurus Bernhardus 
 Pilumnus hirtellus 
 Palaemon serratus 
 Crangon vulgaris 
 Corophium longicorne 
 Orchestia littorea 
 Talitrus saltator 
 Sulcator arenarius 
 Mytilus edulis 
 Cardium edule 
 Buccinum undatum 
 Litorina litorea 
 Calyptra vulgaris 
 
 Four-horned Spider-crab 
 
 Great Spider-crab, or Sea-toad 
 
 Velvet Fiddler-crab 
 
 Toothed Crab 
 
 Angular Crab 
 
 Pea-crab 
 
 Broad-claw porcelain Crab 
 
 Edible crab 
 
 Common Crab 
 
 Hermit-crab 
 
 Hairy-crab 
 
 Common Prawn 
 
 Common Shrimp 
 
 Long-horned Corophium 
 
 Shore-hopper 
 
 Sand-hopper 
 
 Sand-screw 
 
 Edible Mussel 
 
 Cockle 
 
 Whelk 
 
 Periwinkle 
 
 Common Limpet
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PEDIGREES OF ANCIENT FAMILIES. 
 ALLEN OF ROSSALL HALL. 
 
 jjHE Aliens who resided at Rossall Hall for a period 
 of more than half a century, and by intermarriage 
 became connected with the Westbys of Mowbreck, 
 the Heskeths of Mains, and the Gillows of Bryning, 
 sprang from the county of Stafford. At the time of the 
 Protestant Reformation, George Allen, of Brookhouse, in 
 the division just mentioned, held a long lease of the Grange 
 and Hall of Rossall from a kinsman of his family, one of the 
 abbots of Deulacres, a Staffordshire monastery, to which the 
 estate had been granted by King John. George Allen at his 
 death left one son, John, who resided at the Hall, and subse- 
 quently married Jane, the sister of Thomas Lister, of Arnold 
 Biggin, in Yorkshire. The offspring of this marriage were 
 Richard, William, Gabriel, George, who espoused Elizabeth, 
 the daughter of William Westby, of Mowbreok ; Mary, afterwards 
 the wife of Thomas Worthington, of Blainscow ; Elizabeth, 
 subsequently the wife of William Hesketh, of Mains Hall ; and 
 Anne, who married George Gillow, of Bryning. Richard Allen, 
 of Rossall Hall, the eldest son, left at his demise a widow with 
 three daughters, named respectively, Helen, Catherine, and Mary, 
 who were deprived of their possessions and rights in the Grange 
 in the year 1583 by Edmund Fleetwood, whose father had 
 purchased the reversion of the lease from Hcury VIII., at the 
 time when the larger monastic institutions were dissolved in
 
 152 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 England. The widow and her daughters fled to Rheims to escape 
 further persecution, where they were hospitably received by their 
 near relative, Cardinal William Allen, who interested the princely 
 family of Guise in their behalf and so obtained for them the means 
 of subsistence. 
 
 William Allen, the second son of John Allen, of Rossall Hall, 
 was born in 1532, and at the early age of fifteen entered Oriel 
 College, Oxford, under the tutorship of Morgan Philips, perhaps 
 the most eminent logician of his day. Three years later he was 
 elected to a fellowship. Upon the accession of Mary he entered 
 the church, and in 1556 was made principal of St. Mary's Hall, 
 acting as Proctor for the two succeeding years. In 1558 he was 
 created canon of York, but on the accession of Elizabeth, he 
 refused the Protestant oaths, was deprived of his fellowship, and, 
 in 1560, retired to Louvaine, where he wrote his first work, 
 entitled "A Defence of the Doctrine of Catholics, concerning 
 Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead," in answer to an attack on 
 those dogmas by Bishop Jewell. In 1565, the year in which this 
 publication appeared and fermented great excitement both here 
 and abroad, William Allen determined, in spite of the extreme 
 dangers of such an act, to visit his native country, more 
 especially the home of his fathers at Rossall. Religious zeal 
 prevented his active spirit from being long at rest ; after residing 
 in England about three years and visiting different parts of 
 Lancashire, seeking converts to his creed, he was obliged to 
 secrete himself from the eye of the law amongst his friends, 
 Layton Hall and Mains Hall being two of his hiding places, 
 until a suitable opportunity occurred for escaping over to the 
 continent. Flanders was his destination, and from there he went 
 to Mechlin, afterwards taking up his abode at Douai, where he 
 obtained a doctor's degree, and established an English seminary. 
 This college, we learn from the " Mem : Miss : Priests : Ed. 1741," 
 was founded in 1568 "to train up English scholars in virtue and 
 learning, and to qualify them to labour in the vineyard of the 
 Lord, on their return to their native country ; it was the first 
 college in the Christian world, instituted according to the model 
 given by the council of Trent." 
 
 Whilst engaged at the above scholastic institution, William 
 Allen was appointed canon of Cambray; subsequently when the
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 153 
 
 English council applied to the ruling powers of the Spanish 
 Netherlands to suppress the college of Douai, the Doctor and his 
 assistants were received under the protection of the house 
 of Guise. Afterwards Doctor Allen, on being appointed canon of 
 Rheims, established another seminary in that city. At that time 
 perhaps no one was more admired and revered by the Catholic 
 party abroad, and detested by the Protestant subjects of England, 
 than William Allen. He was even accused by his countrymen at 
 home of having traitorously instigated Philip II. of Spain, to 
 attempt the invasion and conquest of England, and although he 
 strenuously denied any agency in that matter, it is certain that 
 after the defeat of the Armada, he wrote a defence of Sir William 
 Stanley and Sir Rowland York, who had assisted the enemy. In 
 1587, he was made cardinal of St. Martin in Montibus by Pope 
 Sectus V., and a little later was presented by the king of Spain 
 to a rich abbey in Naples with promises of still higher preferment. 
 In 1588 he published the " Declaration of the Sentence of Sixtus 
 the Fifth," which was directed against the government of the 
 British queen, whom he declared an usurper, obstinate and 
 impenitent, and for these reasons to be deprived. As an appendix 
 to the work he issued shortly afterwards an "Admonition to the 
 Nobility and People of England and Ireland," in which he pro- 
 nounced the queen an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII. 
 Although the effect of these publications on the English nation 
 was not, as he hoped, to arouse the people to open rebellion, or 
 in any way to advance the Catholic cause, the efforts of the 
 cardinal were so far appreciated by the king of Spain that he 
 promoted him to the archbishopric of Mechlin. He lived at 
 Rome during the remainder of his life in great luxury and 
 magnificence. On October 6th, 1594, this remarkable man 
 expired at his palace, in the 63rd year of his age, and was 
 buried with great pomp at the English church of the Holy 
 Trinity in the ancient imperial city. 
 
 BUTLER OF RAWCLIFFE HALL. 
 
 The name of Butler, or as it was formerly written Botiler, 
 belonged to an office in existence in earlier times, and was first 
 assumed by Theobald Walter, who married Maud, the sister of 
 Thomas a Becket, on being appointed Butler of Ireland.
 
 1 54 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 Theobald Walter-Botiler gave to his relative Richard Pincerna, 
 or Botiler, as the family was afterwards called, the whole of Out 
 Rawcliffe and one carucate of land in Staynole. This gentleman 
 was the founder of that branch of the Butlers which was estab- 
 lished at Rawcliffe Hall for so many generations. Sir Richard 
 Botiler, of Rawcliffe, married Alicia, in 1281, the daughter of 
 William de Carleton, and thus obtained the manor of Inskip. 
 He had issue William, Henry, Richard, Edmund, and Galfrid. 
 Richard Botiler, the third son, who had some possessions in 
 Marton, left at his death one son, also named Richard, who was 
 living in 1323, and became the progenitor of the Butlers of 
 Kirkland. William, the eldest son, espoused Johanna de Sifewast, 
 a widow, by whom he had Nicholas de Botiler, who was alive in 
 1322, and had issue by his wife Olivia, one son, William Botiler, 
 living in 1390. William Botiler had three children John, 
 Richard, and Eleanor. John Botiler was created a knight, and in 
 1393-4-5 was High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster. Sir John 
 Botiler left at his death, in 1404, three sons and one daughter, the 
 offspring of his marriage with Isabella, his second wife, who was 
 the widow of Sir John Butler, of Bewsey. Nicholas, the eldest 
 son, was also twice married, and had issue by his first wife, 
 Margeria, the daughter of Sir Richard Kirkeby, John and 
 Isabella Botiler. John Botiler espoused, in 1448, Elizabeth, the 
 daughter of William Botiler, of Warrington, and had issue 
 Nicholas and Elizabeth Botiler. Nicholas Botiler married Alice, 
 the daughter of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, knt., and was succeeded 
 by his eldest son John Botiler, who subsequently espoused 
 Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Lawrence, knt., 
 and had issue William, James, Richard, and Robert Botiler. 
 James Botiler, the second son, inherited the estates, most 
 probably owing to the death of William, his elder brother, and 
 married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Thomas Molyneux, knt., of 
 Larbrick Hall. James Botiler, or Butler, was living in 1500, but 
 died shortly afterwards, leaving two sons and two daughters 
 John, Nicholas, Isabella, and Elizabeth. John, the elder son, had 
 issue four daughters, whilst Nicholas, the second son, had issue 
 by his first wife, the daughter of Richard Bold, of Bold, two sons, 
 Richard and Henry, and by his second wife, Isabel, the daughter 
 and co-heiress of John Clayton, of Clayton, one daughter, who
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 1 5 5 
 
 died in 1606. Richard Butler married Agnes, the daughter of 
 Sir Richard Houghton, knt., but having no offspring, the estates 
 of Rawcliffe passed to William Butler, the eldest son of his 
 younger brother, Henry Butler, somewhere about 1627. William 
 Butler espoused Elizabeth, the daughter of Cuthbert Clifton, of 
 Westby, by whom he had one son, Henry, who was thrice 
 married, and had numerous offspring. Richard, the eldest son 
 of Henry Butler by his first wife, Dorothy, the daughter of Henry 
 Stanley, of Bickerstaffe, died before his father, but left several 
 sons, one of whom, also named Richard, succeeded to the 
 Rawcliffe property, and was thirty- two years of age in 1664 ; 
 another, Nicholas, was a colonel in the time of Charles I. ; and 
 another, John, was a citizen of London. Richard Butler espoused 
 Katherine, the daughter of Thomas Carus, of Halton, by whom 
 he had a large family, the eldest of which, Henry, was six years of 
 age in 1664. Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe, espoused as his first 
 wife, Katherine, the granddaughter, and subsequently heiress, of 
 Sir John Girlington, knt., of Thurland Csstle, and had issue 
 Richard, Christopher, Philip, Mary, and Katherine. Henry 
 Butler, and Richard, his eldest son, took part with the Pretender 
 in the rebellion of 1715, and for this piece of disaffection their 
 estates were confiscated by the crown, and afterwards sold. Henry 
 Butler made his escape over to France, but Richard was seized, 
 tried, and condemned to death. He died in prison, however, in 
 1716, before the time appointed for his sentence to be carried out, 
 leaving an only child, Catherine, by his wife, Mary, the daughter 
 of Henry Curwen, of Workington, who married Edward Markham, 
 of Ollarton, in the county of Nottingham, and died a minor 
 without issue. Henry Butler lived in the Isle of Man for several 
 years, and espoused Elizabeth Butler, of Kirkland, his third wife, 
 but had no further issue. 
 
 CLIFTON OF CLIFTON, WESTBY, AND LYTHAM. 
 The family of the Cliftons, whose present seat is Lytham Hall, 
 has been associated with the Fylde for many centuries. The 
 earliest ancestor of whom there exists any authentic record, was 
 Sir William de Clyfton, who lived in the time of William II., 
 surnamed Rufus, and during the last year of that monarch's 
 reign, A.D. uoo, gave certain lands in Sal wick to his son William
 
 156 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 upon his marriage. In 1258 a namesake and descendant of this 
 William de Clyfton held ten carucates of land in Amounderness, 
 and was a collector of aids for the county of Lancaster. His son 
 Gilbert de Clyfton was lord of the manors of Clifton, Westby, 
 Fylde-Plumpton, etc., and High Sheriff of the county in the 
 years 1278, 1287, and 1289. He died in 1324, during the reign 
 of Edward II., and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir William 
 de Clifton, who was Knight of the Shire for Lancaster 1302-1304. 
 Sir William de Clifton, 1 knt., the son of the latter gentleman, 
 came into possession of the estates on the demise of his father, 
 and married in 1329, Margaret, the daughter of Sir R. Shireburne, 
 knt., of Stonyhurst, by whom he had issue one son, Nicholas, 
 afterwards knighted. He also entailed the manors of Clifton and 
 Westby on his male issue, and settled the manor of Goosnargh 
 upon his son and heir. He died in 1365. Sir Nicholas de 
 Clifton, during one portion of his life, held the post of Governor 
 of the Castle of Ham, in Picardy. He married Margaret, the 
 daughter of Sir Thomas West, of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire, 
 and had issue two sons Robert and Thomas. The former, who 
 succeeded him, was Knight of the Shire 1382-1383, and espoused 
 Eleyne, the daughter of Sir Robert Ursewyck, knt., by whom he 
 had three sons Thomas, Roger, and James. In course of time, 
 Thomas, the eldest, became the representative of the family, and 
 married Agnes, the daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton. 
 This gentleman (Thomas Clifton), accompanied the army of 
 Henry V., when that monarch invaded France in 1415. He 
 settled Goosnargh and Wood-Plumpton upon his second son, 
 James, while the other portion of the estates passed, on his death 
 in 1442, to Richard, his heir. Richard Clifton formed a matri- 
 monial alliance with Alice, the daughter of John Butler, of 
 Rawcliffe, from which sprang one child, James Clifton, who 
 afterwards espoused Alice, the daughter of Robert Lawrence, of 
 Ashton. The offspring of the latter union were Robert and John 
 Clifton. The former on inheriting the property married Margaret, 
 
 I. This Sir William de Clifton was accused in the year 1337 of having taken 
 possession of twenty marks belonging to the Abbot of Vale Royal, and of having 
 forcibly obstructed the rector in the collecting of tithes within the manors of 
 Clifton and Westby ; also with having inflicted certain injuries upon the hunting 
 palfrey of the latter gentleman.
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 
 
 157 
 
 the daughter of Nicholas Butler, of Bewsey, in Lancashire. His 
 children were Cuthbert and William ; and now, for a few genera- 
 tions, we have two separate branches, the descendants of these 
 gentlemen, which afterwards became united in the persons of 
 their respective representatives : 
 
 SENIOR BRANCH. JUNIOR BRANCH. 
 
 Cuthbert Clifton, Alice, d. and co-heiress of 
 
 of Clifton, 
 died 1512. 
 
 Sir John Lawrence, of 
 Ashton-under-Lyne. 
 
 William Clifton,=Isabel, d. of William 
 
 who inherited 
 Westby. 
 
 r~ 
 
 Thornborough, of 
 Hampsfield, in Furness. 
 
 SirR.Hesketh,=Elizabeth Clifton, =SirW. Molyneux, Thos. Clifton,;=Elmor, d. of Wm. Ellen. 
 
 of Rufford, 
 1st husband. 
 
 died 1548. 
 
 of Sefton & Larbreck, of Westby. 
 2nd husband. 
 
 Sir A. Osbaldiston, 
 of Osbaldiston, co. 
 Lancashire, Knt. 
 
 -William 
 
 | William Molyneux, died young. | 
 Thos. Molyneux, Ann Molyneux, Hy. Halsall Cuthbert Clifton.i=:Catherine, d. of 
 
 unmarried heiress of her brother, 
 or without issue. 
 
 of Halsall. 
 
 of Westby 
 
 Sir E. Houghton, 
 of Houghton, Knt. 
 
 -Ellen 
 -Isabel 
 
 Richard Halsall,=Ann, d. of Alex. Barlow. Thos. Clifton, = Mary, d. of Sir Ed. Seven other 
 | of Westby. [ Norreys, of Speke, Knt. children. 
 
 Sir Cuthbert Halsall,=:( 
 
 of Halsall and 
 Clifton. 
 
 ) Sir Cuthbert Clifton.l Ann, d. of Sir Thos. Tyldesley, 
 of Westby & Lytham, I of Morley. 
 Knt. 
 
 Ann Halsall, -Thomas Clifton, 
 
 daughter 
 
 and 
 co-heiress. 
 
 I 
 
 of Westby 
 
 and Lytham. 
 
 died 1657. 
 
 Cuthbert 
 
 Colonel in the army of Charles I., 
 
 and slain at Manchester. 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Cuthbert Clifton. Sir Thos. Clifton. John Clifton. Widow of 
 
 Geo. Parkinson, 
 of Fairsnape. 
 
 I 
 Ten other children. 
 
 Thos. Clifton, 
 of Clifton, etc. 
 
 This Thomas Clifton retained the Fairsnape estates, which he 
 had inherited from his mother, during his lifetime, but on his 
 decease they passed to his uncle. He marrried Eleanora Alathea, 
 the daughter of Richard Walmsley, of Dunkenhalgh, in Lan- 
 cashire. At his death he left a family of five daughters and two 
 sons, the eldest of whom, Thomas Clifton, of Clifton, Westby, 
 and Lytham, subsequently espoused Mary, the daughter of the 
 fifth Viscount Molyneux. His heir, also Thomas, and born in 
 1728, rebuilt Lytham Hall, and allied himself to the noble house 
 of Abingdon by marrying, as his third wife, Lady Jane Bertie, 
 
 i. Sir Cuthbert Clifton espoused as his second wife, Dorothy, daughter of Sir 
 Thomas Smyth, of Wotton Walwyns, in Warwickshire, and had three sons, 
 Lawrence, Francis, and John, captains in the royal army, and slain in the civil 
 war, besides seven other children. Sir Cuthbert purchased Little Marton and the 
 monastic portion of Lytham from Sir John Holcroft in 1606. He was knighted 
 by James I. at Lathom House,
 
 158 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 the daughter of the third earl. The children of this union were 
 seven, and John, the eldest, born in 1764, inherited the estates, 
 and married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Horsley Wid- 
 drington-Riddell, of Felton Park, Northumberland. John Clifton 
 was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas, who had four brothers 
 and three sisters John, William, Charles, Mary, Harriet, and 
 Elizabeth. Thomas Clifton, of Clifton and Lytham, born in 1788, 
 was a justice of the peace, a deputy-lieutenant, and in 1835, 
 High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster. He married Hetty, 
 the daughter of Pellegrine Trevis, an Italian gentleman of ancient 
 lineage, by whom he had issue John Talbot, born in 1819 ; 
 Thomas Henry, lieut.-colonel in the army, and knight of the 
 Legion of Honour and of the Mejidie ; Edward Arthur, died 
 abroad in 1850; Charles Frederick, who espoused Lady Edith 
 Maud, eldest daughter of the second Marquis of Hastings, and 
 assumed in 1859, by act of parliament, the arms and surname of 
 Abney Hasting ; and Augustus Wykenham, late captain in the 
 Rifle Brigade, who married Lady Bertha Lelgarde Hastings, 
 second daughter of the second Marquis of Hastings. John Talbot 
 Clifton, esq., is still living, and is the present lord of Lytham, 
 Clifton, etc. He was for* some years colonel of the ist. Royal 
 Lancashire Militia, and sat in Parliament from 1844 to 1847 as 
 Member for North Lancashire. In 1844 he married Eleanor 
 Cicily, the daughter of the Hon. Colonel Lowther, M.P., and has 
 one son, Thomas Henry Clifton, esq., who was born in 1845, and 
 is now one of the Members of Parliament for North Lancashire. 
 John Talbot Clifton, esq., is a justice of the peace, and deputy- 
 lieutenant of this county. Thomas Henry Clifton, esq., M.P., 
 espoused, in 1867, Madeline Diana Elizabeth, the eldest daughter 
 of Sir Andrew Agnew, bart., and has issue several children. 
 
 In 1872 Henry Lowther succeeded his uncle as third earl of 
 Lonsdale, and at the same time his sisters Eleanor Cicily, the wife 
 of John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, and Augusta Mary, 
 the wife of the Right Hon. Gerard James Noel, M.P., younger 
 son of the first earl of Gainsborough, were elevated to the rank of 
 earl's daughters. 
 
 FLEETWOOD OF ROSSALL HALL. 
 
 This family sprang originally from Little Plumpton in the 
 Fylde. Henry Fleetwood being the first of whom there is any
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 1 5 9 
 
 reliable record, and of him nothing is known beyond the place of 
 his residence, and the fact that he had a son named Edmund. 
 Edmund Fleetwood married Elizabeth Holland, of Downholme, 
 and was living about the middle and earlier portion of the latter 
 half of the fifteenth century. From that marriage there sprang 
 one son, William Fleetwood, who subsequently espoused Ellyn, 
 the daughter of Robert Standish, and had issue John, Thomas, 
 and Robert Fleetwood. Of these three sons, Thomas, the second, 
 resided at Vach in the county of Buckingham, and at the 
 dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., about 1536, 
 purchased from that monarch the reversion of the lease of 
 Rossall Grange, then held by the Aliens from the Abbot and 
 convent of Deulacres, in Staffordshire. Thomas Fleetwood 
 married Barbara, the cousin and heiress of Andrew Frances, of 
 London, and had issue five sons, the second and third of whom 
 were knighted later in life, whilst the eldest, Edmund, came into 
 possession of Rossall Hall and estate in 1583, after the demise of 
 Richard Allen, whose widow and daughters were ejected. Thus 
 Edmund Fleetwood was the first of the name to reside at Rossall, 
 where he died about forty years later. This gentleman married 
 Elizabeth, the daughter of John Cheney, of Chesham Boys, in 
 Buckinghamshire, and had issue several sons and daughters. 
 Paul, the eldest son and heir, who succeeded him, was knighted 
 by either James I. or Charles I., and married Jane, the daughter 
 of Richard Argall from the county of Kent, by whom he had 
 three sons and two daughters. Edmund, the eldest son, had no 
 male issue, and at his death, in 1644, Richard, his brother, 
 succeeded to the property and resided at Rossall Hall. Richard 
 Fleetwood, who was only fifteen years of age when the death of 
 his predecessor occurred, subsequently espoused a lady, named 
 Anne Mayo, from the county of Herts, by whom he had only 
 two children, a son and a daughter, and as the former died in 
 youth, the estate passed to the next male heir on his demise. 
 The heir was found in the person of Francis, of Hackensall Hall, 
 the brother of Richard Fleetwood and the third son of Sir Paul 
 Fleetwood. Francis Fleetwood, of Rossall, married Mary, the 
 daughter of C. Foster, of Preesall, and had issue Richard 
 Fleetwood, who succeeded him, and a daughter. Richard 
 Fleetwood resided at Rossall Hall, and married Margaret, the
 
 160 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 daughter of Edwin Fleetwood, of Leyland, in 1674. The 
 offspring of that union were two sons, Edward and Paul, and a 
 daughter Margaret. Edward, the heir, was born in 1682, and 
 practised for some time as an attorney in Ireland. On the death 
 of his father, however, he inherited the property, and took up his 
 abode at the ancestral Hall. He espoused Sarah, the daughter of 
 Edward Veale, of Whinney Keys. Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox 
 Hall, Blackpool, was on terms of friendship and intimacy with 
 the Fleetwoods of Rossall at that period, and on the fourteenth of 
 April, 1714, the following entry occurs in his diary, referring to 
 Edward Fleetwood, the lord of the manor, and his brother Paul, 
 also Edward Veale, the father of Mrs. Ed. Fleetwood, whom, for 
 some reason unknown, the diarist invariably designated Captain 
 Veale : " Went to Rosshall. Din d with the trustys, y e Lord 
 & his lady, Mr. Paull, and Cap" Veal. Gave I. Gardiner is., and 
 a boy 6d. ; soe to ffox Hall." 
 
 Paul Fleetwood, the younger brother of the " Lord " died in 
 1727 and was buried at Kirkham, where some of his descendants 
 still exist in very humble circumstances. 
 
 The offspring of Edward Fleetwood consisted only of one child, 
 a daughter, named Margaret, who was born in 1715, and to 
 whom the estates appear to have descended on the decease of her 
 father. On the sixteenth of February, 1733, she married, at 
 Bispham church, Roger Hesketh, of North Meols and Tulketh. 
 Roger Hesketh and his lady resided at Rossall Hall until their 
 respective demises, which happened, the latter in 1752, and the 
 former in 1791. Fleetwood and Sarah Hesketh were the children 
 of their union. On the decease of his father at the ripe age of 
 8 1 years, the son and heir, Fleetwood, had already been dead 22 
 years, and consequently his son, Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, the 
 eldest offspring of his marriage, in 1759, with Frances, the third 
 daughter of Peter Bold, of Bold Hall, in the county of Lancaster, 
 succeeded his grandfather Roger Hesketh. Bold Fleetwood 
 Hesketh, who was born in 1762, died unmarried in 1819, and 
 was buried at Poulton, his younger brother, Robert Hesketh, 
 inheriting the Hall and estates. Robert Hesketh was in his 55th 
 year when he became possessed of the property, and had already 
 been married 29 years to Maria, the daughter of Henry Rawlinson, 
 of Lancaster, by whom he had a numerous family. His four
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 1 6 1 
 
 eldest sons died in youth and unmarried, the oldest haying only 
 attained the age of twenty three, so that at his decease in 1824 he 
 was succeeded by his fifth son, Peter Hesketh. This gentleman, 
 who was born in 1801, espoused at Dover, in 1826, Eliza 
 Delamaire, the daughter of Sir Theophilus J. Metcalf, of Fern 
 Hill, Berkshire, by whom he had several children, who died in 
 early youth. As his second wife he married, in 1837, Verginie 
 Marie, the daughter of Senor Pedro Garcia, and had issue one 
 son, Peter Louis Hesketh. In 1831, Peter Hesketh obtained 
 power by royal license to adopt the surname of Fleetwood in 
 addition to his own, and in 1838 he was created a baronet. In 
 1844, Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood vacated Rossall Hall, and the 
 site is now occupied by a large public educational institution, 
 denominated the Northern Church of England School. Sir 
 P. H. Fleetwood died, at Brighton, in 1866, leaving one son and 
 heir, the Rev. Sir Peter Louis Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., M.A., of 
 Sunbury on Thames, in the county of Middlesex. The Rev. 
 Charles Hesketh, M.A., rector of North Meols, is the younger 
 brother of the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood, and consequently uncle 
 to the present baronet. 
 
 FFRANCE OF LITTLE ECCLESTON HALL. 
 
 William, the son of John ffrance, who married the younger 
 daughter of Richard Kerston, of Little Eccleston, was the first of 
 this family to reside at the Hall, and he was living there at the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century. William ffrance had two 
 sons and a daughter John, born 1647 ; Henry, born 1649 ; and 
 Alice, born 1653. John, the eldest son, succeeded to the Hall 
 and estates on the demise of his father, and married Deborah 
 Elston, of Brockholes, by whom he had issue Robert, who died 
 in 1671 ; Anne, died 1672 ; Thomas, died 1672 ; Deborah, died 
 1673 ; John, born 1675 ; William, died 1680; Henry, died 1676 ; 
 Mary, died 1701 ; and Edward, died 1703. John ffrance, sen 1 "., 
 survived all his sons except John and Edward, and on his 
 death, in 1690, was succeeded by the former and elder of the two 
 brothers. John ffrance, like his father, resided at the Hall, and 
 espoused Joan, daughter of John Cross, of Cross Hall, by whom 
 he had issue John, born 1699 ; Anne, died 1702 ; and Henry, 
 died 1707. John ffrance died in 1762, and his eldest son, John, 
 
 L
 
 1 62 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 inherited the estates. This John ffrance married Elizabeth, 
 daughter and heiress of Thomas Roe, of Out Rawcliffe, and by 
 that union became possessed, later, of Rawcliffe manor and Hall, 
 to which the family of ffrance removed. John ffrance, of 
 Rawcliffe Hall, the son and heir of John and Elizabeth ffrance, 
 of Little Eccleston Hall, and subsequently of Rawcliffe, died 
 childless in 1817, aged 91 years, and bequeathed his property to 
 Thomas Wilson, of Preston, who assumed the name of ffrance. 1 
 
 HESKETH OF MAINS HALL. 
 
 This family was descended from the Heskeths, of Rufford, 
 through William Hesketh, of Aughton, the sixth son of Thomas 
 Hesketh, of Rufford. Bartholomew, the son of William 
 Hesketh, of Aughton, succeeded to his father's estates, and 
 married Mary, the daughter of William Norris, of Speke, by 
 whom he had one son, George, residing at Little Poulton Hall in 
 1570. George Hesketh married Dorothy, the daughter of William 
 Westby, of Mowbreck, and had issue a son, William, who, on his 
 father's death, somewhere about 1571, inherited considerable 
 property, comprising possessions in no less than twenty-eight 
 different townships in Lancashire. William Hesketh, who was 
 living in 1613, married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Allen, of 
 Rossall Hall, and sister to Cardinal Allen. The children springing 
 from that union were William and Wilfrid. William, the elder 
 son, is the first of the Heskeths mentioned as inhabiting Mains 
 Hall, and he appears to have been living there in 1613. We 
 have no documents throwing any certain light upon the way in 
 which he gained possession of the seat, but it is most probable 
 that he purchased it. William Hesketh, of Mains Hall, espoused 
 Anne, the daughter of Hugh Anderton of Euxton, and had issue 
 Thomas, Roger, John, William, Hugh, George, Anne, Alice, and 
 Mary. Thomas, the eldest son, was nine years old in 1613, hence 
 it is extremely likely that he was the first representative of the 
 family born at Mains Hall. Thomas Hesketh was twice married ; 
 the first time to Anne, the daughter of Simon Haydock, of Hezant- 
 ford, and after her decease, to Mary, the daughter of John Westby, 
 
 i. See Out Rawcliffe in the chapter on St. Michaels' parish for the Wilson- 
 ffrance descent.
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 163 
 
 of Westby and Mowbreck. The children of his first marriage 
 were William ; Thomas, an officer in the royalist army, and slain 
 at Brindle in 1651 ; Anne, who became the wife of Thomas 
 Nelson, of Fairhurst ; and Margaret, afterwards the wife of Major 
 George Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe. William, the elder son, 
 married Perpetua, the daughter of Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck, 
 and had issue Thomas, born in 1659 ; William, who died in 
 infancy ; John ; Anne, married to Richard Leckonby, of 
 Leckonby House, Great Eccleston ; Helen ; Dorothy, married to 
 Thomas Wilkinson, of Claughton ; Perpetua, died in infancy ; 
 and six other daughters, all of whom died in youth. Thomas 
 Hesketh, the eldest son, left four sons and three daughters 
 William ; Thomas, who was a priest ; John ; George ; Mary ; 
 Perpetua ; and Anne. William Hesketh, the eldest of these sons, 
 was living at the same time as Thomas Tyldesley, who died in 1714, 
 and was a frequent visitor at Fox Hall. He married Mary, the 
 daughter of John Brockholes, of Claughton, and heiress to her 
 brother- William Brockholes, of Claughton, and had issue 
 Thomas, Roger, William, Joseph, James, Catherine (an abbess), 
 Margaret, Anne, Mary (a nun), and Aloysia (a nun). Thomas, 
 the eldest son, inherited the property of his deceased uncle, 
 William Brockholes, and assumed the name and arms of 
 Brockholes. He died in 1766. Roger, the second son, also died in 
 1766. William, the third son, was born in 1717, and in later years 
 entered the " Society of Jesus," dying in 1741. Joseph succeeded 
 to the Brockholes' estates on the death of his brother Thomas, and, 
 like him, assumed the name of Brockholes. He married Constantia, 
 the daughter of Bazil Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton, and dying in a 
 few years without issue, was succeeded by his sole remaining 
 brother, James, who also assumed the name and arms of Brock- 
 holes, and some years afterwards died unmarried. The Brock- 
 holes' property now passed, under the will of Joseph Hesketh- 
 Brockholes, to William Fitzherbert, the brother of his widow ; and 
 that gentleman, after the manner of his predecessors, assumed the 
 name of Brockholes. He espoused Mary, the daughter and 
 co-heiress of James Windsor Heneage, of Cadeby, Lincolnshire, 
 and had issue Thomas Fitzherbert-Brockholes, of Claughton ; 
 Catherine, abbess of the Benedictines at Ghent ; Margaret ; Ann ; 
 Mary, who became a nun ; and Frances.
 
 164 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 HORNBY OF POULTON. 
 
 The Hornbys, of Poulton, were descended from Hugh Hornby, 
 of Singleton, who died about 1638,. after having so far im- 
 poverished himself during the civil wars . as to be obliged to 
 dispose of his estate at Bankfield, inherited from his sister, and 
 purchased from him by the Harrisons. Geoffrey Hornby, the son 
 of this gentleman, practised very successfully as a solicitor in 
 Preston, and probably was the first to acquire property in Poulton. 
 Edmund Hornby, his eldest son, of Poulton, where he also 
 practised as a solicitor, and Scale Hall, married Dorothy, the 
 daughter of Geoffrey Rishton, of Antley, in Lancashire, Member 
 of Parliament for Preston, and had issue Geoffrey, George, and 
 Anne. George, the second son, went into holy orders, became 
 rector of Whittingham, and subsequently died without surviving 
 offspring. Anne Hornby married Edmund Cole, of Beaumont 
 Cote, near Lancaster ; and Geoffrey Hornby, who inherited the 
 Poulton property, as well as Scale Hall, espoused Susannah, the 
 daughter and heiress of Edward Sherdley, of Kirkham, gentleman, 
 by whom he had issue Edmund and Geoffrey, the latter dying 
 unmarried in 1801. Geoffrey Hornby, who died in 1732, was 
 buried in Poulton church, being succeeded by his son Edmund, 
 who came into the possessions at Poulton and Scale. Edmund 
 Hornby, born in 1728, married Margaret, the daughter of John 
 Winckley, of Brockholes, and had issue one son, Geoffrey, 
 and three daughters. At his decease, in 1766, the estates 
 descended to his only son and heir, Geoffrey, born at Layton 
 Hall in 1750, who, after being High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1774, 
 and for some time colonel of a Lancashire regiment of militia, 
 entered the church and became rector of Winwick. The Rev. 
 Geoffrey Hornby espoused the Hon. Lucy Smith Stanley, 
 daughter of Lord Strange, and sister of the twelfth earl of Derby, 
 and had issue ; but the departure of this representative of the 
 family from the homes of his fathers severed the close connection 
 between the town of Poulton and the name of Hornby, after an 
 existence of about a century. 
 
 HORNBY OF RIBBY HALL. 
 
 Richard Hornby, of Newton, who was born in 1613, married 
 Elizabeth, the daughter of Christopher Walmsley, of Elston, and
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 165 
 
 had issue a son, William Hornby, also of Newton. That 
 gentleman had several children by his wife Isabel, the eldest of 
 whom, Robert Hornby, was born in 1690, and espoused Elizabeth 
 Sharrock, of Clifton, leaving issue by her at his decease in 1768, 
 three sons Hugh, William, and Richard. Hugh Hornby took 
 up his abode at Kirkham, where he married Margaret, the 
 daughter and heiress of Joseph Hankinson, of the same place, 
 and had issue Joseph, born in 1748 ; Robert, born in 1750, and 
 died in 1776 ; Thomas, of Kirkham, born in 1759, married 
 Cicety, the daughter of Thomas Langton, of that town, and died 
 in 1824, having had a family of two sons and five daughters ; 
 William, of Kirkham ; John, of Blackburn and Raikes Hall, 
 Blackpool, born in 1763 ; Hugh, vicar of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, 
 born in 1765 ; Alice, who became the wife of Richard Birley, of 
 Blackburn ; and Elizabeth. Joseph Hornby was a deputy- 
 lieutenant of the county of Lancaster, and erected Ribby Hall. 
 He married Margaret, the daughter of Robert Wilson, of Preston, 
 by whom he had Hugh ; Margaret, who espoused William 
 Langton, of Manchester ; and Alice, who died a spinster. Hugh 
 Hornby, the only son, born in 1799, succeeded to the Hall and lands 
 on the death of his father in 1832, and left issue at his own demise, 
 in 1849, Hugh Hilton, Margaret Anne, and Mary Alice. Hugh 
 Hilton Hornby, of Ribby Hall, esq., who married his relative, 
 Georgina, the daughter of the Rev. Robert Hornby, M.A., J.P., 
 in. 1868, is the present representative of the family, and was born 
 in 1836. 
 
 John Hornby, of Blackburn and Raikes Hall, married Alice* 
 Kendal, a widow, and the daughter of Daniel Backhouse, of 
 Liverpool, by whom he had four sons Daniel, born in 1800, who 
 espoused Frances, daughter of John Birley, of Manchester, and 
 dying in 1863, left issue, Fanny Backhouse and Margaret Alice 
 Hornby ; Robert, born in 1804, M.A., a clergyman and justice of the 
 peace, who married Maria Leyland, daughter of Sir William 
 Fielden, bart., and had issue, Robert Montagu, William St. 
 John Sumner, Leyland, Frederick Fielden, Henry Wallace, 
 Hugh, and ten daughters, the fifst and third sons being captains 
 in the army, and the second in the royal navy ; William 
 Henry, of Staining Hall, J.P. and D.L., born in 1805, and Member 
 of Parliament for Blackburn from 1857 to 1869, married
 
 1 66 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 Susannah, only child of Edward Birley, of Kirkham, by whom 
 he had John, Edward Kenworthy, Henry Sudell, William Henry, 
 Cecil Lumsden, Albert Neilson, Charles Herbert, Elizabeth 
 Henriana, Frances Mary, Augusta Margaret, and Caroline 
 Louisa, of whom Edward Kenworthy Hornby, esq., has sat as 
 M.P. for Blackburn ; John, M.A., formerly M.P. for Blackburn, 
 and born 1810, married Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Chris- 
 topher Bird, having issue, John Frederick, Wilfrid Bird, Edith 
 Diana, and Clara Margaret. The Rev. Hugh Hornby, M.A., 
 sixth son of Hugh Hornby, of Kirkham, was vicar of St. 
 Michael's-on-Wyre, and espoused Ann, daughter of Dr. Joshua 
 Starky, a physician, of Redbales, having issue one son, William, 
 now the Venerable Archdeacon Hornby, M.A., and the present 
 vicar of St. Michael's, born in 1810. Archdeacon Hornby 
 married, firstly, Ellen, daughter of William Cross, esq., of Red 
 Scar, and four years after her decease, in 1 844, Susan Charlotte, 
 daughter of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby, K.C.B. The offspring 
 of the earlier union were two William Hugh and Joseph Starky, 
 both of whom died young ; whilst those of the second marriage 
 are William, Hugh Phipps, Phipps John, James John, William 
 Starky, Susan, and Anne Lucy, the eldest of whom, William, 
 died in 1858, aged thirteen years. 
 
 LECKONBY OF LECKONBY HOUSE. 
 
 John Leckonby, the earliest of the name we find mentioned 
 as connected with Great Eccleston, on the borders of which stood 
 Leckonby House, was living in 1621, and was twice married 
 first to Alice, the daughter of Thomas Singleton, of Staining 
 Hall, and subsequently, in 1625, to Marie, the daughter of Henry 
 Preston, of Preston. Richard Leckonby, the eldest son and heir, 
 was the offspring of his first marriage, and like his father, became 
 involved in the civil wars on the royal side. Richard succeeded 
 to the family estates sometime before 1646, for in that year he 
 compounded for them with Parliament. He left issue at his 
 death in 1669, by his wife, Isabel, a numerous family John ; 
 Richard, of Elswick ; George ; William, of Elswick ; Sarah ; 
 Martha ; and Mary, who married Gilbert Whiteside, of Marton, 
 gentleman. John Leckonby inherited the estate, and resided at 
 the ancestral mansion Leckonby House. He married Ann, the
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 167 
 
 daughter of William Thompson, gent., of Little Eccleston, but 
 dying without offspring, was succeeded by his brother Richard, 
 who had espoused Ann, the daughter of William Hesketh, of Mains 
 Hall. The children of Richard Leckonby, of Leckonby House, 
 were William ; Richard, who was born in 1696, and afterwards 
 became a Romish missionary ; and Thomas, also a missionary, who 
 died at Maryland in 1734. William Leckonby, the eldest son, 
 occupied Leckonby House, after the decease of his father, as 
 holder of the hereditary estates. He espoused Anne, the daughter 
 of Thomas Hothersall, of Hothersall Hall, and sister and co- 
 heiress of John Hothersall, and had issue Richard ; Thomas, 
 born in 1717, who entered the Order of Jesus ; William, of 
 Elswick, who died in 1784 ; Anne, born in 1706 ; Bridget ; and 
 Mary, who became the wife of Thomas Singleton, of Barnacre- 
 with-Bonds, gent. Richard Leckonby, who succeeded his father 
 in 1728, inherited, in addition to the lands in Great Eccleston 
 and Elswick, the extensive manor of Hothersall, and by his 
 marriage with Mary, the daughter of William Hawthornthwaite, 
 of Catshaw, gent., came into possession, on the death of her 
 brother John Hawthornthwaite in 1760, of Catshaw, Lower 
 Wyersdale, Hale, Luddocks, and Stockenbridge. Notwithstanding 
 these large accessions to the original family domain, Richard 
 Leckonby managed, by a long career of dissipation and extrava- 
 gance, to run through his resources, mortgaging his estates, and 
 bringing himself and his family to comparative poverty. He died 
 in 1783, at about 68 years of age, having survived his wife many 
 years, and was buried at St. Michael' s-on-Wy re. His offspring 
 were two sons, the elder of whom was thrown from a pony and 
 killed in early youth ; whilst the second, William, met with a 
 fatal accident when hunting in Wyersdale the year before the 
 death of his father. William Leckonby, left, at his untimely 
 death, by his wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of James Taylor, of 
 Goosnargh, gent., two sons and a daughter. Of these children, 
 Richard, the eldest, died in 1795, when only sixteen years of age ; 
 James, the second son, died in infancy ; and Mary, their sister, 
 married in 1799, at the age of twenty-two years, Thomas Henry 
 Hale Phipps, of Leighton House, Wiltshire, a justice of the peace 
 and deputy-lieutenant of his county, by which union, Leckonby 
 of Leckonby House, became a title of the past.
 
 1 68 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 LEYLAND OF LEYLAND HOUSE AND KELLAMERGH. 
 
 Leyland House was occupied during the latter half of the 
 seventeenth and part of the eighteenth centuries by a family of 
 wealth and position, named the Leylands of Kellamergh. Chris- 
 topher Leyland, the first of the line recorded, resided at Leyland 
 House in 1660, and married in 1665, Margaret Andrew, of Lea, 
 by whom he had issue John ; Ralph, died in 1675 ; Anne, born 
 1671 ; Ellen, born 1679 ; Susan, died 1670 ; another Ralph, born 
 1680 and died 1711 ; Francis, died 1674; Bridget, died 1687; 
 Roger, died 1678 ; and Thomas, who died in 1682. 
 
 John Leyland, who succeeded to the Kellamergh property and 
 Leyland House on the death of his father in 1716, married, in 
 1693, Elizabeth Whitehead, and had offspring Christopher, born 
 1694 ; Thomas, born 1699, afterwards in holy orders ; Joseph, 
 died 1709 ; Ralph, born 1712 ; John, died 1716 ; and William, 
 who espoused Cicely, widow of Edward Rigby, of Freckleton, and 
 daughter of Thomas Shepherd Birley, by whom he had two 
 daughters, one of whom, Jane Leyland, subsequently married 
 Thomas Langton. 
 
 Christopher Leyland inherited Kellamergh and the mansion on 
 the demise of his father, John Leyland, in 1745, and at his own 
 death, some years later, left one child, Elizabeth, who married, as 
 her second husband, the Rev. Edward Whitehead, vicar of 
 Bolton. 
 
 LONGWORTH OF ST. MICHAEL'S HALL. 
 
 The family of Longworths, inhabiting St. Michael's Hall until 
 the early part of the eighteenth century, was descended from the 
 Longworths, of Longworth, through Ralph, a younger son of 
 Christopher Longworth, of Longworth, by his wife Alice, the 
 daughter of Thomas Standish, of Duxbury. Ralph Longworth 
 married Anne, the daughter of Thomas Kitchen, and had issue 
 two sons and one daughter. Robert, the younger son, espoused 
 Helen Hudson, whilst Elizabeth, his sister, married Richard 
 Blackburne, and afterwards Thomas Bell, of Kirkland. Richard, 
 the elder son and heir, is the first of the Longworths, described 
 as of St. Michael's Hall, in Upper Rawcliffe. He married 
 Margaret, the daughter of George Cumming, of Upper Rawcliffe, 
 and had issue Ralph, Thomas, Lawrence, Christopher, Anne,
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 169 
 
 Elizabeth, and Katherine. Ralph, the eldest son, espoused Jane, 
 the daughter of Richard Cross, of Cross Hall, in Chorley parish, 
 but further than this fact, we have no information concerning 
 him. The family of the Crosses, into which he married, belonged to 
 Liverpool, and their old country seat, Cross Hall, is now con- 
 verted into cottages and workshops. Thomas Longworth, the 
 second son, born in 1622, resided at St. Michael's Hall, and 
 married Cicely, the daughter of Nicholas Wilkinson, of Kirkland, 
 by whom he had one son Richard Longworth. The latter 
 representative, having succeeded in course of time to the Hall and 
 estates, was a justice of the peace for the county of Lancaster, 
 and on terms of intimacy with Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, 
 Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, William Hesketh, of Mains 
 Hall, and a number of other leading gentry in the district. He 
 married Fleetwood, the daughter of Edward Shutteworth, of 
 Larbrick, and Thornton Hall, and left at his demise one son 
 Edward Longworth, who became a doctor of medicine, and resided 
 at St. Michael's Hall until 1725, about which time he removed to 
 Penrith, in the county of Cumberland. 
 
 PARKER OF BRADKIRK HALL. 
 
 The Parkers, who inhabited Bradkirk Hall for over a hundred 
 years, were relatives of the Derby family, and came originally 
 from Breightmet Hall, near Bolton, where they had lived for 
 many centuries. William Parker, of Bradkirk Hall, who died in 
 1609, and was buried at Kirkham, is the first of whom we have 
 any authentic account, and he is stated to have married Margaret, 
 the daughter of Robert Shaw, of Crompton. The children 
 springing from that union were John, who inherited Bradkirk 
 Hall ; Thomas, of Bidstone, in the county of Chester ; and Henry, 
 who espoused, in 1609, Alice Threlfall, and became the founder of 
 the family of Parkers of Whittingham. John Parker, of Bradkirk 
 Hall, married Margaret, the daughter and co-heiress of Anthony 
 Parker, of Radham Park, Yorkshire ; and after her decease he 
 espoused Alice, the daughter of Richard Mason, of Up-Holland, 
 near Wigan, by whom he had three sons and one daughter 
 William, Richard, John, and Margaret. The offspring of his 
 first marriage were Anthony, Elizabeth, Jennet, Anne, Alice, and 
 Christopher. Anthony died unmarried, and Christopher, the
 
 170 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 second son, born in 1625, succeeded to Bradkirk Hall on the 
 demise of his father. He was a justice of the peace for the 
 county of Lancaster, and married Katherine, sister to James Lowde, 
 of Kirkham, and daughter of Ralph Lowde, of Norfolk. His 
 children were Anthony ; Alexander, who married Dorothy, the 
 daughter of Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck ; John, William, 
 Gerrard, Christopher, Margaret, Mary, and Jane, the last married 
 John Westby, of Mowbreck, at Poulton church, in 1688. 
 Anthony Parker, the eldest son, born in 1657, lived at Bradkirk 
 Hall, and espoused Mary, the daughter of Sir Thomas Stringer, 
 sergeant-at-law, by whom he had issue Christopher, Catherine, 
 and Rebecca, who died young. Christopher Parker inherited 
 Baadkirk Hall, and was Member of Parliament for Clitheroe in 
 1708. He died unmarried about 1713, and the Hall and estates 
 passed by will to his sister Catherine, the wife of Thomas Stanley, 
 of Cross Hall, in Ormskirk Parish, conjointly with her uncle 
 Alexander Parker. In 1723 the possessions of the deceased 
 Christopher Parker in Lancashire and Yorkshire were sold by 
 Catherine Stanley and Alexander Parker. The latter, however, 
 resided at Bradkirk Hall for some time after that date with his 
 wife Dorothy, the daughter, as before stated, of Thomas Westby of 
 Mowbreck, by whom he had nine sons and two daughters. The. 
 sons appear to have died without issue, and one of the daughters, 
 Dorothy, married Cowburn, whilst the other Katherine, became 
 the wife of William Jump, of Hesketh Bank. 
 
 RIGBY OF LAYTON HALL. 
 
 The Rigbys, of Lay ton, were descended from Adam Rigby, of 
 Wigan, who married Alice, the daughter of Middleton, of 
 Leighton, and had issue John, Alexander, and Ellen. John 
 Rigby, of Wigan, married Joanna, the daughter of Gilbert 
 Molyneux, of Hawkley, and became the founder of the family 
 of Rigby of Middleton. Ellen became the wife of Hugh ForthJ; 
 and Alexander Rigby, of Burgh Hall, in the township of 
 Duxbury, espoused Joanna, the daughter of William Lathbroke, 
 by whom he had three sons and one daughter Edward, Roger, 
 Alexander, and Anne. Edward Rigby, of Burgh, who purchased 
 the estate of Woodenshaw from William, earl of Derby, in 1595, 
 was the first of the family, as far as can be ascertained, who held
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 1 7 1 
 
 property in the Fylde, and from his Inq. post mortem, dated 
 
 1629-30, we find that he possessed Laiton, Great Laiton, 
 
 Little Laiton, Warbrecke, Blackepool, and Marton, besides 
 
 other estates in Broughton in Furness, Lancaster, Chorley, 
 
 etc. This gentleman married Dorothy, the daughter of Hugh 
 
 Anderton, of Euxton, and had issue Alexander, Hugh, Alice, 
 
 Jane, and Dorothy. Alexander Rigby, who was born in 1583, 
 
 succeeded to Layton Hall, and Burgh, on the death of his father, 
 
 and afterwards married Katherine, the daughter of Sir Edward 
 
 Brabazon, of Nether Whitacre, in the county of Warwick. In 
 
 1641, during the time of Charles I., he was a colonel in the 
 
 king's forces, and was, somewhere about that period, removed 
 
 from the commission of the peace for this county by command of 
 
 Parliament on account of certain charges made against him of 
 
 favouring the royal party. In 1646 he compounded for his 
 
 sequestrated estates by paying ^381 33. 4d. His offspring were 
 
 Edward, of Burgh, and Layton Hall ; Thomas, rector of St. Mary's, 
 
 Dublin ; William, a merchant ; Mary, wife of John Moore, of 
 
 Bank Hall ; Elizabeth, wife of Edward Chisenhall, of Chisenhall ; 
 
 Jane, the wife of the Rev. Paul Lathome, rector of Standish ; and 
 
 Alexander, who died in infancy. Edward, the eldest son, who 
 
 died before his father, married Mary, the daughter of Edward 
 
 Hyde, of Norbury, and left issue Alexander, William, Hamlet, 
 
 Robert, Richard, Mary, and Dorothy. Alexander Rigby, the heir, 
 
 who was born in 1634, was also an officer in the royalist army, 
 
 and erected a monument to Sir Thomas Tyldesley near the spot 
 
 where he was slain at Wigan-lane, at which battle " the grateful 
 
 erector " fought as cornet. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire 
 
 in 1677 and 1678, and married Alena, the daughter of George 
 
 Birch, of Birch Hall, near Manchester. His children were 
 
 Edward, Alexander, Mary, Alice, Eleanor, and Elizabeth. Of 
 
 Edward we have no account beyond the fact that he was born in 
 
 1658, and consequently muet conclude that he died young. 
 
 Alexander, the second son, succeeded to the estates, and was 
 
 knighted for some reason, which cannot be discovered. He was 
 
 High Sheriff of the county in 1691-2. Mary, the eldest daughter, 
 
 married Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, and was co-heiress with 
 
 Elizabeth, wife, and subsequently, in 1720, widow of Colley, 
 
 to her brother, Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall and Burgh,
 
 172 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 who married Alice, the daughter of Thomas Clifton, of Clifton, 
 Westby, and Lytham, but left no surviving offspring. Sir 
 Alexander Rigby is reputed to have been a gambler, and to have 
 so impoverished his estates, already seriously injured by the 
 attachment of his family to the fortunes of Charles I. and II., 
 that he was compelled to dispose of his possessions in Poulton 
 and Layton for the benefit of his creditors. He also appears to 
 have been imprisoned for debt until released by an act of Parlia- 
 ment, passed in the first year of George I., and his property 
 vested in trustees. His estates in Layton and Poulton were sold 
 for ^"19,200. After his liberation he resided in Poulton at his 
 house on the south side of the Market-place, where the family 
 arms, bearing the date 1693, may still be seen fixed on the outer 
 wall. The pew of the Rigbys is still in existence in the parish 
 church of that town, and has carved on its door the initials 
 A. R., and the date 1636, separated by a goat's head, the crest of 
 the family. 
 
 SINGLETON OF STAINING HALL. 
 
 There is every reason to suppose that the Singletons who 
 resided at Staining Hall during the greater part of two centuries 
 were a branch of the family founded in the Fylde by Alan de 
 Singleton, of Singleton. George, the son of Robert Singleton by 
 his wife Helen, the daughter of John Westby, of Mowbreck, 
 purchased the hamlet and manor of Staining from Sir Thomas 
 Holt, of Grislehurst, and was the first of the name to occupy the 
 Hall. He married Mary Osbaldeston, and left issue at his death, 
 in 1552, William, the eldest ; Hugh, who espoused Mary, sister 
 of William Carleton, of Carleton, and left a son, William, who 
 died without issue ; Richard ; Lawrence ; and Margaret, the wife 
 of Lawrence Carleton, heir and subsequently successor to his 
 brother William. William Singleton, of Staining, became allied 
 to Alice, the daughter and heiress of Thomas ffarington, by whom 
 he had Thomas, John, George, Richard, Helen, and Margaret. 
 On the demise of his father in 1556, Thomas, the heir, came into 
 possession of the estate ; he married Alice, the daughter of James 
 Massey, and had one child, a daughter, Ellen, who espoused John 
 Massey, of Layton. Thomas Singleton died in 1563, and was 
 succeeded by his brother John, who had married Thomasine, the 
 daughter of Robert Anderton, and had issue two daughters, the
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 173 
 
 elder of whom, Alice, became the wife of Henry Huxley, of 
 Birkenhead, and the younger, Elizabeth, of James Massey, of 
 Strangeways. John Singleton died in 1590, and was in his turn 
 succeeded by the next male representative, his brother George^ 
 who had issue by his wife Mary, the daughter of John Houghton, 
 of Penwortham or Pendleton, two sons and a daughter Thomas, 
 George, and Anne, the wife of Robert Parkinson, of Fairsnape. 
 Thomas Singleton, the heir, became lord of Staining in 1597, 
 previously to which he had espoused Cicely, the daughter of 
 William Gerard, of Ince, and had issue Thomas, John, Mary, Grace, 
 Alice, the last of whom married John Leckonby, of Great Eccleston, 
 and Anne, the wife of Richard Bamber, of the Moor, near Poulton. 
 Thomas Singleton, the eldest son, succeeded to the lordship in 
 the natural course of events, and formed an alliance with Dorothy, 
 the daughter of James Anderton, of Clayton, who was left a 
 widow in 1643, when her husband was slain at Newbury Fight 
 in command of a company of royalists. The offspring of 
 Thomas and Dorothy Singleton were John, born in 1635 and 
 died in 1668, who espoused Jane, the daughter of Edmund 
 Fleetwood, of Rossall ; Thomas, who died childless ; George ; 
 James; Anne, of Bardsea, a spinster, living in 1690 ; Mary, the 
 wife of John Mayfield ; and Dorothy, the wife of Alexander 
 Butler, of Todderstaff Hall. John Singleton, of Staining, whose 
 widow married Thomas Cole, of Beaumont, near Lancaster, 
 justice of the peace, and deputy-lieutanant, had no progeny, and 
 the manor passed, either at once, or after the death of the next 
 brother, Thomas, to George Singleton, who had possession in 
 1679, but was dead in 1690, never having been married. He held 
 Staining, Hardhorne, Todderstaff, and Carleton manors or estates. 
 The whole of the property descended to John Mayfield, the son 
 and heir of his sister Mary, whose husband, John Mayfield, was 
 dead. John Mayfield, of Staining, etc., ultimately died without 
 issue, and was succeeded by his nephew and heir-at-law, William 
 Blackburn, of Great Eccleston, whose offspring were James, and 
 Gabriel, under age in 1755. 
 
 STANLEY OF GREAT ECCLESTON HALL. 
 
 The Stanleys, of Great Eccleston, were descended from Henry, 
 the fourth earl of Derby, who was born in 1531, through Thomas 
 Stanley, one of his illegitimate children by Jane Halsall, of
 
 174 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 Knowsley, the others being Dorothy and Ursula. Thomas 
 Stanley settled at Great Eccleston Hall, probably acquired by 
 purchase, and married Mary, the relict of Richard Barton, of 
 Barton, near Preston, and the daughter of Robert Hesketh, of 
 Rufford. The offspring of that union were Richard Stanley ; 
 Fernando Stanley, of Broughton, who died unmarried in 1664 ; 
 and Jane Stanley, who was married to Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe 
 Hall. Richard Stanley, the eldest son, succeeded to Great 
 Eccleston Hall and estate on the death of his father, and espoused 
 Mary, the daughter and sole heiress of Lambert Tyldesley, of 
 Garret, by whom he had one son, Thomas Stanley, who in course 
 of time inherited the Eccleston property, and married Frances, 
 the daughter of Major-General Sir Thomas Tyldesley, of 
 Tyldesley and Myerscough Lodge, the famous royalist officer slain 
 at the battle of Wigan-lane in 1651. Richard Stanley, the only 
 child of this marriage, resided at Great Eccleston Hall, and 
 espoused Anne, the daughter and eventually co-heiress of Thomas 
 Culcheth, of Culcheth, by whom he had two sons Thomas and 
 Henry Stanley. Richard Stanley, who died in 1714, was buried 
 at St. Michael's church, and the following extract is taken from 
 the diary of Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, the grandson of Sir 
 Thomas Tyldesley, and consequently Richard Stanley's cousin, 
 who at that time appears to have been in failing health, and 
 whose death occurred on the 26th of January in the ensuing 
 year : 
 
 " October 16, 1714. Wentt in ye morning to the ffuneral off Dick Stanley. 
 Part d with Mr. Brandon att Dick Jackson's dor ; but fell at Staven's Poole ; and 
 soe wentt home." 
 
 It may here be mentioned that for two years the cousins had 
 not been on very friendly terms, owing to Richard Stanley having 
 at a meeting of creditors, summoned by Thomas Tyldesley in 
 1712, when he had fallen too deeply into debt, objected to an 
 allowance being made to Winefride and Agatha, daughters of 
 Thomas Tyldesley by a second marriage. We may form some 
 idea of the strong feeling existing between them from an entry 
 made on the 7th of May, 1712, by Thomas Tyldesley in his diary : 
 " Stanley Dicke very bitter against my two poor girlies, and 
 declared he would bee hanged beffor they had one penny allowed ; 
 yet my honest and never-to-be-forgotten true friend Winckley,
 
 . ANCIENT FAMILIES. 175 
 
 with much art and sence, soe perswaded the othe r refferys that 
 the slaving puppy was compelled to consent to a small allowance 
 to be sedulled viz.: ^~ioo each." After the decease of Richard 
 Stanley, Great Eccleston Hall, for some reason we are unable to 
 explain, passed into the possession of Thomas Westby, of Upper 
 Rawcliffe. 
 
 TYLDESLEY OF FOX HALL. 
 
 The family which inhabited the ancient mansion of Fox Hall 
 in the time of Charles II., and for many subsequent years, sprang 
 originally from the small village of Tyldesley, near Bolton-le- 
 moors. When or how they first became associated with the 
 latter place is impossible to determine, as no authentic documents 
 bearing on the subject can be discovered ; but that they must 
 have been established in or connected with the neighbourhood at 
 an early epoch is shown by the fact that Henry de Tyldesley held 
 the tenth part of a Knight's fee in Tyldesley during the reign of 
 Edward I., 1272-1307. A Richard de Tyldesley was lord of the 
 manor of Tyldesley towards the close of the sovereignty of this 
 monarch, and there is sufficient evidence to warrant the 
 assumption that he was the son and heir of Henry de Tyldesley. 
 
 At a later period Thurstan de Tyldesley, a lineal descendant, 
 who is accredited with having done much to improve his native 
 village, and having built Wardley Hall, near Manchester, about 
 1547, was a justice of the peace for the county of Lancaster, and 
 Receiver-General for the Isle of Man in 1532. He was on 
 intimate and friendly terms with the earl of Derby, and we may 
 safely conjecture that the members of the two houses had for long 
 been familiarly known to each other, as we read that in 1405 
 Henry IV. granted a letter of protection to William de Stanley, 
 knt, John de Tyldesley, and several more, when they set out to 
 take possession of the Isle of Man and Peel Castle. In 1417, 
 when Sir John de Stanley, lord of the same island, was summoned 
 to England, he left Thurston de Tyldesley, a magistrate, to 
 officiate as governor during his absence. The Tyldesleys held 
 extensive lands in Wardley, Morleys, Myerscough, and Tyldesley, 
 having seats at the three first-named manors. Thurstan de 
 Tyldesley, who erected Wardley Hall, was twice married and 
 had issue by each wife. To the offspring of the first, Parnell,
 
 176 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 daughter of Geoffrey Shakerley, of Shakerley, he left Tyldesley 
 and Wardley ; and to those of his second, Jane, daughter of Ralph 
 Langton, baron of Newton, he bequeathed Myerscough, and some 
 minor property. There is nothing calling for special notice 
 concerning any, except two, of the descendants from the first 
 marriage Sir Thomas Tyldesley, a great-grandson, attorney- 
 general for Lancashire in the reign of James I. ; and his son, who 
 did not survive him many months, and terminated the elder 
 branch. In consequence of this failure of issue the Tyldesley 
 estate, but not Wardley, which had been sold, passed to the 
 representatives of Thurstan's children by his second wife. The 
 eldest son of the second alliance, Edward, had espoused Anne, 
 the daughter and heiress of Thomas Leyland, of Morleys, and, 
 subsequently, inherited the manor and Hall of Morleys. The 
 grandson and namesake of Edward Tyldesley, of Morleys and 
 Tyldesley, who was born in 1585, and died in 1618, entertained 
 James I. for three days at his seat, Myerscough Lodge, in 1617. 
 Edward Tyldesley, of Myerscough, was the father of Major- 
 General Sir Thomas Tyldesley, knt., who so greatly distinguished 
 himself, by his fidelty and valour, in the wars between King and 
 Parliament. In those sanguinary and calamitous struggles he 
 served under the standard of royalty. He was slain at the battle 
 of Wigan-lane in 1651 ; and as a mark of esteem for his many 
 virtues and gallant deeds a monument was erected, near the spot 
 where he fell, in 1679, by Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall, High 
 Sheriff for the county of Lancaster. The monument was inscribed 
 as under : 
 
 " An high Act of Gratitude, which conveys the Memory of 
 
 SIR THOMAS TYLDESLEY 
 
 To posterity, 
 
 Who served King Charles the First as Lieutenant-Colonel at Edge-Hill Battle, 
 After raising regiments of Horse, Foot, and Dragoons, 
 
 and for 
 The desperate storming of Burton on Trent, over a bridge of 36 arches, 
 
 RECEIVED THE HONOUR OF KNIGHTHOOD. 
 He afterwards served in all the wars in great command, 
 
 Was Governor of Litchfield, 
 
 And followed the fortune of the Crown through the Three Kingdoms, 
 And never compounded with the Rebels though strongly invested ; 
 
 And on the 2$th of August, A.D. 1651, was here slain, 
 Commanding as Major-General under the Earl of Derby,
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 177 
 
 To whom the grateful erector, Alexander Rigby, Esq., was Cornet ; 
 
 And when he was High Sheriff of this county, A.D. 1679, 
 
 Placed the high obligation on the whole Family of the Tyldesleys, 
 
 To follow the noble example of their Loyal Ancestor." 
 
 Sir Thomas Tyldesley married Frances, daughter of Ralph 
 Standish, of Standish, and had issue Edward, born in 1635 ; 
 Thomas, born in 1642 ; Ralph, born in 1644 ; Bridget, who 
 became the wife of Henry Blundell, of Ince Blundell ; Elizabeth ; 
 Frances, wife of Thomas Stanley, of Great Eccleston ; Anne, who 
 was abbess of the English nuns at Paris in 1721 ; Dorothy; Mary, 
 wife of Richard Crane ; and Margaret. 
 
 Edward Tyldesley, the eldest son and heir, followed in the 
 footsteps of his father, and was a staunch supporter of Charles II. 
 When that monarch had been restored to the throne of his 
 ancestors he purposed creating a fresh order of Knighthood, 
 called the Royal Oak, 1 wherewith to reward a number of his 
 faithful adherents, whose social positions were of sufficient 
 standing to render them suitable recipients of the honour. 
 Edward Tyldesley was amongst those selected ; but the design 
 was abandoned by the king under the advice of his ministers, 
 who considered that it was likely to produce jealousy and dis- 
 satisfaction in many quarters, and might prove inimical to the 
 peace of the nation. Under an impression, which afterwards 
 proved erroneous, that Charles II. intended to confer upon him 
 the lands of Layton Hawes, in recognition of the loyal services of 
 his father and himself, Edward Tyldesley erected a residence, 
 called Fox Hall, near its borders, where he lived during certain 
 portions of the year until his death, which occurred between 1685 
 and 1687. Edward Tyldesley espoused Anne, daughter of Sir 
 Thomas Fleetwood, of Colwich, in Staffordshire, and baron oi 
 Newton, in Lancashire ; and after her decease, Elizabeth, daughter 
 of Adam Beaumont, of Whitley, by whom he had only one child, 
 Catherine Tyldesley, of Preston. The offspring of his union with 
 Anne Fleetwood were Thomas, Edward, Frances, and Maria. 
 Thomas Tyldesley succeeded to the estates, on the decease of his 
 father, with the exception of Tyldesley, which had been sold by 
 Edward Tyldesley in 1685, and resided during a considerable part 
 
 I. See page 72. 
 
 M
 
 1 78 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 of his life at Fox Hall, and occasionally at Myerscough Lodge. 
 Thomas Tyldesley was born in 1657, and at twenty-two years of 
 age married Eleanor, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Holcroft, 
 of Holcroft, by whom he had Edward, Dorothy, Frances, 
 Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Mary. After the death of his wife 
 Eleanor, Thomas Tyldesley espoused Mary, sister and co-heiress 
 of Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall, and had issue Charles, 
 Fleetwood, James, Agatha, and Winefrid. Thomas Tyldesley, 
 whilst living at Fox Hall, employed his time chiefly in field 
 sports, visits amongst the neighbouring gentry, and frequent 
 excursions to his more distant friends, as we learn from his diary, 
 a portion of which is still preserved. The following extracts from 
 it will illustrate what formed the favourite recreations of the 
 numerous well-to-do families peopling the Fylde at that era : 
 
 " May 16, 1712. In the morning went round the commone a ffowling, and 
 Franke Malley, Jo. Hull, and Ned Malley, shoot 12 times for one poor twewittee ; 
 came home ; after dinner Cos. W : W : went with me to Thornton Marsh, where 
 we had but bad suckses ; tho wee killed fHve or six head of ffowle. 
 
 " May 31, 1712. Went to y 6 Hays to see a race between Mr. Harper's mare 
 and Sanderson's ; meet a greatt deal of good company, but spent noe thing. 
 
 "June 7, 1712. Pd. Mrs. 2s. 6d., pd. pro ffish is., pro meat 33. ; and affter 
 din r went with cos Walton to bowle with old Beamont. I spent lod. att bowling 
 green house with 4 grubcatchers and Tom Walton, and Jo. Styeth. 
 
 "June 10, 1713. Gave Jo n Malley and Jo. Parkinson is. to see y 8 cock 
 ffeights. Gave Ned Malley is. for subsistence. Din d in the cockpitt with Mr. 
 Clifton and others. Spent in wine 6d., and pro din r is. Gave y* fidler 6d. Spent 
 in the pitt betwixt battles 6d. ; I won near 305. 
 
 " June 17, 1713. Al day in y e house and gardening; went to beed about 7, and 
 riss at 10, in ord r to goe a ffox hunting. 
 
 " Augt 29, 1713. Paid 2s. pro servant, &c. ; soe a otter hunting to Wire, but 
 killed none. 
 
 " Sept r 5, 1713. In the morning Jos. Tounson and I went to Staining ; * * 
 thence to Layton-heys to see a foot race, where I won 6d. off Jos. Tounson white 
 against dun ; soe home. Gave white my winings. 
 
 "Oct r 6, 1713. We hunted y tt hare ffive hours; but y e ground soe thorrowly 
 drughted by long continewance of ffine wether that we could not kill her. 
 
 " Dec r 1 6, 1713. In the morning went a coursing with S r W : G : ; Law r 
 Rigby, &c. 
 
 " March 16, 1714. In the morning sent Dick Gorney and 6 more harty lads a 
 ffishing ; I stop d with a show 1 " of raine. Two of Rob. Rich his sons came in on 
 my godson, to whom I gave is. ; thence followed the ffish", where we had very 
 good sport, and tuck 8 brave large growen tenches, and 6 as noble carps as I have 
 seen tuke, severall pearch, some gudgeons, and a large eyell, and 6 great chevens."
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 179 
 
 The diarist, Thomas Tyldesley, died in 1715, before the outbreak 
 of the rebellion, and was buried at Churchtown, near Garstang. 
 Edward Tyldesley, his eldest son, who succeeded him, had two 
 children by his wife Dorothy James and Catherine. He was 
 accused, tried, and acquitted of taking part with the rebels of 1715, 
 although the evidence clearly convicted him of having led a body 
 of men against the king's forces. At the death of Edward 
 Tyldesley, in 1725, Myerscough no longer belonged to the family, 
 but Holcroft, acquired by marriage in 1679, passed to his son James, 
 who twenty years later served with the troops of Prince Charles, 
 the younger pretender, and died in 1765. The offspring of James 
 Tyldesley by Sarah, his wife, were Thomas, Charles, James, Henry, 
 and Jane, all of whom with their descendants seem to have sold or 
 mortgaged the remnants of the once large estates, and gradually 
 drifted into poverty and obscurity. 
 
 It will not be out of place in concluding the notice of a family 
 connected with the earliest infancy of Blackpool, to state some- 
 thing of the character and habits of Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox 
 Hall, as disclosed by, and deduced from, the entries in his diary, 
 which unfortunately comprises only the last three years of his 
 life. At the present time the appearance of a party of gentlemen 
 in this neighbourhood decorated with curled wigs, surmounted by 
 three-cornered hats, and habited in long-figured waistcoats, plush 
 breeches, and red-heeled boots, would excite no little astonishment, 
 yet in the days of the diarist the sight must have been one ot 
 usual occurrence, for such was the style of costume worn by 
 the wealthier classes. The lower classes wre. clothed in garments 
 
 i.ff'" *-> 
 
 made from the undyed wool of the sheep, -dtid called hodden gray. 
 Thomas Tyldesley was a great equestrian, his journeys being 
 so frequent and rapid that it is difficult to be certain of his 
 whereabouts when he finished his day's work and its minute 
 record, with the final " soe to beed." He was on terms 01 
 intimacy and friendship with the Rigbys of Layton, the Veales 
 of Whinney Heys, the Westbys of Burn Hall, and all the wealthy 
 families in the neighbourhood. Fishing, hunting, coursing, and 
 shooting were his favourite recreations. Nor was he unmindful 
 in the midst of these amusements of the interests of his farm, as 
 the accompanying remarks amply testify : " Very bussy all 
 morning in my hay ;" and "Alday in the house and my garden,
 
 i8o THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 bussy transplanting colleflow r and cabage plants ;" whilst at other 
 times we find him in communication with various tenants relative 
 to some portion or other of the Myerscough property. Unless 
 confined to bed by gout or rheumatism, and the self-imposed, but 
 fearful, " Phissickings " he underwent, swallowing doses whose 
 magnitude alone would appal most men of modern days, he 
 was ever actively engaged in either business or pleasure. Every 
 item of disbursement and every circumstance that occurred, even 
 to the most trivial, has found a place in his diary, and from 
 it we learn that while evidently anxious to avoid unnecessary 
 expenditure, he was neither parsimonious nor illiberal, always 
 recompensing those who had been put to any trouble on his 
 account, and paying his share of each friendly gathering with a 
 scrupulous exactness. There is, however, a satisfaction expressed 
 in the words, " but spent noe thing," after the brief notice of the 
 horse-race he had attended on the Hawes, which, when we call to 
 mind his natural generosity, showed that his income required care 
 in its expenditure, and was barely sufficient to support the position 
 he held by birth. Many other entries in his diary prove that he 
 was frequently short of money, and as his mode of living appears 
 to have been far from extravagant, it seems difficult at first sight 
 to account for the circumstance. But when we discover that he 
 had for years been connected, as one of the leading members and 
 promoters, with a Catholic and Jacobite Society at Walton-le- 
 dale, having for its object the restoration of the Stuarts, then in 
 exile, and remember that a scheme of such magnitude and 
 importance could not possibly be matured or kept in activity 
 without the purses of its more earnest supporters suffering to a 
 great extent, we obtain in some measure an explanation of the 
 matter. 
 
 The character of Thomas Tyldesley, as gleaned from his diary, 
 may be summarised as follows : He was in every sense a country 
 gentleman, fond of field sports, happy on his farm, thoughtful of 
 the condition and comfort of his cattle, although sometimes given 
 to hard, or at least far, riding ; for the rest, he was active and 
 intelligent, liberal to his dependants, careful in his household, and 
 strictly honourable in all his dealings, but above all he had an 
 earnest and deep reverence for his creed and principles that spared 
 no sacrifice.
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 1 8 1 
 
 VEALE OF WHINNEY KEYS. 
 
 The Veales, of Whinney Heys, who during a time of consider- 
 able license and extravagance, were renowned for their piety and 
 frugality, were descended from John Veale, of My thorp. This 
 gentleman was living during the reign of Elizabeth, and fur- 
 nished I caliver and I morion at the military muster which took 
 place in 1574. Francis Veale, the son of John Veale, of Mythorp, 
 is the first of the name we find described as of Whinney Heys. 1 
 Francis Veale left a son, Edward, who resided at Whinney Heys, 
 and appeared amongst the list of Free-tenants of Amounderness 
 in 1621. According to Sir William Dugdale, he was a justice of 
 the peace for Lancashire in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. 
 Edward Veale married Ellen, the daughter and co-heiress, with 
 her younger sister Alice, of John Massey, of Layton and Carleton, 
 and in that way the Veales acquired much of their property in 
 the neighbourhood of Whinney Heys. The offspring of this 
 union were John, who was born in 1605; Massey; Edward; 
 Francis ; Singleton ; Ellen, who married Thomas Heardson, of 
 Cambridge ; Juliana ; Dorothy, who married George Sharpies, of 
 Freckleton ; Anne, who became the wife of John Austin, of 
 London ; Alice ; and Frances, the wife of William Wombwell, 
 of London. The maiden name of Mrs. Edward Veale's mother 
 was Singleton, she being the daughter of Thomas Singleton, of 
 Staining Hall, and for that reason we find the name borne by one 
 of the sons of Edward Veale. John Veale, the eldest son, 
 succeeded to the Hall and estate, and espoused Dorothy, the 
 daughter of Matthew Jepson, of Hawkswell, in Yorkshire. John 
 Veale was fifty-nine years of age in 1664, and at that date entered 
 the names of his ancestors, etc., before Sir William Dugdale at 
 Preston, who was on his heraldic visitation in Lancashire. The 
 children of John Veale, by Dorothy, his wife, were John, 
 Edward, Helen, Susan, and Jane. John Veale, who was twenty 
 years old in 1664, became the representative of the family on the 
 decease of his father, some time previous to which he had 
 married Susannah, the daughter of Geoffrey Rishton, of Antley, 
 and by her had issue Edward, born in 1680 ; Ellen, the wife of 
 Richard Sherdley, of Kirkham, born in 1698 ; and Dorothy, who 
 
 I. Dugdale's Visitation.
 
 1 82 THE PEDIGREES Of 
 
 died unmarried in 1747, aged 76 years. John Veale was a justice 
 of the peace for this county, and died in 1704. After the death of 
 John Veale, whose remains were interred at Bispham church, 
 Edward, his only son, inherited the lands and Hall of Whinney 
 Heys. Edward Veale was living at the same time as Thomas 
 Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, Blackpool, and between the two 
 gentlemen a close friendship seems to have existed, as we glean 
 from the diary of the latter, in which Edward Veale is frequently 
 mentioned, being invariably, for some reason, styled Captain, 
 perhaps he once held that rank in some temporary or reserve 
 force, for there is no record of his ever having been connected 
 with the regular troops. The following is a short extract from 
 the above diary in 1712 : 
 
 "Aug. 2. Att my returne I wentt to y e King's Arms, and got my din r with 
 Bro r . We spent is. a pice in whitte wine, and as wee went through y e hall 
 met with Just. Longworth, 1 Cap" Veale, Just. Pearson, Franke Nickinson, and 
 small L d of Roshall. 2 Wee were very merry upon y e small Lord, and spent is. 
 a pice in sack and white wine, w h elevated y e petite L d that before he went to 
 bed he tucke y e ffriedom of biting his man Sharocke's thumb off just beyond 
 y 8 nail. I found cos. W: W: att home." 
 
 Edward left issue at his death in 1723, at forty-three years of 
 age John, Sarah, and Susannah. John Veale, the heir, entered 
 into holy orders, and subsequently died unmarried. Sarah and 
 Susannah Veale, the co-heiresses of their brother, married 
 respectively Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall (the small lord), 
 and John Fayle, of the Holmes, Thornton, who erected Bridge 
 House in Bispham, after the model of the original Hall of 
 Whinney Heys. The lands and residence of Whinney Heys 
 eventually passed into the possession of the Fleetwoods, of 
 Rossall, through the wife of Edward Fleetwood. The Veales 
 were Puritans in religion, and one of the family, named Edward 
 Veale, whose father was the third son of Edward and Ellen Veale 
 mentioned above, and a lay member of the Presbyterian Classis for 
 this district in the time of the Commonwealth, attained consider- 
 able eminence, first as a Puritan preacher and afterwards as a 
 Nonconformist minister. Calamy, in his Nonconformist Memorial, 
 tells us that "Mr. Edward Veale, of Christ Church, Oxford, 
 
 I. Richard Longworth, of St. Michael's Hall, a justice of the peace. 
 2. The small L d of Roshall was Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall, who at 
 this time was thirty years of age.
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 183 
 
 afterwards of Trinity College, Dublin, was ordained at Winwick in 
 Lancashire, August 4th, 1857. When he left Ireland he brought 
 with him a testimonial of his being ' a learned, orthodox minister, 
 of a sober, pious, and peaceable conversation, who during his 
 abode at the college was eminently useful for the instruction of 
 youth, and whose ministry had been often exercised in and about 
 the city of Dublin with great satisfaction to the godly, until he 
 was deprived of his fellowship for nonconformity to the cere- 
 monies imposed in the church, and for joining with other 
 ministers in their endeavours for a reformation ;' sighed by 
 Richard Charnock and six other respectable ministers. He 
 became chaplain to Sir William Waller, in Middlesex, and 
 afterwards settled as a Nonconformist pastor in Wapping, where 
 he lived to a good old age. He had several pupils, to whom he 
 read university learning, who were afterwards useful persons ; 
 one of whom was Mr. Nathaniel Taylor. He died June 6th, 
 1708, aged 76. His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. T. 
 Symonds, who succeeded him." 
 
 WESTBY OF MOWBRECK HALL AND BURN HALL.* 
 
 The family of this name, so long associated with the township 
 of Medlar-with-Wesham, in the parish of Kirkham, is descended 
 from the Westbys of Westby, in the county of York. 
 
 William Westby, who was under-sheriff of Lancashire in 1345, 
 is the first of the name, we can find, residing at Mowbreck ; and 
 a great-grandson of his, named William Westby, is recorded as 
 inheriting the Mowbreck and Westby property in the reign of 
 Henry VI., 1422-61. John Westby, the son of the latter William, 
 succeeded to the estates, residing, like his ancestors, at Mowbreck 
 Hall, and was twice married, the offspring of the first union, with 
 Mabill, daughter of Richard Botiler, being two daughters ; and of 
 the second, with Eleanor Kirkby, of Rawcliffe, a son and heir, 
 named William, who succeeded him at his death in 1512. 
 William Westby, although the lawful holder of the estates, did 
 not obtain control over them until after 1517, being a minor at 
 that date. He married Elizabeth Rigmayden, of Wedacer, and 
 
 I. John Westby, of Mowbreck, was probably the builder or purchaser of Burn 
 Hall about the middle of the sixteenth century. See pedigree above at that date.
 
 1 84 THE PEDIGREES OF 
 
 had issue John, Elizabeth, and Helen. John Westby, the heir, 
 had possession of Mowbreck, and Burn in Thornton township, 
 about the year 1556, after the decease of his father; his places of 
 residence were Mowbreck and Burn Halls. He was thrice married, 
 and by his last wife, Ann, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, of 
 Sefton and Larbrick, and widow of Thomas Dalton, of Thurnham, 
 had issue John, Thomas, William, Ellen, and Mary. John 
 Westby succeeded his father in 1591, and dying unmarried in 
 1604, was in his turn succeeded by his brother, Thomas Westby, 
 who was twice married, and purchased the estate of Whitehall, 
 where the children of his second union established themselves. 
 The offspring of his first wife, Perpetya, daughter of Edward 
 Norris, of Speke, were John, Thomas, Edward, William, 
 Francis, Margaret, Perpetua, and Anne. John Westby, the 
 heir, came into the Mowbreck estate and Burn Hall some time 
 after 1622, but dying without issue in 1661, was succeeded by his 
 nephew, Thomas, the eldest son of his fourth brother, Francis 
 Westby, Thomas Westby, M.D., slain in the civil wars, and his 
 two other brothers, Edward and William, having died childless. 
 Thomas Westby, the inheritor of Westby, Mowbreck, and Burn, 
 was born in 1641, and espoused Bridget, daughter of Thomas 
 Clifton, of Lytham Hall, his issue being John, Thomas, William, 
 Cuthbert, Robert, Francis, Bridget, Anne, and Dorothy. John 
 Westby, the eldest son, inherited Westby, Mowbreck, and Burn 
 Hall, on the demise of his father in 1700. Thomas Tyldesley, of 
 Fox Hall, was intimate with this gentleman, as observed from the 
 following entry in his diary in the year 1715 : 
 
 " June primo. Went to Mains to prayers ; thence with Jack Westby to Burn 
 to dinner ; stayed till 4 ; thence to Whinneyheys ; stayed till 9 ; soe home." 
 
 John Westby married, in 1688, Jane, daughter of Christopher 
 Parker, of Bradkirk Hall, and had issue four daughters 
 Catherine, who married Alexander Osbaldeston, of Sunderland ; 
 Bridget, the wife of William Shuttleworth, of Turnover Hall ; 
 Mary, the wife of the Rev. Thomas Alderson ; and Anne, the 
 wife of the Rev. J. Bennison, of London. At the death of John 
 Westby in 1722, Burn Hall and estate passed to the Bennisons, 
 whilst Mowbreck became the property of Thomas Westby, who 
 died childless six years later, and afterwards of Robert Westby, 
 brothers of the deceased John Westby. Margaret Shuttleworth,
 
 ANCIENT FAMILIES. 185 
 
 the daughter of William and Bridget Shuttleworth, of Turnover, 
 married her cousin, Thomas Westby, of Whitehall, in 1744, and 
 had numerous offspring, the eldest of whom, John Westby, 
 succeeded to Mowbreck, as heir-at-law, on the death of his 
 relative, Robert Westby, before mentioned, in 1762. This John 
 Westby died in 1811 unmarried, and was succeeded by his only 
 surviving brother, Thomas Westby. This gentleman also died 
 unmarried, and was succeeded in 1829 in the Turnover Hall 
 estate, by his cousin, Thomas Westby, heir-at-law, to whose 
 eldest son, George Westby, he left Whitehall and Mowbreck. 
 George Westby espoused Mary Pauton, the eldest daughter of 
 Major John Tate, of the 6th West Indian Infantry, and had issue 
 Mary Virginia Ann ; Matilda Julia, wife of the Rev. Dr. Henry 
 Hayman ; Jocelyn Tate ; Ada Perpetua ; Georgina Blanche ; 
 Ashley George, late captain in the army ; Cuthbert Menzies ; 
 Bernard Hsegar, captain i6th regiment ; Basil Clifton, captain 
 1 6th regiment. George Westby died at Paris in 1842, and was 
 succeeded by his eldest son, Jocelyn Tate, the present holder, 
 who took by royal license the name and arms of Fazakerley on 
 espousing, in 1862, Matilda Harriette Gillibrand-Fazakerley sister 
 and co-heiress of the late Henry Hawarden Gillibrand-Fazakerly, 
 the son of Henry Hawarden Fazakerley, of Gillibrand Hall, etc., 
 and lord of the manor of Chorley. 
 
 Jocelyn Tate Fazakerley- Westby, of Mowbreck Hall, esq., was 
 formerly a cornet in the Scotch Greys, and is now a captain of 
 Lancashire hussars, yeomanry cavalry. He is a justice of the 
 peace and a deputy-lieutenant of the county of Lancaster.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PARISH OF POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 
 POULTON. 
 
 JIHE ancient town and port of Poulton occupies the 
 summit of a gentle ascent about one mile removed 
 from the waters of Wyre at Skippool, and three 
 from the Irish Sea at Blackpool. Between 1080 and 
 '86, Poltun, as it was written in the Norman Survey, contained no 
 more than two carucates of land under tillage, or in an arable 
 condition, so that out of the 900 acres composing the township, 
 only 200 were cultivated by the inhabitants. A considerable 
 proportion of the entire area of the township, however, would be 
 covered with lofty trees, and provide excellent forage ground for 
 large herds of swine, which formed the chief live-stock dealt in by 
 our Anglo-Saxon and early Norman ancestors. Taking this into 
 consideration, the comparatively small amount of soil devoted to 
 agriculture, may not, indeed, indicate so meagre a population 
 about the close of the eleventh century as otherwise it would 
 seem to do, but still the evidence adduced is barely sufficient 
 whereon to base the assumption that the antecedents of Poulton 
 had been less under the destructive influence of the Danes than 
 those of its neighbours. Regarding the locality more retrospec- 
 tively, and turning back, for a brief space, to the era of the Romans, 
 it must be admitted that nothing has as yet been discovered 
 which could be construed into an intimation that the followers of 
 Agricola, or their descendants, ever had a settlement or encamp- 
 ment on the site. It is true that the churchyard has yielded up 
 many specimens of their ancient coinage, whilst others have been
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 187 
 
 found at no great distance, but the character of the relics is in no 
 way suggestive of a sojournment, like that of the fragmentary 
 domestic utensils and urns of Kirkham ; and when it is remem- 
 bered that the much-used Roman road (Dane's Pad) leading to 
 the most important harbour of the west coast, passed through 
 the vicinity on its way towards the Warren of Rossall, the 
 explanation of the presence of the coins, as of other antiquities 
 along its line, is obvious. The name of the town and district 
 now under examination is of pure Anglo-Saxon origin, and 
 acquired from its proximity to the pool of the Skipton, or 
 Skippool, the signification of the word being, it is scarcely 
 necessary to add, the enclosure or township of the pool. The 
 date at which habitations first became visible on the soil must 
 remain in a great measure a matter of conjecture, as the annals 
 of history are silent respecting this and most other towns of 
 Amounderness, until the arrival of William the Conqueror, but 
 we may safely infer that it was not long after the advent of the 
 Saxons before a situation so convenient both to the stream of 
 Wyre and the frequented pathway just mentioned, attracted a 
 small colony of settlers. Whatever century gave birth to 
 Poulton, it is certain that from such epoch to 1066, the 
 population would be constituted, almost exclusively, of the 
 class known as " Villani," perhaps most appropriately inter- 
 preted by our term villagers, and that the occupation of 
 these bondsmen of the soil would be the tillage of the land 
 and the superintendence of swine. Their huts were doubtless 
 of very rude and primitive construction, but somewhere 
 within the boundaries of the township there must have been a 
 dwelling of more pretentious exterior, the residence of the Town- 
 Reve, who received the dues and tolls from the " Villani," on 
 behalf of the large territorial lord, and exercised a general super- 
 vision over them. Athelstan appears to have held the lordship of 
 the whole of Amounderness in 936, when he conveyed it to the 
 See of York, and possibly before he ascended the throne it was 
 invested successively in his regal predecessors. 
 
 After the Conquest, Poulton passed into the possession of the 
 Norman nobleman, Roger de Poictou, by whom it was granted in 
 1094, to the priory of St. Mary, at Lancaster. " He gave," says 
 the charter, " Pol tun in Agmundernesia, and whatsover belonged
 
 1 88 POUL TON PARISH. 
 
 to it, and the church with one carucate' of land, and all other 
 things belonging to it ; moreover he gave the tithe of venison 
 and of pawnage 1 in all the woods, and the tithe of his fishery." 8 
 This extract proves beyond question the existence of a church at 
 Poulton exactly eight years after the completion of the Domesday 
 record ; and further, that it was endowed with one carucate of 
 land, or half the cultivated portion of the township. At the first 
 glance it seems more probable that the sacred edifice was over- 
 looked by the investigators in the course of the survey than that 
 it was erected so shortly afterwards, but a study of other pages of 
 the register betrays such evident care and minuteness on the part 
 of those to whom the work of compilation was entrusted, that it 
 appears impossible for an important building like the church to 
 have escaped their notice. Roger de Poictou was justly celebrated 
 for zeal in the cause of his faith ; several monastic institutions 
 owed their establishment to his liberality, and amongst them was 
 St. Mary's of Lancaster. It will therefore be but a reasonable 
 conclusion to arrive at, that he built and endowed the parish 
 church of Poulton with the intention of presenting it to the 
 Priory of his own founding, in connection with the abbey of 
 Sees in Normandy. During the reign of Richard I. (1189-99), 
 Theobald Walter quitclaimed to the abbot of Sees all his right to 
 the advowson of Poulton and the church of Bispham, owing to a 
 suit instituted against him by that ecclesiastic ; 8 and hence it 
 must be inferred that the donation of Roger de Poictou had 
 through some cause reverted to him, being subsequently conferred 
 on Walter in company with other of the confiscated estates of the 
 rebellious baron. The abbot of Cockersand also had some 
 interest in the town about the time the last event took place, and 
 in about 1216 he compounded with the prior of Lancaster for 
 certain tithes held by him in the parish. 4 In 1246 the mediety of 
 the church of Poulton and the chapel of Bispham was granted 
 by the archdeacon of Richmond to the priory of St. Mary, and 
 half a century later John Romanus, archdeacon of Richmond, 
 confirmed the gift, bestowing on it in addition the remaining 
 
 1. Pawnage, or Pannage, signified the food of swine to be found in woods, such 
 as acorns and beech-mast, etc. 
 
 2. Regist. S. Mariae de Lane. MS. fol. I. 
 
 3. Regist. S. Mariae de Lane. fol. 77. 
 
 4. Regist. of Cockersand Abbey, and S. Mariae de Lane.
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 189 
 
 mediety, to be received when death had removed the present 
 holder. A clause in the document stipulated that immediately 
 the second mediety had been appropriated a vicar should be 
 appointed at a salary of twenty marks (13 6s. 8d.) per annum. 1 
 Here again it is clear that some time in the interval between 
 1199 and 1246 the lands and living of Poulton had once more 
 been forfeited or disposed of by the Lancaster monastery, but in 
 the absence of any records bearing on the subject, the manner 
 and reason of the relinquishment must still continue enveloped 
 in a veil of mystery. From 1246 the vicarage of Poulton 
 remained attached to the Lancaster foundation until the 
 dissolution of alien priories, when it was conveyed to the abbey 
 of Sion, in Middlesex, and retained by that convent up to the 
 time of the Reformation in 1536. Alien priories, it may be 
 explained, were small monastic institutions connected with the 
 abbeys of Normandy, and established on lands which had been 
 granted or bequeathed to the parent houses by William the 
 Conqueror or one of his followers. They were occupied by only 
 a very limited number of brethren and members of the sister- 
 hood. A prior was appointed over each, his chief duty being to 
 collect the rents and other monies due from their estates, etc., 
 and transmit them over to Normandy. Such immense sums 
 were in that way annually exported out of the country, that it 
 was ultimately deemed expedient by the king and his ministers to 
 suppress all priories of this description. 
 
 The Banastres were a family long connected with the Fylde 
 through landed property which they held in the neighbourhood ; 
 originally they are stated to have come over from Normandy with 
 William the Conqueror, and to have settled at Newton in the 
 Willows. On their frequent journeys to and from Thornton, 
 Singleton, and Staining, the tenants of the priory of St. Mary 
 were in the habit of crossing over the lands of the Banastres, 
 by whom their intrusions were deeply resented, which led 
 to constant feuds between them and the head of the Lan- 
 caster monastery. In 1276, as we learn from the "Regist. S. 
 Mariae de Lane.," Sir Adam Banastre with several of his friends 
 and retainers, amongst whom were John Wenne, Richard le 
 
 I. Baines's Hist, of Lane.
 
 1 90 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 Demande (the collector), William de Thorneton, Richard de 
 Brockholes, Geoffrey le Procuratoure (the proctor), and Adam le 
 Reve (the reeve), attacked the prior, Ralph de Truno, and his 
 train of attendants, when on their way to Poulton. They seized 
 and carried off both him and his retinue to Thornton, where, after 
 treating them with great indignity, they chastised and imprisoned 
 them. Edward I., on hearing of the disgraceful outrage, appointed 
 John Travers, William de Tatham, and John de Horneby to 
 investigate the matter and ascertain the cause, if possible ; but no 
 paper is now to be found revealing the result of the examination 
 or hinting at the provocation, although a surmise may be hazarded 
 that it was no new quarrel, but simply the old feud, which had at 
 last culminated in a cowardly assault on a defenseless ecclesiastic. 
 In 1299, Poulton was held in trust by Thomas, earl of Lancaster, 
 for the prior of St. Mary ; and eight years anterior to that date 
 the abbot of Deulacres, in Staffordshire, drew certain revenues 
 from land in the township, viz., ^"8 per annum from 16 carucates 
 of land, about 133. 4d. each year from the sale of meadow land, 
 los. from assessed rents, and $ from the profit of stock, making 
 in all an annual total of ^"14 33. 4d. The repeated disputes 
 between Sir Adam Banastre and Adam Conrates, prior of 
 Lancaster, relative to the trespasses of the latter's tenants and the 
 collection of tithes on the domains of the former were peaceably 
 settled in 1330, by an arrangement, in which Sir Adam pledged 
 himself to allow two good roads across his lands one from 
 Poulton and Thornton to Skippool and thence across the ford of 
 Aldwath, now called Shard, on to Singleton, the other starting 
 from the same localities and running to the ford of Bulk higher 
 up the river, probably the modern Cartford, or in its vicinity, in 
 addition the knight agreed to make good any damage that the 
 prior or his dependants might suffer over that portion of their 
 journeys. 1 Adam Conrates on his side promised to withdraw all 
 actions for trespass, etc., on the fulfilment of these conditions. In 
 1354 a person named Robert de Pulton held some small possessions 
 in Poulton, but nothing further than that trifling fact is recorded 
 about him, although it is probable from the orthography of his 
 name that his ancestors were at some time closely and honourably 
 
 I. Regist S. Marige de Lane.
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 191 
 
 associated with the town from which their distinctive appellation 
 appears to have been derived. During the time of Elizabeth, 
 James Massey, gentleman, of Carleton and Layton, purchased 
 from the governors of the Savoy Hospital, in London, the tolls 
 in the parish of Poulton, together with all the " chauntry and 
 appurtenances " founded in the parish church of Bricksworth, and 
 all messuages, lands, tenements, etc., situated in the town and 
 parish of Poulton ; the tolls remained subject to an annual 
 rent of 2, to be paid on St. Michael's day to the governors 
 and chaplains of the hospital. Later in the same reign James 
 Massey sold to William Leigh, esq., of High Leigh, in Cheshire, 
 half of these tolls and some pasture fields, called "Angell's Holme," 
 adjoining the Horse-bridge, where in earlier days, when the waters 
 of Wyre made their way along a brook into the interior of this 
 neighbourhood, boats are said to have been built. The Rigbys, of 
 Layton Hall, subsequently became possessed of a great part of 
 Poulton, and at the present day a large number of houses are 
 leased in their name for the remainder of terms of 999 years ; the 
 Heskeths, of Mains, and other leading families in the district were 
 also considerable property owners in the town. On one occasion 
 the ruling powers of Kirkham made an unsuccessful attempt to 
 obtain the tolls arising from the cattle fairs held in Poulton and 
 Singleton, but on what plea such claims were urged the record is 
 silent. 
 
 In an entry which occurs in the lists of the Norman Roll, an 
 impost consisting of the ninth of corn, fleeces, and lambs, and 
 created in 9 Edward III., 1336, it is stated that in 1291 the 
 vicarage of Poulton was taxed by Pope Nicholas at 10 marks, or 
 6 135. 4d. modern coinage, the prior of Norton taking 2 in 
 garbs or wheat sheaves. Afterwards the vicarage was freed from 
 the payments of tenths on account of the smallness of the living. 
 Dr. Whittaker informs us that the priory of Lancaster was granted 
 by Henry V., in 1422, to the chancellor of England, who in that 
 year instituted a vicar to the living of Poulton, but eight years 
 previously, in the same reign, the priory was granted in trust for 
 the abbess and convent of Sion ; from which seemingly con- 
 tradictory statements it may be gathered that the chancellor was 
 the trustee for the property, and in such capacity alone acted as 
 patron of the church of Poulton. In support of this supposition
 
 192 POUL TON PARISH. 
 
 may be cited the fact that the Lancaster house and its belongings 
 were not received by the convent in Middlesex until 1431, during 
 the sovereignty of Henry VI., when the vicarage was endowed by 
 the abbess, and William de Croukeshagh presented to the living. 
 This pastor, the earliest personally mentioned, was succeeded on 
 .his death, in 1442, by Richard Brown, appointed by the same 
 convent. " Among the records," writes Baines in his history of 
 Lancashire," in the Augmentation Office is in indenture tripartite 
 in English, bearing the date u Henry VIII., 1579, and purporting 
 to be made between the Abbess of Sion on the first part, Thomas 
 Singleton and Henry Singleton on the second part, and William 
 Bretherton, vicar of Poulton, on the third part, by which the 
 tithe-sheaf of Pulton and a tenement are leased to the vicar, that 
 he may better keep and maintain his house in Pulton ; the term 
 to continue during the existence of a lease granted to the persons 
 named Singleton by Sion abbey." At the Reformation the manor 
 and advowson were claimed by the crown, and a few years later 
 became the property of the Fleetwoods. The last royal presenta- 
 tion to the living was made by Edward VI. in 1552, just one year 
 before his death, whilst the first by this family was in 1565, by 
 John Fleetwood, lord of the manor of Penwortham. The Rev. 
 Charles Hesketh, M.A., of North Meols, is now the patron. 
 
 The ancient church of Poulton stood on the site now occupied 
 by the existing edifice, and like it, was dedicated to the Saxon 
 St. Chad or Cheadda, bishop of Mercia, and seated at Chester in 
 A.D. 669. The original structure consisted of only a nave and 
 north aisle, the outer walls of which were composed of sandstone, 
 whilst the double roof rested on semicircular arches, extending 
 from the chancel to the font, and supported on four octagonal 
 pillars. These semicircular arches belonged to a very antique 
 style of architecture, and have given rise to the belief that the 
 pillars were at first massive cylinders, being carved into an 
 angular form about the time of Henry VIII. The pulpit had its 
 place towards the south, and at the east end there appears to have 
 been a small gallery. A pipe clay monument in memoriam of 
 the Singletons, of Staining, stood inside the church, but was, 
 intentionally or accidentally, destroyed when the building was 
 pulled down. A rude brass crucifix and a chalice, both of which 
 belonged to the church previous to the Reformation, are still
 
 PQULTON-LE-FYLDE. 193 
 
 preserved, one being in the possession of a late priest at Breck 
 chapel, and the other in the Catholic chapel at Claughton. The 
 upper halves of the windows, including the east one, were semi- 
 circular in form. In 1622 the old chancel was repaired by the 
 Rev. Peter Whyte, the vicar, and a stone, two feet in length and 
 one foot and a half in depth, bearing the name " Peter WhyJ:e," 
 and the date "1622," in raised letters about six inches long, 
 was placed over the east window. This piece of masonry now 
 occupies a situation in the south-west corner of the edifice. The 
 churchyard, which is reported to have been usually in a filthy 
 and disgraceful state, was partly surrounded by a moderately wide 
 ditch, on the brink of which three or four fine sycamore trees 
 flourished, but were cut down when sundry alterations and 
 improvements were effected in the ground. In 1751, after the 
 old church had been standing six centuries and a half, it was 
 determined to demolish it, and erect a more commodious building 
 on the site. The tower, however, was retained, as, being of more 
 recent date, it evinced none of those symptoms of decay which 
 had rendered the body of the edifice dangerous to worshippers. 
 An opinion prevails that the tower was built about the time of 
 Charles I., and such a view is upheld by the discovery on the 
 removal of the pulpit in 1836 of a square stone, having on its face 
 the raised letters TB. WG. in the first line, IH. TG. IH. in the 
 second line, and WG. 1638 in the last line. It is supposed that 
 this stone, which is now fixed in the wall at the south-west 
 corner of the church, was carved in commemoration of the 
 erection of the tower, and the raised letters are the initials of the 
 churchwardens then in office, and the date when the work was 
 accomplished. Between this stone and the one previously referred 
 to, there is a stained-glass memorial window to " Robert Buck, 
 born 1805, died 1862, presented by his sister, C. D. Foxton." 
 Mrs. Catherine Dauntesy Foxton, the lady here indicated, is the 
 representative of the family of Bucks, of Agecroft Hall, Pendle- 
 bury, and inherited considerable property in the neighbourhood 
 of Poulton. During the time the new church was in course of 
 building, divine service was performed in the tithe-barn, and the 
 ceremony of baptism at the residences of the parents. The funds 
 required for carrying out the important undertaking were 
 doubtless chiefly supplied through the munificence of a com- 
 
 N
 
 1 94 -PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 paratively small circle of private individuals, whose contributions 
 would probably be in some measure supplemented by minor 
 collections amongst the less opulent agriculturists and peasantry. 
 One person, named Welsh, who resided at Marton, seems to have 
 cherished a bitter antipathy to the levelling of ancient structures 
 in general, and embodied his refusal to assist this particular work 
 in the following rhymes : 
 
 " While here on earth I do abide, 
 I'll keep up walls and pull down pride ; 
 To build anew I'll ne'er consent, 
 And make the needy poor lament." 
 
 It has usually been affirmed that the side galleries were not 
 erected until several years after the new church had been finished, 
 but the annexed extract from an old document discovered in 
 1875, shows that authority to build them was obtained in 1751, 
 whilst the church was levelled with the ground ; and as the parch- 
 ment also discloses that a number of seats in these galleries were 
 allotted to certain gentlemen of the parish in the ensuing year, 
 there is ample evidence that the rebuilding of the church and 
 their erection were carried on simultaneously : "25 June, 1751. 
 On the Certificate and request of Roger Hesketh, Esq., Patron ; 
 the Rev. Robert Loxham, Clerk, Vicar ; and the Churchwardens 
 of the Parish Church of Poulton ; a Faculty was Granted to 
 John Bird, John Birley, and Richard Tennant, all of Poulton, 
 Gentlemen (for the better uniformity of the Parish Church of 
 Poulton, which was then taken down and rebuilding) to take 
 down the Gallery over the Chancel in the East of the said 
 Church, which was then very irregular and incommodious, and 
 to rebuild the same with a convenient staircase, stairs, and 
 passage leading thereto, of their own expense, in the west end 
 thereof to adjoin to the north side of the gallery there then 
 standing, and to be made uniform therewith, and to make 
 satisfaction to the several owners of the seats in the said Gallery 
 for the damage sustained in removing the same and altering, and 
 lessening the seats therein ; and to erect a Gallery on each side of 
 the said Church, with convenient staircases leading thereto at the 
 north-east and south-east ends of the said Church, if necessary, 
 according to the form of the said Certificate annexed, and also 
 to remove the Pulpit and reading desk from the place where the
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 195 
 
 same then lately stood, near to the place where the Churchwardens' 
 seat was then lately situate, as it would greatly tend to the 
 conformity of the said Church and to the benefit and advantage 
 of the Inhabitants of the said Parish, and also that they might 
 have liberty to sell and dispose of the seats to be contained in the 
 said intended side Galleries, to such persons within the said 
 Parish as should stand most in need thereof, to reimburse them- 
 selves the charges and expenses they would be necessarily put to in 
 building the said intended gallaries and making the alterations 
 aforesaid." 
 
 The present edifice is of stone, plain but commodious, and 
 comprises a chancel, body, and embattled tower, with buttresses 
 supporting each corner. Formerly a small shed stood on one 
 side of the tower, and was used as a repository for the sculls and 
 other osseous relics of humanity, which were unearthed during 
 the process of making fresh graves ; this house was pulled down 
 some years ago, and its numerous treasures returned to the ground 
 at the south-east corner of the yard. The chancel now standing 
 was erected eight years since, mainly through the exertions of the 
 Rev. Thomas Clarke, M.A., the vicar, who died in 1869. On the 
 exterior of the building, over a door at the south-east corner of 
 the body, is the inscription : Insignia Rici Fleetwood Ari Hujus 
 Eccliae Patroni Ann Dni 1699" ; above which is- a circumscribed 
 uneven space formerly occupied by the arms of the Fleetwood 
 family. Within the church the quarterings of the Heskeths and 
 Fleetwoods are hung against the walls in frames. At the west 
 end of the building there is a wooden panel into which the 
 following names have been cut : 
 
 Rich. Dickson. John Hull. 
 
 Rich. Willson. Rich. Willson. 
 
 John Woodhouse, churchwardens, 1730, 
 
 From the way in which the holders of similiar offices are 
 arranged at present it is surmised that these gentlemen respectively 
 represented the townships of 
 
 Poulton. Hardhorn. 
 
 Carleton. Thornton. 
 
 Marton. 
 
 On the south side of the church is a mural tablet to the memory 
 of the Rev. Richard Buck, M.A., of Agecroft Hall, Pendlebury,
 
 196 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 born 1761, died 1845, also Margaret, his wife, and Margaret, his 
 daughter. Another monument bears the names of Frances Hull, 
 born 1794, died 1847 ; William Wilson Hull, born 1822, died 
 1847, in the Queen's service, at Bathurst, St. Mary's Island in the 
 river Gambia ; Henry Mitchell Hull, M.A., born 1827, died 1853 ; 
 John Hull, M.D., born 1761, died 1843 "left the eldest of the 
 three children of John Hull, surgeon ; an orphan at six years of 
 age, poor, friendless, by the best use of all means of education 
 within his power, by unwearied industry, by constant self-denial, 
 he duly qualified himself for the practice of his profession 1 " ; 
 Sarah Hull, died 1842 ; William Winstanley Hull, M.A,, Fellow 
 of Brazenose College, Oxford, and Barrister-at-Law, eldest son 
 of John Hull, M.D., F.L.S., born 1784, died 1873. Here also was 
 the old churchwardens' pew, removed in 1876, having a brass 
 plate inscribed thus : " Thomas Whiteside, Jno Wilkinson, Jno 
 Whiteside, Thos. Cornwhite, Jno Hodgson, Churchwardens, 
 1737"; also the old pew formerly belonging to the Rigbys of 
 Layton Hall, on the door of which are carved the letters " A.R.," 
 a goats head, and the date " 1636," being the initials and crest of 
 Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall. Until last year, when they 
 were removed to afford space for more modern seats, the two 
 family pews of the Fleetwoods and Heskeths stood on this side. 
 The pews were walled in laterally and in front by a high orna- 
 mental railing of oak, and in the larger of the two traces of a 
 crest were visible on the wall. Near this spot there are many very 
 ancient pews, one of which has the date and initals " I7.TW.O2 " 
 carved upon it, whilst on the floor of the aisle close at hand is the 
 gravestone of "Edward Sherdley, gentleman, dyed 2ist September, 
 1744, aged 71," and almost adjoining lies another stone, sur- 
 mounting the remains of Geoffrey Hornby, who died in 1732. 
 On the day of the latter gentleman's funeral the west side of the 
 market-place was destroyed by fire, and as the procession passed 
 the scarves of the mourners were scorched by sparks driven by a 
 high wind in showers from the conflagration. On the north side 
 
 I. John Hull, M.D., F.L.S., commenced his professional education at Black- 
 burn in 1777 ; and in 1791, after graduating in medicine, settled at Manchester, 
 where he attained to considerable eminence both as a physician and writer on 
 botanical and medical subjects. He retired from practice to his native town of 
 Poulton in 1836, and remained there until his demise.
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 197 
 
 of the church is a pew bearing the date ' 1662 ' ; and near to are 
 the old pews of Burn Hall, Little Poulton Hall, Mains Hall, and 
 Todderstaff Hall, above which, fastened to the wall and marking 
 the resting place of several members of his family, are the arms 
 of Thomas Fitzherbert Brockholes, esq., of Claughton, the lord of 
 Little Poulton, etc. 
 
 The chancel contains a monument in memory of Bold Fleetwood 
 Hesketh died 1819, and his nephew, Edward Thomas Hesketh, 
 died 1820 ; also of Fleetwood Hesketh, of Rossall, who died in 
 1769, aged 30, and Frances Hesketh, who died in 1809, aged 74, 
 all of whom were interred beneath the Communion. In addition 
 there are two recent tablets, one being to the memory of the 
 late Thomas Clarke, vicar of the parish ; and the other in memory 
 of Francis Wm. Conry, only child of F. A. Macfaddin, surgeon, 
 47th regt. Within the Communion rails are two antique and 
 elaborately carved oak chairs. 
 
 In the south gallery are mural tablets inscribed in remembrance 
 of Edward Hornby, died in 1766, and Margaret, his wife; Edward 
 Sherdley, died 1744, and Ellen, his wife ; Giles Thornber, J.P., 
 died 1860, and his wife ; Geoffrey Hornby, died in 1732, and 
 Susannah, his wife ; Richard Harrison, vicar of Poulton, died in 
 1718, aged 65 ; and Christopher Albin, curate of Bispham, died 
 in 1753, aged 56, on a pew door opposite to which is a brass plate 
 engraved : " Introite et orate, cselo supinas si tuleris manus 
 sacra feceris, malaque effugies. 1 Christopher and Margery Albin 
 1752." 
 
 At one time a sounding board was suspended over the pulpit. 
 An ancient font, formerly belonging to the church and now the 
 property of the vicar, the Rev. William Richardson, M.A., has 
 carved upon its exterior the date 1649, the letters M.H., a cross, 
 and something, in its damaged state difficult to trace but 
 betraying some resemblance to a crown. The successor to this 
 font was removed several years since to make room for a new one 
 presented by the daughter of the Rev. Canon Hull, of Eaglescliffe, 
 in memory of her sister Frances Mary Hull, who died in 1866, 
 aged 20 years. 
 
 i. " Enter and pray, if you have raised to heaven your open palms you will 
 have performed sacred duties, and will fly from evil things."
 
 198 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 The old church books, extracts from which will be given 
 subsequently, contain many entries of sums paid for rushes to 
 strew the pews and aisles, a custom existing here as late as 1813. 
 In the tower is a peal of six bells, with the inscriptions : 
 
 1st Bell. " Prosperity to all our Benefactors. A. R. 1741. 
 
 2nd. " Peace and good Neighbourhood. A. R. 1741. 
 
 3rd. " Prosperity to this Parish. A. R. 1741. 
 4th. " When us you ring 
 
 We'll sweetly sing. A. R. 1741. 
 5th. " Able Rudhall 
 
 Cast us all. M. T. Gloucester. 1741." l 
 
 The 6th bell was recast by G. Mears and Company, of London, 
 in 1865, at the sole expense of the Rev. T. Clarke, and is inscribed : 
 " T. Clarke, M.A., vicar ; W. Gaulter, J. T. Bailey, W. Jolly, 
 J. Whiteside, churchwardens." The original inscription was 
 "Robert Fishwick, John Wilkinson, William Cookson, James 
 Hull, John Moore, churchwardens." 
 
 About thirty years since the roof of the church was altered and 
 renewed. Notwithstanding the fact that the churchyard has been 
 in constant use for so many centuries very few emblems of 
 antiquity, beyond occasional coins of the Roman era, have ever 
 been discovered in it, and at present, unlike most burial grounds 
 of great age, no specimens of raised letters are to be seen amongst 
 the numerous gravestones, the oldest of which still legible, 
 intimates the resting place of Richard Elston, and has the date 
 1719. At a short distance, and assisting to flag a side pathway to 
 the south of the church, is another stone, covering the grave of 
 " Richard Brown, of Great Marton, who died the third day of 
 April, 1723"; but neither this nor the foregoing one have any 
 interest beyond their antiquity. The ancient practice of tolling 
 the Curfew-bell is still continued in the winter evenings from 
 the 29th of September to the loth of March, whilst a pancake bell 
 is rung at 12 o'clock on each Shrove Tuesday.* 
 
 1. Mr. Rudhall, as we learn from the following entry in the registers of the 
 30 men of Kirkham, was in business at Gloucester : " 1749, April 14. Paid old 
 Mr. Rudhall for coming from Gloucester to take notes of the bells when the 2nd. 
 was recast, $ 33. od." 
 
 2. The Pancake Bell is usually rung by an apprentice of the town as a signal 
 for his confreres to discontinue work for that day, but strange to say on a late 
 occasion not one apprentice could be found in the whole of Poulton, and conse- 
 quently the duty was performed by the ordinary bell-ringer.
 
 PO UL TON-LE-F YLDE. 
 
 199 
 
 VICARS OF POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 
 
 IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 VICARS. 
 
 On whose 
 Presentation. 
 
 Cause of vacancy. 
 
 In 1431 
 
 Wm. de Croukeshagh 
 
 Abbot and Convent 
 
 
 
 
 of Sion 
 
 
 1442 Richard Brown 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 Before 1519 William Bretherton 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 In 1552 
 
 Ranulph Woodward 
 
 Edward VI. 
 
 
 
 Richard Cropper 
 
 
 
 ,, 1565 
 
 Wm. Wrightington 
 
 John Fleetwood, of 
 
 Death of Richard 
 
 
 
 Penwortham 
 
 Cropper 
 
 , *573 
 
 Richard Grenhall 
 
 Bridget Fleetwood 
 
 Death of William 
 
 
 
 and William, her 
 
 Wrightington 
 
 
 
 son 
 
 
 ,, 1582 
 
 Peter Whyte 
 
 Edward Fleetwood 
 
 Death of Richard 
 
 
 
 and William Pur- 
 
 Grenhall 
 
 
 
 ston 
 
 
 About 1650 
 
 John Sumner 
 
 
 
 
 George Shaw 
 
 
 
 In 1674 
 
 Richard Harrison 
 
 Richard Fleetwood, 
 
 Death of George 
 
 
 
 of Rossall 
 
 Shaw 
 
 1718 
 
 Timothy Hall 
 
 Edward Fleetwood, 
 
 Death of Richard 
 
 
 
 of Rossall 
 
 Harrison 
 
 ,, 1726 
 
 Robert Loxham 
 
 Ditto * 
 
 Death of T. Hall 
 
 ,, 1749 
 
 Robert Loxham 
 
 Roger Hesketh, of 
 
 Resignation of R. 
 
 
 
 Rossall 
 
 Loxham 
 
 i 1770 
 
 Thomas Turner 
 
 Exors. of Fleetwood 
 
 Death of Robert 
 
 
 
 Hesketh, of Ros- 
 
 Loxham 
 
 
 
 sall, by consent 
 
 
 
 
 of his widow 
 
 
 1810 
 
 Nathaniel Hinde 
 
 Bold . Fleetwood 
 
 Death of Thomas 
 
 
 
 Hesketh, of Ros- 
 
 Turner 
 
 
 
 sall 
 
 
 ,, 1820 
 
 Chas. Hesketh, M.A. 
 
 Peter Hesketh, of 
 
 Cession of N. Hinde 
 
 
 
 Rossall 
 
 
 1835 
 
 John Hull, M.A. 
 
 Rev. C. Hesketh, of 
 
 Resignation of C. 
 
 
 
 North Meols 
 
 Hesketh 
 
 1864 
 
 Thos. Clarke, M.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of J. 
 
 
 
 
 Hull 
 
 1869 
 
 William Richardson, 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of T. Clarke 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 
 Of the earlier vicars mentioned above, nothing is known until 
 we come to the Rev. Peter Whyte, of whose immediate 
 
 I. In all previously issued lists of vicars, Richard Fleetwood has erroneously 
 been named as patron in this instance. There was no Rich. Fleetwood of Rossall 
 at that time, and Edward, who had been patron at the former institution, was pro- 
 bably still alive as he had no son and but one daughter, who married Roger 
 Ilesketh, the next patron in right of his wife.
 
 200 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 descendants it is recorded that, after his death, they rapidly 
 drifted into poverty, and that one of them, a granddaughter, 
 regularly attended the fairs of Poulton as the wife of a pedlar or 
 hawker. The Rev. Richard Harrison was cousin to Cuthbert 
 Harrison, the Nonconformist divine who suffered ejection, and 
 belonged to the Bankfield family. Until instituted to Poulton, 
 Richard Harrison was curate at Goosnargh. His son Paul gained 
 some celebrity as a controversial writer on matters of ecclesiastical 
 interest. 1 The Loxhams settled at Dowbridge, near Kirkham, 
 and that estate is still held by the family. The Rev. Thomas 
 Turner purchased the living in 1770, when it was worth no more 
 than ^75 per annum, for ^"200, and held it until his death forty 
 years later. The Rev. C. Hesketh, M.A., brother to the late Sir 
 Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., is rector of North Meols and 
 patron of the living. During a portion of the time when he 
 was vicar of Poulton, the Rev. R. Bowness was curate in charge. 
 The Rev. John Hull, M.A., is honorary canon of Manchester, and 
 and was examining chaplain to the Right Rev. Prince Lee, D.D., 
 the first bishop of this diocese, by whom he was appointed to the 
 rectory of Eaglescliffe, near Yarm, one of the most valuable livings 
 in his gift. The Rev Thomas Clarke, M.A., was originally curate 
 at the Parish Church of Preston, and afterwards became incum- 
 bent of Christ Church in the same town, which living he resigned 
 on being presented to the vicarage of Poulton. 
 
 Subjoined are a number of extracts selected from the old 
 account books of the churchwardens, and in them will be found 
 much that is both interesting and curious : 
 
 "1764. 
 
 " June 4. To the Ringers, being his Majestie's Birthday, 33. od. * 
 July 8. To a Bottle of Wine to a strange Parson, 2s. od.: To ditto to a strange 
 Parson, 2s. od. 
 
 "1765- 
 
 " June 6." To Mr. Lomas for mending clock, 2s. 2d. 
 
 August 1 8. To Thomas Parkinson for Rushes, 6s. 8d.: Spent when Rush 
 came, is. 7d. 
 
 Oct. 20. To Mr. Loxham for a Prayer, 2d. 
 
 I. In 1876 a brass plate was found in Poulton church, near the site of the old 
 communion table, inscribed : " Here lies the body of Anne, wife of Richard 
 Harrison, vicar of Poolton, who dyed the 24th of December, 1679, aged 55 
 years."
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 201 
 
 Dec. 25. Spent Receiving Bassoon, is. 6d.: To Clark in full for^ wages, 
 j^4 os. od.: To Ringers Last half y r Sallary, i8s. od.: To Singers in full, I2s. 6d. 
 
 "1766. 
 " Sept. 15. Rushes for Church, 6s. 8d. : Candles, Beesoms, &c., I2s. 6d. 
 
 "1767. 
 
 " May 13. Court fees at Visitation, "js. iod.: Churchwardens' Expenses at 
 Preston, i Is. 5d.: Curat's horse hire to D, 2s. 6d. 
 July 20. To Reed for Bassoon, 43. 6d. 
 
 Nov. 21. To Hugh Seed for Flaggin, 6 i8s. 8|d.: To Thos. Crook for 
 Church steps, i8s. 4d.: Ale at fixing d, is. od. 
 
 "1768. 
 
 " Sept. I. To Mr. Warbrick for Cloth for Surp oe , iod.: To a Sacrament day, 
 us. 6d. 
 
 " 1769. 
 " Feb. I. To A New Prayer Book, i is. 3d. 
 
 6. To Cleaning Candlesticks, 2s. od. 
 Mar. 27. To Cash w th Marton Parson, 53. 5d. 
 
 Received 
 By Miss Hesketh's Burial in the Church, 33. 4d. 
 
 " 1770. 
 " Mar. 13. To Cash allowed Church Wardens for attending sacram ent , 53. od. 
 
 "1771- 
 
 " May 29. To Ringers ale, 33. od. 
 Aug. 18. Spent when Parson Hull preeched, 43. 6d. 
 
 " 1772. 
 Aug. 14. To cleaning Windows, 73. ; and lowance of ale 2s. 6d. 
 
 " 1774- 
 
 " July 4. Spent on Parson Eckleston and another strange Parson, one Red 
 prayrs and the other preached, 33. 6d. 
 
 Dec. 21. To Expense of a Meeting in sending for boys that had done Mischief 
 at Church, is. 
 
 "1775- 
 
 " May 3. To 5 Church Wardens attending 7 Sacrament Days, i 153. od. 
 
 May 6. To Horse Hire for 5 Church Wardens twice to the Visitation, i 53.: 
 To W m Brown for ale for Rich d Rossall whilst he was altering Pulpit, and at 
 settling his ace*, 33. 
 
 June 30. Spent on Martin Singers, los. 
 
 Oct. 4. Spent on St. Lawrence's Singers, i8s. 4d. 
 
 "1781. 
 
 " July 14. It is agreed this Day among the Parishioners of the several Town- 
 ships of Poulton that all arrears belonging to the said Parish unto the time of 
 Visitation last past shall be paid and discharged by a Tax regularly laid upon the 
 Parish in general, and that all charges of Organ and Organist for the Parish
 
 202 POULTON PARISH, 
 
 Church of Poulton shall not be defrayed hereafter by any Tax levied on the 
 Parish in general but by voluntary subscription only. In witness whereof we 
 have hereunto set our hands the Day and Year above written. 
 
 THOMAS TURNER, Vicar of Poulton ; EDW SMITH, JAMES BISBROWN, 
 PAUL HARRISON. 
 
 " 1782. 
 
 " Feb. 6. Rec d for Mr. Brockhole's Burial in the Church, 33. 4d. 
 July 27. Memorandum : It is agreed at this Vestry Meeting by all the 
 parishioners who have attended here that in future the public ringing days in 
 this parish shall be reduced to two, namely, the King's Birthday and Christmas 
 Day, the ringers to be allowed Six Shillings on each day ; and further, that the 
 Church Wardens' Expenses on every Visitation shall on no pretence exceed forty 
 shillings. JOSEPH HARRISON, WILLIAM DlCKSON, JAMES STANDEN, EDW. 
 
 SMITH, THOS. Twiss, RICH. SINGLETON, THOMPSON NICKSON. 
 
 " 1788. 
 " June 7. Cartage of Rush and allowance, 95. od.: Kirkham Singers, xos. 6d. 
 
 " 1793- 
 
 " P d for ale for Ringers on 29 May, 6s. od. 
 do do on the 4 of June, 6s. od. 
 do do on the 25 Octob r , 6s. od. 
 do do on the 5 Novemb r , 7s. 6d. 
 do do on the 25 Decemb r , 6s. od. 
 do do on Easter Tuesday, 7s. 6d. 1 
 
 Dec. 8. To Cash Rec d for digging a grave in the Church for Mrs. Buck, 33. 4d. 
 Nov. 5. Spent on Singers, I2s. od. : ditto on Ribbons for Girls, 2s. od. 
 
 "1798. 
 " Oct. 4. To Ringers on Nelson's Victory, 2s. 6d. 2 
 
 " 1805. 
 
 " June 9. To Exp 8 to Church Town when John Sauter Clerk convicted 
 himself in getting drunk, and Timothy Swarbrick for making him drunk (when 
 they were each fined 5s.), is. 6d. 
 Oct. 2. To Rush, 145. 3d. 
 
 " 1806. 
 
 Nov. 9. To Ringers at Lord Nelson's victory of Trafalgar on the 2ist, 73. od. 
 N.B. : No money to be given to the Ringers on account of any Victory in 
 future on the Parish account ; the Victory of Trafalgar was so Extraordinary that 
 7s. was allowed to the Ringers on that occasion. 
 
 "1811. 
 
 " Reserved that in compliance with the request of the inhabitants of Marton 
 one pound shall be allowed for an annual Dinner on Easter Day in future. 
 
 1. From these entries it would seem that the regulation of 1782 soon became a 
 dead letter, if indeed it were ever carried into practice. 
 
 2. The Battle and Victory of the Nile.
 
 PO UL TON-LE-F YLDE. 203 
 
 " 1817. 
 
 "Nov. 20. To Expenses to Churchtown when W m Hodkinson, W m Whiteside, 
 and W m Butcher was convicted for getting drunk W m Hodkinson finde, and the 
 other two acquitted upon the promise of future good behaviour, 33. od." 
 
 The following extracts from the parish registers show the 
 numbers of marriages, baptisms, and burials, which took place 
 during the last and first years of the specified centuries : 
 1600-1601. 1700-1701. 1800-1801. 
 
 Marriages 16 15 22 21 13 13 
 
 Baptisms 40 74 73 79 63 57 
 
 Burials 52 41 56 57 67 48 
 
 Anterior to 1674 the old vicarage was a thatched building of 
 two stories, the upper one being open to the roof and supported 
 on crooks, but about that date the vicar, the Rev. Rich. Harrison, 
 made an addition, abutting the west end, and put the original 
 portion in thorough repair. This house, which was surrounded 
 by venerable trees, was taken down in 1835, and the present 
 vicarage erected on the site. 
 
 In 1830, a spacious building, capable of holding three hundred 
 persons, was erected in Sheaf Street by voluntary subscription for 
 the purposes of a Sunday School, previous to which a small 
 cottage in the Green had been used as a meeting place for the 
 scholars connected with the church. 
 
 About one hundred and fifty years ago the town of Poulton 
 presented a very different appearance to that it wears in our da)'. 
 The market-place was surrounded by a number of low thatched 
 houses of very humble exteriors, if we except a few private 
 residences, as those of the Walmsleys and Rigbys, which stood 
 out conspicuously from the rest, not only by their superiority in 
 size, but also by the possession of slated or flagged roofs. The 
 house of the Rigbys was built in 1693 by Sir Alexander Rigby, of 
 Layton Hall, who was High-sheriff of the county in 1691-2, and 
 stands at the south end of the square, the family arms and date 
 of erection being still attached to the front wall. The building is 
 now used as a dwelling and retail shop combined, and contains 
 little of moment beyond the ancient oak balustrade and staircase. 
 It is probable that Sir Alexander Rigby built the house with the 
 intention of using it as a town residence for himself and family 
 during the winter months, for we must remember that Poulton 
 contained several persons of note and distinction at that time,
 
 204 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 and nothing is more natural than that the knight should prefer 
 the cheerful society to be found amongst them to the long 
 solitudes of the Hall during the dull, inclement season of the 
 year, when country roads were almost impassable. After Sir 
 Alexander Rigby had been released from prison, having satisfied 
 the claims of his creditors, he took up his abode permanently in 
 Poulton until his death, Layton Hall and other property having 
 been sold, but whether his remains were laid in the churchyard 
 here, or removed elsewhere, cannot be ascertained. 
 
 At the opposite end of the market-place was the Moot Hall, 
 connected with which were shambles and pent-houses, the latter 
 being continued along the fronts of the dwellings in the square. 
 None of the streets could boast a pavement, and as a consequence 
 intercourse between the inhabitants in rainy weather was a matter 
 of considerable inconvenience and difficulty, visiting under such 
 unfavourable circumstances being usually performed by means of 
 stepping stones. Public lamps were unknown in the streets, and 
 any one whose business or pleasure took him abroad after night- 
 fall or dusk, would have to rely on the feeble glimmer of a horn 
 lantern to guide him along the proper track and protect him 
 from floundering in the mud. Looking on this picture of discom- 
 fort, it seems pretty certain to us that our Poultonian forefathers 
 at least, could they but enjoy one week of our modern life and 
 improvements, would be the very last to join in the wish, so often 
 enthusiastically, but rather thoughtlessly, expressed, for a revival 
 of the good old times. The market-square still retains its fish- 
 stones, cross, whipping post, and stocks ; and although the wooden 
 portion of the last has been recently renewed, we are in a position 
 to inform the curious or alarmed reader that it has not been done 
 with the view of re-introducing the obsolete punishment, but 
 merely to preserve a link, be it ever so painful an one, with the 
 past. The cross surmounts a stone pillar placed on a circular 
 base of similar material, formed in steps and tapering towards the 
 column. 
 
 Although Poulton was never the scene of any military 
 encounter during the unsettled eras of our history, still there 
 is ample proof that the inhabitants were far from lethargic or 
 indifferent to the course of events during those times. During 
 the reign of Henry VIII., when James IV. of Scotland succumbed
 
 PO UL TON-LE-F YLDE. 205 
 
 to the superiority of the English arms, and yielded up his life on 
 Flodden Field, the yeomanry and husbandmen of this town were 
 well represented ; and the cheerful alacrity with which they 
 hastened to join the royal standard under Lord Stanley, in 
 company with others from the Fylde, between here and Preston, 
 is lauded in an ancient ballad, written to celebrate the victory, 
 from which the following lines are extracted : 
 
 " From Ribchester unto Rachdale, 
 From Poulton to Preston with pikes, 
 They with y* Stanley howte forthe went." 
 
 There is no necessity to recapitulate the stirring incidents of 
 the Civil Wars, the bivouacking and plundering in the neighbour- 
 hood or the frequent demands for recruits by the royal and 
 parliamentary generals, but it will be sufficiently convincing of 
 the earnestness and loyalty of the inhabitants to state, that most 
 of the local families of influence risked their lives and fortunes in 
 the service of the king, leaving little doubt that those of humbler 
 sphere would be actuated by a like enthusiasm. 
 
 About a century ago it was customary amongst the gentry and 
 more wealthy yeomanry to hold their interments at night by the 
 light of lamps or lanterns, and during the passage of the funeral 
 procession through the town, each householder illuminated his 
 windows with burning candles. The last person to be buried with 
 this ceremony was the Rev. Thomas Turner, the vicar, who died 
 in 1810. 
 
 Of the domestic habits of Poulton at that period, and rather 
 earlier, it need only be said that -they presented little variation 
 from those of other towns or villages similarly situated ; removed 
 from the enervating and seductive temptations of a city, and 
 forced, for the most part, to earn their bread under the broad 
 canopy of heaven, it is not surprising to find that the people were 
 a long-lived and vigorous race. Their feastings and merry- 
 makings took place at fair-times, and at such other seasons as 
 were universally set apart in rural districts for rejoicings and 
 festivity, notably harvest gatherings and the first of May, the 
 latter being especially honoured. On that day the causeways 
 were strewn with flowers, and all things suitable for the festival 
 were lavishly provided ; wine, ale, and sweetmeats being freely 
 contributed by the gentry and others. The peasantry were
 
 206 f>O UL TON PARISH. 
 
 clothed in sober suits of hodden grey, the productions of the 
 " disty and wharl " or spinning wheel, without which no house- 
 hold was considered complete, whilst their food was of the plainest 
 kind, consisting mostly of barley and rye bread, with boiled 
 parsnips and peas eaten in the pod, wheaten bread being reserved 
 for the consumption of the more wealthy classes. The present 
 station at the Breck, a name of Danish origin, and signifying an 
 acclivity, stands either on, or in close proximity to, the site of the 
 old ducking-pond, or rather brook, where the scolds of Poulton 
 were wont in former days to have the 
 
 " Venom of their spleen " 
 copiously diluted and cooled by frequent immersions. 
 
 A native of Poulton thus wrote of the town more than fifty 
 years since, and if the present generation but emulates the virtues 
 of its forefathers as herein stated, there are many places which 
 would form, notwithstanding its protracted inertitia, less agreeable 
 homes than the ancient metropolis of the Fylde : 
 
 " Hail happy place, for health and peace renown'd, 
 Though not with riches, yet contentment crown'd. 
 Riches, the grand promoter of each strife, 
 Content, God's first-best gift in human life. 
 Here hospitality has fixed her throne, 
 And discord's jars by name alone'are known ; 
 The stranger here is always entertain'd 
 With welcome smile and courtesy unfeign'd. 
 Kind to each other, generous and free, 
 Plain, yet liberal friends to charity." 
 
 Sixty years since Poulton contained a manufactory for sacking, 
 sail-cloth, and sheeting, belonging to a Mr. Harrison, who lived 
 in the house now in the occupation of R. Dunderdale, esq., J.P., 
 and had his weaving shed at the rear of those premises. That 
 gentleman employed from thirty to forty hands regularly during 
 the time he conducted the business a period of about fifteen 
 years. An establishment connected with flax dressing and twine 
 spinning, and employing several hands, was located in the house 
 erected by Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton ; and a currier and 
 leather dresser had his works in Church Street. Of other trades 
 and professions in the town at that date, there were four attorneys, 
 two surgeons, seven butchers, nine bakers and flour dealers, three 
 wine and spirit merchants, two maltsters, ten boot and shoe
 
 PO UL TON-LE-F YLDE. 207 
 
 makers, five linen and woollen drapers, four tailors, three mil- 
 liners, four grocers, three ironmongers, three joiners, two wheel- 
 wrights, two coopers, two painters, three plumbers and glaziers, 
 and two corn-millers. Subsequently Harrison's residence was 
 used for parochial purposes, and formed the town's workhouse 
 until the bill of Sir Robert Peel brought about the joint system 
 of pauper relief and management under the name of Unions ; 
 and at one time small looms were placed in the old shed behind 
 the workhouse, for the purpose of providing remunerative occupa- 
 tion for some of the inmates. Three fairs are held annually for 
 cattle and cloth, and take place on the 3rd of February, the I3th 
 of April, and the 3rd of November, whilst a general market, but 
 very indifferently, if at all, attended, is appointed to be held each 
 Monday. About the year 1840, when the Preston and Wyre 
 Railway was completed and the Poulton Station erected, a dye- 
 house of some considerable size, and one that had done a large 
 business in the Fylde for many years, was taken down, and shortly 
 afterwards the Royal Oak Hotel built on its site. About the 
 same time the old brook, over which the cuckstool hung in earlier 
 days, and whose waters had long been polluted by discharges from 
 the dye-house, was arched over with brick and earth, and included 
 in the station premises. The Railway Hotel was erected a little 
 anterior to the inn just mentioned. The other hotels of Poulton, 
 situated in the town itself, are ancient, and by their size and number, 
 considering the smallness of the present population, are indicative 
 of the former importance of its market and fairs, and intimate 
 that its position as the centre of a wide district was the means of 
 exciting and maintaining a large amount of commercial activity, 
 such as would necessitate the frequent visits of business agents 
 and others. Several private houses can be pointed out as having 
 been in earlier days places of public entertainment, amongst 
 which may be named one now used as a bakery and bread shop 
 in Queen's Square, and which formerly bore the name of the 
 Spread Eagle Hotel ; in Sheaf Street, also, there existed about 
 half a century ago a small but respectable hotel, called the Wheat 
 Sheaf Inn, with bowling green attached, but like other more 
 pretentious establishments, it has been converted into a dwelling- 
 house, whilst a handsome residence occupies the old bowling 
 green.
 
 208 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 The Independents were the first section of the Dissenting 
 community to erect a chapel for their members, which they 
 accomplished in 1808. After being in use twenty or thirty years, 
 this place of worship was closed, and not re-opened until -about 
 ten years since. In 1819 a chapel was erected by the Wesleyans 
 in Back Street, and in 1861 the building was enlarged. At the 
 Breck there is a Roman Catholic chapel, which stands back some 
 distance from the road leading to Skippool, and is approached by 
 a long avenue of trees. The chapel is a plain brick building, with 
 three unstained windows on each side ; and above the entrance 
 has been placed a square stone inscribed with a verse from the 
 Psalms " I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy House, and 
 the place where thy Glory dwelleth," and the date of erection, 
 "A.D. 1813." Within the edifice the pews are open and arranged 
 in three rows, one running down each side, and a double set 
 occupying the central portion of the body. The solitary gallery 
 at the end opposite the altar is lined with seats, and contains a 
 harmonium, whilst the altar itself is handsomely and suitably 
 decorated. The chapel is dedicated to St. John, and on the east 
 and south sides lies the burial ground, wherein may be seen a stone 
 slab carved by an eccentric character of Poulton, named James 
 Bailey, whose remains are now deposited beneath it. The upper 
 surface of the stone is ornamented with the outlines of two coffins, 
 recording respectively the demises of Margaret Bailey, in 1841, 
 and James Bailey, her father, in 1853. Between the coffins, and 
 severing their upper portions, is a cross, with a few words at the 
 foot, on each side of which are the representations of a scull and 
 cross-bones. Other specimens of the sculptural genius of Bailey are 
 lavishly, if not tastefully, scattered over the remainder of the slab. 
 The residence of the priest is attached to the chapel, and in 
 Breck Road are the elegant Gothic schools connected with it. 
 Until the opening, in 1868, of these schools, which have since 
 been extended by the erection of a wing, a loft over an outbuilding 
 facing the priests' house, received the Catholic children of the 
 parish for educational purposes. 
 
 We now come to speak of Poulton as a port, and in this 
 respect our information, it must be acknowledged, is very scanty ; 
 the harbours of Poulton were situated at Skippool and Wardleys, 
 on opposite banks of the Wyre, and it was to the cargoes imported
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 209 
 
 to those places that the custom-house of the town owed its 
 existence. At what date it was first established cannot be 
 discovered, but that it was in being nearly two centuries ago is 
 proved by a paper on " The comparative wages of public servants 
 in the customs," in which the following occurs : 
 
 " We find that William Jennings, collector of the customs at Poulton, in the 
 Fylde, received in 1708, during the reign of Queen Ann, for his yearly services 
 thirty pounds per annum ; and five subordinate officers had seventy-five pounds 
 equally divided amongst them." 
 
 The chief traffic of the port was in timber, imported from the 
 Baltic and America; and flax and tallow, which arrived from 
 Russia. In 1825 Poulton was described by Mr. Baines, in his 
 History of Lancashire, as a creek under Preston, and it is 
 probable that such had been its position for a long time anterior 
 to that date. In 1826 Poulton was made a sub-port under 
 Lancaster, and later, when the town of Fleetwood sprang up at 
 the mouth of the Wyre, the customs were removed from Poulton 
 to that new port. 
 
 Subjoined are the number of inhabitants of the township at 
 intervals of ten years from 1801, when the first official census was 
 taken : 
 
 1801 769 1841 1,128 
 
 1811 926 1851 1,120 
 
 1821 1,011 1861 1,141 
 
 1831 1,025 1871 1,161 
 
 In 1770, during the reign of George III., an act of parliament 
 was obtained by means of which a court was established in this 
 town " for," according to the wording of the deed, " the more 
 easy and speedy recovery of small debts within the parishes of 
 Poulton, Lytham, Kirkham, and Bispham, and the townships of 
 Preesall and Stalmine." A number of gentlemen engaged in 
 commercial pursuits and residing in these several districts were 
 appointed commissioners, any three or more of whom constituted 
 a court of justice, by the name and,style of The Court of Requests; 
 they were empowered to hear and determine all such matters of 
 debt as were under forty shillings, further they were authorised 
 and required, " to meet, assemble, and hold the said Court in each 
 of the said Parishes of Poulton and Kirkham, once in every week 
 at least, to wit, on every Monday ^at Poulton, and on every 
 Thursday at Kirkham, and oftener if there should be occasion, in 
 

 
 210 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 a Court-house, or some convenient place appointed in each of the 
 said Parishes." Each commissioner on .being elected took the 
 following oath : 
 
 "I * * do swear That I will faithfully, impartially, and honestly, according 
 to the best of my Judgement, hear and determine all such Matters and Causes as 
 shall be brought before me, by virtue of an Act of Parliament, for the more easy 
 and speedy Recovery of small Debts, within the Parishes etc. ; without Favour or 
 Affection, Prejudice or Malice, to either Party. So help me God." 
 
 Edward Whiteside and Simon Russell were elected, respectively, 
 clerk and sergeant of this court, and James Standen, of Poulton, 
 in consideration of having advanced money to pay the expenses of 
 obtaining the act and providing suitable accommodation for its 
 administration, had authority given to him and his heirs to 
 appoint a person to be clerk or sergeant as often as either of 
 those offices should become vacant, until the sum so advanced 
 with lawful interest had been repaid ; after which the appoint- 
 ments were to be filled up by a majority of votes at a special 
 meeting of the commissioners, not less than eleven being present. 
 For the better regulation of the proceedings it was enacted that a 
 majority, amounting to five, of the commissioners assembled in 
 court should have full power and authority to make, as often as 
 occasion required, such rules and orders for the better manage- 
 ment of the court as might seem necessary and conducive to the 
 purposes of the act, provided always such rules or orders did 
 not abridge or alter the scale of fees as at first arranged, and were 
 consistent with equity and the true intent of the act. In the 
 event of anyone neglecting to comply with an order from this 
 court for the payment of money owing an execution was awarded 
 against the body or goods of the debtor, if the former, the 
 sergeant was, by a precept under the hand and seal of the clerk, 
 " empowered and required to take and apprehend, or cause to be 
 taken and apprehended, such party or parties, being within any 
 of the parishes or townships aforesaid, and convey him, her, or 
 them, to some common gaol, or house of correction, within the 
 county palatine of Lancaster, there to remain until he, she, or 
 they, had performed and obeyed such order, decree, or judg- 
 ment, so as no person should remain in confinement upon any 
 such execution, for any longer space of time than three months." 
 In the case of goods the sergeant was similarly empowered 
 " to levy by distress and sale of goods, of such party, being
 
 PO UL TON-LE-F YLDE. 2 1 1 
 
 within the parishes or townships aforesaid, such sum and sums 
 of money and costs as should be so ordered and decreed." 
 
 One clause of the act stated that if any person or persons 
 affronted, insulted, or abused, all or any of the commissioners, 
 the clerk, or officers of the court, either during the sitting or in 
 going to or returning from the same, or interrupted the pro- 
 ceedings, or obstructed the clerk or sergeant in the lawful 
 execution of their different offices, he, she, or they should be 
 brought before a justice of the peace, who was hereby empowered 
 to inflict on conviction a fine of not more than 403., and not less 
 than 55. The jurisdiction of the court did not extend to any debt 
 or rent upon any lease or contract, where the title of any lands, 
 tenements, or hereditaments came in question ; nor to any debt 
 arising from any last will or testament, or matrimony, or 
 anything properly belonging to the ecclesiastical courts ; nor to 
 any debt from any horse-race, cock-match, wager, or any kind 
 of gaming or play ; nor from any forfeiture upon any penal 
 statute or bye-law ; nor did it extend to any debt whatsoever 
 whereof there had not been contract, acknowledgment, under- 
 taking, or promise to pay within six years from the date of the 
 summons, although any of the above mentioned debts should 
 not amount to forty shillings. No attorney or solicitor was 
 allowed to appear before the commissioners as attorney or advocate 
 on behalf of either plaintiff or defendant, or to speak on any 
 cause or matter before the court in which he was not himself a 
 party or witness, under a penalty of five pounds for each offence. 
 It was further enacted " that no action or suit for any debt not 
 amounting to the sum of forty shillings, and recoverable by 
 virtue of this act in the said Court of Requests, should be brought 
 against any person or persons, residing or inhabiting within the 
 jurisdiction thereof, in any of the king's courts at Westminster, 
 or any other court whatsoever, or elsewhere, out of the said 
 Court of Requests, and no suit which had been commenced in 
 the said Court of Requests in pursuance of this act, nor any 
 proceedings therein, should or might be removed to any superior 
 court, but the judgments, decrees, and proceedings of the said 
 court should be final and conclusive to all intents and purposes ; 
 provided always, that nothing in this act should extend, or be 
 construed to extend, to prevent any person from suing for small
 
 212 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 debts in any other court, where such suit might have been 
 instituted before the passing of this act." The various fees to be 
 paid to the clerk of the court were for entering every case, 6d. ; 
 for issuing every summons, 6d. ; for every subpoena, 6d. ; for 
 calling every plaintiff or defendant before the court, 3d. ; for 
 every hearing or trial, 6d. ; for swearing every witness, plaintiff 
 or defendant, 3d. ; for every order, judgment or decree, 6d. ; for 
 a non-suit, 6d. ; for every search in the books, 3d. ; for paying 
 money into court, 6d., if by instalments, 6d. in the pound more ; 
 for every execution, 6d. ; for every warrant of commitment for 
 misconduct in court, is. The fees to the sergeant were for 
 every summons, order, or subpoena, and attending court with the 
 return thereof, 6d. ; for calling every "plaintiff or defendant before 
 the court, id. ; for executing every attachment, execution, or 
 warrant, against the body or goods, is. ; for carrying every 
 plaintiff, defendant, or delinquent to prison, 6d. more for every 
 mile. Although this was purely a lay-court the commissioners 
 possessed and exercised the power of placing the witnesses on 
 oath previous to receiving their evidence. In 1847 the Court of 
 Requests was superseded by a new court, for . the recovery of 
 debts not amounting to twenty pounds, which held its first sitting 
 on Monday, the 23rd of April in that year, under the presidency 
 of John Addison, esq., a barrister and the appointed judge, in the 
 room belonging to the Sunday school. This gentleman wore a 
 silk gown, as prescribed to the judges of these courts, and Mr. 
 Elletson, solicitor, the clerk, was also robed. At the first 
 assemblage the Rev. John Hull, M.A., the vicar, and Giles 
 Thornber, esq., J.P., were seated on each side of the judge. The 
 cases for trial or arbitration only numbered seventeen, and were 
 of little interest, so that the initiative sitting of the court was 
 but of short duration. The circuits apportioned to the judges 
 had an average population ranging from 202,713 to 312,220 
 persons, and the salary paid to each of these officials was ^"1,200 
 per annum. In the schedule of fees it was stated that for the 
 recovery of debts not exceeding 205. the cost should be 35. ; under 
 405., 55. ; under ^"5, 95. ; under ^"10, \ ; under ^"20, \ los. ; 
 and injury cases 55. would be charged for the jurymen, while the 
 other court charges would be a little increased. The powers of 
 this court, now designated the County Court, have been con-
 
 PO ULTON-LE-FYLDE. 2 1 3 
 
 siderably enlarged since its first establishment ; the following 
 gentlemen are the officers at present connected with it : 
 
 Judge William A. Hulton, esq. Registrar Mr. E. J. Patteson. 
 
 High Bailiff Mr. J. Whiteside. 
 
 Little Poulton is the name given to a district and hamlet lying 
 on the east of Poulton township, and in it is situated the ancient 
 manorial residence called Little Poulton Hall, and now used as a 
 farm-house. The original mansion stood on the land immediately 
 at the rear of the existing edifice, which was erected about one 
 hundred and ten or twenty years ago. Until the occupation of 
 the present tenant, Mr. Singleton, the foundations of the old Hall 
 remained in the ground, but the indications afforded by them of 
 its dimensions and appearance were not of any great utility. 
 In 1570 Little Poulton Hall was occupied by George, the son of 
 Bartholomew Hesketh, of Aughton, a grandson of Thomas 
 Hesketh, of Rufford, but only in one of the junior lines. George 
 Hesketh married Dorothy, the daughter of William Westby, of 
 Mowbreck, and had issue one son, William, who inherited the 
 estate and resided at the Hall. William Hesketh was living in 
 1613, about forty years after the decease of his father, and had 
 two children, William and Wilfrid, by his wife Elizabeth, the 
 daughter of John Allen, of Rossall Hall. William, the eldest son, 
 seems to have removed to Maynes, or Mains, Hall, and settled 
 there during the lifetime of his father ; it is probable that his 
 younger brother would remain at Little Poulton Hall, but of this 
 we have no positive proof, and consequently can advance it 
 merely as a conjecture. Little Poulton descended in the Heskeths, 
 of Mains, until about 1750, but the name of that family was- 
 changed, after the marriage of William Hesketh, of Mains Hall, 
 (living in 1714), with Mary, the daughter of John Brockholes, of 
 Claughton, by Thomas Hesketh, the eldest son of that union, who 
 inherited the estates af his maternal uncle, and assumed the name 
 of Brockholes. Thomas Hesketh-Brockholes died without off- 
 spring, and the property passed, successively, to his younger and 
 only surviving brothers, Joseph and James, both of whom adopted 
 the name and arms of Brockholes, and died childless ; but by the 
 will of Joseph, Little Poulton and the other estates descended to 
 William Fitzherbert, the brother of his widow Constantia, the 
 daughter of Bazil Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton. William Fitzherbert
 
 214 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 also assumed the title of Brockholes, and his descendant is the 
 present proprietor. 
 
 A family of the name of Barban preceded the Heskeths 
 at the manor house, and Gyles Curwen, a descendant of the 
 Cunvens, of Workington, in Cumberland, espoused, about 1550, 
 the daughter and co-heiress of Barban, of Little Poulton Hall, 
 having issue Thomas, Elizabeth, Grace, and Winefrid. Thomas 
 Curwen died unmarried ; Elizabeth became the wife of Camden, 
 by whom she had William Camden, Clarenceux king-at-arms ; 
 Winefrid married and settled in London ; and Grace espoused 
 Gilbert Nicholson, of Poulton, by whom she had issue Francis, 
 Grace, and Giles. Francis Nicholson had six children Humphrey, 
 Grace, Bridget, Thomas, Isabell, and Dorothy. Grace Nicholson 
 married Thomas Braithwaite, of Beaumont, and was the mother 
 of nine children in 1613, the eldest, Geoffrey, being fifteen years 
 of age. 1 
 
 On the south side of the Hall is a wood, covering about two 
 acres of land, and freshly planted within the last half century. 
 Until recent years, numerous decaying tree stocks were turned 
 up out of the soil, and their size plainly evidenced the massive 
 nature of the timber formerly growing there. There is a rookery 
 in the modern wood, and it is surmised that there was one also 
 amongst the branches of the ancient trees, and that a large 
 quantity of bullets discovered in a field on its outskirts record 
 the periodical onslaughts on the unfortunate rooks in days when 
 marksmen were not so unerring as long practice and improved 
 firearms have rendered them now. In the hamlet of Little 
 Poulton there are, in addition to the Hall, three antique houses 
 of considerable pretensions, which were erected and occupied by 
 persons of good social standing. One of them, on the opposite 
 side of the road, and a little removed from the old mansion, was 
 built by a gentleman named Fayle, and on an oaken beam 
 over a doorway, now bricked up, in an extensive barn, is the 
 inscription, EF : IF : 1675, the initials of the erector and his 
 wife, with the date when the edifice was completed. This 
 E. Fayle was probably a relative, perhaps grandfather, of 
 Edward Fayle, of the Holmes, Thornton, and afterwards of 
 
 I. Visitation of St. George.
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 215 
 
 Bridge House, Bispham, who married, about 1728, Susannah, 
 the younger daughter of Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, and 
 co-heiress, with her sister, of the Rev. John Veale, of the same 
 place, her only brother. Another respectable dwelling, but like 
 the few other buildings around, becoming dilapidated through 
 age, bears the initials of Henry Porter, and the date 1723, over 
 the entrance. From sundry documents which have come to 
 light, it seems that Henry Porter was a gentleman of influence 
 and position in the neighbourhood, but beyond that no informa- 
 tion can be gained concerning him or his descendants. The 
 tenement he held was purchased by the Brockholes, of Claughton, 
 in 1846. Close by the side of Porter's residence is another of 
 the same model and size, apparently erected by A. Worswick in 
 1741, but of this person nothing is known. The remainder of 
 the hamlet is made up of a few old thatched cottages. 
 
 A free school was established by James Baines, draper, of 
 Poulton, in 1717, shortly before his death ; and by his will, dated 
 that year, he bequeathed to Richard Wilson, Richard Whitehead, 
 sen., Richard Johnson, and Richard Thornton, of Hardhorn-with- 
 Newton, yeomen, to Richard Dickson, woollen draper, and 
 Samuel Bird, yeoman, of Poulton, to Robert Salthouse, of 
 Staining, yeoman, and to their heirs " all that Schoolhouse by 
 me lately erected in Hardhorn-in-Newton, and the parcel of 
 land whereon the same is erected, which is enjoyed therewith, 
 and which by me was lately purchased from Thomas Ords, to 
 remain, continue, and be a Free School for ever for the 
 persons and purposes hereinafter mentioned. Item : I give and 
 devise unto the seven said Trustees and their Heirs, all that 
 messuage and tenement, called Puddle House, with the lands 
 enjoyed therewith, about twenty-two acres, to the special end, 
 intent, and purpose, that the rents and profits over ten shillings a 
 year, (allowed for a dinner to the trustees, and their successors, on 
 their meeting about the affairs of this School on the second of 
 February, on which day they shall yearly meet for that purpose), 
 and after all costs for repairs at the said Schoolhouse and ground 
 it stands on be paid, the balance be given to such person as shall 
 yearly and every year be named, chosen, and appointed, by the 
 said seven Trustees, and their successors, or the major part of 
 them, to act as Schoolmaster, to teach and instruct in writing,
 
 2i6 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 reading, and other school learning, according to the best of his 
 capacity, all such children of the inhabitants of the townships 
 of Poulton and Hardhorn-in-Newton as shall be sent to the said 
 School, and behave themselves with care and good manners, 
 without any other payment or reward, except what the said 
 children or their parents shall voluntarily give." The testament 
 then proceeds to direct that when any two of the seven trustees 
 died, the five surviving should at the cost of the estate appoint 
 two other of the " most able, discreet, and sufficient inhabitants 
 in Poulton and Hardhorn within three months," and that such 
 a practice should be observed as occasion required " to the end 
 that the said charity may continue for ever according to the true 
 intent and meaning of this Will." The Trustees were invested 
 with power to dismiss any schoolmaster and appoint a successor, 
 regarding whom there was the following clause : "All School- 
 masters on appointment shall give bond with one or more sureties 
 for good conduct, and be at duty from 7 a.m. to 1 1 a.m., and I 
 p.m. to 5 p.m, except from the ist November to ist February, in 
 which quarter alone shall they attend on all school days from 
 8 a.m. to ii a.m., and I p.m. to 4 p.m. ; the afternoons of 
 Thursday and Saturday to be holiday." 
 
 The schoolhouse is a whitewashed building, a single story high, 
 and has four windows in front, with one at each end. It stands 
 in the township of Hardhorn-with-Newton, about half a mile 
 from the town of Poulton, and has the annexed inscription fixed 
 on the wall facing the main road : " This Charity School was 
 Founded and Endowed by Mr. James Baines, of Poolton, who 
 died the 9th January, 1717. Rebuilt 1818." The lands 
 bequeathed by Mr. Baines have been exchanged for others of 
 greater value across the river Wyre. The attendance at present 
 is small. 
 
 Mr. Baines also left ^~8oo to six trustees to be laid out in land, 
 half the annual income or interest from which he directed to be 
 devoted to the " maintenance, use, and best advantage of the 
 poorest sort of inhabitants of the township of Poulton, which 
 receive , no relief by the Poor-rate," and " for putting out poor 
 children of the said township apprentices yearly though their 
 parents receive relief by the Poor-rate." The other moiety he 
 directed to be devoted to similar purposes in the townships of
 
 POULTON-LE-FYLDE. 217 
 
 Marton, Hardhorn-with-Newton, Carleton, and Thornton. 
 
 Jenkinson/s Gift or Charity consists of the rents of a small 
 cottage with garden behind, and two detached crofts at Forton, 
 in Cockerham parish, and amounts to about $ IDS. per annum, 
 which is expended in the purchase of books for the scholars of 
 Baines's school. 
 
 Nicholas Nickson, of Compley, in Poulton, by will dated the 
 1 2th of April, 1720, charged his estate with the payment, after 
 the decease of his widow, Alice Nickson, of _^~ioo to the church- 
 wardens and overseers of Poulton, in trust, to invest the sum 
 and give half the interest to the vicar for the time being,' 
 distributing the remainder amongst the poor house-keepers of 
 the township not in receipt of parish relief. Until the bequest 
 was paid, the heirs of Nickson, after the death of the widow, were 
 ordered to disburse five per cent, interest on the money each year. 
 In 1754 the trustees of this charity released the estate from all 
 charges in consideration of 100, the legacy, paid to them ; and 
 on the 1 8th of July, 1783, Joseph Harrison and the four other 
 churchwardens of Poulton, together with William Brown and 
 Paul Harrison, the overseers, purchased from James Standen, for 
 ^"120, a close in Poulton, called Durham's Croft, to hold the 
 same in trust and divide the rents into twelve parts, whereof five 
 were to be given to the vicar, five to indigent inhabitants not 
 receiving relief, and two in aid of the poor's rates.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE. 
 
 J1HE site of the present town of Fleetwood was at no 
 very distant period, less than half a century ago, a 
 wild and desolate warren, forming part of the Rossall 
 estate, and belonging to the late Sir Peter Hesketh 
 Fleetwood, bart. At that date the northern side showed unmis- 
 takable evidences of having at an earlier epoch been bounded by 
 a broad wall or rampart of star-hills, continuous with the range 
 until recent years visible near Rossall Point, or North Cape, as 
 that portion of the district was locally called, but which has now 
 been destroyed and levelled by the sea. Beyond the warrener's 
 cottage and a small farm-house on the Poulton road, no habita- 
 tions existed anywhere in the vicinity ; the whole tract of 
 sandhills and sward had been usurped by myriads of rabbits, 
 which were some little time, even after the erection of dwellings, 
 before they entirely deserted the spot where for centuries they 
 had found a home. During the stormy months of winter, and 
 in the breeding season, immense flocks of sea-fowl made their 
 way to these shores, and like the rabbits, were allowed to remain 
 in undisputed and undisturbed possession of the domain they had 
 appropriated. 
 
 Whether this district or locality was populated in the earlier 
 eras of history by any of the aboriginal Britons, invading Romans, 
 or piratical Danes, is a question difficult to solve, but the existence 
 of a paved Roman road, discovered some depth beneath the sand 
 when the trench for the sea-wall was being excavated opposite the 
 Mount Terrace, and traced across the warren in the direction of 
 Poulton, proves beyond a doubt that there was traffic of some
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 2 1 9 
 
 description, either peaceful or war-like, over the ground at a very 
 remote age. The road is commonly designated the Danes' Pad, 
 from a tradition that these freebooters made use of it during their 
 incursive warfare in the Fylde. 1 Evidence in support of the 
 belief that this part of the coast was visited by the Danes or 
 Northmen, as the inhabitants of Scandinavia were called, is to be 
 found in " Knot End," the name by which the projecting point 
 of land on the opposite side of Wyre has been known from time 
 immemorial. In early days there were both the "Great and Little 
 Knots," or heaps of stones, but the works carried out for the 
 improvement of the harbour involved the destruction of the small, 
 and mutilation of the big " Knot." Now arises the question, 
 why were these round collections of boulder stones called 
 " Knots ?" In answer to which it may be stated that the word 
 "knot" is of pure Scandinavian origin, and in that ancient 
 Northern language always marked a round heap, and we 
 believe also a round heap of stones. This interpretation would 
 be characteristic of what these knots or mounds of stones were 
 before they were despoiled by the Wyre Harbour Company. 
 Such an application of the word to rounded hills of stone is 
 common at no great distance, and must have been applied by the 
 same people to all these rocky elevations, as instance Hard Knot, 
 Arnside Knot, and Farlton Knot, all of which indicate the name 
 by the rotundity of their stony summits, and seem to confirm 
 the opinion that the early inhabitants of Scandinavia visited the 
 coast, suggesting also that they had some settlement in its 
 immediate vicinity. 
 
 As regards the Romans, the only traces of their presence 
 which have been discovered in the neighbourhood of the town, 
 consist of the road above mentioned, and a number of ancient 
 coins which were found near Rossall, in 1840, by some labourers 
 engaged in brick-making. These coins, amounting in all to about 
 three hundred, were principally of silver, and bore the impresses 
 of Severus, Sabina, Antonius, Nerva, etc. It is quite possible, 
 however, that other relics belonging to that nation or the Danes, 
 may still exist, hidden by the sand, and more deeply imbedded 
 than it is necessary to sink when preparing for the foundations of 
 
 I. For a full description of the direction taken by this road, see page 7.
 
 220 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 the houses, whilst many also may have been submerged by the 
 encroaching waves as they have gradually inundated the north 
 and west sides of the district. 
 
 Doctor Leigh, in his Natural History of Lancashire, informs us 
 that at the mouth of the river Wyre there was in his time a 
 purging water which sprang up from out of the sand. " This, no 
 doubt," says the Doctor, " is the sea-water which niters through 
 the sand, but by reason of the shortness of its filtration (the 
 spring lying so near the river), or the looseness of the sand, the 
 marine water is not perfectly dulcified, but retains a pleasing 
 brackishness, not unlike that which is observable in the milk of a 
 farrow cow, or one that has conceived." 
 
 To the lord of the manor, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, is due the 
 credit of having first conceived the idea of converting the sterile 
 warren into a thriving seaport. Situated at the mouth of a river, 
 the security of whose stream had originated the proverb "As 
 safe and as easy as Wyre water," and by the side of a natural and 
 commodious harbour, sheltered from ever wind, the illustrious 
 baronet foresaw a prosperous future for the place, could he obtain 
 permission from parliament to construct a railway to its shores 
 from the important town of Preston, thereby creating a communi- 
 cation with the manufacturing and commercial centres of Lancashire 
 and Yorkshire. In 1835, a number of gentlemen, denominated 
 the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour, and Dock Company, 
 having obtained the requisite powers, deputed Frederick Kemp, 
 esq., J.P., of Bispham Lodge, then acting as agent to Sir P. H. 
 Fleetwood, to purchase the land along the proposed route. 
 Operations were commenced with little delay, the work pro- 
 gressed with fair rapidity, and on the I5th of July, 1840, the line 
 was declared open and ready for traffic. 
 
 In the meantime dwelling-houses, hotels, and a spacious wharf 
 had been springing into existence. In 1836 the earliest foundation 
 was laid at the south-west corner of Preston Street by Robert 
 Banton, of East Warren Farm. This farm was for a 
 short season a licensed house and brewery, and is now, 
 under the title of Warrenhurst, the private residence of J. 
 M. Jameson, esq., C.E. The new erection, which still bears 
 its original name of the Fleetwood Arms Hotel, made no further 
 progress for about a year, when it was completed by Thomas
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 221 
 
 Parkinson, the head carpenter at Rossall Hall. The first building 
 finished and inhabited in Fleetwood was a beer-house at the 
 south-west corner of Church Street, which was erected in 
 1836-7, and is now a shop, owned and occupied by Richard 
 Warbrick, outfitter. That small inn or licensed dwelling was in 
 the occupation of a person named Parker, a stonemason, who a 
 little later built the Victoria Hotel, in Dock-street, where he 
 removed and resided for several months, until a sale of the 
 property had been effected. 
 
 The streets were marked out by the plough according to the 
 design of Decimus Burton, esq., architect, of London, and so 
 arranged that all the principal thoroughfares, with the exception 
 of the main road of entrance to the town, converged towards the 
 largest star-hill, now known as the Mount, on the highest point 
 of which was placed a small decagon Chinese edifice, surrounded 
 by a raised platform or terrace, whence an extensive view of 
 the broad bay of Morecambe, the lofty ranges of Lancashire, 
 Cumberland, aud Westmoreland, and a wide circuit of the 
 neighbouring country could be obtained. The hollow on the 
 south side of the mound was fashioned into the form of a basin, 
 and a semicircular gravelled walk carried along the ridge of each 
 side, leading with a gentle ascent from the entrance gates on the 
 warren at the end of London Street to the summit, Avhilst the 
 slopes were tastefully arranged and planted with shrubs, to impart 
 a pleasing and ornamental appearance to the otherwise bare 
 sward. These shrubs, as might have been foreseen, speedily 
 withered and perished, owing to the bleakness of the site, and 
 a lack of that indispensable moisture which the dry sandy soil 
 could neither retain nor supply. In earlier days the Mount was 
 commonly known as Tup, or Top, Hill, and formed a favourite 
 resort for pic-nic parties from Blackpool, or some of the 
 surrounding villages, which visited the place during the summer 
 months, to admire the innumerable sea-fowl and their nests, the 
 latter being scattered over the shore in endless profusion. 
 
 Building proceeded with rapid strides ; house after house 
 sprang up in the lines of streets, which had only lately received 
 their first coating of shingle, and in 1841, one year after the 
 opening of the railway, the town had assumed considerable pro- 
 portions. Near the entrance from Poulton road were three or
 
 222 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 four double rows of cottages for the accommodation of the 
 workpeople, and a Roman Catholic chapel. Preston Street 
 contained but few houses in addition to the Fleetwood Arms 
 Hotel ; thence, travelling eastward were Dock Street, with the 
 Crown Hotel, as far as and including the Victoria Hotel ; the east 
 side of Warren Street, the west side of St. Peter's Place, the 
 church and Sunday school, both sides of Church Street, Custom 
 House Lane, the Lower Queen's Terrace, the North Euston Hotel, 
 and the bath houses. The Upper Queen's Terrace was in process 
 of erection, but was not completed until 1844, after having been 
 allowed, for some reason, to remain in a partially finished state for 
 two years. 
 
 The church, standing on a raised plot of ground in the centre 
 of the town and surrounded by an iron palisading, is dedicated to 
 St. Peter, and was first opened for divine service in 1841. It is 
 a stone edifice with a square tower and octagonal spire at the 
 west end, and was erected by voluntary contributions, the site 
 being provided by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, who retained the right of 
 presentation to the living. The interior of the building is neat, 
 and contains sittings for about four hundred persons in the body, 
 with additional accommodation for two hundred more in the 
 gallery, at the end of which are the choir-pew and organ-loft, the 
 latter being occupied by an instrument constructed by Gray, of 
 London. Previous to the alterations, which were made seventeen 
 years since, and consisted of the erection of a gallery and the 
 convertion of some of the private pews into free seats, the family 
 pew of the Fleetwoods stood in front of the organ-loft, and was 
 the only one raised out of the body of the church. The chancel 
 window is of stained glass, large and handsome, representing a 
 central figure of St. Peter bearing the Keys of Heaven, below and 
 on each side of which several scriptural subjects are illustrated. 
 This window, purchased by subscription amongst the parishioners, 
 was inserted in 1860 ; and in the previous year a handsome font 
 of Caen stone was presented by Mrs. G. Y. Osborne. Two upright 
 tablets, the gift of the late vicar, the Rev. G. Y. Osborne, illu- 
 minated with the Ten Commandments, are placed, one on each 
 side of the Communion table. Four other tablets are fixed against 
 the walls of the church, the first of which was erected by a few 
 friends as a tribute of respect to the memory of Dobson Ward,
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYJRE. 
 
 223 
 
 died 1859, aged 43 years, a humble but zealous worker in the 
 Sunday school ; another was placed by the Rev. G. Y. Osborne, 
 in loving memory of his deceased daughter ; the third, a handsome 
 tablet, was erected at the entrance to the vestry, by parishioners 
 and friends, to the memory of the Rev. G. Y. Osborne, "for 19 
 years vicar of this parish, who died n November, 1871, aged 53 
 years," 1 and the last is to the memory of Charles Stewart, esq., 
 died 1873, aged 64 years, late of High Leigh, Cheshire, and 
 Fleetwood. The living, endowed with the great tithes of 
 Thornton and augmented by the pew rents, was originally a 
 perpetual curacy, but during the ministry of the late Rev. G. Y. 
 Osborne, a distinct district or parish for all ecclesiastical purposes 
 was assigned to the church, and the title of vicar accorded to the 
 incumbent. 
 
 PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF FLEETWOOD. 
 
 IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 On whose 
 Presentation. 
 
 Cause of vacancy. 
 
 1841 
 1849 
 1868 
 1871 
 
 St. Vincent Beechey, 
 M.A. 
 G. Yarnold Osborne, 
 M.A. 
 Saml. Hastings, M.A. 
 
 James Pearson, M.A. 
 
 Sir P. H. Fleetwod 
 Ditto 
 
 Exrs. of the late Sir 
 P. H. Fleetwood 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of St. 
 Vincent Beechey 
 Resignation of G. Y. 
 Osborne 
 Resignation of S. 
 Hastings 
 
 The burial ground connected with the church is part of the 
 general cemetery, situated near the shore in the direction of the 
 Landmark at Rossall Point, and about one mile distant from the 
 town. 
 
 The small building opposite the Church, now used for infants 
 only, was for several years, until the erection of the Testimonial 
 Schools, the ordinary Sunday school under the superintendence 
 of the incumbent of St. Peter's. 
 
 The Market Place, opened on the 7th of November, 1840, is a 
 spacious, paved area, surrounded by a high wall of sandstone. 
 
 I. The Rev. G. Y. Osborne resigned the living of Fleetwood on being 
 appointed vicar of St. Thomas's, Dudley, which cure he held up to the date of 
 his decease.
 
 224 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 The two entrances are closed by means of large wooden gates, 
 and lead respectively into Adelaide and Victoria Streets. The 
 central portion of the in-walled space is occupied by a square, 
 wooden structure, covered over with a slated roof, in the interior 
 of which are stalls for the goods of the different farmers and 
 traders. Friday is the market day, and the following list com- 
 prises the various commodities exposed for sale on Friday, the 
 loth of July, 1846, the earliest recorded, with their prices : 
 
 Oats, per bushel ... 33. lod. 
 
 Meal, per load ... 365. od. 
 
 Beans, per windle .. ... l6s. od. 
 
 Butter, per pound is. id. 
 
 Eggs, fresh 16 to 18 for is. od. 
 
 Peas, per strike ... ... os. gd. 
 
 Potatoes (new), per score is. lod. 
 
 (old), per windle 8s. od. 
 
 Beef, per pound 6d. to 7d. 
 
 Lamb ... os. Jd. 
 
 Mutton os. 6d. 
 
 Salmon os. lod. 
 
 Lobsters is. od. 
 
 Since the date of the above quotations, Preston has gradually 
 monopolised the chief portion of the grain trade, and consequently 
 transactions in oats and other cereals are not of frequent occur- 
 rence at the local markets of the Fylde. 
 
 The Roman Catholic chapel; dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, 
 was erected at the north end of Walmsley Street, continuous 
 with the line of houses forming the east side of that street, and 
 opened for divine worship on the ith of November, 1841. A 
 few years since a more commodious edifice, which will be 
 described hereafter, was erected on another and better site, whilst 
 the old one was dismantled, and subsequently converted into 
 cottages. 
 
 The Crown Hotel, a handsome and substantial stone structure 
 facing the Railway Station, was the third hotel erected in Fleet- 
 wood, the Fleetwood Arms being the first, and the Victoria the 
 second in point of completion. The original dimensions of the 
 Crown have been considerably increased by the addition in recent 
 years of ample stable accommodation, a large billiard room, and 
 several sleeping apartments. 
 
 The North Euston Hotel, which was opened almost
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 225 
 
 simultaneously with the Crown Hotel, is a superb stone 
 building in the form of a crescent, with a frontage of nearly 
 300 feet. This edifice was sold to Government in 1859, and sub- 
 sequently opened as a School of Musketry. The noble portico in 
 front of the main entrance and the spacious hall within are sup- 
 ported by massive stone pillars, whilst a handsome terrace, raised 
 a little above the level of the street, encircles the whole length 
 of the ground floor, and is protected by an ornamental 
 iron railing. On its transfer to Government, quarters were 
 provided for sixty officers and a staff of military instructors. 
 There were three chief courses of instruction held during each 
 year, but in addition to these were two of shorter duration, one 
 being in the month of January for the adjutants of volunteers, 
 and another a little later for the volunteers themselves. 
 The curriculum was similar to that at Hythe. In 1867 the 
 School of Musketry was discontinued, and after a short interval, 
 in which fresh buildings were added, the whole structure 
 was turned into barracks, and as such continues to be occupied. 
 In the early days of the hotel a T-shaped jetty extended out from 
 the steps on the shore opposite the principal entrance to the 
 distance of low-water mark, and was used by the visitors as a 
 short promenade and landing stage, but after standing a few 
 years the erection was removed, being found to interfere with the 
 course of the steamers and other vessels round that section of the 
 channel. 
 
 The bath-houses, each of which contained a spacious sea-water 
 swimming bath, were connected with the North Euston Hotel, 
 and therefore became the property of Government on the transfer 
 of the main building itself. Since that date their internal 
 arrangements have undergone material alterations and modifica- 
 tions to suit the requirements of the military, but their handsome 
 stone exteriors and massive porticoes are still intact. 
 
 The custom-house on the Lower Queen's Terrace is now a 
 private residence in the occupation of Alexander Carson, esq., 
 who is also the owner, and the offices have for many years been 
 situated in a house of more modest pretensions in the same row. 
 
 The two lighthouses, one of which is placed in Pharos Street 
 and the other further north, on the margin of the beach, were 
 also in existence in 1841, having been erected a short time 
 
 p
 
 226 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 previously. The former is a tall circular column of painted stone, 
 having an altitude of about 90 feet above high-water mark. The 
 base of the column is square, each of the sides being 12 feet high 
 and 20 broad. The focus of the lantern is 104 feet above half- tide 
 level, and outside the reflector is a narrow, circular, stone gallery, 
 guarded by an iron fencing. The cost of the column was ^1,480. 
 The other lighthouse is much smaller, and stands on a slightly 
 elevated plot of ground. Each side of its base forms a recess, 
 furnished with seats, and supported above by round stone pillars. 
 The centre of the lantern is 44 feet above half-tide level. The 
 whole fabric, which is built throughout of finely cut stone, was 
 erected at a cost of ^"1,375. 
 
 We have now reviewed the general appearance of the town in 
 1841, including brief accounts of all the more important buildings, 
 but accidentally omitting to state that gas works were amongst 
 the early erections, and before proceeding with the history of its 
 further progress and increase, it will be convenient to revert for a 
 moment to the railway and matters connected with it, leaving, 
 however, the harbour, wharf, and shipping for separate examina- 
 tion towards the later pages of the chapter. The railway, 
 consisting of a single line throughout the whole extent, was 
 carried over a portion of the estuary of the Wyre, along an 
 embankment and viaduct of huge wooden piles, running from 
 Burn Naz^ to the west extremity of the wharf at Fleetwood, near 
 to which the station is situated. In 1846 the traffic, both in 
 passengers and goods, had increased so rapidly that the directors 
 determined to have a double line without delay. Instructions for 
 that purpose were accordingly issued to the engineer of the 
 company, and at the same time he was directed that, in order to 
 afford space and facilities for the construction of the proposed 
 docks to the westward of the existing railway piling, the double 
 line should diverge at Burn Naze, run round the Cops, and 
 terminate as before. The programme here stated was not 
 fully carried out, and the double line extended only as far as Burn 
 Naze, from which point a single line ran along a semicircular 
 embankment, lying west of the old one, to the terminus at 
 Fleetwood. 1 This embankment was the means of rescuing from 
 
 I. A second line was laid on this length in 1875 for the first time.
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 227 
 
 the incursions of the tide about 400 acres of marsh land, which 
 has since by drainage and cultivation been converted into 
 excellent pastures and productive fields. The entire line was leased, 
 under acts of 1 846, to the Lancashire and Yorkshire and London 
 and North Western Railway companies, the former taking two 
 thirds and the latter one third of the profits or losses. The terms 
 agreed upon were a rent of 7 is. 6d. per cent., and \ 153. 4^d. 
 per share on a total capital of ^"668,000, until the close of 1854, 
 when the payments were raised to 7 175. 6d. per cent., and 
 \ 195. 3^d. per share in perpetuity. In the month of July, 
 1846, the electric telegraph in connection with the Preston and 
 Wyre Railway was introduced into the town, and as its first public 
 act was the interception, at Kirkham, of a defaulting steamship 
 passenger, who had neglected to pay her fare, it may be 
 concluded that the inhabitants welcomed the ingenious invention 
 as a valuable ally in the protection of their commercial interests, 
 as well as a rapid and convenient mode of friendly intercom- 
 munion in cases of urgency. 
 
 The- Improvement Act, for " paving, lighting, cleansing, and 
 otherwise improving the town of Fleetwood and the neighbour- 
 hood thereof, and for establishing a market therein," came into 
 operation on the i8th of June, 1842. Meetings were appointed 
 to be held on the first Monday in every month, at which any male 
 person was empowered to sit as a commissioner on producing 
 evidence that he was either a resident within the limits prescribed 
 by the act, and rated to the poor-rates of the township of Thorn- 
 ton for a local tenement of the annual value of ^"15, or possessed 
 as owner or lessee or in the enjoyment of the rents and profits of 
 a messuage, lands, or hereditaments, similarly situated and rated, 
 for a term of not less than fifty years. In 1869 authority was 
 obtained to repeal certain sections of the old act and adopt others 
 from the Public Health Act of 1848, and the Local Government 
 Act of 1858, the most important being that in future the Board 
 of Commissioners should consist of twelve members only, having 
 personally the same qualifications as before, but being elected by 
 the ratepayers. The new regulations also ordained that one third 
 of the commissioners should retire each year, and the vacancies 
 be filled up by a general election. This act is still in force. 
 
 It was not possible that the claims of a place so happily situated
 
 228 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 as Fleetwood for a summer residence could long remain unrecog- 
 nised by the inhabitants of the inland towns. No sooner was free 
 access given to its shores by the opening of the railway in 1840, 
 than the hotels and lodging-houses were inundated with visitors, 
 whose annual return testified to their high appreciation of its 
 mild climate, firm sands, excellent boating accommodation, and 
 lastly, the diversified and beautiful scenery of the broad bay of 
 Morecambe. A number of bathing vans were stationed on the 
 shore opposite the Mount, but were little patronised during the 
 first two or three seasons owing to the proprietors demanding is. 
 from each person using them, a sum exactly double that required 
 at other watering-places. The injurious effects of this exhorbitant 
 charge were speedily experienced, not only by the van owners, 
 whose receipts were reduced to a minimum, but generally 
 throughout the town, as visitors who greatly preferred Fleetwood 
 were driven to other places on that account, and each year many 
 who came with the intention of remaining during the summer 
 left because their families were debarred from bathing, except at 
 an excessive cost. The error of so grasping a policy being at last 
 demonstrated to the proprietors by the small and diminishing 
 patronage extended to their vans, it was resolved, in 1844, to 
 reduce the charge to 6d. That year several newly-erected houses 
 in Kemp Street were furnished and tenanted, whilst the hitherto 
 unoccupied stone residences comprised in the Upper Queen's 
 Terrace were fitted up with elegance and convenience for the 
 wealthier class of sojourners, to whom they were let for periods 
 varying from a few weeks to three or four months. The terrace 
 of houses situated between the North Euston Hotel and the 
 Mount, and bearing the latter name, was also completed that 
 year. The prices at the North Euston Hotel were arranged as 
 under : 
 
 Sitting-room 33. 4<i. per day. 
 
 Bed-room 2s. 3d. and 45. od. per day. 
 
 Table d'Hote 45. per head. 
 
 Breakfast or Tea 2s. od. and 2s. 6d. per head. 
 
 During the Whit- week of 1844 the place was crowded with 
 excursionists, many of -whom, amounting to 1,000 daily, were 
 carried at half fare by the Preston and Wyre Railway, and came 
 from the neighbouring towns and villages, whilst others arrived
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 229 
 
 by sea in excursion boats from Dublin, the Isle of Man, Ulver- 
 stone, Blackpool, and Southport. Festivities were entered into 
 on the warren and slopes of the Mount, lasting three days and 
 consisting of horse, pony, donkey, foot, sack, and wheelbarrow 
 races, a cricket match, foot steeplechases, wrestling, and gingling 
 matches. 
 
 In 1844 Fleetwood was reduced from a distinct port to a creek 
 under Preston, and during the month of July the mayor of the 
 latter town paid a state visit to the watering-place, arriving by 
 sea in the small steamer " Lily." A series of misfortunes rather 
 tended to upset the dignity and imposing aspect of the official 
 cortege. A somewhat rough sea retarded their passage and 
 rapidly converted the ship into a temporary hospital for that, 
 perhaps, most distressing of all sicknesses ; nearing, at last, the 
 lighthouse at the foot of Wyre, a large portion of the larboard gun- 
 wale was carried away by the bowsprit of the steamer " Express," 
 which had been sent out to meet and tow them into harbour, if 
 necessary; and finally the unfortunate "Lily" stranded on a bank 
 opposite the beach at Fleetwood, and the mayoral party, now 
 pallid and dejected, in their gorgeous robes and liveries, were 
 brought to land in small open boats, and having formed the 
 following order, marched to the North Euston Hotel, where a 
 banquet was prepared : 
 
 Three Policemen. 
 Two Sergeants-at-Mace. 
 
 Mace Bearer. 
 
 The Mayor in his Robes of Office. 
 The Corporation Steward. Recorder of the Borough. 
 
 The Aldermen of the Borough. 
 
 The Members of the Common Council. 
 
 Military Officers and Private Gentlemen. 
 
 Town Crier and Beadle. 
 
 This year the Preston and Wyre Railway Company, in con- 
 junction with the line from Manchester and Bolton, commenced to 
 run Sunday excursion trains to Fleetwood at reduced fares during 
 the genial months of summer, and in August upwards of ten 
 thousand pleasure-seekers were estimated to have been brought 
 into the town by their means alone. These lines were amongst 
 the first to try the experiment of cheap trains, and the immense 
 success which attended their efforts on the above occasions soon
 
 230 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 induced them to extend the privileges to other days besides the 
 Sabbath. The promoters of private excursions, also, were offered 
 facilities to direct their course to this watering-place. During the 
 summer of 1844 no less than 60,000 people in all, that is including 
 both day excursionists and those who remained for longer 
 periods, arrived, being considerably more than in any previous 
 season. In July, 1846, the whole of the workpeople of Richard 
 Cobden, esq., M.P., the great free-trade statesman, visited the 
 town to celebrate the triumph of free-trade principles in parlia- 
 ment, the entire expense of the trip being defrayed by that 
 gentleman. Each of the operatives and others, numbering 
 about 1,300, had a free-trade medal suspended by a ribbon 
 from the neck ; and, having formed in procession, the large 
 assembly paraded through the streets of Fleetwood, carrying 
 banners adorned with such appropriate mottoes and inscriptions 
 as " Free Trade with all the World," " Peel, Bright, and 
 Cobden," etc. In the same year an immense Sunday school trip, 
 bringing no less than 4,200 children and adults, arrived ; and 
 after amusing themselves by rambling about the shore for a time, 
 the youthful multitude formed a huge pic-nic party on the 
 warren. This was without doubt the largest single excursion 
 which ever visited these shores, and on its return, the enormous 
 train of two engines and fifty-six carriages, many of which were 
 cattle trucks provided with forms and covered in with canvas, was 
 divided, each engine taking half, for fear of accidents and delays. 
 In later times it was no uncommon circumstance to see the spacious 
 wharf opposite the Upper and Lower Queen's Terraces, crowded 
 with cheap trains during Easter and Whit- weeks. Hourly trips 
 in the small steam tug-boats or pleasure yachts, pony and donkey 
 rides, bathing, and mussel gathering on the bank opposite the 
 Mount Terrace were the chief amusements of the day visitors, 
 and innumerable were the exclamations of wonder and delight 
 uttered by thousands, who for the first time beheld 
 
 " The broad and bursting wave " 
 
 at Fleetwood, for our readers may be reminded that at the date of 
 which we are writing, railway fares, except on special occasions, 
 were beyond the compass of the labouring populations of our 
 manufacturing and agricultural districts, and consequently a visit 
 to the, in many cases unknown, sea, was an event eagerly antici-
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 2 3 1 
 
 pated and long remembered. 
 
 In January, 1845, a general meeting of those who were 
 interested in Fleetwood, or wished to testify their respect and 
 admiration for the noble efforts of the founder of the town, was 
 held at the North Euston Hotel, to determine upon the most 
 suitable public testimonial to be erected in honour of Sir Peter 
 Hesketh Fleetwood. Doctor Ramsay proposed that day schools 
 for 200 children of the labouring classes, with a house for a 
 master and mistress, having the name of the " Fleetwood Testi- 
 monial Schools," open to all denominations of Christians and 
 connected with the National Society, should be erected. This 
 resolution was carried without a dissentient ; subscription lists 
 were opened ; and on Wednesday, the 26th of August, 1846, the 
 foundation stone of the building was laid by Charles Swainson, 
 esq., of Preston. Large numbers arrived early in the morning to 
 be present at the ceremony. The town, shipping, and river craft, 
 decked out in bunting, presented quite a gala appearance as the 
 officials and guests proceeded to the site in West Street. The 
 procession marched as stated below: 
 
 The Beadle. 
 
 Band. 
 
 The Wesleyan Sunday School Children. 
 The Independent Sunday School Children. 
 
 The Church Sunday School Children. 
 
 The Architect holding the Mallet and Trowel. 
 
 The Contractors. 
 
 The Clergy. 
 
 Charles Swainson, esq. 
 
 The Treasurer and Mr. Swainson's Friends. 
 
 Rossall School. 
 . The Gentry and Visitors. 
 
 The Tradesmen. 
 
 Independent Order of Oddfellows. 
 The Rechabites. 
 
 In the cavity beneath the foundation stone were enclosed a 
 bottle containing coins of the present reign, a copy of the 
 Fleetwood Chronicle of that date, printed on parchment, and 
 another sheet of parchment inscribed thus : 
 
 " The first stone of these schools, whfch are to be erected as the fittest Testi- 
 monial to the benevolent founder of this town, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, Bart., M.P.,
 
 232 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 was laid by Charles Swainson, Esq., of Preston, this 26th day of August, 1846. 
 THE REV. ST. VINCENT BEECHEY, M.A., Incumbent; 
 THE REV. W. LAIDLAY, B.A., Curate ; 
 B. WALMSLEY, 
 
 i Churchwardens ; 
 FREDERICK KEMP, ) 
 
 THE REV. JOHN HULL, Vicar of Poulton, Chairman of 
 
 the Committee. 
 
 JOHN LAIDLAY, Esq., Treasurer of the Committee ; 
 R. B. RAMPLING, Esq., Architect ; 
 H. B. JONES, Esq., Secretary. 
 Non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam." 
 
 This scholastic institution is in the Gothic style of architecture, 
 and the principal front, facing into West Street, extends over a 
 distance of seventy-one feet. The interior of the building 
 contains separate school accommodation for boys and girls ; and 
 at the east end there is a comfortable residence for the mistress. 
 The school is surrounded by an extensive play-ground, and 
 enclosed by a brick wall, surmounted anteriorly by ornamental 
 iron railings. Since the building was completed the provision 
 for the reception of boys has been greatly increased by the 
 erection of a new wing, by private munificence, abutting at right 
 angles with the east end of the original structure. 
 
 In .the spring of 1845 a handsome promenade and carriage 
 drive was completed along the border of the shore from the North 
 Euston Hotel to the west extremity of the Mount Terrace. The 
 pathway, which ran on the inner side of the drive, was flagged 
 throughout its entire length, whilst the outer margin of the road 
 was connected with a substantial sea-wall of square-cut stone by a 
 broad and well-kept grass plat. Subsequently this elegant walk 
 was extended round the south side of the Mount, along Abbots' 
 Walk, and so on by the side of the shore to the Cemetery Road. 
 Very little of the portion first constructed is now to be seen, and 
 that remnant is in such a dilapidated, condition as almost to be 
 impassable. Huge stones which formerly protected the green 
 sward and road from the waves are now lying scattered and 
 buried about the beach ; whilst the westerly end of the promenade 
 has not only suffered utter annihilation itself, but serious inroads 
 have been made by the water into the ornamental gardens 
 fronting the houses of the Mount Terrace. 
 
 Strenuous efforts were put forth during the autumn of 1845 to
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 233 
 
 prevent the visitors forsaking the town immediately the long 
 evenings had commenced ; pyrotechnic displays took place each 
 week on the plot of land lying to the north of the Upper Queen's 
 Terrace, and designated the Archery Ground. Sea excursions to 
 Blackpool, Southport, and Piel Harbour were liberally provided 
 for by the steamers of the port ; a military, band was hired for 
 several weeks, and played daily either on one of the pleasure 
 craft or near the new promenade ; foot races, wrestling, and 
 cricket matches were arranged and contested at short intervals. 
 But all in vain, for towards the end of August the reflux of 
 visitors had thoroughly set in, and by the middle of September 
 the shores were almost deserted. During that brief period of 
 excitement it was proposed amongst the inhabitants to erect a 
 large public building to be ready for the ensuing season, which 
 should combine all the advantages of a reading and news 
 room, public library, bazaar, ball room, and theatre ; but either 
 the ardour of the people cooled during the winter months or they 
 failed to discern a fair prospect of dividends from the investment, 
 for the summer of 1846 discovered that the idea had vanished 
 with the closing year, and 
 
 " Like the baseless fabric of a vision, 
 Left not a wreck behind." 
 
 Perhaps, however, it is going too far to assert that no trace or 
 vestige of the comprehensive project remained after the first 
 ebullition of enthusiasm had passed from the popular mind, for we 
 find that, although no noble hall graced the town, a Mechanics' 
 Institution was modestly established on the i8th of May, 1846, 
 by the opening of a reading room in one portion of the Estate 
 Office. This office formerly occupied the site of the present 
 Whitworth Institute, and was a small, lightly constructed, Gothic 
 edifice. Subsequently a larger and more convenient place for 
 the purposes of the Institution was engaged in Dock Street ; a 
 library was provided and arrangements made for lectures and 
 classes to be held on the premises. In the report of the establish- 
 ment, issued twelve months after its foundation, it was stated that 
 the members at that date amounted to 184, being 138 full 
 members, 20 females, and 26 youths and apprentices ; and that 
 since its organisation 213 persons had availed themselves of the 
 privileges offered by the society. A considerable number of
 
 234 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 cottage houses were erected in different parts of the town, and not 
 only were these tenanted directly they were completed, but the 
 demand for further building was still on the increase. A public 
 abattoir, or slaughter-house, was constructed in 1846 on the 
 outskirts of the town, and a notice issued, prohibiting the slaying of 
 any cattle, sheep, or swine anywhere except within its walls, under 
 a penalty of ^"5 for every offence. A Wesleyan chapel was also 
 in course of erection in North Church Street, then open warren, 
 and finished the following year, divine service being first con- 
 ducted in it on Monday, the 24th of May, by the Rev. George 
 Osborne, of Liverpool. As the town gradually developed in size 
 and population, the attendants at this place of worship outgrew 
 the space provided for them, and lately, in 1875, it became 
 necessary to enlarge the edifice. The west gable-end was taken 
 out and the main building extended in that direction. Galleries 
 were placed along the two sides and across the east wall ; the old- 
 fashioned pulpit was superseded by a platform situated at the 
 centre of the west end, and extending to within six feet of the 
 galleries at either side. The new sittings resemble the old ones 
 in being closed pews, and not open benches. The chapel is now 
 capable of containing double the congregation it could have held 
 previous to the recent alterations. 
 
 In the month of February, 1847, an extraordinary high tide, 
 rendered more formidable by strong westerly winds, did great 
 damage on the coast from here to Rossall ; the Landmark was so 
 far undermined that its fall was hourly expected ; an embankment 
 raised on the shore from that point to Rossall suffered severely, 
 large portions being completely washed away; and the out-buildings 
 of a farm called <( Fenny " were overthrown and destroyed, serious 
 injury being done also to the land in the neighbourhood. The 
 more immediate vicinities of the town escaped with comparatively 
 little loss, the most important being that resulting from the 
 inundation of several fields and gardens near the Cops, and the 
 levelling of a few wooden sheds for labourers' tools and other 
 outbuildings. 
 
 A failure in the potatoe and grain harvests of 1846 spread 
 fearful distress and famine throughout the United Kingdom ; 
 bread riots and disturbances amongst the starving poor of Ireland 
 were of frequent occurrence, and it was to assist in alleviating the
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 2 3 5 
 
 sufferings of those unfortunate people that a subscription was started 
 in Fleetwood during the latter months of that year. Donations 
 purely from the inhabitants of the town were collected, and in 
 January, 1847, the sum of ^"105 was forwarded to the sister 
 country. In consequence of the severe national affliction, Her 
 Majesty ordained that Wednesday, the 24th of the following 
 March, should be observed as a general fast-day. On that date 
 all the shops in the watering place, with one or two exceptions, 
 were closed ; the public-houses and streets were quiet ; and 
 stillness and solemnity everywhere apparent. The church was 
 crowded to overflowing ; every seat was packed, and forms were 
 brought in from the Sunday school and placed in the aisles 
 to create extra accommodation, so excessive was the congre- 
 gation which assembled to join in the special service for divine 
 intervention. 
 
 On Monday, the 2Oth of September, 1847, Her Majesty, 'Queen 
 Victoria, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses, the Prince 
 Consort, the Prince of Wales, and the Princess Royal, landed at 
 Fleetwood en route from Scotland to London. The spot fixed for 
 the debarkation of the royal party was near the north end of the 
 covered pier, upwards of 100 feet of which were boarded off and 
 converted into a saloon, a covered gallery being erected leading 
 from it to the railway, where the special train was stationed. 
 The floors of the saloon and gallery were covered with crimson 
 drugget and at the entrance to the former a beautiful triumphal 
 arch was formed of various coloured draperies, and adorned 
 with the national flag and other emblems of loyalty. The 
 walls of the saloon were hung with white and coloured 
 draperies, festooned with evergreens, and British ensigns were 
 suspended from the roof. This elegant apartment contained a 
 gallery for ladies at the north end, and near to the entrance was 
 a small octagonal throne, having an ascent of three steps, upon 
 which a handsome gilded chair of state and a footstool were placed. 
 Behind the two latter, draperies of crimson cloth were suspended, 
 surmounted by the Arms of Her Majesty. On Sunday, the igth 
 of September, the High-sheriff of the county of Lancaster, 
 William Gale, esq., of Lightburne House, near Ulverston, who 
 had arrived in order to receive Her Majesty on the following day, 
 attended divine worship at St. Peter's Church, being driven there
 
 236 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 in his state carriage, drawn by four splendid greys and preceded 
 by his trumpeters and twenty-four javelin men with halberds. 
 Monday was ushered in with boisterous winds, a cloudy sky, and 
 other indications of unpropitious weather, which fortunately for 
 the thousands who crowded into the place from Yorkshire, 
 Manchester, and intermediate localities, considerably improved 
 as the day advanced. The ships in the harbour were draped with 
 flags, and similar decorations floated from the windows of almost 
 every house. A little after three o'clock in the afternoon the 
 report of a signal gun announced that the royal squadron, 
 consisting of the Victoria and Albert, the Black Eagle, the Fairy, 
 the Garland, and the Undine, was in sight, and as the noble 
 vessels steamed up the channel the North Euston Hotel and the 
 Pier burst out into brilliant illuminations. As soon as the royal 
 yacht, Victoria and Albert, had been safely moored to the quay 
 opposite the triumphal arch, and the gangways adjusted, the High- 
 sheriff, W. Gale, esq. ; Lieut. -General Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, 
 K.C.B. ; Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart. ; Major-General Sir William 
 Warre ; John Wilson Patten, esq., M.P. ; the Rev. St. Vincent 
 Beechey, incumbent of Fleetwood ; Henry Houldsworth, esq., 
 chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company ; 
 George Wilson, esq., deputy-chairman ; and Thomas H. Higgin, 
 esq., managing director of the Preston and Wyre district ; 
 presented their cards, and explained to Captain Beechey the 
 several arrangements which had been made for Her Majesty's 
 conveyance to London. Afterwards Sir P. H. Fleetwood, the Rev. 
 St. Vincent Beechey, Frederick Kemp, and James Crombleholme, 
 esqrs., of Fleetwood ; and Daniel Elletson, esq., of Parrox Hall, 
 were admitted to an interview with Lord Palmerston, who, on 
 behalf of Her Majesty, received the subjoined address from the 
 inhabitants of Fleetwood, printed in gold on white satin, and 
 promised that it should be laid before the Queen : 
 " THE LOYAL AND DUTIFUL 
 "ADDRESS 
 
 " OF THE 
 
 " INHABITANTS OF FLEETWOOD, 
 TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN. 
 
 " May it Please your Majesty \ 
 
 " We, the Inhabitants of the Town of Fleetwood, in the county of Lancaster, 
 desire to approach your Majesty on this auspicious occasion, with the most sincere
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 237 
 
 expression of our devoted loyalty and attachment to your Majesty, of our deep 
 respect and esteem for your Majesty's august Consort, for his Royal Highness 
 the Prince of Wales, and the other members of the Royal Family. 
 
 "We beg to assure your Majesty that it is with feelings of the liveliest gratitude 
 that we hail this Royal visit to our humble shores, now for the first time pressed 
 by the foot of Sovereignty. 
 
 " We rejoice to think that it has fallen to our happy lot to be the first to 
 welcome the Queen of England to her own Royal Patrimony in the Duchy of 
 Lancaster. 
 
 "We hasten to lay at your Majesty's feet the dutiful allegiance of the inhabitants 
 of the youngest Town and Port in all your Majesty's dominions, which dates its 
 existence from the very year in which your Majesty first ascended the Throne of 
 these realms ; and which, from the barren and uninhabited sands of the Fylde of 
 Lancashire, has already obtained some importance for its town of 3,000 inhabitants, 
 its Watering-place, Harbour, and Railway, together with its College for the sons 
 of clergymen and other gentlemen. 
 
 " We sincerely trust, that the natural facilities and local arrangements of this 
 Port may be found such as shall conduce to the safety, comfort, and convenience of 
 your Majesty in your royal progress. And we beseech your Majesty to receive 
 our united and solemn assurance, that whatever progress our Harbour and Town 
 may make in wealth and importance, it shall ever be our firmest determination 
 and most earnest prayer, that we may never cease to boast of a loyal population, 
 entertaining the same feeling of devoted duty and attachment to your Majesty and 
 the Royal Family, which we experience at this moment, and which the grateful 
 remembrance of this Royal visit must ever tend to keep alive in our bosoms. 
 " Signed on behalf of the Inhabitants, 
 
 " ST. VINCENT BEECHEY, M.A., 
 
 " Incumbent of Fleetwood." 
 
 To the foregoing address the annexed reply was received from 
 London in the course of a few days : 
 
 " Whitehall, 25th September, 1847. 
 
 " SIR, I am directed by the Secretary, Sir George Grey, to inform you, that 
 the Loyal and Dutiful Address of the Inhabitants of Fleetwood, on the occasion 
 of Her Majesty's late visit, has been laid before the Queen, and that the same was 
 very graciously received by Her Majesty. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 " DENNIS LE MERCHANT. 
 
 " Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, Incumbent of Fleetwood." 
 Early next morning the handsome saloon was occupied by the 
 High-sheriff, the Under-sheriff, and a select number of gentlemen, 
 and shortly after ten o'clock Her Majesty and the royal party 
 proceeded from the yacht to the special train amid joyful 
 acclamations which resounded from all parts of the shore. The 
 moment Her Majesty set foot, for the first time, on her Duchy of
 
 238 POULTON PARISH, 
 
 Lancaster, the royal standard was lowered from the mast-head 
 of the yacht, and instantly raised on the flag-staff at the custom- 
 house of Fleetwood, where it received a salute of twenty-one guns. 
 After another salute of a similar number of guns, as Her Majesty 
 reached the end of the gallery, the royal party entered their 
 saloon carriage, Mr., now Sir John, Hawskshaw, engineer to the 
 Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, took his station on 
 the engine, and the train moved slowly off, followed by the ringing 
 cheers of at least ten thousand spectators. 
 
 It should be mentioned that a loyal address, written in Latin, 
 from the students of the Northern Church of England School, at 
 Rossall, arrived too late for presentation, and was afterwards 
 forwarded to London. 
 
 In the month of July, 1847, Mr. Thomas Drummond, contractor, 
 commenced the erection of the present Independent Chapel in 
 West Street, and notwithstanding a serious delay through the 
 destruction of the north gable and roof-framing by a heavy gale 
 in September, the building was completed the same year. The 
 edifice, which will contain about 600 persons, is a neat brick 
 structure with side buttresses, and adorned with a castellated 
 tower. Beneath the chapel are spacious school-rooms for boys 
 and girls. The site was granted by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, and 
 conveyed in trust for the use of the church and congregation. 
 
 For two or three years little of special interest occurred in the 
 progress or condition of the town. Each summer brought its 
 assembly of regular visitors, upon whom many of the inhabitants 
 depended for support, whilst Whit-week annually inundated the 
 warren, streets, and shores with crowds of day-excursionists, for 
 whose benefit sports, resembling those to which allusion has 
 already been made, were instituted. Regattas also were added to 
 the other attractions of the watering-place, but after existing for 
 some little time they gradually died out, either because they 
 failed to excite their former interest amongst the visitors, or the 
 public spirit of the inhabitants was tardy in providing the funds 
 necessary for their continuance. Houses in Albert Street, and in 
 other parts of the town, were slowly increasing in number, but no 
 large demand for dwellings bespoke a rapid rise in the prosperity 
 or popularity of the place, like that to which we referred a little 
 earlier. Trade, although comparatively steady, evinced no signs
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 239 
 
 of enlargement at present, and as a consequence fresh families 
 hesitated to venture their fortunes in the new land, until some 
 more regular and reliable means of gaining a livelihood were 
 offered them than the precarious patronage of uncertain visitors, 
 many of whom, now that free access had been given to Blackpool 
 and Lytham through the opening of branch lines, were already 
 being seduced from their old allegiance to Fleetwood, and attracted 
 to the gayer promenades of those rival resorts. 
 
 In the month of December, 1852, and just at the Christmas 
 season, a fearful hurricane swept over Fleetwood ; slates, chimney 
 tops, and boardings were torn from their fastenings, and hurled 
 about the streets ; indeed so terrific was the violence of this gale 
 that at its height it was difficult for the pedestrian to avoid being 
 forced along by its fury in whatsoever direction the huge gusts 
 willed. During the storm a singular accident occurred in the 
 harbour. The barque "Hope," which had arrived shortly before 
 from America with timber, was lying in the river attached to one 
 of the buoys, and by some carelessness the men employed in 
 unloading her had neglected, on leaving their work, to close up the 
 large square hole near the stem of the ship, through which the 
 baulks of wood were discharged. The hurricane came on fiercely 
 and suddenly from the west, and, to the dismay of the solitary 
 watchman who had been left in charge of the vessel, heeled over 
 her lightened hull so that the swollen and boisterous tide poured 
 wave after wave through the unprotected aperture at her bows ; a 
 few minutes only were needed to complete the catastrophe, for as 
 the vessel settled in the deep, no longer waves but continuous 
 volumes of water rushed into her, and with a heavy lurch she 
 rolled over on her side, the masts and more than half her hull 
 being submerged. Fortunately, however, the remnant of the 
 cargo was sufficiently buoyant to prevent her from vanishing 
 bodily beneath the surface. The luckless guardian, whose feelings 
 must have been far from enviable, was quickly rescued from the 
 perilous position he occupied on the floating portion of the ship ; 
 but it was not until some weeks afterwards that they were able, in 
 the words of the poet Cowper, 
 
 " To weigh the vessel up." 
 
 The " Hope," 415 tons register, was built up the river at the old 
 port of Wardleys, being the only vessel of such dimensions
 
 2 4 o POULTON PARISH. 
 
 constructed in the shipyard there. Ten years later, on the 27th 
 of February, 1862, this ill-fated barque was abandoned on the 
 high seas in a sinking condition. 
 
 In 1854 sundry improvements were effected in the extent and 
 condition of the place, and consisted in part of the erection 
 of a row of model cottages in Poulton Road, near the entrance 
 to the town, as well as a new police Station in West Street, 
 comprising two dwellings for the constables and cells for 
 prisoners. The streets were also put in better order, and efforts 
 made to render the aspect of Fleetwood more finished and 
 pleasing than it had been during the two or three previous 
 seasons. A scheme for the partial drainage of the town was 
 proposed at the assembly of commissioners, and arrangements 
 were entered into for the work to be promptly carried out at an 
 estimated cost of ^"1,200. Altogether a sudden spirit of activity 
 seemed to have superseded the lethargy or indifference which 
 lately had been too much visible amongst the inhabitants in all 
 matters of public interest, and which had already exercised a 
 serious and baneful influence upon the prospects of the place as a 
 sea-side resort. In the ensuing year the body of Primitive 
 Methodists, which had now become rather numerous, chiefly 
 owing to the prosperity of the fishing trade attracting many 
 followers of that calling to the port, most of whom were members 
 of this sect, commenced and completed a chapel in West Street. 
 Recently it has been found necessary considerably to enlarge the 
 edifice, in order to furnish more accommodation for the increas- 
 ing congregation. Although the erection of this chapel and of 
 the other buildings mentioned above mark undoubtedly an era 
 of progress in the history of the town, still we are constrained to 
 admit that the wants they supplied were not brought about by 
 the spread of Fleetwood's reputation as a watering-place. From 
 the first little had been done to supplement its natural attractions 
 by laying out elegant promenades, or improving the state of the 
 Cops or Poulton Road, so as to render them agreeable rural walks 
 for many who, after a time, grew weary of watching the eddies 
 and dimples of the river's current 
 
 " Play round the bows of ships, 
 That steadily at anchor rode ;" 
 
 or of daily rambling where the receding waves left a broad floor
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 241 
 
 of firm, unbroken sands. True, a carriage-drive and foot-way of 
 some pretensions to beauty had been constructed along the north 
 shore in 1845, but the storms we have described, and other 
 heavy seas, had torn breaches in its wall, and made sad havoc 
 amongst its light sandy material, completely ruining the fair 
 appearance of the shoreward grass-plat, and threatening the 
 road with that very destruction which has since overtaken it 
 through the continued negligence of the residents or governing 
 powers. There was no public hall, such as that once contemplated, 
 where a feeling of fellowship might be engendered amongst the 
 visitors. The regattas instituted for the interest and amusement 
 it was hoped they would excite amongst the spectators were, as 
 previously stated, conducted in a desultory manner for a few 
 years, and then abandoned ; whilst the land sports during the 
 week of high festival were discontinued as the Whit-week 
 excursion trains found other outlets more attractive than Fleet- 
 wood for their pleasure-seeking thousands ; but it was not until 
 the North Euston Hotel was opened for military purposes, that all 
 hope of reviving the fading reputation of the town as a summer 
 resort was finally relinquished. For some little time after the fore- 
 going transfer, the bathing vans, as if to keep up the fiction of the 
 season, re-appeared with uninterrupted regularity each year upon 
 the beach, but even that last connecting link between the deserted 
 town, as far as visitors were concerned, and its former popularity, 
 was doomed shortly to be broken, for the ancient machines, never 
 renewed, and seldom repaired, were at length unequal to the 
 rough journey over the cobble stones, and crumbled to pieces on 
 the way, expiring miserably in the cause of duty, from old age 
 and unmerited neglect. 
 
 In the early part of 1859, a lifeboat, thirty feet in length, was 
 stationed here by the National Lifeboat Institution, and in the 
 month of September in the same year, a neat and substantial 
 house was built for it on the beach opposite the North Euston 
 Hotel. After doing good service along the coast, in rescuing 
 several crews whose vessels had stranded amidst the breakers on 
 the outlying sand-banks, this boat was superseded, in 1862, by 
 one of larger dimensions. In January, 1863, the erection on the 
 beach was swept away by the billows during a heavy gale, and in 
 the course of a few months the present structure in Pharos Street,
 
 242 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 far removed from the reach of the destructive element, was raised, 
 and the lifeboat transferred to its safer keeping. 
 
 The census of the residents taken in 1861 showed a total of 
 4,061 persons, being an increase of 940 over the number in 1851, 
 and of 1,228 over that in 1841. Hence it is seen that during the 
 long period of twenty years, almost from its commencement to 
 the date now under consideration, through fluctuating seasons of 
 prosperous and depressed trade, the town had succeeded in adding 
 no more than 1,228 individuals to the roll of its inhabitants, 
 many of whom would be the offspring of the original settlers. 
 Truly the foregoing picture is not a very satisfactory one to 
 review when we call to mind the bright auspices under which the 
 place was started, the early and ample railway accommodation, 
 the short and well-beaconed channel, and the safe and spacious 
 harbour ; but could we only add the extensive area of docks, the 
 Fleetwood of 1871 would doubtless have presented a widely 
 different aspect to that we are here called upon to portray. It 
 is scarcely just, however, to lay all the burden of this slow rate of 
 progress on the want of suitable berth provision for heavily-laden 
 vessels coming to the harbour. Fleetwood had other means of 
 extending its circle besides those derived from its happy situation 
 for shipping trade. Its merits as a watering-place were allowed on 
 every hand; eulogistic versions of its special charms were circulated 
 through the public prints ; strangers flocked each summer to its 
 shores, and were enchanted with their visits ; but after a while the 
 refreshing novelty wore off, and the puny efforts made by those 
 whose interests in the prosperity of the town were greatest, failed 
 to fill the inevitable void the waning newness left in its train. In 
 the meantime other season places, urged on by emulation, 
 enhanced the beauties of nature by works of art ; promenades, 
 walks, drives, and, at no distant period, piers, were con- 
 structed to meet the popular demands, and in that way the 
 tide of visitors was turned from the non-progressive and now 
 over familiar attractions of Fleetwood to swell the annually 
 increasing streams which overflowed the rising towns of Blackpool 
 and Lytham. The year 1861 will ever be remarkable in the 
 history of Fleetwood as being the date at which the town was for 
 the first time practically diverted from that line of progress which 
 its founder, in too sanguine expectancy, had early marked out for
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 243 
 
 it. Its decadence as a summer resort had been too pronounced to 
 allow of any hope being entertained that a revulsion was probable, 
 or even possible, in the feelings and tastes of the multitude, which 
 would again people its shores, during the warm months, with a 
 heterogeneous crowd of valetudinarians and pleasure-seekers. The 
 noble hotel which had been erected by Sir P. H. Fleetwood on 
 the northern margin of the shore, in a style of architecture and at 
 an expense which bore witness to the firm. confidence of the 
 baronet in the brilliant future awaiting the infant town, had been 
 sold to Government, as previously stated, in 1859, but it was not 
 until two years afterwards that the first detachment of officers 
 took up their quarters in the newly-established School of 
 Musketry, and Fleetwood awoke to the novel sound of martial 
 music and the reputation of being a military centre. Rumour, 
 also, had for several months been active in circulating a report 
 that the sward lying between the Landmark and the cemetery, 
 and a field at the corner of Cemetery Road, had attracted the eye 
 of Government as a suitable locality whereon to place barracks 
 and lay out a rifle-practice ground ; and in February, 1861, doubt 
 on the subject was no longer admissible, for the contract to carry 
 out the fresh project was let during that month to the gentleman 
 who had been engaged in the necessary alterations at the North 
 Euston Hotel. The scheme involved the creation of residential 
 accommodation in the field just indicated for a small force of 220 
 men and 1 2 officers, some of the quarters being specially designed 
 for married soldiers, in addition to which lavatories, a canteen, 
 mess-room, magazine, and guard-house, were to be erected. The 
 work was entered on without delay, and at no long interval, about 
 ten months, or rather more, the whole of the buildings were com- 
 pleted, and soon afterwards occupied. The practice-ground was 
 marked out for range firing, and butts provided, where the 
 targets were shortly stationed. A spacious hospital, it should be 
 mentioned, was constructed almost contemporaneously with the 
 main portion of the barrack buildings. 
 
 On Monday, the 2oth of May, 1861, a mass meeting was 
 convened to ascertain the opinion of the inhabitants with regard 
 to a claim of exclusive use of the road over the Mount-hill, which 
 had recently been set up by Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, who in 
 order to establish his right had caused a cobble wall to be erected
 
 244 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 round that portion of the estate. The meeting, consisting of 
 about three hundred persons, was held on the pathway in dispute, 
 which crosses the highest point of the elevation. A platform was 
 raised, and a chairman, elected by the unanimous voice of the 
 company, ascended the rostrum, being accompanied by several of 
 the more enthusiastic advocates of free-road, who in the course of 
 earnest addresses declared that for twenty years the Mount had 
 been dedicated to the public service, in consideration of certain 
 sums paid annually to the lord of the manor out of the town's 
 rates, and that having been so long the property of the people, 
 Sir P. H. Fleetwood had now no moral or legal title to wrest it 
 from them. The ardent language of the speakers aroused a 
 sympathetic feeling in the breasts of the small multitude, and 
 murmurs of discontent at the attempted deprivation of their 
 privileges had already assumed a threatening tone, when a 
 gentleman who happened to be visiting the neighbourhood, 
 appeared upon the scene, and in a few spirited words urged the 
 excited listeners to some speedy manifestation of their disapproval. 
 Uttering a shout of indignation and defiance the crowd rushed at 
 the enclosure wall, tore down the masonry, and quickly opened 
 out a wide breach through the offending structure, after which 
 they filled the air with triumphant cheers and shortly retired 
 homewards in a comparatively orderly manner. In the course 
 of a few months the vexatious question was settled between the 
 representatives of the town and Sir P. H. Fleetwood, who on his 
 part agreed only to retain to himself a plot of land fifty yards 
 square, lying on the west side of the hill ; another piece one 
 hundred yards square, extending from the base of the elevation to 
 the sea ; the wooden edifice on the summit of the mound ; six 
 square yards whereon to erect a look-out house for the Coast- 
 guards ; and the gardens and cottage-lodges at the entrance. The 
 remainder of the Mount, amounting to about three-fourths, was 
 given up to the public, together with the right of footway through 
 the cottages just mentioned, and over the east and west plots ; 
 the commissioners engaging, on their side, to erect and maintain 
 a suitable fence round the Mount, and to keep the hill itself in a 
 proper manner for the benefit of the inhabitants or visitors, as 
 well as binding themselves upon no account to raise any building 
 on the site. The entire ground, with the buildings, has since
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 245 
 
 been given, on much the same conditions, to the town. 
 
 During the year 1862 the town, which for some time had lain 
 dormant in a commercial point of view, evinced unmistakable 
 signs of returning animation ; trade was more active, rumour once 
 more hinted at the probable commencement of docks at an early 
 date, and ninety-five houses of moderate size were erected. In 
 the earlier half of the following twelve months no less than 
 thirty-seven more dwellings were added to the town, the founda- 
 tions of several others being in course of preparation. A branch 
 of the Preston Banking Company was also opened for a few hours 
 once in each week ; and during later years has transacted business 
 daily. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 2oth of January, 1863, a storm and flood, such 
 as has seldom been witnessed on this coast, arose suddenly and 
 raged with fury for about twenty hours. The whole of the wall 
 under the Mount, which had been brought to light by some gales 
 in the previous November, after having been buried in the sand 
 for long, was uttterly demolished, not one stone being left upon 
 another. In addition, the breakers penetrated with destructive 
 violence, several yards inland beyond the line of that barrier 
 throughout its whole length, from the west end of the Euston 
 Barracks to the further extremity of Abbot's Walk. A wooden 
 battery of two 32-pound guns at the foot of the Mount, belonging 
 to the Coastguards, 1 and used for training the Naval Volunteer 
 Reserve, was undermined and so tilted that its removal became a 
 necessity. The marine fence, which had been constructed at an 
 immense cost, between the Landmark and Cleveleys, was almost 
 entirely swept away, leaving the adjacent country open to the 
 inundations of the sea, which rushed over and flooded all the land 
 between the points just named, extending eastward even to the 
 embankment of the Preston and Wyre Railway. Several of the 
 streets at the west side of Fleetwood were under water, as also 
 were the fields about Poulton road and the highway itself. The 
 proprietor of the " Strawberry Garden," off the same road, and his 
 family, were compelled to take refuge in an upper storey of their 
 
 I. Coastguards were first located at Fleetwood in 1858, and consisted of six men 
 and an officer. Their present station in Abbot's Walk was erected in 1864, and 
 comprises cottage accommodation for six men, and another residence for the 
 officer in command.
 
 246 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 dwelling until rescued in a boat, the following day, from their 
 unpleasant, if not perilous, position. It was in this hurricane that 
 the house erected on the shore for the reception of the life-boat 
 suffered annihilation, and the boat itself narrowly escaped serious 
 damage. Tuesday, the loth of March, in the same year was 
 observed by the residents as a general holiday and gala day, in 
 honour of the marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, with the 
 Danish Princess, Alexandra. Flags and banners floated from the 
 windows of nearly every habitation, as well as from the roofs of 
 many, while the steamships and other vessels in the harbour were 
 gaily decorated with bunting, which waved in rich and varied tints 
 from their masts, spars, and rigging. Triumphal arches of the 
 "colours of all nations " were suspended across the streets at several 
 points. A large procession of schools and friendly societies in full 
 regalia, with their banners and devices, paraded the different 
 thoroughfares, and were afterwards sumptuously entertained, the 
 latter at their various lodges, and the former in the large area 
 of a cotton warehouse, recently built on the quay by Messrs. B. 
 Whitworth and Bros., of Manchester. The military stationed at 
 the School of Musketry evinced their loyalty by discharging a 
 feu de foie on the warren. In the following November a scheme 
 was proposed for the construction of a coast railway between 
 Fleetwood and Blackpool, to pass through Rossall and Bispham. 
 A survey was made of the route, and according to the plans drawn 
 out, the projected line was intended to have its Fleetwood terminus 
 at the south extremity of Poulton Terrace, opposite the end of West 
 Street, whence it was to run towards the new barracks, near the 
 cemetery, then diverge to the south in the direction of Rossall. 
 From Rossall its course lay towards Bispham and thence onwards 
 to the Blackpool terminus, which would be located in Queen's 
 street, adjoining the station already standing there. The stations, 
 besides those at the two termini, were to be placed at the 
 barracks, Rossall, and Bispham. At Fleetwood the promoters 
 proposed to form a junction with the Preston and Wyre Railway 
 near the old timber pond, for the purpose of passing carriages 
 from one line to the other, whilst at Blackpool a similar object 
 would be effected with the Lytham and Blackpool Railway by 
 deviating eastward from Queen Street, so as to avoid the town, 
 and establishing a junction with the latter line near Chapel Street.
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 247 
 
 On an application being made to parliament for powers to carry 
 out the design, strenuous opposition was offered by the represen- 
 tatives of the Preston and Wyre Railway, who pledged themselves 
 to erect additional stations along their track to accommodate the 
 people residing at Rossall, Cleveleys, and Bispham, in consequence 
 of which the bill for a coast-line was thrown out and the project 
 abandoned. 
 
 On the 4th of December, 1863, the Lancaster Banking Company 
 established a branch here ; and on the I5th of that month the 
 Whitworth Institute in Dock Street was publicly opened. This 
 handsome Hall was erected through the munificence of Benjamin 
 Whitworth, esq., M.P., of London, who for long resided at Fleet- 
 wood, and during that period, and afterwards, was instrumental in 
 giving a marked stimulus to the foreign trade of the port by 
 shipping each year, on behalf of the large firm of which he is the 
 head at Manchester, numerous cargoes of cotton from America vid 
 Fleetwood. The buiding is in the Gothic style of architecture. The 
 walls are built of bricks with stone dressings, the principal features 
 being the ten arcaded windows, with the stone balcony beneath 
 running across the entire width of the front, and the elegant entrance. 
 The interior comprises a spacious reading room and library, a 
 smoking and coffee room, provided with chess and draughts, an 
 assembly room, capable of containing 400 persons, and two billiard 
 rooms. At the time of its presentation to the inhabitants the 
 donor generously provided tea urns and other appliances necessary 
 for holding soirees, in addition to having liberally furnished the 
 whole of the building, including the gift of a choice and extensive 
 selection of books, chess and draught-men, a bagatelle-board, and a 
 billiard-table. The second billiard-table was added out of the surplus 
 funds in 1875. The Institute is vested in trustees for the use of 
 the town, and governed by a committee chosen from amongst the 
 subscribers. 
 
 During 1864-5 building continued to progress, but not with 
 that great rapidity which had characterised its advance in 1862 
 and the earlier months of the following year. An act of 
 parliament was granted in 1864 to certain gentlemen for the 
 formation of a dock in connection with the harbour, confirming 
 the rumour which had now agitated the place for the last two 
 years, and bringing conviction to the hearts of many of the older
 
 248 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 inhabitants, whose past experience had taught them to look with 
 eyes of distrust on all reports which pointed to such a happy 
 realisation of their youthful dreams. The inaugural ceremony of. 
 breaking the turf did not, however, take place for some time, and 
 will be noticed shortly. On the iyth of May, 1866, the foundation 
 stone of the present Roman Catholic church in East Street was 
 laid by Doctor Goss, bishop of Liverpool, who performed the 
 ceremony, attired in full ecclesiastical robes, and attended by a 
 numerous retinue of priests and choristers. The sacred edifice 
 was opened on Sunday, the 24th of November in the ensuing year. 
 Its general style is early English of the I3th century. The 
 building consists of a nave and two aisles, with an apsidal 
 sanctuary at the east end ; it is about one hundred feet long, 
 thirty-five feet wide, and fifty feet in height. The exterior is 
 built of stone, the body of the walls being Yorkshire parpoints, 
 whilst the dressings are of Longridge stone. Mr. T. A. 
 Drummond, of Fleetwood, was the builder, and the design 
 was drawn by E. Welby Pugin, esq., architect, the total cost 
 being about ^"4,000. 
 
 For many years, in fact ever since steamship communication 
 had been established between this port and Belfast, large quan- 
 tities of young cattle from Ireland were landed each season at 
 Fleetwood, and carried forward by rail to the markets of Preston 
 and elsewhere. For the benefit of the dealers, who would thus 
 escape the railway charges, as well as for the convenience of the 
 graziers and other purchasers residing in the neighbourhood, it 
 was determined to open a place for the public sale of such live 
 stock at Fleetwood ; the necessary authority was obtained from 
 the Privy Council, and on the 2nd of April, 1868, the Cattle 
 Market, lying on the east side of that for general produce, and 
 consisting of sixteen large strong pens, arranged in two rows with 
 a road between them, was used for its earliest transactions and 
 much appreciated by those who were concerned in the traffic. 
 
 Wednesday, the 2nd of June, 1869, will not readily be obliterated 
 from the memories of the people of Fleetwood. On that day the 
 first sod of the long expected dock was cut by H. S. Styan, esq., 
 of London, the surviving trustee of the estate under the will of 
 the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood, who died in 1866. The auspicious 
 event was celebrated with universal rejoicing, in which many-
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 249 
 
 coloured bunting played its usual conspicuous part. A large pro- 
 cession of the clergy, gentry, schools, and friendly societies, 
 enlivened by the band of the 8oth regiment of Infantry from the 
 Euston Barracks, and gay with waving banners, accompanied 
 Mr. Styan to the site where the important ceremony was 
 performed, and sent forth hearty congratulatory cheers when the 
 piece of turf had been duly dissected from the ground. With all 
 apparent earnestness and eagerness, operations were at once 
 commenced, and for two or three months the undertaking, under 
 the busy hands of the excavators, made satisfactory progress, when 
 suddenly several gangs of labourers were discharged, and the 
 works partially stopped 
 
 "While all the town wondered." 
 
 Wonderment, however, was turned to a feeling of disappointment 
 and chagrin, when it was discovered, a little later, that the closing 
 year would put a period to the labours at the dock as well as to 
 its own epoch of time, and that its last shadows would fall on 
 deserted works and idle machinery. For some reason, which 
 may fairly be conjectured to have been an incompleted list of 
 shareholders, the Fleetwood Dock Company determined to 
 suspend all operations barely six months after they had been 
 begun, and it is scarcely necessary to inform our readers that the 
 work was never resumed under the same proprietorship. Two 
 years subsequently, in 1871, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Rail- 
 way Company obtained an act of parliament to carry out, on a 
 larger scale, the undertaking which their predecessors had 
 abandoned almost in its birth. The dock, which embraces an 
 area of nearly ten acres, being one thousand feet long, by four 
 hundred feet wide, has already been in course of formation for 
 more than two years, and although the labour is being pushed 
 forward by the contractors, Messrs. John Aird and Sons, of 
 Lambeth, with as much expedition as is consistent with good 
 workmanship, the completion of this much-needed accommodation 
 is not expected until some time in 1877. The dock walls are built 
 with square blocks of stone, surmounted by a broad and massive 
 coping of Cornish granite, and filled in behind with concrete, the 
 whole having an altitude of thirty-one feet, and being placed on a 
 solid concrete foundation fourteen feet wide. The walls them- 
 selves vary in width as they approach the surface, being in the
 
 250 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 lower half of their distance \2\ feet, then 10^ feet, and in the 
 highest section 8 feet wide. The lock entrance communicates 
 with the north extremity of the dock, and is two hundred and 
 fifty feet long by fifty feet wide, being protected at each end by 
 gates, opening, respectively, into the dock and the channel now in 
 process of excavation to the bed of the river Wyre. Lying to 
 the south of the dock is the recently-constructed timber pond, 
 covering an area of 14^ or 15 acres, and having a depth of 15 feet. 
 The pond is connected with the dock by means of a gateway, so 
 arranged in the southern wall of the latter that two feet of water 
 will always remain in the former after the tide has ebbed below 
 the level of its floor. The timber pond has no other entrance 
 beyond the one alluded to. Sir John Hawkshaw, previously 
 mentioned in connection with the visit of Queen Victoria to 
 Fleetwood, is the eminent engineer from whose designs the dock 
 is being constructed. 
 
 The prospect, or indeed certainty, of materially increased trade 
 when the dock is thrown open has not been without effect upon 
 the town generally, but its stimulating influence is most remark- 
 able in the large number of houses which, during the last few 
 years, have sprung into being. Streets have been lined with 
 habitations where recently not a dwelling existed, and others have 
 had their vacant spaces filled in with buildings. Handsome 
 shops have been erected in Dock Street, East and West Streets, 
 and other localities, whilst many of the residences in Church 
 Street have been remodeled and converted into similar retail 
 establishments. Everywhere there is a spirit of activity visible, 
 contrasting most pleasingly and favourably with the passive 
 inertitia which pervaded the place for a considerable period previous 
 to the commencement of the dock operations. In 1875 the com- 
 missioners determined to do something towards protecting the 
 northern aspect of the Mount from the devastations of the waves, 
 whose boisterous familiarity had already inflicted serious injury 
 on its feeble sandy sides, and seemed disposed, if much longer 
 unchecked, to reduce the venerable pile to a mere matter of 
 history. A public promenade, fenced with a substantial wall of 
 concrete, was laid out at the base of the hill, extending from 
 near the west extremity of the Mount Terrace to the commence- 
 ment of Abbot's Walk. The damaged side of the mound itself 

 
 FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE. 251 
 
 has been levelled and sown with grass-seed, so that in course of 
 time the marine walk will have a lofty sloping background of 
 green sward, and form the prettiest, as it was doubtless the most 
 needed, object in the neighbourhood. 
 
 On the ist of January, 1875, a number of gentlemen, denomi- 
 nated the Fleetwood Estate Company, Limited, and consisting of 
 Sir Jno. Hawkshaw, knt., of Westminster ; Thos. H. Carr, J. M. 
 Jameson, C.E., and Philip Turner, esqrs., of Fleetwood ; Capt. 
 Henry Turner and Sturges Meek, esq., C.E., of Manchester ; 
 Thomas Barnes, esq., of Farnworth ; James Whitehead, esq., of 
 Preston ; Joshua Radcliffe, esq., of Rochdale ; Samuel Burgess, 
 esq., of Altringham ; William Barber Buddicom, esq., C.E., of 
 Penbedw, Mold ; and Samuel Fielden, esq., of Todmorden ; 
 purchased the lands, buildings, manorial rights and privileges 
 (including wreckage, market-tolls, and advowson of the church), 
 of the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood, in and near this town, from the 
 trustees of his property, for ^"120,000, subscribed in equal shares. 
 Although negotiations were satisfactorily concluded in 1874, it 
 was not until the month just stated that the actual transfer was 
 effected, and the gentlemen enumerated became lords of the soil. 
 We must not omit to name that portion a of the Fleetwood estate, 
 amounting to about 600 acres, lying between the old and present 
 railway embankments, had been acquired in a similar manner, for 
 _^~2 5,000, in 1871, by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 
 Company. Under the new proprietorship leases for building 
 purposes are sold or let, as formerly, for terms of 999 years. 
 
 In closing this account of Fleetwood as a watering-place and 
 town, and before delineating its career as a seaport, it should be 
 stated that the census of the inhabitants taken in 1871 yielded 
 a total of 4,428 persons, of whom 2,310 were males, and 2,118 
 females ; but in the limited period which has elapsed since that 
 result was obtained the population has grown considerably, and 
 the increase during a similar interval after any of the previous 
 official returns cannot be taken as a criterion of the present 
 numerical strength of the residents. 
 
 Fleetwood was started in 1839 as a distinct port with customs 
 established by an order of the Treasury ; subsequently in 1844 it 
 was reduced to a creek under Preston ; then two years later 
 elevated to a sub-port ; and finally in 1 849 reinstated in its first
 
 252 POULTON PARISH, 
 
 position of independence. The iron wharf was completed in 1841, 
 and is constructed of iron piles, each of which weighs two and 
 three quarter tons, driven seventeen feet below low water mark, 
 and faced with plates of the same metal, seven or eight inches 
 thick, which are rivetted to the flanges of the piles, and filled in 
 at the back with concrete. The wooden pier, about 400 feet in 
 length, and abutting on the north extremity of this massive 
 structure, was finished in 1845, and roofed over shortly afterwards. 
 On the 22nd of July in the ensuing year, the last stone of the 
 wharf wall, erected by Mr. Julian A. Tamer, of Fleetwood, and 
 extending fourteen hundred feet from the south end of the iron 
 wharf in the direction of the railway, was laid ; and at the same 
 time the coal-shoots connected with the new portion of the quay 
 were approaching completion. 
 
 The improvement of the harbour was entrusted to Captain 
 Denham, R.N., F.R.S., under whose superintendence the seaward 
 channel of the river was buoyed and beaconed, being rendered safe 
 for night navigation by the erection of a marine lighthouse, in 
 1 840, at the foot of Wyre, nearly two miles from the mouth of 
 the river at Fleetwood. This lighthouse was the first one erected 
 on Mitchell's screw-pile principle. The house in which the light- 
 keepers lived was hexagonal in form, and measured 22 feet in 
 diameter, from angle to angle, and nine feet in height. It was 
 furnished with an outside door and three windows ; and divided 
 within into two compartments, one of which was supplied with a 
 fireplace and other necessaries, whilst the second was used purely 
 as a dormitory. The lantern was twelve-sided, 10 feet in diameter 
 and 8 feet in height to the top of the window, the illumination it 
 produced being raised about 31 feet above the level of the highest 
 spring-tide, and 44^ feet above jthat of half-tide. A few years 
 since, in 1870, this lighthouse was carried away by a vessel, and 
 for some time a light-ship occupied the station, but subsequently 
 another edifice, similar in appearance and construction to the 
 original one, was raised about two hundred yards south of the 
 same site. 
 
 Captain Denham, having accomplished his survey of the river and 
 harbour, issued the following report in 1840 : 
 
 " The river Wyre assumes a river character near Bleasdale Forest, in Lan- 
 cashire, and after crossing the line of road between Preston and Lancaster, at
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 253 
 
 Garstang, descends as a tortuous stream for five miles westward ; then, in another 
 five mile reach of one-third of a mile wide, north-westward, sweeping the 
 light of Skippool, near Poulton-le-Fylde, on its way, and bursting forth from the 
 narrows at Wardleys, upon a north trend, into the tidal estuary which embraces 
 an area of three miles by two, producing a combined reflux of back-water, equal to 
 fifty million cubical yards, and dipping with such a powerful under-scour during 
 the first half-ebb, as to preserve a natural basin just within its coast-line orifice, 
 capable of riding ships of eighteen or twenty feet draft, at low water spring tides ; 
 perfectly sheltered from all winds, and within a cable's length of the railway 
 terminus, nineteen miles from Preston, and in connection with Manchester, 
 Lancaster, Liverpool, and London. It is on the western margin of this natural 
 dock that the town, wharfs, and warehouses are rising into notice, under the 
 privilege of a distinct port, and abreast of which, the shores aptly narrow the 
 back-water escape into a bottle-neck strait of but one-sixth the width of the 
 estuary, so impelling it down a two-mile channel as scarcely to permit diminish- 
 ment of its three and four-mile velocity until actually blended with the cross-set of 
 the Lune and Morecambe Bay ebb waters. Thus, the original short course of 
 Wyre to the open sea, is freed from the usual river deposit, its silting matter 
 being kept in suspension until transferred and hurried forth at right angles by the 
 ocean stream. It is, therefore, the peculiar feature and fortune of Wyre that, 
 instead of a bar intervening between its bed or exit trough and the open sea, a 
 precipitous river shelf, equal to a fall of forty-seven feet in one-third of a mile, 
 exists." 
 
 The first steam dredger, of 20 horse power, was launched on 
 the 2 ist of January, 1840, and the important work of deepening 
 and clearing the channel at once commenced. 
 
 At a meeting of the Tidal Harbour Commissioners held at the 
 port on the 2ist October, 1845, it was stated that the harbour dues 
 were for coasting vessels, id. per ton, and for foreign ships, 3d. per 
 ton ; whilst the light charges were in all cases 3d. per ton. At the 
 same time it was observed that the whole of the dues amounted 
 in 1835 to ^"36 2s. od., and in 1845 to ^"528 95. 5d. (In 1855 the 
 dues on similar accounts reached ^"1,520 ; and in 1875, 2 A 2 7-) 
 The Walney light was reported to be a great tax on vessels 
 coming to Fleetwood, as they were charged 3d. a ton per year, 
 commencing on the 1st of January ; so that if a vessel arrived at 
 the port on the 28th of December, a charge was made for the 
 year just closing, and a further sum demanded from the craft on 
 going out in the month of January. This was not the case with 
 regard to similar taxes in other localities, where one payment 
 exempted a ship for twelve months ; and consequently the 
 regulation acted in some degree as a deterrent to traders, who 
 might under a more liberal arrangement have been induced to
 
 254 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 have availed themselves in larger numbers of the facilities 
 offered by the new haven. The total length of useful wharfage in 
 1845 extended over 1,000 feet, being well supplied with posts and 
 rings, and possessing no less than sixteen hand cranes, thirteen of 
 which were for the purpose of unloading vessels at the quay. 
 There was a depth of five feet at low-water spring tides from the 
 marine lighthouse, at the foot of Wyre, to the wharf, and it was 
 proposed to dredge until ten feet had been obtained. 
 
 On examining the state of the shipping trade of the harbour 
 during the year 1845, it is discovered that the imports and exports 
 of foreign produce and home manufacture, respectively, far out- 
 stripped those of any of the few preceding years. There had been 
 vessels laden with guano from Ichaboe, sugar from the West Indies, 
 flax from Russia, and timber from both the Baltic and Canada, 
 making in all twenty-three ships of large tonnage, only two of which 
 returned with cargoes, in far from complete stages of fulness, from 
 the warehouses of Manchester, Preston, or other adjacent commer- 
 cial towns. The coasting trade had also given earnest of its pro- 
 gressive tendencies by a remarkable increase in the number of 
 discharges and loadings over those of the previous twelve months, 
 and notwithstanding the four hundred feet of extra wharfage, 
 forming the wooden pier, just opened, the demands for quay berths 
 could not always be supplied. 
 
 New bonding warehouses were erected towards the close of 
 1 845 at the corner of Adelaide and Dock Streets, the temporary 
 ones previously in use being abandoned, and comprised three 
 stories capable of providing accommodation for 400 hogsheads of 
 sugar at one time, as well as spacious vaults and other con- 
 veniences for duty-bearing articles. The goods allowed to be 
 warehoused were wine, spirits, tea, tobacco, East India goods, 
 and goods in general. 
 
 In 1 846 prosperity continued to reward the efforts put forth by 
 the authorities of the young haven. Twelve vessels arrived from 
 America with timber, and nine similarly laden from the Baltic ; 
 tobacco, sugar, and other commodities were imported in two ships 
 from the Indies ; but the event which kindled the brightest 
 anticipations in the breasts of the inhabitants and others interested 
 in the success of the port was the arrival of the barque " Diogenes/' 
 chartered by Mr. Evans, of Chipping, with the first cargo of cotton
 
 FLEETWOOD- ON- WYRE. 255 
 
 ever landed at Fleetwood. In it was welcomed an introduction to 
 the chief trade of the county, and a happy augury of future 
 activity in an import which would not only of itself materially 
 assist the financial condition of the harbour, but would also be the 
 means of spreading its reputation throughout the commercial 
 world, and extending its field of action to a degree which could 
 scarcely be foretold. How these pleasant visions have been fulfilled 
 the reader is perhaps aware, but if not a glance at the tables of 
 coasting and foreign trade, given a little later, will furnish the 
 necessary information. On the I2th of February, immediately 
 the novel consignment just referred to, which "afforded a suitable 
 opportunity," had come to hand, a public dinner was given by 
 their fellow-townsmen to Frederick Kemp and John Laidlay, 
 esqrs., as a mark of respect for their assiduous efforts to develope 
 the mercantile resources of the place. During the evening Mr. 
 Laidlay remarked that " within a short period the trading inter- 
 course of the port had extended to various and distant portions of 
 the world, the products of Africa, the West Indies, and North 
 America having been imported ; and stretching our arm still 
 further, a cargo from the East Indies may be stated as almost 
 within our grasp." Mr. Evans, in alluding to his transatlantic 
 shipment, affirmed that in bringing it by way of Fleetwood, he 
 had effected a saving of at least a farthing per pound ; and con- 
 tinued, "When the order was given, it could not have been 
 imported into Liverpool without loss." 
 
 In the latter part of the year a testimonial was presented by the 
 inhabitants of the town to Henry Smith, esq., of Fleetwood, 
 manager of the North Lancashire Steam Navigation Company, as 
 a tribute to his untiring and successful attempts to promote 
 steamship traffic and advance the interests of the place, and in the 
 course of a speech made on the occasion, Mr. Smith said : 
 " In 1842 I first visited Fleetwood at the request of the London 
 board of directors, it then presented a most gloomy aspect a 
 splendid modern ruin, no shipping, no steamers, no passengers for 
 the trains, and yet it required no very keen discernment to learn 
 that all the facilities for trade and commerce existed here, but life 
 was wanting ; here was one of the finest and safest harbours, 
 certainly the best lighted and marked port on the west coast, 
 being as easily made by night as by day, with that wonderful
 
 256 
 
 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 natural phenomenon, the Lune Deep, making it a safety port to 
 take in fog by sounding a thing having no parellel in England. 
 * What changes have we witnessed here since 
 1842? I have seen your population without employment, and 
 now there is more work than there are hands to perform the 
 wages from one shilling a day have advanced to two shillings and 
 sixpence and three shillings ; then indeed was your port without a 
 ship, now there is a general demand for more quay room, although 
 since then upwards of i ,000 feet have been added to the wharfage ; 
 then your railway receipts were ^"100, this year they have attained 
 ^~i,5oo per week." This unfortunate gentleman was killed in 
 the June following, through a collison on the London and 
 North Western Railway ; and there can be no hesitation in 
 affirming that, had his career of usefulness and activity not been 
 thus prematurely cut short, the trade of Fleetwood would have 
 developed, in the long period which has elapsed since his death, 
 into something more important than it presents to day. 
 
 The following authentic returns of the whole business of the port 
 in 1846 forms a favourable comparison with those of 1840, the 
 year in which the railway was opened, when they amounted to 
 57,051 tons of imports, the exports being proportionately small: 
 
 COASTING. 
 
 IMPORTS. EXPORTS. 
 
 1846. January ... 59 ships 11,564 tons. 
 
 February ... 60 , 11,25* 
 
 March 72 , ",252 
 
 April 63 10,971 
 
 May 61 ",539 
 
 June 61 10,637 
 
 July 81 13,413 
 
 August 80 13,194 
 
 September... 94 13,5^5 
 
 October 64 ",472 
 
 November ... 63 II ,O94 
 
 December ... 41 7,78$ 
 
 Foreign 
 
 799 ships 137,687 tons. 
 
 . 24 6,935 
 
 59 ships 11,875 tons. 
 
 62 
 
 11,208 
 
 
 70 
 
 11,289 
 
 
 66 
 
 11,098 
 
 
 121 
 
 11,790 
 
 
 97 
 
 14,715 
 
 
 94 
 
 14,274 
 
 
 93 
 
 16,042 
 
 
 65 
 
 11,609 
 
 
 71 
 
 13,158 
 
 
 51 
 
 8,619 
 
 i 
 
 not obtained. 
 
 849 ships 135,677 tons. 
 
 13 2,703 
 
 Total 823 ships 144,622 tons. 862 ships 138,3801005. 
 
 The animated appearance of the harbour was described in 1 846 
 by a gentleman connected with the town, as here quoted :
 
 FLEE TWO OD- ON- WYRE. 2 5 7 
 
 "With two Indiamen at their berths, the splendid steamers 
 alongside, schooners, small craft innumerable dotting the river, 
 wharfmen, porters, etc., removing merchandise from vessel to 
 wagon, and vice versa, the cranes in constant operation, goods- 
 trains arriving and preparing for departure, give the pier-head 
 and harbour an air of bustle and activity, and are themselves a 
 pleasing indication of what our commerce may become ; of the 
 trade which vigilance, patience, and effort, may secure to the 
 harbour and railway." 
 
 The twelve months of 1 847 proved anything but a re-assuring 
 time. The foreign imports suddenly fell off to six cargoes, four of 
 which were timber from America, the two remaining being guano 
 and timber from Hamburg. One left for Mexico and Hong Kong, 
 laden with British goods, silk, wine, and spirits from the bonding 
 warehouses. The coasting returns also showed a diminution of 
 almost fifty discharges at the quay, as compared with the previous 
 year, and a corresponding decrease in the exports ; but in spite of 
 the sudden dispiriting experience, we find from the annexed extract 
 out of the annual official report concerning the harbour, that the 
 future was regarded hopefully : "There is every probability of the 
 business increasing at this Port, as an extensive trade with the 
 Baltic is expected, and most of the goods now in warehouse under 
 bond will no doubt be taken out for home consumption during the 
 present year." 1848 was marked by an increase of nine in the 
 number of foreign importations ; and of the fifteen large vessels 
 which arrived, one was from France with wines and spirits for 
 re-exportation to Mexico, two were from the Baltic and Hamburg 
 with timber, eleven from Canada with timber, and one from 
 Russia with flax. The importers of timber carried on, and used 
 sedulous efforts to extend, a healthy retail trade in the adjoining 
 districts and in the west of Yorkshire. The export trade was still 
 inconsiderable, although gradually increasing, but it was expected, 
 from the convenient situation of the harbour to the manufacturing 
 towns, and the local dues upon vessels and goods being much 
 lower than at other ports, that both it and the imports would, 
 before many years had passed over, become very extensive, more 
 especially as the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company had 
 recently acquired a right to the line between Fleetwood and 
 Preston, and were offering every facility and inducement to 
 
 R
 
 258 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 shippers and manufacturers, with the view of making this haven 
 the inlet and outlet for goods to and from the towns and villages 
 on their several lines. During the twelve months eighteen small 
 importations of paper from the Isle of Man took place, and it was 
 necessary for the officers connected with the customs to keep a 
 strict guard upon the wharf to prevent the smuggling of that and 
 other dutiable articles by the numerous passenger and coasting 
 vessels from the above island, as well as from Scotland and Ireland. 
 In 1849 the foreign imports were more than doubled, the excess 
 being chiefly due to the increase of timber-laden vessels. Six of 
 the total number sailed outwards with cargoes of warehoused 
 goods, and nine with coal and salt. The coasting trade underwent 
 a most remarkable rise of about four hundred cargoes inwards, and 
 two hundred outwards, the principal of the former being iron ore, 
 pig iron, and, more occasionally, grain ; and of the latter, coal. 
 The barque " Isabella " discharged 609 bales of cotton at Fleet- 
 wood from America in July, 1850, being the second cargo landed 
 here, and later in the year another consignment of 400 bales was 
 brought by the same vessel. In 1851 the only novel feature was 
 the arrival of a large shipload of currants ; the value of British 
 goods exported amounted to ^"90,000, besides which there were 
 considerable quantities of merchandise sent outwards from bond. 
 The main foreign business in 1852 was in timber and dried fruits, 
 but such importations were seriously diminished during the 
 ensuing year by the high price of the latter and by a temporary 
 misunderstanding between the railway company and one of the 
 chief timber merchants, through which several consignments 
 intended for the Wyre were diverted elsewhere ; in addition five 
 large cargoes were lost at sea and not replaced. The coasting 
 trade continued to expand until 1856, when its zenith was reached, 
 since when it has been characterised by a gradual decline, and 
 the last report, that of 1875, is as little encouraging as any, with 
 one exception, of its degenerate predecessors. The fourth freight 
 of cotton, consisting of 1,327 bales, made its appearance in the ship 
 "Cleopatra," in the spring of 1857, and was consigned to Messrs. 
 Benjamin Whitworth and Brothers, of Manchester, etc. Shortly 
 afterwards, barely two weeks, the " Favourite " arrived with a 
 further consignment for the same firm, and gave the signal for 
 the real commencement of a prosperous trade in that commodity
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 259 
 
 with America, which rapidly developed until the outbreak of 
 civil war in the transatlantic continent brought it somewhat 
 abruptly to a close in 1862. In a comparative statement of 
 charges between Liverpool and Fleetwood, issued during that 
 flourishing time, it was demonstrated that on a vessel of 500 tons, 
 cotton in and coals out, the following saving in favour of this port 
 could be effected : 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Charges on Ship 66 o o 
 
 on Cargo inwards 96 8 4 
 
 ,, on Cargo outwards 868 
 
 Total saving ^"170 15 o 
 
 Supposing the cargo to have been consigned to parties in 
 Preston, a further advantage, amounted to ^230 os. od. in car- 
 riage would be gained, raising the entire saving to ^"400 153. od. 
 
 During late years, the business firm just alluded to, whose 
 interests in, and efforts for, the welfare of the port have so long 
 been unflagging, has made a vigorous attempt to revive the 
 American cotton importations. For the last few seasons several of 
 their shipments, about ten, have annually arrived, and there is 
 every prospect that when the dock is completed many more 
 vessels will be chartered. A large shed for the reception of cotton 
 was erected in 1875, in Adelaide Street, by Messrs. B. Whitworth 
 and Bros., who have also established a permanent office in the 
 town. 
 
 In 1859 the trade between Fleetwood and Belfast had developed 
 to such an extent that a larger covered area for the temporary 
 warehousing, loading, and discharging of goods was urgently 
 called for, and towards the close of that year a space of about 190 
 feet in length, by 30 feet wide, was walled in and roofed over on 
 the quay, adjoining the building then in use for the same purposes. 
 Four years later, in 1863, two steam cranes were placed on the 
 wharf by the North Lancashire Steam Navigation Company. 
 Subsequently other cranes, working on a similar principle, have 
 been added to those experimental ones, and gradually the old 
 system of hand-labour at the quay-side has been superseded by 
 the adoption of this more expeditious and economical plan. 
 Shortly before the last-named facilities had augmented the con- 
 veniences of the wharf, a fresh description of mooring appliance
 
 2 6o PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 was laid down in the harbour, and consisted of two longitudinal 
 ground chains of 1,000 feet each, attached at intervals of 50 feet to 
 two sets of Mitchell's screws, which were worked into the clay in 
 the bed of the stream. The bridle chains, shackled above to the 
 mooring buoys, were secured below to the ground links between 
 the attachments of the screws, the buoys being so arranged that 
 each vessel was held stem and stern, instead of swinging round 
 with the tide, or stranding with one end on the large central 
 sandbank, as heretofore. 
 
 From 1862 to the present date, the story of the haven, with 
 the exceptions of the trawling fleet and the Belfast line, which 
 will be treated of directly, is not one which will awaken envy in 
 the breasts of those whose interests are bound up in rival ports, 
 nor indeed can it be a source of congratulation to those whose 
 interests might ordinarily be supposed to be best promoted by its 
 prosperity. It is true that the foreign trade for seven years after 
 1862 was in a state of fluctuation rather than actual decline, but 
 the three succeeding years were stationary at the low figure of 
 21 imports each, after which there was a slight improvement, 
 raising the annual numbers to 24, 32, and, in 1875, 33, due more 
 to the staunch allegiance of Messrs. B. Whitworth and Bros., 
 whose cotton again appeared on the wharf, than to any induce- 
 ments offered to them or others by increased facilities or more 
 appropriate accommodation. The coasting trade has already been 
 referred to, so that there is no necessity to recapitulate facts but 
 just laid before our readers. It is proper, however, to mention a 
 few statistics respecting the trade in exports of coal, the chief 
 business, and below are given the numbers of tons shipped, mostly 
 to Ireland, in each of the specified years : 
 
 1855 31,490 1869 24,741 
 
 1860 23,652 1870 43,653 
 
 1865 16,225 1871 51,473 
 
 1866 12,315 1872 54,794 
 
 1867 10,912 1873 55,447 
 
 1868 6,809 I8 74 56,939 
 
 1875 71,353- 
 
 The large and sudden increase from 1869 is mainly owing to 
 several screw steamships having been extensively engaged in the 
 traffic, and there is every probability, from the addition within 
 the last few months of a new and handsome coal-screw, and
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 
 
 261 
 
 other indications, that this branch of commerce will continue 
 to develope with equal, if not greater, rapidity. Again, it 
 should be remembered, when considering the falling off in the 
 numerical strength of the coasting vessels trading here, that 
 those now plying are of much greater carrying capacity than 
 formerly, and consequently the actual exports and imports have 
 not suffered diminution in anything like the same proportion 
 as the ships themselves. A series of tabular statements of all 
 the most important and interesting matters connected with the 
 harbour from the earliest obtainable dates has been prepared 
 from the official returns made to the custom-house during each 
 twelve months, and subjoined will be found a list of the vessels 
 retained on the register as belonging to the port at the end of the 
 years indicated, with their tonnages and the number of hands 
 forming the crews 
 
 Year. 
 1850 
 
 1853 
 
 1856 
 
 1858 
 
 Steam 
 
 
 
 Sailing 
 
 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 Hands. 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 Hands. 
 
 3 
 
 720 , 
 
 40 
 
 1C 
 
 c,6o . 
 
 C4 
 
 2 
 
 
 A.Q 
 
 21 
 
 856 
 
 77 
 
 2 
 
 720 
 
 4Q 
 
 24. 
 
 I4.ni: 
 
 IO4 
 
 A 
 
 806 
 
 CA 
 
 ... -6,-j. . . . . 
 
 4OO2 
 
 . .. 196 
 
 2 
 
 
 2.2 
 
 AI 
 
 C2.27 
 
 26l 
 
 3 ... 
 
 ... 586 ... 
 
 J** ' 
 
 .. 35 - 
 
 1 * T- A 
 
 ... 49 .. 
 
 jjj / * 
 
 .. 4933 ... 
 
 ... 267 
 
 4 
 
 ... 978 .... 
 
 .. 52 ... 
 
 .... 51 - 
 
 ... 5458 ... 
 
 ... 280 
 
 2 
 
 QC2 
 
 AQ 
 
 71 
 
 783Q 
 
 2QT 
 
 4 ... 
 
 ... 968 .... 
 
 * * T y 
 54 
 
 .... / i ... 
 
 ,... 79 .-. 
 
 ... 8168 ... 
 
 oy* 
 
 ... 427 
 
 4 .. 
 
 ... 968 .... 
 
 54 
 
 .... 76 ... 
 
 ... 6930- ... 
 
 ... 392 
 
 4 
 
 ... 968 .... 
 
 54 
 
 .... 84 ... 
 
 ... 12075 ... 
 
 ... 570 
 
 5 
 
 ... 1508 .... 
 
 74 - 
 
 .... 93 ... 
 
 ... 14760 ... 
 
 ... 640 
 
 4 
 
 ... 1249 ... 
 
 .. 62 .. 
 
 .... 89 ..T 
 
 ... 13957 ... 
 
 ... 602 
 
 4 ... 
 
 ... 1249 .... 
 
 .. 62 ... 
 
 ... 85 ... 
 
 ... 12147 ... 
 
 ... 567 
 
 5 ... 
 
 ... 1355 .... 
 
 .. 71 ... 
 
 ... 81 ... 
 
 ... 10338 ... 
 
 ... 513 
 
 6 ... 
 
 1372 
 
 74 
 
 82 
 
 0.71:7 
 
 4.7Q 
 
 . ... 6 ... 
 
 12,72 
 
 / H- 
 
 74. 
 
 ,* _ j , , . 
 
 ... 80 .... 
 
 y / o t 
 8831 
 
 T-/y 
 
 AC A 
 
 6 ... 
 
 I77Q . 
 
 / *f 
 QO 
 
 77 
 
 
 454 
 ACT 
 
 6 ... 
 
 I77Q . 
 
 " y^ ' * * 
 
 no 
 
 ... // .... 
 
 .. II226 
 
 ^3 X 
 
 CTC 
 
 5 
 
 ... 1239 .... 
 
 . . y^ . . . 
 .. 70 ... 
 
 ... 99 .... 
 
 .. 12601 ... 
 
 > 0*0 
 
 ... 5 8 7 
 
 7 ... 
 
 ... 1797 .... 
 
 .. 93 ... 
 
 ... 104 .... 
 
 .. 12546 ... 
 
 ... 609 
 
 7 ... 
 
 ... 1571 .... 
 
 .. 81 ... 
 
 ... 115 .... 
 
 .. 13642 ... 
 
 ... 690 
 
 7 
 
 ... 1571 .... 
 
 .. 81 ... 
 
 ... 133 .... 
 
 .. 15161 ... 
 
 ... 789 
 
 7 ... 
 
 .. 1994 .... 
 
 .. 92 ... 
 
 ... 150 .... 
 
 .. 19379 
 
 ... 947 
 
 7 ... 
 
 ... 1994 .... 
 
 .. 122 ... 
 
 ... 162 .... 
 
 .. 22598 .... 
 
 ... 1045 
 
 9 
 
 ... 2671 .... 
 
 .. 160 ... 
 
 ... 165 .... 
 
 .. 22655 ... 
 
 ... 1061 
 
 1860 
 1861 
 1862 
 1863 
 1864 
 1865 
 1866 
 1867 
 1868 
 1869 
 1870 
 1871 
 1872 
 
 1873 
 1874 
 
 1875 
 
 The foregoing tables, taken by themselves, would seem to
 
 262 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 imply that from the year 1868, the business of the place had 
 been characterised by a rapid and most satisfactory increase, but 
 unfortunately for such a deduction, the ships registered as 
 belonging to any port afford no clue to the number actually 
 engaged in traffic there, hence it happens that many vessels 
 hailing from Fleetwood, as their maternal port, are seldom to be 
 observed in its waters. 
 
 The following are the annual records of the foreign and coasting 
 trade of the harbour, in which the Belfast and all other steamships 
 are included under the latter heading : 
 
 VESSELS WITH CARGOES. 
 
 FOREIGN TRADE. COASTING TRADE. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Inwards. 
 
 Outwards. 
 
 Inwards. 
 
 Outwarc 
 
 1844 
 
 8 
 
 .... I 
 
 .. 436 
 
 ... 327 
 
 1845 
 
 23 
 
 .... 2 
 
 .. 580 
 
 .... 473 
 
 1846 
 
 24 
 
 .... 13 
 
 799 
 
 .... 927 
 
 1847 
 
 6 
 
 .... I 
 
 - 752 
 
 .... 913 
 
 1848 
 
 15 
 
 .- 5 
 
 .. 873 
 
 .... 857 
 
 1849 
 
 36 ..... 
 
 .- 15 
 
 .. 1247 
 
 .... 1059 
 
 1850 
 
 38 
 
 .... H 
 
 .. 986 
 
 .... 1014 
 
 1851 
 
 35 
 
 .... 13 
 
 943 
 
 .... 932 
 
 1852 
 
 32 
 
 .... 12 
 
 - 951 
 
 .... 823 
 
 1853 
 
 22 
 
 .... 7 
 
 ... 1093 
 
 .... 919 
 
 1854 
 
 23 
 
 .... 6 
 
 ,.. 1119 
 
 .... 983 
 
 1855 
 
 21 
 
 ..- 4 
 
 ... IIOI 
 
 .... 971 
 
 1856 
 
 10 
 
 .... 4 
 
 ... 1181 
 
 .... 1120 
 
 1857 
 
 18 
 
 .... 7 
 
 .. 1130 
 
 .... 1150 
 
 1858 
 
 26 
 
 .... 13 
 
 .. I02O 
 
 ... 986 
 
 1859 
 
 38 
 
 20 
 
 ... 1023 
 
 .... 865 
 
 1860 
 
 7i 
 
 30 
 
 ... 1123 
 
 .... 8I 3 
 
 1861 
 
 68 .... 
 
 .... 28 
 
 ... 953 
 
 .... 713 
 
 1862 
 
 4i 
 
 .... 7 
 
 ,.. ' 884 
 
 .... 560 
 
 1863 
 
 27 ... . 
 
 .... IO 
 
 - 795 
 
 .... 6I 5 
 
 1864 
 
 35 - 
 
 6 
 
 ... 783 ... 
 
 ... 610 
 
 1865 
 
 29 .... 
 
 2 
 
 ... 868 
 
 .... 623 
 
 1866 
 
 39 
 
 2 
 
 ... 762 
 
 .... 612 
 
 1867 
 
 37 
 
 4 
 
 ... 737 
 
 .... 573 
 
 1868 
 
 26 .... 
 
 .. .- 3 
 
 ... 689 
 
 .... 5" 
 
 1869 
 
 28 
 
 3 
 
 ... 730 
 
 ... 5" 
 
 1870 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 ... 694 
 
 .... 573 
 
 1871 
 
 20 
 
 6 
 
 ... 545 
 
 .... 526 
 
 1872 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 ... 697 
 
 .... 621 
 
 1873 
 
 24 .... 
 
 3 
 
 ... 696 
 
 .... 670 
 
 1874 
 
 32 .... 
 
 6 
 
 ... 703 
 
 .... 587 
 
 1875 
 
 33 .-. 
 
 . ... 2 
 
 - 659 
 
 .... 589
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 263 
 
 The particulars given below, concerning the vessels belonging 
 to Fleetwood, will form an interesting and useful accompaniment to 
 the foregoing : 
 
 New Vessels 1 Broken-up Transferred to 
 
 Registered. Lost at Sea. (condemned). other Ports. 
 
 Year. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. 
 
 1050 
 
 1851 
 
 
 
 
 
 i ... 
 
 83 ... 
 
 _ 
 
 i .. 
 
 . 27 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... .. 
 
 
 
 1853 
 
 3 
 
 ... 199 
 
 2 ... 
 
 62 . 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 i .. 
 
 . 44 
 
 1854 
 
 i 
 
 ... 128 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 8 .. 
 
 . 1003 
 
 1855 
 
 2 
 
 ... 104 
 
 I ... 
 
 595 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 5 
 
 . 562 
 
 1856 
 
 3 
 
 ... 484 
 
 I ... 
 
 23 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 4 .. 
 
 294 
 
 1857 
 
 8 
 
 ... 364 
 
 I ... 
 
 26 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... .. 
 
 
 
 1858 
 
 5 
 
 ... 239 
 
 4 
 
 1050 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... i .. 
 
 54 
 
 1859 
 
 3 
 
 ... 97 
 
 5 ... 
 
 739 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 3 
 
 . 726 
 
 1860 
 
 3 
 
 ... 865 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... I ... 29 ... 
 
 ... 2 .. 
 
 74 
 
 1861 
 
 8 
 
 ... 1012 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 7 
 
 . S i8 
 
 1862 
 
 5 
 
 - 534 
 
 i ... 
 
 416 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 12 .. 
 
 . 1844 
 
 1863 
 
 2 
 
 ... 226 
 
 4 
 
 1308 ... 
 
 .. ... .. 
 
 ... 4 .. 
 
 . 118 
 
 1864 
 
 2 
 
 ... 201 
 
 9 ... 
 
 3363 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 3 
 
 . 666 
 
 1865 
 
 2 
 
 ... 273 
 
 i ... 
 
 538 ... 
 
 ... .. ... 
 
 ... 2 .. 
 
 517 
 
 1866 
 
 4 
 
 ... 520 
 
 5 ..- 
 
 1449 ... 
 
 ... i ... 16 ... 
 
 ... 2 ., 
 
 64 
 
 1867 
 
 3 
 
 ... 439 
 
 6 ... 
 
 605 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 2 .. 
 
 . 214 
 
 1868 
 
 5 
 
 ... 588 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... .. 
 
 
 
 1869 
 
 6 
 
 - 512 
 
 i ... 
 
 518 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... ., 
 
 
 
 1870 
 
 8 
 
 ... 1610 
 
 2 ... 
 
 683 ... 
 
 ... 2 ... 65 ... 
 
 ... I .. 
 
 424 
 
 1871 
 
 10 
 
 ... 99i 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 2 .. 
 
 339 
 
 1872 
 
 15 
 
 ... 1588 
 
 3 ... 
 
 427 ... 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... I .. 
 
 . 42 
 
 1873 
 
 19 
 
 ... 2921 
 
 6 ... 
 
 1966 .., 
 
 ... ... ... 
 
 ... 2 ., 
 
 . I2O 
 
 1874 
 
 15 
 
 ... 2928 
 
 5 - 
 
 2304 .. 
 
 ... I ... 32 ... 
 
 ... ., 
 
 
 
 1875 
 
 9 
 
 ... 2410 .... 
 
 .. 4 ... 
 
 2O2I ... 
 
 ... I ... 16 ... 
 
 ... 4 ., 
 
 . 300 
 
 Now that the dock is no longer a mere word and promise, but 
 has at length a definite signification and a material existence, 
 there is every appearance that those into whose hands the 
 fortunes of the port may be said to have been entrusted have 
 no intention of any dilatory action in furthering the interests 
 of their charge. Already, in 1875, a powerful steam dredger 
 has been purchased at a cost of ^"12,000 and set to its labours 
 in the channel and harbour. This dredger, which has super- 
 seded the older and much smaller one, launched in 1840 and 
 
 i. Newly-built vessels registered for the first time, the other vessels belonging 
 to the harbour being transferred from other parts and re-registered here.
 
 264 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 used until recently, was built by Simonds and Company, of 
 Renfrew, on the Clyde, and is of loo-horse power, being capable 
 of raising 250 tons of sand, shingle, etc., in an hour. In addition 
 it is able to work in twenty-six feet of water, whereas the original 
 one was obliged to wait until the tide had ebbed to fourteen feet 
 before operations could be commenced, so that really the work 
 which can be accomplished by the new machine is out of all 
 proportion to that which its predecessor could effect. Several 
 iron pontoons, or lighters, furnished with false bottoms to expedite 
 the business of discharging them, formerly performed by hand 
 and spade, have also been obtained ; and the bed of the river 
 seaward from Fleetwood is rapidly being relieved of its super- 
 abundance of tidal deposits and scourings, which is carried by 
 the lighters beyond the marine lighthouse at the foot of the Wyre 
 and deposited in the Lune. 
 
 Steamboat traffic was, and is, the most important branch of 
 shipping connected with the port, but notwithstanding the 
 support and encouragement which has been so freely extended to 
 the Belfast line, sundry attempts by the same company to 
 establish sea-communications between Fleetwood and other places 
 have invariably ended in complete failures. In the context we 
 have endeavoured to trace a brief outline of the steamship trade 
 of the harbour from its earliest days up to our time. The North 
 Lancashire Steam Navigation Company was established in 1843, 
 and commenced operations by running the " Prince of Wales" 
 and the " Princess Alice," two large and fast iron steamships for 
 that date, between this port and Belfast on each Wednesday and 
 Saturday evening, the return trips being made on the Monday 
 and Friday. In that year, however, the number of trips was 
 increased to three per week, the fares for the single journey 
 being, saloon, 155. ; and deck, 35. Another steamship the 
 " Robert Napier," of 220 horse-power, sailed also from Fleetwood 
 in 1843, every Friday morning, at 10 a.m. for Londonderry, 
 calling at Portrush, and returned on Tuesday, the fares 
 being, cabin, 2os. ; and deck, 55. In 1844 we find that commu- 
 nications, through the exertion and enterprise of the above 
 company, were open between Fleetwood and Belfast, Londonderry, 
 Ardrossan, and Dublin, respectively. The Ardrossan line con- 
 sisted of two new iron steamboats, "Her Majesty," and the "Royal
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 265 
 
 Consort," each of which was 300 tons register, and 350 horse- 
 power, the fares being, cabin, ijs. ; and deck, 45. The Dublin 
 trip was performed once, and afterwards twice, a week each way, 
 by the iron steamship "Hibernia," which called off Douglas, Isle 
 of Man, to land passengers, but after a year's trial this communica- 
 tion was closed. In the summer of 1845, an Isle of Man line was 
 opened by the steamship " Orion," which ran daily, except 
 Sundays ; and at the same season the Belfast boats commenced 
 to make the double journey four days a week, whilst the London- 
 derry route was abandoned. As early as 1840, on the completion 
 of the Preston and Wyre Railway, a daily steam communication 
 had been established to Bardsea, as the nearest point to Ulverston 
 and the Lakes ; and in the month of September, 1846, on the 
 completion of Piel Pier, it was transferred to that harbour, 
 and continued by the steamship "Ayrshire Lassie," of 100 horse- 
 power, the fares being, saloon, 2s. ; and deck, is. In the 
 following year this boat was superseded by a new steamer, the 
 " Helvellyn," of 50 tons register and 75 horse-power, which 
 continued to ply for many years, in fact, almost until this summer 
 line was closed, at a comparatively recent date, about eight or ten 
 years ago. The Fleetwood and Ardrossan steamers discontinued 
 running in 1847, and at the same time an extra boat, the 
 <( Fenella," was placed on the Isle of Man route, whilst the Belfast 
 trips were reduced to three double journeys per week. After a 
 few years experience the Isle of Man line, a season one only, was 
 given up ; but the Belfast trade, continually growing, soon obliged 
 the company to increase the number of trips, and step by step to 
 enlarge and improve the boat accommodation. We need not 
 trace through its different stages the gradual and satisfactory 
 progress of this line, but our object will be sufficiently attained by 
 stating that the two steamships were shortly increased to three. 
 Afterwards larger and finer boats, having greater power, took the 
 places of the original ones, and at the present day the fleet 
 consists of four fine steamers of fully double the capacity of the 
 original ones, which cross the channel from each port every 
 evening except Sunday. 
 
 In the year 1874 the whole of the interests of Frederick 
 Kemp, esq., J.P., of Bispham Lodge, in the Fleetwood and Belfast 
 steam line were acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire and
 
 266 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 London and North Western Railway Companies, at that time 
 owners of the larger share, and now practically sole proprietors. 
 Up to the date of this transaction the vendor had been intimately 
 and personally associated with the traffic as managing-owner 
 from its first institution, in addition to which he was the chief 
 promoter of the Ardrossan and Isle of Man routes. 
 
 With the solitary exception of the service whose progress has 
 just been briefly traced out, there is perhaps no single branch of 
 industry which has assisted so ably in maintaining and stimu- 
 lating such prosperity as the town of Fleetwood has enjoyed, 
 throughout its chequered career, as the fishing traffic. In the 
 earliest years of the seaport, shortly before the Belfast steamer 
 communication was established, a second pilot boat, named the 
 "Pursuit," arrived in the river from Cowes, but finding little 
 occupation the crew provided themselves with a trawl-net and 
 turned their long periods of vigil to profitable account by its use. 
 This sensible plan of launching out into another field of labour 
 when opportunities of prosecuting their more legitimate avocation 
 failed them was not of long duration, probably no more than a 
 few months, for on the Irish line of steamships commencing to 
 ply the pilots secured berths as second officers, and their boat was 
 laid up. The " Pursuit" soon became a tender to a government 
 ship engaged in surveying ; and about ten or twelve months later 
 was purchased by some gentlemen, denominated the Fleetwood 
 Fishing Company, and, together with four more boats, hired from 
 North Meols, Southport, sent out on fishing excursions. At the 
 end of one year the hired sloops were discharged, and five 
 similar craft bought by the company, thus making a fleet of six 
 smacks belonging to the place, connected with the trawling trade. 
 In the course of three or four years the whole of the boats were 
 sold, as the traffic had not proved so remunerative a venture as at 
 first anticipated ; and one only remained in the harbour, being 
 purchased by Mr. Robert Roskell, of this place. Shortly after- 
 wards a Scotch smack arrived from Kirkcudbright, and in about 
 twelve months the two boats were joined by three or four from 
 North Meols, owned for the most part by a family named 
 Leadbetter, which settled here. Almost simultaneously another 
 batch of fishing craft made its appearance from the east coast and 
 took up a permanent station at Fleetwood. The success which
 
 FLEETWO OD- ON- WYRE. 267 
 
 attended the expeditions of the deep-sea trawlers was not long in 
 being rumoured abroad and attracting others, who were anxious to 
 participate in an undertaking capable of producing such satisfactory 
 results. Year by year the dimensions of the originally small fleet 
 were developed as new-comers appeared upon the scene, and added 
 their boats to those already actively prosecuting the trade. To 
 trace minutely each gradation in the prosperous progress of this 
 line of commerce would be wearisome to the reader, and is in no 
 way necessary to the object we have in view. It will be sufficient 
 for the purpose to state that in 1860 the number of fishing smacks 
 on the Fleetwood station amounted to thirty-two, varying in 
 tonnage from 25 to 50 tons each and built at an average cost of 
 ^"500 each, the lowest being ^400 and the highest ^~i,ooo. The 
 following will illustrate the plan by which men in the humble 
 sphere of fishermen were enabled to become the proprietors of 
 their own craft : A shipmaster supplied the vessel on the 
 understanding that 100 was deposited at once, and the remainder 
 paid by quarterly instalments,- no insurance being asked for or 
 proffered regarding risk. The arrangement entered into by the 
 smack-owners for the conveyance of fish to shore, when they 
 were engaged out at sea in their calling was most simple and 
 business-like. The boats kept company during fishing, and on a 
 certain signal being given one of the number, according to a 
 previous agreement, received the whole of the fish so far caught 
 by her fellow craft and returned home, for which service her men 
 were paid 2s. each by the other crews, who continued their 
 occupation and arrived in harbour generally on Friday. For the 
 next week another smack was selected, and thus all in turn 
 performed the mid-week journey. At present there are no less 
 than eighty-four sloops belonging to this port, pursuing the 
 business of fishing, and the arrangements both for their purchase 
 and the landing of the captured fish have undergone a revolution. 
 All boats are now paid for when they leave the shipbuilder's yard, 
 and the former custom of a mid-week relief, has been relinquished, 
 each sloop returning and discharging as occasion requires. A 
 fishing boat's crew usually consists of four men and a boy. In con- 
 clusion it should be noticed that a special warehouse, about 90 feet 
 long, was erected in 1859, solely for the use of the fishermen and 
 agents, or dealers, connected with the trade.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THORNTON, CARLETON, MARTON, AND 
 HARDON-WITH-NEWTON. 
 
 ORENTUM, or Thornton, was estimated in the time of 
 William the Conqueror to contain six carucates of 
 land fit for the plough, but this computation was 
 exclusive of Rossall and Burn, which were valued 
 at two carucates respectively, so that the whole townships held ten 
 carucates, about one thousand acres of arable soil, or farming 
 land, a large amount for those days, but insignificant indeed when 
 we recall the nine thousand seven hundred and thirty acres 
 embraced by the township at present, either in use for grazing 
 and agricultural purposes, or forming the sites of town and village 
 buildings. 
 
 Thornton was held immediately after the Conquest by Roger 
 de Poictou, and subsequently by Theobald Walter, after whose 
 death it passed to the crown. 
 
 During the reign of King John, Margaret Wynewick held two 
 of the six carucates of Torentum, or Thornton, in chief from that 
 monarch, and her marriage was in his gift. In 1214-15 
 Baldewinus Blundus paid twenty marks to John for permission 
 to espouse the lady and gain possession of her estate. 1 The 
 request was granted conditionally on Blundus obtaining the 
 consent of her friends ; and in this he appears to have been 
 successful, for we learn from a writ to the warden of the Honor 
 of Lancaster in 1221, that Michael de Carleton paid a fine of ten 
 
 I. Rot. Lit. Glaus. 16 John, m. 7.
 
 THORNTON. 269 
 
 marks to Henry III. at that date for having married Margaret, 
 the daughter and heiress of William de Winewick, without the 
 royal assent, and for marrying whom Baldewinus Blundus had 
 formerly paid twenty marks to King John. 1 
 
 In 1258, Margaret de Carleton still retained her lands in 
 Thornton in her maiden name of Winewick, 2 and it is probable 
 from that circumstance that her second husband was then dead, 
 for the writ cited above expressly commanded that her inheri- 
 tance should be handed over to Michael de Carleton, the penalty 
 of ten marks for his disobedience having been received. 
 
 According to the Testa de Nevil, Matilda de Thorneton, a 
 spinster, whose marriage also lay in the king's gift, held lands in 
 Thornton, of the annual value of twenty shillings ; and later, 
 about 1323, a moiety of Thornton was held by Lawrence, the son 
 of Robert de Thorneton, a member of the same family. In 1346, 
 John, son of Lawrence de Thorneton, held one carucate of land 
 in Thornton and Staynolfe, lately of Robert Windewike, in 
 thanage, paying yearly at four terms thirteen shillings relief, 
 and suit to the county and wapentake. 3 In 1421 John de Thorn- 
 ton died, possessed of half the manor of Thornton and the 
 Holmes, which descended to his son, William de Thornton, who 
 died in 1429, aged thirty years, leaving four daughters Agnes, 
 afterwards the wife of William Wodey ; Katherine, who married 
 William Carleton ; Elizabeth, the wife of Robert Adlington ; 
 and Johanna, who espoused Christopher Worthington. 4 Much 
 as it is to be regretted, no more than the scanty information here 
 given can be discovered concerning the Thorntons, of Thornton ; 
 even tradition is silent on the matter of their residence or local 
 associations, although it is very likely they occupied Thornton 
 Hall, a mansion long since converted into a farm house, and 
 consequently we are obliged to dismiss with this brief notice what 
 under more favourable auspices would probably have proved one 
 of the most interesting subjects in the township, In 1292 the 
 king's attorney sued Thomas de Singleton for the manor of 
 Thornton, etc., but the defendant pleaded successfully, that he 
 only held a portion of the manor, Thomas de Clifton and 
 Katherine, his wife, holding the third of two parts of twelve 
 
 I. Rot. Finium 5 Henry III. rn. 8. 2. Escaet. 42 Henry III. n. II. 
 
 3. Survey of Lancashire ending in 1346. 4. Visitation of St. George.
 
 270 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 bovates of the soil. 1 In the seventeenth year of the reign of 
 Edward II., William, father of Adam Banastre, who granted 
 certain concessions to the prior of Lancaster, held, half the vill of 
 of Thornton, the other half being held, as before shown, by 
 Lawrence de Thorneton. 
 
 In an ancient survey of the Hundred of Amounderness, com- 
 pleted in the year 1346, it is stated that the following gentlemen 
 had possessions in the place called Stena, or Stainall, in Thornton, 
 at the rentals specified : John de Staynolfe held four oxgangs of 
 land, at four shillings and sixpence ; 8 Roger de Northcrope, one 
 messuage and one oxgang, at sevenpence halfpenny ; Sir Adam 
 Banastre, knt, five acres, at fourpence ; Thomas, the son of Robert 
 Staynolfe, one messuage and one oxgang, at sevenpence half- 
 penny ; William Lawrence, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen 
 pence ; Thomas Travers, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen 
 pence ; John Botiler, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen 
 pence ; and Richard Doggeson, five acres, at sixpence. William 
 de Heton held one carucate of land at Burn, in Thornton town- 
 ship, for which he paid yearly at two terms, Annunciation and 
 Michaelmas, ten shillings relief, and suit to the county and 
 wapentake. 8 
 
 In 1521, during the sovereignty of Henry VIII., Thomas, earl 
 of Derby, was lord of the manor of Thornton, which subse- 
 quently passed into the hands of the Fleetwoods, of Rossall, who 
 retained it until the lifetime of the late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleet- 
 wood, bart, when it was sold. Thornton has for long been 
 regarded only as a reputed manor. The largest land proprietors 
 at present are the Fleetwood Estate Company, Limited, and the 
 trustees of the late John Horrocks, esq., of Preston, but in 
 addition there is a number of smaller soil-owners and resident 
 yeomen. Burn Hall is a building of the fifteenth century, and 
 was occupied in 1556 by John Westby, of Mowbreck, the owner. 4 
 In 1323 the land of Burn was held by William Banastre at a 
 rental of ten shillings per annum, and about 1346 one carucate of 
 the same land was held, as already stated, by William de Heton 
 
 1. Placit de Quo Warr. 20 Edw. I. Lane. Rot. I3d. 
 
 2. An oxgang is as much land as an ox can plough in a year, something con- 
 siderably less than a carucate, which is estimated at one hundred acres. 
 
 3. Chethem Soc. Series, No. Ixxiv. p. 57. 
 
 4 _For " Westby of Burn Hall" see Chapter VI.
 
 THORNTON. 271 
 
 for a similar yearly payment. Within the residence of Burn was 
 a domestic chapel, over the doorway of which stood a polished 
 oaken slab or board inscribed " Elegi abjectus esse in domo Dei 
 mei, magis quam habitari in tabernaculis peccatorum." 1 The 
 walls were panelled with oak and carved with shields and foliage, 
 whilst the ceiling was embellished with representations of vine 
 leaves and clusters of grapes. Modern alterations have destroyed 
 most, if not all, interesting relics of past ages. After the 
 death of John Westby, of Burn Hall, a descendant of the John 
 Westby before mentioned, in 1722, Burn passed to the Rev. J. 
 Bennison, of London, who had married Anne, his fourth 
 daughter. It is said that Mr. Bennison utterly ruined his pro- 
 perty, by attempting a style of agriculture similar to that 
 described by Virgil in his Georgics. Burn Hall is now, and has 
 been for many years a farm-house, and the estate forms part of 
 the large tract held by the representatives of the late John 
 Horrocks, esq. The land lying towards the coast was formerly 
 subject to occasional inundations of the sea, but an effectual barrier 
 has been put by raising a mound round such exposed localities. 
 
 The extensive area known as Thornton Marsh, was a free 
 open common, used as a pasture by the poor cottagers of 
 the township until 1800, when it was enclosed, together with 
 Carleton Marsh, and has since by cultivation been converted into 
 valuable and productive fields. 
 
 A church and parsonage house were erected at Thornton in 
 1835, the former being a neat whitewashed building in the early 
 English style of architecture, with a low square tower, but 
 presenting externally no special features of attraction beyond its 
 profuse covering of ivy, which renders it a most picturesque 
 object in the surrounding landscape. The churchyard also is 
 well worthy of notice, if only for the luxuriance of its foliage, the 
 beauty of its flowers, and the taste and elegance exhibited in 
 several of the monuments. This, like the church and parsonage, 
 is embosomed in trees. The sacred edifice has been named Christ 
 Church, and a separate parochial district was assigned to it in 
 1862, the title of vicar being accorded to the incumbent. 
 
 I. " I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in 
 the tents of wickedness."
 
 272 
 
 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF THORNTON. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of vacancy. 
 
 1835 
 
 David H. Leighton. 
 
 
 1837 
 
 Edward Thurtell. 
 
 Resignation of D. H. Leighton. 
 
 1841 
 
 St. Vincent Beechey, M.A. 
 
 , E. Thurtell. 
 
 1846 
 
 Robert W. Russell. 
 
 , St. V. Beechey. 
 
 1853 
 
 Isaac Durant, M.A. 
 
 , W. Russell. 
 
 1869 
 
 Samuel Clark. 
 
 , I. Durrant. 
 
 1870 
 
 Thomas Meadows, M.A. 
 
 , S. Clark. 
 
 Within the building there is a small gallery at the west end, and 
 the private pews are arranged in two rows, one being placed along 
 each side of the body of the church, whilst the central portion is 
 filled with open benches, or forms, free to all worshippers. A 
 marble tablet " To the memory of Jacob Morris, a faithful warden 
 for 20 years, who died Oct., 1871," is fixed against the south wall, 
 and over the mantel-piece in the vestry is a white-lettered black 
 board stating that "This Church was erected in the year 1835, 
 containing 323 sittings; and, in consequence of a grant from the 
 Incorporated Society for promoting the enlargement, building, and 
 repairing of churches and chapels, 193 of that number are hereby 
 declared to be free and unappropriated for ever. David Hilcock 
 Leighton, minister ; James Smith and Richard Wright, church- 
 wardens." On the font is the following inscription : " Presented 
 to Thornton Church by Elizabeth Nutter, of Rough Hall, 
 Accrington, July I3th, 1874." 
 
 Mr. James Baines, of Poulton, by will dated 6th of January, 
 1717, devised to Peter Woodhouse, of Thornton, and six others, 
 and their heirs, the school-house lately erected by him on Thornton 
 Marsh, and the land whereon it stood, to be used for ever as a free 
 school for the children of the township ; in addition he 
 bequeathed to the same trustees several closes in Carleton, called 
 the Far Hall Field, the Middle Hall Field, and the Vicar's Hey, 
 amounting to about twenty-one acres, to the intent, that the 
 annual revenue therefrom, less IDS. to be expended each year in a 
 dinner for the trustees, should be devoted to the payment of a 
 suitable master. In 1806, Richard Gaskell, the sole surviving 
 trustee, conveyed by indenture to John Silcock, John Hull,
 
 THORNTON. ROSS ALL. 273 
 
 Thomas Barton, of Thornton, Charles Woodhouse of Great 
 Carleton, Bickerstaff Hull, and Thomas Hull, and the said Richard 
 Gaskell, their heirs and assigns, the premises above-mentioned, for 
 the purposes set forth in the will of the founder. 1 A further 
 endowment of ^"500 was left by Mr. Simpson, with a portion of 
 which farm buildings have been erected on the school estate. 
 The school-house is situated on the east side of Cleveleys Station, 
 and consists of a small single-storey building, having two windows 
 and a central doorway in front. To the west end is attached a 
 two-storey teacher's residence. The double erection was built 
 some years ago, by subscription amongst the inhabitants, on the 
 site of the original fabric at a cost of rather more than ^"100. 
 The master is elected and, when necessary, dismissed by the 
 trustees, who forego their claim on the IDS. left for an annual 
 dinner. In 1867 the number of scholars amounted to eighty- 
 eight, fifty-nine of whom were boys, and twenty-nine girls, 
 presenting about an average attendance since that date. 
 
 The small village of Thornton comprises only a limited cluster of 
 dwellings and the old windmill. The Wesleyan Methodists had 
 established a place of worship in the township as early as 1812, 
 and about ten years later the Society of Friends opened a meeting- 
 house here. 
 
 The arable land of Rossall, in Thornton township, or Rushale, 
 as it was written, is estimated in the Domesday volume at two 
 carucates. At that time Rossall was included amongst the 
 princely possessions of the Norman baron, Roger de Poictou, 
 after whose banishment it passed, by gift of Richard L, to 
 Theobold Walter, and again reverted to the crown in 1206, on his 
 demise. King John, at the instigation of Ranulph de Blundeville, 
 earl of Chester and Lincoln, presented the grange of Rossall to 
 the Staffordshire convent of Deulacres, a monastic house founded 
 by that nobleman ; and in 1220-1 Henry III. issued a writ to the 
 sheriff of this county, directing him to institute inquiries by 
 discreet and lawful men, into the extent of several specified places, 
 one of which was the pasture of Rossall, recently, " granted by 
 my father, King John, U> the abbot of Deulacres." 2 In 1227-8 a 
 deed was drawn up between Henry III. and the abbot whereby 
 
 I. Charity Commissioners' Report. 2. Rot. Lit. Clause 5 Henry III., p. 474. 
 
 S
 
 274 fO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 the grange was conveyed, or confirmed, to the latter 1 ; and twenty 
 years subsequently a fresh charter appears to have been framed 
 and to have received the royal signature, for in the following reign 
 of Edward I., when that monarch laid claim to the land as a 
 descendant of King John, the head of the Staffordshire convent 
 produced a document of 31 Henry III. (1247), at the trial, granting 
 "to God, the church of St. Mary, and the abbot of Deulacres and 
 his successors for ever, the manor ofRossall with its appurtenances 
 and with the wreck of the sea." 2 Sir Robert de Lathum, Sir 
 Robert de Holaund, Sir John de Burun, Sir Roger de Burton, 
 Sir John de Cornwall, Sir John de Elyas, and Sir Alan de 
 Penyngton, knights ; Alan de Storeys, Robert de Eccleston, 
 William du Lee, Hugh de Clyderhou, and Roger de Middleton, 
 esquires, who composed the jury in the above suit, decided in 
 favour of the abbot's title, but at the request of the king's 
 attorney, judgment was arrested, and it was pleaded on behalf of 
 the regal claimant that the abbot's allegations seemed to imply 
 that the manor of Rossall was formerly held by the monks of 
 Deulacres in bailiwick of Kings, John and Henry ; that thirty 
 years at least of the reign of Henry had elapsed before the 
 predecessors of the present abbot held any fee or free tenement 
 in the manor, which was worth 100 marks per annum ; and 
 that this rent had been in arrears during the whole of the time ; 
 wherefore the king's attorney demanded that the accumulation 
 of these arrears, amounting to 3,000 marks, or ^2,000, should 
 be paid by the abbey to Edward I. The jury stated in their 
 verdict that the manor had been held by the abbot's predecessors 
 as pleaded by the king's attorney, but that during the last seven 
 years of King John, and the first twenty-four years of Henry III., 
 the manor was only worth 30 marks per annum, and in the 
 remaining six years before the date of the charter put in as 
 evidence by the abbot in the first trial, they valued the manor 
 at 40 marks per annum, on which scales the abbey of Deulacres 
 was condemned to pay the accumulated arrearages. In 1539, 
 during the reign of Henry VIII., the grange was valued in the 
 Compotus of the king's ministers at ^"13 6s. 3d. per annum. 
 The site of the original Hall has long since been washed away 
 
 I. Rot. Chart. 12 Henry III., m. 3. 2. Placit de Quo. Warr. 20 Edward I.
 
 ROSSALL. 275 
 
 by the waves, but in earlier years, before the sea had made such 
 encroachments on the land, the foundations of red sandstone and 
 the remnant of an old ivied Avail were visible near the edge of the 
 cliff, all being sufficiently traceable to indicate that the mansion 
 had been one of no mean dimensions. A coat of arms of the 
 Fleetwood family, rudely engraven on a flat stone, some ornamental 
 pinnacles, and other relics of the ancient edifice, have also been 
 discovered at different times. Numerous foundations of large 
 buildings were once scattered about the sandy soil of the grange, 
 but most of them were removed eighty years since as impedi- 
 ments to the course of the plough. In a plot of ground, known 
 by the title of "Churchyard field," remains of a structure, running 
 east and west, in length thirty and in breadth twelve yards, were 
 taken up about half a century or more ago by a farmer named 
 John Ball, who whilst removing them came upon some human 
 bones. The fabric once standing there was conjectured to have 
 been a chapel or oratory, and the bones to have been those of 
 priests or others buried within its precincts. Harrison, in 
 describing the course of the Wyre, says " that at the Chapell of 
 Allhallowes tenne myles from Garstone it goeth into the sea," 
 and Mr. Thornber suggests, in his History of Blackpool and 
 Neighbourhood, that the foundations disturbed by Mr. Ball may 
 have been the remains of the oratory alluded to by the ancient 
 topographer ; but whilst admitting that the character of the relics 
 discovered points to there having been at one time a religious 
 edifice on the site, we cannot think that its claims to be the 
 missing chapel are nearly so great as those of Bispham, which is 
 now known, by an inscription on an old communion goblet, to 
 have been actually dedicated to All-Hallows, or at least to have 
 been commonly designated by that name in the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 The Aliens appear to have held Rossall on lease from the abbot 
 of Deulacres about a century after the dispute between that 
 monastery and Edward I. had been decided, for in 1397, during 
 the reign of Richard II., the name of " Allen of Ross-hall" was 
 entered in the list of donors to the fraternities of the Preston 
 Guild of that year. George Allen, of Brookhouse, Staffordshire, 
 who held Rossall at the date of the Reformation, by virtue of a 
 long lease granted to his ancestors by an abbot of Deulacres, is
 
 276 POULTON PARISH, 
 
 the earliest of this family to whom these tenants of the grange 
 can be traced genealogically. The widow and daughters of the 
 grandson of George Allen were ejected from Rossall in 1853, 
 before the expiration of their lease, and despoiled of valuable 
 documents and propety by Edmund Fleetwood, whose father had 
 purchased the reversion from Henry VIII., at the time of the 
 dissolution of monasteries. On that occasion a neighbour, Anion, 
 seized and appropriated ^"500 belonging to the Aliens on pretence 
 of remitting it to Dr. William Allen, at Rheims. Mrs. Allen 
 made an attempt to recover possession of the grange, and a trial 
 for that purpose took place at Manchester, but her case broke 
 down through inability to produce the original deeds and papers, 
 all of which had been either stolen or destroyed when the Hall 
 was plundered during the ejection. 1 The estate, or grange, of 
 Rossall, remained in the hands of the Fleetwoods until the 
 death of Edward Fleetwood, when it passed to Roger Hesketh, 
 of North Meols, who married Margaret, the only child and 
 heiress of that gentleman in 1733.* The Heskeths, of Rossall, 
 were descended from the Heskeths of Rufford, through Hugh 
 Hesketh, an offspring of Sir Thomas Hesketh, of Rufford. Hugh 
 Hesketh married the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Barneby 
 Kytichene, or Kitchen, and thus acquired a moiety of the manor 
 of North Meols. At the decease of Hugh Hesketh, in 1625, the 
 the lands of North Meols descended to his son, Thomas Hesketh, 
 then 56 years of age, whose son and heir, Robert Hesketh, 
 was already married to the daughter of Formby, of Formby. 
 The only child of Robert Hesketh was the Roger Hesketh, 
 mentioned above, who also held Tulketh Hall and estate. The 
 Heskeths continued to reside at Rossall until the lifetime of the 
 late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart. ; and under their pro- 
 prietorship, at an early period, or in the latest years of their 
 predecessors, the ancient Hall was pulled or washed down and 
 another mansion erected more removed from the shore. 
 
 In 1 843 the design of establishing a school for the education of 
 the sons of clergymen and other gentlemen, under the direct 
 superintendence of the Church of England, but .at a less cost 
 than incurred at the public schools then in existence, was first 
 
 1. See "Allen of Rossall " in Chapter VI. 
 
 2. See " Fleetwood of Rossall " in ditto.
 
 ROSS ALL. 277 
 
 promulgated by the Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, incumbent of 
 Thornton and Fleetwood ; and mainly through the exertions of 
 that gentleman a provisional committee for arranging details and 
 furthering the object in view, was formed in the first month of 
 the ensuing year. This committee consisted, amongst others, of 
 the Rev. J. Owen Parr, vicar of Preston, chairman ; the Revs. 
 Charles Hesketh, vicar of North Meols ; William Hornby, 
 vicar of St. Michael's-on-Wyre ; John Hull, vicar of Poulton ; 
 R. B. Robinson, incumbent of Lytham ; St. Vincent Beechey, 
 incumbent of Thornton and Fleetwood, hon. sec./ro. tern.; and 
 Messrs. Thomas Clifton, of Lytham Hall ; Daniel Elletson, of 
 Parrox Hall, and T. R. Wilson-ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall. At 
 their first meeting it was decided that the management of the 
 school should be placed in the hands of a committee of twenty- 
 four of the principal clergy and laity in the neighbourhood, of 
 whom fourteen should be clergymen and ten laymen, with power 
 to fill up vacancies ; that the bishop of the diocese should always 
 be the visitor ; that the provisional committee should be the first 
 members of the council, with which should rest the appointment 
 of the principal, who must be in holy orders, at such a liberal 
 salary as would insure the services of one eminently qualified for 
 so important a post ; that the council should have power to 
 dismiss the principal ; that the internal management, subject to 
 certain regulations, should be committed to the principal, who 
 should have the appointment and dismissal of all the inferior or 
 subordinate masters ; and that the system of education should 
 resemble that in the school connected with King's College, 
 London, and in Marlborough school, consisting of systematic 
 religious instruction, sacred literature, classics, mathematics, 
 modern languages, drawing, music, etc. 
 
 With regard to the admission of pupils it was resolved that the 
 school should consist of not less than two hundred boys ; that no 
 child should be admitted under eight years of age ; that the 
 mode of admission should be by annual payment, nomination, or 
 insurance ; that any pupil should be admitted on the payment, 
 half-yearly in 'advance, of ^"50 per annum for the sons of laymen, 
 and ^"40 for the sons of clergymen ; that nominations might be 
 procured, at the first opening of the school, in order to raise 
 the required capital, whereby pupils could be admitted on the
 
 278 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 yearly payment of ^"40 for the sons of laymen, and ^"30 for the 
 sons and wards of clergymen ; that a donation of ^"25, or the 
 holding of two ^"25 shares, fully paid up, should entitle the donor 
 or holder, to one nomination, and a donation of ^"50, or the 
 holding of four shares of ^"25 each, should constitute the donor, 
 or holder, a life-governor, entitled to have always one pupil in the 
 school on his nomination ; that the shares should be limited to an 
 annual interest of 5 per cent., and be paid off as soon as possible, 
 the return of such capital, however, not to destroy the right of 
 nomination during the life of a governor ; that clergymen should 
 be able to provide for the admission of their children to the 
 school at a reduced charge of ^"25 per annum, by paying, on the 
 principle of life-insurance, small sums for several years previous 
 to, or one large sum at, the date of entry of each child into the 
 establishment, such payments to be regulated according to certain 
 tables, and, of course, forfeited in case the child died. 
 
 The committee stated that the outlay of capital required to 
 erect a building expressly for the purposes of the school would be 
 greater than they were likely to be able to meet at the low rate of 
 nomination which it had been deemed expedient to adopt, and, 
 therefore, it had been determined to take advantage of the offer 
 of Rossall Hall by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart., the mansion being 
 eminently adapted to the purpose, on account of its size and 
 situation. It contained many suites of rooms, and an organ 
 chamber, well suited for a chapel, and furnished with a fine 
 instrument; and surrounding the Hall were meadows convenient 
 for play-grounds, and very productive gardens. 
 
 The title of the Northern Church of England School was given 
 to the institution, and on Thursday, the 22nd of August, 1844, it 
 was formally opened by the Head Master, Dr. Woolley, in the 
 presence of the junior masters and from forty to fifty pupils, with 
 their parents. At that date the school-buildings consisted of 
 apartments in the old Hall for the principal, junior masters, and 
 lady superintendent ; a dining room, 44 feet long and 20 feet wide, 
 fitted with a general and masters' tables ; four dormitories, able to 
 accommodate 100 boys ; and a chapel, formerly the organ-room 
 above mentioned, having benches for the scholars and stalls for 
 the masters, the school-house itself consisting of four lofty rooms, 
 each about 34 feet long by 20 feet wide, being detached from the
 
 ROSS ALL. 279 
 
 Hall, and fitted up with handsome oak desks and benches, 
 fixed upon bronzed cast-iron standards. The play-ground com- 
 prised many acres, and in addition there were convenient covered 
 areas for the recreation of the boys in wet weather. 
 
 The school was opened with only 70 pupils, but at the 
 beginning of the second six months the number had increased 
 to 115, and the establishment was self-supporting. 
 
 The rules of the school have undergone some slight modifica- 
 tions and additions since they were first framed by the provisional 
 committee, and no pupils are now admitted under ten or over 
 fifteen years of age, whilst the annual payments of all pupils 
 have been raised 20 in each case. The insurance plan of 
 entrance was never adopted. A donation of 50 guineas now 
 entitles the donor to a single nomination, and one of 100 
 guineas constitutes him a life-governor, with power to vote at 
 all general meetings, and to have always one pupil in the school 
 on his nomination. Other rules for the internal management 
 and government of the school have been framed as the number 
 of scholars has increased and their requirements become greater. 
 
 There are three exhibitions connected with this institution, of 
 ^50 a year each, called respectively the Council, Beechey, and 
 Osborne exhibitions, (the last two being named after the late 
 Honorary Secretary and the late Head Master, through whose 
 exertions the funds were mainly contributed,) tenable for three 
 years at any of the colleges of Oxford or Cambridge ; and one of 
 10 a year, in books, tenable for three years, and founded by 
 Lord Egerton, of Tatton. Besides these there are about eight or 
 ten entrance scholarships offered for competition every year, 
 ranging in value from ^f 10 to ^"20 each. Of these seven were 
 founded by George Swainson, esq., and one by the Bishop of 
 Rupertsland. A number of other special prizes have been 
 instituted by the present Head Master, the Rev. H. A. James, B.D. 
 
 In 1850 the estate was purchased, and since then fresh buildings 
 have been erected to provide accommodation for 400 boys. The 
 old chapel, which was built to supersede the one in the organ- 
 room, has of late years been converted into a library and class- 
 room. A dining hall, schools, class-rooms for different branches 
 of study, spacious dormitories, and a swimming bath have all 
 been added ; whilst extensive enlargements and improvements
 
 280 
 
 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 have taken place in the sanatorium, kitchens, laundries, etc. The 
 old school has been arranged and fitted up as a lecture-room and 
 laboratory. The new chapel is a handsome edifice, containing 
 stained glass windows and a richly decorated chancel ; it is 
 dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It should be added that the 
 original name, The Northern Church of England School, has 
 been discontinued, and that of Rossall School, substituted, as a 
 more comprehensive title for a great public school. 
 HEAD MASTERS OF ROSSALL SCHOOL. 
 
 Date of 
 Appointment. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of vacancy. 
 
 1844 
 1849 
 1869 
 1875 
 
 Rev. John Woolley, D.C.L. 
 Rev. William A. Osborne, M.A. 
 Rev. Robert Henniker, M.A. 
 Rev. Herbert A. James, B.D. 
 
 Resignation of John Woolley. 
 W. A. Osborne. 
 R. Henniker. 
 
 A preparatory school in connection with this college was 
 successfully established during the reign of Mr. Osborne, about 
 one mile distant along the shore, in a southerly direction, to 
 which pupils are admitted at seven years of age, but not younger, 
 and subsequently drafted into the higher institution. 
 
 POPULATION OF THORNTON TOWNSHIP, EXCLUSIVE OF FLEETWOOD. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 617 ... 739 ... 875 ... 842 ... 1,014 ... 1,013 ... 1,023 ... 934 
 
 CARLETON, anciently written Carlentun, is named in the 
 Domesday Book as comprising four carucates of land ; and in 
 the Black Book of the Exchequer, it is stated that during the 
 reign of Henry II., 1154 89, Gilbert Fitz Reinfred held four 
 carucates in Carlinton and another place. In 1254 the manor of 
 Carleton in Lancashire belonged to Emma de St. John, and at 
 that date there appears to have been some litigation concerning 
 her right of proprietorship, but how settled we have no means of 
 discovering. 1 In the Testa de Nevill it is recorded that Roger 
 Gernet had the 24th part, and Robert de Stokeport the 48th, of a 
 knights' fee in Little Carleton of William de Lancaster's fee. 
 
 The earliest allusion to the local territorial family occurs in 
 1 22 1 , when Michael de Carleton, as before stated under " Thornton," 
 
 I. Placit. coram Consil. in Octab. S. Hyll. 38 Hen. III. Lane. Ror. 5, in dorso.
 
 CARLETON. 281 
 
 paid a fine to Henry III. for having espoused Margaret Wynewick, 
 or Winwick, a royal ward, without first obtaining permission from 
 the king. It has been conjectured that Much Carleton received 
 its peculiar title from this member of the family, and amongst the 
 records of some ancient pleadings is one of 1557 concerning certain 
 lands in Miche Carlton, a mode of writing the name which lends 
 considerable support to the theory. Alyce Hull, widow, was the 
 plaintive in the dispute. The Carletons, of Carleton, were 
 connected with the neighbourhood for a very long period as 
 holders of the manor ; Alicia, the daughter of William de Carleton 
 married Sir Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, in 1281, and 
 received the manor of Inskip as her dowry ; and in 1346 H. de 
 Carleton possessed four carucates and a half in Carleton. 1 Thomas 
 de Carleton held the manor of Carleton up to the time of his 
 death in 1500, when he was succeeded by his son and heir George 
 Carleton, aged 22, 2 who died in 1516, leaving an only child, 
 William, then eleven years of age. 3 William de Carleton came 
 into possession of the property on attaining his legal majority, 4 
 and died in 1557, being succeeded by Lawrence Carleton, probably 
 his brother. Lawrence Carleton, who had married Margaret, 
 the daughter of George Singleton, of Staining, held the estate for 
 barely twelve months, as he died in 1558 without issue, leaving his 
 lands and tenements in Carleton, amounting to several extensive 
 messuages and Carleton Hall, to his only surviving sister, Margaret, 
 the wife of Thomas Almond. 5 Thus Lawrence Carleton was the 
 last of the manorial family of that name connected with the 
 township. Of the ancient Hall of Carlton, the seat of the 
 Carletons for over three centuries, nothing can be learnt beyond 
 the fact that it stood opposite the Gezzerts farm, and that almost, 
 if not quite, within the recollection of the present generation some 
 ruins of the once noble mansion were visible on its former site, 
 long since enclosed and used for purposes of agriculture. In 1261 
 the abbey of Cockersand held some property in Carleton, as 
 appears from an agreement entered into at that date between the 
 abbot of Cockersand and H. de Singleton Parva, by which the 
 latter transferred a messuage in Carleton, by the side of other 
 
 I. Due. Lane. vol. iii. n. 49. 2. Dr. Kuerden's MSS. vol. iv. c. I b. 
 
 3. Due. Lane. vol. iv. n. 71. 4. Harl. MSS. cod 607, fol. 101 b. 
 
 5. Dr. Kuerden's MSS. ibid.
 
 282 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 messuages already belonging to the abbey, to the abbot, in 
 exchange for messuages and an acre of ground in the vicinity of 
 Stanlawe abbey in Cheshire. 1 Stanlawe abbey itself had sundry 
 possessions in Carleton shortly after its foundation in H75, 3 all of 
 which were conveyed to the abbey of Whalley in 1296, when the 
 two monastic houses were united, and thus it happened that this 
 township was included amongst the localities in which Whalley 
 abbey held lands at the time of its dissolution. 
 
 Sometime during the reign of Henry VIII. the Sherburnes, of 
 Stonyhurst, Hambledon, etc., became holders of soil in Carleton, 
 and at a later period had acquired the manorial rights and 
 privileges. In 1717 Sir Nicholas Sherburne, bart., bequeathed the 
 manor of Carleton, amongst numerous other estates, to his only 
 child and heiress, Maria Winifreda Francisca, the duchess of 
 Norfolk, and two years later the duke of Norfolk had obtained a 
 settlement by which he held a life interest in Carleton, Stonyhurst, 
 and other places, the duchess, however, having reserved to herself 
 the power to dispose of the reversion or inheritance by will or 
 deed, executed in the duke's lifetime. The duchess of Norfolk 
 bequeathed her real estate, including Carleton, on her death in 
 1745, to her cousin Edward Weld, esq., grandson of Sir John 
 Weld, of Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire, whose descendant Edward 
 Joseph Weld, esq., has disposed of most of his inheritance in 
 the township to various purchasers, chiefly amongst the local 
 yeomanry and gentry. 
 
 The Bambers, of the Moor, in Carleton, were people of position 
 in the township. Richard Bamber, during the latter half of the 
 sixteenth century, married Anne, the daughter of Thomas 
 Singleton, of Staining Hall, and consequently was the brother-in- 
 law of John Leckonby, of Leckonby House, Great Eccleston, who 
 had espoused Alice, another daughter of the same gentleman. 
 It is impossible to affirm with certainty what children sprang from 
 the union of Richard Bamber and Ann Singleton, but of one of 
 them, Edward, who entered the Romish priesthood, we subjoin an 
 interesting and tragic account, extracted from the <( Memoirs of 
 Missionary Priests, by the Right Rev. Richard Challoner, D.D.": 
 
 " Edward Bamber, commonly known upon the commission by the name of 
 Reding, was the son of Mr. Richard Bamber, and born at a place called the Moor, 
 
 I. Dr. Kuerden's MSS. 2. Whittaker's History of Whalley.
 
 CARLETON. 283 
 
 the ancient mansion-house of the family, lying not far from Poulton, in that part 
 of Lancashire called the Fylde. Having made good progress with his grammar 
 studies at home, he was sent abroad into Spain, to the English college at 
 Valladolid, where he learnt his philosophy and divinity, and was ordained priest. 
 My short memoirs leave us much in the dark as to many passages and particulars 
 relating to the life and labours of this good priest, as well as to the history of his 
 trial ; but then short as they are they are very expressive of his zeal and indefatig- 
 able labours, his unwearied diligence in instructing the catholics under his charge, 
 disputing with protestants, and going about doing good everywhere, with a 
 courage and firmness of mind almost above the power and strength of man. 
 When, how, or where, he was apprehended, I have not found, but only this, that 
 he had lain three whole years a close prisoner at Lancaster castle, before he was 
 brought to the bar, where he stood with an air of fortitude and resolution of 
 suffering in defence of truth. Two fallen catholics, Maiden and Osbaldeston, 
 made oath that they had seen him administer baptism and perform the ceremonies 
 of marriage ; and upon these slender proofs of his priesthood, the jury, by the 
 judge's direction, found him guilty of the indictment. Whereupon the judge 
 sentenced him to be hanged, cut down alive, drawn, quartered, etc., as in cases of 
 high treason. It was on the 7th of August, 1646, that he, with two fellow priests, 
 and a poor wretch, named Croft, condemned to death for felony, were drawn upon 
 sledges to the place of execution at Lancaster. There Mr. Bamber exhorted 
 Croft to repentance, and besought him to declare himself a Catholic, confess 
 some of his more public sins, and be truly contrite and sorry for all ' and I, 
 a priest and minister of Jesus Christ, will instantly in his name, and by his 
 authority, absolve thee.' On hearing this the officers of Justice began to storm 
 but Mr. Bamber held his ground, and finally absolved the man in sight and 
 hearing of the crowd. As Mr. Bamber mounted up the ladder, he paused after 
 ascending a few steps, and taking a handful of money from his pocket, threw it 
 amongst the people, saying, with a smiling countenance, that ' God loveth a 
 cheerful giver.' Mr. Bamber was encouring Mr. Whitaker, one of the other two 
 priests about to suffer, who appeared not a little terrified at the approach of death, 
 to be on his guard against the temptation to save his life by renouncing his 
 creed, when the sheriff called out hastily to the executioner to. dispatch him 
 (Bamber) ; and so he was that moment turned off the ladder, and permitted to 
 hang but a very short time, before the rope was cut, the confessor being still alive; 
 and thus he was butchered in a most cruel and savage manner." 
 
 The two following verses, relating to his death, form part of a 
 long ode or sonnet written at the time : 
 
 " Few words he spoke they stopp'd his mouth, 
 
 And chok'd him with a cord ; 
 And lest he should be dead too soon, 
 
 No mercy they afford. 
 " But quick and live they cut him down, 
 
 And butcher him full soon ; 
 Behead, tear, and dismember straight, 
 And laugh when all was done."
 
 284 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 The free school of Carleton was founded towards the close of 
 the seventeenth century. On the iyth of May, 1697, Richard 
 Singleton, John Wilson, John Davy, and six others recited in an 
 indenture between them, that Elizabeth Wilson, of Whiteholme, 
 by her verbal will of the 22nd of September, 1680, declare it to 
 be her wish that the interest of a fourth of her goods, which 
 amounted to ^"59 2s. od., should be used by the overseers of 
 Carleton for the purpose of procuring instruction for so many of 
 the poorest children of the town of Carleton as they should think 
 proper ; and that one-quarter of her estate had been invested in 
 land, and the annual revenue therefrom employed according to 
 her last directions and desire. William Bamber, by will dated 
 1 3th of October, 1688, bequeathed ^"40 to his wife Margaret 
 Bamber, and Richard Harrison, vicar of Poulton, to the intent 
 that they should lay out the sum in land or other safe investment, 
 not to yield less than 405. per annum, half of which was to be 
 given, at their discretion, amongst the most needful of the poor 
 of Great Carleton, and the other moiety to be expended in 
 purchasing books, or obtaining tuition for such poor children of 
 the same place as they might select. After the deaths of the two 
 original trustees, the will directed that the bequest should pass 
 under the management of the vicar of Poulton, for the time 
 being, and the churchwarden of Carleton. The money was 
 invested on the nth of May, 1689, in a messuage and appur- 
 tenances, a barn, and several closes, called the Old Yard, the Great 
 Field, the Croft, the New Hey, the Two Carrs, and the third part 
 of a meadow, named the Great Meadow, all being situated in 
 Blackpool, and containing by estimation six acres and a half. 
 The property was immediately leased to the vendor, John Gualter, 
 at a rental of 405. a year. By an indenture, dated the 3ist of 
 December, 1607, between Sir Nicholas Sherburne, of Carleton, 
 Hambleton, and Stonyhurst, and John Wilson, with three others, 
 of Carleton, it appears that Sir Nicholas leased to the latter, and 
 their assigns, the school-house, newly erected at a place called 
 the Four Lane Ends, in Great Carleton, and the site thereof, for a 
 term of 500 years from the foregoing date, at the nominal rent of 
 is. per annum ; and John Wilson, with his co-trustees, covenanted 
 that the same should be used for no other purpose but that of a 
 school, excepting that Sir Nicholas Sherburne and his heirs
 
 CARLETON. MARTON. 285 
 
 should have free liberty to hold the courts for the manor of 
 Carleton within the building. Margaret Bickerstaffe, by her will 
 of the i gth of April, 1716, left ^"20, the interest of which she 
 directed to be employed by her executors in educating some of 
 the poor children of Carleton. On the 2nd of February, 1737, 
 Richard Butler and Richard Dickson, trustees for the sale of 
 certain estates for paying the debts of James Addinson, conveyed 
 to George Hull, John Sanderson, and others, and their heirs, in 
 consideration of ^"42, a close in Thornton, formerly called Rushey 
 Full Long Meadow, and now Wheatcake, comprising one acre, in 
 trust, to hold the same and pay the annual proceeds to the master 
 of the Four Lane Ends school " for his care and pains in teaching 
 such poor children of Carleton as should be appointed each year 
 by the chief inhabitants or officers of the township." The money 
 seems to have been given by some persons not wishing to disclose 
 their names, and who selected George Hull, John Sanderson, and 
 five more, as their agents in the matter, and as first trustees of 
 the charity. When five of the trustees had died, it was ordained 
 that seven fresh ones should be elected, and the two remaining be 
 relieved of their trust. John Addinson, in return for ^"20, given 
 by some person, to the inhabitants of Carleton, conveyed to the 
 same parties a close called the Rough Hey, in Thornton, contain- 
 ing half an acre, to be dealt with and used as in the previous case. 
 It is very likely that the 2 here concerned was the sum before 
 mentioned as the legacy of Margaret Bickerstaffe. All the 
 premises belonging to the school were vested in six new trustees 
 by a deed, dated 3rd of June, 1777 ; and at the visit of the school 
 commissioners in 1867, the attendance of boys was 50, and of 
 girls 20, being somewhere about the usual average of later years. 
 The trustees manage the school property, and appoint or dismiss 
 the master. 
 
 POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE CARLETON. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 269 ... 308 ... 356 ... 319 ... 378 ... 400 ... 363 ... 433 
 
 The area of the township embraces 1,979 statute acres. 
 
 MERETUN, or the town of the Mere, was estimated by the 
 surveyors of William the Conqueror to comprise six carucates of 
 arable land, and shortly afterwards Sir Adam de Merton held 
 half of it, on condition that he performed military service
 
 286 POULTON PARISH. 
 
 when required. 1 Somewhere about 1200 William de Merton, a 
 descendant of Sir Adam, was one of the witnesses to a charter, 
 concerning a local marsh, between Cecilia de Laton and the abbot 
 ofStanlawe. 8 In 1207-8 the sheriff of Lancashire received orders 
 to give Matilda, widow of Theobald Walter, her third of the lands 
 at Mereton, which her late husband had held up to the time of 
 his death in 1206, at first for I2s. per annum, and subsequently 
 for one hawk each year.* According to the Testa de Nevill, 
 Henry III. held three carucates of the soil of Mereton for a few 
 years, as guardian of the heir of Theobald Walter, and in 1249, 
 during the thirty-third year of the reign of that monarch, Merton 
 cum Linholme was in the possession of Theobald Walter, or 
 le Botiler as he was afterwards called, the heir here mentioned. 4 
 Marton descended in the Botiler, or Butler, family until the time 
 of Henry VIII., when it was sold by Sir Thomas Butler to John 
 Brown, a merchant of London, in company with Great Layton, 
 of which manor it had for long been regarded as a parcel, although 
 in 1323, Great Marton was alluded to as a distinct and separate 
 manor held by Richard le Botiler. 5 Marton was purchased from 
 John Brown by Thomas Fleetwood, esq., of Vach, in the county 
 of Buckingham, whose descendants and heirs resided at Rossall 
 Hall ; and after remaining in the Fleetwood family for many 
 generations the manor of Layton, with its dependency Marton, 
 was again sold, and this time became the property of Thomas 
 Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart., being 
 the vendor. 
 
 Little Marton was held in trust by William de Cokerham, 
 in 1330, for the abbot and convent of Furness, 8 but eight years 
 afterwards, the manor of Weeton and Little Marton, were held by 
 James, the son of Edmund le Botiler, earl of Ormond. 7 What 
 claim James Botiler had to include Little Marton amongst his 
 possessions in 1338, cannot now be ascertained, but it is certain 
 that later, at the dissolution of monasteries, it passed to the crown 
 as part of the fortified lands of Furness Abbey. Subsequently 
 Little Marton passed to the Holcrofts, and from them, in 1505, to 
 
 I. Testa de Nevill, fol. 403. 2. Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey. 
 
 3. Rot. Lit. Clause 9 John, m. 16. 4. Escaet. 33 Henry III., n. 49. 
 
 5. Escaet. 16 Edward II., n. 59. 6. Escaet. 4 Edward III., n. 100. 
 
 7. Lansd. MSS. 559, fol. 36.
 
 MARTON. 287 
 
 Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of Lytham Hall, by exchange. John Talbot 
 Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, a descendant of Sir Cuthbert, and 
 the son of the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, is the present 
 owner of Great and Little Marton. As the moss and mere of 
 Marton, perhaps the most interesting objects in the township, 
 have been fully described in an earlier chapter, devoted to the 
 country, rivers, etc., of the Fylde, we refer our readers to that 
 portion of the volume for more detailed information concerning 
 them. In this place we must content ourselves by stating that 
 the mere was at one time a lake of no inconsiderable dimensions, 
 having a fishery of some value attached to it, and that from the 
 number of trunks of trees, discovered on the clayey soil beneath 
 the original moss, which extended six miles by one and a half, 
 there is conclusive evidence that in ancient times the whole of the 
 wide tract was covered by a dense forest, composed chiefly of oak, 
 yew, and fir trees. So enormous were some of the trunks 
 discovered that it was impossible for one labourer to grasp the 
 hand of another over them. The hamlet of Peel, situated within, 
 but close to the Lytham border of the township, contains in a 
 field called Hall-stede, traces of the ancient turreted manorial 
 mansion of the Holcrofts, of Winwick and Marton, 1 and the 
 remains of a moat out of which about sixty years ago a drawbridge 
 and two gold rings were taken. The old lake of Curridmere, 
 mentioned in the foundation charter of Lytham priory in the 
 reign of Richard I., was also located in this neighbourhood, the 
 site being indicated by the soil it once covered bearing the name 
 of the tarns. A little more than half a century since the tarns 
 formed nothing but a trackless bog, and beneath its surface a 
 husbandman discovered the remains of a small open boat, which 
 had doubtless been used in earlier days on the waters of 
 Curridmere. 
 
 About 1625 the inhabitants of Marton petitioned, that in 
 conjunction with " Layton, Layton Rakes, and Blackpool," 2 the 
 township might be constituted a separate parish, stating in support 
 of their prayer that the parish church of Poulton was five miles 
 distant, and during the winter they were debarred by inundations 
 
 I. Dodsworth's MSS., c. xiii., p. 161. These traces which were fairly evident 
 forty years ago, have been in a great measure obliterated in more recent days. 
 3. Parl. Ing. Lamb. Libr. vol. ii.
 
 288 
 
 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 from attending that place of worship. This reasonable request 
 does not appear to have evoked a favourable response from the 
 parliamentary commissioners, and it was not until more than a 
 century and a half later that the district had its claims to the 
 privilege desired practically acknowledged. The church of St. 
 Paul, in Great Marton was erected by subscription in 1 800, and 
 opened by license the same year, but was not consecrated until 
 1804. It was a plain, unpretending structure with front and side 
 galleries, but having neither chancel nor tower, and capable of 
 holding upwards of 400 worshippers. In 1857 the increase of the 
 population rendered it necessary to lengthen the church at the 
 east end, and at the same time a neat and simple tower was added. 
 Within the tower is the vestry, above which a number of seats 
 were raised for the Sunday school children, many of whom had 
 previously, for want of space, occupied forms in the aisles. A 
 porch was built over the entrance of the church about 1848, and 
 in 1871 a chancel was erected. Three bells were purchased by 
 the parishioners, and placed in the tower in 1868, whilst the 
 present reading desk and pulpit, were the gift of Miss Heywood, 
 the daughter of Sir Benjamin Heywood, bart., who formerly had 
 a handsome marine residence at Blackpool. Previous to 1845 the 
 musical portion of the service was accompanied by two bassoons 
 and another wind instrument, but about that date they were 
 abolished, and a barrel organ substituted, which continued in force 
 until a few years ago, when it was succeeded by the more modern 
 key organ at present in use. The church of Marton has now an 
 ecclesiastical district of its own, but was originally a chapelry 
 under Poulton. A little anterior to the erection of the church 
 divine service was conducted in the school-house of Baines's 
 Charity, Mr. Sawyer being the first appointed minister. 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF MARTON. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 About 1762 
 1772 
 In 1814 
 ,, 1843 
 
 Sawyer. 
 George "Hall. 
 Thomas Bryer. 
 James Cookson, M.A. 
 
 Death of G. Hall. 
 Resignation of T. Bryer.
 
 MARTON. 289 
 
 The old parsonage stood on the same site as the present one, 
 and consisted simply of two cottages united to form one small 
 residence. In 1846 this house was pulled down, and another, 
 elegant and commodious, erected in its place, being completed the 
 following year. Attached to the parsonage are eleven acres of 
 glebe land. 
 
 James Baines, of Poulton, by will dated 6th of January, 1717, 
 devised unto John Hull and six others, of Marton, their heirs and 
 assigns, the school-house lately erected by him in Marton, the 
 land whereon it stood, a messuage or tenement in Warbreck, 
 containing about six acres, a messuage or dwelling-house in 
 Hardhorn-with-Newton, with the smithy and two shippons 
 thereto belonging, and several closes of land in the same town- 
 ship, called the Sheep Field, the Croft, the Garden, being about 
 three acres ; also the Many Pits, the Debdale, the Cross Butts, 
 the Wradle Meadow, and the field adjoining its north-west end, 
 and the Carr, containing twelve and a half acres, to the intent 
 that the rents arising from the foregoing should after the deduc- 
 tion of IDS. for an annual dinner to the trustees, be directed to the 
 maintenance of a master to instruct the children of the township 
 in the above-mentioned building. The revenue of the school was 
 greatly impoverished for many years by the expenses of a chancery 
 suit about 1850, which arose on the question whether the school 
 should be continued as formerly or be divided, and part of its 
 income be devoted to the establishment and support of a similar 
 institution in the adjoining district of Little Marton. The whole 
 of the funds were defrayed out of the funds of the charity. A 
 scheme for its regulation was framed in 1863 by the Master of the 
 Rolls, providing amongst other matters that the school should be 
 open to Government inspection, but in no way interfering with 
 its gratuitous character. The commissioner of 1869 reports : 
 "Sixty-three children were present on the day of my visit, 
 of whom fifty-two were girls, who are taught in the same 
 classes as the boys, and are with them in play hours. The school 
 being free, no register of attendance is kept. In arithmetic, six 
 boys (average age u), and four girls (average age io|), did fair 
 papers ; the questions of course were simple ones. Grammar and 
 geography, in which subjects I examined the highest class, were 
 tolerably good. The girls read well ; the boys (as usual) less so ; 
 
 T
 
 2 9 o PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 spelling was up to the average. The girls are taught to write a 
 bad angular hand ; the master says that it is to please the parents. 
 He has been in his present position five years, and receives a 
 salary of ^"50 a year." The school property consists of forty 
 acres of land, producing a gross annual income of about ^"130. 
 Both a playground and gymnasium are attached to the school. 
 There are now two masters. The vicar of Poulton and the vicar 
 of Marton, ex officio, and five other trustees self-electing, residing 
 within the township, appoint and dismiss the masters, admit and 
 expel scholars, appoint an examiner, and regulate the studies. 
 The chief master must be a member of the Church of England, 
 and is not permitted to take boarders. 
 
 Margaret Whittam, widow, by will dated 26th of July, 1814, 
 bequeathed to Edward Hull, Richard Sherson, and John Fair, 
 of Marton, and her brothers, their executors and administrators, 
 the sum of ^"40, duty free, in trust, the interest to be applied to 
 the benefit of the Sunday school in Marton so long as it should 
 continue to be taught, and in the event of its being abolished, to 
 use the same income for the relief of such necessitous persons of 
 the township as received no alms from the poor rate. The 
 Sunday school established in 1814 is still kept at Marton, and the 
 master paid, in part from the interest of the legacy, and the 
 remainder from subscriptions. About twenty years ago between 
 200 and yx> were obtained by means of a bazaar, and 
 expended in the erection of a school building on a piece of waste 
 land in Marton, for the purpose of providing for the education of 
 children, both male and female, under the superintendence of a 
 mistress. At Marton Moss there is another school, used also as a 
 church, being served from South Shore, which was built a few 
 years since through the munificence of Lady Eleanor Cicily 
 Clifton, of Lytham Hall ; and at Moss Side, a small Wesleyan 
 Chapel was erected by subscription about 1871. 
 
 Edward Whiteside, of Little Marton, sailor, bequeathed by will, 
 dated 22nd December, 1721, as follows : "It is my will, that my 
 ground be kept in lease, according as my executors shall see fit, 
 and what spares it is my will that they buy cloth and give it to 
 poor people that has nothing out of the town ; it is my will that 
 it be given in Little Marton, and if there be a minister that 
 preaches in Marton, that they give him something what they
 
 MARTON. 291 
 
 shall see fit : It is my will, that if they can buy land, that they sell 
 my personal estate, and buy as much as it will purchase : It is 
 my will, that two acres, which my father hath now in possession, 
 that when it falls into my hands and possession, that it go the 
 way above named : It is my mind and will, that my executors 
 give it when they shall see fit, and I hope they will choose 
 faithful men, who will act according to themselves ; and I 
 make my well-beloved friends, Anthony Sherson and Thomas 
 Grimbalson, executors of my last will." 
 
 William Whiteside left by will, dated 1742, 100 to be invested, 
 and the annual proceeds to be spent in furnishing clothing to 
 the poor of Marton, not in receipt of parish relief. John Hull, 
 Thomas Webster, and Robert Bickerstaffe, were the original 
 trustees of this charity. 
 
 John Hodgson, by will dated 25th of September, 1761, devised 
 his messuage and lands in Marton, and his personal estate, to 
 John Hull and Richard Whittam, their heirs and assigns, in 
 trust, -to dispose of the same, and after paying his debts and 
 funeral expenses, to lay out at interest the remainder of the 
 money so acquired, and devote the yearly income therefrom to 
 the purchase of meal for poor housekeepers of Great Marton, not 
 relieved from the town's rate. The meal to be distributed 
 annually on the 25th of December. The net amount of the 
 legacy was 100. 
 
 Edward Jolly, of My thorp, by indenture, dated 1 3th of February, 
 1784, conveyed to James Jolly, James Sherson, and Thomas Fair, 
 their executors and assigns, the sum of ^~6o, to the intent that it 
 should be placed on good security, and one shilling of the yearly 
 income derived be expended weekly in bread, to be distributed each 
 Sunday to those poor persons who had attended divine service in 
 the morning at the chapel of Great Marton. The deed directed 
 that the dole should be given at the door of the chapel immediately 
 after morning service, by the clerk or some other authorised 
 person, and that in the event of Marton Chapel, which was then 
 unconsecrated and supported by subscription, being closed for four 
 successive Sundays, or converted into a Dissenting place of 
 worship, the bread money should be transferred to the townships 
 of Great and Little Singleton, and Weeton-cum-Preese ; and the 
 weekly allowance of food be distributed as above at the parochial
 
 2 92 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 chapel of Great and Little Singleton. The dole, however, had to 
 return to Marton chapel as soon as service, according to the 
 Church of England, was again conducted there. The chapel 
 alluded to was Baines's school-house, where it had been the custom 
 of Edward Jolly to distribute bread each Sunday for several years 
 previously, and it was with the intention of rendering this practice 
 perpetual, that the indenture was made. No re-investment of the 
 money can be legally made without the approval of the minister 
 of Marton church. 
 
 POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE MARTON. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 972 ... 1,093 ... 1,397 ... 1,487 ... 1,562 ... 1,650 ... 1,691 ... 1,982 
 
 The area of the township amounts to 5,452 statute acres, 
 inclusive of the sheet of water called Marton mere. 
 
 HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON contains within the limits of its 
 township the three hamlets or villages of Hardhorn, Newton, and 
 Staining, of which the last only is alluded to in the Domesday 
 Survey, where Staininghe is mentioned as comprising six 
 curucates of land in service. The Coucher Book of Whalley 
 Abbey furnishes much valuable and interesting information 
 relating to the district of Staining, and from it we find that 
 sometime between 1175 and 1296 John de Lascy, constable of 
 Chester, "gave and by this charter confirms to God and the 
 Blessed Mary, and to the abbot and monks of the Benedictine 
 Monastery (Locus) of Stanlawe the vill of Steyninges, with all 
 things belonging to it, in the vill itself, in the field, in roads, in 
 footpaths, in . meadows, in pastures, in waters, in mills, and in all 
 other easements which are or can be there, for the safety of my 
 soul and those of my antecessors and successors. To be held and 
 possessed in pure and perpetual gift without any duty or exaction 
 pertaining to me or my heirs, the monks themselves performing 
 the service which the vill owes to the lord King." The monks 
 of Stanlawe retained possession until 1296, when their monastic 
 instition, with all its property, including Staining, was united to, 
 or appropriated by, the abbey of Whalley, shortly after which, in 
 1 298, an agreement was arrived at between the prior of Lancaster, 
 who held Poulton church, and the abbot of Whalley, concerning 
 the tithes of Staining, Hardhorn, and Newton. "At length," says 
 the record, " by the advice of common friends they submitted the
 
 HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON. 293 
 
 matter to the arbitration of Robert de Pikeringe, Elbor. Official," 
 who decided that the abbot and convent of Whalley, formerly of 
 Stanlawe, should receive in perpetuity the major tithes of every 
 and all their lands within the boundaries of Staining, Hardhorn, 
 and Newton, whether the harvests were cultivated by the monks 
 themselves or by their tenants ; but the minor tithes, personal 
 and obligatory, whether of the abbey tenants or of the secular 
 servants, were adjudged to the vicar of the church of Poulton and 
 the prior and monks of Lancaster. The abbot of Whalley was 
 also directed to pay to the prior of Lancaster at the parish 
 church of Poulton an annual sum of eighteen marks, as an 
 acknowledgment, half at the festival of St. Martin and the 
 remainder at Pentecost. The Coucher Book contains several 
 deeds of arrangement touching marsh-land in the vicinity of 
 Staining. Cecilia de Laton, widow, gave to the abbot and convent 
 of Stanlawe, all her marsh between certain land of Staining and a 
 long ditch, so that the latter might mark the division between 
 Staining and Little Layton, the witnesses to the transfer being 
 William de Carleton, William de Syngleton, and Alan, his son, 
 William de Merton, and Richard de Thornton ; Cecilia de Laton 
 also quitclaimed to the same monastery all her right to the 
 medietyof a marsh between "Mattain.smure" and Little Carleton. 
 William le Boteler exchanged with the Stanlawe brotherhood all 
 the marsh between the ditch above mentioned and the land of 
 Staining for a similar tract beyond the trench towards Great 
 Layton, stipulating that if at any time a fishery should be 
 established in the ditch, which was doubtless both wide and deep, 
 the monks and he, or his heirs, should participate equally in the 
 benefits accruing from it. Theobald Walter granted power to the 
 abbot of Stanlawe to make use of his mere of Marton for the 
 purpose of conducting therefrom a stream to turn the mill at 
 Staining, belonging to the monastery, care being taken that the 
 fish in the said mere were not injured or diminished. Within the 
 grange of Staining a chantry was in existence, and its services 
 were presided over by two resident priests, whose duty it also was 
 to superintend the property held by the convent of Stanlawe, and 
 subsequently by the abbey of Whalley, in the neighbourhood. 
 The following is a list of the conventual possessions and rentals 
 in Staining at the date of the Reformation : The house of
 
 294 PO UL TON PARISH. 
 
 Staining 6s. od. ; Scotfolde close, held by Lawrence Richardson, 
 55. od., also Cach Meadow, of one acre, is. 8d.; a messuage, 30 acres 
 of land, held by Lawrence Archer, i los. 4d; a messuage, 16 acres, 
 held by Thomas Salthouse, i6s. od. ; a messuage, 15 acres, held 
 by John Johnson, i8s. 2d. ; a fishery, held by Richard Whiteside, 
 1 8s. 4d. ; a messuage, 15 acres, held by Richard Harrison, i8s. 
 lod. ; a messuage, 18 acres, held by William Salfer, i8s. 2d. ; a 
 messuage, 8 acres, held by William Hall, los. 4d. ; a house and a 
 windmill, held by Lawrence Rigson, 2 os. od. ; a messuage, 1 8 
 acres, held by Robert Gaster, 1 8s. 2d. ; a messuage, 30 acres, held 
 by Constance Singleton, widow, \ 135. od. ; a messuage, 20 acres, 
 held by Thomas Wilkinson, \ os. od. ; a messuage, 10 acres, 
 held by John Pearson, los. od. ; a messuage, 10 acres, held by the 
 wife of William Pearson, los. od. ; a messuage, 6 acres, held by 
 Robert Walsh, 6s. 8d. ; a messuage, 13 acres, held by Thomas 
 Dickson, 135. 4d., and 4 hens ; a messuage, 20 acres, held by John 
 Sander, \ os. od. and 6 hens ; a messuage, 10 acres, held by 
 William Hey, los. od. and 3 hens ; a messuage, 6 acres, held by 
 Ralph Dape, 75. 6d. and 3 hens ; a messuage, 8^ acres, held by 
 the wife of Richard Dane, ys. 6d. and three hens. In Hardhorn 
 the abbey possessed a messuage, 10 acres, held by William 
 Lethum, at los. per annum ; a messuage, 20 acres, held by Robert 
 Lethum, i os. od. ; a messuage, 10 acres, held by Henry ffisher, 
 los. ; a messuage, 10 acres, held by William Pearson, los. od. 
 and 3 hens ; a messuage, 10 acres, held by John ffisher, los. od. 
 and 3 hens : a messuage, 10 acres, held by William Silcocke, ios- 
 od. and 3 hens ; a messuage, 10 acres, held by Richard Hardman 
 until " ye time that Richard Hardman, son of William Hardman, 
 come to ye age of 21 yeares," ios. od. ; a messuage, 10 acres, held 
 by Richard Hardman, junior, ios. od. and 3 hens ; a messuage, 10 
 acres, held by Robert Silcocke, ios. od. ; a messuage, 12 acres, 
 held by Robert Whiteside, 125. 6d. and 3 hens ; a messuage, 12 
 acres, held by Richard Bale, 125. 6d. and 3 hens ; a messuage, 7 
 acres, held by Henry ffisher, junior, 73. 6d. and 2 hens ; a messuage, 
 2 acres, held by John Allards, 2s. od. and 2 hens ; a messuage, 10 
 acres, held by John Walch, ios. od. and three hens ; a messuage, 
 10 acres, held by Robert Crow, ios. od. and 2 hens ; a messuage, 
 20 acres, held by Richard Garlick, i os. od. and 6 hens ; a 
 messuage, 10 acres, held by John Ralke, ios. od. and 3 hens ; a
 
 HARDHORN- WITH-NE WTON. 295 
 
 messuage, 10 acres, held by Edmund Holle, los. od. In Carleton 
 the abbey owned a close named Whitbent, which William Carleton 
 rented at is. 6d., a year ; and in Elswick, a barn and 3 acres of 
 land, held by Christopher Hennett, for an annual payment of 33. 
 4d. In the Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey, from which the 
 foregoing information has been obtained there occurs the following 
 notice, relating to the Hall, apparently written when the above 
 survey was made : " The house of Stayning is in length xxvii. 
 yards, and lofted ou'r and slated ; ye close called ye little hey 
 contains by estimation halfe an acre, and ye said house payeth 
 yearly, 6s." Sir Thomas Holt, of Grizlehurst, appears to have 
 been the first proprietor of the conventual lands of Staining after 
 they had been confiscated to the crown at the dissolution of 
 monasteries ; and from him they were purchased, either towards 
 the end of the reign of Henry VIII., or at the commencement of 
 that of Edward VI., by George the son of Robert Singleton, by 
 his wife Helen, daughter of John Westby, of Mowbreck. The 
 Singletons, of Staining, resided at the Hall until the close of the 
 seventeenth century, and during that long period formed alliances 
 with several of the local families of gentry, as the Carletons of 
 Carleton, the Fleetwoods of Rossall, the Bambers of Carleton, 
 and the Masseys of Layton. On the death of George Singleton, 
 the last of the male representatives of the Singletons of Staining, 
 somewhere about 1790, the estates descended to John Mayfield, 
 the son of his sister Mary, and subsequently, on his decease 
 without issue, to his nephew and heir-at-law, William Black- 
 burne. Staining Hall, now the property of W. H. Hornby, 
 esq., of Blackburn, is a small and comparatively modern residence, 
 presenting in itself nothing calling for special notice or comment 
 from an antiquarian point of view. Remains of the old moat 
 however, are still in existence round the building, but beyond this 
 there is no indication of the important station the Hall must have 
 formerly held in the surrounding country, both as the abode of 
 some of its priestly proprietors, of Stanlawe and Whalley, and the 
 seat of a family of wealth and position, like the Singletons would 
 seem to have been. 
 
 The township of Hardhorn-with-Newton contains the free 
 school erected and endowed by Mr. James Baines, which has 
 already been fully noticed in the chapter devoted to Poulton.
 
 296 POULTON PARISH, 
 
 In the hamlet of Staining a chapel and school combined was 
 erected by private munificence in 1865, the former building used 
 for such purposes being both inadequate and inappropriate. The 
 foundation stone was laid by Mrs. Clark, the wife of the late 
 vicar of Poulton, on a site given by W. H. Hornby, esq., of 
 Blackburn and Staining. The ceremony took place on the 26th 
 of May, 1865, and on the 3rd of December in that year service 
 was first performed in the edifice by the Rev. Richard Tonge, of 
 Manchester. The building is of brick, with stone dressings, and 
 comprises a nave, apsis, and tower of considerable altitude, con- 
 taining a fine toned bell. 
 
 On the ist of February, 1748, Thomas Riding re-leased to John 
 Hornby and Thomas Whiteside, a dwelling-house and certain 
 premises for the remainder of a term of 1,000 years, to be held in 
 trust by them and their heirs for the use and benefit of the poor 
 housekeepers in Hardhorn-with-Newton township, in such 
 manner as directed by the will of Ellen Whitehead. The 
 property of this charity in 1817 consisted of half an acre of 
 ground, and three cottages and a weaving shed standing upon 
 it, together with ^"40 in money, out at interest. It cannot be 
 ascertained either who Ellen Whitehead was or when she died. 
 
 POPULATION OF HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 3" 324 392 49 358 386 389 436 
 
 The area of the township extends over 2,605 statute acres.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PARISH OF BISPHAM. 
 
 |ISCOPHAM was the appellation bestowed on the 
 district now called Bispham at and before the era of 
 William the Conqueror, in whose survey it appears 
 as embracing within its boundaries eight carucates of 
 arable land. The original name is simply a compound of the two 
 Anglo-Saxon words Biscop, a bishop, and Ham, a habitation or 
 settlement, the signification of the whole being obviously the 
 ' Bishop's town,' or ' residence.' Hence it is clear that some 
 episcopal source must be looked to as having been the means of 
 conferring the peculiar title on the place, and fortunately for the 
 investigator, the annals of history furnish a ready clue to what 
 otherwise might have proved a question difficult, or perhaps 
 impossible, of satisfactory solution. In a previous chapter it has 
 been noted that for long after the reign of Athelstan Amounderness 
 was held by the See of York, and nothing can be more natural 
 than to suppose, when regarding that circumstance in conjunction 
 with the significance of the name under discussion, that the 
 archbishops of the diocese had some residence on the soil of 
 Bispham. It is quite possible, however, that there may have been 
 merely a station of ecclesiastics who collected the rents and 
 tithes of the Hundred on behalf of the bishopric, acting in fact as 
 stewards and representatives of the archbishop for the time being, 
 but in either case it is evident that the name and, consequently, 
 the town, are of diocesan origin, doubtless associated with the 
 proprietorship above mentioned. The presence of priests in 
 residence within the manor of Bispham would necessarily lead to 
 the establishment there of some chapel or oratory, and the absence
 
 298 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 of any allusion to such a structure by the investigators of William 
 I. seems, at the first glance, a serious obstacle to the episcopal 
 theory, but Bispham was located between the two Danish colonies 
 of Norbreck and Warbreck, a people whose hostility to all religious 
 houses was almost proverbial, and hence it is scarcely likely that 
 a church so conveniently situated, as that of Bispham would be, 
 could long escape spoliation and destruction after the prelates of 
 York had removed their protection from the neighbourhood, at 
 some date anterior to the arrival of the Normans in England. 
 The ravages of the Danes indeed, throughout the Hundred of 
 Amounderness are usually the reasons assigned why the district 
 was relinquished by the See of York, so that the non-existence of 
 a sacred pile of any description at the period of the Domesday 
 Survey, is in no way contradictory of such a building having been 
 there, at an earlier epoch. At the close of the Saxon dynasty the 
 number of acres in cultivation in the manor of Bispham exceeded 
 those of the five next largest manors in the Fylde by two hundred, 
 thus Staining, Layton, Singleton, Marton, and Thornton, each 
 contained six hundred acres of arable soil, whilst Bispham had 
 eight hundred in a similar condition. About thirty years after 
 the Norman Survey, Geoffrey, the sheriff, bestowed the tithes of 
 Biscopham, upon the newly founded priory of St. Mary, in 
 Lancaster, being incited thereto by the munificent example of 
 Roger de Poictou. In this grant no allusion is made to any 
 church, an omission which we should barely be justified in 
 considering accidental, but which would rather seem to indicate 
 that the edifice was not erected until later. The earliest allusion 
 to it is found in the reign of Richard I., 1189 1199, when 
 Theobald Walter quitclaimed to the abbot of Sees, in Normandy, 
 all his right in the advowson of Pulton and the church of 
 Biscopham, pledging himself to pay to the abbey ten marks a year 
 during the period that any minister presented by him or his heirs 
 held the living. 1 In 1246 the mediety of Pulton and Biscopham 
 churches was conveyed to the priory of St. Mary, in Lancaster, an 
 offshoot from the abbey of Sees, by the archdeacon of Richmond ; 
 and in 1296 the grant was confirmed to the monastery by John 
 Romanus, then archdeacon of Richmond, who supplemented the 
 
 I. Regist. S. Mariae de Lane. MSS. fol. 77.
 
 BISPHAM- WITH-NORBRECK. 299 
 
 donation of his predecessor with a gift of the other mediety, to be 
 appropriated after the decease of the person in possession, 
 stipulating only that when the proprietorship became complete 
 the conventual superiors should appoint a vicar at an annual 
 salary of twenty marks. At the suppression of alien priories the 
 church of Bispham was conveyed to the abbey of Syon, and 
 remained attached to that foundation until the Reformation of 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 The original church of Bispham, subsequently to the Norman 
 invasion, was built of red sandstone, and comprised a low tower, a 
 nave, and one aisle. A row of semicircular arches, resting on 
 round, unornamented pillars, supported the double-gabled roof, 
 which was raised to no great altitude from the ground ; whilst 
 the walls were penetrated by narrow lancet windows, three of 
 which were placed at the east end. The pews were substantial 
 benches of black oak. In 1773 this venerable structure was 
 deprived of its flag roof and a slate one substituted, the walls at 
 the same time being raised to their present height. During the 
 alterations the pillars were removed and the interior thoroughly 
 renovated, more modern windows being inserted a little later. 
 There is a traditional statement that the church was erected by 
 the monks of Furness, but beyond the sandstone of which it was 
 built having in all probability come from that locality, there 
 appears to be nothing to uphold such an idea. Over the main 
 entrance may still be seen an unmistakable specimen of the 
 Norman arch, until recent years covered with plaster, and in 
 that way retained in a very fair state of preservation. 
 
 In 1553 a commission, whose object was to investigate 
 " whether ye belles belongynge to certayne chapelles which be 
 specified in a certayne shedule be now remayning at ye said 
 chapelles, or in whose hands or custodie the same belles now be," 
 visited Bispham, and issued the following report : " William 
 Thompson and Robert Anyan, of ye chapell of Byspham, sworne 
 and examyned, deposen that one belle mentioned in ye said 
 shedule was solde by Edwarde Parker, named in ye former 
 commission, unto James Massie, gent., for ye some of xxnis. ivd." 
 Nothing is known respecting the number or ultimate destination 
 of the peal alluded to. The belfry can now only boast a pair 
 of bells.
 
 300 BlSPffAM PARISH. 
 
 Formerly there were many and various opinions as to the 
 dedication of the church, Holy Trinity and All Saints having 
 both been suggested, but the question is finally set at rest by a 
 part, in fact the sole remnant, of the ancient communion service, 
 the chalice, which is of silver gilt, and bears the inscription : 
 " The gift of Ann, Daughter to John Bamber, to ye Church of 
 Allhallows, in Bispham ; Delivered by John Corritt, 1704." 
 Within the building, fastened to the east wall, and immediately to 
 the right of the pulpit, are four monumental brasses inscribed as 
 under : 
 
 " Here lyes the body of John Veale, late of Whinney Keys, Esq., who dyed the 
 2Oth Jan., 1704, aged sixty." 
 
 " Here lyes the body of Susannah, wife of the late John Veale, Esq., of 
 Whinney Heys, Esq., who departed this life the 2Oth of May, 1718, aged 67 
 years." 
 
 " Here lyes the body of Edward Veale, late of Whinney Heys, Esq., who 
 departed this life the nth of August, 1723, aged 43 years." 
 
 " Here lyes the body of Dorothy Veale, eldest daughter of John Veale, late of 
 Whinney Heys, Esq., who departed this life the gth day of January, in the year of 
 our Lord, 1747, and in the 77th year of her age." 
 
 Beneath these tablets, the only ones in the church, was the 
 family vault of the Veales, of Whinney Heys, now covered over 
 by pews. During the year 1875 the nave was re-seated, and at the 
 time when the flooring was taken up numerous skulls and bones 
 were found in different parts of the building, barely covered with 
 earth, plainly indicating that interments had once been very 
 frequent within the walls, and causing us to wonder that no mural 
 or other monuments, beyond those just given, are now visible, or, 
 indeed, remembered by any of the old parishioners. None of the 
 stones in the graveyard are of great antiquity, and the most 
 interesting object on that score is a portion of an ancient stone 
 cross, having the letters I.H.S. carved upon it, on the broken summit 
 of which a sun-dial has been mounted. Tradition has long affirmed 
 that Beatrice, or Bridget, the daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who 
 espoused General Ireton, and after his death General Fleetwood, 
 lies buried here, but this is a mistake, probably arising from the 
 proximity of the Rossall family, having the same name as her second 
 husband ; the lady was interred at Stoke Newington on the 5th 
 of September, 1681. There are no stained glass windows, and the 
 walls of the church are whitewashed externally.
 
 BISPHAM- WITH-NORBRECK. 
 
 301 
 
 PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF BISPHAM. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 On whose 
 Presentation. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 Before 1559 
 
 Jerome Allen 
 
 Abbey of Syon 
 
 
 About 1649 
 
 John Fisher 
 
 
 
 In 1650 
 
 John Cavelay 
 
 
 Resignation of J. 
 
 
 
 
 Fisher 
 
 Before 1674 
 
 Robert Brodbelt 
 
 
 Death of J. Cavelay 
 
 1689 
 
 Robert Wayte 
 
 
 
 i> I6 9i 
 
 Thomas Rikay 
 
 
 Death of R. Wayte 
 
 In 1692 
 
 Thomas Sellom 
 
 Richard Fleetwood 
 
 Death of T. Rikay 
 
 About 1715 
 
 Jonathan Hayton 
 
 
 
 Before 1753 
 
 Christopher Albin 
 
 Edward Fleetwood 
 
 
 In 1753 
 
 Roger Freckleton 
 
 Roger Hesketh 
 
 Death of C. Albin 
 
 1760 
 
 Ashton Werden 
 
 Roger Hesketh 
 
 Death of Roger 
 
 
 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 ii 1767 
 
 John Armetriding 
 
 Roger Hesketh 
 
 Death of A. Werden 
 
 ii 1791 
 
 William Elston 
 
 Thomas Elston 
 
 Death of John 
 
 
 
 
 Armetriding 
 
 ,, 1831 
 
 Charles Hesketh, 
 
 Sir P. H. Fleetwood 
 
 Death of W. Elston 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 
 ii I8 37 
 
 Bennett Williams, 
 
 Rev. C. Hesketh 
 
 Resignation of C. 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 Hesketh 
 
 ,. 1850 
 
 Henry Powell, M.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of B. 
 
 
 
 
 Williams 
 
 ., I8 57 
 
 W. A. Mocatta, M.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of H. 
 
 
 
 
 Powell 
 
 1861 
 
 James Leighton,M.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of 
 
 
 
 
 W. A. Mocatta 
 
 ,, I 8 74 
 
 C. S. Hope, M.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of J. 
 
 
 
 
 Leighton 
 
 1876 
 
 Francis John Dickson 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Resignation of C.S. 
 
 
 
 
 Hope 
 
 The living was a perpetual curacy until lately, when it was 
 raised to the rank of a vicarage. The Rev. Charles Hesketh, 
 M.A., of North Meols, has been the patron for almost half a 
 century. Divine worship, according to the ritual of the Roman 
 Catholics, was last celebrated in Bispham church during 
 March, 1559, immediately after the death of Queen Mary, when 
 her protestant successor, Elizabeth, ascended the throne. The 
 pastor, Jerome Allen, a member of the Benedictine brotherhood, 
 assembled his flock at nine in the morning of the 25th of that 
 month, and previous to administering the holy sacrament, 
 addressed a few words of farewell and advice to his congregation. 
 " Suffused in tears," records the diary of Rishton, " this holy and
 
 302 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 good man admonished his people to obey the new queen, who 
 had succeeded Mary, the late one, and besought them to love God 
 above all things, and their neighbours as themselves." It is said 
 that after vacating his cure at Bispham, the Rev. Jerome Allen, 
 retired to Lambspring, in German}', where he spent the remainder 
 of his life in the strictest religious observances enjoined by his 
 creed. In 1650 the following remarks concerning Bispham 
 were recorded by the ecclesiastical commissioners of the Com- 
 monwealth : " Bispham hath formerly been a parish church, 
 containing two townships, Bispham-cum-Norbreck and Layton- 
 cum-Warbreck, and consisting of three hundred families ; the 
 inhabitants of the said towns desire that they may be made a 
 parish." In the survey of the Right Rev. Francis Gastrell, D.D., 
 bishop of Chester, the annexed notice occurs : " Bispham. Certif. 
 % os. od., viz., a parcell of ground, given by Mr. R. Fleetwood, 
 worth, taxes deducted, $ per year ; Easter Reckonings, ^"3. 
 Richard Fleetwood, esq., of Rossall Hall, settled upon the church 
 in 1687 a Rent Charge of 10 per ann. for ever. Bispham-cum- 
 Norbreck, and Layton-cum Warbreck, for which places serve four 
 Churchwardens, two chosen by the ministers and two by the 
 parish." In 1725 Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, gave 200 
 to augment the living, and a similar amount was granted from 
 Queen Anne's Bounty for a like purpose. Three years later ^"400 
 more were acquired, half from the fund just named, and half 
 from Mr. S. Walter. The parish registers commence in 1599. 
 . William le Botiler, or Butler, held the manors of Layton, 
 Bispham, and Warbreck, according to the Duchy Feordary, in 
 the early part of the fourteenth century, and in 1365 his son, Sir 
 John Botiler, granted the manors of Great and Little Layton and 
 Bispham, to Henry de Bispham and Richard de Carleton, chap- 
 lains. Great Bispham probably remained in the possession of the 
 church until the dissolution of the monasteries. Norbreck and 
 Little Bispham appear to have belonged to the convent of Salop, 
 and were leased by William, abbot of that house, together with 
 certain tithes in Layton, to the abbot and convent of Deulacres, 
 by an undated deed, for eight marks per annum, due at Martin- 
 mas. 1 In 1539 the brotherhood of Deulacres paid rent for lands 
 
 I. Dugd. Monast. vol. v. p. 630.
 
 BISPHAM- WITH-N ORB RECK. 303 
 
 in Little Bispham and Norbreck, and an additional sum of 2s. 
 to Sir Thomas Butler, for lands in Great Bispham. 1 After the 
 Reformation, Bispham was granted by Edward VI., in the sixth 
 year of his reign, to Sir Ralph Bagnell, by whom it was sold to 
 John Fleetwood, of Rossall ; and in 1571, Thomas Fleetwood, 
 the descendant of the last-named gentleman, held Great and Little 
 Bispham and Layton. 2 The manors remained invested in the 
 Rossall family until the lifetime of the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood, 
 by whom they were sold to the Cliftons, of Lytham, John Talbot 
 Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, being the present lord. 
 
 The subjoined account of a shipwreck on this coast is taken 
 from the journal of William Stout, of Lancaster, and illustrates 
 the uses to which the church was occasionally put in similar 
 cases of emergency : 
 
 " Our ship, Employment, met with a French ship of some force, bound to 
 Newfoundland, who made a prize of her. The French were determined to send 
 her directly to St. Malo ; when John Gardner, the master, treated to ransome her> 
 and agreed with the captors for 1,000 sterling. The French did strip the sailors 
 of most of their clothes and provisions ; and coming out of a hot climate to cold, 
 before they got home they were so weak that they were scarce able to work the 
 ship, and the mate being not an experienced pilot, spent time in making the land, 
 and was embayed on the coast of Wales, but with difficulty got off, and then made 
 the Isle of Man, and stood for Peel Fouldrey, but missed his course, so that he 
 made Rossall Mill for Walna Mill, and run in that mistake till he was embayed 
 under the Red Banks, behind Rossall, so as he could not get off ; and it blowing 
 hard, and fearing she would beat, they endeavoured to launch their boat ; but 
 were so weak that they could not do it, but came to an anchor. She struck off 
 her rudder, and at the high water mark she slipped her cables and run on shore, 
 in a very foul strong place, where she beat till she was full of water, but the men 
 got well to land. But it was believed if they had been able to launch the boat 
 and attempted to land in her, the sea was so high and the shore so toul, that they 
 might have all perished. This happened on the 8th month, 1702, and we had 
 early notice of it to Lancaster, and got horses and carts with empty casks to put 
 the damaged sugars in, and to get on shore what could be saved, which was done 
 with much expedition. We got the sugar into Esquire Fleetwood's barn, at 
 Rossall, and the cotton wool into Bispham chapel, and in the neap tides got the 
 carpenters at work, but a storm came with the rising tides and beat the ship to 
 pieces. The cotton wool was sent to Manchester and sold for 200." 
 
 In the early years of this century Bispham contained a 
 manufactory for the production of linsey-woolsey. The building 
 was three stories in height, and employed a considerable number 
 
 I. Monast. Anglic, vol. v. p. 530. 2. Due. Lane. vol. xii., Inq. n. 2.
 
 304 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 of hands. Subsequently it was converted into a ladies' school, and 
 afterwards pulled down. Two or three residences in the township 
 near the site of the old manufactory still retain the names of 
 ' factory houses,' from their association with it. There is a small 
 Nonconformist place of worship in the village, surrounded by a 
 wall, being partially covered with ivy and overshadowed by trees. 
 This edifice is called Bethel Chapel, and a date over the doorway 
 fixes its origin at 1834. In 1868 a Temperance Hall, comprising 
 a reading room, library, and spacious lecture and assembly room, 
 was erected here by subscription, and forms one of the most 
 striking objects in the village. The Sunday school connected 
 with the parish church, and situated by its side, was erected also 
 by subscription, in 1840, and rebuilt on a larger scale in 1873. 
 The hamlet of Norbreck is situated on the edge of the cliffs 
 overhanging the shore of the Irish Sea, and consists of several 
 elegant residences tenanted by Messrs. Swain, Burton, Harrison, 
 Wilson, and Richards. None of the houses present any features 
 calling for special comment, but appear, like others at no great 
 distance, as Bispham Lodge, the seat of Frederick Kemp, esq., J.P., 
 to have been built within comparatively recent years as marine 
 retreats for the gentry of neighbouring towns, or others more 
 intimately associated with the locality. 
 
 POPULATION OF BISPHAM-WITH-NORBRECK. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 
 254 297 323 313 371 394 437 556 
 
 The area of the township includes 2,624 statute acres. 
 
 The Free Grammar School was established in 1659, when 
 Richard Higginson, of St. Faith's, London, bequeathed unto the 
 parish of Bispham sundry annual gifts in perpetuity, and 
 especially the yearly payment of ^"30 for and towards the 
 support of a school-master and usher at the school of Bispham, 
 lately erected by him. From a subsequent deed it appears that 
 the annual sums were made chargeable on two messuages in 
 Paternoster Row, London, belonging to the dean and chapter of 
 St. Pauls, but as the interest Higginson possessed in such 
 property was acquired at the sale of the dean and chapter lands 
 during the Commonwealth, it followed that on the restoration 
 of Charles II., the rentals forming his bequest were not forth- 
 coming. Further, the document recites that John Amburst,
 
 BISPHAM- WITH-NORBRECK. 305 
 
 of Gray's-inn, esq., and Elizabeth, his wife, who was the widow 
 and sole executrix of Richard Higginson, being desirous that 
 the object of the founder should be carried out, paid to John 
 Bonny and others in trust ^200, to be invested in land and the 
 annual income thereof devoted to the maintenance of an able and 
 learned schoolmaster at the before-mentioned school of Bispham. 
 The costs of a chancery suit in 1686 reduced the donation to ^"180, 
 but the trustees made up the sum to the original amount and 
 reimbursed themselves by deducting $ per annum from the salary 
 of the master for four years. In 1687, Henry Warbreck conveyed 
 in consideration of ^"200, to James Bailey and five other trustees 
 of the charity, elected by a majority of the inhabitants, the closes 
 known as the Two Tormer Carrs, the Two New Heys, the Great 
 Hey, the Pasture, the Boon Low Side, the Little Field, and 35 
 falls of ground on the west of the Meadow Shoot close, amounting 
 to about 14 acres, and situated in Layton, "for the above-named 
 pious use ; and it was agreed, that when any three of the five 
 trustees, or six of any eight which should hereafter be chosen, 
 should happen to die, the survivors should convey the premises to 
 eight new trustees to be chosen, two out of each of the respective 
 townships of Layton, Warbreck, Bispham, and Norbreck, by the 
 consent of the major part of the inhabitants of those townships, 
 and that the said trustees should from time to time employ the 
 rents for and towards the maintenance and benefit of an able and 
 learned schoolmaster, to teach at the school at Bispham." 1 In 
 1817, Thomas Elston, and George Hodgson, of Layton, Robert 
 Bonny, and William Bonny, of Warbreck, William Butcher 
 junior, and James Tinkler, of Bispham, and Thomas Wilson, and 
 Joseph Hornby, of Norbreck, were appointed trustees at a public 
 meeting convened by William Bamber and William Butcher, the 
 two surviving trustees. The newly elected governors were directed 
 "to permit the dwelling-house and school to be used as a residence 
 for the schoolmaster and a public school for the instruction of the 
 children of the parish of Bispham-with-Norbreck, in reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, English grammar, and the principles of the 
 English religion, gratuitously, as had been heretofore done, and to 
 hold the residue of the premises upon the trust mentioned in the 
 
 I. Charity Commissioners' Report.
 
 306 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 last deed." 1 The commissioner who visited the school in 1868 
 remarked : " The building is an old house, through whose 
 thatched roof the rain penetrates in winter, dropping all over the 
 desks, and gathering in pools upon the floor ; the room is very 
 small, 30^ by 14^ feet and 7^ feet high to the spring of the roof, 
 and the air being so foul that I was obliged to keep the door open 
 while examining the children." The use of the dilapidated 
 structure here alluded to has been discontinued, and the scholars 
 assemble in a room in the Temperance Hall until a fresh school- 
 house has been erected. 
 
 LAYTON-WITH-WARBRECK is the second of the two townships 
 comprised in the ancient parish of Biscopham or Bispham. 
 The Butlers, barons of Warrington, were the earliest lords of 
 Layton. In 1251, Robert Botiler, or Butler, obtained a charter 
 for a market and fair to be held in " his manor of Latton." The 
 estate descended in the same family with some interruptions, until 
 the reign of Henry VIII., when it was sold by Sir Thomas Butler 
 to John Brown, of London, who on his part disposed of it, in 1553, 
 to Thomas Fleetwood. The manor was retained by the Fleetwoods 
 up to the time of the late Sir. P. Hesketh Fleetwood, of Rossall, 
 by whom it was conveyed, through purchase, to the Cliftons, of 
 Lytham. The following abstract from the title deed touching the 
 transfer of the property from John Brown to Thomas Fleetwood 
 will not be without interest to the reader : 
 
 " By Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, bearing date the igth day 
 of March, in the first year of the reign of Queen Mary. After reciting that Sir 
 Thomas Butler, Knight, was seized in fee of the Mannour of Layton, otherwise 
 Great Layton, with the Appurtenances, in the county of Lancaster, and that his 
 estate, title, and interest therein by due course of Law, came to King Henry the 
 Eighth, who entered thereon and was seized in fee thereof, and being so seized 
 did by his letters patents under the seal of his Duchy at Lancaster, bearing date 
 the $th day of April, in the thirty-fourth year of his Reign, (amongst other things) 
 give, grant, and restore unto the said Sir Thomas Butler, his heirs, and Assigns, the 
 said Mannour and its Appurtenances, by virtue whereof the said Sir Thomas 
 Butler entered and was seized in fee thereof, and granted the same to John Brown, 
 Citizen and Mercer of London, his heirs and assigns, and that Brown entered and 
 was seized thereof in fee, and granted and sold the same to Thomas Fleetwood, 
 Esq., his heirs and Assigns, and that the said Thomas Fleetwood entered thereon 
 and was at that time seized in fee thereof. And further reciting that the said Sir 
 Thomas Butler held and enjoyed the said Mannour, with its Appurtenances, from 
 
 I. Charity_Commissioners' Report.
 
 LAYTON-WITH-WARBRECK. 307 
 
 the time of making said Grant until he sold and conveyed the same to the said 
 Brown without disturbance, and that the said Brown held the same until he sold 
 and conveyed to the said Thomas Fleetwood without disturbance, and that the said 
 Thomes Fleetwood had held and enjoyed the same for near four years without 
 disturbance, and was then seized in fee thereof. But because it had been doubted 
 whether the said Letters Patent and Grant made by King Henry the Eighth to 
 Sir Thomas Butler were good and valid in the Law, because they were under the 
 Seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, and not under the Great Seal, and because it 
 appeared unto her said Majesty, that the said King Henry the Eighth, her Father, 
 had promised that the said Sir Thomas Butler, should have the said Grant either 
 under the Great Seal or the seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, She willing to perform 
 her Father's promise and to remove all doubts, and for greater security of the said 
 Mannour, unto the said Thomas Fleetwood and his heirs, and in consideration of 
 the faithful services done by the said Thomas Fleetwood to her said Father, and 
 to her Brother King Edward the Sixth, and to her, did give, grant, and confirm 
 unto the said Thomas Fleetwood, his heirs and assigns, the Mannour of Layton, 
 otherwise Great Layton, with its rights, members, and Appurtenances, in the said 
 county of Lancaster, and all and singular the Messuages, Houses, Buildings, Tofts, 
 Cottages, Lands, Tenements, Meadows, Feedings, Pastures, &c. &c. c., Fishing, 
 Wrecks of the Sea, Woods, Underwoods, &c. &c. &c., commodities, emoluments and 
 Hereditaments whatsoever, with their Appurtenances, situate, lying, and being in 
 the Vi.ll, Fields, or Hamlets of Layton, otherwise Great Layton, aforesaid, which 
 were of the said Thomas Butler, and which the said John Brown afterwards sold 
 to the said Thomas Fleetwood as aforesaid, To hold the same unto the said 
 Thomas Fleetwood his heirs and assigns for ever." 
 
 Reverting to the market and fair above-mentioned we find that 
 in 1292 Sir William le Botiler was called upon to show upon what 
 right he laid claim to free warren in Layton, and two other places. 
 In proving his case, the knight stated that his privileges extended 
 to markets, fairs, and assize of bread and beer, in addition to which 
 he affirmed that wreck of the sea had been the hereditary rights of 
 his ancestors from the accession of William the Conqueror. The 
 jury acknowledged the title of Sir William in each instance, 
 ordaining that the same markets, fairs, etc., should continue to be 
 held or exercised as aforetime. It would appear that the market 
 took place each week on Wednesday, the chief merchandise offered 
 for sale being most likely cattle and smallware. There are now 
 no remnants of the market, which must at one era have been an 
 assembly of no mean importance, beyond the names of the market- 
 house and the market-field. The cross and stocks have also 
 succumbed to the lapse of years, the latter being a matter of 
 tradition only, with all, even to the oldest inhabitant. 
 
 In 1767 a petition was presented to the House of Parliament,
 
 308 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 setting forth that within the manor of Layton and parishes of 
 Poulton and Bispham there was situated an extensive tract of land 
 containing about 2,000 acres, called Layton Hawes, and begging 
 on the part of those concerned, for permission to enclose the whole 
 of the common. The document states " that Fleetwoocl Hesketh, 
 Esquire, is Lord of the Manor of Layton aforesaid ; and Edmund 
 Starkie, Esquire, is Impropriator of the Great Tythes arising within 
 that part of the Township of Marton called Great Marton, within 
 the said Manor of Layton and Parish of Poulton, and of One 
 Moiety of the Great Tythes arising in that part of the Township 
 of Bispham called Great Bispham, within the said Manor and 
 Parish of Bispham ; and Thomas Cross, Esquire, and others, his 
 partners, are proprietors of the other Moiety of the Great Tythes 
 arising within Great Bispham aforesaid ; and Ashton Werden, 
 Clerk, present Incumbent of the Parish Church of Bispham afore- 
 said, and his Successors for the time being, of the Great Tythes, 
 arising within the Township of Lay ton- with- Warbreck, within the 
 said Manor and Parish of Bispham. Also that the said Fleetwood 
 Hesketh, Thomas Clifton, and other Owners and Proprietors of 
 divers ancient Farms, situate within the Manor of Layton, and the 
 towns of Great Marton, Little Marton, Black Pool, and Bispham, 
 have an exclusive Right to turn and depasture their Beasts, Sheep, 
 and other Commovable Cattle, in and upon the said Waste or 
 Common, called Layton Hawes, at all Times of the Year ; and the 
 Parties interested are willing and desirous that the said Waste or 
 Common should be inclosed, allotted and divided, and therefore pray 
 that the said Waste or Common called Layton Hawes, lying 
 within the Manor of Layton, maybe divided, set out, and allotted 
 by Commissioners, to be appointed for that purpose and their 
 Successors, in such manner, and subject to such rules, orders, 
 regulations, and directions, as may be thought necessary." Leave 
 to carry out the object contained in the prayer was granted to the 
 petitioners, and within a comparatively short time the work of 
 dividing and apportioning the soil accomplished. 
 
 The greater part of the township of Layton-with-Warbreck 
 being now absorbed in the borough of Blackpool, to which the 
 ensuing chapter will be devoted, there is little further to notice 
 beyond the ancient seats of the families of Rigby and Veale. 
 Layton Hall was probably the residence of the Butlers, of Layton,
 
 LA YTON- WITH- WARBRECK. 309 
 
 previous to the opening of the seventeenth century, when it was 
 sold to Edward Rigby, of Burgh ; at least that gentleman was the 
 first of the Rigbys whose Inq. post mortem disclosed that he held 
 possessions in Layton. The Hall remained in the ownership and 
 tenancy of the Rigbys until the lifetime of Sir Alexander Rigby, 
 who married Alice, the daughter of Thomas Clifton, of Lythatn, 
 and died about I yoo. 1 The original edifice, \vhich was taken down 
 and a farm-house erected on the site about one century ago, was a 
 massive gabled building. At the bottom of the main staircase 
 was a gate, or grating, of iron, the whole of the interior of the 
 Hall being fitted with oak panels, etc., in a very antique style. 
 
 Whinney Heys was held by the Veales from the time of Francis 
 Veale, living in 1570, until the death of John Veale, about two 
 hundred years later, when it passed to Edward Fleetwood, of 
 Rossall Hall, who had married the sister and heiress of John 
 Veale. 2 The Hall of Whinney Heys was embosomed in trees and 
 presented nothing of special moment to the eye, being simply a 
 large rough-cast country building of an early type. It was 
 partially taken down many years since and converted to farming 
 uses. 
 
 "The village affords," says Mr. Thornber, 3 "an example of 
 covetousness seldom equalled. John Bailey, better known by 
 the name of the Layton miser, resided in a cottage near the 
 market-house. His habits were most frugal, enduring hunger 
 and privation to hoard up his beloved pelf. Once, during every 
 summer, his store was exposed to the beams of the sun, to undergo 
 purification, and he might be seen, on that occasion, with a loaded 
 gun, seated in the midst of his treasure, guarding it with the eyes 
 of Argus, from the passing intruder. Notwithstanding all this 
 vigilance, upwards of ^"700 was stolen from his hoard ; and this 
 ignorant old man journeyed to some distance to consult the wise 
 man in order to regain it ; his manoeuvre to avoid the income-tax 
 also failed, for although he converted his landed property into 
 guineas, concealing them in his house, and then pleaded that he 
 possessed no income, but a capital only, the law compelled him to 
 pay his due proportion. In the midst of his savings, death smote 
 
 1. See ' Rigby of Layton Hall,' in Chapter vi. 
 
 2. See ' Veale of Whinney Heys,' in Chapter vi. 
 
 3. History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood.
 
 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 this wretched being, and even then his ruling passion was strong 
 in the very agony of departing nature. His gold watch, the only 
 portion of his property which remained unbequeathed, hung 
 within his reach ; his greedy eye was riveted upon it ; no he could 
 not part with that dear treasure and, with an expiring effort, he 
 snatched it from the head of his bed, and it remained clenched in 
 his hand and convulsed fingers long after warmth had forsaken his 
 frame. Alas ! His hidden store, all in gold, weighing 65^, was 
 discovered at the close of a tedious search, in a walled up window, 
 to which the miser had had access from without, and was carried 
 home in a malt sack, a purse not often used for such a purpose."
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 BLACKPOOL. 
 
 [LACKPOOL is situated in the township of Layton- 
 with-Warbreck, and occupies a station on the west 
 coast, about midway between the estuaries of the 
 rivers Ribble and Wyre. The watering-place of 
 to-day with its noble promenade, elegant piers, handsome hotels, 
 and princely terraces, forms a wonderful and pleasing contrast to 
 the meagre group of thatched cabins which once reared their 
 lowly heads near the peaty pool, whose dark waters gave rise 
 to the name of the town. This pool, which was located at the 
 south end of Blackpool, is stated to have been half a mile in 
 breadth, and was due to the accumulation of black, or more 
 correctly speaking, chocolate-coloured waters, 1 from Marton Mere 
 and the turf fields composing the swampy region usually designated 
 the " Moss." It remained until the supplies were cut off by 
 diverting their currents towards other and more convenient 
 outlets, when its contents gradually decreased, finally leaving no 
 trace of their former site beyond a small streamlet, which now 
 discharges itself with the flows of Spendike into the sea, opposite 
 the point where the Lytham Road branches from the promenade. 
 The principal portion of the town stands a little removed from the 
 edge of a long line of cliffs, whose altitude, trifling at first, 
 considerably increases as they travel northwards ; and from that 
 broad range of frontage streets and houses in compact masses 
 
 I. The following is extracted from a paper, written by Mr. Henry Moon, of 
 Kirkham, about 1783, and refers to this pool : " The liquid is of a chocolate or 
 liver colour, as all water must be which passes through a peaty soil, so that the 
 place might, with as much propriety, bear the name of Liver-pool, as Black-pool.' 1
 
 312 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 run backwards towards the country, covering an annually 
 extending area. 
 
 One of the oldest and most interesting relics of antiquity is still 
 preserved in the Fox Hall Hotel, or Vaux Hall, as it is sometimes, 
 but we opine, for reasons stated hereafter, incorrectly written, 
 although its name, site, and long cobble wall are nearly the only 
 mementoes that time and change have failed to remove. It was 
 here in the reign of Charles II. that Edward, the son of the gallant 
 and loyal Sir Thomas Tyldesley who was slain at the battle of 
 Wigan-lane in 1651, having been led to expect a grant of the 
 lands of Layton Hawes, or Heys Side, from the king, after the 
 restoration, in return for his own and his father's staunch adherence 
 to the royal cause, built a small sequestered residence as a summer 
 retreat for his family. Modest and unpretending as the dimensions 
 appear to have been, no doubt at that time it was regarded as a 
 stately mansion, and looked upon with becoming respect and 
 admiration by the inhabitants of the few clay-built and rush-roofed 
 huts which were scattered around it. The house itself was a 
 three gabled structure with a species of tower, affording an 
 extensive survey over the neighbouring country ; there were four 
 or five rooms on each story, and one wing of the building was 
 fitted up and used as a chapel, the officiating priest being most 
 probably the Rev. W. Westby, the " W. W." of the diary kept by 
 Thomas Tyldesley during the years he resided there. The chapel 
 portion of the old house was at a later period, when the remainder, 
 after experiencing various fortunes, had fallen into decay, converted 
 into a cottage. Over the chief entrance Edward had inscribed 
 the words " Seris factura Nepotibus," the motto of an order of 
 Knighthood, called the Royal Oak, which Charles II. contemplated 
 establishing when first he regained his throne, but afterwards for 
 certain reasons 1 altered his mind, as he also appears to have done 
 in regard to the Hawes property, for it never passed into the 
 possession of the Tyldesleys by royal favour, or in any other way. 
 A fox secured by a chain was allowed to ramble for a short distance 
 in front of the doorway, and whether the presence of that animal, 
 together with the use of the Hall as a hunting seat, as well as a 
 summer retreat, originated its name, or its first title was Vaux, 
 
 I. For a list of the Knights of the Royal Oak, and other matters concerning 
 that Order see page 72.
 
 BLACKPOOL. 313 
 
 and by an easy and simple process of change became altered to 
 Fox, the reader must decide for himself ; but after he has perused 
 the following extract from the Tyldesley Diary, in which the 
 priest already mentioned is alluded to as " W : W.," he will, we 
 venture to think, have little difficulty in concluding that the 
 cognomen Vaux is merely a modern adaptation when applied to 
 this Hall : 
 
 " May 14, 1712. Left Lan r about ffive ; p d 3d. ffor a shooe at Thurnham 
 Cocking, having lost one. Thence to Great Singleton to prayers, and ffrom thence 
 to Litham to din r , ffound Mr. Blackborne, of Orford ; stayed there 1 1 at night. 
 Soe to ffox hall. Gave W : W : is." 
 
 Edward Tyldesley surrounded the Hall with a high and massive 
 wall of cobble stones, strongly cemented together, as a protection 
 very needful in those times of turmoil and persecution. A large 
 portion of the wall still exists in an almost perfect state of pre- 
 servation, notwithstanding the fierce gales and boisterous tides 
 that have, at intervals, battered against it for more than two 
 centuries. This, with the additional safeguards that nature had 
 provided by means of the broad sea to the front, a small stream 
 running over swampy, almost impassable, ground to the south, 
 and a pool 1 under its east side, rendered the house a secure 
 asylum for those who were constrained to practise 
 
 " The better part of valour," 
 
 and remove themselves for a season from the eyes of the world 
 and their enemies. Over the high gateway at the south end of the 
 enclosure he placed a stone carved with the crest of the Tyldesley 
 family a pelican feeding its young encircled by the loyal and 
 patriotic motto " Tantum valet amor regis et patrise" : for long 
 the roughly finished piece of carving was visible in the wall of an 
 outbuilding, from which, however, it has recently been removed. 
 Fox Hall was not without its plot of garden ground, a considerable 
 space, being devoted to the useful products, was known as the 
 kitchen garden, whilst another space was devoted to an apiary, 
 and flowers must be supposed to have been an accompanyment of 
 bees. It also boasted a bowling green and an ancient fig tree. 
 
 Thomas, the son of Edward Tyldesley, born in 1657, succeeded 
 to the family estates on the death of his father, and later married, 
 as his second wife, Mary, sister and co-heiress, with Elizabeth 
 
 I. Black-pool.
 
 314 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 Colley, of Sir Alexander Rigby, knt., of Layton Hall, High-sheriff 
 of the county of Lancashire in 1691, whose father had erected a 
 monument to the memory of Sir Thomas Tyldesley near the spot 
 where he was slain. 
 
 During the year 1690, when the dethroned monarch James 
 II. invaded Ireland in the hope of regaining his crown, 
 Thomas Tyldesley prepared a secret chamber for his reception 
 in the interior of the Hall. The closet or hiding-place was 
 afterwards known as the King's Cupboard. The Pretender, 
 also, was reported to have been concealed for some time within 
 Fox Hall, and although it is certain that this aspirant to the 
 British throne was never within its friendly walls, still the secret 
 recesses, called " priests' holes," with which it appears to have 
 been liberally provided, formed excellent refuges for the clergy 
 and other members of the Romish Church, who on the slightest 
 alarm were enclosed therein, and so secluded from the prying eyes 
 of their hostile countrymen until the danger had passed. These 
 latter incidents did not take place until after the decease of 
 Thomas Tyldesley, who died in 1715, shortly before the outbreak 
 of the rebellion, and was buried at Churchtown, near Garstang. 
 His son Edward, who succeeded him, was arrested for taking part 
 with the rebels, and escaped conviction and punishment only by 
 the mercy or sympathy of the jury, who after returning their 
 verdict of acquittal were severely censured by the presiding judge 
 for their incompetency and disaffection. Edward Tyldesley died 
 in I725- 1 At what date Fox Hall passed out of the hands of the 
 Tyldesleys, it is impossible to trace, but it is doubtful whether the 
 Edward here named ever resided there, as he is always described 
 as of Myerscough Lodge, another seat of the family. Mary 
 Tyldesley, the widow of his father, whom it will be remembered 
 he married as his second wife, was living there as owner in 1720, 
 and from that circumstance we must infer that the Blackpool 
 house was bequeathed to her by her husband Thomas Tyldesley, 
 and that the other portion only of the estates fell to Edward, the 
 son of his first marriage and his heir. Poverty seems to have 
 overtaken the family with rapid strides ; their different lands and 
 residences were either mortgaged or sold, and whether Fox Hall 
 
 I. See ' Tyldesley of Fox Hall ' in Chapter VI.
 
 BLACKPOOL. 315 
 
 descended to the children of Mary Tyldesley, or returned again 
 into the more direct line, it is certain that not many years after 
 the death of Thomas Tyldesley it had ceased to be one of their 
 possessions. 
 
 Thus, the annals of the founders of this solitary mansion carry 
 us back to the period between 1660 and 1685, that is from the 
 restoration to the death of Charles II., but certain entries in the 
 register of Bispham church show that there must have been 
 dwellings and a population, however thinly scattered, on the soil 
 anterior to that period, sometime during the sixteenth century, 
 and it was doubtless the descendants of these people who inhabited 
 the neighbourhood when Edward Tyldesley appeared upon the 
 scene and erected Fox Hall. The primitive structures forming 
 the habitations of these aborigines were built of clay, roughly 
 plastered on to wattles, and thatched with rushes more frequently 
 than straw, the whole fabric being supported on crooks driven 
 into the ground. About the epoch of Thomas Tyldesley drainage 
 and cultivation began to render the aspect of the country more 
 inviting, and fresh families were tempted to come down to the 
 coast and rear their humble abodes under the wing of the great 
 mansion, so that after a while a small hamlet of clustering huts 
 was formed. It is more than probable that the morals and 
 conduct of the dwellers in these huts were influenced in some way 
 or other by the sojourners at the Hall, but whether for good or 
 evil we are unable to say, as the time is now so hopelessly remote 
 and no records of their habits and doings are extant, so that in 
 the absence of any proof to the contrary, it is only fair and 
 charitable to surmise that their lives were as simple as their 
 surroundings 
 
 Whether the Tyldesleys were induced to locate themselves on 
 this spot solely by a prospect of possessing some of the territory 
 around, or were actuated also by a desire to have a retreat far 
 removed from the scenes of disturbance with which the different 
 factions were constantly vexing the land, is a matter of little 
 importance, but to their presence it was due that the natural 
 beauties of Blackpool were brought before the people at an early 
 date. There can be no doubt that the priests and others, who had 
 fled to the Hall as a harbour of refuge, would, on returning to 
 their own districts, circulate glowing and eulogistic accounts of
 
 316 BISPHAM PART Sit. 
 
 the place they had been visiting of the glorious beauty of the 
 sea, the endless stretch of level sands, and the bracing purity of 
 the breeze. In such manner a desire would readily be implanted 
 in the bosoms of their auditory to become personally acquainted 
 with the new land, which had created such a deep and favourable 
 impression on the minds of men, whose positions and education 
 warranted the genuineness of their statements and enhanced the 
 value of their opinions. There is one other circumstance worthy 
 to be mentioned as having in all likelihood aided considerably in 
 bringing the place into notice, and that is an annual race meeting, 
 held for long on Layton Hawes. The proximity of the site to the 
 residences of so many families of wealth and distinction, as the 
 Aliens of Rossall, the Westbys of Burn Hall, the Rigbys of Layton 
 Hall, the Veales of Whinney Heys, the Heskeths of Mains, the 
 Cliftons of Lytham, and the Tyldesleys of Blackpool, must have 
 rendered the assembly one of no mean importance, and we may 
 picture in our minds the gay and brilliant scene presented each 
 year on the outskirts of the present town, when our ancestors in 
 their antique and many-hued costumes congregated to witness the 
 contests of their favourite steeds, and the level turf echoed to the 
 fleet hoofs of the horses as the varied colours of their riders flashed 
 round the course. 
 
 Although these incidents must have greatly tended to give 
 publicity to Blackpool, its early advances towards popularity were 
 dilatory, but this is to be attributed rather to the unsettled state 
 of the times than to a tardy appreciation of its advantages by 
 those who had enjoyed them or heard them described. During 
 the reign of George I., 1714-1727, a mere sprinkling of visitors 
 seems to have been attracted each summer to the hamlet, but a 
 few years later, about 1735, they had become sufficiently numerous 
 to induce one Ethart a Whiteside to prepare a cottage specially 
 for their reception and entertainment. Common report whispers 
 that he was further prompted to the venture by being the 
 fortunate possessor of a wife whose skill in cookery far excelled 
 that of any of her neighbours, but be that as it may, whether he 
 espoused the Welsh maiden because her culinary accomplishments 
 were an additional recommendation to him in the sphere in which 
 he had embarked, or whether the lodging house was a cherished 
 dream only converted into a reality on their discovery after
 
 BLACKPOOL. 317 
 
 marriage, one thing is certain, his speculation prospered, and at 
 the end of fifty years he retired on what at that era was considered 
 a fortune. The house in which he had laboured for half a century 
 was situated in the fields now occupied by General Street and the 
 neighbouring houses, on the site of what not long ago was a ladies' 
 school ; in appearance, it was a very ordinary cottage with the 
 usual straw thatch, somewhat oblong in form and possessing few 
 attractions to tempt the stranger to prolong his stay, but in spite 
 of all its disadvantages, the fascination of the sea and the novelty 
 of the surroundings filled it with guests summer after summer. 
 This dwelling claims the honour of having been the first ever fitted 
 up and arranged as a lodging house in Blackpool. On the retirement 
 of Whiteside, who a few years afterwards died at Layton, it passed 
 into the hands of a noted aboriginal, called Tom the Cobbler, 
 who appears to have held more ambitious views than his 
 predecessor, and converted the cottage into an inn, or at least 
 embellished its exterior with a rude lettered sign, and procured a 
 license to supply exciseable commodities within. Those who had 
 been accustomed to the scrupulous care and cleanliness of 
 Whiteside and his thrifty wife, must have experienced a consider- 
 able shock from the eccentricities of the new proprietor ; each day 
 at the dinner hour he entered in working costume amongst the 
 assembled guests, and with grimy fingers produced from the depths 
 of his well rosined apron the allotted portion of bread for each. 
 How this peculiarity was appreciated by his visitors there are no 
 means of ascertaining, but as his dwelling did not develope in the 
 course of years into a modern and commodious hotel like the 
 other licensed houses which sprang up about that time and a little 
 later, we are inclined to fear that some internal mismanagement 
 caused its collapse. 
 
 In 1769 the whole hamlet comprised no more than twenty-eight 
 houses, or more correctly speaking hovels, for, with the exception 
 of four that had been raised to the dignity of slate roofs and a small 
 inn on the site of the present Clifton Arms Hotel, they were little 
 if any better. These were scattered widely apart along the beach, 
 and one of them standing on the ground now occupied by the 
 Lane Ends Hotel, and adjoining a small blacksmith's shed, was 
 a favourite resort of visitors in search of refreshment. Turf stacks 
 fronted almost every door, and the refuse of the household was
 
 3 i 8 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 either carelessly thrown forth or else accumulated in putrifying 
 heaps by the sides of the huts, so that nothing but their isolated 
 situations and the constant currents of pure air from the sea 
 sweeping over and around them could possibly have prevented 
 the outbreak of some infectious and fatal disorder. 
 
 Bonny's Hotel, then known as old Margery's, and standing in 
 the fields to the south, some distance from the sea, sprang up a 
 little anterior to this time and received its share of patronage ; 
 later it was converted into a boys' school and during recent years 
 has been divided into cottages, etc. The Gynn House, erected 
 northwards near the extremity or apex of a deep and wide fissure 
 in the cliffs, formed another popular haunt during the season ; the 
 landlord at that hostel created much amusement by his oddities, 
 and especially by his quaint method of casting up the reckoning 
 on a horse-block in front of the door and speeding the <( parting 
 guest" with " and Sir, remember the servants." A true 
 and remarkable anecdote is related about the old inn ; 
 sometime during the summer of 1833 a sudden and terrific 
 storm burst over the western coast of this island, many 
 vessels were lost and the shore off Blackpool was strewn with 
 the battered fragments of unfortunate ships, which had either 
 foundered in the deep or been dashed to pieces as they lay help- 
 lessly stranded on the outlying sandbanks. In the night as the gale 
 raged with its utmost fury, a Scotch sloop was beating off the 
 coast, vainly endeavouring to battle with the hurricane, and 
 driven by the force of wind and wave nearer and nearer to the 
 precipitous cliffs. When all hope had been abandoned and 
 destruction seemed inevitable, some thoughtful person placed a 
 lighted candle in the window of the Gynn House ; guided by this 
 faint glimmer, the vessel passed safely up the creek, and the 
 exhausted sailors were rescued from a dreadful death. Next 
 morning a sad and harrowing scene presented itself along the 
 coast ; no less than eleven vessels were lying within a short 
 distance of each other, with their torn rigging and shattered spars 
 hanging from their sides ; brigs, sloops, and schooners, the short 
 but fearful gale had left little of them beyond their damaged hulls. 
 Nor were these the only victims of the storm, for as the tide 
 receded to its lowest the masts of two others rose above the surface 
 of the water ; and during the next few days three large ships
 
 BLACKPOOL. 319 
 
 drifted past the town in an apparently waterlogged condition. 
 
 About that date, 1769, several heaps of mortar and other 
 building materials, lying on the road which separated the front of 
 the village from the edge of the cliffs, showed that more were 
 anxious to follow in the footsteps of Whiteside and his earlier 
 imitators. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the class of people who visited 
 Blackpool at that period from the charges made at Bonny's Hotel 
 and the Gynn, the two principal inns, for board and lodging ; at 
 the latter eightpence per day satisfied the modest demands of the 
 host, while at the former the sum of tenpence was exacted, with 
 a view no doubt of upholding its superior claims to respectability. 
 In drawing our conclusions from these facts we must bear in mind 
 that a shilling in those days represented much greater value than 
 it does at present, so that the charges may not have been really so 
 inadequate as they now appear. The village contained neither 
 shop nor store where the necessaries or luxuries of life, if such 
 things were ever dreamt of by the people, could be purchased, and 
 large 'quantities of provisions had to be laid in at one time. 
 Occasionally a sudden and unexpected influx of visitors occurred 
 inopportunely, when the larder was low, and as a consequence the 
 hungry guests were forced to wait, temporising with their 
 appetites as best they could, until a journey had been made to 
 Poulton and fresh supplies procured. 
 
 Ten years later the hamlet had grown somewhat in size, and 
 the annually increasing numbers who flocked to its shores showed 
 that its popularity was steadily gaining ground. Intercourse with 
 the world beyond their own limited circle seems, however, to have 
 had anything but an elevating or civilising effect upon the inhabi- 
 tants, for we find amongst them at that time a band of professed 
 atheists, whose blasphemous conduct called forth no rebuke or 
 opposition from the rest, but was quietly tolerated, if not indeed 
 approved. Each fortnight during the summer fairs were held on 
 the Sabbath to provide refreshment and amusement for the 
 visitors, who came in crowds to witness the magnificence of the 
 highest spring tides. These gatherings usually terminated in 
 disgraceful scenes of revelry and debauchery. Smuggling was 
 carried on between the coast opposite the Star-hills and the Isle 
 of Man, but never to a great extent or for any lengthened period.
 
 320 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 These huge mounds of sand, much more numerous than in 
 our day, formed excellent store-houses for the contraband goods, 
 generally spirits, which were packed in hampers, and so overlaid 
 with fish that their presence was never even suspected. The 
 illicit cargoes were brought across the channel in trading vessels, 
 from which they were landed by means of light open boats, and 
 at once secreted in the manner just indicated, until a suitable 
 opportunity occurred for their removal to one of the neighbour- 
 ing towns. The success attending these ventures induced the 
 smugglers to construct a sloop of their own, with the intention of 
 prosecuting so profitable a trade on a larger scale, but information 
 of their proceedings having been conveyed by some one to official 
 quarters, a detachment of soldiers was promptly despatched to put 
 an end to the nefarious practices. So thoroughly did these men 
 effect .their purpose, that, although no capture is recorded as 
 having taken place, the whole band was dispersed, and from that 
 date no more offences of this character have been known on the 
 coast. " 
 
 In 1788 the houses of Blackpool had increased to about thirty- 
 five, and these were arranged in an irregular line along the edge 
 of the cliffs ; the intervals between the habitations being with 
 few exceptions so wide that this small number stretched out from 
 north to south, over a distance of quite a mile. One group of six 
 was especially remarkable as presenting a more respectable and 
 modern exterior than any of the others, most of which still retained 
 a great deal of their original defective appearances, as though their 
 owners were unwilling or unable to adapt themselves and their 
 abodes to the improved state of things springing up around them. 
 The company during the busiest part of the season amounted to 
 about four hundred persons, and a news-room had been established 
 for their use in the small cottage, before mentioned, on the site of 
 the Lane Ends Hotel, the smith's shop adjoining having been 
 converted into a coffee-room and kitchen, at which a public 
 dinner was prepared each day during the summer, and served at 
 a dining-room erected across the way. There were now four 
 additional inns in the village, named respectively, Bailey's, For- 
 shaw's, Hull's, and the Yorkshire House. The first of these had 
 sprung up on the cliffs towards the north, and was kept by an 
 ancestor of its present proprietor ; the second was the nucleus
 
 BLACKPOOL. 321 
 
 from which has grown the Clifton Arms Hotel, whilst the third 
 stood on the site of the Royal Hotel. The roads leading to the 
 hamlet were in such an unfinished state that after heavy falls 
 of rain they could be travelled only with the greatest difficulty, 
 and often with considerable danger both to the vehicle and its 
 occupants ; so that under these circumstances most people 
 deemed it more prudent and expedient to perform the journey on 
 horseback, some of them in the pillion fashion usual at that 
 era. In an earlier part of this chapter we spoke of the troubled 
 state of the times and the unsettled and harassed condition of the 
 people as being the most probable causes why Blackpool was so 
 long neglected by many who must "have been well cognisant of its 
 beauties in the days of the Tyldesleys, and with equal probability 
 may we now conjecture that the dilapidated and frequently 
 unsafe state of the highways had a serious effect in preventing 
 numbers from visiting the place at this period. Regarding the 
 matter from another point of view, we are led to infer that the 
 four hundred composing the company of 1788, were people 
 who, either in search of health or recreation, had willingly under- 
 gone the discomforts of a dreary and sometimes hazardous journey 
 in order to make but a brief sojourn by the shores of Blackpool. 
 Here, then, there is evidence of the great estimation in which the 
 place was held at that early date by the dwellers in the inland 
 towns, and of the rapidity with which its good fame was increasing 
 and extending throughout a large section of the county. As may 
 be naturally supposed, the large influxes of visitors and their 
 turn-outs during the height of the season very much overtaxed the 
 accommodation provided for them by the inhabitants, but that 
 difficulty was easily surmounted by turning the horses loose into 
 a field until their services were again required, whilst the surplus 
 health or pleasure-seekers were lodged in barns or any out- 
 buildings sufficiently protected from the weather. The village 
 possessed two bowling greens of diminutive size, one of which 
 occupied the land at the south-west corner of Lytham Street 
 whilst the other was in connection with the Yorkshire House, 
 afterwards the York Hotel, and since purchased by a company of 
 gentlemen, who razed it to the ground in order to erect more 
 suitable buildings on the site. There was also a theatre, if that 
 will bear the name which during nine months of the year existed
 
 322 BTSPHAM PARISH. 
 
 under the more modest title of a barn ; rows of benches were 
 placed one behind another, and separated into a front and back 
 division, designated respectively pit and gallery. This house is 
 said to have been capable of holding six pounds, the prices of 
 admission being one and two shillings. At that period bathing 
 vans were scarce, the majority of bathers making use of boxes, 
 which were placed for their convenience along the shore, and as 
 the mode in which they secured privacy and a proper separation 
 of the sexes during indulgence in this pastime was both ingenious 
 and entertaining, we will give a brief sketch of their arrange- 
 ments. At a certain hour each day, varying according to the 
 changes of the tide, a bell was rung when the water had risen 
 almost to its highest. On hearing the signal, the whole of the 
 gentlemen, however agreeably occupied, were compelled, under a 
 penalty of one bottle of wine for each offence, to vacate the shore 
 and betake themselves to their several hotels or apartments, whilst 
 the ladies, after sufficient time had elapsed for any stray member 
 of the sterner sex to get safely and securely housed, emerged 
 singly or in small groups from the different doorways, and, hurry- 
 ing down to the edge of the sea, quickly threw off their loose 
 bathing robes, and in a moment were sporting amid the waves 
 like a colony of nereids or mermaids. When these had finished 
 their revels and duly retired to their homes, the bell rang a second 
 time, and the males, released from durance vile, made their way 
 to the beach, and were not long in following the example of their 
 fair predecessors. 
 
 Mr. Hutton, in his small pamphlet descriptive of Blackpool in 
 1788, says : "The tables here are well supplied ; if I say too well 
 for the price I may please the innkeepers, but not their guests. 
 Shrimps are plentiful ; five or six people make it their business to 
 catch them at low water, and produce several gallons a day, which 
 satisfy all but the catchers. They excel in cooking, nor is it 
 surprising, for forty pounds and her maintenance is given to a 
 cook for the season only. Though salt water is brought in plenty 
 to their very doors, yet this is not the case with fresh. The place 
 yields only one spring for family use ; and the water is carried by 
 some half a mile, but is well worth carrying, for I thought it the 
 most pleasant I ever tasted." 
 
 The prices at the inns and boarding-houses had risen as the
 
 BLACKPOOL. 323 
 
 accommodation they offered had improved in quality and 
 increased in extent, so that it was no longer possible to subsist on 
 the daily expenditure of a few pence as in former times. In 
 hotels of the first class y>. qd. per day, exclusive of liquors, was 
 the charge for board and lodging ; dinner and supper being 
 charged is. each to the casual visitor, and tea or breakfast 8d. 
 In those of the second-class and some of the lodging-houses, 
 2s. 6d. per day covered everything with the exception of tea, 
 coffee, sugar, and liquors ; whilst the smaller lodging-houses, 
 generally crowded with visitors who were either willing or 
 compelled to content themselves with the more frugal fare 
 provided, charged only is. 6d. per day for each guest. 
 
 A promenade, six yards wide, carpeted with grass and separated 
 from the road by white wooden railings, ran along the verge of 
 the sea bank for a distance of two hundred yards, and was 
 ornamented at one end with an alcove, whilst the other terminated 
 abruptly at a rough clayey excavation, afterwards used as a brick 
 croft. " Here," says the topographer already quoted, " is a full 
 display of beauty and of fashion. Here the eye faithful to its 
 trust, conveys intelligence from the heart of one sex to that of the 
 other ; gentle tumults rise in the breast ; intercourse opens in 
 tender language ; the softer passions are called into action ; 
 Hymen approaches, kindles his torch, and cements that union 
 which continues for life. Here may be seen folly flushed with 
 money, shoe-strings, and a phaeton and four. Keen envy sparkles 
 in the eye at the display of a new bonnet. The heiress of eighteen 
 trimmed in black, and a hundred thousand pounds, plentifully 
 squanders her looks of disdain, or the stale Belle, who has outstood 
 her market, offers her fading charms upon easy terms?' 
 
 This parade was extended some years later by means of a bridge 
 thrown from its south extremity over the road leading down to 
 the shore, and on to the cliffs of the opposite side. Riding or 
 walking, for those who were not fortunate enough to possess a 
 horse or equipage, on the sands or promenade, and excursions into 
 the country as far as the " Number 3 Hotel," where many of the 
 company amused themselves with drinking " fine ale," were the 
 favourite pastimes during the day, varied, however, with an 
 occasional practice at the butts for bow and arrow shooting, the 
 diurnal bathe, and contests on the bowling greens, to which we
 
 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 have already alluded ; in the evening or during unfavourable 
 weather cards and backgammon, or the theatre, were the means 
 with which the visitors beguiled the wearisomeness of the quiet 
 hours. The " Number 3 Hotel " above-mentioned stood behind 
 the present building bearing that name, at the corner of the 
 Layton and Marton roads. 
 
 Mr. Hutton relates several somewhat startling instances of the 
 curative properties of the sea at Blackpool ; amongst them that of 
 a man, by trade a shoemaker and a resident of Lancaster, who 
 having become, through some unexplained cause, totally blind, 
 visited this watering-place for six weeks, during which he drank 
 large quantities of the marine element, daily bathing his eyes in the 
 same, and at the end of that time had so far recovered his sight 
 that he could readily distinguish objects at a distance of two miles. 
 Another case was that of a gentleman, who, having been seized 
 with a paralytic attack, which deprived him of the use of one 
 side, was ordered by his physican to Bath, but finding, after a fair 
 trial, that he derived no benefit from the combined action of its 
 climate and waters, he determined to travel northwards and make 
 a short sojourn at Blackpool. Whilst there the invalid was daily 
 carried into and out of the sea, and even after this process had been 
 only twice repeated he had lost the violent pains in his joints, 
 recovered his sleep, and in some considerable degree the muscular 
 power of the affected side, but of his further progress there is 
 no account. 
 
 The following lines, written by a visitor a few years after the 
 incidents we have just narrated, also show in what great estimation 
 the climate and sea of the village were held as remedial and 
 invigorating agents : 
 
 " Of all the gay places of public resort, 
 At Chatham, or Scarbro', at Bath, or at Court, 
 There's none like sweet Blackpool, of which I can boast, 
 So charming the sands, so healthful the coast ; 
 Rheumatics, scorbutics, and scrofulous kind, 
 Hysterics and vapours, disorders of mind, 
 By drinking and bathing you're made quite anew, 
 
 As thousands have proved and know to be true." 
 
 ****** 
 
 At this time Blackpool was not only without a church, but in 
 the whole place there was no room where the inhabitants or
 
 BLACKPOOL, 325 
 
 visitors were accustomed to assemble together for divine worship, 
 and it was not until 1821 that the sacred edifice of St. John was 
 completed and opened. In 1789 a subscription was started for 
 the purpose of erecting a church, but was soon closed for want of 
 support, barely one hundred pounds having been promised. 
 Some years later a large room at one of the hotels was used as a 
 meeting house on each Sabbath, the officiating ministers being 
 obtained alternately from Bispham and Poulton, and occasionally 
 from amongst the visitors themselves. 
 
 In 1799, the poorer inhabitants of Blackpool and its neighbour- 
 hood suffered severely, in common with others, from a failure in the 
 grain and potato harvests. They, like most members of the 
 working classes at that date, relied almost entirely upon good and 
 plentiful crops of these important articles of diet, to furnish them 
 with the means of sustenance throughout the year, so that a small 
 yield, raising the prices exorbitantly, became a matter of serious 
 moment to them, and in most instances, meant little less than 
 ruin or starvation. After the cold and inclement approach of 
 winter had banished the last stranger from their midst, the sums 
 demanded for their accustomed provisions soon swallowed up the 
 little these people had saved during the summer, and such 
 occasional trifles as could be earned on the farm lands around 
 whenever extra services were required. Their condition, deplorable 
 from the first, gradually grew worse, until, reduced to the deepest 
 distress, they became dependent for the bare necessaries of existence 
 upon the charity of those whose positions, although seriously 
 affected by the failure, were not placed in such great jeopardy as 
 their own. After this precarious and pitiable state of things had 
 lasted some time without any signs of amelioration, and it seemed 
 difficult, if not impossible, to conjecture how the remaining months 
 were to be provided for until the returning season brought fresh 
 assistance to their homes, an unexpected, and, to them, providential 
 occurrence relieved their sufferings. A large vessel laden with 
 peas was wrecked upon the coast, and the cargo, washing out of 
 the hold, was strewn upon the beach, supplying them with 
 abundance of food until better days shone upon the impoverished 
 village once more. 
 
 Reviewing the appearance of Blackpool at the opening of the 
 nineteenth century we find that the whole hamlet was comprised
 
 ?jo BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 between the Gynn to the north, and the ruins of the once 
 aristocratic mansion of Fox Hall to the south. The houses with the 
 exception of Bonny's Hotel and a few scattered cottages, had all 
 been erected along the sea bank, the great bulk lying to the south 
 of Forshaw's Hotel, and amounting to about thirty, whilst the 
 space north of that spot as far as Bailey's Hotel was only occupied 
 by one or two dwellings of very humble dimensions. These with 
 the Gynn and a few habitations standing south of it on Fumbler's 
 Hill, made up the number of houses to about forty. A 
 detailed description of the different erections at that epoch is 
 impossible, but we may state generally that those of modern origin, 
 especially the hotels, although unpretending externally, were so 
 arranged and provided that the comforts of the guests were fully 
 insured, and in every way the accommodation they offered was 
 immensely superior to any that could have been obtained thirty 
 years before. The few old buildings that still remained had for 
 the most part undergone considerable alterations, and been rendered 
 more suitable for the purposes to which they were now devoted. 
 
 In 1801 the first official census of the inhabitants of the township 
 of Layton-cum-Warbreck, in which Blackpool is situated, was 
 taken, and furnished a total of 473 persons. 
 
 At that period many people attracted by the rising reputation of 
 the watering-place were anxious to invest their capital in the 
 purchase of land by its shores, and in the erection of houses 
 adapted for the reception of visitors, but the proprietors of the 
 hotels were the owners of a large portion of the soil, and fearing 
 that the introduction of substantial and commodious apartments 
 would interfere with the patronage of their inns, refused to dispose 
 of any part of their lands, or at least placed such obstacles in the 
 way of the would-be purchasers that bargains were seldom 
 concluded. Had it not been for the energy and foresight displayed 
 by one resident, Mr. H. Banks, who built several cottages and 
 fitted them up with every convenience and requisite for summer 
 dwellings, the prosperity of the village would have received a 
 sudden check and doubtless a serious injury, for the provision 
 made would have fallen far short of the requirements of an ever- 
 increasing throng of visitors, and thus repeated disappointments 
 would in the end have led to disgust and the absence of many 
 when the following seasons rolled round. The probability of such
 
 BLACKPOOL. 327 
 
 a disastrous result seems at length to have been realised by the 
 landlords themselves, who discovered that the plan to enlarge their 
 own business was not to drive visitors away from the place by 
 limiting the accommodation, but to offer them every inducement 
 to come, and to have a sufficiency of houses ready to receive them 
 when they had arrived. Under this new and more liberal 
 impression greater facilities were offered both to purchasers of land 
 and builders, so that the early error into which they had fallen 
 was rectified before any great amount of harm had been done. 
 
 During the summer of 1808 the Preston volunteers were on 
 duty at Blackpool for two weeks, and on the 4th of June cele- 
 brated the seventieth birthday of His Majesty George III. with 
 many demonstrations of loyalty and rejoicing. 
 
 The small town now boasted five good class hotels, which, in 
 their order from north to south, were named Dickson's, Forshaw's, 
 Bank's, Simpson's, and the Yorkshire House. Simpson's, formerly 
 Hull's, is now the Royal Hotel ; Bank's the Land Ends Hotel, and 
 Dickson's was the one already mentioned as Bailey's Hotel. 
 "Adjoining Forshaw's Hotel," writes a gentleman who visited 
 Blackpool about that date ; " there are two or three houses of 
 genteel appearance, compared with the many small cottages 
 leading thence to the street, which is the principal entrance from 
 Preston. There is a promenade with an arbour at the end of it, 
 and beyond it nearer to Dixon's Hotel stands a cottage used as a 
 warm bath. Beyond Dixon's there is a public road where two 
 four-wheeled vehicles can pass each other." At a later period 
 both the road and cottage alluded to had succumbed to the 
 unchecked power of the advancing sea ; and here it will be con- 
 venient to mention other and much more serious encroachments 
 made by the same element in the course of years now long gone 
 by. We can scarcely conceive, when gazing on the indolent deep 
 in its placid mood, that at any time it could have been possessed 
 with such a demon of fury and destruction as to swallow up 
 broad fields, acres upon acres, of the foreland of the Fylde, and in 
 its blind anger sweep away whole villages, levelling the house 
 walls and uprooting the very foundations, so that no trace or 
 vestige of their former existence should remain. History, how- 
 ever, points to a hamlet called Waddum Thorp, which once stood 
 off the coast of Lytham, fenced from the sea by a broad area
 
 328 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 of green pasture-land, now known as the Horse-bank ; and in 
 more recent years a long range of star-hills ran southward from 
 opposite the Royal Hotel, protecting a highway, fields, and four 
 or five cottages from the waves, whilst a little further north a 
 boat-house afterwards a shoemaker's shop, stood in the centre of a 
 grassy plot, all of which have vanished, and their sites are now 
 covered and obliterated by the sand and pebbles of the beach. 
 The several roads, which had been formed at different seasons, 
 leading over the cliffs to Bispham, were sapped away and 
 destroyed so rapidly by the incursions of the tide that one more 
 inland and circuitous was obliged to be made. On the sands, 
 about three miles to the north of Blackpool, and so far distant 
 from the shore that it is only visible when the water has receded 
 to its lowest ebb, stands the famous Penny-stone. Near the spot 
 marked by the huge boulder, tradition affirms that in days of yore 
 there existed a small road-side inn, celebrated far and wide for its 
 strong ale, which was retailed at one penny per pot, and that 
 whilst the thirsty traveller was refreshing himself within, and 
 listening to the gossip of " mine host," his horse was tethered to 
 an iron ring fixed in this stone. It is stated that documents 
 relating to the ancient hostelry are still preserved, but as the 
 assertion is unsupported by any evidence of its veracity, we are 
 prohibited from accepting it as conclusive proof that the inn owes 
 its reputed existence to something more substantial than the 
 lively imaginations of our ancestors. There is, certainly, one 
 thing which gives some colouring of possibility, or perhaps, out of 
 veneration for the antiquity of the tradition, we may advance a 
 step and say, reasonable probability, to the story, and that is 
 the historic fact, that at no very great distance from the locality 
 there stood a village called Singleton Thorp until 1555, when it 
 was submerged and annihilated by a sudden and fearful irruption 
 of the sea. Several other boulders of various sizes are lying about 
 in the neighbourhood of Penny-stone, bearing the names of Old 
 Mother's Head, Bear and Staff, Carlin and its Colts, Higher and 
 Lower Jingle, each of which is covered in a greater or less degree 
 with shells, corallines, anemonies, and other treasures of the 
 deep. 
 
 In 1811 the census of the persons residing in the township 
 before specified, was again taken, and amounted to 580, showing
 
 BLACKPOOL. 329 
 
 an increase of 107 in the number of inhabitants during the 
 preceding ten years. 
 
 The year 1816 is remarkable as being the first in which public 
 coaches ran regularly between Preston and Blackpool. Previously 
 the chief communication between the village and outlying places 
 had been by means of pack-horses, carts, and private vehicles, with 
 only occasional coaches. 
 
 The following description of Blackpool about the year 1816 
 was furnished by one of its oldest inhabitants, and, although 
 unavoidably entailing some repitition of what has been mentioned 
 before, will, we trust, be interesting in itself, as well as useful in 
 confirming the earlier parts of this history, which have neces- 
 sarily been compiled from previous writings on the subject, and 
 not from the evidence of living witnesses. The Gynn House 
 formed the most northerly boundary of the village, and, passing 
 from that hostelry in a southerly direction, the next dwelling 
 arrived at was Hill-farm, which still exists, and is at present used 
 as a laundry for the Imperial Hotel. A few gabled cottages stood 
 on the eminence called Fumbler's Hill, near the site of Carleton 
 Terrace : 
 
 " Old Ned, and Old Nanny, at Fumbler's hill, 
 Will board you and lodge you e'en just as you will." 1 
 
 These cottages faced the south, as indeed did all the other 
 dwellings at that time, with the exception of two or three of the 
 hotels and a few of the more recent buildings. Bailey's, or rather 
 Dickson's, Hotel was built in blocks of two and three stories, and 
 possessed one bay window. It must be remembered that the 
 stories of that day were much lower than those with which 
 modern improvements have made us familiar. The next hotel 
 was Forshaw's, similar in its construction, but unadorned with 
 even one bay window ; between these two large inns were two or 
 three small thatched, cottages. Continuing our survey southwards 
 were Dobson's Row, consisting of several slated cottages, with a 
 circulating library and billiard room ; and the Lane Ends Hotel, 
 containing three bay-windows, built, like the others, in 
 parts of two and three stories each. In Lane Ends Street there 
 
 I. A couplet extracted from some lines descriptive of Blackpool and its 
 accommodation, etc., in 1790, written by a visitor about that date.
 
 330 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 was a general shop and lodging house combined, tenanted by a 
 person named Nickson. The Royal, then commonly called 
 the Houndhill Hotel, comes next in order, and a little distance 
 behind it on the rising ground was a small thatched cottage for 
 the reception of visitors. South Beach contained only a few 
 thatched cottages, and on the site of the present Wellington Hotel 
 stood a circular pinfold, built of cobble stone. Considerably west 
 of the present line of frontage, and south of the pinfold, stood two 
 rows of cottages almost on the edge of the shore ; the last of these 
 habitations was washed away or pulled down in 1827. Beyond the 
 Yorkshire House and its bowling green was the dilapidated 
 remains of Fox Hall, part of which had been converted into a 
 small farm-cottage, in the occupation of a person named Wignall. 
 Between Fox Hall and the Yorkshire House, but further removed 
 from the beach, was a thatched cottage adjoining a stable, in which 
 Mr. Butcher, of Raikes Hall, kept two or three racehorses, the field 
 now occupied by the Manchester Hotel being used as an exercise 
 ground for them. Chapel Street contained a small farm-house 
 and several cottages, in addition to Bonny's Hotel, which was 
 situated in a field at the lower end of this lane. In Church Street 
 there were only three or four cottages, two of which, standing at 
 the south-west corner, were slated and used as shops. A few 
 other cottages, whose exact sites could not be recalled with 
 accuracy, were scattered here and there, but the above will furnish 
 the reader with a fairly correct idea of the extent and appearance 
 of Blackpool about the year 1816. 
 
 The National Schools, at Raikes Hill, were the first provision 
 made for the education of the young, and were built in 1817, 
 chiefly through the exertions of Mr. Gisborne, then a temporary 
 resident. They consist of two schools, for boys and girls respec- 
 tively, with a teachers' home between. The accommodation has 
 since been considerably enlarged and the institution is now under 
 government inspection. 
 
 The parish church of St. John, in course of erection in 1820, 
 was built with bricks from a croft situated on the cliffs between 
 Dickson's Hotel and the promenade. This place of worship, 
 originally an episcopal chapel under Bispham, with a perpetual 
 curacy attached, was consecrated to St. John on July 6th, 1821, 
 by Doctor Law, bishop of Chester. In 1860 a special district was
 
 BLACKPOOL, 331 
 
 assigned by order of Council to St. John's, which in that manner 
 became, under Lord Blanford's Act, the parish church of Blackpool. 
 The district thus cut off from the wide parochial area of Bispham, 
 and constituted a distinct parish for all ecclesiastical purposes, was 
 included between the Spen Dyke to the south and the central line 
 of Talbot road to the north. The cost of the sacred edifice, 
 which consisted, externally, of a plain brick structure, having a 
 low embattled tower with pinnacles at the angles, amounted 
 to ^"1,072, the whole of which was defrayed by voluntary 
 subscriptons, the following individuals being the principal con- 
 tributors : 
 
 Mrs. Dickson 100 Mr. John Forshaw 100 
 
 Mr. Robert Banks loo Robert Hesketh 50 
 
 ,, H. Banks 100 ,, Fielding 50 
 
 John Hornby loo Jonathan Peel 50 los. 
 
 A Friend 100 ,, Bonny 50 
 
 The interior of the church, plain and neat, was lighted by small 
 lamps for evening service during the winter, and contained a font 
 which had once belonged to the old Roman Catholic chapel of 
 Singleton ; and, a few years later, an organ built by Wren, of 
 Manchester. In 1832 this building was enlarged by drawing out 
 the east end, into which a plain window was inserted. The still 
 increasing popularity of the watering place demanded another 
 enlargement, which took place in 1847 ; but it was not until 1851 
 that the present chancel, containing a handsome stained glass 
 memorial window to H. Banks, esq.,who died in 1847, was added. 
 The window embraces representations of Christ, the four 
 evangelists, and the infant Jesus, with Joseph and his mother, etc., 
 below which is the following inscription, surmounted by a coat of 
 arms and motto : " In memoriam Henrii Banks de Blackpool 
 patris, et unius ex hujus yEdis patronis, tres sui liberi hanc 
 fenestram fieri fecerunt." In 1862 it was thought desirable that 
 further improvements should be made, and an open domed roof of 
 pitch-pine was substituted for the old ceiling ; the floors of the 
 pews, previously covered with asphalt, were boarded ; new 
 windows of ground glass, and a fresh pulpit and reading desk were 
 added to the church ; whilst a substantial iron railing was erected 
 round the yard in place of the cobble wall, which had stood since 
 the opening of the edifice, and in the same year the burial space
 
 332 
 
 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 was increased by including the plot of land lying to the west of 
 the church, and now abutting on the houses of Abingdon Street. 
 Four years later, in 1866, a new and larger tower, furnished with a 
 clock and a peal of eight bells, was completed on the site of 
 original one, which had been pulled down for this purpose. The 
 interior of the church contains, in addition to the memorial 
 window already alluded to, mural tablets in memoriam of Robert 
 Banks, gent., died May 27th, 1838, aged 76 years, " Ever mindful 
 of the calls of general duty, he was also a liberal promoter of the 
 erection and endowment of this church, and by will bequeathed the 
 sum of ^"100, for the perpetual support of the national school " ; 
 Edward, the son of Henry and Margaret Banks, died August 8th, 
 1845, aged 35 years ; the Rev. Thomas Banks, " who was for 
 thirty-five years incumbent of Singleton church, and an eminent 
 instructor of youth," died 1842, aged 73 years. 
 
 PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF ST. JOHN'S. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 On 'whose 
 Preesentation. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 1821 
 
 James Formby, B.A. 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 
 1826 
 
 G. L. Foxton, B.A. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of J. 
 
 
 
 
 Formby. 
 
 1829 
 
 Wm. Thornber, B.A. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of G. L. 
 
 
 
 
 Foxton. 
 
 1846 
 
 W. T. Preedy, B.A. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of W. 
 
 
 
 
 Thornber. 
 
 1853 
 
 Alfred Jenour, M. A. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation ofW.T. 
 
 
 
 
 Preedy. 
 
 1869 
 
 Norman S. Jeffreys, 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Death of A. Jenour. 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 
 The present patrons of St. John's church are the Rev. C. 
 Hesketh, of North Meols ; the Vicar of Bispham ; J. Talbot Clifton, 
 esq., of Lytham Hall ; and the Raikes Hall Park, Gardens, and 
 Aquarium Company. 
 
 In 1821 the census returns of the population of Layton-with- 
 Warbreck showed a total of 749 persons. On the igth of July 
 in that year the coronation of George IV. was celebrated by the 
 inhabitants and visitors of Blackpool " in a manner most grateful 
 to every benevolent heart." A handsome subcription, we are told
 
 BLACKPOOL. 333 
 
 by the gentleman whose words have just been quoted and who 
 was present on the occasion, was expended in procuring one day's 
 festivity for the poor and needy, the aged and the young. About 
 ten in the morning, the children of the township, amounting to 
 one hundred and thirty-nine, assembled at the national school, 
 erected near the church, where they were each presented with 
 a coronation medal. Afterwards they paraded the beach, headed 
 by two musicians, and sang the national anthem at all the 
 principal houses, followed by ringing cheers ; returning to 
 the school-house, each child was regaled with a large bun, and 
 spiced ale and coppers were distributed amongst them. When these 
 had been dismissed to their homes, upwards of thirty old people 
 met in the same room, where they sat down to an ample and 
 excellent dinner, at the conclusion of which they each drank the 
 king's health in a pint of strong ale. The same kind-hearted 
 ladies who had superintended the children in the procession, 
 waited on this venerable company, and had their generosity 
 rewarded by witnessing the amusing spectacle of three old women, 
 upwards of seventy, who had probably danced at the coronation 
 of George III., go through a Scotch reel, which they accomplished 
 in excellent style. 
 
 On the 2ist of March, 1825, the first stone of a small Independent 
 chapel, situated at the lower end of Chapel Street, and lying on 
 the south extremity of the village, was laid by the Rev. D. T. 
 Carnson, and on the 6th of the ensuing July it was opened 
 for public worship by the Rev. Dr. Raffles. 
 
 The summer of 1827 is remarkable as having been an excep- 
 tionally prosperous season for Blackpool ; vast numbers of carts 
 and other vehicles laden with their living freights arrived from 
 Blackburn, Burnley, Colne, Padiham, and the borders of York- 
 shire, and during the month of August so crowded was the place 
 that many were lodged in stables and barns, whilst others sought 
 refuge at Poulton. The following year a fine gravel promenade 
 was tastefully laid out on the sea bank to a considerable distance, 
 occupying a large portion of the site of the old road. A beautiful 
 green turf walk was constructed from the beach to the church, 
 leading through pleasant fields, and furnished at intervals with 
 covered seats. The Albion Hotel was also erected at the north- 
 west corner of Lane Ends Street.
 
 334 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 Mr. Whittle, in his publication descriptive, amongst other 
 resorts, of Blackpool in 1830, and entitled "Marina," says: 
 " Blackpool is furnished with excellent accommodation, although 
 it is a pity but what there had been some kind of uniformity 
 observed, as all sea-bathing stations ought to have their houses 
 built upon a plan entirely unique. Four assemblies have been 
 known to take place in one week during the bathing season, 
 extending from July to October. In fact the rooms at the hotels 
 are very extensive. Bank's is the most commodious. The 
 inhabitants seem to have no taste for ornamenting their door- 
 ways or windows with trellis work or verandahs, or with jessa- 
 mines, woodbines, or hollyhocks, similar to those at Southport, 
 and many of the sea-bathing situations in the south. It is not to 
 be wondered at that there are here frequently at the flux of the 
 season, from eight hundred to a thousand visitors. Blackpool has 
 most certainly been honoured since its commencement as a 
 watering-place by persons of distinction and fashion. The hotels 
 and other houses of reception are scattered along the beach with 
 an aspect towards the Irish Sea ; and in the rear are the dwellings 
 of the villagers. The cottages on the beach have of late years 
 considerably increased, and they serve, with the hotels in the 
 centre, to give the place, when viewed from the sea, a large and 
 imposing appearance." 
 
 The ball and dining-room at Nickson's Hotel, (the Clifton Arms,) 
 was of large dimensions, and contained a neat orchestra at one 
 end, whilst the following notice was suspended in a prominent 
 position against the inner wall : 
 
 " The friends of Cuthbert Nickson will please to observe that the senior person 
 at the hotel is entitled to the president's chair ; and the junior to the vice-presi- 
 dent's. Also the ladies to have the preference of the bathing machines." 
 
 Placards, similar in their import to this one, were to be seen 
 in both Dickson's and Bank's Hotels. 
 
 The new promenade was improved in 1830 by the addition of a 
 wooden hand-rail along its entire length, whilst comfortable seats 
 were placed opposite the hotels of Banks and Nickson. The fairs, 
 to which we have already alluded, continued to be held every second 
 Sunday during the season, but a few years later they were 
 abolished by the action of the more respectable portion of the 
 residents. Letters arrived at half-past eleven in the morning, and
 
 BLACKPOOL. 335 
 
 were despatched at noon, daily in the summer months, but only 
 three times a week during winter. Mr. Cook, an American, was 
 the originator of the post, which he commenced some time before 
 by having the letters carried to Kirkham three times a week 
 during the season. At that day the arrival of the letter-bag was 
 made known to the anxious public by exposing a board on which 
 was written or painted, "The post is arrived." This ingenious 
 device proclaimed, on reversing the board, " The post is not yet 
 arrived ;" so that by a proper use of the signal the postmaster 
 was enabled to save himself much trouble in answering the frequent 
 inquiries of expectant visitors. Mr. Cook, who is described as 
 having been the " Beau Nash" of Blackpool, died in 1820, and 
 was buried at Bispham. The charges at the best hotels were 
 6s. per day in private and 55. in public, with an addition of is. 
 each night for a front, or 6d. for a back, bedroom.* At Bonny's 
 the price was 45. 6d. per day ; and at Nickson's and the Yorkshire 
 House 33. 6d. per day at the first table, and 2s. 6d. at the second, 
 subject to an additional charge for extra attendance if required. 
 
 The. census returns of 1831 showed that the population of the 
 township had increased to 943 persons since 1821, when, the 
 reader may be reminded, the total amounted to 749. 
 
 In 1835, a Wesleyan chapel, calculated to hold between 250 
 and 300 persons, was erected and opened in Bank Hey Street. 
 This building, having in the course of time become inadequate 
 for the accommodation of its increasing congregation, was 
 pulled down, and the corner stone of the present edifice laid by 
 W. Heap, esq., of Halifax, on Friday, November ist., 1861. The 
 chapel, which occupies a site near the old one, was opened for 
 service on the 4th of July, 1862, and is capable of seating 760 
 persons. The total expenditure for the erection and other 
 incidental expenses connected with it, amounted to ^"3,500. An 
 organ, built by Mr. E. Wadsworth, of Manchester, at a cost of 
 ^"320, was obtained in 1872. 
 
 During 1836 great improvements were made in the appear- 
 ance of the town ; shops were beautified and increased in 
 number ; many of the cottages were rendered more ornamental, 
 whilst others were constructed on modern principles, and on a 
 moderate calculation it may be estimated that two hundred 
 beds were added to the existing accommodation. Sir Benjamin
 
 336 SISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 Heywood, bart., of Claremont, purchased an extensive plot 
 of land, now occupied by the Prince of Wales's Market and 
 Aquarium Buildings, on which he shortly afterwards raised 
 a handsome marine family residence, called West Hey. 
 Numerous and copious springs of fine fresh water were found at 
 a depth of fifteen yards from the surface ; until which fortunate 
 discovery, water for drinking purposes had been collected in 
 cisterns dug out of the marl. Public Baths were also erected on 
 the beach adjoining the Lane Ends Hotel. 
 
 The following year, 1837, the Victoria Terrace and Promenade, 
 erected at the north-west corner of Victoria Street, were completed. 
 This block of buildings was formed of seven shops, above them 
 being the Promenade, a room thirty-two yards long, which 
 opened through folding windows upon a balcony six feet wide ; 
 attached to it were a news-room, library, and billiard table. The 
 Promenade acquired its distinctive title from being first used on 
 the 24th of May, 1837, when the Princess Victoria, the present 
 Queen, attained her legal majority ; on that day the principal 
 inhabitants of Blackpool assembled there to celebrate the important 
 event with a sumptuous dinner, and from the subjoined extract, 
 taken from an account of the gathering in a public print, we 
 learn the great estimation in which the saloon was then held : 
 
 d*** dinner and excellent wine provided by Mr. C. Nickson, to which 
 fifty-two gentlemen sat down, in the splendid Promenade Room newly erected by 
 Doctor Cocker, who was highly extolled for his taste in the architectural design 
 and decorations of the building, which is of the chaste Doric order, and for his 
 spirited liberality in providing the visitors of this celebrated resort with so spacious 
 and magnificent a saloon, where, as in a common centre, they may meet each other 
 and enjoy the social pleasures of a conversation whenever they please ; thus 
 evincing his wish to promote a more friendly intercourse amongst the strangers 
 collected here from all quarters of the kingdom during the summer season this 
 has hitherto been a desideratum at Blackpool." 
 
 For long afterwards balls and all public meetings were held in 
 this assembly room, which still exists in its original condition, 
 although the other parts of the block, especially the shops, have 
 recently been improved and beautified. 
 
 From 1837 to 1840 the progress of the place was steady, but 
 not rapid, as compared with more recent times. In the latter 
 year the opening of the Preston and Wyre Railway to Poulton, 
 initiated a mode of travelling until then unknown in the Fylde
 
 BLACKPOOL. 337 
 
 district, and by its means Blackpool became nearer in point of 
 time to Preston, Manchester, and many other large towns already 
 possessing railway accommodation, a great accession of company 
 being the immediate result. Omnibuses, coaches, and other 
 carriages met every train at Poulton station, and the four miles of 
 road were scampered over by splendid teams in less than half an 
 hour. Then it was that the jolting, homely vehicles, and the 
 through coaches, which had for long been the dashing wonders of 
 the country roads, were driven off, and a greatly multiplied 
 number of visitors brought into the town daily by the more 
 expeditious route, at a less cost and with greater personal con- 
 venience than had been possible in earlier days. More accom- 
 modation was soon called for and as readily supplied by the 
 spirited inhabitants, who erected numerous houses at several 
 points, which served, at no distant period, as the nucleus for new 
 streets and terraces. The census of the township in 1841 had 
 risen to 2, 1 68. In 1844 the erection and opening of a Market House, 
 evinced the growing importance and prosperity of the watering- 
 place ; this building has lately, since 1872, been enlarged by lateral 
 extension to quite double its original capacity, whilst the extensive 
 unprotected area opposite, used for similar trading purposes and 
 occupied by stalls, has been covered over with a transparent roof. 
 Talbot Road was opened out and the lower end formed into a 
 spacious square, (furnished wi th an elegant drinking fountain in 1 8 70) 
 by the removal of a house from its centre. These improvements 
 were effected at the sole cost of John Talbot Clifton, esq., of 
 Lytham, the owner of the soil. The Adelphi and Victoria Hotels, 
 which had sprung into being, were altered and enlarged ; the 
 former by raising it a story, and the latter by the addition of a 
 commodious dining room, two sitting rooms, and sundry bedrooms. 
 Several spacious residences were finished on South Beach, and 
 a handsome terrace of habitations stretching south from Dickson's 
 Hotel, was also erected about that time. 
 
 In 1845, several houses on a larger scale, including the Talbot 
 Hotel, were built, and great improvements and additions made to 
 many former establishments. 
 
 The opening of the branch line from Blackpool to join the main 
 railroad at Poulton, on the 2gth of April, 1846, gave another marked 
 impetus to the progress of the town ; by its formation direct steam 
 
 w
 
 338 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 communication was completed with the populous centres of Lan- 
 cashire and Yorkshire, and many, who had previously been 
 deterred from visiting Blackpool by its comparative inaccessibility, 
 now flocked down to its shores in great numbers ; building in- 
 creased, and dwellings arose, chiefly on the front, and in Church 
 and Victoria Streets. 
 
 During the ensuing year the first meeting of the Blackpool Agri- 
 cultural Society was held on the grounds of a recently built inn, 
 the Manchester Hotel, at South Shore ; the attendance was both 
 numerous and respectable, including many of the most influential 
 gentlemen, yeomen, and farmers of the neighbourhood, and several 
 from the remoter localities of the Fylde. Cows, horses, and pigs 
 appear to have been the only stocks to which prizes were awarded. 
 The first Lodge of Freemasons held their initiatory meeting in 
 that year at the Beach Hotel, another house of entertainment 
 which had risen shortly before, on the site of some furnished 
 cottage facing the beach. 
 
 A new Independent Chapel was commenced in Victoria Street, 
 to supersede the small one erected in Chapel Street in 1825 ; the 
 edifice was finished and used for divine service in 1849. Serious 
 differences seem to have arisen a few years later between the pastor 
 of that date, the Rev. J. Noall, and a limited section of his congre- 
 gation, who were anxious to deprive him of his charge, and even 
 went so far, in 1860, as to publicly read in the chapel, after 
 morning service, a notice convening a meeting for that purpose. 
 This act, being repeated on the ensuing Sabbath, led to retaliation 
 on the part of the partizans of the minister, who, unknown to 
 that gentleman, paraded three figures, intended to represent the 
 three principal opponents to the continuance of his pastorate, sus- 
 pended from a gibbet, which had been erected in a cart, through 
 the streets of the town, and afterwards gave them up to the flames 
 on the sands. The Rev. J. Noall was shortly afterwards presented 
 with a testimonial of esteem by a number of sympathisers. 
 Schools, in connection with the chapel, were built in 1870. 
 
 Two years subsequently, the watering-place had grown, without 
 the fostering care of a public governing body, into a large and 
 prosperous town, boasting a resident population of over two 
 thousand persons, but this very increase and popularity had 
 rendered it impossible for private enterprise to provide the
 
 BLACKPOOL. 339 
 
 requisite comforts and conveniences for such a mixture of classes 
 as visited it during the summer. Acting under this necessity and 
 for the welfare of the resort a Local Board was formed, composed 
 of gentlemen elected from amongst inhabitants, into whose hands 
 was entrusted the government and regulation of all matters con- 
 nected with the place. An accession of power was sought in 1853, 
 and on Tuesday, the i/].th of June, the Blackpool Improvement 
 Act received the royal assent. The Board originally consisted 
 of nine members, but in 1871 the number was increased to 
 eighteen. 
 
 One of the earliest acts of the new commissioners of 1853 was to 
 provide for the proper lighting of the town by the erection of Gas 
 Works, which they accomplished in their first year of office ; for 
 some time it had been evident that the season was seriously curtailed 
 by the absence of any illumination along the promenade and 
 thoroughfares during the autumn evenings, but private speculation 
 had for some reason held aloof from so important an under- 
 taking, although the question had been much discussed amongst 
 the inhabitants. Here it may be stated, in order to avoid revert- 
 ing to the subject again, that in 1863 there were 650 consumers 
 of gas; in 1869, 1270 ; and in 1875, no less than 2,000 ; the 
 miles of mains in those years being respectively 5, 7, and 12. 
 
 In 1856, the promenade, which had suffered much injury from 
 frequent attacks of the sea, and perhaps from some amount of 
 negligence in not bestowing due attention to its proper mainten- 
 ance, was put in better order and extended from its northern ex- 
 tremity, opposite Talbot Square, along the front of Albert Terrace 
 as far as Rossall's, formerly Dickson's Hotel. Four years later a 
 portion of this walk opposite Central Beach was asphalted and 
 sprinkled over with fine white spar. The Infant School-house in 
 Bank Hey Street, was opened in 1856. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church, situated in Talbot Road, was 
 erected in 1857, from the design of Edwin W. Pugin, Esq., and at 
 the sole expense of Miss M. Tempest, sister to Sir Charles Tempest, 
 Bart., of Broughton Hall, Yorkshire. It is in the Gothic style, 
 the exterior being built with Yorkshire flag in narrow courses, 
 hammer dressed and tuck pointed. The church comprises a 
 chancel, north and south transepts, two sacristies, confessionals, 
 nave, aisles, south porch, and central western tower. The chancel,
 
 340 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 which is separated from the nave and transepts by a richly 
 decorated and moulded arch, contains four side windows in addition 
 to a large one at the east end. The nave is divided into five bays 
 of fifteen feet each, with massive arches ornamented with deeply 
 cut mouldings. The tower is of great solidity, and rises to a 
 height of one hundred and twenty-four feet. Almost the whole 
 of the windows are filled with richly stained glass ; and the altar 
 within the chancel is beautified with elaborately carved groups, 
 designed by J. H. Powell, of Birmingham, of the " Agony in the 
 Garden," and the " Last Supper ;" whilst that in the lady chapel 
 is adorned, from the pencil of the same artist, with illustrations of 
 the " Assumption of the Virgin," and the " Annunciation," all of 
 which are exquisitely carved by Lane. This church is dedicated 
 to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and was the first one ever 
 erected in Blackpool for members of the Roman Catholic Faith, 
 service having been previously celebrated in a room in Talbot 
 Road. In 1866 an excellent peal of cast steel bells was added to 
 the tower ; and ten years afterwards a magnificent organ was 
 ' opened in the main building. Attached to the church, and within 
 the same enclosure, were placed day and Sunday schools, as well 
 as a residence for the officiating priests. The cost of this 
 magnificent pile, without the internal decorations, amounted to 
 /5,5o. 
 
 The foundation stone of the Union Baptist Chapel, in Abingdon 
 Street, was laid on the 9th of April, 1860, and on Good Friday 
 in the following year it was opened for divine worship by the Rev. 
 Dr. Raffles. The main building, 80 feet long by 49 feet wide, is 
 of brick, and finished with moulded and polished stone dressings 
 in the Grecian style of architecture. The principal or west front 
 is surmounted by a bold cornice and pediment, and contains the 
 two chief entrances, which are approached by a long range of 
 steps and a spacious landing. The interior is fitted with substantial 
 open pews of red pine in the body, and similar seats are placed in 
 the two end galleries, the whole being capable of providing 
 accommodation for about 650 persons. The communion floor, 
 under a portion of which is the Baptistry, is enclosed with an 
 ornamental balustrade. The edifice is well supplied with light 
 through plain circular-headed windows. A Sunday school was 
 added in 1874, and an organ also purchased during that year.
 
 BLACKPOOL. 341 
 
 From 1858 to the completion of the chapel the Baptists 
 worshipped in the room formerly used by the Roman Catholics 
 in Talbot Road. 
 
 In 1 86 1, the progress and improvement of the town was well 
 shown by three events which occurred at that date the first sod 
 of the Lytham and Blackpool coast line was cut at Lytham Park, 
 on the 4th of September ; a large Market Hall, raised on South 
 Beach, by Mr. W. Read, for the sale of useful and fancy articles 
 was completed ; and the original Christ Church was opened on 
 Sunday the 23rd of June, by the Rev. C. H. Wainwright, M.A. 
 This church, which stood until the erection of the present one, 
 was built of iron by Mr. Hemming, of London, at a cost of ^1,000, 
 which was advanced by eight gentlemen, who were subsequently 
 reimbursed by contributions from the public and collections from 
 the congregation at various times. 
 
 The population of Lay ton- with -Warbreck in 1861 amounted to 
 3,907 persons, of which number Blackpool contributed 3,506. 
 
 The passenger traffic on the Blackpool and Lytham Railway 
 commenced on the 6th of April, 1862, and between that date and 
 the 3<Dth of June over 35,000 persons had taken advantage of the 
 line and been conveyed between the two watering-places. In 
 1862 a handsome Police Station and Court-House sprang into 
 being in Abingdon street, including residences, lock-ups, offices, 
 magistrates' room, etc. 
 
 The streets of Blackpool no longer presented the meagre and 
 broken lines of earlier days, but were in most instances well filled 
 on each side with compact blocks of houses. In December, 1861, 
 a few of the townpeople assembled at the Clifton Arms Hotel to 
 consider the advisability of erecting a pier, to extend westward 
 from the promenade opposite Talbot square ; and on the 22nd of 
 January, 1862, the memorandum of association was signed with a 
 capital of ^"12,000, being immediately registered. Plans were 
 examined on the loth of February, and the design of E. Birch, 
 esq., C.E., selected, that gentleman being also appointed engineer. 
 In April, the tender of Messrs. Laidlaw, of Glasgow, to construct 
 the pier for ^11,540 was accepted ; and a grant of the foreshore 
 required for the undertaking having been obtained from the 
 Duchy of Lancaster for ^"120, and 7 paid to the Crown for the 
 portion beyond low-water mark, the first pile of the North Pier
 
 342 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 was screwed into the marl on the 27th of June, 1862, by Captain 
 Francis Preston, the chairman of the company. A violent storm 
 in the ensuing October damaged the works to some extent, and 
 induced the company to raise the deck of the pier three feet above 
 the altitude originally proposed, at an expense of ^"2,000. On the 
 2ist of May, 1863, the pier was formally opened by Captain 
 Preston, the auspicious event being celebrated by general 
 rejoicings throughout the town and a procession of the different 
 schools and friendly societies. The dimensions of the erection at 
 that date were : Approach, 80 feet long ; abutment, 1 20 feet long 
 and 45 feet wide ; main portion, 1,070 feet long and 28 feet wide ; 
 and the head, 135 feet long and 55 feet wide, giving a total length 
 of 1,405 feet available as a promenade The entire superstructure 
 was placed upon clusters of iron piles, fixed vertically into the 
 ground by means of screws, those at the abutment and main body 
 being wholly of cast, and those at the head partly of cast and 
 partly of wrought iron. The largest of the cast-iron columns 
 measured 12 inches in diameter, and i inch in thickness, each 
 column being filled in with concrete. The piles were arranged 
 in clusters at intervals of 60 feet, and firmly secured together 
 longitudinally, transversely, and diagonally, by rods and braces. 
 The main girders, of the sort known as plated, were ri vetted on 
 the clusters in lengths of 70 feet, and formed parapets, presenting 
 a pleasing appearance and constituting a most efficient wind 
 guard to the pier. The tops of the girders were turned to useful 
 account by converting them into a continuous line of seats. Next 
 to the chief girders were fixed transverse wrought iron girders, 
 upon the top of which the planking of the deck was laid, being 
 arranged in longitudinal and transverse layers, so that no open 
 spaces were left to admit the passage of wind or spray. The head 
 of the pier, rectangular in form, was raised 50 feet above low- 
 water mark, and leading from it to ample landing stages below, 
 was a flight of steps 10 feet wide. The limits of the pier shore- 
 wards were defined by ornamental iron gates with lamps, 
 immediately inside which were the toll houses. Upon the main 
 portion of the pier were erected several ornamental shelter and 
 refreshment houses of an octagonal shape, and standing on side 
 projections. Another ornamental shelter house of much larger 
 dimensions was placed, within a few months, on the head. Lamps
 
 BLACKPOOL. 343 
 
 were provided along the entire length of the pier. In 1867 the 
 directors determined to erect an iron extension or jetty, and in 
 less than two years the work was accomplished at a cost of ^~6,ooo. 
 During the month of May, 1869, a tender for the formation of the 
 present entrance for ^2,700 was accepted, and the agreement 
 promptly carried out by Messrs. Laidlaw, of Glasgow. In 
 October, 1874, tne company arranged with the same contractors 
 to enlarge the pierhead by putting out two wings, from the 
 designs of E. Birch, esq., C.E., at an expenditure of ^"14,000. On 
 the north wing it is intended to build a pavilion, 130 feet long by 
 90 feet wide, in an eastern style of architecture, and estimated to 
 hold 1,200 persons seated. The edifice, around which there will 
 be a promenade, is to be supplied with an orchestra, refreshment 
 rooms, etc., and used as a concert room and fashionable marine 
 lounge. The south wing, which is about 130 feet long, contains 
 a bandstand, capable of holding 30 performers, at the further 
 end, and on the east and west side two other buildings 62 
 feet by 27 feet each, the former being designed for the purposes 
 of a restaurant, and the latter for the sale of fancy goods and 
 other commodities. The unoccupied space, nearly 100 feet by 80 
 feet, will be provided with seats in the centre, the remainder 
 serving as a promenade. The contract for the foregoing erections 
 was let in 1875, to Messrs. Robert Neill and Sons, of Manchester, 
 for nearly \ 2,000. In 1863, the capital of the company was 
 raised to ^"15,000 ; in 1864, to ^20,000; in 1865, to ^25,000 ; 
 in 1874, to ^40,000 ; and in 1875, to ^"50,000. 
 
 About the period when the North Pier was constructed, and 
 for years previously, the visitors to Blackpool could certainly 
 complain of no lack of ordinary amusements during their brief 
 residence by the sea. Horses, donkeys, and vehicles were ever 
 in readiness to administer to their entertainment, either by 
 conveying them for short drives to explore such objects of 
 interest as the country afforded, or translating them for the day 
 to the seaport of Fleetwood, or the neighbouring resort of 
 Lytham. Bathing machines abounded on the sands, and during 
 suitable states of the tide were busily engaged in affording ready 
 access to the briny element to numbers, who were anxious to 
 experience the invigorating effects of a bath in Neptune's domain. 
 In the evenings theatrical representations were frequently held,
 
 344 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 since 1861, in the spacious room of Read's Market. The Crystal 
 Palace, formerly the Victoria Promenade, was also devoted to 
 similar purposes, having long been diverted from the use for 
 which it was first intended. The Number 3 Hotel, under its old 
 name, but in a more modern building than that described by Mr. 
 Hutton at the close of last century, still flourished, and proved 
 equally attractive, not so much, however, on account of its " fine 
 ale " as the wealth of strawberries and floral beauties adorning its 
 gardens. Carleton Terrace was built in 1863; and on the loth of 
 March in that year the marriage of the Prince of Wales and the 
 Princess Alexandra of Denmark, was celebrated with many 
 manifestations of loyalty and joy. Flags, banners, and ensigns 
 were suspended from the windows of almost every house, whilst 
 sports of various kinds were held on the sands during the 
 morning, after which the school children, belonging to the 
 different denominations, and a body of Oddfellows, amounting in 
 all to 900 persons, assembled in Talbot Square, and sang the 
 national anthem, previous to forming a procession and parading 
 the streets of the town. Subsequently the children were regaled 
 with tea, buns, etc. The Preston Banking Company established 
 a branch at Blackpool during 1863 ; and in the month of January 
 a party of gentlemen purchased the whole of the land lying 
 between the site of Carleton terrace and the Gynn, for the 
 purpose of laying it out in building plots and promenades, the 
 main feature to be a large central hotel standing in its own 
 grounds. The contracts were let by the company in October, 1863, 
 for embanking, sewering, and forming the necessary roads and 
 promenades on their estate, and shortly afterwards an agreement 
 was entered into for preparing the foundation of the hotel, the 
 work in both instances being promptly commenced. The 
 magnitude of the scheme far exceeded that of any undertaking 
 which had ever yet been attempted in Blackpool, but undisturbed 
 by the speculative character of their venture the proprietors 
 carried the enterprise through its various phases with a liberal 
 and vigorous hand, succeeding in the course of time in creating 
 an acquisition of incalculable beauty and benefit to the town. 
 The Imperial Hotel has its station on the highest point of the 
 land, now called Claremont Park, and is a palatial edifice, 
 surrounded by elegant lawns and walks, walled off from the park
 
 BLACKPOOL. 
 
 outside. In 1876 an extensive enlargement, consisting of a south 
 wing, containing 39 bedrooms and 6 sitting-rooms, was made to 
 the establishment. The cliffs fronting the estate, formerly rugged 
 and uneven, were sloped and pitched to form a protection from 
 the inroads of the tide, whilst a broad marine promenade was 
 made along the whole length of the park, about a mile, and fenced 
 with an iron railing on its open aspect. The main promenade of 
 the town was continued round the west side of the park as far as 
 the Gynn, but on a lower level than the walk just indicated. 
 Shrubs were planted and toll houses, with gates, fixed at the 
 entrances to the estate, all of which was enclosed with railings. 
 The splendid residences denominated Stanley Villas, Wilton 
 Parade, Imperial Terrace, and Lansdowne Crescent were not 
 dilatory in rearing their several heads in a locality so congenial to 
 their aristocratic proclivities, the foundations of the last being 
 prepared in 1864. 
 
 In 1864 the Lane Ends Hotel was levelled to the ground, and 
 the present handsome structure, in the Italian style of architecture, 
 raised on the site, being re-opened again two years later. The 
 foundation stone of the United Methodist Free Church was 
 laid in Adelaide Street on the 3oth of March, in the year specified, 
 by James Sidebottom, esq., of Manchester, service being held in 
 the building in the course of a few months ; whilst the newly- 
 arrived lifeboat was launched, and the first supply of the Fylde 
 Waterworks Company passed through their pipes to Blackpool 
 on the 2Oth of July. The station of the lifeboat, named the 
 "Robert William," is situated near the beach at South Shore, 
 close to the Manchester Hotel ; and here we may mention that 
 this boat, under the skilful and intrepid management of its crew 
 and coxswain, has been instrumental on several occasions in 
 affording aid in time of shipwreck. Amongst these instances may 
 be noted the rescue of a crew of fourteen persons belonging to 
 the barque " Susan L. Campbell," wrecked on Salthouse Bank on 
 the nth April, 1867, assistance being rendered also to the barque 
 "A. L. Routh "; and the rescue of the crew of the schooner 
 "Glyde," stranded on the South Beach on the same eventful 
 morning. The annual expense incurred in the support of this 
 valuable institution is defrayed by voluntary contributions. 
 
 The unflagging efforts of the inhabitants to promote the comfort
 
 346 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 of their visitors in matters of household convenience and accom- 
 modation, and to render their sojourns by the shore productive of 
 pleasurable, as well as healthful, sensations, were manifestly well 
 appreciated by those for whose benefit they were intended. The 
 daily crowds parading the recently-erected pier were satisfactory 
 evidence of the high estimation in which that elegant addition to 
 the attractions of the place was held, whilst the thronged 
 thoroughfares during the heat of summer bore witness to the 
 growing affection which Blackpool was gaining for itself in the 
 hearts of the million. Active exertions were necessary on the part 
 of the builders to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for 
 more extended residential provision, houses being scarcely com- 
 pleted before the eager tenants had established themselves in their 
 new domiciles. The greater portion of the Clifton Arms Hotel 
 was pulled down in the autumn of 1865, and rebuilt on an 
 enlarged and improved scale, being finished and ready for occu- 
 pation in the ensuing spring. On the 2Oth of June, 1865, the 
 first members of the Blackpool Volunteer Artillery Corps, 
 amounting to about 60 men, took the oath customary on enrol- 
 ment, and at the same meeting appointed their officers. Ten 
 years later a commodious drill-shed was erected for their use. 
 
 In 1866 the temporary iron church, to which allusion has been 
 made in a late page, was superseded by the existing substantial 
 one in Queen Street, bearing the name of its predecessor. The 
 edifice was opened for divine service on Thursday, the 3rd of 
 May, by the Rev. E. B. Chalmers, M.A., of Salford, but was not 
 consecrated until 1870. The architecture is an early and simple 
 style of decorated Gothic, with thick walls and prominently pro- 
 jecting buttresses. The east and west ends are lighted respectively 
 by four and five-light traceried windows and lancets. The steeple, 
 which is well buttressed, has in its upper stage a belfry for six 
 bells, and is surmounted by a vane. Until recent additions were 
 made, the church contained sittings for 1,000 persons. The 
 building originally comprised a broad nave, with a central aisle 
 and two side passages giving access to the seats, all of which were 
 open benches with sloping backs ; north and south transepts 
 with galleries, lighted by bay windows; a spacious chancel, with 
 north and south aisles, the former being fitted up as a vestry, and 
 the latter used as the organ-chamber ; a spacious porch at the
 
 BLACKPOOL. 347 
 
 west end, with a wide double door ; a west gallery extending over 
 the porch, and approached by a stiarcase along the basement of 
 the tower ; and a baptistry covered with a separate hipped roof. 
 The alterations just alluded to were carried out in 1874, and con- 
 sisted of the erection of north and south aisles to the nave, 
 providing accommodation for about 300 more worshippers. The 
 district assigned to Christ Church in 1872 was converted into a 
 parish in 1874, and the title of vicar given to the incumbent. 
 The Rev. C. H. Wainwright, M.A., to whose exertions the new 
 structure mainly owes its existence, was the first incumbent, and 
 is the present vicar. The schools connected with the church are 
 situated in Queen Street, and were built in 1872. 
 
 During the year 1866 the Lancaster Banking Company and the 
 Manchester and County Banking Company each opened a branch 
 in Blackpool, and like the Preston Bank, previously referred to, 
 now transact business daily. 
 
 In July, 1867, the Prince of Wales Arcade on Central Beach 
 was finished and opened, comprising a block of building, with 
 extensive market accommodation, assembly rooms, etc., erected 
 on the site between the Beach and Royal Hotels in an imposing 
 and ornamental style of architecture ; and on the igth of 
 December, the corner stone of the Temperance Hall in Coronation 
 Street was laid by the Rev. R. Crook, and in the following July the 
 erection was completed and opened. The temperance movement 
 had been commenced in Blackpool four years anterior to that 
 date, when a Band of Hope in connection with the United 
 Methodist Free Church was formed, and the number of its 
 members increased so rapidly in the intervening time that it was 
 considered advisable to build the present Hall for their meetings, 
 and for those of others who were interested in the same cause. 
 
 The marked success which had attended the construction of 
 the North Pier induced a company of gentlemen to erect a similar 
 one, running seaward from the margin of the promenade at the 
 south of Blackpool. The first pile was screwed in July, 1867, 
 and on the 3Oth of May, 1868, the South Pier and Jetty were 
 thrown open to the public without any inaugural ceremony. It 
 is built of wrought iron and timber, and has the following 
 dimensions : Total length 1,518 feet, the main promenade being 
 1,1 1 8 feet, and the lower promenade or jetty 400 feet ; the entrance
 
 348 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 is on an abutment 60 feet wide, where there are gates, toll-houses, 
 waiting and retiring-rooms ; the pier head is rectangular in form, 
 and composed of strong timber, containing an area of 8,120 super- 
 ficial feet. The chief promenade is furnished with seats on each 
 side throughout its whole length, together with twelve recesses, 
 on which are shops for the sale of fancy articles and refreshments. 
 On the head of the pier are placed two large waiting and refresh- 
 ment rooms, as well as a commodious shelter and wind guard. 
 At the extremity of the jetty is a beacon and light as required by 
 the authorities at Trinity House. 
 
 In 1868 a magnificent pile of buildings, erected in Talbot 
 Square, and called the Arcade and Assembly Rooms, was com- 
 pleted. This structure contains a basement and arcade of very 
 elegant shops, a restaurant, refreshment and billiard rooms, 
 together with a handsome and spacious saloon, surrounded within 
 by a gallery, and furnished with a neat stage for theatrical repre- 
 sentations and other entertainments. Several sleeping apartments 
 were added in 1874, and a certain section of the edifice arranged 
 as a private hotel. 
 
 The promenade had always been esteemed so much the property 
 of the house and land owners on the front of the beach that to 
 them was delegated the onerous duty of maintaining in repair such 
 portions of the hulking as ran before each of their possessions, 
 the walk itself being kept in order and supported by subscriptions 
 amongst the visitors and residents generally. Under this arrange- 
 ment although the embankment was ensured from being carried 
 away by the waves, there was no certainty that its upper surface 
 would invariably present that neat and finished appearance so neces- 
 sary to the success of a marine promenade. Voluntary contributions 
 are in most instances but a precarious support on which to rely 
 exclusively, and at Blackpool their unfortunate characteristic was 
 prominently exemplified, more particularly during the earlier years 
 of the watering-place, when visitors, whom the summer had drawn 
 to the coast, too frequently discovered their favourite lounge in a 
 state far from attractive to the pedestrian. Recently there had 
 been comparatively little cause for complaint as to the condition 
 in which each opening season found the promenade, but it was 
 felt on all sides that the day had arrived when a new and much 
 more extensive walk should be laid out, and that the respon-
 
 BLACKPOOL. 349 
 
 sibility of maintaining both it and the fence in proper order 
 should devolve upon the town, from the funds, or rather 
 borrowing powers, of which it was proposed to carry out the 
 undertaking. In 1865 a special act of parliament had been 
 obtained with this object by the Local Board of Health, at a cost 
 of ^"2,159, by which permission to borrow up to ^30,000 was 
 granted, but no active steps were then taken, and three years later 
 a supplemental act was procured to borrow up to an amount 
 which, when added to the amount already in hand under the 
 former act, would not exceed altogether two years' assessable 
 value, the whole to be repaid within a period of fifty years from 
 the date of receiving the loan. There were other difficulties to 
 encounter, notwithstanding that the Board had the power .of 
 compulsory purchased granted, in the buying of land to prosecute 
 the purpose of the act. These were ultimately overcome by 
 arbitration in cases where disputes had arisen. A supplemental 
 act in 1867 allowed the board to amend and curtail several 
 clauses in the original act, the first of which was to abridge the 
 dimensions of the proposed work, the second to empower the 
 levying of rates according to the act of 1865 on the completion of 
 each section of the undertaking, and the third to extend the time 
 for the compulsory purchase of land from three to five years. 
 According to the act the commissioners gained a right to collect 
 tolls for the usage of the promenade from all persons not assessed 
 or liable to be assessed by any rate leviable by the Local Board of 
 Health, with the exception of those crossing to the piers. This 
 power, it may be stated, was not intended to be, and never has 
 been, put in force. The promenade proposed to be made would 
 reach from Carleton Terrace to the further end of South Shore, a 
 distance of about two miles ; and the work was divided into three 
 sections, the first of which, begun in 1868, was let to Mr. Robert 
 Carlisle, contractor, for ^"16,043, and extended from South Shore 
 to the Fox Hall Hotel. The storm which occurred on January 
 3ist, 1869, washed away 350 yards of the newly-constructed sea 
 fence and carriage-drive, with about 16,000 cubic yards of embank- 
 ment, and about 6,000 square yards of pitching. Another storm 
 which took place on the 28th of February, added considerably to 
 the damage just stated, by tearing down a length of 250 yards, 
 which was entirely completed, so that the total injury inflicted by
 
 350 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 the waves during the gale represented 600 lineal yards of sea fence, 
 carriage-drive, and promenade, comprising 21,000 cubic yards of 
 embankment, all of which had to be replaced from the shore at 
 a considerable expense, in addition to 9,500 square yards of 
 pitching, etc., connected therewith. No. 2 section, running from 
 the Fox Hall Hotel to the New Inn, was contracted for by a 
 Manchester gentleman at ^"3,964, but in consequence of his not 
 not being able to carry out the work, it was re-let, and Mr. 
 Chatburn succeeded him on the increased terms of ^"4,942. No. 
 3 section, stretching from the New Inn to the southern extremity 
 of Carleton Terrace, was also constructed by Mr. Robert Carlisle, 
 at a cost of ^"10,356. The whole of the ironwork was supplied 
 by Mr. Clayton, of Preston, and necessitated an expenditure of 
 ^"3,275. The sea fence consists of a sloping breastwork, pitched 
 with stones on a thick bed of clay puddle, the interstices between 
 the stones having been filled in with asphalt or cement concrete. 
 The slope is curvilinear, and one in four on an average. Next to 
 the breast is the promenade and carriage-drive. The promenade 
 is seven yards wide, and has an even surface of asphalting, being 
 separated from the carriage-drive by a line of side stones. In order 
 to obtain space between the houses and the sea for the promenade 
 and carriage-drive, a part of the shore was regained by an embank- 
 ment along South Shore, and along the northern district by an 
 iron viaduct, which projects considerably over the sea fence, and 
 encircles the marine aspect of Bailey's Hotel. The floor of the 
 viaduct is formed with patent buckled plates, filled in with 
 concrete, and finished with asphalt. The plates are fixed to rolled 
 joists, and supported on neat cast-iron columns, screwed down 
 into the solid. The west front of the promenade is guarded by 
 an iron railing, and furnished at intervals with seats of the same 
 material, situated on the embankment to the south, and on pro- 
 jecting ledges of the viaduct along the northern length. The 
 carriage-drive, twelve yards wide, runs parallel with the 
 promenade throughout the entire extent, and is formed of 
 shingle, clay, and macadam. It has a footway along the 
 frontages of the adjoining property, the whole being well drained 
 and lighted with gas. The complete structure was finished and 
 formally opened to the public on Easter Monday, i8th of April, 
 1870, by Colonel Wilson-Patten, M.P., the present Lord Win-
 
 BLACKPOOL. 
 
 marleigh. The town was profusely decorated with bunting of 
 every hue ; triumphal arches of evergreens and ensigns spanned 
 many of the thoroughfares, notably Talbot Road and along the 
 front ; whilst an immense procession, consisting of the Artillery 
 Volunteers, Yeomanry in uniform, trades with their emblems, 
 friendly societies, schools, etc., headed by a band, and comprising 
 in its ranks no less than twelve mayors from important towns of 
 Lancashire, conducted Colonel Wilson-Patten to that portion 
 of the promenade opposite Talbot Square, where the ceremony of 
 declaring the walk accessible for public traffic was gone through. 
 During the evening the watering-place was illuminated, and the 
 eventful day closed with a large ball, held in honour of the 
 occasion. 
 
 The wisdom of the authorities in having Blackpool provided 
 with a marine promenade and a frontage unrivalled by any on the 
 coasts of England was soon evinced by the increase in the stream 
 of visitors poured into the place during the summer months. 
 Fresh houses for their accommodation were being rapidly erected 
 in many parts of the town, and everywhere there were ample 
 evidences that prosperity was dealing liberally with the town. 
 The wooden railings, which heretofore had been deemed suffi- 
 ciently ornamental fences for the residences facing the sea, were 
 removed, and elegant iron ones substituted, apportioning to each 
 habitation its own plot of sward or garden. The proprietor of 
 Bailey's Hotel hastened to follow the example which had been set 
 by those who were interested in the Clifton Arms and Lane Ends 
 Hotels, and commenced a series of levellings and rebuildings, 
 under the superintendence and according to the designs of Messrs. 
 Speakman and Charlesworth, architects, of Manchester, which 
 extended over several years, and have now rendered the hotel one 
 of the most imposing and handsome edifices in the watering-place. 
 Further alterations, consisting in the erection of shops on a vacant 
 piece of land lying on the north side of the hotel, in the same 
 style of architecture, and continuous with it, were carried out in 
 1876. 
 
 In 1871 a project was launched for purchasing Raikes Hall 
 with the estate belonging thereto, situated on the east aspect of 
 Blackpool, and converting the latter into a park and pleasure 
 gardens. In that year a company was formed, entitled
 
 352 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 the Raikes Hall Park, Gardens, and Aquarium Company, 
 and the land obtained without delay. Vigorous operations 
 were at once commenced to render the grounds of the old man- 
 sion suitable for the purposes held in view, whilst the building 
 itself speedily underwent sundry alterations and additions 
 in its transformation into a refreshment house on a large 
 scale. A spacious terrace, walks, promenades, and flower beds 
 were laid out, and an extensive conservatory constructed with all 
 haste, and in the summer after gaining possession of the estate, 
 the works had so far progressed that the public were admitted at 
 a small charge per head. Since that date a dancing platform has 
 been put down, an immense pavillion erected, and many other 
 changes effected in the wide enclosure. Pyrotechnic displays, 
 acrobatic performances, etc., are held in the gardens, which com- 
 prise about 40 statute acres, during the season, whilst agricultural 
 shows and other meetings occasionally take place within its 
 boundaries. An extensive lake was formed in 1875, and an 
 excellent race-course marked out. Raikes Hall has a brief history 
 of its own, and was erected about the middle of the eighteenth 
 century by a Mr. Butcher, who resided there. Tradition affirms 
 that this gentleman sprang suddenly into an ample fortune from 
 a station of obscurity and poverty, giving rise to a supposition 
 that he had appropriated to his own uses a large mass of wealth 
 asserted to have been lost at that time in a vessel wrecked on the 
 coast. It is probable, however, that the foregoing is merely an 
 idle tale, utterly unworthy of credence. Mr. Butcher, who was 
 succeded by his son, died in 1769, at the ripe age of 80, and was 
 interred in Bispham churchyard, the following words being 
 inscribed on his tombstone : 
 
 " His pleasure was to give or lend, 
 He always stood a poor man's friend." 
 
 The mansion and estate were purchased by William Hornby, 
 esq., of Kirkham, shortly before his death in 1824, and by him 
 bequeathed to his brother John Hornby, esq., of Blackburn, who 
 married Alice Kendall, a widow, and the daughter of Daniel 
 Backhouse, esq., of Liverpool. Daniel Hornby, esq., the eldest 
 son of that union, inherited the property on the decease of his 
 father in 1841, and took up his abode at the Hall until the early 
 part of 1860, when he left the neighbourhood. Raikes Hall then '
 
 BLACKPOOL. 353 
 
 became the seat of a Roman Catholic Convent School, which 
 continued in possession for several years, until the new and 
 handsome edifice standing on a rising ground in Little Layton 
 was erected and ready for its reception. Shortly after the 
 removal of the school the land and residence were purchased by 
 the company above named, and their aspects began to undergo 
 the changes already indicated. The census returns of the 
 township collected in 1871, furnished a total of 7,902 persons, 
 all of whom, with the exception of an insignificant proportion, 
 were resident in Blackpool. 
 
 In consequence of a letter from the Secretary of State, giving 
 notice that the burial ground in connection with St. John's 
 Church must be closed after the 3ist of December, 1871, the 
 responsibility of providing a suitable place for interments was 
 thrown upon the authorities, and the members of the Local 
 Board of Health formed themselves into a Burial Board, their 
 first meeting being held on the 2Oth of June in the year just 
 specified. A committee was appointed, and in the ensuing 
 August purchased for ^"1,759 an eligible site of 8^- acres, 
 lying by the side of the New Road, into which the entrance 
 gates of the cemetery now open. The plans for the requisite 
 erections were prepared by Messrs. Garlick, Park, and 
 Sykes, architects, of Preston, and the work of preparing the 
 ground commenced in October, the contract for the chapels and 
 lodge being let in December. As such a brief interval had to 
 elapse before the order for closing the churchyard would be put 
 in force, the Board applied, successfully, for permission to keep 
 it open six months longer. The cemetery, however, progressed 
 so tardily that it was necessary to renew the application on two 
 future occasions, and the churchyard continued in use until the 
 3 ist of May, 1873. Five acres of the land were laid out from 
 plans supplied by Mr. Gorst, surveyor to the board, and were 
 divided into nine sections, four of which were apportioned to the 
 Church of England, three to the Nonconformists, and two to the 
 Roman Catholics. The cemetery was enclosed from the highway 
 by stone palisadings and boundary walls, having massive iron 
 railings. The approach to the grounds is through a spacious 
 entrance, with a double iron gate in the centre, and a single gate 
 on either side, hung to stone pillars. Inside the gate is the lodge, 
 
 x
 
 354 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 built of stone and comprising a residence for the keeper, offices, 
 etc. The mortuary chapels, which are all of stone, have an 
 elegant appearance, that of the Church of England being stationed 
 in the middle, with the Nonconformists' and Roman Catholics' 
 edifices lying respectively west and east of it. The style of the 
 buildings is Gothic of the first pointed period. The roofs are 
 open-timbered, high-pitched, and covered with Welsh slates in 
 bands of different colours, being also crested with tiles. Entrance 
 to the chapels is gained by a porch, and there is a vestry attached 
 to each. The floors are laid with plain tiles of various tints. 
 Evergreens, shrubs, and forest trees have been planted on the 
 borders of the grounds, whilst the walks are wide and well cared 
 for. The Nonconformists were the first to take possession of their 
 portion, which was dedicated to its solemn uses by a service held 
 on the yth of February, 1873, exactly one week after which an 
 interment took place, being the earliest not only in their land but 
 in the whole ground. On the 2nd of August in the same year 
 the Right Rev. Dr. Fraser, bishop of Manchester, consecrated the 
 division set apart for the Church of England, which had been 
 licensed for burials in the previous May. The Roman Catholics 
 deferred their ceremonial until the month of June, 1874, acting 
 under license during the interval. 
 
 On the 26th of August, 1872, the Blackpool Sea Water 
 Company was registered under the limited liability act, with a 
 capital of ^~ 10,000, in shares of 10 each, for the purpose of 
 supplying water from the deep, together with the requisite 
 appliances for conducting it to the houses and elsewhere, to the 
 inhabitants of Blackpool ; and rather more than two years later 
 a main of pipes had been laid along the front from the Merchants' 
 College in South Shore as far as their steam pumping works in 
 Upper Braithwaite Street. 
 
 In 1874 the watering-place had developed so rapidly during 
 past years that the members of the Local Board of Health felt 
 that the powers appertaining to a body of that description were 
 no longer adequate to the proper government of the town, and a 
 public meeting to ascertain the opinion of the ratepayers on the 
 subject of incorporation was called on Tuesday, the 6th of 
 November, 1874. After considerable discussion, it was proposed 
 by the Rev. N. S. Jeffreys : " That a petition be drawn up and
 
 BLACKPOOL. 355 
 
 signed by the chairman on behalf of the meeting, praying that a 
 Charter of Incorporation be granted for the town of Blackpool, 
 and that the same be forwarded to the proper authorities ; and 
 that the necessary steps be taken to obtain such Charter." The 
 proposition was adopted without a dissentient ; and at the 
 ensuing assembly of the Local Board of Health on Tuesday, the 
 loth of November, a similar motion was brought forward by 
 W. H. Cocker, esq., J.P., with an equally successful result. The 
 prayers were forwarded to the appropriate official quarters in 
 London, and on the 26th of May, 1875, Major Donnelly, R.E., 
 the commissioner appointed by Her Majesty's Privy Council, 
 attended at the Board-room to hold an inquiry as to whether the 
 importance and necessities of the place warranted a favourable 
 answer to the request. In the course of the examination, it was 
 stated, amongst other things, that the rateable value of the 
 proposed borough was in 1863, ^"17,489 ; 1866, ^35,175 ; 1869, 
 /45,755 5 1872, /55,653_5 1874, 63,848 ; and in 1875, /73,Q35- 
 Also that the town contained three churches, seven chapels, three 
 rooms used for religious services, two markets under the Local 
 Board, other markets owned by private individuals, four public 
 sea-water baths, three banks, an aquarium, public gardens, etc. 
 On the 1 6th of the following July information was officially 
 conveyed to W. M. Charnley, esq., the law-clerk of the board, 
 that the lords of the Privy Council had determined to accede to 
 the prayer of the town, and that the borough should consist of 
 six wards, with one alderman and three councillors for each. A 
 draft of the scheme of incorporation was prepared by the law- 
 clerk, and forwarded to London. On the 22nd January, 1876, 
 the charter, having passed through the necessary forms, obtained 
 the royal assent, being received by W. M. Charnley, esq., two 
 days later. The document, after quoting several acts of parlia- 
 ment, proceeds to " grant and declare that the inhabitants of the 
 town of Blackpool and their successors, shall be for ever hereafter 
 one body politic and corporate in deed, fact, and name, and that 
 the said body corporate shall be called the Mayor, Aldermen, and 
 Burgesses of the Borough of Blackpool, who shall have and 
 exercise all the acts, powers, authorities, immunities, and privi- 
 leges which are now held and exercised by the bodies corporate 
 of the several boroughs" similarly created. Further, the deed
 
 356 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 "grants and declares that the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Bur- 
 gesses and their successors shall and may for ever hereafter use a 
 common seal to serve them in transacting their business, and also 
 have armorial bearings and devices, which shall be duly entered 
 and enrolled in the Herald's College ;" also shall they have power 
 " to purchase, take, and acquire such lands, tenements, and 
 heriditaments, whatsoever, situate, lying, and being within the 
 borough, as shall be necessary for the site of the buildings and 
 premises required for the official purposes of the corporation." 
 The Council was ordained to consist of " a Mayor, six Aldermen, 
 and eighteen Councillors, to be respectively elected at such times 
 and places, and in such manner" as those of other boroughs 
 existing under the same acts, in common with which they " shall 
 have, exercise, and enjoy all the powers, immunities, and privi- 
 leges, and be subject to the same duties, penalties, liabilities, and 
 disqualifications" appertaining to such positions. The first 
 election of councillors was directed to be held on the eleventh 
 day of April, 1876, followed by another on the ist of November, 
 at which latter date one-third part of the councillors should go 
 out of office each year, and the vacant seats be refilled as specified ; 
 the councillors to retire in the November, 1876, being those who 
 had obtained the smallest number of votes, and in November, 1877, 
 those with the next smallest number of votes. The first aldermen 
 of the borough " shall be elected and assigned to their respective 
 wards on the igth day of April, 1876, and the councillors imme- 
 diately afterwards shall appoint who shall be the aldermen to go 
 out of office upon the 9th day of November ensuing," and in 
 subsequent years those so retiring to be aldermen who have 
 retained their seats for the longest period without re-election. 
 The first mayor of the borough u shall be elected from and out 
 of the aldermen and councillors of the said borough, on the igth 
 day of April, 1876," the earliest appointment of auditors and 
 assessors being made on the igth day of the following month. 
 The subjoined extent and names of the wards are also taken from 
 the charter : 
 
 CLAREMONT WARD. 
 
 " Commencing at the Sea beyond the Gynn, at the junction of the old existing 
 township boundary, thence running inland along the same boundary across the 
 fields, across Knowle-road, behind Warbrick and Mill Inn, across Poulton-road to 
 the centre of the Dyke at Little Layton, thence along the Dyke to the centre of
 
 BLACKPOOL. 357 
 
 Little Layton Bridge, thence westward along and including the north side of 
 Little Layton-road, north side of New-road, north side of Talbot-road, to Station- 
 road, thence along and including the east side of Station-road to Queen-street, 
 thence along and including the north side of Queen-street, Queen's-square, across 
 the Promenade to the sea. 
 
 TALBOT WARD. 
 
 " Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of Queen's-square, thence along 
 and including the south side of Queen's-square, south side of Queen-street to 
 Station-road, thence running along and including the west side of Station-road to 
 Talbot-road, thence along and including the south side of the upper portion of 
 Talbot-road, south side of New-road, the south side of Little Layton-road to the 
 centre of Little Layton Bridge, thence along the Dyke to the old township 
 boundary, thence south-east by the township boundary to the centre of Dykes- 
 lane, thence westward along and including the north side of Dykes-lane, the north 
 side of Layton-road, the north side of Raikes-road, the north side of Raikes Hill, 
 the north side of Church-street to Abingdon-street, thence along and including the 
 east side of Abingdon-street to Birley-street, thence along and including the north 
 side of Birley-street, the north side of West-street, across the Promenade to the 
 Sea. 
 
 BANK HEY WARD. 
 
 " Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of West-street, thence along and 
 including'the south side of West-street, the south side of Birley-street to Abingdon- 
 street, thence along and including the west side of Abingdon-street to Church- 
 street, thence along and including the south side of Church-street to Lower King- 
 street, thence along and including the west side of Lower King-street to Adelaide- 
 street, thence along and including the north side of Adelaide-street, the north side 
 of Adelaide-place, across the Promenade to the Sea. 
 
 BRUNSWICK WARD. 
 
 " Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of Adelaide-place, thence along 
 and including the south side of Adelaide-place, the south side of Adelaide-street to 
 Lower King-street, thence along and including the east side of Lower King-street 
 to Church-street, thence along and including the south side of Church-street, the 
 south side of' Raikes Hill, the south side of Raikes-road, the south side of Layton- 
 road, the south side of Dykes-lane to the existing township boundary, thence 
 along the same boundary beyond the Whinney Heys, around the Belle Vue 
 Gardens, southward of Raikes Hall Gardens to the centre of Revoe-road, thence 
 along and including the north side of Revoe-road, the north side of Chapel-street, 
 across the Promenade to the Sea. 
 
 FOXHALL WARD. 
 
 "Commencing at the Sea opposite to the end of Chapel-street, thence along and 
 including the south side of Chapel-street, the south side of Revoe-road to the 
 existing township boundary, thence south-westerly, and thence south-easterly 
 along the same boundary to the centre of Cow Gap-lane, thence west along and 
 including the north side of Cow Gap-lane to Lytham-road, thence along and 
 including the east side of Lytham-road to Alexandra-road, thence along and 
 including the north side of Alexandra-road, across the Promenade to the Sea.
 
 358 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 WATERLOO WARD. 
 
 " Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of Alexandra-road, thence along 
 and including the south side of Alexandra-road to Lytham-road, thence along and 
 including the west side of Lytham-road to Cow Gap-lane, thence eastward, along 
 and including the south side of Cow Gap-lane to the existing township boundary, 
 thence south-easterly, along the same boundary on the easterly side of Hawes 
 Side-road, the north side of Layton-lane, across the Blackpool and Lytham 
 Railway to the Sea at Star Hills. 
 
 The election of councillors took place at the date specified in 
 the charter, under the superintendence of Mr. William Porter, 
 of Fleetwood and Blackpool, who had been nominated by the 
 authorities of the town as returning officer. On the igth of 
 April the gentlemen elected assembled in the old board-room and 
 appointed aldermen and a mayor from amongst themselves, the 
 vacancies thus created being supplied by another appeal to the 
 burgesses of those wards whose representatives had been elevated 
 to the aldermanic bench. The first completed town council of 
 Blackpool consisted of 
 
 Alderman William Henry Cocker (the mayor) Bank Hey Ward. 
 
 Thomas McNaughtan, M.D Claremont 
 
 Thomas Lambert Masheter Talbot 
 
 John Hardman Foxhall 
 
 Francis Parnell Waterloo 
 
 J. E. B. Cocker Brunswick 
 
 Councillor John Braithwaite 1 
 
 William Bailey \ Claremont 
 
 Leslie Jones, M.D J 
 
 T. Challinor ) 
 
 R. Marshall L Talbot 
 
 John Fisher j 
 
 John Coulson 1 
 
 George Ormrod I Bank Hey 
 
 Henry Fisher J 
 
 George Bonny \ 
 
 Robert Mather \ Brunswick 
 
 John William Mycock J 
 
 James Blundell Fisher 1 
 
 Alfred Anderson | Foxhall 
 
 Robert Bickerstaffe, jun j 
 
 Francis Parnell \ 
 
 Richard Gorst L Waterloo 
 
 Lawrence Hall J 
 
 William Mawdsley Charnley, esq., solicitor, town-clerk. 
 
 From the time when the subject of incorporation was first 
 beginning to dawn upon the inhabitants as something to which 
 the rapid extension and growing importance of their town was
 
 BLACKPOOL. 359 
 
 tending with no tardy pace, up to the present year of 1876, 
 buildings have increased at a rate unparalleled in any former 
 period of Blackpool's history. No longer solitary erections, or 
 even small groups, but whole streets have been added to the 
 expanding area of the place, consisting of handsome and spacious 
 edifices, of, indeed, notwithstanding their being situated to the rear, 
 exteriors which would, not many years ago, have been deemed 
 highly ornamental to the beach itself. In 1874 the south 
 section of the noble market-hall, on Hygiene Terrace, was being 
 arranged and fitted up with roomy tanks to form an aquarium on 
 a fairly large scale by W. H. Cocker, Esq., J.P., who had recently 
 acquired the proprietorship of the entire pile. The open space in 
 front of the building was fenced in, and furnished with three tanks 
 for seals, and other novel features to render it attractive and 
 pleasing. The walls of the interior were adorned with landscapes 
 in the spacious saloon, where the main tank, divided into 
 numerous compartments, each being supplied with a variety of 
 fish differing from its neighbours, occupies a central position. 
 Subsidiary tanks, filled with curious specimens of animated nature 
 from the " vasty deep," stand in the entrance hall and recesses. 
 The aquarium was opened to the public on the I7th of May, in 
 the ensuing year. 
 
 On the 22nd of May, 1875, the foundation stone of a Primitive 
 Methodist chapel was laid in Chapel Street by Mr. J. Fairhurst, 
 of Wigan. Heretofore the members of that sect had met for 
 religious purposes in a mission room located in Foxhall Road. 
 The earliest service in the new chapel was conducted by the 
 resident minister, the Rev. E. Newsome, on Sunday, the 2gth 
 of the following August. The Unitarians have a chapel in Bank 
 Street, which was formally opened by the Rev. J. R. Smith, 
 of Hyde, also in August, 1875. During the same month a 
 number of influential gentlemen purchased the estate of 
 Bank Hey from W. H. Cocker, esq., J.P., for ^23,000, with the 
 intention of converting it into Winter Gardens. Possession was 
 gained, according to agreement, on the ist of October. The 
 design of the company is to place on the land a concert room, 
 promenades, conservatories, and other accessories calculated to 
 convert the estate into a pleasant lounge, especially desirous 
 during inclement days.
 
 360 BISPHAM PARISH, 
 
 Although South Shore is now intimately connected and 
 associated with Blackpool as one town, there was a period, and 
 not a very remote one, when it flourished as a separate and 
 distinct hamlet, widely divided from its more imposing neighbour. 
 The first house of South Shore was erected in 1819 by Mr. 
 Thomas Moore, who speedily added about ten more to the 
 solitary edifice. The growth of the village in earlier years was not 
 characterised by any great rapidity, and in 1830 the whole of the 
 buildings comprised no more than a thin row of respectable 
 cottages overlooking the sea, with a lawn or promenade in front. 
 In 1836 a church was built, partly by subscription and partly 
 from Queen Anne's Bounty, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. 
 Twenty-two years afterwards, owing to the development of South 
 Shore through the number of regular visitants who preferred the 
 quietude of its beach to the greater animation which prevailed 
 at Blackpool, the building was enlarged by the erection of 
 transepts and a new chancel, alterations which supplied further 
 sitting room for about 380 worshippers. The church is of brick, 
 and contains a handsome stained-glass east window, representing 
 the baptism of Christ by St. John the Baptist, another ornamental 
 window being inserted in the south wall. The mural tablets are 
 in memory of William Wilkinson, " who for twenty-five years was 
 an indefatigable teacher in the Sunday Schools of Marton and 
 South Shore, he served his country in the battles of Talavera, 
 Busaco, Albuera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nive, Nivelle, and Toulouse," 
 died nth September, 1853, aged 66 years ; and of James Metcalf, 
 "curate of South Shore, who departed this life July 24th, 1875, 
 aged 42 years, and was interred at the Parish Church of Bolton- 
 le-Sands." The font is of grey stone, massive and carved. The 
 first organ obtained by the congregation was purchased in 1847. 
 In 1872 a tasteful lectern was forwarded to the church by the 
 Rev. j. B. Wakefield, to whom it had been presented by his 
 parishioners, as a token of esteem, about the close of his ministry 
 amongst them in 1870. The burial ground encircling the church 
 of Holy Trinity contains no monuments of special interest, if we 
 except a stone pedestal, surmounted by a broken column, erected 
 by public subscription to the memories of three fishermen, 
 drowned off Cross-slack, whilst following their avocation on the 
 nth of October, 1860.
 
 BLACKPOOL. 
 
 PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF HOLY TRINITY. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 ; 
 NAME. 
 
 On whose 
 Presentation. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 1837 
 
 G. F. Greene, M.A. 
 
 J.Talbot Clifton, esq. 
 
 
 1841 
 
 John Edwards 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of G. F. 
 
 
 
 
 Greene 
 
 1845 
 
 C. K. Dean 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of J. 
 
 
 
 
 Edwards 
 
 1848 
 
 T. B. Banner, M.A. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of C. K. 
 
 
 
 
 Dean 
 
 1853 
 
 J. B. Wakefield 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of T. B. 
 
 
 
 
 Banner 
 
 1870 
 
 J. Ford Simmons, M.A. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Resignation of J. B. 
 
 
 
 
 Wakefield 
 
 There is now an ecclesiastical parochial district attached to the 
 church, of which the incumbent is the vicar. 
 
 On Thursday, the 24th of March, 1869, the corner stone of a 
 Wesleyan chapel in Rawcliffe Street, built at the sole expense of 
 Francis Parnell, esq., of South Shore, who subsequently added 
 the schools, was laid by Mrs. Parnell, wife of the donor. For 
 four or five years the members of this denomination had met on 
 the Sabbath in a small room in Bolton Street, originally designed 
 for a coach-house, and the necessity for more suitable and 
 extended accommodation through growing numbers had of late 
 pressed urgently upon the limited and not over wealthy assembly, 
 so that the generous offer of their townsman was gratefully 
 appreciated. The structure is in the Gothic style of architecture, 
 about fifty feet in length and forty feet in width, with brick 
 walls and stone facings, and will contain upwards of three 
 hundred persons. Service was first held in the new place of 
 worship, styled the Ebenezer Wesleyan Chapel, on Thursday, the 
 2nd of September, 1869, the officiating minister being the Rev. 
 W. H. Taylor, of Manchester. The room in Bolton Street was 
 subsequently converted into a Temperance Hall, and remained in 
 that capacity until the 3Oth of March, 1873, when it was appro- 
 priated as a meeting-house by the Baptist sect. The progress of 
 South Shore has not until the last two or three years been 
 marked by that wonderful rapidity which has already been
 
 362 
 
 BISPHAM PARISH. 
 
 noticed whilst delineating the prosperous career of Blackpool. 
 Nevertheless a steadily-increasing patronage was always extended 
 to the milder climate of the village under consideration, from its 
 earliest existence. Terraces of pretty and commodious residences 
 arose at intervals along the marine frontage, whilst elegant villas 
 have been erected both opposite the sea and nearer to the Lytham 
 Road. Building is at present (1876) being pushed forward with 
 great activity, houses springing up in endless succession along the 
 sides of thoroughfares but recently mapped out.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE PARISH OF KIRKHAM. 
 KIRKHAM. 
 
 j]HE township of Kirkham was probably the earliest 
 inhabited locality in the Fylde district ; and although 
 it is impossible to assert that the very site of the 
 present town was a spot fixed upon by the Romans 
 for erecting their habitations, still as the road formed by those 
 people passed over it, and many remnants of their domestic 
 utensils, funereal urns, and other relics have been discovered in 
 the surrounding soil, there is strong presumptive evidence that 
 an ancient settlement was at least close at hand. Amongst the 
 traces of the old warriors disinterred in this neighbourhood may 
 be mentioned a large quantity of stones prepared for building 
 purposes, and numerous fragments of urns, ploughed up about 
 half a mile from Kirkham. The Mill Hill Field has also disclosed 
 frequent witnesses to the former presence of the Romans, notably 
 abundant specimens of their pottery and coinage, but perhaps the 
 greatest curiosity found in the vicinity is the boss or umbo of a 
 shield, wrought in brass, which was removed from a brook in the 
 field specified during the year 1792. In form the shield is some- 
 what oval, having its central portion semi-globular, whilst the 
 outer rim is flat. The entire diameter is about eight inches, of 
 which the embossment supplies five. The horizontal and 
 encircling part is perforated in four separate places, apparently 
 for the passage of thongs or rivets. The highest surface of the 
 boss holds the representation of a human figure seated, with an 
 eagle to the left, the sides being adorned with an athlete
 
 364 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 respectively. Birds, swords, diminutive shields, etc., complete 
 the decorations. 
 
 From the year 418, when the Romans vacated the island, up 
 to the compilation of the Domesday Book by William the Con- 
 queror in 1080-86, a period of over six and a half centuries, history 
 preserves no record of any matter or event directly connected 
 with the town, as distinct from the Hundred in which it is 
 situated. Nevertheless it is obvious that Kirkham must have 
 sprung into being some time during that protracted era, insomuch 
 as it appears amongst the places existing in Amounderness in the 
 Norman survey just indicated. The name is a compound derived 
 from the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, and although the syllable 
 " Kirk," coming from the latter, and signifying a church, could 
 not have been in use until those pirates first invaded the land in 
 787, and probably was not applied until the mistaken policy of 
 Alfred the Great allowed them to colonise this and other parts of 
 Northumbria, one hundred years later, still it would scarcely be 
 justifiable to conclude that there was no dwelling or village here, 
 as the Anglo-Saxon " ham " implies, anterior to that date. The 
 location of the place on the margin of an open thoroughfare, and 
 the former establishment of the Romans within or near to its 
 boundaries, incline us rather to the opinion that from the earliest 
 arrival of the Anglo-Saxons they had selected this site for the 
 foundation of a small settlement, and that the " ham " or hamlet 
 so created bore a purely Saxon title until the advent of the Danes, 
 under whose influence the orthography became altered by the 
 substitution from their vocabulary of the word " kirk " for the one 
 originally bestowed upon it. 
 
 Some idea of the condition of Kirkham at the Norman Con- 
 quest may be gleaned from the report concerning the Fylde in 
 the Domesday Book, in which it is stated that of the 840 statute 
 acres comprised in the township, only 400 (four carucates) were 
 under cultivation, the rest being waste, that is, untilled, but very 
 possibly in service as forage ground for swine. At that period 
 the town undoubtedly possessed a church, one of the three men- 
 tioned in the record above-named, as standing in Amounderness, 
 but the era of its erection is conjectural merely. The name of 
 Kirkham, however, the church hamlet, is manifestly of 
 ecclesiastical origin, and the Danish derivation of " kirk "
 
 KIRKHAM, 365 
 
 implies that some religious building existed there, very likely 
 about the year 900, when that nation colonised the district, but 
 that a sacred edifice of some description had been constructed 
 long before may be deduced from the fact that Christianity had 
 been pretty generally embraced by the Anglo-Saxons dwelling in 
 this locality about the middle of the seventh century. 
 
 From the commencement of the Norman dominion the history 
 of Kirkham rises out of the mist which has obscured its earlier 
 ages, and we are enabled from the disclosures of ancient 
 documents, to follow out its career in a more satisfactory manner. 
 The church and tithes of Kirkham were presented amongst other 
 possessions, as a portion of the Hundred of Amounderness, by 
 William the Conqueror to the baron Roger de Poictou, and were 
 conferred by that nobleman about the year noo, on the priory of 
 St. Mary's, Lancaster, 1 a monastic institution founded by him 
 from the Abbey of Sees in Normandy. This priory retained 
 possession of the church for only a few years, when it reverted to 
 its former owner, and was bestowed by him on the convent of 
 Shrewsbury, as shown by the charter of William, archbishop of 
 York, as follows : 
 
 " The monks of Salop in the day of my ancestors were often making complaints 
 that their church was unjustly robbed ot the church of Kirckaham, because it had 
 been legally bestowed upon it by Roger, count of Poictou, and confirmed by 
 Thomas, archbishop, by authority of grants under seal. At length they have come 
 before us to state their complaints ; and we, thus constrained and by the command 
 of lord Henry, legate of the apostolical see, committed their cause to be laid before 
 the synod of York." 
 
 The archbishop Thomas here mentioned died either in uoo or 
 1113, whilst William, the writer of the charter, died in 1154. 
 The York tribunal decided, after seeing the writings touching 
 the confirmation of the grant of the church of Kirkham to the 
 Shrewsbury convent, which the monks of Salop had sealed with 
 the seal of Thomas, the archbishop, that " the aforesaid church 
 should be restored to the church of Peter of Salop." 
 
 In 1 195 "a great controversy arose between Theobald Walter, on 
 the one part, and the abbot of Shrewsbury, on the other, concerning 
 the right of patronage of the church, which was thus settled : a 
 certain fine was levied in the king's court that the abbot and his 
 
 I. Regist. S. Marise Lane. MS.
 
 366 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 successors should receive from the church of Kirkham a pension 
 of twelve marks a year, and Theobald himself should for ever 
 remain the true Patron of the said church." 1 
 
 After the death of Theobald Walter, king John, who had the 
 guardianship of that nobleman's heir, gave two parts of the church 
 to Simon Blund, 2 and later, in 1213, he bestowed the church upon 
 W. Gray, chancellor, for life. 8 Edward I. conferred the advowson 
 of the church of Kirkham upon the abbey of Vale Royal, a 
 monastic house founded by him in Cheshire ; but the grant was 
 not made without strenuous opposition on the part of Sir 
 Theobald Walter or le Botiler,* a descendant of the Theobald 
 specified above, who maintained that the king had no legal 
 right to the advowson, which belonged to him as heir-at-law and 
 descendant of Theobald Walter, the first. A council assembled 
 to investigate the rival claims, and Edward, having asserted that 
 his father, Henry III., had granted the advowson to his clerk by 
 right of his crown, and not through any temporary power he 
 had as guardian of Theobald Walter's heir, a statement which 
 Le Botiler's attorney either could not or would not gainsay, the 
 advowson was adjudged to him, and Sir Theobald lay under 
 mercy. 8 This dispute probably occurred in the 8th year of 
 Edward's sovereignty, 1280, for we find from the Rot. Chart, that 
 at that date the advowson was granted by the monarch to the 
 abbey of Vale Royal. 
 
 In 1286 Sir Otto de Grandison, who was ambassador at the 
 apostolic see, obtained a bull from the pope, Honorius IV., by 
 which the advowson of Kirkham was conferred upon the abbey 
 of Vale Royal for ever, and on the 27th of January in the ensuing 
 year, Edward I. confirmed his former grant. 7 
 
 In the fifty-fourth year of the reign of Henry III., 1269, power 
 was granted by royal charter to the manorial lord of Kirkham to 
 
 I. Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 27. 2. Testa de Nevill, fol. 371. 
 3. Rot. Chart. 15 John. m. 3, n. 15. 
 
 4. Theobald Walter, the 2nd, adopted the surname of Botiler, or Butler, on 
 being appointed chief Butler of Ireland ; this titular surname was retained by his 
 descendants. 
 
 5. This account occurs in the Register of Vale Royal, and is endorsed " Of the 
 church of Kyrkham, how the king had conferred it upon this monasterie," etc. 
 
 6. Monast. Anglic, vol. II. p. 925. Ellis' edit. Harl. MSS. No. 2064. f. 27. 
 
 7. Rot. Chart., 15 Edw. I., Np. 8, ra. 3.
 
 KIRKHAM. 367 
 
 hold a market and fair, 1 and as such privileges were allowed at 
 that time to only a few other towns in the whole county of 
 Lancashire, we must conclude that even at such an early date 
 Kirkham possessed some special advantages or interest to be able 
 so successfully to press its claims to this signal favour. That such 
 important powers as the holding of markets and fairs were not 
 allowed to be exercised without due and proper authority 
 is proved by a warrant which was issued twenty-three years 
 later, in the reign of Edward I., against the abbot of Vale 
 Royal, to which convent the manor of Kirkham belonged, to 
 appear before a judicial court to show by what authority he held 
 those periodical assemblies of the inhabitants. He pleaded that 
 the right had been first conceded to his predecessors by Henry III., 
 and that subsequently the grant had been confirmed by the 
 present monarch, Edward I., in the fifteenth year of his dominion. 
 These assertions having been verified, the abbot was exculpated 
 from all blame, and orders were issued to the justices itinerant in 
 this county to the effect that they were in no way to interfere 
 with the exercise of those privileges, which were to be continued 
 exactly as they had been heretofore. 2 From a copy of a document 3 
 framed four years later, in 1296, in which the whole of these rights 
 are embodied amongst other interesting matters, we learn that the 
 manor of Kirkham was granted to the abbot and convent of Vale 
 Royal in frank-al-moigne, that is, a tenure by which a religious 
 corporation holds lands for themselves and their successors for ever, 
 on condition of praying for the soul of the donor ; that power was 
 given or confirmed to hold a fair of five days duration at the 
 Nativity of St. John the Baptist ; that the borough of Kirkham, 
 which had been incorporated by the name of the burgesses of 
 Kirkham in the year 1282, the tenth of the reign of Edward L, 
 was to be a free borough ; that the burgesses and their heirs were 
 to have a free guild, with all the liberties which belonged to a free 
 borough ; that there was to be in the borough a pillory, a prison, 
 and a ducking stool, and other instruments for the punishment of 
 evil doers ; and that there were to be assizes of bread and ale, 
 and weights and measures. Continuing the perusal of this 
 document we find that the abbot of Vale Royal consented that 
 
 I. Placito de Quo Warranto, Lane. Rot., rod. 2. Ibid. 
 
 3. Discovered in the old chest at Kirkham amongst the archives of the bailiffs.
 
 368 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 the burgesses should elect two bailiffs from amongst themselves 
 annually, and that these should be presented and sworn ; on the 
 other hand, however, the convent reserved to itself the perquisites 
 arising from the courts, stallage, assizes of bread and ale, etc., and 
 annual rents due at the period of festival legally appointed as 
 above. The names of the following gentlemen are appended to 
 the deed as witnesses : Radulphus de Mouroyd, William le 
 Botyler, Robert de Holonde, Henry de Kytheleye, John Venyal, 
 William de Clifton, Thomas Travers, and others. 
 
 In 1327 an edict was published by the dean of Amounderness 
 in the church of Kirkham on behalf of the archbishop of York, 
 which commanded that the abbot or some one connected with the 
 convent of Vale Royal, should appear before that prelate at the 
 cathedral of his see on " the third lawful day after the Sunday on 
 which is sung Quasi modo genite vira et munimenta" 1 to show by 
 what right and authority the Cheshire convent held the church 
 just mentioned. In answer to this summons a monk, named 
 Walter Wallensis, from Vale Royal, appeared before the arch- 
 bishop on the day named, in 1328, and produced in proof of 
 the title of his monastery to the church, the charter of Edward 
 I., the bull of the pope, and letters from several archdeacons, 
 recognising the proprietorship of the convent. In addition he 
 brought four witnesses, viz., William de Cotton, advocate in the 
 court of York, who stated that for eighteen years the abbot and 
 convent of Vale Royal had supplied the rectors to the church of 
 Kirkham ; John de Bradkirk, who said that he had known the 
 church for forty years as a parishioner, and had on many occasions 
 seen the charter confirming the grant of the advowson, etc., to 
 Vale Royal, as for fifteen years he had been in the service of that 
 monastery, and at the time when the present archbishop of York 
 farmed the church of Kirkham, twelve years ago, from the 
 convent of Vale Royal, had been the bearer of the money raised 
 from this church to that dignitary at York ; Robert de Staneford, 
 of Kirkham, who gave similar evidence, and bore witness to the 
 existence of the charter of Edward I., which he had seen ; and 
 Robert de Blundeston, of Vale Royal, who gave evidence as to the 
 genuineness of the documents produced having been admitted by 
 
 I. That is, the Sunday after Easter.
 
 KIRKHAM, 369 
 
 Roger de Nasynton, public notary, etc. The result of these 
 attestations was that the case was dismissed against the abbot of 
 Vale Royal, and his right to the church of Kirkham, with all its 
 chapels, fruits, rents, etc., allowed to have been fully proved. 1 
 
 In 1334 a mandamus was issued by Edward III., at York, to 
 Robert Foucher, the sheriff of Lancashire, stating that, contrary 
 to a charter of Edward I., which prohibited the sheriffs from 
 making distraints on the rectors of churches or on estates with 
 which the churches had been endowed, he had u under pretext of 
 his office lately entered into the lands and tenements near Kirk- 
 ham, which are of the endowment of that church, and had 
 heavily distrained the abbot of Vale Royal, parson of that 
 church"; and ordering the said sheriff to abandon the claim, and 
 to make restitution of anything he might thus have illegally 
 obtained, and "by no means to attempt to make any distraint in 
 the lands and tenements which are of the endowment of the 
 aforesaid church," at any future time. 2 
 
 Somewhere about the year 1332 a monk, named Adam de 
 Clebury, who held the temporalities of Shrewsbury Abbey, sued 
 Peter, the abbot of Vale Royal, for five hundred marks, which he 
 declared were the accumulated arrears of twelve marks, ordered to 
 be paid annually by Theobald Walter, to the former monastery, 
 out of the funds of the church of Kirkham, according to the 
 issue of a trial in the king's court, between Theobald and the 
 convent of Shrewsbury, respecting the advowson, etc., of that 
 church in 1195. Peter is said, in the Harleian manuscript, from 
 which this account is taken, to have " redeemed that writ and 
 many others from the sheriff of Lancashire," from which it may 
 be understood that he had paid the sum demanded, or in some 
 conciliatory way settled the case during his lifetime, for we hear 
 no more of the matter until shortly after his death in 1342, when 
 an action to enforce a similar payment was brought against his 
 successor, Robert de Cheyneston. This ecclesiastic, however, is 
 said to a have manfully opposed the abbot of Shrewsbury," and 
 to have journied up to London to hold an interview with him on 
 the subject, at which, after " many allegations on each side, he 
 gave to the abbot of Shrewsbury 100 to pay his labours and 
 
 I. Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 25 and 2$b. 2. Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 27. 
 
 V
 
 370 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 expenses," and in that manner the dispute was brought to a 
 termination about the year 1343. 
 
 In 1337 Sir William de Clifton, of Westby, made an offer to 
 the abbot of Vale Royal to purchase certain tithes from him for 
 twenty marks, and on the ecclesiastic refusing to entertain this 
 proposition, the indignant knight became most unruly and 
 outrageous in his conduct, as shown by the following charge 
 which was that year preferred against him by the abbot, who 
 stated : 
 
 " That he had thrust with a lance at a brother of the monastery in the presence 
 of the abbot and convent ; that he had retained twenty marks which he was 
 pledged and bound to pay to the abbot, in order to weary him with expenses and 
 labours ; that it was the custom, from time immemorial, for the parishioners of 
 Kirkham to convey their tithe-corn to their barns, and there keep it until the 
 ministers of the rector came for it ; but that he (Sir William Clifton), in contempt 
 of the church, had allowed his tithes and those of his tenants to waste and rot in 
 the fields, and very often by force and arms had driven away the tithe-collectors ; 
 he also had compelled a cart of the rector, laden with hay, to remain on his land 
 for upwards of a month, and in derision had made the rector's mare into a hunting 
 palfrey ; he also had neglected to keep the tithes of his calves, pigeons, orchards, 
 huntings, and hawkings, and would not allow the procurator, under threat of 
 death, to enter his estate, but he and his satellites had irreverently burst into the 
 sanctuary of God, where they had assailed the priests and clerks, and impeded 
 them in the discharge of their duties. Moreover the aforesaid knight would not 
 permit any of his tenants who were living in flagrant sin, to be corrected or 
 punished by the ordinaries." 1 
 
 In concluding the above list of misdemeanours, the abbot com- 
 plained that Sir William had ordered a severe flagellation " even 
 to the effusion of blood," to be inflicted on Thomas, the clerk, in 
 the town of Preston, and that this scourging had taken place as 
 directed, in the presence of the under-mentioned gentlemen, who 
 seemed to have been well pleased with the vigorous measures 
 adopted by the knight, and to have rendered him willing assist- 
 ance when called upon : 
 
 Richard de Plumpton, Richard de Tresale, 
 
 Nicholas Catford, Henry de Tresale, 
 
 William the provost, William Sictore, 
 
 William Jordan, junr., William Sictore, junr., 
 
 John Dence, Adam de Scales, 
 
 Robert Carter, Richard Walker, 
 
 John Garleigh, John Mydelar, 
 
 I. Fishwigk's History of Kirkham from the Harl. MSS,
 
 KIRKHAM. 371 
 
 Henry Thillon, Thomas Adekoe, 
 
 William Randell, Adam del Wodes, 
 
 John de Reste, William de Mydelar, 
 
 William de Morhouse, Thomas de Wytacres, 
 
 And several others, including Adam, the harper. 
 
 This charge was laid before the lord abbot of Westminster by 
 the abbot of Vale Royal, and the former, after hearing the state- 
 ment of offences, commanded that Sir William de Clifton and others 
 enumerated therein, should appear before him to answer for their 
 misdeeds ; but as neither Sir William nor any of his friends and 
 abettors took the least notice of the summons, it was decided that 
 an endeavour should be made to arrange the quarrel by arbitration. 
 To this the knight seems to have been favourable, and nominated 
 William Laurence, John de Crofton, and Robert Mareys to act 
 as his arbitrators ; whilst those of the abbot were William 
 Baldreston, rector of St. Michael's-on-Wyre ; Robert Baldreston, 
 his brother, and a rector also ; and Richard de Ewyas, a monk 
 of Deulacres. The decision of the court thus constituted was that 
 Sir W-illiam de Clifton should acknowledge his guilt, and ask 
 pardon and absolution for the same from the abbot, unto whose 
 will and grace he should submit himself ; in addition the knight 
 was ordered to pay a fine of twenty marks, and make good to 
 the abbot the tithes which he had destroyed or refused to pay. 
 Sir William accepted the verdict, and bound himself to fulfil its 
 conditions by oath ; the rest were required to enter into a promise 
 to abstain in future from making any attempt to injure the church 
 of Kirkham, or anything connected with it, and to provide a large 
 wax candle, which was paraded round that church on the feast 
 of palms, and afterwards presented as a peace-offering to St. 
 Michael. 1 
 
 In 1357 Cardinal John Thoresby, archbishop of York, made a 
 new ordination of the vicarage of Kirkham, by which it was 
 decreed that, instead of the secular vicar appointed aforetime, the 
 abbot and convent of Vale Royal should select some one from 
 their own monastery to fill the office whenever a vacancy occurred. 
 By this fresh regulation the abbot and convent of Vale Royal were 
 bound to pay to the vicar forty marks per annum, and he on his 
 part was pledged to keep the parsonage house in proper repair and 
 
 I. Vale Royal ledger.
 
 372 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 perform all ecclesiastical duties. Three years afterwards a vicar of 
 Kirkham was charged and convicted of having been guilty of 
 maladministration in his position as dean of Amounderness, but 
 subsequently he received a full pardon from King Edward III. 
 
 In the year 1401, during the reign of Henry IV., the right to 
 hold a market and fair was again confirmed to the abbot and 
 convent of Vale Royal ; subjoined is a translated copy of the 
 grant, which bore the date of the 2nd of July : 
 
 " The king to all men greeting : We have inspected a charter made by our 
 progenitor, Lord Edward, formerly king of England, in these words : ' Edward, 
 by the grace of God king of England, lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine, to 
 the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, justices, sheriffs, provosts, 
 ministers, and to all his bailiffs and subjects, health. Know that we have granted 
 and by this our present charter confirm to our beloved in Christ the Abbot and 
 Convent of Vale Royal, that they and their successors for ever shall have a market 
 in each week on Thursday at their manor at Kirkham in the county of Lancaster, 
 and also in each year a fair at the same town of five days duration, that is on the 
 vigil, on the Day, and on the morrow of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and 
 on the two days succeeding ; unless the market and fair be found injurious to 
 neighbouring markets and fairs. Therefore we desire and firmly enjoin, both for 
 ourselves and our heirs, that the aforesaid Abbot and Convent and their successors 
 for ever shall have the aforesaid market and fair at the aforesaid manor with all 
 the liberties and free customs appertaining to similar institutions, unless such 
 market and fair be detrimental to neighbouring interests as aforesaid. 
 
 " ' These being witnesses : The venerable fathers Robert Bath and Wells, John 
 Winchester, and Anthony Durham, bishops ; William de Valence, our uncle ; 
 Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln ; master Henry de Newark, archdeacon of 
 Richmond ; master William de Luda, archdeacon of Durham ; master William de 
 Cornere, dean of Wymburne ; John de St. John ; William de Latymer ; and others. 
 
 " ' Given under our hand at Bourdeaux on the 2 1st of January, in the I5th year 
 of our reign.' 
 
 " Holding the aforesaid charter and all matters contained in it as authentic and 
 acceptable both for ourselves and our heirs, as far as our power extends, we accept, 
 approve, grant, and confirm to our beloved in Christ, the present Abbot and 
 Convent of the aforesaid place and their successors that the aforesaid charter be 
 considered just, also we affirm that the same Abbot and Convent and their 
 predecessors legally had and held the said market and fair before this date. 
 
 " In testimony thereof, etc. Witness the king at Westminster on the 2nd of 
 July." 1 
 
 At the dissolution of monasteries the manor of Kirkham, 
 together with the advowson of the church, was transferred by 
 
 I. Pat. Rolls. 2. Hen. iv., p. 3, m. 5 n. (Duchy Office.)
 
 KIRKHAM. 373 
 
 Henry VIII. from the abbot and convent of Vale Royal to the 
 dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford. 
 
 In 1560 Queen Elizabeth ratified and confirmed by letters 
 patent all former charters concerning Kirkham by a deed bearing 
 the date of July 2nd; and later, in 1619, the iyth year of the 
 reign of James I., a record of the Duchy Court of Lancaster states 
 that the bailiffs and burgesses of Kirkham presented a petition 
 praying that they might elect into their government some men 
 of account dwelling near the town, and that it might be declared 
 that the bailiffs had lawful power and authority to correct 
 all malefactors and offenders according to the laws and liberties of 
 the town, and to do and perform all other duties appertaining to 
 their office. They prefaced their prayer by asserting that " the 
 town of Kirkham had been used as an ancient market town and 
 that the inhabitants thereof had time out of mind been accounted 
 a Corporation, incorporated by the name of Bailiffs and Burgesses, 
 and that of late owing to some of the bailiffs being but simple and 
 weak men, and the inhabitants but poor and numerous, it had been 
 found" impossible to govern in a proper and satisfactory manner 
 the large confluences of people at fair and market seasons," for 
 which reason they were desirous of gaining an extension of their 
 existing powers as set forth in the plea. The court decreed that 
 "the then Bailiffs of Kirkham and the Burgesses of the same, and 
 their successors, for ever, should and might from thenceforth have 
 and enjoy their ancient usages and liberties by the name of the 
 Bailiffs and Burgesses of the Town of Kirkham, and that the 
 Bailiffs should yearly be chosen out of the Burgesses according 
 to the said usages, or as they in their discretion should think meet, 
 for the better government of the said Town and the people there- 
 unto resorting, also that the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Inhabitants 
 should be guildable, and have in the said Town a prison, etc., as 
 had been heretofore, and that the Dean and Chapter and 
 their successors, farmers, and tenants, should and might from 
 henceforth have all their fairs, markets, liberties, privileges, 
 jurisdictions, Court Leets, Court Barons, Courts of Pleas, and the 
 Fair Court, as heretofore had been." The foregoing was ordered 
 to be read in the parish church on the ensuing sabbath, and also 
 in the market place. 
 
 From the following ancient and somewhat lengthy document
 
 574 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 or lease, much interesting matter may be gleaned, and for that 
 reason it was deemed better to give it unabridged : 
 
 " To all Christian people to whom this present writing shall come the Dean 
 and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Christ of King Henry the eighth's 
 foundation do send greeting in our Lord God everlasting : Whereas we the said 
 Dean and Chapter by our Indenture of Lease, sealed with our common Seal, 
 bearing date the sixteenth day of July, in the three and fortieth year of the reign 
 of our sovereign lady Elizabeth (1601), late Queen of England, &c., did, as much 
 as in us was, demise, grant, and to farm, lett unto Thomas ffleetwood, of Caldwich, 
 in the County of Stafford, esquire, all our Court Leets and view of franchpledge 
 within our parsonage and manor of Kirkham, in the County of Lancaster, or in 
 either of them, or to, or with them, or either of them used, occupied, incident, 
 or belonging appertaining, with all and every thing (singular) there appertaining, 
 also the keeping of the Court Barons there, and all waifs, strays, treasure 
 trove, deodands, felons' and outlaws' goods, forfeitures, fines, amercements, 
 serving and executing of writs and processes, and all royalties, liberties, 
 perquisites and profits of Court Leets, all commodities and advantages 
 whatsoever to the same Court Leets incident, due, or in any wise belonging, 
 or which heretofore have been, or of right ought to have been, had and 
 enjoyed by us, the said Dean and Chapter, or any of our predecessors, or 
 any other person or persons by or by means of our estate, right, or title to 
 the same or any part thereof, in as large and ample manner as we, the said 
 Dean and Chapter, or our successors, may or ought to have or enjoy, together 
 also with the Stewardship, office of Steward, or authority for appointing 
 the Steward for the keeping of the said Courts ; And also the profits of all and 
 each of our fairs and markets to be kept at or within the said manor and par- 
 sonage of Kirkham ; The Courts of Pipowder ; And all manner of Toll and 
 Stallage That is to say, Turne-toll, Traverse-Toll, and Through-Toll, and all 
 manner of payments, fines, forfeitures, fees, sums of money, with all other kind 
 of profits and commodities whatsoever, which do or may lawfully accrue, arise, 
 come, or be due, unto us, the said Dean and Chapter, our successors, or assignees, 
 by reason of any fair or market, or fairs or markets, which hereafter shall be kept 
 within the manor or parish of Kirkham aforesaid; And half an Oxgang of Land, 
 called by the name of the old Eworth,with so much of the late improved Common 
 in Kirkham aforesaid as was allotted, used, or occupied, or ought to be used, 
 allotted, or occupied to or with the said half Oxgang ; One Burgage house with 
 the appurtenances in Kirkham aforesaid, now in the tenure, holding, or occupa- 
 tion of one Thomas Singleton and William Kitchen, or the one of them ; One 
 Croft called the hemp garden, certain grounds, called the Vicar's Carrs, set, lying, 
 and being in Kirkham aforesaid ; One house built upon the waste in Kirkham 
 aforesaid, commonly called or known by the name of the moote hall, with all 
 shops underneath the said moote hall, and all the tythes of the new improvements 
 not formerly demised within the said manor or parish of Kirkham, or within the 
 liberties thereof ; And all encroachments within the same manor That is to say, 
 all such arable lands, meadow, pasture, woodlands, furzeland, heath, and marsh- 
 land, and all other such vacant and waste land, as is or hath been heretofore by any
 
 KIRKHAM. 375 
 
 man encroached or taken to his own use by the making of any hedge, pale, wall, 
 ditch, or other mound, out of the lands belonging to the manor of Kirkham 
 aforesaid, without the special license of the said Dean and Chapter, with all and 
 every ways, booth-places, stall-places, liberties, easements, profits, commodities, 
 and advantages to the said messuages, lands, tenements, houses, grounds, 
 encroachments, tythes, hereditaments, and also the premises or any of them 
 belonging or in any wise appertaining (except as in our said Indenture of Lease 
 is excepted and reserved). To have and to hold the said Court Leets and the 
 keeping of the Court Barons, profits of fairs and markets, messuages, lands, 
 tythes, and all and every other the before-recited premises by that our said 
 recited Indenture of Lease demised, or mentioned, or intended to be demised, 
 with their and every of their appurtenances (except as is aforesaid) from the feast 
 day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary last past before the date 
 thereof, for and during the tenure and unto the end and term of one and twenty 
 years then next following, fully to be completed and ended. In our said Indenture 
 of Lease (amongst other things therein contained) it is provided always that it 
 shall not be lawful to nor for the said Thomas ffleetwood, his executors, adminis- 
 trators, or assignees, to lett, set, or assign over to any person or persons the 
 demised premises herein contained and specified, or any part or parcel of them 
 without the special license of us, the said Dean and Chapter, or our Successors, 
 in writing under our common Seal thereunto first had and obtained. The estate, 
 right, tythe, interest, and term of years yet in being of the said Thomas ffleetwood, 
 are now "lawfully come unto the hands and possession of S r Richard ffleetwood, of 
 Caldwich, knight baronet, and baron of Newton, within the said County of 
 Lancaster, son and heir, and also executor of the last will and testament of the 
 said Thomas ffleetwood, lately deceased. Know ye now that we, the said Dean 
 and Chapter, of our common assent and consent have licensed and granted, and 
 by these presents for us and our Successors do license and grant that from hence- 
 forth it shall and may be lawful to and for the said S r Richard ffleetwood, knight 
 baronet, his executors, administrators, or assignees, or any of them, to lett, set, or 
 assign over the said demised premises and every one of them and any or every 
 part or parcel of them with the appurtenances unto John Clayton, James Parker, 
 and John Wilding, of Kirkham, in the County of Lancaster, yeomen, their 
 executors, administrators, or assignees for and during all the residue of the said 
 term of years yet in being, to come, and unexpired, the said proviso, or anything 
 else, in our recited Indenture of Lease contained to the contrary, Provided always 
 that all and every other covenant, clause, article, exception, reservation of rent, 
 payment, condition, and proviso, in that our recited Indenture of Lease comprised 
 shall stand, remain, continue, and be in its, and their, full power, force, and 
 effect, as ii this our present license or deed in writing had never been, had, nor 
 made. In Witness whereof we, the said Dean and Chapter, have hereunto put 
 our common Seal. Proven in our Chapter house at Oxford the fourth day of 
 December in the years of the reign of our sovereign lord James, by the Grace of 
 God king of England, Scotland, ffrance, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
 That is to say, of England, ffrance, and Ireland the eleventh, and of Scotland the 
 seven and fortieth." 1 
 
 I. Original lease in Bailiffs' Chest.
 
 376 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 There is an old deed in the bailiffs' chest, bearing the date 1725, 
 and evidently a summary of charters, powers, etc., drawn up in 
 order to be submitted to the inspection of some legal authority, 
 whose opinions on different points are appended, from which it 
 appears that from the earliest incorporation of the town it had 
 been governed by two bailiffs and twelve burgesses in common 
 council assembled, who were annually chosen within the borough, 
 and that they " usually assessed such persons, not being free 
 burgesses in the same borough, as had come into and exercised 
 trades within the borough (whether they had served apprentice- 
 ships to such trades or not), in and with such reasonable annual 
 payments to the Corporation as the bailiffs and burgesses thought 
 fit " ; persons born in the borough were treated in a similar 
 manner. The bailiffs inflicted penalties on all breakers of the 
 peace, the amount of fine imposed being regulated according 
 to the condition of the offender, thus an esquire was mulcted 
 in 405., a gentleman ios., and anyone of an inferior grade 55. 
 Profane cursing and swearing also came under their jurisdiction. 
 The collection of freedom money from traders commencing 
 business in Kirkham was a somewhat questionable act on the 
 part of the local rulers, and indeed they themselves were 
 evidently troubled with doubts as to their right to levy the tax, 
 for the muniment chest contains several opinions of eminent 
 counsel as to the validity of such a course. In 1738 a person 
 named William Marsden started as a tanner in Kirkham, and 
 obstinately refused to purchase his freedom or close his premises, 
 but, at the end of twelve months, the assembled bailiffs and 
 burgesses instructed and authorised the town or borough serjeant 
 to collect and levy the sum of two shillings and sixpence upon 
 the goods and chattels of William Marsden, by distress and sale. 
 This impost was abolished during the latter half of the eighteenth 
 century. The bailiffs formed part of the Court Leet held annually 
 in the seventeenth century and were elected from amongst the 
 jurors. Subjoined are a few extracts from the minute book of the 
 " Court leet of frank pledge of y e foundation of Henry VIIL," as it 
 is styled in one place : 
 
 "Oct. 1681. 
 
 The court leet houlden at Kirkham y day above written by Tho. Hodgkinson 
 Stuart.
 
 KIRKHAM. 377 
 
 " Juriars 
 
 James Smith, junior. John Hanson. Geffery Wood. 
 
 James Lawson. Tho. Tomlinson. Alex. Lawder. 
 
 John Dickson. Henry Smith. Charles Fale. 
 
 Will. Butler. James Hull. Will. Hornby. 
 
 James Clayton. George Whiteside. Tho. Shardley. 
 
 " Bayliffes 
 
 ThaTorllinson. } John Coll y' ser J eant " 
 James Hull, constable. 
 (Here follow the ' Gauldlayers,' ' Barleymen,' ' Prizards,' ' Leather searchards,' 
 
 and ' Flesh and Fish viewards ') 
 
 " W m Hunt fined is. for keeping his geese in the loanes " 
 " John Wilding for keeping a greyhound not being qualified " (Punishment ?) 
 
 1682. 
 
 " Presented that the earl of Derby, Mr. Westby, of Movvbrick, Mr. Hesketh, of 
 Mains, were constantly called at the court leet for the borough of Kirkham and 
 anciently did either appear or some assign for them, but now of late they do not 
 appear nor any assign for them." 
 
 "4 May. 1683. 
 
 " Rec d of Richard Riley for his fredom within the borow of Kirkham l6s. 
 " May the 4th day Rec d of Rodger Taylor for his freedom in Kirkham i. 
 " Oct. igth. Rec d of Thomas Sherdley for his freedom 2s. 
 " Ordered that no person shall set or let any house or shop to Richarde 
 Blackburne or his wife that stands within the liberties in Kirkham in pain of 
 2 os. od." 
 
 1685. 
 
 " Ralph Rishton paid to John Wilding and Thomas Hankinson, the bailiffs, 
 for his freedom to trade in Kirkham ^"4." 
 
 12 Oct. 1686. 
 
 " Prudence Cardwell, presented for not making her bread sufficient in goodness 
 and weight, and fined in I2d." 
 
 Nov. 17. ' ; It is ordered that Nicholas Wilkinson shall pay unto the bailiffs 
 135. 4d. for one year's trading in the town." 
 
 30 April 1692. 
 
 " Ordered that if any hereafter suffer their swine to ly out in the night time 
 they shall forfeit for every night 35. 4d." 
 
 26 April 1699. 
 
 " Ordered that neither W m Boone nor Rowland Roberts maltmakers nor any 
 as they employ shall dry any malt or weete upon the Sabbath day for the time 
 to come in the pain of 2os." 
 
 13 Oct. " We present these persons for want of their appearance at court & so 
 fine every one of them I2d. 
 
 " Will. George Ric. Earl of Derby. 
 
 " Tho. Westby, esq. Thos. Hesketh, esq. 
 
 " John Walker, esq. Jennet Thompson, widow. 
 
 and Thomas Dickson."
 
 378 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 22 Aprill 1707. 
 
 " Every person that shall carry away any fire thro' the street to cover the same 
 close on penalty of IDS. 
 
 April 1713. 
 
 " No person to water any sort of cattle at the bucket belonging to the town 
 well nor wash any skins at the trough." 
 
 10 May 1715. 
 
 " We find Charles Hardy for harbouring and lodging of vagrants and beggars 
 in this town in 135. 4d." 
 
 22 May 1726. 
 
 " Mem. That the town of Kirkham was summonsed from house to house and 
 the inhabitants unanimously agreed to the setting up of a workhouse." 
 
 30 Nov. 1728. 
 
 " Ordered that a lamp should be fixed up in the middle of the borough of Kirk- 
 ham in some convenient place, and that the charge of it together with oyl necessary 
 for it be paid out of the town's stock." 
 
 " All persons refusing to clean or cow (rake) the streets opposite their respective 
 houses to be fined 6d. after notice from the serjeant with his bell." 
 
 The official notice concerning the last resolution is still pre- 
 served, and ran as under : 
 
 " To the Inhabitants of the Burrough of Kirkham. 
 
 " You are hereby required forthwith to cleanse the Streets over against your 
 Dwelling Houses, Outhouses, and all other Buildings, together with all Front- 
 steads whatsoever, on Penalty of Sixpence tor each default. 
 
 "You have also hereby notice to remove all the Dung-hills out of the Streets in 
 a month's time or otherwise they will be removed for the use of the Burrough. 
 
 " Likewise all the Rubbish out of the Streets on such Penalties as the Bayliffs 
 and Common Council shall think fit to inflict. Given under our Common Seal of 
 the Towne this first Day of December, 1728." 
 
 At a later period the burgesses neglected to choose and appoint 
 bailiffs for many years, or to use their privileges; and apprehensive 
 at length that such remissions were tantamount to a forfeiture of 
 their charter by their own act, they determined to take legal 
 advice as to the most expeditious way to resume their powers. 
 It was given as follows : 
 
 " If any of those acting Burgesses are alive I would advise them to assemble at 
 their former Gild or usual Place of meeting, and then and there choose other 
 Burgesses, after which they may elect from among them Two Bailiffs and make 
 an entry of such choice in one of the Old Books, and then proceed as formerly to 
 act in their corporate capacity ; and let their first Punishment be inflicted on some 
 person unlikely to dispute their authority, for instance a woman drunkard may be 
 set in the stocks. 
 
 " Having done as above directed they may for the better Government of the 
 town make some Byelaws, and enter them {fair into a Book to be kept for that 
 purpose, but let none of these new Laws be put in Execution till they are con-
 
 KIRKHAM. 379 
 
 firmed by the Chancelour, and that will be some foundation ffor a petition to that 
 Court. 
 
 " But if all the Burgesses are dead I can see no Remedy whatsoever but by 
 obtaining a new Charter, which will be very Difficult if not Impracticable." 
 
 A statement as to manorial extent of Kirkham at the latter 
 part of the seventeenth century is preserved amongst the records 
 of a court, further reference to which will be made anon, and 
 reads as here given : u The lands lying within the manor of 
 Kirkham, belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, 
 in Oxford, and to the burgesses inhabitants of the borough of 
 Kirkham, are bounded east by the lands of Edward Robinson and 
 George Brown, lying within Newton and Scales ; westward by 
 the lands of Sir Thomas Clifton, within Westby, and the lands of 
 Christopher Parker, esq., lying in Ribby with Wrea ; northwards 
 by the lands of Mrs. Dor y - Westby, of Mowbreck, and the lands of 
 Mr. Edward Fleetwood, of Wesham ; and southwards by the lands 
 of Mr. George Sharpies, of Freckleton." 
 
 It has already been shown that the manor was conveyed by the 
 authorities at Oxford to Thomas Fleetwood as fee-famer in 1601, 
 and that the lease was subsequently renewed or confirmed to his 
 son and heir Sir Richard Fleetwood. Before 1700, however, 
 probably about 1650, from the contents of a petition presented by 
 the inhabitants to the dean and chapter in 1705, the Cliftons, of 
 Lytham, had the manor in a tenure similar to that of their pre- 
 decessors, and held each year, in the month of June, a court leet, 
 at which the two bailiffs were elected. The late Thomas Langton 
 Birley, esq., of Carr Hill, Kirkham, acquired the lordship by 
 purchase a short time previous to his death in 1874, when it 
 descended to his son and heir, Henry Langton Birley, esq. 
 Bailiffs still continue to be annually appointed, and have in their 
 hands several charitable bequests, the interest arising therefrom 
 being devoted to the service of the poor of the township, either in 
 the form of alms, or in maintaining some useful convenience, as 
 the parish pump, for their benefit. The property at present 
 belonging to the bailiffs consists of one meadow, situated behind 
 the Roman Catholic church; a garden in front of the same edifice; 
 a plot in the field called the " Iron Latch " ; and a pew in the 
 parish church of Kirkham. In 1676 the bishop of Chester acceded 
 to a petition from the minister and churchwardens that a wainscot
 
 380 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 might be placed so as to enclose the bailiffs' pew, " which seat, for 
 want thereof, was pressed into and thronged by others to the 
 disturbance of the said officers." 1 
 
 The Moot Hall, in which all business relating to the town was 
 transacted, stood in the Market-place until about the year 1790, 
 when it was accidentally burnt down. This building was erected 
 in two stories, the upper of which was divided into a small room, 
 used for flax dressing at the time the Hall was destroyed, and a 
 larger one, devoted to court meetings and other public matters, 
 which was separated from the remainder of the edifice insomuch 
 as it could only be entered from the outside by means of a flight 
 of stone steps. The ground floor or lower story was converted 
 into shops in the occupation of tradesmen of the town. The 
 original borough seal, which still exists, although somewhat 
 defective, represents a dove bearing an olive branch in its beak. 
 Notwithstanding that Kirkham was made a borough, during the 
 last years of the thirteenth century, it never appears upon any 
 occasion to have returned a Member of Parliament, and it may 
 safely be conjectured that no writ for that purpose was ever 
 issued to the burgesses, as the sheriffs exercised a discretionary 
 power in such matters, and consequently only those boroughs, 
 whose inhabitants seemed affluent enough to support the expenses 
 of an election, were selected for the honour, amongst which it is 
 scarcely likely Kirkham would be classed. 
 
 A market cross stood in the centre of the town, near to the 
 ancient Moot Hall, about the beginning of this century, but has 
 now, like the stocks, which originally had their place in the 
 churchyard and afterwards were removed to a more public site, 
 been long numbered amongst the memories of a past and less 
 refined age. There is no allusion to a whipping post in any of 
 the old documents, but we have the authority of a gentleman who 
 witnessed the spectacle, that a man was publicly whipped in the 
 Market-place fifty years ago. 
 
 The "Thirty Sworn men of Kirkham" was the name given to a 
 council which took cognizance of parochial affairs, and of certain 
 matters connected with the church, amongst other things 
 appointing the churchwardens. This assembly was composed of 
 representatives from the different sections of the parish, two 
 
 I. Paper in Bailiffs' Chest, dated 2$rd October, 1676, and signed John Cestriens.
 
 KIRKHAM. 381 
 
 persons being elected from each of the fifteen townships as 
 
 under : 
 
 "Thirty Sworn Men in 1570. 
 " Kirkham : Warton : 
 
 James Baine. Wm. Platon. 
 
 James Clayton. Robt. Fletcher. 
 
 " Clifton : Bryning : 
 
 William Porter. Robt. Croke. 
 
 Tho. Cardwell. John Croke. 
 
 " Freckleton : Ribby : 
 
 Hen r y Colbron. Benson. 
 
 Rich. Browne. Henry Shaw. 
 
 " Singletons : Wesham : 
 
 James Davy. Robt. Hornby. 
 
 W m Smith Henry Johnson. 
 
 " Larbrick : Treales : 
 
 Robt. Johnson. W Swarbrick. 
 
 Will. Fletcher. Tho. Porter. 
 
 " Thistleton : Hambleton : 
 
 Joh. Smith. Robt. Bradshaw. 
 
 Robt. Cornay. W m Bamber." 
 
 The- oath taken by the " Sworn men " was administered by the 
 civil authorities, and their tenure of office was for life, or until 
 they thought proper to resign. The origin of "Sworn men," or 
 at least of the name, dates from the fourteenth century, and the 
 institution itself seems to have been common in this part of 
 Lancashire ; Preston, Lancaster, Garstang, and Goosnargh, having 
 had assemblies bearing similar titles and performing similar duties, 
 but consisting only of twenty-four men each. 
 
 In 1636 a serious dispute arose between the Thirty-men and the 
 vicar, the Rev. Edward Fleetwood, owing to the latter requiring 
 the council to subscribe to the following conditions : 
 
 " 1st. They shall lay no gauld themselves without the consent of the vicar. 
 " 2nd. That the vicar shall have a negative voice in all their proceedings, and 
 that they shall determine nothing without the consent of the said vicar. 
 
 " 3rd. They shall not put or elect any new 3o-men without the vicar's consent. 
 " 4th. They shall not meet in the church upon any business whatever, unless 
 they acquaint the vicar before. 
 
 " 5th. If there be any turbulent or factious person, that the rest of the company 
 shall join with the vicar and turn him out." l 
 
 On the Thirty-men refusing to comply with his request, the 
 vicar excluded them " by violence " from their usual meeting- 
 
 i. Records of the "Thirty-Men."
 
 382 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 place in the church, and on the 5th of November, 1638, when 
 they were called upon by the churchwardens to attend there in 
 order to lay the necessary taxes for the repair of the sacred 
 edifice, then much decayed, Mr. Fleetwood "locked himself in 
 the church, as before he had many times done," and compelled 
 them to conduct their business without the building. 
 
 Incensed at the persistent hostility of the vicar an appeal against 
 his conduct was made by the " men " to the archbishop of York, 
 and by him referred to the bishop of Chester, who replied : 
 " That the corporation or company of 3O-men, not having any 
 warranty from the king, was nothing in law ; but if the parish or 
 township did delegate the power, to the 3O-men as to church 
 matters, then their acts relating thereunto were as effectual and 
 binding as if they had the king's sanction ; and wishing to know 
 the affection of the parishioners on this head, he issued an order on 
 22 Nov. 1638, that public notice sh d be given in the church for 
 all the parishioners to meet and give their voices whether they 
 chose that the custom of the 3O-men representing the whole parish 
 two for every township, should continue, or they should be 
 dissolved." 1 
 
 Mr. Fleetwood having ignored this order, the churchwardens 
 took upon themselves the duty of calling a general conference of 
 the parishioners ; a great multitude assembled in the churchyard, 
 where the meeting was held, the vicar having locked the church 
 door, and declared in favour of their ancient custom being con- 
 tinued and preserved to their posterity as it had come down to 
 them, freely giving " their power and strength to the said 3O-men, 
 to confer and determine all church matters." 
 
 To this resolution were appended the signatures of four 
 hundred and ninety-four persons, amongst whom were Thomas 
 Clifton of Westby and Clifton, John Westby of Mowbreck, 
 Thomas Hesketh of Mains, Edward Veale of Whinney Heys, 
 John Parker of Bradkirk, and Edward Bradley of Bryning. 
 
 The bishop of Chester, having received an official report of the 
 result of the meeting, communicated with the archbishop of 
 
 York, as below stated : 
 
 " Chester palace, 14 Dec. 1638. 
 " Seeing the vicar (whom I have used with all gentleness and lenity), continues 
 
 I. Records of the " Thirty-Men."
 
 KIRKHAM. 383 
 
 still in his contempt, and addeth daily more forwardness thereunto, I must return 
 the petitioners to my lord's grace of York, to be ordered by the high commissioner 
 according to his grace's intimation signified in his * * * . I wish well to 
 the sillie wilful man, but he makes himself incapable thereof. 
 
 " John Cestriensis." 1 
 
 This effort to obtain redress for their grievances does not 
 appear to have been attended with a success equal to the expecta- 
 tions of the " thirty," for a little later they instituted a suit in 
 the consistory court at Chester against the vicar, " and, having 
 proved their practice good, had sentence against him and 
 2 ys. 6d. allowed towards their expenses." 2 The " Thirty-men " 
 were admitted into the church on Easter Tuesday, 1639. 
 
 During the period that Edward Fleetwood was vicar of Kirkham 
 an event occurred in the parish which furnishes a forcible example 
 of the superstitious feeling in religious matters existing amongst 
 all ranks of the people at that time. The whole of the details of 
 the circumstance are embodied in a pamphlet entitled " Strange 
 Signs from Heaven," and by way of an introduction, the tract 
 contains this certificate, u under the hand of Mr. Edward Fleet- 
 wood, minister of Kirkham parish in Lancashire, concerning the 
 monster brought forth by Mrs. Haughton, a papist, living in that 
 parish : 
 
 "As we must tell no lie, so we should conceal no truth ; especially when it tends 
 to God's glory : There was a great papist, and of great parentage, within the 
 parish of Kirkham, and his wife's mother, being of the same religion, did usually 
 scoff and mock the Roundheads, and, in derision of Mr. Prinne and others, cut off 
 the cat's ears, and called it by his name : But behold an example of the justice 
 and equity of God in his judgements ; as Adonibezec was repaid in his 'own kind ; 
 Haman hanged upon the same gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai ; and 
 Pharoah and all his host drowned in the sea, into which he had thought to have 
 driven the Israelites. And likewise one of the popish prelates, who said he 
 would not dine till Ridley and Latimer were burnt, was burnt in his own 
 entrails. So it fell out with this man's wife, a popish creature, who being great 
 with child, when the time of her delivery came, she brought forth a monstrous 
 child without a head, ugly and deformed, myself eyewitness thereof. 
 
 Edward Fleetwood, pastor. 
 W. Greenacres, midwife. 
 
 The tract itself informs us that in the course of a conversation 
 with some gentlemen, Mrs. Haughton observed with great 
 warmth that u the Puritans and Independents deserved all to be 
 hanged," and concluded her uncharitable remarks by uttering a 
 
 I. Records of the Thirty-Men. 2. Ibid.
 
 384 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 fervent wish that neither she nor any one belonging to her might 
 ever become Roundheads ; upon which "answer was made to her, 
 that her children, if she had any, might (if God so pleased) have 
 their eyes opened, and see that good which she was ignorant of. 
 Mrs. Haughton retorted in these words : / pray God that 
 rather than I shall be a Roundhead, or bear a Roundhead, I 
 may bring forth a child without a head." In course of time, as 
 we learn from the pamphlet, she was delivered of a monster child, 
 being attended in her confinement by "widow Greenacres, the 
 midwife, formerly wife to Mr. Greenacres, some time vicar of this 
 parish," who, " being a godly woman, could not be eased in her 
 mind until she had discharged her conscience in making it known 
 to Mr. Fleetwood." "For better satisfaction Mr. Fleetwood 
 caused the grave to be opened, and the child to be taken out and 
 laid to view, and found there a body without a head, as the 
 midwife had said, only the child had a face on the breast of it, 
 two eyes near unto the place where the paps usually are, and a 
 nose upon the chest, and a mouth a little above the navel, and 
 two ears, upon each shoulder one." 
 
 The certificate of the vicar relating to this discovery, together 
 with a manuscript account of the circumstances connected with 
 it, were " brought up to London by Colonel Moore (of Liverpool) 
 a member of the House of Commons, and shewed to divers of the 
 House ; who commanded the tract to be printed so that all the 
 kingdom might see the hand of God therein ; to the comfort of 
 his people, and the terror of the wicked that deride and scorn 
 them." 1 ^ 
 
 In the context are enumerated a few records of the " Thirty 
 men," in order that the reader may have a clearer conception of 
 their duties, and gain some information, not devoid of interest, 
 respecting the more common-place matters associated with the 
 history and regulation of parochial and church affairs in the 
 town : 
 
 "1571. 
 
 " Nov. 2. Rec d for burial of a child of Mr. Veale (of Whinney Heys) in the 
 church XI Id. 
 
 I. According to the Parliamentary Chronicle, " Mistress Haughton was the wife 
 of Master William Haughton of Prickmarsh in Kirkham, the Fylde," and the 
 child was born on the 2oth of June, 1643.
 
 KIRKHAM. 385 
 
 " Paid for a scholar verifying the ch'wardens' acct. 8 
 
 " The great bell taken down this year and a new one put up." 
 
 "1577- 
 
 " The churchwardens were ordered by the vicar and 30-men to continue in 
 office another year, by way of punishment, because they had not repaired the bells 
 or levied the gauld of x s per township." 
 
 "1586. 
 
 " Charge of the churchwardens for making the vicar a seat xii d - 
 "An order that each householder having a youth with a plough having 4 beasts 
 shall pay iv d 
 
 " Every one that married with another iia, and every cottage i d ." 
 
 "1595- 
 
 " The churchwardens charged xii d for tarrying with Mr. vicar when he gave 
 warning to all housekeepers not to sell ale during the time of service." 
 
 "1603. 
 
 " Rushes to strew the church cost ix s vi<J. The churchwardens went through 
 the parish to warn the people to come to church." 
 
 "1618. 
 " P d to Isabel Birley 3 weeks diet for 3 slaters at iii s iv d per week, xxx s ." 
 
 "1634. 
 " The church was flagged this year." 
 
 "1643. 
 
 " P d for slating M r Clifton's quire i 5s. 3d., and for organ pipes which had 
 been pulled assunder by the souldiers, 35. ^d. 1 The churchwardens were 
 demanded to attend the prime sessions at Weeton. 12 June they were ordered 
 by the captains and other officers to make presentment of all recusants in the 
 parish. In August they were employed several days at the parish cost about the 
 covenant, and giving notice through the parish for them to take the covenant." 
 
 "1666. 
 " Spent on going perambulations on Ascension day, is. 6d." 
 
 "1679. 
 " The bishop ordered a bone-house to be built." 
 
 "1683. 
 
 " Spent upon the ringers upon the gth of Sept., being thanksgiving day for his 
 majesty's deliverance from the fanatick plot 2s. 6d.' 2 
 
 " Paid for whip to whip dogs out of church, 2s. o^d. 
 " Paid for magpies and sparrow heads 10 I2s. 4d." 
 
 "1746- 
 
 " 28 March. Paid for hiding registers, vestments, plates, etc., at the rebels 
 coming 2s. 6d. ; same day paid for ringing when the Duke of Cumberland came 
 to Preston, and when he retook Carlisle, 6s." 
 
 I. During the war between King and Parliament. 2. The Rye-house Plot. 
 
 Z
 
 386 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 "1797- 
 
 " Apr. 18. Ordered that the curates of Lund, Warton, Ribby, and Singleton 
 shall not exceed 2 qts. of wine each day they administer the sacrament until 
 further orders." 
 
 The first church of Kirkham is commonly said .to have been 
 erected by the Saxons on Mill Hill, and subsequently rebuilt on 
 its present site, but as this statement is unsupported by any more 
 reliable evidence than tradition, we give it simply for what it is 
 worth. The earliest authentic word of Kirkham church is in 
 1512, when the edifice was in part rebuilt ; and at that time, and 
 doubtless for centuries before, it occupied the same situation as 
 to-day. After the alterations and renewals had been completed, 
 the building comprised a nave, chancel, and side aisles, separated 
 by stone pillars, on which rested pointed arches. At the west 
 end of the church, throughout its entire width, was erected a 
 gallery, another of less extent being placed at the east end for 
 the accommodation of the organ. The north aisle contained a 
 small gallery belonging to the ffrance family, the private chapel 
 of the Westbys of Mowbreck, and a spacious room or vestry, in 
 which the "Thirty-men" held their meetings. In the south aisle 
 was located the private oratory of the Cliftons, of Westby and 
 Clifton. The chancel extended the width of the nave and south 
 aisle, and in 1780 the Clifton chapel was, with the consent of its 
 proprietor, enclosed within the communion rails. The reading 
 desk stood against the central pillar of the north side of the nave, 
 and immediately above it was placed the pulpit. The north wall 
 was low, and contained several large windows. The whole of 
 the building, with the exception of the chancel, which possessed a 
 double-gabled roof, was covered in by a single roof, which slanted 
 from the south to the north wall, and was pierced at each end 
 with dormer windows. The main entrance was protected by a 
 massive porch. 
 
 The tower was probably erected but little later, if not, indeed, 
 at the time the church was rebuilding, as appears from the will 
 here quoted, bearing the date 29th of July, 1512 : "I, Cuthbert 
 Clifton, Squyer, desire to be buryed at Kirkham in the tombe 
 where Rychard Clifton, my great grandfather was buryed ; I 
 bequeath ^"6 1 35. 4d. towards buyldyng of the steple of the saide 
 churche."
 
 KIRKHAM. 387 
 
 This tower was embattled with a short pinnacle at each corner, 
 and stood about sixty feet high ; on a stone in one of the but- 
 tresses were carved the arms and name of Cuthbert Clifton. In 
 the inside wall of the present tower there is fixed a stone bearing 
 traces of an inscription, and it is probable, from the remnant of a 
 name still discernible upon it, that this is the stone here referred 
 to. 
 
 From the records of the "Thirty-men" are learnt several things 
 of interest with regard to the church, and amongst them, that 
 during the seventeenth century the edifice was used occasionally 
 for scholastic purposes, thus : 
 
 "1653-54- 
 
 " 6 Jan. It was agreed (by the " Thirty-men ") that no scriffener be suffered to 
 teach in the church, unless he procure some honest townsmen of Kirkham to 
 pass their word that whatsoever his scholars do, either in breaking glass or in 
 abusing men's seats and that they meddle not with the bells he shall make 
 good what they abuse." 
 
 In 1662 a font was erected at a cost of 2 53. 4d., and most 
 likely is the one now stationed in the tower entrance to the 
 church. A bone house was built in 1679 in the recess or corner 
 formed by the west wall of the north aisle and the north side of 
 the tower, in obedience to the order of the bishop of the diocese, 
 In 1724 gates were placed at the entrance to the churchyard, and 
 in 1799 the old tithe barn which formed the westerly boundary of 
 this plot of ground was blown down and destroyed ; the stone for 
 the gate pillars was obtained from Ribchester. The following 
 lists of persons buried in the Clifton and Westby chapels, or 
 quyres, as they were called, were given in an old document which 
 was copied in 1790 by Mr. W. Langton, who described it as 
 <( much defaced and torn :" 
 
 " In the Clifton Quire 
 
 " T 597) s ' r Geo Cowbrone and Mr. Cuthbert Clifton ; 1598, Henry Colbron of 
 Frekleton ; 1601, Mr. Skillicorne ; 1604, ould Dorothie Skillicorne, Mr. Skilli- 
 corne's daughter ; 1602, Mr. Skillicorne, his wiff, Mr. Skillicorne, his son, and 
 Henry Brown of Scales ; 1604, Lawrence Cowbrone, eldest son of above ; 1616, 
 Henry Porter of Treales ; 1621, Mrs. jane Anderton, died at Westby; 1625, 
 Mr. John Sharpies, of Frekleton ; 1630, uxor Arthur Sharpies, and Matthew 
 Colbron of Frekleton." 
 
 " In the Westby Quyre. 
 
 " 1605, Mr. Westby and Mr. John Westby (Mr. Thos. eldest brother); 1622, 
 ould Mr. Hesketh ; 1623, Mr. Hesketh of Maines." 
 
 In a note we are told that when Mr. Skillicorne died in 1601,
 
 388 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 "and was to be buried, Seth Woods of Kirkham and another 
 with him stood at Mr. Clifton's quyre dore to keep them from 
 making a grave, and William Hull of Singleton did run at the 
 door with wood and break it open how it ended is forgotten, 
 but he was buried there." 
 
 In 1822 the nave of the church was pulled down and rebuilt by 
 aid of a rate imposed on all the townships ; an inscription 
 commemorating this event was placed over the arch of the old 
 chancel. The tower and spire as they now exist were erected in 
 1844, whilst the present chancel was built in 1853. The spire 
 and tower together have an altitude of one hundred and fifty feet, 
 and the foundation stone of the latter was laid by Thomas Clifton, 
 esq., of Lytham, on the 2ist of November, 1843. The tower 
 contains a peal of eight bells, but none of them are of ancient 
 date, those alluded to in the records of the "Thirty-men" having 
 been sold and replaced by fresh ones. The modern church of 
 Kirkham, which, like its predecessor, is dedicated to St. Michael, 
 is a large and handsome structure, built of Longridge stone, and 
 capable of holding about eighteen hundred persons ; the chancel 
 is ornamented with a castellated parapet and fluted cornice. A 
 stone coffin, which may be seen outside the church at the east, 
 was taken out of the ground when the chancel was rebuilt. In 
 1725 the sum of ^500 was left in trust by William Grimbaldson, 
 M.D., to be expended in the purchase of land and other property, 
 the income from which had to be devoted to providing a suitable 
 person or persons to read prayers twice every day of the week 
 except Sunday, in the parish church of Kirkham ; in the event 
 of this condition of the bequest not being fulfilled, it was decreed 
 by the will that the annual interest of the money should be 
 distributed amongst the poor housekeepers of Treales ; so far, 
 however, the requirement of the trust has been conformed to, and 
 prayers are still read twice daily in the church. 
 
 Within the ancient church of Kirkham, doubtless in the Clifton 
 chapel, was a chantry founded during the fifteenth century by 
 Richard Clifton, of Clifton, who married Alice, the daughter of 
 John Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall ; and called the chantry of the 
 " Holy Crucifix," as well as that of " Our Blessed Laydy." The 
 commissioners of Henry VIII. issued the following report con- 
 cerning it :
 
 KIRKHAM. 389 
 
 " The Chauntrie in the paroche Church of Kirkeham. 
 
 " Thomas Prymbet preyst Incumbent there of the foundation of the antecessors 
 of S r Thomas Clifton, knight, to celebrate there for their sowles and all crysten 
 sowles. 
 
 " The same is at the altar of our lady w l hin the paroche church of Kirkham, 
 and the said Incumbent doth celebrate there accordinglie." 
 
 Sum totall of the rentall 6 os. lid., 
 
 " Whereof 
 
 " Payde to Sir Henry ffarington, knight, as farmour to the kynge, our Sovereigne 
 lord, of Penwarden- fee, for chief rente goynge forthe of the lands in ffryklyngton, 
 
 by yere 4d. 
 
 " Payde to the Kinges Majestic, to the handes of the receyvour of his late 
 Monasteyre of Vale Royall, goynge forthe of the burgages in Kirkeham, by yere, 
 
 in Christenmes and Mydsomur, 7 s - 6d. 
 
 " Sum of the reprises 7s lod. 
 
 <! And so remayneth $ 133. id. 
 
 This chantry was in existence in 1452, for in that year, when 
 the abbot and convent of Vale Royal presented Dom. Edmund 
 Layche to the vicarage, the archdeacon instructed John Clarke, 
 the chaplain of the chantry, to induct him. 1 Thomas Prymbett, 
 the officiating priest, was sixty years of age in 1548, and at that 
 date the town and parish of Kirkham contained 1700 "houselinge 
 people." Five years later Thomas Prymbett received a pension of 
 $? His death occurred in 1564. 
 
 At the dissolution of monasteries, the chantry of Kirkham 
 church was mulcted in an annual rent of 6s. 2d., which was 
 ordered to be paid to the receiver of the Duchy. A lease of the 
 lands appertaining to the chantry was granted to Lawrence 
 Pembroke for a term of sixteen years. 
 
 In 1291 the living of Kirkham church was estimated in the 
 Valor of Pope Nicholas at^i6o per annum, but at the dissolution 
 aforesaid it was valued at no more than 21 is. o^d. per annum. 
 
 In 1586 the advowson of the church was leased to James Smith, 
 yeoman, of Kirkham ; and in 1591 it was granted for a period of 
 twenty-one years by the authorities of Christ Church, Oxford, to 
 John Sharpies, of Freckleton. 3 
 
 Within the church are several inscriptions, the oldest and 
 most curious of which is to be seen on a stone forming part of the 
 
 1. Canon Raine's Hist, of Lane. Chantries. 
 
 2. Willis's Hist. Mitr. Abb. vol. ii., p. 108. 
 
 I. Records of the Dean and Chapter, Christ Church, Oxford.
 
 396 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 floor of the vestry, and covering the grave of vicar Clegg : 
 
 " R<: Clegg came : V : M. : J666. 
 Began poo r loaves : E : J67O. 
 Ux r Jennet nup 1 E : J672. 
 Mary n* g r : j&73 : nup 1 , FEE : 96. 
 Doro n l . M. j&75 : ob. j6?7. 
 Abraham, n* J : J677 : ob. J677. 
 Doro : n l : S : J678. 
 Henerey n* : J : j68o. ob. J683. 
 Eliz : n* : M : j68s. nup* Feb. 1713. 
 R d Clegg V. ob J720. jEt. 85. 
 W : Jennet ob : J7 . . . ^Et . . 
 
 Others are in memoriam of Thomas, the son of Sir Thomas 
 Clifton, of Lytham, died 1688, aged 20 years ; the Rev. John 
 Threlfall, B.A., for " 56 years head-master of Kirkham School," 
 died 1 80 1, aged 84 years ; the Rev. Phipps Gerard Slatter, M.A., 
 " head-master of the Free School," died 1815, aged 25 years ; the 
 Rev. Charles Buck, M.A., for 27 years vicar of the parish, died 
 1717 ; the Rev. Humphrey Shuttleworth, vicar of Kirkham, died 
 1812, aged 76 years ; Richard Bradkirk, esq., of Bryning Hall, 
 died 1813, aged 60 years ; Henry Rishton Buck, B.A., " lieutenant 
 33rd Regiment, who fell in battle at Waterloo, June 18, 1815," 
 aged 27 years ; and James Buck, lieutenant 2ist Light Dragoons, 
 died January 7, 1815, aged 19 years. 
 
 In the church yard there are sundry inscribed stones, which, 
 although little interesting on the score of antiquity, are worthy 
 of mention as marking the burial places of persons of note in the 
 parish at one time ; as James Thistleton of Wrea, the founder 
 of Wrea school, who was interred on the 27th of February, 1693 ; 
 William Harrison of Kirkham, gent., interred January I2th, 
 1767, aged 60, who " left an ample fortune to poor relations, and 
 ^140 to be vested in land, the yearly income to be distributed in 
 pious, books to the poor of Kirkham, Little Eccleston, and 
 Larbrick : may the trustees dispense with integrity and effect the 
 sacred dole"; Edward King, esq., fourth son of the Very Rev. 
 James King, D.D., dean of Raphoe, "formerly bencher of the 
 honourable society of Gray's inn, and for above twenty years 
 vice-chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster " ; the " Rev. Charles 
 Buck of Kirkham, A.M., died 4 Jan. 1808. Aged 54," also his 
 two sons ; the Rev. Robert Loxham, vicar of Poulton, died in 
 1770, aged 80 years ; and John Langton of Kirkham, died in 
 1762, aged 71 years ; also many other members of the same family.
 
 KIRKHAM. 
 
 391 
 
 VICARS OF KiRKHAM. 
 IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF RICHMOND. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 On whose 
 Presentation. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 1239 
 
 Dn's Will de Ebor 
 
 Duke of Cornwall 
 
 
 Between 1272 
 
 Simon Alley 
 
 Convent of Vale 
 
 
 and 1307 
 
 
 Royal 
 
 
 1354 
 
 William de Slayteburn 
 
 
 
 1361 
 
 William Boulton 
 
 
 
 1362 
 
 Phil de Grenhal 
 
 
 
 
 Dn's Roger Dyryng 
 
 
 
 About 1377 
 
 Robert de Horneby 
 
 
 
 1418 
 
 Dn's Will Torfet 
 
 
 
 1420 
 
 Dn's John Cotun 
 
 
 
 1450 
 
 John Hardie 
 
 
 
 1452 
 
 Edmund Layche 
 
 Convent of Vale 
 
 
 
 
 Royal 
 
 
 1512 
 
 Thomas Smith 
 
 
 
 1558 
 
 James Smith 
 
 
 
 1586 
 
 James Smith 
 
 James Smith 
 
 
 15.91 
 
 James Sharpies, B.A. 
 
 Christ Church, 
 
 
 
 
 Oxford 
 
 
 IS94 
 
 Nicholas Helme, M.A. 
 
 John Sharpies 
 
 Death of J. Sharpies. 
 
 1598 
 
 Arthur Greenacres, 
 
 Cuthbert Sharpies 
 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 
 1627 
 
 John Gerrard, M.A. 
 
 Christ Church, 
 
 
 
 
 Oxford 
 
 
 1629 
 
 Edward Fleetwood, 
 
 Exchange with 
 
 John Gerrard 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 
 1650 
 
 John Fisher 
 
 
 
 1660 
 
 Richard Clegg, M.A. 
 
 Christ Church, 
 
 Death of J. Fisher 
 
 
 
 Oxford 
 
 
 1720 
 
 William Dickson,B.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of R. Clegg 
 
 1744 
 
 Charles Buck, M.A. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of W. Dickson 
 
 1771 
 
 Humphrey Shuttle- 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of C. Buck 
 
 
 worth, M.A. 
 
 
 
 1813 
 
 James Webber, D.D. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of H. Shuttle- 
 
 
 
 
 worth 
 
 1847 
 
 George Lodowick 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of J. Webber 
 
 
 Parsons, M.A. 
 
 
 
 1852 
 
 Will. Law Hussey, 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of G. L. 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 Parsons 
 
 1862 
 
 George Rich. Brown, 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of W. L. 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 Hussey 
 
 1875 
 
 Hen. William Mason, 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Death of G. R. 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 Brown 
 
 The parish registers furnish us with the subjoined information, 
 which has been arranged in a tabular form :
 
 392 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 1600 1601 17001701 1800 1801 
 
 Baptisms 91 103 106 IOO 149 139 
 
 Marriages 20 19 15 25 40 45 
 
 Burials 69 44 103 86 157 112 
 
 Respecting Kirkham's less antiquated days it may be stated 
 that Messrs. Thomas Shepherd, John Birley, and John Langton 
 were the earliest to commence manufacturing on 'any large scale 
 there, which they accomplished during the first half of the 
 eighteenth century by establishing conjointly the flax spinning 
 mill still existing, but with many additions, as the firm of John 
 Birley and Sons. John Langton was descended from John 
 Langton, of Broughton Tower, through his fourth son, John, 
 who resided at Preston, and of whom Cornelius Langton, of 
 Kirkham, was the third son. On the 3ist of March, 1696, 
 Cornelius Langton paid 305. for his trade freedom in Kirkham, 
 where he married Elizabeth, daughter of Zachary Taylor, M.A , 
 head-master of the Grammar School, by whom he had issue 
 John, Abigail, Zachary, and Roger. Abigail died in 1776 ; 
 Zachary entered the church, and espoused the daughter of 
 Alexander Butler, of Kirkland ; Roger died in 1727 ; and John, 
 the eldest, opened, in conjunction with the two gentlemen just 
 named, a mercantile house in Kirkham, and left issue by his wife 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Brown, of Ashtree Hall, Kirkham, 
 Anne, Sarah, Cornelius, Thomas, of Kirkham, and five other 
 children. The children of Thomas Langton, by his wife Jane, 
 the eldest daughter of William Leyland, of Blackburn, were 
 Elizabeth, Leyland, Cornelius, Zachary, Cicely, and William, of 
 Kirkham, born 1758, died 1814. John Birley was the son of John 
 Birley of Skippool, and the ancestor of the large families of 
 Birley, at Kirkham, Manchester, etc. The mills at present 
 standing in the neighbourhood of Kirkham are the flax mill of 
 Messrs. John Birley and Sons, employing about 1,600 hands ; 
 the weaving shed of Messrs. Walker and Barrett, 400 hands ; the 
 cotton mill of Messrs. Harrison and Company, 1 50 hands ; the 
 cotton mill of Messrs. Richards and Parker, 180 hands ; the 
 weaving shed of Messrs. Richards Brothers, 84 hands ; and the 
 Fylde Manufacturing Company in Orders Lane, a newly- 
 established concern. John Langton, who started in business at 
 Kirkham as a flax spinner, purchased, in company with Ann
 
 KIRKHAM. 393 
 
 Hankinson, in 1760, two years before his death, two closes of 
 land, with their appurtenances, in Freckleton, called Bannister 
 Flatt and Freckleton Croft, containing by estimate i^ acres, and 
 1 2 beast-gates upon Freckleton Marsh, all of which they conveyed 
 by indenture in four months to John Dannet, Thomas Langton, 
 and William Shepherd, in trust for the educating, teaching, and 
 instructing, free from all charge, of such young girls within the 
 township of Kirkham, as they in their discretion should make 
 choice of, to read, knit, and sew ; and that they should for that 
 purpose meet twice a year, on the 25th of December and the 24th 
 of June, at Kirkham, to make choice of proper subjects, and keep 
 a book, wherein should be entered the accounts of the receipts 
 and disbursements. During the ten years which elapsed after 
 1760 additional benefactions were received amounting to ^"440. 
 By indenture, dated 2nd of March, 1772, Joseph Brockholes and 
 Constantia, his wife, conveyed to William Shepherd and Thomas 
 Langton, trustees of the school, their heirs and assigns, for the 
 sum of ^"425, two cottages, with appurtenances, in Freckleton, 
 with a garden containing 36 perches ; a parcel of ground in a 
 meadow in Freckleton, called Birl Brick Meadow, embracing 30 
 perches ; one cowgate in Freckleton Marsh ; five closes in Freckle- 
 ton, named the Two Baker Meadows, the Two Lamma Leaches, 
 and the Bank, holding six acres of customary measurement. 
 From 1772 to 1813 further donations (^"130) were received. The 
 trusteeship of the school appears to have descended in the 
 Langton family, and was held by the late Thomas Langton 
 Birley, esq., whose father, Thomas Birley, had married Anne, the 
 daughter and co-heiress of John Langton, of Kirkham. Clothing, 
 as well as education, is supplied gratuitously to the scholars, who 
 usually amount to 40, or thereabouts. A new building for the 
 purposes of the school was erected on a fresh site a few years ago, 
 in place of the former one, which had stood since 1761. 
 
 The Roman Catholics, through the munificence of the Rev. 
 Thomas Sherburne, built a magnificent church at the Willows in 
 1844-5. The edifice comprises a nave, side aisles, chancel, south 
 porch, and an elegant spire, having an altitude of no feet. On 
 the south side of the chancel is the lady chapel, and opposite to it 
 that of the holy cross The high altar is beautifully sculptured in 
 Caen stone, and the reredos and tabernacle are covered with rich
 
 394 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 guilding. The walls contain several noble windows of stained 
 glass. This church superseded one which had been erected in 
 the same locality in 1809, anterior to which the chapel attached 
 to Mowbreck Hall had been used by the Romanists of the neigh- 
 bourhood for their celebrations and services. The Independents 
 and Wesleyans also have places of worship in the town, situated 
 respectively in Marsden and Freckleton Streets. The chapel of 
 the Independents was constructed about 1793, and rebuilt in 1818, 
 but that of the Wesleyans is of more recent origin. At the 
 Willows, it should be mentioned, there is a school, open to all 
 denominations, but under Roman Catholic supervision, which 
 was established about 1828. Kirkham was first illuminated with 
 gas in 1839. It contains a County Court House 1 and the Work- 
 house of the Fylde Union, 2 in addition to several other public 
 buildings, as a Police Station, Waterworks' Office, National and 
 Infant Schools, etc. The town is governed by a Local Board of 
 Health. 
 
 No papers have so far been discovered throwing any light upon 
 the origin of the Free Grammar School, and the earliest intima- 
 tion of its existence is in 1551, when Thomas Clifton, of Westby, 
 bequeathed " towards the grammar scole xx 8 ." Thirty-four years 
 later it was arranged amongst the " Thirty-men " that " 403. taken 
 out of the clerk's wages should be paid to the schoolmaster, and 
 that 4 of the 3O-men in the name of the rest should take posses- 
 sion of the school-house in right of the whole parish, to be kept 
 in repair by it and used as a school-house ; " also that " Richard 
 Wilkins, now schoolmaster," should be retained in his office for a 
 year or longer. In 1589 the above assembly " agreed that the IDS. 
 a year p d by Goosnargh to the church sh d in future be paid to the 
 schoolmaster, and for every burial (except one dying in childbed) 
 he sh d have such sum as was agreed by the 3O-men, and 
 also such sum as hath heretofore been paid for the holy loaf, 
 which is of every house 3d., every Sunday successively towards 
 repairs of the schoolhouse and help of his wages." In 1592 this 
 order, as far as regards the holy-loaf contributions, was rescinded, 
 the money as in former times going to the vicar. 
 
 The following is from the copy of an ancient manuscript 
 
 I. See Court of Requests page 209. 2. See Chapter XVI.
 
 KIRKHAM. 395 
 
 account of the school, from 1621 to 1663, formerly in the posses- 
 sion of Thomas Martin, esq., of Lincoln's Inn : 
 
 " Isabell Birly, wife of Thomas Birly, born in Kirkham, daughter of John 
 Coulbron, an alehouse keeper all her life, and through that employment attayned 
 to a good personall estait above most in that towne of that calling, being moved 
 with a naturall compassion to pore children shee saw often in that towne, was 
 heard to say dyvers tymes she would doe something for their good, and in the 
 yeare 1621, having gotten a good stock of money in her hands, was moved to put 
 her sayings into action. The 3O-men of the parish being assembled at the church, 
 she, with ^30 in her apron, came to them, telling them she had brought that 
 money to give it towards the erecting of a free schole for pore children to be 
 taught gratis, whose parents were not able to lay out money for their teaching, 
 wishing them to take it and consider of it. They were the men especially trusted 
 by the parish for the common benefits of the church, and therefore were the most 
 like persons to move their severall townships to contribute every one something 
 towards the accomplishment of so charitable a work, and not doubting that their 
 good examples in their contributions would be a strong motive to excite others. 
 This gift was thankfully accepted, and wrought so with them that every one was 
 forward to promote it, especially Mr. Jno. Parker of Bredkirk, an eminent man in 
 the parish and one of that companie, being at that tyme one of the earl of Derbie's 
 gentlemen and somewhat allied to the said Isabell ; he forwarded it very much, 
 sparing neither his paynes of his bodie nor his purse ; for that end he travelled all 
 the parish over to every particular towne and house earnestly persuading them to 
 contribute to so good an use. Sir Cuthbert Clifton gave 20, Maister Westby of 
 Moulbreck 10, Mr. Parker ^5, Mr. Langtree of Swarbreck $, Mr. Hesketh of 
 Maines 405., Mr. Greenacres, vicar of Kirkham, 4, and the several townships in 
 the parish gave as followeth : Kirkham near ^"30, but not out; Ribby and Wray 
 $ 8s. 6d. ; Westby and Plumpton i6s. 4d. ; Weeton 7 2s. ; Singleton i 135. 6d.; 
 Little Eccleston and Larbrick 43. 4d. ; Greenall and Thistleton 4 i6s. ; Roseacre 
 7 2s. ; Wharles i 135. ; Treales ^8 45. ; Medlar and Wesham i 53. ; Hamble- 
 ton 45. 6d. ; Salwick 3 $s. ; Clifton $ 7s. ; Newton and Scales ^3 55. ; Freckle- 
 ton & ; Warton i 8s. ; Bryning and Kellamer 4. 133. in the whole ^170 145.*' 
 
 When the time came for the selection of a suitable person to 
 undertake the charge and education of the pupils, it so happened 
 " that at that instant a young man, an honest, able scholar of good 
 gifts and parts, having a lingering sickness upon him, was come 
 over to Kirkham to Mr. William Armesteed (the curate of Kirk- 
 ham), his cozen, for change of air, his name being Thomas Arme- 
 steed, and he was moved by some of the towne whether he would 
 accept to be schole master if suit were made to the 3O-men to 
 elect him ; he, in regard to the weakness of his bodie then yielded 
 to the motion, otherwise he was a man well qualified for the 
 ministery and a moving preacher." 1 
 
 I. Ancient Manuscript.
 
 396 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 At the meeting of the " Thirty-men " to fill up the appointment 
 there were two candidates, Mr. Armesteed and Mr. Sokell, but 
 the former was elected. About the year 1628, when this gentle- 
 man resigned, Mr. Sokell was elected to the vacancy after a 
 contest. Until 1628 the management of all matters connected 
 with the school had rested with the " Thirty-men," but at that 
 date the Roman Catholic gentlemen, who had been most liberal 
 in their contributions, came to the conclusion that " it was not 
 for their reputation altogether to leave the care of it to others 
 and they to have no hand in it, therefore they took upon 
 them to have a hand about it, and upon their doing so the 30 
 men, being tenants most of them to some of them, or dependant 
 someway upon them, left it to them ; only Mr. Parker was not 
 bound to the gentlemen, and he joined in with them." 1 
 
 Isabell Birley and others had brought out a candidate, named 
 Dugdall, at the recent election of schoolmaster, and were so 
 incensed at his defeat by Mr. Sokell, a Romanist, that they drew 
 up a petition to the bishop of Chester, complaining that " the 
 gentlemen of the parish, being recusants all saving Mr. Parker, 
 had intruded themselves to order all things" about the free school, 
 and begging his lordship to issue an order how the future election 
 of feofees for the school should be made, which he accordingly 
 did, as follows : 
 
 " Apud, Wigan, 31 July, 1628. 
 
 " At which day and place diverse of the Town and Parish of Kirkham appeared 
 about the ordering of a schole master thereof for the time to come. At their 
 request it is therefore ordered that the whole parish, or as many as shall appear at 
 some day prefixed, after public notice given the Sunday before, shall elect six or 
 nine lawful and honest men feofees for that purpose, whereof a third part to be 
 chosen by the towne of Kirkham, and the two other parts by the parishioners 
 generally, of which feofees Isabell Wilding's (late Birley) husband and her heirs, 
 because she gave ^30 to the schole maister, shall be one. 
 
 " Johannes Cestrensis. Edw d Russell." 
 
 The command of the bishop to call a public meeting was carried 
 out, and in answer to the summons, read in church as directed, 
 only seven persons presented themselves in (( the parlour of Mr. 
 Brown the curate," viz., Sir Cuthbert Clifton, knt., Mr. Thomas 
 Westby, Mr. Thomas Hesketh, Mr. Langtree, Mr. John Parker, 
 gentleman, and of the parishioners, "not one man saving Richard 
 
 I. Ancient Manuscript.
 
 KIRKHAM. 397 
 
 Harrison of Freckleton, and John Wilding of Kirkham ; and 
 then and there the gentlemen elected themselves feofees, as also 
 they elected Mr. Edward Fleetwood, the vicar." 1 
 
 After the death of John Wilding in 1634, as his widow, Isabell, 
 found herself growing more infirm, she waited on the feofees with 
 the intention of supplementing her original donation of ^30 with 
 an additional one of equal value, if she found them "favourable to 
 her in something she willed of them, whereas Mr. Clifton gave 
 her harsh words and such as sent her home with much discontent 
 and passion." When she died in 1637, it was discovered, as the 
 manuscript from which we have been quoting informs us, that 
 she had " left the ^"30 by will to buy land with, and the yearly 
 rent to be divided to the poor of the town and parish of 
 Kirkham." 
 
 During the struggles between king and parliament, the school 
 was closed for several years, and re-opened with fresh governors 
 or feofees. At that epoch the inhabitants were kept in a state of 
 constant excitement and alarm by visits from either the royal or 
 parliamentary forces, but fortunately no collision ever took place 
 in the neighbourhood. 2 
 
 By the will, dated 1655, of Henry Colborne, of London, a native 
 of Kirkham, his trustees were requested to purchase the lease of 
 the rectory of this town, and invest the profits, with the exception 
 of 100 per annum, for sixteen years, in lands for the benefit of 
 schools ; the purchases were to be settled on the Drapers' Com- 
 pany of London. In 1673, ^"69 ics. was obtained for the school, 
 being the rent of lands bought in the metropolis by the Colborne 
 trustees, ^"45 of which sum had to be paid to the head master, 
 who was required to be "a university man, and obliged to preach 
 once a month at least in the parish church or in some of the 
 chapels ;" ^"16 i6s. of the remainder was apportioned to the 
 second master ; and ^"8 to provide an usher. 8 
 
 In 1673 it was decreed by the Court of Chancery that the 
 expense and duty of preserving the school-house in proper repair 
 should devolve upon the township of Kirkham, whilst the election 
 of masters should rest exclusively with the Drapers' Company. 4 
 
 I. Ancient Manuscript. 2. See pages 61, 63, and 66. 
 
 3. Charity Commissioners' Report. 4. Ibid.
 
 398 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 In that year also lands, etc., at Nether Methop in Westmoreland 
 to the value of ^"530 were purchased, according to the directions 
 of the will of the Rev. James Barker, rector of Thrandeston, 
 Suffolk, which required his executors to buy lands sufficient to 
 yield an annual rent of ^30, and to settle such property on ten 
 trustees, elected by the bailiffs and principal burgesses of Kirkham; 
 the trustees were ordered to apply the rental to the following 
 uses : 10 yearly to the schoolmaster ; \2 yearly in half-yearly 
 instalments, as an " exhibition or allowance to such poor scholer 
 of the towne as shall then be admitted to the university," such 
 exhibition to be open to any pupil born in Kirkham and educated 
 at the school, and in case no scholar was ready and fitted to take 
 advantage of it the sum was to be used in binding out poor 
 apprentices ; $ for the purpose of binding apprentices ; and the 
 remainder to be expended in defraying the cost of an annual 
 dinner for the trustees when they met to " enquire concerning the 
 demeanure of the scholler at the univerty," in whose case it was 
 appointed that if they should find him " to be riotously given, or 
 disordered and debauched, they should withdraw the exhibition." 
 
 In 1701, the Drapers' Company issued the following order 
 touching the admission of girls to the benefits of the charity : 
 " From henceforth no female sex shall have any conversation, or 
 be taught, or partake of any manner of learning whatsoever in 
 the free school at Kirkham, any former custom to the contrary 
 notwithstanding'" 
 
 In 1725 ^"400 was bequeathed to the trustees of the school by 
 William Grimbaldson, M.D., to be invested in lands, and the 
 rental to be added to the stipend of the head-master, if "he 
 should be a scholar bred at Westminster, Winchester, or Eton, 
 and a master of arts," but if not the rental to be devoted to 
 binding apprentices, for which purpose it is used at present. In 
 addition this physician left ^"50 to be similarly invested, and the 
 income to be spent in buying classical books for the school. The 
 management of the schocl has been in the hands of trustees from 
 the time of Barker's bequest. 
 
 Since the establishment of the exhibition under Barker's trust 
 twenty-eight youths have been assisted in their university careers 
 by its means.
 
 KIRKHAM. 
 
 399 
 
 HEAD MASTERS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL SINCE 1800. 
 
 Date of 
 Appointment. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 
 By whom appointed. 
 
 1801 to 1806. 
 
 Rev. Thos. Stevenson. 
 
 pro. temp. 
 
 Company of Drapers. 
 
 In 1806. 
 
 Jas. Thos. Halloway, D.D. 
 
 
 )i ii 
 
 1808. 
 
 Rev. Henry Dannett, B.A. 
 
 
 ii ii 
 
 1814. 
 
 Rev. Phipps Gerard Slatter, 
 
 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 i) ii 
 
 ,t 1815. 
 
 Rev. Jas. Ratcliffe, M.A. 
 
 
 11 ii 
 
 Before 1837. 
 
 Rev. Rich d MartindellLamb, 
 
 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 pro. temp. 
 
 11 ii 
 
 In 1837. 
 
 Rev. Geo. Thistlethwaite, 
 
 
 i) ii 
 
 
 M.A. 
 
 
 
 ,, 1845. 
 
 Rev. S. E. Wentworth, M.A. 
 
 
 ii ii 
 
 1866. 
 
 Rev. Jno. Burrough, M.A. 
 
 
 n ii 
 
 1874- 
 
 Rev. J. Young, M.A. 
 
 
 ii n 
 
 From the vestry book of Kirkham, we learn that the charity 
 known as "Bread Money" originated from the vicar and "Thirty- 
 men," who, on the 5th of April, 1670, "with the consent and 
 countenance of some of the gentlemen and of the present church- 
 wardens, with some neighbours of repute in the respective 
 townships," held a meeting, at which it was unanimously decided 
 to raise ^~8o, such sum to be laid out on good security, and the 
 interest to be expended in providing " a dozen penny loaves for 
 every Sunday in the year, Christmas and the king's birthday, and 
 for every other holiday, to be given to so many of such poor as 
 shall use to frequent the church and to those of distant town- 
 ships." The resolution continued : " These loaves shall not be 
 given to strangers or vagabonds, nor to children that shall but 
 play about the church till sermon be passed, and then come in for 
 a loaf, nor to any of the town of Kirkham in summer, but only 
 in winter." In order to raise the fund agreed upon, it was 
 resolved that " what could be got by contribution of the com- 
 municants at Easter should be thus employed;" vicar Richard 
 Clegg promised ^"5, and stated that if he remained at Kirkham 
 during the rest of his life, and had the means, he would at some 
 future time give \$ more for the same object, an intention 
 which appears subsequently to have been carried out by his 
 daughter, Mrs. Mary Nightingale, who some years after his 
 decease, contributed 20 towards the fund. ^5 given for the use
 
 400 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 of the poor by Jane, wife of John Clifton ; arrears of rent due from 
 Goosnargh ; and funeral doles were all devoted to this purpose. 
 In 1867 the fund amounted to 102 2s., yielding an annual 
 income of ^"5 133. 3d. 
 
 A sum of 12 was given by vicar Clegg, the interest to be paid 
 to the clergyman preaching a sermon in Kirkham church on 
 Easter Tuesday. 
 
 Richard Brown, by indenture dated 1639, conveyed for a term 
 of 999 years a close called New Moor Hey with appurtenances, in 
 Kirkham, to James Smith, upon condition that he, his heirs and 
 executors, should pay the yearly rent of 2os. at Martinmas. " It 
 is witnessed, that the said Richard Brown, in consideration of the 
 good will he bore to the town of Kirkham, and the inhabitants 
 thereof, and out of his zeal to God, and the charitable relief of the 
 poor, needful and impotent people within the said town, granted 
 to William Robinson and three others, their heirs and assigns, 
 the said yearly rent of 203., to hold the same upon trust, and to 
 dispose of it amongst so many of the people of the said town, as 
 the bailiffs thereof for the time being should, in their discretion, 
 think most needful, on St. Thomas's day." 1 
 
 By indenture, dated 1734, Joseph Hankinson, of Kirkham, in 
 consideration of ^"45 released and conveyed to Robert Hankinson, 
 and four others a close in Kirkham, called Swarbreck's Old Earth, 
 containing, by estimate, i^ acres, to hold the same to themselves 
 and their heirs for ever ; and in the deed it was declared that the 
 consideration money belonged to the poor of the township, and 
 that the grantees were only trustees of the same, and had laid it 
 out by direction of the inhabitants for the benefit of the poor 
 according to the wish of the benefactors. The indenture is 
 endorsed : " Conveyance of Swarbreck's Old Earth, for the use 
 of the poor of Kirkham, purchased by monies given by Mrs. Clegg, 
 widow of the Rev. Richard Clegg, vicar, and Mrs. Phoebe Sayle, 
 wife of Mr. Charles Sayle, to wit ^20 by the former, and ^"20 by 
 the latter." 
 
 Thomas Brockholes, by an indenture of 1755, conveyed for ^50 
 to John Langton and William Shepherd, their heirs and assigns, 
 a close called Moor Hey, with appurtenances ; and subsequently 
 
 I. Indenture in Bailiffs' Chest.
 
 KIRKHAM. 4 01 
 
 in 1768 William Shepherd conveyed the close then denominated 
 the Bailiffs' Moor Hey to Henry Lawson, yeoman, of Kirkham, who 
 in the following year being moved by " divers good causes and 
 considerations " sold to the Rev. Charles Buck, vicar of Kirkham, 
 and twelve others, all of Kirkham, gentlemen, for the sum of five 
 shillings, two plots of land in Kirkham township, one of which, 
 called Moorcroft, contained a rood and four perches, and the other, 
 Swarbreck's Old Earth, comprised an acre and an half. The 
 conditions were that all profits or income accruing from the lands 
 should be used for the relief of the poor of the aforesaid township. 1 
 
 On the ist of December, 1739, a legacy of //p was bequeathed 
 to trustees by Elizabeth Brown, to be invested, and the interest 
 applied to the relief of the poor and necessitous widows of 
 Kirkham, or the neighbouring townships, at Michaelmas. 
 
 The sum of ^"140 was received under the will, dated 1767, of 
 William Harrison of Kirkham, to be invested, and the interest to 
 be expended in Common Prayer books, Bibles, etc., two-thirds of 
 which were to be given to the poor of this town, and the 
 remainder to the poor of Little Eccleston and Larbrick. 2 
 
 In 1816 Mrs. Mary Bradkirk placed ^320 in the navy, five per 
 cents, in her own name and that of Zachary Langton, esq., of 
 Bedford Row, London ; and subsequently trustees of this fund 
 were appointed, whose duty it was to distribute the interest as 
 
 follows : 
 
 That of /ioo amongst five necessitous persons in the township 
 of Kirkham for life, and each vacancy to be filled up immediately 
 after the death of the former recipient. 
 
 That of 20 to Joseph Brewer, then parish clerk of Kirkham, 
 for life, and after his demise to the person filling the office of 
 sexton at the same place. 
 
 That of /ioo to five poor persons of Ribby-with-Wrea, and 
 that of the last 100 to five poor persons of Bryning-with- 
 Kellamergh, the vacancies to be treated as in those of Kirkham. 
 
 The only requirement on the part of the pensioners being that 
 they should be members of the Church of England. The income 
 of this charity, which amounts to more than \o a year, like 
 those of the five preceding it, forms part of the bailiffs' fund. 
 
 I. Deed in Bailiff's Chest. 2. Report of Charity Commissioners, 1824. 
 
 2A
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PARISH OF KIRKHAM. 
 FRECKLETON. 
 
 fN the Domesday Book Freckeltun is stated to contain 
 four carucates of arable soil. During the reign of 
 Henry III. Richard de Freckleton, Allan de Singleton, 
 and Iwan de Freckleton, with three others, held land 
 in Freckleton from the earl of Lincoln. In 1311 the heirs of 
 Adam de Freckleton held Freckleton from Alice, the daughter 
 and heiress of the earl of Lincoln, shortly after which Ralph de 
 Freckleton was lord of the manor. Gilbert de Singleton had. a 
 house with 12 acres of land and a mill there in 1325. In 1349 
 the manor was held under the earl of Lancaster as follows : 
 Robert de Freckleton, I messuage and 3 bovates ; Nicholas le 
 Botiler, I messuage and 1 1 bovates ; the heirs of Robert Sher- 
 burne, 2 bovates ; the heirs of Sir Adam de Banastre, 2 bovates ; 
 and Thomas de Singleton, I bovate. During the first half of the 
 1 6th century the Botilers or Butlers retained property in Freckle- 
 ton, whilst the Sherburnes held estates there until the early part 
 of the iyth century. Hugh Hilton Hornby, esq., of Ribby Hall, 
 is the largest territorial proprietor at present, but there are several 
 resident yeomen. 
 
 In 1834 a temporary episcopal chapel was erected, and 5 years 
 later the existing church was built, being a neat brick edifice, 
 with a spire at the west end, and containing an ancient pulpit 
 from Kirkham church. The Rev. G. H. Waterfall, M.A., was 
 the earliest incumbent, and the Rev. Walter Scott, appointed in
 
 FRECKLETON. WARTON. 43 
 
 1 86 1, is now in charge. In 1718 a Quakers' burial ground was 
 opened, but was closed in 1811. A meeting house was also 
 established by the same sect in 1720, and pulled down after 
 standing nearly a century. A Wesleyan chapel was erected in 
 1814 ; and in 1862 the Primitive Methodists opened another. A 
 National school was built in 1839, and is supported mainly by 
 subscriptions. 
 
 The village is long and irregular, but contains sundry better 
 class houses, and a cotton manufactory, belonging to Mr. Sower- 
 butts, holding 320 looms. The inhabitants are chiefly employed 
 ployed in making sacking, sailcloth, ropes, etc. There is also a 
 shipbuilding yard, of which Mr. Rawstorne is the proprietor, 
 where vessels, mostly for the coasting trade, are constructed. 
 
 POPULATION OF FRECKLETON. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 561 701 875 909 995 968 879 930 
 
 The township comprises 2,659 statute acres. 
 
 Andrew Freckleton and two more gave, about 1734, certain 
 sums of money for the poor of Freckleton, the interest from which, 
 together with IDS. per annum left by Lawrence Webster for the 
 same object, amounts to 2 5s. a year. The township shares in 
 a bequest of $, with Clifton and Newton- with-Scales, from 
 Elizabeth Clitherall, of Clifton, for the use of the poor. 
 
 WARTON. Wartun is entered in the survey of William the 
 Conqueror as comprising four carucates, and later, when in the 
 fee of the earl of Lincoln, the township was held by the manorial 
 lord of Wood Plumpton. During the reign of King John, 
 Thomas de Betham had the third of a knight's fee in Warton. 
 Sir Ralph de Betham held Warton in the time of Edward III., 
 and in 1296 Edmund Crouchback, earl of Lancaster, had a rent 
 charge of 33. 4d. there. Gilbert de Singleton was possessed of a 
 messuage with six bovates of land in the township about 1325. 
 The manor was held by Johanna Standish and Richard Singleton 
 in 1515. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, is now the 
 most extensive owner of the soil. 
 
 The church of Warton, dedicated to St. Paul, was completed in 
 1722, but not consecrated until 1725. Within recent years it 
 has been apportioned a distinct parochial district under Lord 
 Blandford's act,
 
 4 o 4 
 
 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF WARTON. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 Before 1773. 
 In 1789. 
 ,, 1790. 
 1823. 
 1840. 
 1844. 
 
 Wilfred Burton. 
 Charles Buck, M.A. 
 James Fox. 
 James Fox, B.A. 
 George Wylie, M.A. 
 Thos. Henry Dundas, B.A. 
 
 Resignation of C. Buck. 
 J. Fox. 
 J. Fox. 
 G. Wylie. 
 
 Warton school was built many years ago at the cost of the 
 township, and in 1810 the sum of ^"277 was raised by subscription 
 as an endowment. In 1809, William Dobson, of Liverpool, 
 bequeathed ^"500 to the trustees, and another sum of ^"500 was 
 also bequeathed by Mrs. Francis Hickson. In 1821 a new school- 
 house was built. 
 
 POPULATION OF WARTON. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 376 445 468 531 522 473 446 444 
 
 The area of the township contains 3,939 statute acres. 
 
 BRYNING-WITH-KELLAMERGH. The earliest allusion to this 
 township occurs in 1200-1, when Matilda Stockhord and others 
 held two carucates in Briscath Brunn and one carucate in 
 Kelgmersberg. A few years later Robert de Stockhord had the 
 fourth of a knight's fee there. In 1253 Ralph Betham held 
 Brininge, Kelgermsarche, etc. ; and during the reign of Edward 
 III. Sir Ralph de Betham possessed the fourth of a knight's fee 
 in the same places, at which time John de Damport also held an 
 eighth of a carucate. In 1311 John Baskerville had 3^ bovates, 
 and Thurstan de Norley 4 bovates, in the hamlet of Kilgremargh. 
 
 In 1479 Sir Edward and William Betham had land in Bryning 
 and Kellamergh ; and two years afterwards half of the manor was 
 granted by Edward IV. to Thomas Molyneux and his heirs. 
 Thomas Middleton held both Bryning and Kellamergh in 1641. 
 The Birley, Langton, Cross, and Smith families are now the chief 
 landowners in the township. 
 
 Bryning Hall and Leyland House are the only places of interest 
 amongst the scattered habitations. The Hall, now a farm-house, 
 was formerly the seat of the Bradkirks, whilst Leyland House,
 
 RIBB Y- WITH- WREA . ' 45 
 
 also converted to farm uses, was the residence of the Leylands, 
 of Kellamergh, during the i?th and part of the i8th centuries. 1 
 
 POPULATION OF BRYNING-WITH-KELLAMERGH. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 105 131 145 164 152 126 116 115 
 The area of the township in statute acres is 1,043. 
 RIBBY-WITH-WREA. In Domesday Book Rigbt, for Ribby, is 
 entered as comprising six carucates. Roger de Poictou gave the 
 tithes of " colts, calves, lambs, kids, pigs, wheat, cheese, and butter 
 of Ribbi and Singletone" to the priory of Lancaster to serve as food 
 to the monks who celebrated mass in that monastery. This grant 
 was afterwards confirmed by John, earl of Moreton. 2 In 1 201 Adam 
 and Gerard de Wra paid two marks to King John in order to gain 
 protection from the sheriff, who, it seems, was in the habit of 
 unjustly molesting them in their tenements. 3 The manors of 
 Preston, Riggeby, and Singleton were presented by Henry III. to 
 Edmund, earl of Lancaster, who in 1286 became engaged in a 
 dispute with the abbot of Vale Royal, which ultimately led to a 
 mandate being issued by Edward I., at Westminster, to the 
 sheriff of Lancaster, commanding him to draw a proper and just 
 boundary line between the lands of the disputants, because 
 the abbot complained that the earl had taken more territory 
 than he was legally entitled to by his fee, thereby encroaching 
 on the conventual possessions in Kirkham parish. 4 In 1297 earl 
 Edmund's rents from Ribby- with- Wrea amounted in all to /ig 
 igs. 5 per annum. 
 
 During the life of the first duke of Lancaster, Ribby contained 
 twenty houses, and twenty-one and three-fourths bovates of land 
 held by bondsmen at a rental of /ig i6s. 4d. ; and at that time 
 there were the following tenants in Ribby and Wrea : Adam, 
 the son of Richard the clerk, who held five acres, and paid 46. 
 per annum ; Adam, the son of Jordani, one acre for I2d. ; Roger 
 Culbray, three acres for gd. ; Richard de Wra, half a bovate for 
 5d. ; Adam de Kelyrumshagh, half a bovate for 4d. ; William de 
 Wogher, six acres for 2d.; John de Bredkyrke, half a bovate for 
 
 I. For " Leyland of Leyland House " see Chapter VI. 
 
 2 Regist. S. Marise Lane. MS. fol. I and 4. 3- Rot. Cancell. 3 John. m. 5. 
 
 4. Harl. MSS. No. 2064. 5. Escaet. 25 Edw. I. n, 51.
 
 406 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 gd. ; William le Harpour, one bovate for I5d.; Giles, two acres 
 for iod.; John de Bonk, one bovate and one acre for iod.; John 
 le Wise, eleven acres for yd. ; and Adam de Parys, two bovates, 
 which were those of John le Harpour, for 33., of free farm and two 
 marks. After the demise of a tenant it was the recognised custom 
 for his successor to pay double rent. 1 The rent days were the 
 feasts of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary and of St. 
 Michael. H. H. Hornby, esq., of Ribby Hall, is the present 
 lord of the manor. 
 
 The remains of the ancient manor house on Wrea Green are 
 now used as a cottage ; Ribby Hall, the seat of the Hornbys, is a 
 modern mansion, and was erected rather more than half a century 
 ago. The church of Ribby-with-Wrea owes its origin to the 
 trustees of Nicholas Sharples's charity, who purchased a piece of 
 ground on Wrea Green in 1721, and, having subscribed sufficient 
 funds amongst themselves, erected a small chapel upon it. The 
 following year they obtained a license to hold divine service in 
 the building, and on the 2Oth of June, 1755, it was consecrated 
 by the bishop of Chester. At that date the church was endowed 
 with ^"400, half of which came from Queen Anne's bounty, and 
 the other in equal portions from the charities of Thistleton and 
 Sharpies. In 1762 the whole of this fund was invested in land in 
 Warton, and other sums amounting to ^~6oo, including a legacy 
 of ^"100 under the will of Thomas Benson in 1761, and further 
 donations from the Royal bounty before mentioned, were 
 expended in the purchase of land at Thistleton. 2 
 
 In 1846 the township of Westby, with the exception of Great 
 and Little Plumptons, was joined, by order of Council, to that of 
 Ribby-with-Wrea, and the whole converted into an ecclesiastical 
 district. In 1869 the title of the incumbent was changed from 
 that of perpetual curate to vicar. 
 
 The old church was pulled down and the foundation stone of 
 the existing structure laid in 1848, by the Rev. G. L. Parsons, 
 vicar of Kirkham. On the 23rd of September in the ensuing 
 year, it was opened for worship, but remained unconsecrated until 
 the 4th of May, 1855. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas. 
 
 I. Lansd. MSS. No. 539. f. 15. 2. MS. Church Records.
 
 RIBB Y- WITH- WREA. 
 
 407 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF RIBBY-WITH-WREA. 
 
 Date of 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 Institution. 
 
 
 
 Before 1733. 
 
 Robert Willacy. 
 
 
 I. *756. 
 
 Samuel Smith. 
 
 
 1762. 
 
 James Anyon. 
 
 
 In 1770. 
 
 Watts. 
 
 
 I7QI- 
 
 John Thompson. 
 
 
 About 1823. 
 In 1845. 
 1846. 
 
 James Fox. 
 George Thistlethwaite, M.A. 
 Steph 11 Exuperius Went worth, 
 M A 
 
 Resignation of J. Fox. 
 Death of G . Thistlethwaite . 
 
 1866. 
 
 Ralph Sadleir Stoney, M.A. 
 
 S. E. Wentworth. 
 
 The Rev. George Thistlethwaite was the son of the Rev. T. 
 Thistlethwaite, incumbent of St. George's, Bolton-le-Moors, and 
 in 1837 officiated pro. temp, as head master of Kirkham Grammar 
 School. The Rev. S. E. Wentworth held the headmastership of 
 the same school from 1845 to 1860, as well as his curacy. 
 
 The free school of Ribby-with-Wrea owes its existence to the 
 frugality and benevolence of a tailor, named James Thistleton, of 
 Wrea, who, although his daily wages averaged no more .than 4d. 
 and his food, managed, by great care and self-denial, to accumulate 
 a sufficient fund to establish a school at his native place, an object 
 to which he had in a great measure devoted his life. At his 
 death in 1693, it was found that, after a few small legacies, one 
 being "los. to Mr. Clegg, vicar, to preach at my funeral," and 
 another 6s. 8d. to each of the townships of Kirkham, Bryning, 
 and Westby, for the use of the poor, he had bequeathed the 
 remainder of his property "towards the making and maintaining 
 of a free school in the township of Ribby-cum-Wrea for ever," 
 stipulating only that his surviving sister should receive annually 
 from the profits of his estate a sum of money sufficient for her 
 support during the rest of her life. The executors appointed 
 were Thomas Benson, Richard Shepherd, and Cuthbert Bradkirk, 
 whilst the money designed for the foundation of the school 
 amounted to 
 
 The work thus commenced by Thistleton received, a few years 
 later, substantial assistance under the will, dated loth September, 
 1716, of Nicholas Sharpies, who is described as a "citizen and
 
 408 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 innholder of London." The bequest in this instance amounted 
 to ^"850, and the two executors, Richard Wilson and Robert 
 Pigot, were directed, " with all convenient speed to apply such 
 sum of money towards the building or finishing of a school-house 
 for educating of boys and girls in Ribby-cum-Wrea," and in the 
 purchase of land for the benefit of such establishment, and the 
 remuneration of the master, "for educating such a number of boys 
 and girls as nine of the most substantial men, chosen and elected 
 out of Ribby-cum-Wrea for governors or elders, or the major 
 part of them, shall think fit ;" also that his name should be 
 inscribed in some prominent place on one of the school walls. 1 
 
 In 1 780 a girls' school was established in a building separate 
 from that of the boys, but in 1847 the trustees of the foundation 
 gave the " materials of the boys' school " and the plot of land as 
 a site for the new church, and in return the ecclesiastical party 
 erected, according to agreement, another school-house on a piece 
 of ground adjoining the girls' school. 8 
 
 POPULATION OF RIBBY-WITH-WREA. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 307 398 $00 482 442 406 444 446 
 
 The area of the township amounts to 1,366 statute acres. 
 
 WESTBY, WITH GREAT AND LITTLE PLUMPTONS. Gilbert de 
 Clifton held the manor about 1280, and subsequently his son 
 William de Clifton was in possession about 1292. During the reign 
 of Edward III. John Fleetwood was lord of Little Plumpton, 
 and in 1394 his descendant, John Fleetwood, resided there. John 
 Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, whose ancestor was the 
 Gilbert de Clifton just mentioned, holds the manor of Westby 
 with Plumpton, by right of inheritance. 
 
 Bowen, the geographer, who wrote in 1717, alludes to a spa in 
 Plumpton, and states that it was impregnated with sulphur, 
 vitriol, ochre, iron, and a marine salt, united with a bitter purging 
 salt. The site of the spa has been lost in the lapse of time. 
 
 Westby Hall, the seat of the Cliftons, has been supplanted by a 
 farm-house. The old chapel connected with it was opened in 
 1742 to the Romanists of the district, but closed about a century 
 later. The present Catholic chapel was built in 1861. In 1849 
 
 I. Vestry Book. 2. Ibid.
 
 a 
 
 WEETON-WITH-PREESE. 49 
 
 school, free to all denominations, was established by Thomas 
 Clifton, esq., of Lytham, but there seems to have been such an 
 institution existing before, as Ann Moor, of Westby, bequeathed, 
 in 1805, ^40 to Plumpton school, and the interest of /2O to the 
 poor of Great Plumpton. 
 
 POPULATION OF WESTBY-WITH-PLUMPTONS. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 
 623 692 771 686 643 707 601 535 
 
 The area of the township is 3,426 statute acres. 
 
 WEETON-WITH-PREESE. On the arrival of the Normans 
 
 Weeton contained 300 acres of arable land. In the 9th year of 
 
 King John, Matilda, wife of Theobald Walter, obtained certain 
 
 inheritances in Weeton, Treales, and Rawcliffe. Theobald le 
 
 Botiler, or Butler, held Weeton in 1249; and in 1339, James, 
 
 son of Edmund le Botiler, earl of Ormond, had possession of it, 
 
 together with Treales, Little Marton, and Out Rawcliffe. The 
 
 manor descended in the same family until 1673, when it passed 
 
 to the 9th earl of Derby on his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter 
 
 of Thomas Butler, the Lord Ossory. The present earl of Derby 
 
 is now the lord of the soil, and holds a court baron by deputy. 
 
 There is a fair for cattle and small wares on the first Tuesday after 
 
 Trinity Sunday. 
 
 Preese is the Pres of Domesday Book, and comprised at that 
 time two carucates. Henry, duke of Lancaster, held Preese at his 
 death in 1361. In the reign of Henry VIII. the manor was in 
 the hands of the Skilicornes, who for many generations were the 
 coroners of Amounderness. Preese Hall, the ancient seat of this 
 family, was much damaged by a fire in 1732, which destroyed the 
 private chapel. In 1864 that portion of the mansion, which had 
 survived the conflagration and been repaired, was pulled down. 
 The site is now occupied by a farm-house, belonging to T. H. 
 Miller, esq., of Singleton, who owns a large amount of the land. 
 
 The church of Weeton is dedicated to St. Michael, and was 
 built in 1843 by subscription, to which the late earl of Derby 
 contributed generously. In 1852 the edifice was enlarged, and in 
 1 86 1 the township of Weeton-with-Preese was united with the 
 Plumptons and Greenhalgh, to form an ecclesiastical parish. The 
 Rev. William Sutcliffe, when curate at Kirkham, performed the 
 duties at Weeton church, and was appointed incumbent there in
 
 4 io KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 1 86 1. In 1862 he was succeeded by the present vicar, the Rev. 
 William Thorold. A National school was erected by subscription 
 and a grant from the National Society of ^"30, in 1845. A 
 Wesleyan chapel was built about 1827. 
 
 POPULATION OF WEETON-WITH-PREESE. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 
 384 58 473 477 545 4&S 465 433 
 
 The area of the township is 2,876 statute acres. 
 
 MEDLAR- WITH- WESHAM. The abbot and brethren of Cocker sand 
 Abbey became possessed of this township at an early date, and 
 retained it until the dissolution of monasteries, when the manor 
 of Medlar passed, by gift or purchase, to the Westbys, of 
 Mowbreck Hall. The estates of the Westbys were confiscated 
 by the Commonwealth, and only redeemed on the payment of 
 /"i,ooo. The estate and Hall of Mowbreck are still held by 
 the same family. 1 The mansion preserves many evidences of its 
 great antiquity, including the old chapel and priests' room. 
 
 Bradkirk, in Medlar, belonged to Theobald Walter in 1249, but 
 in the reign of Edward III. it was held by a family bearing the 
 name of Bradkirk, a title acquired from the estate. The Bradkirks 
 resided there as proprietors until somewhere about the opening of 
 the 1 7th century, when the earl of Derby had obtained the soil. 
 In 1723 Bradkirk was bought by John Richardson, of Preston, 
 from Thomas Stanley, of Cross Hall, in Ormskirk parish, who 
 held the manor by right of his wife Catherine, sister and heiress 
 of Christopher Parker, of Bradkirk, deceased, unmarried, a few 
 years before. 2 From John Richardson the manor passed succes- 
 sively by will to William Richardson, Edward Hurst, of Preston, 
 and James Kearsley, of Over Hulton, by the last of whom it was 
 sold in 1797 to Joseph Hornby, esq., of Ribby, and his descendant, 
 H. H. Hornby, esq., of Ribby Hall, is the present holder. The 
 original Bradkirk Hall, the seat of the Bradkirks and Parkers, has 
 long since disappeared, and the edifice now bearing the name was 
 erected or rebuilt by Edward Hurst in 1764. 
 
 In 1864 an Independent Day and Sunday school was built by 
 Benjamin Whitworth, esq., M.P., of London, on land given by 
 R. C. Richards, esq., J.P., of Kirkham, and presented to the 
 
 I. For "Westby of Mowbreck " see Chapter VI. 
 2. For " Parker of Bradkirk " see Chapter VI.
 
 GREEN HAL GH- WITH- THISTLETON. 4 1 1 
 
 trustees of the chapel belonging to that sect at Kirkham. The 
 railway station and several weaving sheds and cotton mills are 
 situated in this township. 
 
 POPULATION OF MEDLAR-WITH-WESHAM. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 
 216 230 215 242 209 170 563 860 
 
 GREENHALGH-WITH-THISTLETON. Greenhalgh is stated in the 
 Domesday Book to contain three carucates of soil. The township 
 was held by the Butlers of the Fylde at an early epoch, and 
 retained until 1626 at least, when Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe, was 
 lord of Greenhalgh and Thistleton. During the sovereignty of 
 Edward I. the abbot of Cockersand had certain rights there, 
 including assize of bread and beer. 
 
 Henry Colbourne, of London, bequeathed, in 1655, $ IDS. to 
 establish a school at Esprick in this township, but his wishes were 
 not properly carried out before 1679, at which date his legacy was 
 supplemented by gifts from 41 yeomen in the neighbourhood, and 
 a school erected to provide free education to the children of 
 Greenhalgh and Thistleton. Further endowments of ^~6o in 
 1766 from John Cooper, and ^~8o a little later by subscription, 
 were given to the institution ; and in 1805 Mary Hankinson left 
 ^"200, and Richard Burch, of Greenhalgh, ^"200, to the same object. 
 The original school-house, formed of clay and thatched with 
 straw, has been pulled down, and a fresh one built. Subsequent 
 donations have been received under the wills of the Misses 
 Ellen and Hannah Dewhirst, the former of whom left ^"200, 
 in addition to a gift of ^"100 during her lifetime, and the latter 
 the residue of her estate. 
 
 The interest of ^"20, bequeathed for that purpose by a person 
 named Lawrenson, is distributed annually to the poor of 
 Greenhalgh. 
 
 POPULATION OF GREENHALGH-WITH-THISTLETON. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 378 403 409 408 371 362 383 365 
 
 The township embraces 1,821 statute acres. 
 
 GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETONS. At the Domesday Survey, 
 Singletun contained six carucates of arable land, the lord of the 
 manor being Roger de Poictou, who gave the tithes at the close 
 of the eleventh century to the priory of St. Mary's, Lancaster ;
 
 412 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 this grant was subsequently confirmed by John, earl of Moreton. 1 
 During the reigns of kings John and Henry III., Alan de Single- 
 ton held a carucate of land in the township by serjeanty of the 
 wapentake of Amounderriess. 2 In 20 Edward I. (1292) Thomas 
 de Singleton, a descendant of Alan, proved to the satisfaction 
 of a jury, when his right to certain offices was called in question, 
 that the manor of Little Singleton had belonged to his family 
 from time immemorial, and that the serjeanty of Amounderness 
 with its privileges and duties, was annexed and appurtenant to 
 that manor. Thomas de Singleton admitted, however, when 
 called upon by the king's attorney to show by what title he held 
 the manors of Singleton, Thornton, and Brughton, the same 
 having been amongst the possessions of Richard I. at his death, 
 that he did not hold the whole of Singleton, as Thomas de Clifton 
 and Caterina his wife had one third of two bovates there ; and 
 urged this fact as a plea why he could not be summoned to answer 
 the demand as made on behalf of Edward I. His objection was 
 allowed. 8 In 1297 Edmund, earl of Lancaster received annually 
 2\ from Singleton and 205. from Singleton Grange. At the 
 opening of the fourteenth century Little Singleton had passed 
 into the hands of the Banastres, for the "hamlet of Singleton 
 Parva " was one of the estates of William Banastre at his death 
 in 17 Edward II. (1323-24).* Towards the end of the reign of 
 Edward II. Thomas, the son of the notorious Sir Adam Banastre, 
 held little Singleton and the serjeanty of Amounderness, and by 
 the latter of these had a right to the services of two bailiffs and a 
 boy to levy executions within the wapentake. 5 
 
 The following notice of Singleton in the time of Henry, duke 
 of Lancaster, who died in 1361, occurs amongst the Lansdowne 
 manuscripts : 
 
 "In Syngleton there are 21 messuages and 26 bovates of land held by bondsmen, 
 who pay annually at the feasts of Easter and St. Michael 21 95. 3d. And there 
 are II cottages with so many inclosures, and one croft, and one piece of land in 
 the hands of tenants-at- will, paying annually 2 is. 6d. All the aforesaid bonds- 
 men owe talliage, and give marchet and heriot, 8 and on the death of her husband 
 a widow gives one third part of his property to the lord of the manor, but more 
 is claimed in cases where the deceased happen to be widowers. And if any one 
 
 I. Regist. S. Marise, Lane. MS. fol. 1-4. 2. Testa de Nevill. fol. 372. 
 
 3. Placita de Quo Warr. 20 Edw. I. Lane. Rot., I3a. 
 4. Escaet. 17 Edw. II. n. 45. 5. The Birch Feodary. 6. Ancient feudal taxes.
 
 GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON. 413 
 
 possesses a male fowl it is forbidden to him to sell it without a license. The 
 duke of Lancaster owns the aforesaid tenements with right to hold a court. It is 
 to be noted that each of the above mentioned bovates of land is to pay at first 
 2s. 7d. per annum, with work at the plough and harrow, mowing meadows in 
 Ryggeby, and carrying elsewhere the lord's provisions at Richmond, York, 
 Doncaster, Pontefract, and Newcastle, with 12 horses in Summer and Winter. 
 But afterwards the land was freed from this bondage, and paid per bovate 
 143. 3d. ob." 
 
 The lands of Thomas Banastre, before named, in " Syngleton 
 Parva, Ethelswyk, Frekulton, Hamylton, Stalmyn," etc., were 
 escheated to John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, in 1385, after the 
 death of Banastre. 1 
 
 Edmund Dudley, who was attainted in 1509 and afterwards 
 executed, held Little Singleton, as well as lands in Elswick, 
 Thornton, Wood Plumpton, Freckleton, etc.; 2 and 'in 1521 
 Thomas, earl of Derby, held the manor of Syngleton of 
 Henry VIII. 3 
 
 In the reign of James I. Great Singleton appears to have 
 belonged to the crown, for amongst a number of estates purchased 
 from the crown by Edward Badbie and William Weldon, of 
 London, for the sum of ^"2,000, is the " manor or lordship of 
 Singleton, alias Singleton Magna," the annual rent of which is 
 stated to have been^*i6 175. od. Subsequently the manor passed 
 to the Fanshaws, and from them to the Shaws ; William Cunliffe 
 Shaw, of Preston, esq., sold it to Joseph Hornby, of Ribby Hall, 
 esq., and afterwards it was purchased by Thomas Miller, esq., of 
 Preston, who greatly improved the property by draining the low 
 lying lands known as Singleton Carrs, which in former days were 
 frequently in a state of partial or complete inundation. Thomas 
 H. Miller, esq., the present owner and eldest son of the late Thos. 
 Miller, esq., has recently erected a noble mansion on the estate, 
 where he resides during most of the year. 
 
 The earliest notice to be discovered of Singleton Grange is in 
 an old schedule of deeds, in which the land is mentioned 
 as having been granted by King John in 1215. In 1297, during 
 the reign of Edward I., Edmund Crouchback, earl of Lancaster, 
 received yearly the sum of 2os. from the estate. Subsequently the 
 Grange passed into the possession of the abbot and convent of 
 
 I. Duchy Rolls. 2. Due. Lane. vol. iv. Inq. n. 13. 3. Ibid, vol. v. n. 68.
 
 4H KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 Cockersand ; l and at the dissolution of monasteries it became the 
 property of Henry VIII., who in 1543 granted it to William 
 Eccleston, of Eccleston, gentleman. 2 The Grange descended to 
 Thomas, the son, and afterwards to Adam, the grandson, of 
 William Eccleston. Adam Eccleston died sometime a little later 
 than 1597. The estate after his decease passed through several 
 hands in rapid succession, and in 1614 was sold by William 
 Ireland, gent., to William Leigh, B.D., clerk in holy orders and 
 rector of Standish. Theophilus Leigh, the eldest son of that 
 gentleman, resided at Singleton Grange, and married Clare, 
 daughter of Thomas Brooke, of Norton, Cheshire, by whom he 
 had one son, named William. William Leigh succeeded to the 
 Grange on the death of his father in 1658, and espoused Margaret, 
 daughter of Edward Chisenhall, of Chisenhall, Lancashire, and 
 had issue, Charles and Edward. 
 
 " Charles Leigh, the elder of the two sons, became celebrated as 
 a physician and student of natural history and antiquities. He 
 was born at the Grange in 1662, and at the age of 21 graduated 
 as B.A. at the University of Oxford ; afterwards he removed to 
 Cambridge to study medicine, and in 1690 obtained the degree of 
 M.D. In 1685 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 
 He married Dorothy, daughter of Edward Shuttleworth, of 
 Larbrick, and practised as a physician both in London and in the 
 neighbourhood of his birthplace, on one occasion, according to his 
 own version, performing a wonderful cure on Alexander Rigby, 
 of Lay ton Hall. His published works were Physiologia Lan- 
 castriensis, in 1691, and the Natural History of Lancashire, 
 Cheshire, and the Peak of Derbyshire, with an account of the 
 British, Phoenician, Armenian, Greek, and Roman Antiquities in 
 those parts, in 1 700, of which latter Dr; Whittaker remarks : 
 "Had this doctor filled his whole book, as he has done nearly 
 one-half of it, with medical cases, it might have been of some 
 use ; but how, with all possible allowances for the blindness 
 and self-partiality of human nature, a man should have thought 
 himself qualified to write and to publish critical remarks on a 
 subject of which he understood not the elementary principles, 
 it is really difficult to conceive." 8 
 
 I. Baines's Hist, of Lancashire. 2. Duchy Records. 3 History of Whalley.
 
 GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON. 415 
 
 Somewhere before the commencement of the eighteenth 
 century, the estate of Bankfield was separated from the Grange, 
 which, during the latter portion, at least, of the lifetime of Dr. 
 Leigh, who died shortly after the publication of his u Natural 
 History,)!(was held by a person named Joseph Green. In 1701 
 the executors of Joseph Green sold a portion of Singleton 
 Grange to Richard Harrison, of Bankfield, yeoman. The 
 remainder of the Grange land was held by widow Green until 
 her death, when it passed by her will, dated 1716, to her two 
 sons, Richard and Paul Green. 1 
 
 Richard Harrison, of Bankfield, obtained the whole of Singleton 
 Grange in 1738, and left it on his decease to his son Richard, 
 from whom it descended about 1836 to his only surviving child, 
 Agnes Elizabeth, the wife of Edwards Atkinson, of Fleetwood, 
 justice of the peace for the county of Lancaster. Mrs. Atkinson 
 died childless in 1850, and bequeathed Singleton Grange to her 
 husband, who in his turn entailed the estate upon his eldest son, 
 Charles Edward Dyson Atkinson, still a minor, the offspring of a 
 second marriage, with Anne, daughter of Christopher Thornton 
 Clark, of Cross Hall, Lancashire, by whom he had issue two sons 
 and a daughter, Ann Elizabeth Ynocensia, John Henry Glad- 
 stone, and the present heir. The old Hall of Singleton Grange 
 has been modernised and converted into a farm-house. 
 
 It is very probable that there was a chapel in Singleton 
 during the earlier years of the fourteenth century, for in 
 1358-59, Henry, duke of Lancaster, granted to John de Estwitton, 
 hermit, the custody of the chapel of St. Mary, in Singleton ; 
 and in 1440 a license was granted to celebrate mass to the 
 inhabitants of Singleton in the chapel at the same place for 
 one year. Twelve years afterwards another license was granted 
 by the archdeacon of Richmond for an oratory to be established 
 in the ehapel for the use of the people of the township ; 
 and in 1456 the license was renewed by archdeacon Laurence 
 Bothe to John Skilicorne, of Kirkham. The chapel, with 
 all its appurtenances, passed to the Crown at the Reformation ; 
 and in the report of the Commissioners of Edward VI., it is 
 stated that "A Stipendarye is founded in the Chapelle of 
 
 I. Title Deeds.
 
 4 1 6 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 Syngleton, in Kirkeham, by vertue of a lease made out of the 
 Duchie to S r Richarde Houghton, knight, the 26th day of 
 Februarie, in the ffirst yere of the raigne of our soveraign 
 lorde the kinge, that nowe is (1547), unto the ende of 21 yeres 
 the next following ; wherein the said S r Richarde covenanteth 
 to pay yerely duringe the said time to a Pryest celebrating 
 in the said Chapelle the sum of 493. The said Chapelle is distant 
 from the parishe Church of Kirkeham 4 myles ; Richarde Godson, 
 the Incumbent, of the age of 38 yeres, hath the said yerely salarie 
 of 495." Thomas Houghton, of Lea, the son of the knight, 
 appears to have had some difficulty in inducing sundry of the 
 Singleton tenants to recognise his right of proprietorship after 
 the death of his father, for we find him pleading in the duchy 
 court in 1560-61 that he held the "lands of the late kynge in 
 Singleton, also a house called the chapell house, with three 
 acres of land in the tenure of W m Yede, a chapell called Singleton 
 chapell, in Singleton aforesaid, with the chapell yarde thereunto 
 belonging, one house or cottage called Corner-rawe, and a wind- 
 mill ; and that the tenants thereof, Robert Carter and James 
 Hall, had never paid any rent, and refused to do so." 1 
 
 In 1562 the Charity Commissioners of Edward VI. founded a 
 " stipendarye in the Chapelle of Syngleton in Kyrkeham." 
 
 At the archiepiscopal visitation of the diocese of Chester in 
 1578, the following list of charges was brought against the curate 
 of Singleton : " There is not servyse done in due tyme He 
 kepeth no hous nor releveth the poore He is not dyligent in 
 visitinge the sycke He doth not teach the catechisme There is 
 no sermons He churcheth fornycatours without doinge any 
 penaunce He maketh a donge hill of the chapel yeard, and he 
 hath lately kepte a typlinge hous and a nowty woman in it." 2 
 
 From that time we hear no more of the old chapel of Singleton, 
 but the chapel-house, alluded to above, was at a later period 
 flourishing as an inn, and bearing the same name ; at the 
 Oliverian survey, in 1650, it was stated that there was a newly 
 erected chapel at Singleton, but that it had no endowment or 
 maintenance belonging to it, and that the inhabitants prayed that 
 it might be constituted a parish church with a " minister and 
 
 I. Record Office. Pleadings, 3 Eliz. 2. Church Presentments at York.
 
 GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON. 417 
 
 competent mayntenance allowed." 1 It is probable that after 
 the decline of the Commonwealth this chapel fell into the 
 hands of the Catholics, for Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, 
 a Romanist, in his diary of 1712, 13 and 14, speaks several times 
 of going "to Great Singleton to prayers"; and doubtless it is 
 the one alluded to in the following indenture, bearing the date 
 sgth August, 1749 : "William Shaw, esq., lord of the manor of 
 Shingleton in y e parish of Kirkham, gave a chapel belonging 
 to him at Shingleton aforesaid, then used as a popish chapel, to 
 be used for y e future as a chapel of ease to y mother church of 
 Kirkham, for y e benefit of y e inhabitants of Shingleton and of the 
 adjacent townships ; and that the said W m - Shaw proposed to give 
 200, to be added to a similar sum from Queen Anne's bounty, 
 for y e endowment of y e said chapel, in consideration whereof 
 Samuel, lord bishop of Chester as ordinary, the dean and chapter 
 of Christ Church, Oxford, as patrons, and Chas. Buck as incumbent, 
 by virtue of an act of George I., grant and decree that y e said 
 William Shaw and his heirs and assigns for ever shall have y e 
 nomination to and patronage of y e said chapel, as often as it is 
 vacant." 
 
 This chapel was dedicated to St. Anne, and in 1756 it was 
 agreed " by all pa.rt.ies that the chapel of Singleton should be 
 always considered a place of public worship according to the 
 liturgy of the Church of England, and the chapel yard always 
 appropriated to the burying of the dead and the support of the 
 minister " ; further, the chapel living was declared a perpetual 
 curacy, separate and independent of the mother church of 
 Kirkham, "save and except" that the curate must assist the vicar 
 of the latter place on Christmas day, Easter day, Whitsunday, 
 Good Friday, and each sabbath when it is customary to administer 
 the sacrament ; also the tythes, Easter dues, funeral sermons, and 
 all other parochial rights and duties belonged to the vicarage of 
 Kirkham." 2 
 
 The above is an authentic record of the way in which the 
 chapel of Singleton passed out of the hands of the Romanists into 
 those of the Protestants, but the Rev. W. Thornber, to whom 
 this document was evidently unknown, has given in his History 
 
 l. MSS. Lamb library. 
 2. Records of the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford. 
 
 2B
 
 418 
 
 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 of Blackpool and its neighbourhood, a different version of the 
 matter. He states, with apparently no greater authority than 
 tradition, that after the suppression of the rebellion of 1745, the 
 protestants of the village celebrated the 5th of November more 
 zealously than usual, raising contributions of peat at every house, 
 and amongst the rest had even the presumption to call at that of 
 the priest. The refusal of the ecclesiastic to provide his share of 
 fuel so incensed the villagers that they ejected him both from his 
 house and the church ; and the lord of the manor seized this 
 opportunity to convert the chapel into a protestant place of worship. 
 Singleton chapel was a low building with a thatched roof, the 
 eaves of which came within a short distance of the ground ; the 
 priest's house was attached to the chapel and communicated with 
 it by a door into the sacristy. In 1806 this ancient building, 
 having become much dilapidated, was pulled down and replaced, 
 through the liberality of Joseph Hornby, of Ribby, esq., by a neat 
 gothic structure, having a square tower at one end, in which was 
 placed a peal of six bells ; in 1859 the latter edifice was levelled to 
 the ground, and the present handsome and commodious church 
 erected on the site, chiefly through the munificence of the late 
 Thomas Miller, esq. The few mural monuments within the 
 church are not of any great antiquity, and are in memonam of 
 the Harrisons and Atkinsons, of Bankfield. There are no inscrip- 
 tions of interest in the churchyard, beyond those on the stones 
 surmounting the vault belonging to the Bankfield families just 
 named. In 1869 a separate district or parish was assigned to this 
 cure, and the present incumbent of the church acquired the title 
 of vicar. 
 
 THE CURATES AND VICARS OF SINGLETON. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 About 1545. 
 ii 1562. 
 In 1651. 
 
 ,, 1749- 
 About 1809. 
 Before 1843. 
 In 1543. 
 
 Richard Godson. 
 Thomas Fieldhouse. 
 Cuthbert Harrison, B.A. 
 John Threlfall, B.A. 
 Thomas Banks. 
 William Birley, M.A. 
 Leonard C. Wood, B.A. 
 
 Resignation of W. Birley.
 
 GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON, 419 
 
 The Rev. Cuthbert Harrison was the son of Richard Harrison, 
 of Newton, in Kirkham parish, and appears to have been the 
 progenitor of the Harrisons, of Bankfield, being the first of the 
 name on record as holder of that property. It is doubtful 
 whether this minister was ejected from Singleton, as generally 
 believed, or not, for in 1662, the date of the Act of Uniformity 
 which drove so many of the clergy from their cures, he was in 
 Ireland, holding the office of minister at Shankel, near Lurgan ; 
 so that if his ejection ever did take place from Singleton it must 
 have been anterior to, and consequently unconnected with, the 
 obnoxious Act. According to a letter from his son, however, he 
 was ejected from Shankel, and it is probably that circumstance 
 which has given rise to the supposition and assertion that he was 
 one of those who suffered in the Fylde for conscience's sake in 1662. 
 After leaving Ireland he opened a meeting-house at Elswick in 
 1672 by royal license, for the use " of such as do not conform to 
 the Church of England and are of the persuasion commonly 
 called Congregational." This place of worship was closed shortly 
 afterwards by a decree of parliament, and Cuthbert Harrison, to 
 escape persecution, was compelled to hold his services "very 
 privately in the night " in his own house, or in one belonging to 
 some member of his congregation. " He practysed physic," says 
 his son, " with good success, and by it supported his family and 
 gained the favour of the neighbouring gentry. He baptized his 
 own children, with many others." 
 
 Vicar Clegg, of Kirkham, seems to have grown very wrathful 
 at what he doubtless regarded as the presumption of Cuthbert 
 Harrison, in taking upon himself the right to baptize children and 
 solemnize matrimony, and presented him before the ecclesiastical 
 court on a charge of "marrying one James Benson, of Warles, and 
 baptizing a child of his." The inquiry resulted in both Harrison 
 and Benson being excommunicated ; but the former was not 
 deterred by this ban from repairing to the church of Kirkham, 
 much to the indignation of Mr. Clegg, who on one occasion was 
 so much disturbed on seeing the irrepressible excommunicant in 
 the chancel, whilst he engaged with the sermon, that he lost the 
 thread of his discourse, and being unable to find the place 
 amongst his notes, " was silent for some time." Smarting under 
 the additional annoyance the vicar ordered the churchwardens to
 
 420 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 \ 
 
 eject Mr. Harrison from the building at once, but that gentleman 
 refused to leave unless Mr. Clegg in person performed the duty of 
 turning him out ; incensed at his show of obstinacy, the vicar 
 appealed to Christopher Parker, esq., of Bradkirk Hall, a justice 
 of the peace, who was seated within six feet of Mr. Harrison, to 
 remove him, but the magistrate refused to act in the matter, and 
 Mr. Clegg was obliged to descend from the pulpit and undertake 
 the unpleasant task himself. He walked up to the offender, and, 
 taking him by the sleeve, desired him to go out from the church ; 
 Mr. Harrison went peaceably with the vicar, but had no sooner 
 passed out through the chancel door than he exclaimed in a loud 
 voice " It is time to go when the devil drives." 
 
 Shortly after this episode Mr. Clegg sued Cuthbert Harrison for 
 the sum of 1203., being a fine of 205. per month extending over 
 six months, for non-attendance at the parish church. The 
 defendant pleaded that when he had attempted to attend the 
 service at Kirkham he had been ejected from the church by the 
 plaintiff himself, and the judge who summed up the evidence in 
 favour of the defendant, remarked " There is fiddle to be hanged 
 and fiddle not to be hanged." The verdict went against Mr. 
 Clegg, who reaped only the payment of his own and defendant's 
 costs from this piece of persecution. 
 
 Cuthbert Harrison died in 1681, and "a great entreaty," writes 
 his son, " was made to Mr. Clegg to suffer his body to be buried 
 in the church ; he was prevailed with, and Mr. Harrison was 
 interred a little within the great door, which has since been the 
 burial place of the family." The first epitaph below is said, by 
 his son, to have been fixed upon " Cuth. Harrison's grave by Mr. 
 Clegg"; the second one is a retaliation, reported to have been 
 substituted by some local rhymester, after effacing the original 
 one : 
 
 I 2 
 
 " Here lies Cud, Here lies Cud, 
 
 Who never did good, Who still did good, 
 
 But always was in strife ; And never was in strife, 
 
 Oh ! let the Knave But with Dick Clegg, 
 
 Lie in his grave, Who furiously opposed 
 
 And ne'er return to life." His holy life." 
 
 In 1768 another chapel was erected by the Romanists at 
 Singleton by subscription, and almost immediately the officiating
 
 GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON. 421 
 
 priest, the Rev. Father Watts, renounced his creed, publicly 
 recanting at Kirkham ; he died in 1773, when minister at the 
 episcopal chapel of Wrea-green. According to Mr. Thornber, the 
 priests of Singleton could seldom assign a better reason for 
 desiring a removal to another sphere of labour, than that they 
 were surfeited with wild ducks from the " carrs." The chapel was 
 rebuilt subsequently, but closed when the present one at Poulton 
 had been completed and opened a few years. 
 
 Mains or Maynes Hall is situated in the manor of Little 
 Singleton, and appears on ancient maps as Monk's Hall. The 
 original Hall was built in the form of a quadrangle, the chapel 
 being on the right and the kitchen on the left ; the latter, taken 
 down rather more than half a century ago, was roofed with tiles, 
 about six inches square, piled thickly upon one another, and 
 contained several secret recesses or hiding places, one of which 
 was situated near the mantel-piece, and another, entered from the 
 floor above by means of a ladder, showed manifest evidences of 
 having been occupied. The present Hall is less antique in its 
 construction and arrangements than its predecessor. In 1745 a 
 party of Scotch rebels feasted there ; and George IV., when 
 Prince of Wales, is said to have been an occasional visitor at the 
 mansion. The mantel-piece of the drawing-room was formerly 
 adorned with a family painting of the Howards, dukes of Norfolk; 
 and adjoining that spacious apartment is a small room, which 
 appears to have been an oratory, containing relics of distinguished 
 saints. The outside wall of the old chapel bears the date 1686, 
 and within are a gilded altar in a state of dilapidation, a large 
 picture of the ' Virgin and Infant,' a coat of arms, and various 
 scraps of scriptural texts and ordinances of the church of Rome. 1 
 
 Cardinal Allen, of Rossall Hall, the brother-in-law of William 
 Hesketh, who was living at Mains Hall at the opening of the 
 seventeenth century, is said to have frequently secreted himself 
 in the hiding places there, during the time he was engaged in 
 endeavouring to alienate the loyalty of the catholics of this 
 district, and induce them to assist the invasion of Philip of Spain, 
 whose forces were expected to land at Peel in Morecambe Bay. 
 
 The Heskeths were the first tenants of Mains Hall of whom we 
 have any notice, and the above William was the first of the family 
 
 I. This description is of Mains Hall forty years ago, as seen by Mr. Thornber.
 
 422 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 to reside there ; a full account of the descent and intermarriages 
 of the Heskeths of Mains will be found in the chapter on ancient 
 families of the Fylde. 
 
 The Hall and estate are now the property of Thomas Fitzherbert 
 Brockholes, of Claughton, esq. 
 
 POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON. 
 1801. l8ll. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 325 396 501 499 391 293 338 317 
 The area of the township comprises 2,860 statute acres. 
 
 LITTLE ECCLESTON-WITH-LARBRICK. The Testa de Nevill records 
 that Adam de Eccleston and William de Molines, with three oth ers, 
 had part of a knight's fee in Eccleston and Larbrick, about 1300. 
 In 1 500 Richard Kerston had 60 acres in Little Eccleston , a 
 portion of which passed on his death in 1546 to John ffrance, who 
 had married one of his daughters. The ffrances retained their 
 possessions until 1817, when they were bequeathed by the last of 
 the line to Thomas Wilson, of Preston, who adopted their sur- 
 name. 1 Larbrick was held in 1336 by William de Coucy, of 
 Gynes, but in 1358 it belonged to Sir William Molyneux, of 
 Sefton, in whose family it remained until about 1601, at which 
 date William Burgh, of Burgh, near Chorley, died, holding it. 
 Subsequently the manor passed, through the daughter of 
 William Burgh, to Edward Shuttleworth, of Thornton Hall, 
 who had espoused her grand-daughter. The last proprietor 
 here named died in 1673, and the estate was divided, a 
 moiety going to Dr. Charles Leigh, who had married one of 
 his two daughters and co-heiresses, and the second mediety 
 to Richard Longworth, who was the husband of the other. Dr. 
 Leigh mortgaged his share, which eventually was obtained by 
 Richard Harrison, of Bankfield ; whilst that of Richard Long- 
 worth, passed, about 1700, to the Hornbys, of Poulton, and after- 
 wards to the Pedders, of Preston, who held it for more than a 
 century. Mr. Whiteside, who purchased it from the Rev. Jno. 
 Pedder, is now owner. Larbrick Hall, for long a seat of the 
 noble house of Molyneux, is at presented represented by a farm- 
 house. Dr. Leigh mentions an extremely cold well in Larbrick, 
 in which fish were unable to survive beyond a few seconds. 
 
 I. For " ffrance of Little Eccleston" see Chapter VI.
 
 CLIFTON- WITH- SAL WICK. 
 
 423 
 
 In 1697, William Gillow left ids. a year, the rental of some 
 land, to be given to two or more poor persons of the township at 
 Christmas, and in 1720, a further annual sum of 2OS. was left for 
 the same object by George Gillow. 
 
 POPULATION OF LITTLE ECCLESTON-WITH-LARBRICK. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 178 192 224 230 199 215 209 192 
 
 The area of the township is 1,198 statute acres. 
 
 CLIFTON- WITH-SAL WICK. As early as noo William de Clifton 
 had lands in Clifton and Salwick, and from that date to the 
 present time, with one short interval, the manors have descended 
 in the same family, of which Jno. Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham, 
 is the head. 1 Clifton and Salwick Halls, the ancient residences of 
 the Cliftons, are now comparatively modern buildings. The 
 church of Lund is situated in Salwick, and possessed a chantry so 
 far back as 1516. The first notice of any connection between 
 Kirkham church and Lund chapel occurs amongst the records of 
 the "Thirty-men" in 1701, thus: " Matt. Hall, ch warden, of 
 Kirkham, in 1688, set up a scandalous trough for a font in Lund 
 chapel ; and 4 sackfuls of moss he then carried from the church 
 to repair the said chapel, and so it first began to be repaired at 
 the parish charge." The old chapel was pulled down in 1824, 
 and a stone church erected. In 1852 a chancel was added, and 
 more recently a tower. Lund and Newton-with-Scales were 
 constituted an ecclesiastical parish in 1840. The church is 
 dedicated to St. John, and the dean and chapter of Christ 
 Church, Oxford, are the patrons. 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF LUND. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 Before 1648. 
 1732. 
 
 it I769- 
 In 1790. 
 Before 1818. 
 In 1820. 
 
 Joseph Harrison. 
 Thomas Cockin. 
 Benj. Wright. 
 Charles Buck, B.A. 
 Thos. Stephenson. 
 Richard Moore, M.A. 
 
 Death of T. Stephenson. 
 
 The Rev. Jos. Harrison, brother to Cutbert Harrison, was 
 I. For "Clifton of Lytham" see Chapter VI.
 
 424 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 ejected in the year 1662, for refusing to comply with the Act of 
 Uniformity. 
 
 Alice Hankinson, left in 1680, ^"5 for the use of the minister, 
 and Alice Clitherall a like sum for the same purpose. Thomas 
 Smith bequeathed, in 1685, the annual interest of ^"20 to Lund 
 chapel. The sum of \Q is received yearly under a trust of 1668, 
 505. being for the vicar, and the surplus for the poor. The school 
 was established about 1682, by a legacy of 60 left by John 
 Dickson, half the interest to go to the minister of Lund chapel, 
 providing he belonged to the Church of England, and the other 
 moiety to the master of the school. The interest of ^~io, origin 
 unknown, is paid each year to the trustees of the school. 
 
 POPULATION OF CLIFTON-WITH-SALWICK. 
 
 1801. i8ir. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 552 575 608 508 538 471 447 447 
 
 The township contains 3,776 statute acres. 
 
 TREALES, ROSEACRE, AND WHARLES. The ancient manor of 
 Treales embraced the three estates of Treales, Roseacre, and 
 Wharles, being computed in the Domesday Book to contain two 
 carucates of arable soil. In 1207 Treales was granted to Robert 
 de Vavassour, the father-in-law of Theobald Walter, and subse- 
 quently it descended in the Butler family until 1673, when the 
 9th earl of Derby acquired it with his wife, the daughter of 
 Thomas Butler, the lord Ossory. The present earl of Derby is 
 lord of the manor, and holds a court annually. 
 
 The church, a plain stone building with nave and chancel only, 
 was erected in 1853, and endowed five years later by the dean and 
 chapter of Christ Church, Oxford. The Rev. J. Hodgkin is the 
 incumbent. 
 
 William Grimbaldson, M.D., left ^"300 in 1725, the interest to 
 be used for binding out poor apprentices in Treales, whose parents 
 received no parish relief. Boulton's and Porter's charities are 
 rentals amounting to about 12 a-year, to be given to poor 
 persons of the township. Bridgett's charity is the interest o 
 for the poor of Wharles. 
 
 POPULATION OF TREALES, ROSEACRE, AND WHARLES. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 675 671 760 756 709 696 632 625 
 
 The township has an area of 4,015 statute acres.
 
 NEWTON-WITH-SCALES. HAMBLETON. 425 
 
 NEWTON-WITH-SCALES. Newton appears in the Domesday Book 
 as containing two carucates. In 1324 William de Clifton had 60 
 acres in Scales ; and in 1354 Adam de Bradkirk held land in 
 Newton. John Hornby, of Newton-with-Scales, left in 1707, the 
 residue of his estate, after certain bequests, to six trustees to found 
 and endow the present Blue Coat School ; and in 1809 the funds 
 of the institution were increased by a legacy of ^~8oo, under the 
 will of James Boys, of London, an old pupil. The principal soil 
 owners are the Rev. R. Moore, and the Westby, Swainson, 
 Bryning, Hornby, and Loxham families. 
 
 POPULATION OF NEWTON-WITH-SCALES. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 269 336 380 381 324 299 286 292 
 The area of the township is 1,525 statute acres. 
 
 HAMBLETON. Hambleton was held during the reign of King 
 John by Geoffrey, the Crossbowman, or de Hackensall, from 
 whom it descended to his son-in-law Richard de Sherburne, and 
 afterwards to Robert de Sherburne, the son of the latter. The 
 manor was held successively by different members of the 
 Sherburne family until 1363, when it passed to Richard de 
 Bailey, who had married the daughter and heiress of the last 
 male Sherburne, and adopted the maiden surname of his wife. 
 Hence the title of the manorial lords remained unchanged 
 up to 1717, when the property became the possession of the 
 Duchess of Ormond, the sole child of Sir Nicholas Sherburne, 
 who died at that date. After the decease of the Duchess of 
 Ormond, without issue, Hambleton passed to Edward, the son of 
 William Weld, of Lulworth Castle, by his marriage with the 
 sister of Sir Nicholas Sherburne. The descendants of Edward 
 Weld still retain some portion of the soil, but a considerable 
 proportion has been sold in recent years. 
 
 Bishop Gastrell affirms that the episcopal chapel of Hambleton 
 was consecrated in 1567. In 1650 the Parliamentary Commis- 
 sioners reported : " There is no allowance to the minister, but 
 only _^~5 per an. payd by Richard Sherburne, esq., lord of the 
 manor, and ^"40 per an. by order from the committee for 
 plundered ministers. The inhabitants desire it may be made a 
 parish, and the township of Rawcliffe, lying within a myle of it 
 and four miles from their parish church, may be annexed to it."
 
 426 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 The present church was erected in 1749, an ^ is a plain white 
 washed building, without a tower or any attempt at architectural 
 display. Attached to the south wall within are three tablets 
 inscribed thus : 
 
 " Beneath this marble are deposited the remains of Mary Ramsden, daughter 
 and heiress of the rev. Christ 1 "- Westby Alderston, late vicar of St. Michael's in 
 this county, and wife of Rowland Ramsden of Halifax. She was born Aug. 17 th - 
 1768 and died Nov. 6 th - 1764." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of George Bickerstaffe of Hambleton, gent., died May 
 3 rd - 1766 ; Jenny Alderston, his granddaughter, died May l6 th - 1770 ; and Agnes, 
 wife of the rev. Christ 1 "- Westby Alderston, widow of Rjch d - Harrison of Bankfield, 
 and daughter of George Bickerstaffe, died March 14 th - 1820." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of the rev. Thomas Butcher, B.A., for 39 years the 
 respected incumbent of this chapel. Erected by the voluntary contributions of 
 his parishioners." 
 
 On the aisles of the church are three gravestones, bearing the 
 following incriptions : 
 
 " In this aisle lie the remains of the rev. John Field, B.A. and minister of this 
 place, who died 2ist April, 1765 ; also his wife and children." 
 
 " Here lies the body of Dorothy, wife of Richard Carter of Hambleton, who 
 died I4th May, 1807." 
 
 " William, son of James Norris of Liverpool, buried the 2Qth of June 1692 
 Though Boreas' Blast and Neptune's Waves have tost me to and fro, yet a spite 
 on both by God's decree I harbour here below : Here at anchor I doe ride with 
 many of our fleet, yet once again I must set sail my Generall Christ to meet." 1 
 
 I. This stone was in the yard until the rebuilding of the church, when it was 
 enclosed within the new and more extensive edifice ; it is supposed to mark the 
 grave of a sailor washed up on the banks of the river Wyre. 
 
 In earlier days, when the church was held by the Roman 
 Catholics, the burial ground was evidently of much greater extent 
 than at present, and surrounded by an immense moat, between 
 six and seven yards wide, and of a considerable depth. In a field 
 lying to the east of the church can now be seen the ancient limits 
 of the ground in that direction, bounded by a long stretch of the 
 old moat in a very fair state of preservation, but of course some- 
 what contracted by accumulations of vegetation ; and in another 
 plot of ground to the west, may be traced by a slight depression 
 the course of the same trench, marking the westerly extent of the 
 yard. The northerly length of the moat passed behind the 
 present churchyard, and a portion of it, about two yards wide, is 
 still to be seen there, the remainder of its breadth being filled in
 
 HAMBLETON. 
 
 427 
 
 and included in the cemetery. The southerly stretch of this 
 ancient ditch or fosse ran just within the railings, protecting the 
 burial ground in front. When the existing walls were built 
 round the yard great difficulty was met with in forming a good 
 foundation over the site of the moat at different points, as it was 
 found to be filled in with fragments of bricks, mortar, and general 
 rubbish, which seems to indicate that it was abolished when the 
 church itself was in course of reconstruction, and that the old 
 building materials and debris were used for the purpose of raising 
 it to the common level, indicating that the work must have 
 been accomplished either at the rebuilding of 1 749, or at some 
 previous and unrecorded one. The moat would be crossed by a 
 bridge of fair dimensions, which was probably situated on the 
 west side, as the sexton lately discovered the well-preserved 
 remains of a straight footpath, paved with long tiles, and 
 running from the church for some distance towards the site of 
 the moat in that direction ; the path was between two and 
 three feet below the surface of the ground. 
 
 The church was separated from the mother edifice of Kirkham, 
 and had an independent district assigned to it in 1846. The 
 incumbent has the title of vicar. 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF HAMBLETON. 
 
 Date of 
 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 About 1648. 
 
 Robert Cunningham. 
 
 
 Before 1662. 
 
 William Bullock. 
 
 
 About 1725. 
 
 William Whitehead, B.A. 
 
 
 In 1735- 
 
 John Field, B.A. 
 
 Resignation of W. White- 
 
 
 
 head. 
 
 ,, 1765-86 
 
 Mr. Parkinson. 
 
 
 1796. 
 
 Thomas Butcher, B.A. 
 
 
 I83S. 
 
 Mr. Howard. 
 
 Death of T. Butcher. 
 
 1836. 
 
 William Hough. 
 
 Resignation of Howard. 
 
 An Independent chapel was erected by subscription a few years 
 since, and schools subsequently added. 
 
 From the report of the Charity Commissioners, we learn that 
 long before the commencement of the nineteenth century there 
 was a school at Hambleton, but no attempt to elucidate more
 
 428 KIRKHAM PARISH. 
 
 particularly its origin or date of erection can be hazarded. In 
 1797 the only endowment it can boast of was left by Matthew 
 Lewtas, a native of Hambleton, and consisted of ^"200, the 
 interest of which had to be given to John, the son of 
 George Hall, of Hambleton, until he reached the age of 
 twenty-one ; and if before or at that time he was appointed 
 master of the school he had to continue to receive the whole 
 of the income whilst he held such mastership, but if, although 
 he was willing to accept the post, some other person should 
 be selected for it, then when he came of age, half of the income 
 passed from him to the school, and he retained the other 
 moiety until his death, when it also went to increase the stipend 
 of the master. The other condition of the will applied to the 
 master, and obliged him in return for the interest or income of 
 the 200, to teach as many poor children of Hambleton as the 
 money would pay for. John Hall never obtained the appointment, 
 so that the present master receives the full interest of the bequest, 
 which is invested on mortgage. 
 
 The poor of Hambleton have 2 annually distributed amongst 
 them through the generosity of Sir Nicholas Sherburne, of 
 Stonyhurst, who in 1706, when lord of the manor of Hambleton, 
 charged his estate of Lentworth Hall with this charity. 
 
 The yearly interest of 10 was given for the benefit of poor 
 housekeepers in Hambleton by Mary, the daughter of vicar Clegg, 
 of Kirkham, and the wife of Emanuel Nightingale, of York, gent., 
 who was born in 1673. 
 
 POPULATION OF HAMBLETON. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 252 273 338 334 349 346 366 351 
 
 The statute acres of the township amount to 1,603.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PARISH OF LYTHAM. 
 LYTHAM. 
 
 the commencement of the Norman dynasty, when 
 William I. instituted a survey of his newly-conquered 
 territory, the name of the town and parish which 
 will occupy our attention throughout the present 
 chapter was written Lidun, and was estimated to contain two 
 carucates of arable land. How long this orthography continued 
 in use is difficult to say, but it could not have been for much more 
 than a century, as amongst certain legal documents in the reign 
 of King John, the locality is referred to under the style of Lethum, 
 an appellation which seems to have adhered to it until compara- 
 tively recent years. The derivation of the latter title is apparently 
 from the Anglo-Saxon word lethe, signifying a barn, and points 
 obviously to an agricultural origin, whilst the more antique name 
 of Lidim is possibly a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon lade, 
 implying a river discharging itself into the sea, that is, its mouth 
 or estuary, and tun, a town. 
 
 Shortly before the termination of the reign of Richard I. in 
 1199, Richard Fitz Roger, who is supposed to have belonged to 
 the Banastre family, gave all his lands in Lethum, with the 
 church of the same vill, and all things belonging to the church, 
 to God, and the monks of Durham, that they might establish a 
 Benedictine cell there to the honour of St. Mary and St. Cuth- 
 bert. 1 The following is a copy of the document by which the 
 
 I. Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 440.
 
 430 L YTHAM PARISH. 
 
 transfer was effected : " Richard Fitz Roger, to all men, both 
 French and English, who may see this letter, greeting : Let all 
 and each of you know, that I, with the consent and wish of my 
 wife, Margaret, and my heirs, for the Salvation of my lord, Earl 
 John, and for the souls of my Father and Mother, and mine and 
 my heirs, have given and granted, and with these presents con- 
 firm as a pure and perpetual offering to God and the Blessed 
 Mary and St. Cuthbert, and the monks of Durham, all my estate 
 of Lethum, with the church at the same vill, with all things 
 appertaining to it, in order to build a house of their own order ; 
 namely, within these divisions From the ditch on the western 
 side of the cemetry of Kilgrimol (Lytham Common) over which 
 I have erected a Cross, and from the same ditch and Cross east- 
 ward, going along the Curridmere (Wild Moss or Tarns) beyond 
 the Great Moss, and the brook, as far as Balholme (Ballam), which 
 brook runs towards Snincbrigg (Sluice Bridge). Likewise from 
 Balholme directly across the moss, which my lord John, earl of 
 of Moreton, divided between himself and me, as far as the 
 northern part of Estholmker (Estham), going eastward as far as 
 the division of the water which comes from Birckholme (Birks), 
 and divides Etholmker and Brimaker (Bryning), following this 
 division of water southward as far as the middle point between 
 Etholme and Coulurugh (Kellamergh), and thus returning 
 towards the west and going southward across the Moss as far as 
 la Pull from the other side of Snartsalte (Saltcoats), as it falls 
 upon the sand of the sea, and thus going southward across to 
 Ribril to the waterside, and thus following the line of the water 
 to the sea on the west, and so to the ditch and across aforemen- 
 tioned," etc., etc. In a charter dated 1200-1, it is specified that 
 the whole of the lands of Lytham, amounting to two carucates, 
 had been presented by King John when earl of Moreton, to 
 Richard Fitz Roger, by whom, as just shown, they were imme- 
 diately conveyed to the monks of Durham. 
 
 There are unfortunately no means ol ascertaining the extent or 
 appearance of the Benedictine cell established at Lytham, but its 
 site would seem to have been that now occupied by Lytham Hall, 
 in the walls of some of the offices attached to which remains of 
 the ancient monastic edifice have been incorporated. Dr. Kuerden 
 alludes, in a manuscript preserved in the Chetham library, to an
 
 LYTHAM. 431 
 
 undated claim of feudal privileges in Lytham, by which the prior 
 of Durham asserted his right to have view of frankpledge in his 
 manor of Lytham, with waif, stray, and infangthefe 1 ; emendations 
 of the assize of bread and beer ; wrecks of the sea ; exemption for 
 himself and tenants in Lytham from suit to the county and 
 wapentake, and from fines and penalties ; to have soc, sac, and 
 theam ; 2 and finally, to have free warren over all his lands in 
 Lytham, and all royal fish taken there. During the reign of 
 Edward I. the legality of the ecclesiastic's assumption of the sole 
 right to wreckage was called in question, ultimately ending in 
 litigation, and at Trinity Term, York, the verdict of the jury was 
 given against him. In the twenty-third year of his sovereignty, 
 Edward I. granted the wreck, waif, and stray of Lytham to his 
 brother Edmund, the earl of Lancaster. Amongst the Rolls of 
 the Duchy is the record of an agreement, entered into in 1271, 
 between Ranulphus de Daker, sheriff of Lancaster, Richard le 
 Botiler, and others, for arranging and fixing, with the consent and 
 approval of Stephen, the prior of Lytham, the boundaries between 
 the land of Lytham and Kilgrimol, and that of Layton. The 
 priors of Lytham were entirely dependent on the parent house 
 until 1443, when they solicited and induced Pope Eugenius to 
 issue an edict declaring the prior of that date and his successors 
 perpetual in their office and no longer removable at the will and 
 dictation of the monks of Durham. Afterwards, in the same year, 
 letters patent were received at the Lytham cell, pardoning the 
 application to the papal See and granting the request f but the 
 union between the two houses was not absolutely dissolved, for we 
 find that, in addition to the various properties at Lytham and 
 Durham continuing to be valued together, the cell and domain 
 of the former place were granted in 2 Mary, 1554, to Sir Thomas 
 Holcroft as part of the possessions of the Durham convent. In 
 
 I. Infangthefe. The power of judging of theft committed within the manor of 
 
 Lytham. 
 
 f Soccum. The power and authority of administering justice. 
 Saccum. The power of imposing fines upon tenants and vassals within the 
 
 lordship. 
 
 Theam. A royalty granted for trying bondmen and villeins, with a sovereign 
 power over their villein tenants, their wives, children and goods, 
 to dispose of them at pleasure. This badge of feudal slavery 
 was abolished in England during the reign of Charles II. 
 3. Rot. Lit. Pat. 22 Hen. vi. p I, m. 6.
 
 34 15 6 
 
 432 L YTHAM PARISH. 
 
 1606 the knight transferred his rights and lands in Lytham to 
 Sir Cuthbert Clifton, in exchange for certain estates on the 
 opposite side of the river Ribble. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of 
 Lytham Hall, a descendant of the latter gentleman, is the present 
 lord of the manor. Reverting to the Benedictine cell it is seen 
 from an ecclesiastical valuation, taken in the reign of Henry VIII., 
 probably about the time of the Reformation, that the annual 
 income of the institution was derived from the following sources: 
 
 " Cella de Lethum in com' Lancastr' 
 Rad'us Blaxton prior Ibd'm 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Situ celle pdce cum pt' pastur' & terr' arabilib 3 p annu 880 
 
 Redd' & firmis in divs' villis viz villa de Lethum, 21 I is. od. ; 
 Esthowme, $ 7s. od. ; Medholm, ^ 2s. 8d. ; Pilhowes cum Banke- 
 housse, I2s. lid. ; Frekkylton cum Ranklysse, 7s. 3d. ; Bylsborrow 
 cum Carleton, 135. od. ; Warton, Goosenargh & Kyllermargh, i is. 8d. 
 
 Total /43 3 6" 
 
 It is evident from the wording of the foundation-charter of the 
 cell of Lytham that a church existed there at that date, and 
 Reginald of Durham affirms that the grand-father of Richard 
 Fitz Roger pulled down the original church of Lytham, which 
 had been built of shingle, and erected another of stone, dedicating 
 it to St. Cuthbert. 1 This event must have taken place anterior to 
 the establisment of the Benedictines in the locality, and is possibly 
 related by the Durham ecclesiastic as a brief account of the stone 
 church standing there when the grant of lands, etc., was made to 
 his monastery by Fitz Roger. Amongst the number of historical 
 fragments collected by Gregson is a notice to the effect that 
 Thomas de Thweng was rector of the church of Lytham in 
 22 Edward III. (1349), and founded a chantry of twelve in the 
 parish church "to pray for the good estate of himself and Henry, 
 Lord Perci, and for the souls of their ancestors." Thomas de 
 Thweng was descended from Lucy, granddaughter of Helewise, 
 the eldest sister of William de Lancaster, and in 1374, very likely 
 the year of his death, held the manor of Garstang. 2 The edifice 
 existing until 1770, when another church, also dedicated to 
 St. Cuthbert, was erected on its site, was a low building, con- 
 structed of cobble stones, the walls being more than a yard in 
 thickness and penetrated by five windows, one of which was 
 
 I. Chet. Soc. Series, No. xxx. Penwortham. 2. Escaet. 49 Edw. III. n. 28.
 
 L YTHAM. 433 
 
 situated at the east end, and the others at the sides. The main 
 entrance was protected by a porch. From the scanty description 
 preserved of the general features of this antique specimen of 
 ecclesiastical architecture, it has been conjectured that its origin 
 might be traced back to the time of Henry VIII. Within the 
 erection the seats, which were of black oak, ornamented with 
 scrolls, were arranged in four rows, two running down the centre 
 and one down each side, whilst the north side of a small chancel 
 was set apart for the choristers. The pulpit was fixed against the 
 south wall ; and the Cliftons possessed an old canopied seat, the 
 precise station of which cannot be ascertained. 
 
 On the demolition of this church in 1770, its successor arose 
 with a somewhat more pretentious exterior, having a low tower 
 abutting the west extremity. The interior of the latter structure 
 contained several objects of interest, amongst which may be 
 noticed two tables fastened to the wall and inscribed as under : 
 
 FIRST TABLE. 
 
 " Charities to Lytham church. 
 
 "1765- 
 
 " The honourable Countess Dowager Gower, one hundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, two hundred pounds. 
 
 "1768. 
 
 " Ryheads in Goosnargh, purchased with the above four hundred pounds. 
 Thomas Clifton, Esq., added seven pounds per annum, to be paid of Bamber's 
 estate in Lay ton, to the old stipend of twenty pounds per annum. Governors of 
 Queen Anne's Bounty purchased six acres and three perches of land with the 
 above two hundred pounds, from Barker's estate ; it adjoins Ryheads. 
 
 " 1770. 
 
 " This church was rebuilded. John Gibson, minister. William Silcock and 
 William Gaulter, churchwardens." 
 
 SECOND TABLE. 
 
 "1801. 
 
 " Subscriptions in the parish, two hundred pounds. Governors of Queen 
 Anne's Bounty laid out the above two hundred pounds in the purchase of a rent 
 charge of five per cent, per annum, payable off Bamber's estate in Lay ton. 
 
 "1814. 
 
 " John Clifton, Esq., one hundred and thirty-one pounds. William Hornby, 
 Esq., sixty-five pounds eight shillings. Joseph, Thomas, and John Hornby, 
 Esqs., ten pounds each, making thirty pounds. Rev. Robert Lister, fifty pounds. 
 L. Webbe, Esq., ten pounds. Joseph Benbow, five pounds. Captain Thomas 
 Cookson, ten pounds. Richard Cookson, ten pounds. Cornelius Crookall, ten 
 pounds. John Cardwell, ten pounds. 
 
 2C
 
 434 L YTHAM PARISH. 
 
 " Smaller subscriptions in the parish, sixty-eight pounds twelve shillings. 
 Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, six hundred pounds. 
 
 Total amount, one thousand pounds. 
 
 " Purchased five acres, one rood, and two perches of land, of eight yards to the 
 perch, in Layton-cum-Warbreck, with the above one thousand pounds. 
 " Rev. Robert Lister, B.A., minister. Thomas Cookson and John Cookson, 
 
 churchwardens." 
 
 On each side of the altar, at the east end of the church, were 
 several mural marble monuments erected in memory of certain 
 members of the Clifton family, whose remains had been interred 
 within the walls of the sacred edifice. Thomas Clifton was the 
 first of this family buried at Lytham, and on his tomb was inscribed : 
 " Here lie interred the mortal remains of Thomas Clifton, of 
 Lytham, esquire; who died on the i6th of Dec., 1784, in the 38th 
 year of his age. Requiescat in pace." 
 
 Another monument, near to the former one, bore the following 
 inscription : " D.O.M. Here lies dead the body of Ann Clifton, 
 wife of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esq. ; daughter of Sir Carnaby 
 Haggerstone, Baronet : but her name will live to future ages. 
 Wonder not, reader ; in her was seen whatever is amiable in a 
 daughter, wife, mother, friend, and Christian. Admire her, man; 
 a pattern to her sex. O ! woman, imitate. She died in the 37th 
 year of her age, on the 22nd day of February, 1760. Requiescat 
 in pace." 
 
 The memorial writing over a third tomb ran thus : "Here lies 
 the body of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esq.; who departed this 
 life in the 56th year of his age, on the nth day of May, 1783. 
 R.I. P.;" whilst a fourth monument had these lines upon it: 
 " Here lies the body of Jane Clifton, wife of Thomas Clifton, of 
 Lytham, Esq.; daughter of the Right Hon. the Earl of Abingdon, 
 who departed this life in the 6ist year of her age, on the i4th 
 day of Feb., 1791. R.I.P." 
 
 A white marble tablet fixed against the south wall, contained 
 the annexed notice : " In memory of Elizabeth Clifton, wife of 
 John Clifton, of Lytham, Esq. ; and daughter of Thomas Horsley 
 Widdrington Riddell, of Swinburne Castle, in the county of 
 Northumberland, esq.; who departed this life in the 63rd year of 
 her age, on the igth day of November, 1825. Requiescat in 
 pace."
 
 L YTHAM. 435 
 
 Sixty-four years from the date of its erection this church was 
 also pulled down, having become unable to accommodate the 
 increasing influxes of visitors during the summer ; and on the 
 20th of March, ^834, the foundation stone of the existing pile 
 was laid by the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, who 
 contributed .^"500 towards the cost of the building. Mrs. Fisher, 
 the widow of a local physician, contributed jfsoo, and the 
 subscriptions for the necessary work were further augmented by 
 a grant from the Church Building and Extension Society. The 
 church, which comprises nave, side aisles, chancel, and embattled 
 tower, contains the monuments of the Cliftons already enumerated, 
 and three additional marbles, one of which, at the entrance to the 
 chancel, records that " in the family vault near this place lies the 
 body of Hetty, daughter of Pelegrine Treves, esq., and widow of 
 the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Clifton and Lytham ; she died 
 on the 4th of June, 1864, aged 68 years. The other attached to 
 the opposite side of the entrance is in memoriam of " Thomas 
 Clifton (eldest son of John Clifton, esq., by Elizabeth, his wife) of 
 Clifton and Lytham, who died iyth February, 1851, aged 63 
 years " ; whilst the third, in the chancel itself, is to the memory 
 of " John Clifton, of Lytham, esq., who departed this life on the 
 25th of March, 1832, aged 68 years. Requiescat in Pace." 
 Against the wall of the south side aisle is a tablet surmounted 
 by a cross and inscribed thus : " In memory of Richard Barton 
 Robinson, born July 28 : A : D : 1804, died August 9 : A : D : 
 1872, vicar of Lytham for 36 years. This cross is gratefully 
 erected by his parishioners, A.D. 1875." A similar tablet in the 
 north aisle is erected to the " memory of Edward and Sarah Jane 
 Houghton, by their only surviving son. E. H. born April 23 : 
 1807 : died December 15 : 1869. S. J. H. born September 26 : 
 1803 : died April 21 : 1872." The east window, beautifully 
 emblazoned, "is dedicated by her friends and neighbours, to the 
 memory of Ellen Fisher," born 1 759, died 1837. Similar windows, 
 north and south, in the chancel, were given by Thomas Clifton, 
 esq., in 1845, also a second, on the south side, by Lady Eleanor 
 Cecily Clifton, in 1 87 1 . The north side aisle contains six handsome 
 windows inserted respectively to the memories of Anne Shepherd 
 Birley, died 1872 ; James Fair, died 1871, by J. T. Clifton, esq. ; 
 Sarah Agnes, wife of W. C. Dowding, clerk, M.A., died 1869, by
 
 436 
 
 L YTHAM PARISH. 
 
 her maternal aunt, Agnes Newsham ; her mother and sisters, by 
 Anne Wilson, 1871; Margaret Hornby, died 1866; William and 
 Agnes Birdsworth and of their father and mother, by their 
 surviving relatives. In the south side aisle are two memorial 
 windows, one being to Henry Miller, died 1859, aged 46 years, 
 and his infant son, died 1852, by his wife Caroline A. Miller; and 
 the other to John Stevenson, died 1872, aged 78 years ; Jane 
 Stevenson, died 1872, aged 64 years ; William Elsworth Stevenson, 
 died 1869, aged 31 years; and Jane Stevenson, died 1872, aged 25 
 years. The clerestory of the church is lighted by twelve single 
 windows, each bearing the representation of a saint, all of which 
 were presented by private individuals. 
 
 PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF ST. CUTHBERT'S. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 On whose 
 Presentation. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 1379 
 
 William de Aslaby, 
 
 Prior and Chapter of 
 
 
 
 monk. 
 
 Durham 
 
 
 I4U 
 
 William Patrick, monk 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 1678 
 
 James Threlfall 
 
 
 
 1701 
 
 Josiah Birchall 
 
 
 
 1717 
 
 Timothy Pollard 
 
 Chancellors, Masters, 
 
 Death of Josiah 
 
 
 
 and Scholars of 
 
 Birchall 
 
 
 
 Cambridge 
 
 
 1741 
 
 Ashton Warden 
 
 Alexander Osbaldeston, 
 
 
 
 
 of Preston, esq. 
 
 
 1743 
 
 Robert Willasey 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 
 Thomas Place 
 
 
 
 1760 
 
 John Gibson 
 
 Abigail Clayton, of 
 
 
 
 
 Larkhill, Blackburn, 
 
 
 
 
 
 relict and executor 
 
 
 
 
 of Thomas Clayton, 
 
 
 
 
 who was surviving 
 
 
 
 
 executor of Alexan- 
 
 
 
 
 der Osbaldeston, of 
 
 
 
 
 Preston, esq. 
 
 
 1800 
 
 Robert Lister, B.A. 
 
 John Clayton.of Little 
 
 Resignation of John 
 
 
 
 Harwood, esq. 
 
 Gibson 
 
 1834 
 
 Richard Barton Rob- 
 
 Thomas Clifton, esq. 
 
 Resignation of Robt. 
 
 
 inson, M.A. 
 
 
 Lister 
 
 1870 
 
 Henry Beauchamp 
 
 John T. Clifton, esq. 
 
 
 
 Hawkins, M.A. 
 
 
 Resignation of R. B. 
 
 
 
 
 Robinson. 
 
 In 1872 the chancel was enlarged and a new vestry erected, 
 whilst the solitary gallery at the west end, formerly used
 
 L YTHAM. 437 
 
 for the choir, was converted into commodious sitting accom- 
 modation for the congregation. During the same year half an 
 acre was added to the north of the burial ground, and a fresh 
 boundary wall, facing Church Road completed, the iron work 
 being given by the late John Stevenson, J.P., of West Beach, 
 and the stone work by the late John Knowles, proprietor of 
 the Clifton Arms Hotel. The tower contains a peal of eight 
 bells. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, is the patron 
 of the living. The parish register begins in 1679. 
 
 The churchyard, which is encircled by a thick plantation of 
 trees, possesses many very handsome monuments, but none of 
 historical importance. The oldest gravestone still legible lies in 
 close proximity to the ancient sun-dial, and bears the date 1672. 
 The parish schools, erected in 1853, stand in Church Road. 
 
 Dodsworth informs us that in the neighbourhood of Lytham 
 there existed, in 1601, a village called Waddum Thorp, and that 
 eleven years previously the Horsebank was a green pasture for 
 cattle. Dr. Leigh affirms that the hamlet in question was 
 peopled by some Saxon fishermen. The locality alluded to in 
 the foundation document as Snartsalte is now denominated 
 Saltcoats, and was, like several neighbouring places, the site of a 
 salt manufactory in remote days. Geoffrey Gillet worked the 
 Saltcoats manufactory. Cambden in describing the extractive 
 process says : "They pour water from time to time upon heaps 
 of sand till it grows brackish, and then with a turf fire they boil 
 it into a white salt." Bowden wrote, in 1722, concerning the 
 same subject : On many places on the coast the inhabitants 
 gather heaps of sand together which, having lain some time, they 
 put into troughs full of holes at the bottom, pour water upon 
 them, and boil the lees into white salt." 
 
 About 1800 the hamlet comprised several mud and thatch 
 cottages, interspersed here and there with a fair number of habi- 
 tations of recent origin, built with bricks and slated. There were 
 also two inns in existence, the Wheat Sheaf and the Clifton Arms, 
 besides two small licensed houses. The Wheat Sheaf was erected 
 in Clifton Street during the year 1794, and almost simultaneously, 
 but a little later, the Clifton Arms arose on the opposite side of 
 the thoroughfare, facing the sea. There were several shops in 
 the village, and in Douglas Street a house of confinement, con-
 
 438 L YTHAM PARISH. 
 
 taining separate cells, for the detention and punishment of any 
 offenders against the law. The most pretentious dwellings stood 
 upon the northern portion of the tract known as the Marsh, and 
 all of them were newly constructed. One near the western 
 extremity was a substantial house with gardens and plantation, 
 inhabited by the clergyman of the parish, the Rev. Robt. Lister. 
 In close proximity was a marine villa with a Chinese porch, 
 belonging to William Hornby, esq., of Kirkham ; and a row of 
 white cottages, called Lizmahago, after a race horse of John 
 Clifton, esq., who had erected them for the accommodation of 
 visitors. A pretty white villa was placed more to the rear, and 
 several well-constructed lodging-houses studded the ground 
 between those just mentioned and the old village, where clay and 
 straw had been the time-honoured building materials. The 
 beach afforded no more than three bathing machines, but sundry 
 improvements, both in multiplying the vans and in the establish- 
 ment of a warm sea- water bath, were in contemplation. No elegant 
 promenade with its expansive sward, as at present, defined the land- 
 ward margin of the beach, but the whole space, at one end of which 
 Mr. Cookson had erected a windmill, was covered with miniature 
 sand-hills and star-grass, unfolding a most uninviting and deterring 
 aspect to the pedestrian. The church of St. Cuthbert's was built 
 of rubble, rough cast and whitened, and certainly possessed, both 
 externally and internally, no very extensive claims to architectural 
 beauty. The instrumental part of the service was accomplished 
 by means of a clarionet and a bass fiddle. The religious edifice 
 stood in the midst of fields, and was approached by a footpath, 
 sufficiently wide to admit the passage of bathing vans, which were 
 occasionally had recourse to by visitors on wet Sundays, in order 
 to attend the service with dry garments, being then, and for some 
 time afterwards, the only covered vehicles in the place. Lytham 
 Hall, embosomed in lofty trees and plantations, formed an imposing 
 object, being situated half a mile inland, between the village and 
 the church. This noble mansion, comprising three fronts, of 
 which the east is the principal, was commenced in 1757 and 
 completed in 1764, by Thomas Clifton, esq., and superseded the 
 original Hall, erected about 1606, by Sir Cuthbert Clifton. At 
 the date now under examination, its possessor, John Clifton, esq., 
 had laid out a race-course for training purposes, of three miles
 
 L YTHAM. 439 
 
 and a quarter in circumference, in the fields to the north-west of 
 the church ; and close at hand were excellent paddocks and stables, 
 filled with a considerable stud of fine blood horses. The residence 
 of the trainer was an elegant villa near the stables, surround 
 with a shrubery. Two steamers plied daily in the season between 
 Preston and Lytham, but the larger share of the company 
 arrived by the road, the journey having a few years previo 
 been rendered more direct by the opening of a route across t. 
 marshes, past Freckleton, instead of the former circuitous one 
 through Kirkham. In 1801 the population amounted 
 
 persons. 
 
 Durin^ the ensuing twenty years Lytham made steady, it 
 rapid progress. Buildings of modern and pretty designs sprang 
 up along the beach, whilst others of substantial workmanship 
 were visible in the lines of various thoroughfares, especially i: 
 Clifton Street. The two hotels already specified, underwent 
 enlargements, owing to the growing pressure on their accom- 
 modation, and a fresh inn, the Commercial, was erected on t 
 land ' behind the present Market Hotel, the front and mam 
 entrance of the house having an easterly aspect, overshadowed 
 by several lofty trees. A little beyond the north gable end of t 
 inn in an westerly direction, were the old gates of the park 
 attached to Lytham Hall, near to which, on the road de, 
 was stationed the pinfold, constructed of cobble stones, in a quad 
 rangular form, with an embattled tower rising about eight 
 above the height of the walls. A small Baptist chapel, having a 
 school-room connected with it, also existed, standing on part 
 the ground now occupied by the premises of Mr. Edmonds 
 draper, the remaining portion being covered by the residence and 
 shop of that gentleman's father, who owned the chapel, and acted 
 as its minister. The chapel would hold about thirty worshippers, 
 and contained three or four rows of forms and a pulpit ; whi 
 the school-room, of equal dimensions, was let to a perse 
 private day seminary. 
 
 During the summer months, hundreds oi day visitors, in 
 addition to the more permanent ones who constituted the com- 
 pany found their way in carts, waggons, or lighter vehicles, to tl 
 coast at Lytham, from Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, and other 
 inland towns, for the pleasure of enjoying once, at least, a year,
 
 440 LYTHAM PARISH. 
 
 an invigorating hath in the sea. The fortnightly spring tides 
 were the signals which foretold the advent of these huge pic-nic 
 parties, for such it seems appropriate to style them, who flocked 
 down to the shore, generally bringing their own provisions with 
 them, and after disporting themselves amidst the waves, and procur- 
 ing amusement in various ways during the day, returned quietly or 
 hilariously home to their several destinations, in the evening or fol- 
 lowing morning, in the manner they had arrived. Some from 
 the more remote places prolonged their sojourn for three days. 
 Races for the better class of farmers' horses were held annually 
 on Wit-Monday, over the sward which runs from the windmill to 
 the site of an old lime kiln about one mile distant, in the direction 
 of Saltcoats, the course being round that spot to the starting 
 point. These races, which are described as having been very fair 
 contests, were kept up for many years. The prizes competed for 
 were saddles, bridles, whips, etc. The bowling greens of Lytham 
 amounted to two, which were attached to the Clifton Arms and 
 Commercial Hotels, and were well patronised. 
 
 The following description of the attractions of Lytham, pub- 
 lished in 1821, furnishes a pretty correct idea of the recreations 
 afforded by the watering-place about that date : " Lytham is a 
 very salubrious place ; its walks are pleasant and diversified. You 
 may walk for miles on the sand westward. You may trip to the 
 Hey-houses and get bad ale. Common-side offers a journey, 
 which, if you please, ends at Blackpool. The walks are many and 
 various for those who love exercise ; the lazy will soon tire here, 
 but the active will never be at a loss. The sands are fine the 
 sea breeze pleasant the air is impregnated with health. Sailing 
 may be had at tide time ; boats are occasionally going to Preston 
 and over the water to Southport. There are baths, shower, cold, 
 and warm for invalides. Old Hugh Holmes, the shaver, doctor, 
 and shopkeeper, is an old man, thin and meagre, conceited to a 
 tittle, and remarkably fond of chit-chat. The people here bathe 
 not at all, whilst those from a distance think it a blessing. 
 Holmes, the barber, said he had never bathed in his life, nor 
 could I persuade him to do so. He said that he was sound in 
 body, and if so, why dip in the briny sea at all." 
 
 In 1821 the population of Lytham amounted to 1,292 persons, 
 consisting of 258 families ; and in 1825 the parish contained 258
 
 L YTHAM. 441 
 
 houses, the occupants of 75 of which were employed chiefly in 
 agriculture, and of 55 in trade, fishing, or handicraft, those of the 
 remaining 128 being unclassified. Three years later the Wheat 
 Sheaf Inn and a wide range of thatched buildings adjoining 
 were demolished, and after leaving the spacious opening, called 
 Dicconson Terrace, leading down to the beach, several improved 
 dwellings and a billiard-room were placed on the remainder of 
 the ground. The greater part of the marine frontage had been 
 levelled, and efforts commenced to lay out a species of walk or 
 promenade. The houses standing along the shore line were 
 usually hired furnished by families for varying periods, at prices 
 from one and a half to three guineas per week, their value being 
 estimated by the number of bed-rooms, each of which represented 
 ten shillings and sixpence a week. Other villas in the watering- 
 place were similarly let, but lodgings could be procured amongst 
 the humble cottages on a weekly payment of four shillings and 
 sixpence by each individual. The prices at the hotels for board 
 and lodging, exclusive of wine and liquors, were at the Clifton 
 Arms, seven shillings a day in private, and six shillings in public ; 
 the Commercial, five shillings and sixpence ; and the Ship, a new 
 inn erected since 1820, three shillings and sixpence. Of trades 
 and professions in the village there were three milliners, six 
 drapers, three boot and shoe makers, five joiners and cabinet 
 makers, one druggist, two blacksmiths, one ship carpenter, one 
 custom-house officer, one tide-waiter, one corn miller, three 
 butchers, five grocers, two coal dealers, one confectioner, one 
 surgeon, one attorney, and one clergyman. In addition it should 
 be mentioned that a solitary ladies' seminary had been established 
 within the previous twelve months. "I recollect," says Mr. 
 Whittle, in his Marina, "visiting Lytham during July, 1824, 
 when Mr. Lardner's troop of comedians were performing in 
 what was termed the ( New Theatre, Lytham,' Cibber's admired 
 comedy of a ' Journey to London, or a Bold Push for a Fortune,' 
 and the laughable farce of the < Irish Tutor, or New Lights.' 
 The chief of the stage business was done by the Lardners, 
 consisting of father, mother, son, and daughter. Likenesses were 
 also taken in miniature by Mr. Lardner, senior, at from two to 
 five guineas each ! and the polite art of dancing taught by 
 Lardner, junior. We saw in succession performed Morton's
 
 442 LYTHAM PARISH. 
 
 comedy cf ' Speed the Plough, or the Farmer's Glory ; ' ' Lovers' 
 Vows, or the Child of Love ' ; and Coleman's admired and 
 excellent comedy of the ' Poor Gentleman ' ; all of which were 
 tolerably got up, but the scenery was not of that kind which 
 befitted a place of dramatic exhibition." During the season three 
 coaches ran regularly from Preston to Lytham and returned, 
 their times of departure being from Preston, at 12 noon, 5 in 
 the evening, and 7 in the evening ; and from Lytham, at 6 in the 
 morning, 9 in the morning, and half-past 4 in the afternoon. In 
 addition to these coaches, occasional public conveyances and many 
 private vehicles brought their loads of pleasure-seekers to the 
 village, especially during Easter and Whit-tides. Letters arrived 
 at half-past 9 in the morning and were despatched at 4 in the 
 afternoon. In 1828 the buildings situated in the vicinity of the 
 beach were, commencing at the eastern extremity of the line and 
 travelling westward, a house, occupied by Miss Dennett, Rimmer's 
 and Butcher's cottages, the Baths with a house adjoining, two 
 newly erected dwellings, Cookson's cottages, Rawstorne's Marine 
 Cottage, Craven's and Hampson's cottages, Clifton Place, Buck's 
 cottages, Silcock's and Miller's cottages, Townend's and Captain 
 Cookson's residences, Mr. Barton's house, Captain Fell's and Mrs. 
 Birdworth's residences, Mr. Fisher's house, Lizmahago houses, 
 Hornby's Chinese villa, the Parsonage, in the occupation of the 
 Rev. Robert Lister ; the Parish Church, situated more inland, 
 and Church-house, a rural place. Mr. Corry, in his History of 
 Lancashire, published about that time, states : " That the 
 increase of Lytham has not been so rapid as in many villages, 
 where the people are engaged in manufacture ; but a considerable 
 part of the visitors and settlers within the last twenty years have 
 been opulent individuals, who were induced by the beauty of the 
 spot and the benefit derived from bathing in the sea water, to 
 resort to this pleasing village." The houses were unnumbered 
 and recognised by the titles bestowed upon them, or the names of 
 their owners. Lamps for the autumn and winter evenings were 
 unknown in the streets, whilst libraries, news-rooms, and livery 
 stables were things of the future. The Clifton Arns Hotel had 
 recently been overlaid with a thick coating of cement resembling 
 stone, and the Commercial Inn had undergone sundry enlarge- 
 ments. An ornamental enclosure or garden had been formed on
 
 L YTHAM. 443 
 
 the land of the present Market-house, surrounded by a palisading 
 and planted with flowers and shrubs. A carriage road also had 
 been lately made from the village to the church of St. Cuthbert. 
 In 1831 the census of Lytham showed a total of 1,523 residents, 
 being an increase of 231 over the population ten years before ; and 
 three years subsequently the ancient church of the parish was 
 levelled to the ground and the erection of the present edifice 
 commenced. The early growth of the summer resort was much 
 retarded by the exceedingly short terms upon which building 
 leases were granted. Previous to 1820 all land reverted to the 
 lord of the manor forty years after its provisional purchase had 
 been effected, so that there was little inducement for either the 
 speculative or private individual to upraise habitations where the 
 tenure was so unsatisfactory. About that date the duration of 
 leases was extended to sixty years, and even this slight advance m 
 a more liberal direction was not without influence in promoting 
 the development of the place, but no great rapidity characterised 
 the multiplication of houses until a later epoch, when periods of 
 99 and' 999 years were offered to purchasers. In 1839 the Roman 
 Catholics erected a chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, at the east 
 corner of Clifton Street. Previously the members of this sect 
 had worshipped in a small chapel belonging to Lytham Hall, 
 which had superseded the domestic oratory of the Chftons, m 
 the days when they professed the Romish creed. The edifice m 
 Clifton Street is of brick and has a priests' residence and schools 
 attached, the whole being prettily encircled by willow trees and 
 
 a low wall. 
 
 The returning seasons brought increasing streams 
 to the shores of Lytham, and practically proved that the 
 delightful and invigorating influences of the climate and sea 
 were well and widely appreciated by the populace of the large 
 inland towns. The marine esplanade and the firm sands left by 
 the receding tide were ever alive with crowds of people, who either 
 for health or pleasure, or a combination of the two, had arrived in 
 the watering-place. The bathing vans were still unequal to the 
 demands on their accommodation, and many were compelled to 
 dispense with their decorous shelter, and unrobe themselves on the 
 more secluded parts of the beach. To have returned home again 
 without immersing their body in the buoyant sea would to most
 
 444 YTffAM PARISH. 
 
 of them have been to omit the chief object of their journey, many, 
 indeed, having such an exalted idea of the remedial and hygienic 
 properties of the water that they imbibed huge draughts, and even 
 filled bottles with it, for future use, or for friends who had been 
 unable to come themselves. There were few amusements for the 
 visitors beyond those enumerated earlier, but had there been none 
 other, the exhilatering breeze and bath, coupled with the novel 
 surroundings, would have possessed sufficient charm to insure a 
 thronged season year after year. 
 
 In 1841 the population numbered 2,047 persons, being a rise of 
 no less than 524 in the inhabitants during the preceding ten 
 years, more than double the excess observed in the census of 1831 
 over its antecessor. During the previous twelve months the 
 Clifton Arms Hotel, in Clifton Street, had been abolished and a 
 stately building, bearing the same name, erected on the front, 
 where it now stands, very considerable enlarged and beautified 
 under the proprietorship of the late Mr. John Knowles, who 
 purchased it on lease from the lord of the manor, and by whose 
 representatives the Hotel and appurtenances were sold to a 
 company of gentlemen in 1875. 
 
 The 1 6th of February, 1846, initiated a new era in the history 
 and progress of Lytham, for on that day the branch line con- 
 necting this popular resort with the Preston and Wyre Railway 
 was formally opened. At an early hour the town evinced 
 manifest signs that the inhabitants were bent on doing full 
 honour to the introduction of their invaluable ally ; flags and 
 banners floated from the church and the residences of many of 
 the inhabitants, and later in the day the streets were thronged 
 with processions and spectators of all grades. The directors and 
 a large party of the neighbouring gentry assembled by invitation 
 at Lytham Hall, and after partaking of luncheon proceeded to the 
 newly erected station, where the " opening train," consisting of 
 an engine, gaily decorated, and fourteen carriages, awaited their 
 arrival. Amongst the gentlemen who accompanied Thomas 
 Clifton, esq., and Mrs. Clifton, on the formal trip to Kirkham and 
 back, were John Laidlay, W. Taylor, J. Dewhurst, T. W. Nelson, 
 Frederick Kemp, C. Swainson, James Fair, E. Houghton, W. H. 
 Hornby, T. R. W. ffrance, P. Rycroft, W. Royds, and William 
 Birley, esquires, the Revs. R. Moore and W. Birley, and Colonel
 
 L YTHAM. 445 
 
 Rawstorne. The train departed amid a volley of cheers and 
 discharge of cannon, and proceeded to Kirkham ; the return 
 journey was performed - in fifteen minutes. The carriage station 
 was 140 feet long by 53 feet wide, and covered by a somewhat 
 unique roof of twelve wooden arches, put together in segments 
 and secured by nuts and screws, all the timber ends butting upon 
 each other like the stones of an arch, but as solid, from their 
 peculiar construction, as if the whole had been cut out of a single 
 block of timber. The Lytham line diverged from the main railway 
 at a point about a mile to the north-west of Kirkham, and was 
 nearly five miles in length. It passed within a short distance of the 
 village of Wrea, where a station was built, and terminated in the 
 immediate vicinity of the Roman Catholic chapel in this town. 
 
 The impetus given to the building trade of Lytham by the 
 opening of the railway and the almost simultaneous extension of 
 ground leases was soon visible in the erection of numerous houses. 
 A Wesleyan chapel, capable of holding 200 hearers, was built, before 
 the close of the year, in Bath Street ; but this structure having, as 
 time progressed, become inadequate to the wants of the congrega- 
 tion, the foundation stone of a new one was laid on the I2th of 
 September, 1867, by T. C. Hincksman, esq., of Lytham, at the 
 corner of Park and Westby Streets, service being first conducted 
 there on the 23rd of September in the ensuing year, by the Rev. 
 John Bedford, of Manchester. The chapel is faced with Longridge 
 stone and white brick. In front are stone columns and pilasters 
 nearly thirty feet high, surmounted by Corinthian caps, massive 
 cornice, parapet, pediment, etc. It contains seats for about 500 
 persons. The old Wesleyan chapel is now used as a literary and 
 social Institute, established in 1872. In 1847 the growth and 
 prosperity of Lytham rendered it necessary that some form of 
 local government should be adopted, and the inhabitants applied 
 for and obtained an Improvement Act, by which the regulation of 
 all public matters was placed in the hands of a board of commis- 
 sioners elected from amongst the ratepayers. On the I3th of 
 May in that year, the corner stone of a substantial lighthouse was 
 laid on the " Double Stanner " bank, by Peter Haydock, esq., 
 chairman of the Ribble Navigation Company, at whose expense 
 the work was accomplished ; but on the 2Oth of January, 1863, a 
 heavy storm swept over the coast, and amongst other damages
 
 446 LYTHAM PARISH. 
 
 effected by its fury was the overthrow of this pile, which was 
 subsequently re-erected on the Star Hills, far removed from the 
 destructive influence of the waves, and perhaps more efficacious, 
 from its greater elevation, as a beacon. During the year 1848 a 
 Market Hall was built on an open space, formerly the ornamental 
 garden referred to in a late page. In the month of June the 
 edifice was completed and ready for use, being constructed of 
 brick and supplied with stalls for various articles, such as fish, 
 vegetables, toys, etc. The tower was elevated in 1872 to receive 
 a large clock, the gift of Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton, and during 
 the following twelve months additional dials and illuminative 
 power were added. The Hall is prettily situated in an enclosure 
 of elm trees. 
 
 Another church, dedicated to St. John, was erected on the east 
 beach in 1848-9, and consecrated on the nth September, 1850. 
 The site was granted by John Talbot Clifton, esq., who retains 
 the patronage of the living, and the expense of construction 
 defrayed by subscription. The edifice is of stone, and includes a 
 nave, side aisles, transepts, chancel, porch, and tower, surmounted 
 by a lofty spire. The side aisles are separated from the nave by 
 pointed arches on circular columns. The chancel has since been 
 enlarged. Within the church are several memorial windows, one 
 of which, in the west end, is in memory of "James and Elizabeth 
 Fair, who died August 16, 1871, and July 27, 1867," inserted by 
 their children. By the side of this is a smaller stained window to 
 Mr. Bannerman by his widow. The east window of the chancel 
 is magnificently illuminated, and another, lighting the scholars' 
 chapel on the south of that part, was placed by the Rev. W. H. 
 Self " to his wife, Mary, ob. 1859." The windows in the north 
 and south transepts are, respectively, to (( Thomas Miller, ob. 
 1865," and "Thomas Clifton, ob. 1851." There are no mural 
 tablets. The organ was presented by William Bradshaw Swain- 
 son, esq., of Cooper Hill, near Preston, " as a tribute of affection, 
 in memory of his mother, Catherine Swainson, who died at 
 Lytham on the ist of February, 1848." The instrument was 
 enlarged by the aid of public contributions in 1874. The lectern 
 was presented by Margaret Ellen Clifford, the second wife of the 
 Rev. W. H. Self, in memoriam of her mother, Mrs. Hannah 
 Biddell, in 1867. The tower contains a peal of six bells. An
 
 L YTHAM. 447 
 
 ecclesiastical parish was apportioned to the church of St. John in 
 1870. The Rev. William Henry Self, M.A., was the earliest 
 incumbent and subsequently became the first vicar. The Rev. 
 Gregory Smart, M.A., is the present vicar. The graveyard is a 
 spacious area defined by a neat stone wall, and contains numerous 
 elegant monuments. The vicarage house stands a very little 
 distance to the east side of the church, and is a handsome villa 
 residence. To the rear of the burial ground, and separated there- 
 from by a narrow street, are the parish schools erected in 1851 by 
 subscription, and grants from the Council of Education and the 
 National Society. 
 
 The want of proper illumination along the thoroughfares of 
 Lytham during the long evenings of the autumn months, was a 
 source of considerable inconvenience to the visitors, and induced 
 many to vacate the place earlier than otherwise they would have 
 done, so that the commissioners determined to erect gas works by 
 loans on the security of the rates, and remedy the evil as soon as 
 possible. On the 28th of October, 1850, the streets were lighted 
 for the first time with gas. In 1851 the residents of Lytham 
 amounted to 2,695, showing an increase of 648 persons since 1841. 
 It was about this time that a lifeboat was stationed at Lytham, 
 purchased by subscription, and named the <( Eleanor Cecily," out 
 of compliment to the lady of the manor. The boat-house stands 
 on the promenade to the east, in close proximity to the old wind- 
 mill, and is now occupied by a new and larger craft, presented by 
 Thomas Clayton, esq., of Wakefield, in 1863. 
 
 Throughout the succeeding ten years the area of the town 
 continued to expand with fair rapidity. Many graceful villas 
 were added to those already existing on the front, whilst fresh 
 shops and lodging houses arose along the different thoroughfares, 
 plainly evincing a determination on the part of the inhabitants to 
 keep pace with the spreading popularity of the place by creating 
 ample accommodation for the crowds of visitors. A corps of 
 Volunteer Riflemen was enrolled under Captain Lennox in 1860, 
 during the month of January. The census of 1861 furnished a 
 total of 3,189 residents. 
 
 The advisability of connecting the two watering-places of 
 Blackpool and Lytham by a coast railway was now freely
 
 448 L YTHAM PARISH. 
 
 discussed, and the scheme having been favourably entertained by 
 a number of affluent gentlemen, the requisite powers were sought 
 from Parliament for its formation. In May, 1861, the desired act 
 received the royal assent, and on the ensuing 4th of September 
 the first sod of the new line was cut by T. H. Clifton, esq., M.P., 
 the son and heir of the lord of the manor, in Lytham Park. The 
 directors of the company were E. C. Milne, esq., (chairman), of 
 Warton Lodge ; John Talbot Clifton, T. Langton Birley, Charles 
 Birley, James Fair, Robert Rawcliffe, and Thomas Fair, esqrs. 
 The distance, about 7^ miles, was spanned by a single line, 
 stations being placed at the two termini and at South Shore, in 
 addition to which there was a gate-house at Andsell's road, near 
 the town, where it was proposed to have a booking office. The 
 railway was virtually finished in the autumn of 1862, but the 
 formal opening was postponed until the 4th of April, 1863. At 
 that date, which occurred on Saturday, flags and banners floated 
 from many of the windows, whilst the bells of St. Cuthbert's 
 church rang out merry peals at intervals throughout the day. 
 No further ceremony, however, was observed on the occasion, 
 than the running of a train to Blackpool and back with a select 
 party of invited guests. Regular public traffic commenced on 
 Monday. During 1871 this line was amalgamated with the 
 Preston and Wyre, of which the Lancashire and Yorkshire, and 
 the London and North Western Railway Companies are the 
 lessees. The track was doubled in 1874, by laying down another 
 length of metals, and connected with the Kirkham and Lytham 
 branch. In the same year on the ist of July, a spacious and 
 handsome station which had been erected according to the design 
 of C. Axon, esq., of Poulton, was brought into service, and the use 
 of the original one belonging to the branch just specified discon- 
 tinued for passenger traffic, the whole of which, both from Kirkham 
 and Blackpool, is now directed to the recently built central edifice. 
 It is expected that in course of time the coast line thus established 
 from Preston through Kirkham, Lytham, St. Anne's, South Shore, 
 to Blackpool will supersede the old route through Poulton to the 
 last named resort for the conveyance of passengers. Important 
 alterations, it should be noted, were effected in the course of the 
 branch from Kirkham to Lytham immediately preceding its 
 junction with the Blackpool and Lytham line, by which the
 
 LYTHAM. 449 
 
 corner lying north of and between Kirkham and Wrea was cut 
 off. The rails were also doubled. 
 
 Reverting to the town itself, we find that the day which gave 
 the small coast communication between Blackpool and Lytham 
 to the public use, also witnessed another event the opening of 
 the Baths and Assembly Rooms, situated on the beach, about 
 midway between theaClifton Arms and the Neptune Hotels. The 
 building is of brick, with stone dressings, and presents an elegant 
 and rather imposing appearance. It comprises private and 
 swimming baths for both sexes ; dressing-rooms, retiring-rooms, 
 news and general reading-room, and a capacious saloon, able to 
 contain 350 persons, used for concerts, balls, and other entertain- 
 ments. Early in the same year a Congregational Church was 
 completed in Bannister Street, the corner stone of which had 
 been laid on the iyth of October, 1861, by Sir James Watts, of 
 Manchester. The edifice is formed of Longridge stone, in the 
 ornamental Gothic style of architecture, with a spire, and will 
 hold about 500 worshippers. Within the enclosure wall sur- 
 rounding the church are the Sunday schools connected with it. 
 The first pile of the marine pier, extending into the estuary of 
 the Ribble from the promenade, was screwed into the ground on 
 the 8th of June, 1864. The structure was designed by E. Birch, 
 esq., C.E., and is supported on hollow cylindrical columns, 
 arranged in clusters. The length of the deck is 914 feet, the 
 whole of which is encircled by a continuous line of side seats, 
 whilst a lounging or waiting-room is stationed on the head. 
 The entrance is protected by gates and toll-houses. Easter 
 Monday, the iyth of April, 1865, was the day set apart for the 
 ceremonious opening of the new erection. The town was gaily 
 decorated with the bunting, and no efforts were spared to do full 
 justice to the importance of so auspicious an event. Immense 
 confluences of people arrived in excursion trains, running at 
 greatly reduced fares, from the business centres of Lancashire and 
 Yorkshire, and the streets and esplanade were literally inundated 
 with spectators from all grades of society. To Lady Eleanor 
 Cecily Clifton was delegated the honourable duty of declaring the 
 pier accessible to promenaders, and at the selected time, that lady, 
 accompanied by her son, T. H. Clifton, esq., proceeded to the 
 spot, where the necessary form was gone through ; a large pro- 
 
 2D
 
 450 LYTHAM PARISH. 
 
 cession, headed by a marshal!, and consisting of the mayor and 
 corporation of Preston, the directors of the Ribble Navigation 
 Company, naval and military officers, clergy, the several directors 
 of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the Lytham and 
 Blackpool Railway, the Blackpool and the Southport Pier 
 Companies, and numerous gentry. Unabated prosperity con- 
 tinued to shine on the watering-place, whos^ limits were annually 
 extended by additional buildings, and in all parts there was to be 
 observed that aspect of recent improvements and embellishments 
 which is ever indicative of a propitious fortune. 
 
 The population in 1871 had reached the high figure of 7,902, 
 having more than doubled during the previous ten years, and if 
 further evidence were required of the development of Lytham, 
 none more irrefutable and convincing could be given than this 
 wonderful multiplication of the inhabitants. On the 3rd of 
 August, 1871, a neat Gothic cottage hospital, erected at the east 
 end of the resort, in Preston Road, at the sole expense of the lord 
 of the manor, was pronounced open for the reception of patients, 
 and transferred to a committee of management. The building 
 stands in three acres of land tastefully laid out, and comprises a 
 central portion of two stories, with a wing on either side, con- 
 taining two large wards (each with four beds), two sitting-rooms, 
 surgery, bath-rooms, and laundry, on the ground floor ; upstairs 
 are four beds for invalids and a sleeping apartment for the matron. 
 The hospital is intended for the poor labouring under disease or 
 accidents. Luke Fisher, esq., M.D., is the physician in charge. 
 From 1871 up to the present date (1876), there is nothing calling 
 for separate comment beyond those matters in connection with 
 the railway and station already noticed, with the exception of the 
 beautiful park-garden, occupying the land formerly kown as 
 Hungry Moor, and instituted through the liberality of J. T. 
 Clifton, esq., who bestowed the name of the Lowther Gardens on 
 the enclosure so gracefully designed and planted, and gave free 
 access to the public on its completion, about three years ago. 
 The progress of the town within the short interval at present 
 under consideration, has been marked by even greater rapidity 
 than that which shed such a halo of prosperity around the period 
 more immediately preceding ; and there is no apparent prospect 
 that the powerful impetus which has thus far exerted its beneficial
 
 LYTHAM. 451 
 
 influence on the place is likely to experience any diminution. 
 Indeed it may with reason be anticipated that when passenger 
 traffic is more thoroughly established along the coast line from 
 Preston to Blackpool, the demand for residential accommodation 
 will be still greater than that which supplies abundant occupation 
 to the builders to-day. 
 
 The original endowment of Lytham Free School was derived 
 from the following sources : In 1702, the Rev. James Threlfall, 
 of St. Cuthbert's church, gave ^"5 ; and somewhere about the 
 same time, William Elston, who died in 1704, presented ^ 33. od., 
 for the use of the parish. Subsequently these sums of money 
 were supplemented by a grant of \Q from John Shepherd, of 
 Mythorp, and the whole invested, the interest being applied to 
 local charitable purposes. The benefaction of John Shepherd 
 was bestowed in trust upon Thomas Shepherd and his heirs, to 
 the intent that the interest should be applied to the " use of such 
 poor children's schooling, as they, with two or three of the most 
 substantial men of the parish, whom they chose to consult, should 
 think fit ;' n but it is doubtful how it was deposed of until 1720, 
 when the three separate sums mentioned were incorporated, for 
 a motive stated directly, with a collection made in aid of those 
 who had suffered damage from a serious inundation in that year. 
 The inhabitants were unable to agree upon an equable distribu- 
 tion of the collection specified, and decided, by way of settling 
 the affair, to " make a free school," 2 with it and the other sums. 
 The total capital thus acquired amounted to more than ^"100. 
 In 1728 j~6o was derived from the residue of John Harrison's 
 estate, by the direction of his will. William Gaulter gave to 
 Lytham school in 1 745 several securities for money, amounting in 
 all to ^"99, and three years later bequeathed the residue of his 
 personal estate, except 2os., to the same object, making a total 
 benefaction of ^"335. The whole of the endowment fund has 
 been invested in land, and the school has always been in the 
 hands of trustees, who have control over the teachers and all 
 matters affecting its interest and government. 
 
 Cookson's Charity is the interest of IQ bequeathed by Thomas 
 Cookson at an unknown date before 1776, to purchase books for 
 the poor children of the parish. 
 
 I. Charity Commissioners Report. 2. Ibid.
 
 452 LYTHAM PARISH. 
 
 Leyland's Charity represents the sum of 60 left by Elizabeth 
 Leyland to trustees, in 1734, in order that it might be laid out, 
 and the annual revenue therefrom devoted to the assistance of 
 the poor, either in relieving the elderly, or providing instruction 
 for the young. 
 
 ST. ANNES-ON-THE-SEA. The locality in which the new 
 watering-place is rapidly developing was indicated in the 
 foundation charter of the Lytham Benedictine Cell as Kilgrimol. 
 It has been suggested that the peculiar orthography of the word 
 Kilgrimol points to there having been at some era a religious 
 settlement, presided over by Culdees, the priests of Columba, 1 
 but it is more probable that the name is derived from the two 
 British words kilgury, a corner, and mul or meol, a sand-hill. At 
 a later epoch the district was known as Cross or Churchyard Slack, 
 and tradition records that an oratory existed there until such time 
 as it was swallowed up by an earthquake, long years ago. Mr. 
 Thornber, in discussing the statement, advances the following fact 
 as some evidence in favour of its veracity : " Churchyard Slack 
 is situated in a hollow, having on the north side a rising ground 
 called Stony-hill, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile a 
 similar elevation, though not so marked. On these ridges are 
 found innumerable small boulders of grey granite, having appar- 
 ently been acted upon by fire ; but it is particularly remarkable 
 that not one can be found amongst them entirely whole. Similar 
 stones in less quantities are discovered in the intervening space, 
 all more or less broken." 
 
 On the immediate outskirts of the embryo town is the small 
 hamlet of Heyhouses, at which a school was established in 1821, 
 and enlarged in 1853 ; and it was there that Lady Eleanor Cecily 
 Clifton erected a church, in memory of the late James Fair, esq., 
 of Lytham, on a site presented by her husband, the lord of the 
 manor. The foundation stone of the edifice was laid in June, 
 1872, and on Wednesday, the 6th of August, in the ensuing year, 
 the church and burial ground, occupying jointly 2\ acres, were 
 consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The interior 
 contains accommodation for 300 persons, 145 seats being appro- 
 priated, and 155 free. The roof is of red tiles instead of slates. 
 
 I. See pages 15 and 16.
 
 ST. ANNES-ON-THE-SEA. 453 
 
 The building is at present a chapel of ease to St. Cuthbert's, 
 Lytham, but will, when occasion requires, have a separate 
 ecclesiastical parish of its own. 
 
 The whole of the land of St. Annes-on-the-Sea was leased to a 
 company of gentlemen for a term of 1,100 years by John Talbot 
 Clifton, esq., and on the 3ist of March, 1875, the formality of 
 laying the first stone of the future watering-place was gone 
 through by Master John T. Clifton, the eldest son of T. H. Clifton, 
 esq., M.P. The ceremony was accomplished amidst a large 
 concourse of people, and was in fact the commencement of the 
 handsome and commodious hotel near to the railway station, 
 which has since been completed. The estate has been judiciously 
 and tastefully arranged by Messrs. Maxwell and Tuke, architects, 
 of Bury, and is intersected by broad streets with gentle curves. 
 The houses are intended to be built either singly or in pairs with 
 few exceptions, but in no case will any group comprise more than 
 six ; gardens in each instance are to front the dwellings. A 
 promenade, 3,000 feet in length and 180 feet in width, has been 
 formed with asphalt along the marine aspect, and already between 
 twenty and thirty villas have been raised on the sides of the 
 recently made thoroughfares. A public garden with conserva- 
 tories is also in course of formation, as well as efficient gas-works 
 and other requisites.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL'S-ON-WYRE. 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 
 
 f;N the Domesday Book no less than three Rawcliffes 
 are mentioned, and have been identified, respectively, 
 with Upper, Middle, and Out Rawcliffes, the last being 
 stated to contain three carucates, and the others two 
 carucates each. In the Testa de Nevill it is entered that the 
 grandfather of Theobald Walter gave four carucates of land in 
 (Upper) Rawcliffe, Thistleton, and Greenhalgh, to his daughter 
 Alice, on her marriage with Orm Magnus. William de Lancaster 
 held Upper Rawcliffe at the time of his death in 1240 ; and in 
 1 248 Theobald Walter, or le Botiler, had lands in Upper Rawcliffe 
 and Mid Rawcliffe, as well as the manor of Out Rawcliffe, the 
 principal portion of which had doubtless descended to him from 
 his ancestor alluded to above. 1 An inquiry was instituted in 1322, 
 during the reign of Edward II., concerning the possessions in land 
 and mills of John de Rigmayden in Upper Rawcliffe, Wyresdale, 
 and Garstang ; and a similar inquisition, with the exception of 
 Garstang, was made, three years later, in the case of widow 
 Christiana de Coucy de Guynes. 2 In the succeeding few years 
 Joan, the daughter and heiress of John de Rigmayden, and John 
 de Coupland held Upper Rawcliffe between them. John de 
 Coupland had married the widow of Sir William de Goucy, and 
 was the gallant soldier who captured David II., king of Scotland, 
 
 I. Escaet. 33 Hen. in. n. 49. 2. Inq. ad Quod. Damnum, 16 & 19 Edward II.
 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 455 
 
 on the battle field at Durham, and was rewarded for his bravery 
 by Edward III., with the rank of knight-banneret and a grant of 
 land. Joan de Rigmayden, the heiress, probably married William 
 Southworth, as he is described as lord of Upper Rawcliffe a little 
 later ; Ellen, the sole child and heiress of William Southworth, 
 became the wife of Robert Urswick, of Urswick, and their second 
 son, Thomas, who succeeded to the estates of Rawcliffe, etc., and 
 was knighted, left at his decease a daughter, who espoused, about 
 1430, John, the third son of Sir Richard Kirkby, of Kirkby. 
 John Kirkby resided at Upper Rawcliffe Hall, 1 or White Hall, as 
 it was subsequently designated, and was succeeded by his eldest 
 son, William, who in his turn left the lands and mansion to his 
 heir and offspring John Kirkby. The eldest son of the last 
 gentleman, by his wife, the daughter of Broughton, was 
 William Kirkby ; and he, in course of time, inherited the 
 property, and married, in 1507, Elizabeth, the daughter of 
 William Thornborough, of Hampsfield, by whom he had issue 
 John, George, William, Richard, Henry, Anne, Elizabeth, and 
 Jane. John Kirkby, the heir, was living in 1567, but died 
 without offspring, as also did his brother George, so that Upper 
 Rawcliffe Hall and estate passed to the third son, William Kirkby, 
 who married Isabell, the daughter of John Butler, of Kirkland. 2 
 The Kirkbys continued in sole possession of the township until 
 1631, when Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck, purchased from them 
 Upper Rawcliffe Hall and the estate attached, both of which he 
 settled upon Major George Westby, the eldest son of his second 
 marriage with Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Preston, of 
 Holkar, and widow of Thomas Lathom, of Parbold. George 
 Westby resided at White Hall, as the manor house was now called, 
 and was twice married, being succeeded by John, the only child 
 by his first wife, Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Hesketh, of 
 Mains. Both George Westby and his third brother, Bernard, 
 were royalist officers. John Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe, espoused, 
 in 1684, Jane, the daughter of Thomas Bleasdale, of Alston, and 
 had issue John, Joseph, James, and Alice, who became the wife of 
 Thomas Gilibrand, of Dunken Hall, near Chorley. John Westby 
 
 I. St. Michael's Hall also belonged to the Kirkbys, and it is probable that one 
 of the junior branches resided there before the Longworths of St. Michael's. 
 2. Flower's Visitation.
 
 456 ST. MICHAEL^ S- ON- WYRE PARISH. 
 
 the eldest son, inherited the mansion and land on the death of his 
 father in 1708, and married, in the following year, Mary, the 
 daughter of Thomas Hawett, of Ormskirk,by whom he had Thomas; 
 George, who died in 1776, leaving several children by his wife 
 Mary, the daughter of Field ; John, died unmarried ; Cuthbert, 
 died childless ; and Jane. Thomas Westby came into the estate 
 in 1745, when his father was accidentally killed, and espoused 
 Margaret, the daughter .and heiress of William Shuttleworth, of 
 Turnover Hall, and Bridget, his wife, who was one of four 
 daughters, the sole offspring of John Westby, of Mowbreck. The 
 children of Thomas Westby, of White Hall, and, ultimately, of 
 one fourth of Mowbreck, were John, who died unmarried in 1811; 
 William, died unmarried in 1811, just before his brother ; Joseph, 
 died young ; Robert, died childless in 1800; Thomas ; Bridget, 
 an abbess at Liege ; and two Marys, one of whom died in infancy. 
 Thomas, the fifth son, held Mowbreck, White, and Turnover Halls 
 and estates, on the decease of his eldest brother, and at his own 
 death in* 1829, without issue, was succeeded, in Turnover, by Thomas 
 the only surviving son of his uncle, George Westby, whose death 
 occurred in 1776 ; whilst he bequeathed Mowbreck and White Hall 
 to George, the eldest son of this Thomas Westby, by his wife 
 Anne, the daughter of John Ashley, of London. The Westbys, 
 of White Hall and Mowbreck, sold their property at the former 
 place in recent years to the late John Stevenson, esq., of Preston 
 and Lytham. Reverting to the earlier Westbys, we find that the 
 active parts played by George and Bernard Westby in the Civil 
 Wars resulted in the confiscation of the White Hall estate by 
 Parliament ; and in 1653 it was sold by the Commissioners of 
 State, being purchased for the Westbys again by, and in the 
 names of, some of their Protestant friends. 
 
 Upper Rawcliffe Hall was rebuilt about the time of its purchase 
 by the Westbys, who conferred upon it the new title of White 
 Hall. This mansion stood by the side of the river Wyre, and was 
 approached through a noble gateway. The windows were mul- 
 lioned, and two bays projected from the north-west front ; within 
 were secret chambers and a private chapel. The Hall is now a 
 farm house. Turnover Hall, the ancient seat of the Shuttle- 
 worths, and afterwards one of the mansions of the Westbys, as 
 already shown, presents nothing of special interest to our notice.
 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 457 
 
 St. Michael's Hall, the residence of the Longworths 1 during the 
 seventeenth century, and probably of the Kirkbys before them, 
 has since been rebuilt in" an antique style, and converted into a 
 farm house. 
 
 Tarnacre was claimed, amongst other places, by the abbot of 
 Cockersand in 1292, during the reign of Edward I., and was, 
 with Upper Rawcliffe, in early days, a feudal appendage of 
 Garstang. 
 
 The township of Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre contains the 
 ancient parish church of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, which occupies 
 a prominent and picturesque station on the banks of the narrowed 
 Bleasdale stream, in the midst of the rural village, to which its 
 title has been extended. St. Michael's church, or Michelescherche, 
 as it appears in the Survey of William the Conqueror, was 
 obviously standing on the arrival of that warrior in 1066, being, 
 with the exception of a similar structure at Kirkham, the only 
 edifice of its kind existing in the Fylde at that time. There are 
 no records amongst the meagre annals of Amounderness during 
 the Saxon era, to assist us in establishing beyond question the 
 antiquity of this church, but it rnay reasonably be supposed that 
 its erection took place at no long interval after the year 627, when 
 Paulinus was appointed bishop of the province of Northumbria, 
 in which St. Michael's was situated. The zeal and piety displayed 
 by Paulinus are said to have exercised an important influence in 
 overcoming the pagan tendencies of the inhabitants of Lancashire, 
 and although it is far from probable that the whole of the people 
 of the Fylde at once became converts to Christianity, and 
 renounced their heathenish and superstitious ritual, still it would 
 be idle to deny that the ministrations of so earnest a prelate as 
 Paulinus were fruitful to a considerable degree in our district, 
 more especially when history proclaims the success of his efforts 
 in other portions of his diocese. The small band of professed 
 Christians would gradually extend their circle, and at no remote 
 date a building would become necessary where divine worship 
 could be conducted in a decent and orderly manner, according to 
 the direction of the newly-adopted creed ; and it was, we opine, 
 at such an epoch that the church of St. Michael's-on-Wyre was 
 
 I. See "Longworth of St. Michael's Hall" in Chapter VI.
 
 458 ST. MICHAEL! S-ON-WYRE PARISH. 
 
 first called into being. After the Norman Conquest the church 
 formed an item of the princely estate of Roger de Poictou, 
 acquired through the partial munificence of William I. ; and pos- 
 sibly in 1094, or thereabouts, was conferred by him upon the priory 
 of St. Mary's, at Lancaster, in like manner to similar ecclesiastical 
 possessions which he held in Kirkham and Poulton. However 
 that may be, it is learnt from the Testa de Nevill that rather more 
 than a century after the foundation of the monastic house in the 
 year just named, the advowson of St. Michael's was vested in 
 King John, who presented Master Macy to the living, 1 then 
 valued at ^"66 135. 4d. per annum. In 1326, William de 
 Walderston, rector of the church of St. Michael's, and the prior 
 of Lancaster, were engaged in a controversy before the authorities 
 of Richmond, respecting the forest and other tithes of Myers- 
 cough, and those of a place called Migchalgh, the suit being 
 decided at Lancaster on the 1 3th of October against the rector. 1 
 Nineteen years later, Henry, earl of Lancaster, was patron of the 
 living, and in 141 1 Henry IV., duke of Lancaster, who had claimed 
 and obtained the crown resigned by Richard II., conveyed St. 
 Michael's church to the Master and Brethren of the College or 
 Chantry of the Blessed Mary Magdalen, at Battlefield, near 
 Shrewsbury, nominally established by himself. 3 The letters- 
 patent by which the transfer was effected, bore the Duchy seal, 
 and stipulated that Roger Yve, of Leeton, Keeper and Master of 
 the College concerned (really its founder), and his successors, 
 should, in return for the grant, make the following provision for 
 the maintenance of a vicar at the church of St. Michael's : 
 
 " The Vicar and his Successors to receive, have, and possess, the offerings and 
 revenues which are and belong to the church of Michaelskirk, together with the 
 fruits and offerings arising from Hay and Revenues ; the Tenth of Gardens dug 
 with the foot, of Lambs, Calves, Young Foals, Poultry, Young Pigs, Geese, Eggs, 
 Milk, Wool, Flax, Hemp, Mills, Apples, Garlick, Onions, Fishes, and Pigeons ; 
 the first fruits of the Dead, otherwise called Mortuaries, whether they consist of 
 Animals, Clothes, or any other thing whatsoever, together with our Pool and 
 Mill, and also the Pool upon Wyre near the Rectory of Michaelskirk ; and 
 further, the same Vicar and his Successors to have for their Dwelling the straw- 
 thatched Porch below the Rector}', and the Door and House adjoining, with the 
 Dovecote and Orchard near the Porch, and the Fishponds and Moats." 
 
 I. Fol. 401. 2. Regist. S. Mariae de Lane. M.S. fol. 68. 
 
 3. Rot. Pat. 4 Hen. VI. m. 10 per Inspec. Line. Hen. IV.
 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 459 
 
 The vicar on his part was required to pledge himself to pay all 
 ordinary taxes and expenses incumbent upon the church, except- 
 ing " the covering of the chancel of the church, the payment of 
 405. to the Archdeacon of Richmond, and the Tenths payable to 
 the King for ever," for which the Master of the College agreed 
 on behalf of himself and his successors to be answerable. 1 The 
 foregoing grant and regulations were confirmed in 1425 and 1485 
 by Henry VI. and Henry VII. respectively. After the Dissolution 
 the right of presentation was exercised by King Charles in 1629, 
 who appointed Nicholas Bray to the vicarage. Subsequently the 
 patronage of the living has descended through several private 
 individuals, and is now centred in the present vicar, the Venerable 
 Archdeacon Hornby. 
 
 The parish church of St. Michael's contained two chantries, 
 one of which, dedicated to St. Katherine, occupied the chapel 
 still existing in the north aisle. This chantry was founded some 
 time about the middle of the fifteenth century by John Botiler, or 
 Butler, lord of the manor of Out Rawcliffe. Canon Raines says 
 that a portion of the body armour either of him or one of his 
 immediate descendants remained suspended in the chapel until 
 long after 1700. 
 
 Alice Butler, the daughter of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, and widow 
 of Nicholas Butler, the eldest son of the founder, bequeathed by 
 will, dated the 2Oth of November, 1504, "her sowll to God and 
 hys Blessyd Mother and all the holye Cumpanie of heven, and 
 her bodye to be beryd in Christian wyse in Saynt Katrine's 
 chapel, where her husband laye ;" also " to the lyght brenning 
 there 2od ; to Thomas Walton, or some wel dysposed priest to 
 synge for my sowll for one yeare \ 133. 4d., solemn mass of 
 requiem, and other obsequies to be done as becometh one of my 
 degree, but not too moche expendsive so that my executors let 
 not (hinder not) my dowters advancement in marryage ; and 
 to S r John Butler, Clerk, 405. a yeare togider with meate and 
 drynke whiles he is on lyfe." 2 In the reign of Henry VIII., 
 William Harrison was the officiating priest of this chantry, and 
 at that time its tenants, possessions,, and annual rentals were, one 
 
 I. A copy of " The appropriation of the Vicarage of Michaelskirk," dated 1411, 
 and now in the possession of the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby. 
 2. E. Reg. Richmond.
 
 460 5Z MICHAEL? S-ON-WYRE PARISH. 
 
 tenement lying in Esprick, held by Thomas Dawson at 2os. per 
 annum ; another tenement in the same place held by William 
 Hall at 195.; a windmill in Stainall at 265. 8d., and several parcels 
 of ground amounting to about an acre at 2s.,held by Ralph Hull; 
 one tenement in Stainall with appurtenances held by Ralph 
 Hodgeson at 125.; an acre of ground lying in a field at Stainall 
 held by William Hull at 2s. 8d.; two roods of land in Stainall 
 held by the wife of Christopher Hull at I2d.; divers plots of 
 ground estimated to comprise four acres in the same township 
 held by William Hull, the elder, at 195. ; one tenement with 
 appurtenances in Great Eccleston held by the wife of William 
 Stiholme at 135. 4d.; and one tenement in Little Eccleston held 
 by Henry Wilkinson, at 2OS. Hence it seems that the gross 
 rentals amounted to $ 155. 8d., out of which 53. per annum was 
 paid to the wife of Robert Stannall for her jointure, leaving $ 
 los. 8d. the actual yearly revenue of the chantry from its endow- 
 ment. 1 At the accession of Edward VI., Henry Harrison was 
 the " Priest Incumbent at St. Katherine's Altar, being 54 years 
 old, and he taught a Grammar School according to his foun- 
 dation." When chantries were suppressed the educational 
 institution here alluded to was probably abandoned for want of 
 funds and a master ; in any case it ceased to exist about that 
 time. On the 29th of November, 1606, James I. granted to 
 Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, " all that Late Chantrie of the 
 {Foundation of John Butler, at the Aulter of the Blessed 
 Katherine within the Parishe Churche of St. Michaell-upon- 
 Wyre, in the Countye of Lancaster, lately dissolved, and all the 
 lands appertaining thereto." 
 
 The second chantry in St. Michael's church was founded 
 sometime during the fifteenth century by one of the earlier 
 Kirkbys, of Upper Rawcliffe, and in the reign of Edward VI. its 
 annual income from endowment property was ^"4 135. iod., 
 Thomas Crosse, of the age of 40 years, being the priest who 
 celebrated there and " assisted the Curate." Nothing more 
 precise concerning the origin of this chantry can be ascertained, 
 and even the situation it occupied in the church is unknown. In 
 1553 Thomas Crosse received a pension of ^ 133. iod. a year. 8 
 
 I. Commissioners' Report before the Dissolution of Monastries. 
 2. Willis's Hist. Mitr. Abb. vol. ii p. 108.
 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 461 
 
 VICARS OF ST. MICHAEL'S-ON-WYRE, 
 IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER. 
 
 Date of 
 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 By whom Presented. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 About 1 200 
 
 Master Macy 
 
 King John 
 
 
 
 William de Horneby 
 
 Duke of Lancaster (?) 
 
 
 In 1411 
 
 Johannes de Daleby 
 
 College of Battlefield 
 
 
 Before 1549 
 
 Michael Thorneborrow 
 
 
 
 In 1549 
 
 Thomas Crosse. 
 
 G. Kirkby and Nich. 
 
 
 
 
 Lawrenson, gents., 
 
 
 
 
 patrons on this oc- 
 
 
 
 
 casion only, by 
 
 
 
 
 consent of John 
 
 
 
 
 Hussey, master, 
 
 
 
 
 and the Fellows 
 
 
 
 
 of Battlefield Col- 
 
 
 
 
 lege 
 
 Death of M. 
 
 
 
 
 Thorneborrow 
 
 In 1628 
 ,,. 1629 
 
 Robert Carr 
 Nicholas Bray 
 
 King Charles I. 
 
 Resignation of R. 
 Carr 
 
 Before 1650 
 
 William Bray 
 
 King Charles I. 
 
 
 About 1653 
 
 Nathaniel Baxter 
 
 
 
 Before 1715 
 In 1715 
 
 Thomas Robinson 
 Richard Crombleholme 
 
 Thomas Clitherall 
 
 Death of T. Robin- 
 son 
 
 , 1729 
 
 William Crombleholme 
 
 Edward Cromble- 
 holme 
 
 Death of R. Crom- 
 
 
 
 
 bleholme 
 
 176; 
 
 Robert Oliver 
 
 Richard Whitehead 
 
 Death of W. Crom- 
 
 j> / j 
 
 
 
 bleholme 
 
 ,, 1768 
 
 Anthony Swainson.M.A 
 
 Richard Whitehead 
 
 Cession of R. 
 Oliver 
 
 ii '784 
 
 Charles Buck, M.A. 
 
 John Swainson 
 
 Death of A. Swain- 
 
 
 
 
 son 
 
 1789 
 
 Hugh Hornby, M.A. 
 
 Joseph Hornby 
 
 Resignation of C. 
 Buck 
 
 1847 
 
 William Hornby, M.'A. 
 
 Himself 
 
 Death of H.Horn- 
 by 
 
 The Rev. Hugh de Horneby was the brother of Robert de 
 Horneby, vicar of Kirkham, and it may fairly be inferred that 
 they belonged to the family of Hornbys, whose descendants are 
 now settled at St. Michael's, Ribby, and Winwick, but lapse of 
 time has obliterated the connecting links. The Rev. Nathaniel 
 Baxter was ejected in 1662, for refusing to take the oath 
 required by the Act of Uniformity. Little only can be ascer- 
 tained concerning the Crombleholmes, but it is conjectured that
 
 462 ST. MICHAEL S- ON- WYRE PARISH. 
 
 they were associated with the branch of that name seated at 
 Goosnargh. The Rev. Richard Crombleholme had two sons 
 Edward and William, by the latter of whom he was succeeded in 
 the vicarage, whilst to the former seems to have descended the 
 patronage, acquired by purchase. The Rev. William Cromble- 
 holme married the daughter of Alexander Butler, of Kirkland, 
 and possibly had no offspring beyond the Elizabeth Cromble- 
 holme, to whose memory the mural monument shortly to 
 be noticed, was erected. The Rev. Anthony Swainson was 
 the son of the Rev. Christopher Swainson, B.A., incumbent 
 of Copp, and Elizabeth, his wife ; he was a Fellow of 
 Worcester College, Oxford. The Rev. Charles Buck was 
 the son of the Rev. Charles Buck, M.A., vicar of Kirkham ; 
 he was afterwards curate of Warton and Lund. The Rev. Hugh 
 Hornby was the sixth son of Hugh Hornby, esq., of Kirkham, 
 whose eldest son was Joseph Hornby, esq., D.L., of Ribby Hall. 
 He married Ann, daughter and co-heiress of Joseph Starky, M.D., 
 of Redvales, and had issue, one son, William, now the Venerable 
 Archdeacon Hornby, who succeeded him in the living, and is the 
 present vicar and patron. The Ven. Archdeacon Hornby is an 
 honorary canon of Manchester, and has been twice married, but 
 further information respecting the family will be found in the 
 pedigree of " Hornby of Ribby Hall." 
 
 The present church is a broad low building of rough stone, with 
 a tower of similar character at the west end. Both the tower and 
 church are surmounted and surrounded by a castellated stone 
 parapet and ornamental pinnacles of the same material. The porch 
 and the tower bear the date 161 1 and initial letters H : B. upon their 
 exteriors, but it is evident that much of the edifice can boast a 
 considerably greater antiquity than that indicated by the corres- 
 ponding inscriptions. It is also obvious from the varieties 
 displayed in the architecture of different portions, more 
 especially the windows, that the rebuilding of the church has 
 not been accomplished all at once, but carried on at pretty long 
 intervals, extending back certainly to the time of Henry VIII., and 
 perhaps further. Within, the south side aisle is separated from 
 the nave by a succession of stone arches running from east to 
 west, whilst the north side aisle contains the chapel in which was 
 placed the altar of St. Katherine, and where now is the following
 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 463 
 
 inscription : " This Oratory, known before the Dissolution to 
 have been a Chantry dedicated to Saint Katherine, and 
 competently endowed with lands in the neighbouring townships, 
 was repaired by John ffrance, esq., of Rawcliffe Hall, A.D. 1797, 
 being an appendage to that ancient manor house." The tower 
 opens directly into the nave without even the semblance of a 
 partition, and on one wall is fixed a brass plate intimating that 
 the large clock, whose huge pendulum vibrates opposite, and 
 whose dials are visible without, was presented, in 1850, to the 
 Ven. Archdeacon Hornby by his parishioners, as a mark of esteem. 
 The mural tables occupying stations within the aisles and nave 
 are erected to the memories of Edward Greenhalgh, of Myerscough 
 Hall, died in 1823, aged 53, and Margaret, his widow, died in 1853, 
 aged 92, also Mary, died in infancy, and Charlotte, died in 1823, 
 aged 29, their daughters ; Thomas Westby, of White Hall, died 
 in 1762, aged 47, and Margaret, his widow, died in 1802, aged 82, 
 also their children Mary, died in infancy, Joseph, in 1769, aged 
 16, Bridget, in 1786, aged 37, Robert, in 1800, aged 45, Mary, in 
 1805, aged 45, William, in 1811, aged 60, and John, in i8n,aged 
 65 Thomas, the only surviving child being the erector of the 
 monument in 1812 ; Hugh Hornby, M.A., 56 years vicar of the 
 parish, died in 1847, aged 81, and Anne, his widow, died in 1850, 
 aged 8 1 years, also Joseph Starkey Hornby, born in 1839, died in 
 1858, and William Hornby, born in 1845, died in 1858 " They 
 were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they 
 were not divided"; Henry Hornby, late Captain in the East 
 India Service, died in 1794, aged 54, "also near this place were 
 interred the remains of his late father, Thomas Hornby, of St. 
 Michael's, who died Mar. 8, 1785, aged 76, likewise Elizabeth, wife 
 and mother to the above, who died May i4th, 1798, aged 84" ; 
 Elizabeth Crombleholme, daughter of the Rev. William Cromble- 
 holme, formerly vicar of the parish, " whose mortal remains were 
 deposited in the graveyard of this church near those of her beloved 
 parents on the 2ist of May, 1817 Erected as a tribute of esteem 
 by her affectionate relative Thomas Butler Cole, of Kirkland Hall." 
 The Baptistry was restored in 1852 by the surviving children of 
 John and Susannah Swainson, of Preston, and contains several 
 tablets affixed to the north wall in memory of numerous members 
 of that family, amongst whom may be mentioned the Revs.
 
 464 ST. MICHAEL S-ON-WYRE PARISH. 
 
 Christopher Swainson, B.A., incumbent of Copp, died in 1775; 
 Anthony Swainson, M.A., vicar of St. Michael's on- Wy re, died 
 1784, aged 42 ; and Christopher Swainson, M.A., prebendary of 
 Hereford, and vicar of Clun, Salop, died in 1854. The burial 
 ground surrounding the church presents nothing of much interest 
 to the antiquarian beyond an old sun-dial, and the Crombleholme 
 grave lying under the shadow of the east wall. The living is a 
 discharged vicarage. 
 
 The following extracts from the ancient vestry books will 
 doubtless be interesting to our readers, although not of much 
 importance as parish records : 
 
 " April, 1683 : To Ann Raby for washing surplice, 45.; to John Fisher for work 
 for clock and bells, 8s. 6d. 
 
 " Ordered this 2ist of June, 1683, that no person or persons for the future be 
 admitted to bury any dead corpse in the church unless he or they, at whose 
 instance such corpse shall be buried, do in hand pay to the sexton of the parish 
 for the same, being 12 pence for the use of the parish, or sufficiently secure the 
 same to him, the corpses of women dying in childbed only excepted, which are 
 hereby intended to be free, as is usual in other parishes. Thos. Robinson, vicar ; 
 Rich. Longworth, Thos. White, gents. ; Jas, Raby, Rich. B. Hornby, Rich. 
 Wilding, George Bennet, churchwardens." 
 
 " May 1 8, 1688 : It is ordered that the two former orders made, the one ffor 
 destroying Magpie and Sparrow heads, and the other for allowing the church- 
 wardens to pay ***** out of the parish money, be for the future 
 suspended." 
 
 " July 4, 1729 : To ring one Bell at 7.0 ; to ring 2 Bells at 8.0 ; to ring and 
 chime for Service in summer from half an hour past 10 o'clock, and in winter 
 from Ten till half an hour after." 
 
 "Aug. 25, 1736 : It was ordered by ye Vicar and gentlemen of ye parish that 
 another church lay after ye rate of I2d. in ^"l, besides ye 3 church lays before 
 mentioned, be forthwith collected and gathered for repairing ye church. N.B : 
 This church lay is collected for laying a new beam and erecting a new pair of 
 principals between ye church and ye chancel at the joint charges of ye parish and 
 Allen Johnson, esq., owner of ye chancel." 
 
 May 5, 1745 : Be it known that John Lewtas has cleared up ye difficulties 
 about ye quakers' taxes for Rawcliffe. 
 
 "1746: Ringers' salary, 153.; for 5th of November, 6s.; for sanding church- 
 yard, is. 
 
 "November 6, 1780 : Agreed by the Vicar and gentlemen of the Vestry of St. 
 Michael's, that each Ringer attending the church shall be allowed two tankards 
 of ale, and each singer one tankard, together with each one their dinner." 
 
 " November 6, 1792: It was determined by a majority of the gentlemen of 
 the Vestry to raise the dues for opening a grave in the inside of the church to 
 6s. 8d.
 
 UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE, 465 
 
 " 1796 : At a meeting of the Vestry of this church it was unanimously resolved 
 that the remainder of the profits arising from the estate called Terleways and the 
 garden in Upper Rawcliffe, after defraying the expenses of a dinner and a quart 
 of ale to each vestryman, churchwarden, the curate of Copp, and clerk of St. 
 Michael's, at the respective days of Easter Tuesday and the 5th of November for 
 7 years ensuing, commencing with the present day (March 29, 1796), shall be 
 suffered to accumulate during the above period towards purchasing an Organ for 
 the Church of St. Michael's ; and that every Stranger introduced on the fore- 
 mentioned days at dinner, except it be on business of the parish, shall be paid for 
 by the person introducing him." 
 
 "July 15, 1799: To a Finger and Barrel Organ with the following stops 
 Open, Diapason, Stop do., Principal, Twelfth, Fifteenth, Sesqualtra, and 
 Mixture, ^183 153. od. 
 
 In 1708 Richard Cornall gave ^40 to be invested, and the 
 interest applied towards the maintenance of a schoolmaster for 
 Upper Rawcliffe- with-Tarnacre, and in 1808 Joseph Fielding, of 
 Catterall, was the sole remaining trustee of a sum of money, 
 amounting to 60, of which the ^"40 doubtless formed part, for 
 educational purposes. At that date Joseph Fielding induced the 
 Rev. Hugh Hornby, vicar of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, and William . 
 Harrison, of Upper Rawcliffe, to undertake the trust with him on 
 a fresh deed, the old one having been lost. A new schoolhouse 
 was shortly erected on the site of the former building, and is now 
 governed by the representatives of the trustees named. In 1813 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Crombleholme left 200 in trust to be invested, 
 and the annual income therefrom paid to the master of 
 St. Michael's-on-Wyre school for teaching three poor children of 
 the parish to read, write, and cast accounts. 
 
 Bread-money was probably established during the lifetime of 
 John ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall, and arises from " two-sevenths of 
 the clear rent of a close of ground lying in Kirkham, purchased 
 with ^"20, to be distributed to the poor attending divine service 
 in the parish church of St. Michael's, at the direction of John 
 ffrance, esq., and his heirs ; Thomas Langton, gent., and his heirs; 
 and the vicar of St. Michael's for the time being." x 
 
 Ralph Longworth, esq., of St. Michael's Hall, left ^"5 per annum 
 to the vicar, and 2 IDS. to the poor of Upper Rawcliffe. 
 
 Thomas Knowles, gent., left 2 IDS., and John Hudson, gent., 
 2 a-year to the poor of the same township. 
 
 I. List of Benefactions within the Church of St. Michael's. 
 
 2E
 
 466 ST. MICHAEDS-ON-WYRE PARISH. 
 
 The Terleway's Lands were given by some one unknown at a 
 very early date " for the use of the parish, as the vicar and vestry 
 shall direct," and consist of lands in Claughton and a garden in 
 Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre. 1 
 
 POPULATION OF UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 494 617 643 665 671 697 682 700 
 
 The area of the township embraces 3,743 statute acres. 
 
 GREAT ECCLESTON. Great Eccleston was anciently held by 
 William de Lancaster as an appendage of the fee of Wyresdale, 
 William de Lancaster died without issue, and Wyresdale, with 
 its dependency Great Eccleston, passed to Walter de Lindsay, the 
 eldest son of his second sister, Alice. The Lindsay line terminated 
 in the heiress Christiana de Lindsay, living in 1300, who married 
 Ingelram de Guynes, Lord of Coucy, in France, whose eldest son 
 was created earl of Bedford in 1336, and whose second and third 
 sons, Sir William de Coucy and Robert de Coucy, held Great 
 Eccleston as part of Wyresdale, their inheritance, in 1346. 
 The widow of Sir William de Coucy conveyed her portion 
 of Great Eccleston in marriage to Sir John de Coupland, and the 
 remainder was then held by Baldwin de Guynes and Joan, the 
 heiress of John de Rigmayden. The whole of the township, with 
 the exception of certain lands rented by the convent of Deulacres, 8 
 descended in the manner above described from William de 
 Lancaster, through the Lindsays and Guynes or Coucys, to 
 Coupland, Baldwin de Guynes, and Joan Rigmayden, and subse- 
 quently to their heirs. Amongst the Families Lancastrienses 
 there are two families of Ecclestons, one of which is described as 
 of Eccleston, near Preston, and the other of Eccleston simply, the 
 latter doubtless being the Ecclestons who were seated at Great 
 Eccleston Hall anterior to the Stanleys, the occupants in the 
 seventeenth century, whose pedigree will be found, with others, in 
 a former chapter of this volume. The Ecclestons, of Eccleston, 
 near Preston, would belong to the place of that name in the 
 Hundred of Leyland. Thomas Stanley, an illegitimate son of 
 the fourth earl of Derby, settled, about 1600, at Great Eccleston 
 Hall, which, together with the estate, was probably purchased ; 
 
 I. List of Benefactions within the Church of St. Michael's. 
 2. Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. v., p. 630.
 
 GREAT ECCLESTON. 467 
 
 his descendants remained there until the death of Richard 
 Stanley, in 1714, when Thomas Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe, 
 obtained possession of the land and mansion, both of which have 
 since descended in his line. 
 
 An Episcopal chapel was erected, in 1723, on the summit of a 
 hill at Copp, almost a mile from the village of Great Eccleston, 
 and near to Elswick chapel, "which," says Bishop Gastrell," being 
 never consecrated and in the possession of the Dissenters, it was 
 thought more proper to build a new one there than to seize upon 
 that." Subjoined is a letter from John ffrance, of Little 
 Eccleston Hall, to William Stafford, Commissary of Richmond, 
 and Secretary to Bishop Gastrell, called forth by sundry matters 
 in connection with the newly completed place of worship : 
 
 " Eccleston parva, Aug. 3, 1724. 
 
 " Upon some discourse with Mr. Dixon (vicar of Kirkham) about Cop Chapell 
 I will give you the trouble of this. When Subscriptions were desired towards 
 building the said Chapell it was proposed and intended to be not only for the use 
 of the Inhabitants of St. Michael's, but likewise for the use of several townships, 
 which lye in the Parish of Kirkham, remote from their Parish Church ; and the 
 Inhabitants' of this township (Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick) have contributed 
 more towards the Building than those of St. Michael's, and would have erected 
 it within Kirkham Parish, if the situation had been thought equally convenient. 
 And likewise the person, who promised to pay the hundred pounds towards the 
 Queen's Bounty, gave a note touching the same, with conditions in favour of 
 Kirkham Parish. 
 
 " Before the Chapell was erected the two Vicars of the Parishes aforesaid were 
 together, seemed to encourage our proceedings, and talked amicably and agreeably 
 about Nomination, etc. ; but since the Chapell was built several proposals have 
 been made to which the Vicar of Kirkham has consented, but the Vicar of St. 
 Michael's seems to dislike them. One of the proposals was that the determination 
 of the affair might be referred to the Bishop of Chester, whose generous offer to 
 procure 100 towards the Endowment of this Chapell gave great encouragement 
 to our undertaking the building thereof. Some people have refused to pay their 
 Subscriptions on pretence that the Vicar of St. Michael's has departed from 
 former proposals ; but we hope (if these differences could be amicably settled to 
 the satisfaction of the neighbourhood) that not only the old, but likewise several 
 new Subscriptions might be procured, especially if our grateful behaviour for 
 by-past favours may continue his Lordship's Countenance and Encouragement ; 
 and we desire you to represent the matter to him as favourably as you think it 
 will bear." 
 
 (Signed) John ffrance. 
 
 The chapel was a small plain brick building, dedicated to 
 St. Anne, but in 1841 a tower was added, and at the same time 
 a burial ground was enclosed and licensed in connection with it.
 
 468 
 
 ST. MICHAEL S-ON-WYRE PARISH. 
 
 Great Eccleston, Elswick, and Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick 
 townships were, in 1849, constituted a separate ecclesiastical 
 district, known as the parish of Copp, of which this chapel is 
 the parochial church. There is a vicarage house. 
 
 CURATES AND VICARS OF COPP. 
 
 Date of 
 Institution. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Cause of Vacancy. 
 
 Before 1775. 
 
 ,. 1841- 
 
 In 1841. 
 
 ' 1864. 
 
 i, 1870. 
 
 Christopher Swainson, B.A. 
 Reginald Sharpe. 
 Thomas Hathornthwaite, L.L.D. 
 William C. Uowding, M.A. 
 
 William Bateson, M.A. 
 
 Resignation of R. Sharpe. 
 Resignation of T. Hathorn- 
 
 thwaite. 
 Resignation of William C. 
 
 Dowding. 
 
 A new Catholic chapel was completed in 1835, and superseded 
 one of considerable age. Three fairs are held each year on 
 March I4th, April I4th, and November 4th, for cattle. 
 
 The origin of the free school at Copp has not been discovered, 
 but the earliest endowment to be found dates from 1719, when 
 William Fyld, yeoman, of Great Eccleston, left the remainder of 
 his personal estate, amounting to about ^"250, to be invested in 
 trustees, and the interest to be paid yearly " for a Master to teach 
 Poor Children here, or in some other part of the township." By 
 his will, dated 1st of April, 1748, William Gaulter bequeathed 
 ^"242 145. to certain trustees to augment the stipend of the 
 master of this school, and directed that in case the educational 
 establishment should ever be abandoned, or the terms of the will 
 not be observed, the annual income derived from his bequest 
 should be distributed amongst the poor inhabitants of the 
 neighbourhood. In 1866 the school was temporarily closed, whilst 
 the charity was under the revision of the Charity Commissioners ; 
 and in 1871 a new and more commodious building was erected. 
 There is also another school in this township, called Lane Head 
 school, held in a building erected by subscription on the site of 
 the original one, which had collapsed through age. The only 
 endowment is a rent charge of $ supposed to have been left by 
 Thomas Clitherall.
 
 UT RA WCLIFFE. 469 
 
 William Fyld, of Great Eccleston, bequeathed 2 annually to 
 the poor of that township. 
 
 Ellen Longworth left the interest of 20 to be distributed in 
 bread to the poor people attending divine service at Copp church. 
 
 POPULATION OF GREAT ECCLESTON. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 455 54 6 4S 624 661 631 641 565 
 
 The area of the township in statute acres is 1,412 
 
 OUT RAWCLIFFE. The manor of Out Rawcliffe was presented 
 to Theobald Walter by Richard I., and from that time to 1715 
 remained in the hands of the same family. Theobald Walter, 
 the son of the above-named gentleman, and Butler of Ireland, 
 a title which, as elsewhere stated, he adopted as a surname, 
 gave the whole of Out Rawcliffe, and one carucate of land in 
 Stainall, to his relative, perhaps son, Sir Richard Butler, 
 and from him sprang the long line of Butlers of Rawcliffe. 1 In 
 1627 the inquisition post mortem of Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe 
 Hall, revealed that his possessions consisted of the two manors of 
 Out and Middle Rawcliffes, and of lands in Upper Rawcliffe. 2 
 Henry and Richard Butler of Rawcliffe, father and eldest son, 
 joined the ranks of the insurgents in 1715, and after the suppres- 
 sion of the rebellion, their estates were confiscated ; Henry 
 escaped, but Richard was seized, and died in prison at London in 
 1716, before the day appointed for his execution. The sale of 
 Out Rawcliffe by Government was enrolled on the igth of 
 September, 1723, the purchasers being the Rev. Richard Crom- 
 bleholme, (vicar of St. Michael's), John Leyland, Cornelius Fox, 
 and James Poole ; and in the diary of the Rev. Thos. Parkinson, 
 curate of Garstang, reference is made to the completion and 
 terms of the transfer as follows : 
 
 "April 1723. * * * * At night I preached for T. Raby, of Tarnacre, at 
 St. Michael's. His son paid me los. Mr. Crombleholm, the vicar there, came 
 from London, whilst I was there, who, in conjunction with three more, had 
 bought Rawcliffe demain and tenants, paying to the board 11,260. It cost 
 them near 1,000 more in hush money, as they call it." 
 
 In 1729 the Rev. Richard Crombleholme, who seems to have 
 bought up the shares of his co-investors, died, and five years later 
 his heir, Edward Crombleholme, disposed of the lordship of Out 
 
 I. For " Butlers of Rawcliffe " see Chapter VI; 2. Due. Lane. vol. xxvi. n. 36.
 
 470 ST. MICHAEVS-ON-WYRE PARIS ff. 
 
 Rawcliffe, with its courts, fishing in the Wyre, rents, etc., to 
 Thomas Roe, whose only child and heiress married John ffrance, 
 of Little Eccleston Hall. The only son and heir of John ffrance, 
 of Rawcliffe and Little Eccleston, also called John, became lord 
 of the manor on the decease of his father in 1774. He espoused 
 Margaret, the daughter and heiress of Rigg, of Lancaster, 
 and, dying without issue, devised his property, after the death of 
 his widow, to Thomas Wilson, of Preston, whose wife, the 
 daughter of Cross, of Shaw Hall, Chorley, was his nearest 
 relative. Thomas Wilson assumed the surname of ffrance in 
 addition to his own, and was succeeded, under the will of John 
 ffrance, by his son, Thomas Robert Wilson-ffrance, who effected 
 great improvements on the land by draining and re-covering the 
 mosses, thereby increasing the value of the estate considerably. 
 T. R. Wilson-ffrance died in 1853, and Rawcliffe descended to 
 his only son, Robert Wilson-ffrance, who lived but six years 
 afterwards, and bequeathed his estates to his sole offspring, 
 Robert John Barton Wilson-ffrance, esq., at that time an infant, 
 and now in possession. Rawcliffe Hall lies on the south of the 
 township, in a park-like enclosure, leading to the banks of the 
 river Wyre. The present mansion was built in the I7th century, 
 but during more recent years has undergone material alterations. 
 The remains of the Catholic chapel attached to it are situated at 
 the rear. 
 
 The church of Out Rawcliffe was consecrated in 1837, and was 
 erected by subscription and a donation from the late T. R. 
 Wilson-ffrance, esq., who also gave the site, and retained the 
 patronage. The style of architecture is said to resemble some 
 portions of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, with a fine Norman 
 arch over the west end. There are 250 sittings, of which 150 are 
 free. The first incumbent was the Rev. W. Chadwick, who was 
 succeeded by the Rev. Joshua Waltham. The Rev. James C. 
 Home, M.A., is the third and present holder of the living. 
 
 There is a good day-school supported out of the Rawcliffe estate. 
 
 POPULATION OF OUT RAWCLIFFE. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 413 484. 598 575 728 791 771 832 
 
 The area in statute acres of Out Rawcliffe is 4,340.
 
 ELSWICK. 471 
 
 ELSWICK. From the Testa de Nevill it appears that about 
 1400 Warin de Wytingham and Alin de Singilton held respec- 
 tively the eighth and sixteenth parts of a knight's fee in Elswick 
 from the Earl of Lincoln. Edmund Dudley had the manor 
 until his attainder at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII.; 
 and in 1521, Thomas, earl of Derby, held it of that monarch. 
 The soil is now in the possession of several landowners. 
 
 In 1650 the Parliamentary Commissioners of the Common- 
 wealth reported that the inhabitants, " being fifty families, and 
 five miles from their parish church, had lately, with the voluntary 
 and free assistance of some neighbouring towns, erected a chapel." 
 The Rev. Cuthbert Harrison, who had been ejected from his 
 benefice in Ireland for refusing the oath of Uniformity, procured 
 a license from Charles II. in 1672 for the same chapel, "for the 
 use of such as did not conform to the Church of England, com- 
 monly called Congregational." Parliament,' however, decreed 
 that the King's authority was insufficient, and forbade divine 
 service to be held there a short time later. In 1702 the chapel 
 seems to have been again opened, and continued in use amongst 
 the Independents until 1753, when it was superseded by a new 
 one, enlarged in 1838. The memorial stone of the present chapel, 
 erected to commemorate the persecutions under the Five Mile 
 Act of two centuries ago, was laid by Sir James Watts, of Man- 
 chester, on the 30th of July, 1873, and the building completed 
 with all expedition. The chapel stands on a plot of ground pre- 
 sented by Mrs. Harrison, of Bankfield, adjoining the site of the 
 former edifice, and is a handsome stone Gothic structure. The 
 mortuary, with tower and spire, was given by R. C. Richards, 
 esq., J.P., of Clifton Lodge, in memory of certain members of 
 his family. 
 
 Elizabeth Hoole, by will dated 26th of April, 1727, charged a 
 meadow in Elswick, which she gave to the Roman Catholic 
 chapel of Great Eccleston, with the annual payment of ^ to the 
 poor of Elswick. 
 
 POPULATION OF ELSWICK. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 232 256 290 327 303 307 290 254. 
 
 The area of the township includes 1,009 statute acres.
 
 472 ST. MICHAEL S-ON-WYRE PARISH. 
 
 WOOD PLUMPTON. In the Domesday Book Pluntun is entered 
 as comprising two carucates of arable land. Robert de Stokeport 
 died possessed of the manor in 1 248, and his daughter and heiress 
 married Nicholas de Eton as her first husband, and John de 
 Arderne as her second. Robert de Eton, a descendant of her 
 first marriage, obtained Wood Plumpton in 1340. Cecily de 
 Stokeport, heiress of the Etons, conveyed the manor to Sir 
 Edward Warren, of Poynton, in which family it remained until 
 transferred, in 1777, to Viscount Thomas James Bulkeley on his 
 marriage with Elizabeth Harriet, only child of Sir George 
 Warren. The Bulkeley property ultimately passed to the 
 Fleming- Leycesters, whence Lord de Tabley obtained the lordship. 
 Charles Birley, esq., of Bartle Hall, is the present possessor of the 
 manor. Wood Plumpton Hall was anciently the seat of the 
 Warrens, whilst Ambrose Hall was occupied by a family of the 
 same name, from which descended the Rev. Isaac Ambrose, who 
 was ejected from Garstang by the Act of Uniformity. Richard 
 Ambrose, of Ambrose Hall, left a son and heir, William, who 
 married the daughter of Curwen of Lancaster, and had issue 
 a son, Nicholas. Nicholas Ambrose espoused Jane, daughter of 
 John Singleton, of Gingle Hall, Lancashire, and left six sons and 
 a daughter, the eldest of whom, William, resided ,at Ambrose Hall 
 in 1567, and was twice married, first to Anne, widow of Lawrence 
 Gotham, of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, and after her decease to 
 Margaret, widow of Sir Richard Hough ton. Flower's heraldic 
 visitation, from which the foregoing is extracted, was made in 
 in 1567, and consequently the pedigree cannot be traced further. 
 
 The church of Wood Plumpton is very ancient, being probably 
 in existence during the earlier years of the I4th century. It was 
 rebuilt in 1630, and has subsequently undergone numerous 
 alterations, consisting now of nave, chancel, and two aisles. The 
 communion table has the date and initials " W. A. 1635 " upon 
 it, and a beam in the roof is carved with the year " 1639." An 
 organ was obtained in 1849. The principal window, the gift of 
 R. Waterworth, esq., of Preston, is beautifully emblazoned, in 
 addition to which there are several other richly stained windows. 
 A handsome monument of marble, representing a sailor mourn- 
 ing, is situated in the north aisle, and was erected in memory of 
 Henry Foster, R.N., F.R.S., son of a former incumbent who was
 
 WOOD PLUMPTON. 473 
 
 drowned in 1831, in the river Chagres, Gulf of Mexico. The 
 church is dedicated to St. Anne, and the Rev. Isaac Mossop is the 
 present vicar. 
 
 There is a Roman Catholic chapel at Cottam, erected in 1793, 
 The date of the original one is unknown, but in 1768 it was 
 almost completely destroyed by an election mob. A Wesleyan 
 chapel was built in 1815, and another for the Primitive Methodists 
 about 1819. 
 
 The township contains an auxiliary workhouse, connected with 
 the Preston Union, which was erected in 1823. Annual courts 
 are held for the manor of Wood Plumpton, which includes the 
 hamlets of Catforth, Eaves, Bartle, and Wood Plumpton. 
 
 The school at Catforth was established by Alice Nicholson, of 
 Bartle, who gave in 1661 the sum of ^"100 in trust for the main- 
 tenance of a free school within the manor of Wood Plumpton. 
 Subsequent benefactions have been received as follows : The 
 same Alice Nicholson 10 by will, in 1664 ; John Hudson, of 
 Lea, /20 by will, in 1676 ; John Hall, of Catforth, /2O by deed, 
 in 1732'; James Hall, of Catforth, /io by will, in 1741 ; Richard 
 Eccles, /ioo by will, in 1762 ; Elizabeth Bell, 100 by deed, in 
 1813 ; Richard Threlfall, 20 by deed in 1813 ; and Ann Robin- 
 son, ^90 by will in 1817. The total endowment up to 1813, 
 amounting to ^380, was invested on the 2ist of April in that 
 year, in the navy five per cents., in the name of the trustees. 
 The further bequest of ^"90 was placed out at interest. 
 
 In 1817, Ann Robinson, the benefactress just mentioned, also 
 left ^90 in trust, the interest to be given to the master teaching 
 the Sunday school at Wood Plumpton church. 
 
 Thomas Hough ton gave, in 1649, the fourth part of the rental 
 of an estate in Wood Plumpton to the poor of that township. 
 
 It is recited in an indenture, dated 9th January, 1709, that 
 George Nicholson bequeathed the rents of several closes of land, 
 which he stood possessed of for a certain term of years, in trust, 
 for the poor of Wood Plumpton, and also left for the same 
 charitable object, the sum of ^"200, to be retained by his executors, 
 and the interest only distributed, until the expiration of the above 
 term, when the sum should be paid to the churchwardens and 
 overseers, and used as heretofore. The indenture" further recites 
 that on the death of George Nicholson in 1672, a Chancery suit
 
 474 ST. MICHAEL'S- ON- WYRE PARISH. 
 
 arose out of the will, the result being that the poor were awarded 
 210 as a settlement of their legal claims upon the property of 
 the deceased. The money was ordered to be invested, and the 
 annual income bestowed as directed by the testator. 
 
 POPULATION OF WOOD PLUMPTON. 
 
 1801. i8ir. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 1,197 1,397 i,63S i,7i9 1,688 1,574 1,462 1,290 
 
 The township comprises 4,722 statute acres. 
 
 iNSKiP-wiTH-SowERBY. In the Domesday volume this township 
 appears as containing three carucates of arable soil. Richard 
 Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, obtained the manor of Inskip in 1281 
 as the dowry of his bride Alicia, daughter of William de Carleton. 
 Inskip was held by Cuthbert Clifton, of Clifton, in 1512, from 
 whom it descended to Sir W. Molyneux, of Larbrick and Sefton, 
 who had espoused his sole child and heiress. In 1554-68 it was 
 in the possession of Henry Kighley, and afterwards passed to 
 William Cavendish, earl of Devonshire, on his marriage with the 
 daughter and co-heiress of that gentleman. 
 
 The fishery of " Saureby Mere " belonged to William Hoghton 
 in 1519, at which epoch Thomas Rigmayden and the earl of Derby 
 had lands in Sowerby. The Stanleys have for long been lords of 
 Sowerby and continue to hold a court-baron there. In Inskip 
 also a court-baron takes place each year in June. 
 
 A church, dedicated to St. Peter, was erected in 1848 at the 
 joint expense of the earl of Derby and the Ven. Archdeacon 
 Hornby, vicar of St. Michael's-on-Wyre. The living, now a 
 vicarage, is endowed with ^100 per annum out of the corn rents. 
 The Rev. A. Sharpies, B.A., appointed shortly after the church 
 was built, is the present vicar. 
 
 One-fourth of the rentals from certain lands in Goosnargh and 
 Chipping was given by Thomas Knowles in 1686 to the poor of 
 Inskip. 
 
 In 1750 John Jolly bequeathed the residue of his estate in 
 trust, for the use of such poor housekeepers of Inskip-with- 
 Sowerby as received no parochial relief. 
 
 POPULATION OF INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY. 
 
 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 
 635 647 739 798 735 680 663 593 
 
 The area of the township in statute acres amounts to 2,888.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PAUPERISM AND THE FYLDE UNION. 
 
 UN the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was not 
 customary to recognise the pauper as a person 
 whose misfortunes, however brought about, called 
 for charitable aid, but all legislature was directed 
 against his class under the common title of vagabonds. A statute 
 of 1384 decreed that all vagrants should be arrested and either 
 placed in the stocks, or imprisoned until the visit of the justices, 
 who would do with them whatever seemed best by law ; and in 
 1496 the punishment of incarceration was abolished, but the 
 stocks were retained. The sixteenth century initiated a little 
 more considerate state of things, and justices of the peace were 
 authorised in 1531 to grant begging licenses to any necessitous 
 persons in their districts unable to work for a livelihood. An act 
 of 1 547 ordained that any vagabond, not incapacitated by old age 
 or illness, loitering and not seeking work for three days should be 
 brought before a magistrate, who was directed to adjudge such 
 vagrant to be, for two years, the slave of the person by whom he 
 had been apprehended, in addition to which he had to be branded 
 with the letter V on the breast. In case he ran away the law 
 ordered that a further branding of the sign S should be inflicted, 
 this time on his forehead or the ball of his cheek, and that slavery 
 should be his perpetual portion. A third escape entailed death 
 when re-captured. This enactment was never really enforced 
 as popular indignation at its extreme severity was aroused at 
 once, and after lingering two years it was repealed in favour
 
 476 PA UPERISM AND 
 
 of the stocks-legislature. In 1551 it was decreed that a register 
 of destitute persons should be kept in each parish, and that alms 
 should be collected in Whit- week, whilst on the Sunday following, 
 during divine service at church, " the collectors should gently ask 
 and demand of every man and woman what they of their charity 
 would give weekly towards the relief of the poor." The funds so 
 obtained were to be distributed amongst the poor " after such sort 
 that the more impotent might have the more help, and such as 
 could get part of their living the less." Eleven years later a 
 statute ordained that if any person refused to contribute alms 
 when called upon he should be summoned before a justice, who 
 would determine the amount he had to pay, and commit him to 
 gaol in case of further refusal. The legislative body of Queen 
 Elizabeth passed " An Act for the punishment of vagabonds and 
 the relief of the poor and impotent," by which justices of the 
 peace were instructed to register the names of all the impotent 
 poor who had been born within their several districts, or been 
 existing there on alms within the three preceding years ; to assign 
 to them convenient places for dwellings or lodgings, in case the 
 parish had not already undertaken that duty of its own free will ; 
 to assess the inhabitants to a weekly charge ; and to appoint 
 overseers of the poor, having authority to exact a certain amount 
 of work from those candidates for relief who wWe not entirely 
 disabled from labour by age, sickness, or deformity. In 1575-6 it 
 was ordered that a stock of wool or hemp should be provided in 
 the different parishes for the purpose of " setting the poor at 
 work," and that " Houses of Correction " should be established, in 
 which vagrants or tramps were to be detained, the able-bodied 
 being furnished with employment until a service was found for 
 them, and the infirm transferred to an alms-house as soon as 
 practicable. The " Houses of Correction," the origin of our 
 workhouses, were directed to be built in large cities, or in the 
 central towns of wide districts, thus the one for the Fylde was 
 situated at Preston, an old college of Grey Friars lying to the 
 south of Marsh Lane being converted to that use. Dr. Kuerden 
 described this building more than two centuries ago as the " old 
 Friary, now only reserved for the reforming of vagabonds, sturdy 
 beggars, and petty larcenary thieves, and other people wanting 
 good behaviour; it is the country prison to entertain such persons
 
 THE FYLDE UNION. 477 
 
 with hard work, spare diet, and whipping, and it is called the 
 House of Correction." The present gaol of Preston was not 
 completed until 1789, and by force of habit the expressive title 
 of its predecessor has clung to it. 
 
 In 39 Elizabeth, 1597, an act came into force by which all 
 previous legislation on the subject under consideration was 
 repealed, and which decreed that overseers of the poor should be 
 appointed in every parish, whose duty it should be to levy a rate 
 upon the inhabitants for the support of the indigent, under, the 
 direction and with the approval of the local magistrates ; in 
 addition there were special regulations for the treatment of 
 rogues, vagrants, and able beggars, for whom whipping and the 
 stocks were ordered, after undergoing which punishments these 
 idlers were to be returned at once to their native parishes and 
 placed under the guardianship of the local authorities there. 
 
 Four years later certain modifications were made in the early 
 part of the last statute, but the main principle of individual 
 taxation by overseers, under the superintendence of justices of 
 the peace, was retained unaltered. The chief objects of the law 
 as it stood at the end of 1601 were to relieve the lame, sick, aged, 
 impotent, and blind ; to compel others of the poor to work, and 
 to put out their children as apprentices. 
 
 At that time any one leaving his employment and wandering 
 beyond the boundaries of his parish without any ostensible means 
 of gaining a livelihood was liable to be arrested and punished as a 
 vagabond, in addition he was compelled to return to his own 
 district in disgrace ; so that whether a law confining labourers to 
 their own neighbourhoods existed then or not, it is certain that 
 they had little inducement to venture forth amongst strangers. 
 
 In 1662, during the reign of Charles II., the Law of Settlement 
 was passed, by which all members of such classes as were likely 
 to become at some period or other chargeable to the parish rates, 
 were compelled to settle themselves on the parochial district to 
 which they were connected by birth, marriage, apprenticeship, or 
 similar ties ; and upon which parish alone they would subse- 
 quently have any claim. In this way the unfortunate peasantry 
 and labouring population were more securely than ever impri- 
 soned within their parishes, for if they escaped the fate of the 
 rogue and vagabond, and obtained work in another part of the
 
 478 PAUPERISM AND 
 
 country, they were generally hunted out and driven home for 
 fear they should become burdens on rates to which they had no 
 title. Such a condition of things went on with little change 
 for nearly two centuries, but the causes which finally brought 
 about a material alteration in the arrangement of pauper relief 
 will be noticed in the context. The erection of workhouses for 
 the different parishes of the kingdom was sanctioned in 1723 by 
 the legislature, and three years later, as learnt from the following 
 extract out of the minute book of the bailiffs of Kirkham, the 
 inhabitants of that town determined to establish one : 
 
 " 22 May, 1726 : Mem. That the town of Kirkham was summonsed from 
 house to house, and the inhabitants unanimously agreed to the setting up of a 
 workhouse." 
 
 The act which decreed the building of workhouses for the 
 employment of the poor, stated that if any one refused to enter 
 those houses, or objected to perform his share of labour, no relief 
 should be apportioned to him. There can be little doubt that 
 workhouses sprang up at Poulton and in the other parishes of the 
 Fylde about that date, as well as at Kirkham, but in their cases 
 there are no bailiffs' registers, or similar records, to fall back upon 
 for proof as to the accuracy of the surmise, and consequently we 
 are unable to speak with absolute certainty. In the twenty- 
 second year of the reign of George III. (1782), it was enacted that 
 the guardians of the poor should employ the paupers of their 
 separate parishes in labour on the land at small remuneration, 
 and that the poor rate should be used only to increase the pay- 
 ment to a sum large enough for the subsistence of each pauper 
 thus employed. Country justices, desirous of standing well in 
 the opinion of the peasantry, were not over scrupulous in the 
 discharge of their supervisionary functions, and granted or 
 sanctioned the granting of relief orders without any minute 
 inquiry into the merits of the cases. Immorality was encouraged 
 by an allowance from the poor-rate to the mother for each 
 illegitimate child. Practical responsibility for the proper 
 administration of the fund rested on no one, and about 1830 
 "the poor-rate had become public spoil, the ignorant believed it 
 an inexhaustible source of wealth, which belonged to them ; the 
 brutal bullied the administrators to obtain their share ; the 
 profligate exhibited their bastards, which must be fed j the idle
 
 THE FYLDE UNION. 479 
 
 folded their arms and waited till they got it ; ignorant boys and 
 girls married upon it ; country justices lavished it for popularity, 
 and guardians for convenience." 1 
 
 In 1832 a Royal Commission was appointed to visit the different 
 parishes, and investigate the abuses which were being universally 
 carried on ; and in 1834 a bill was brought in to amend the laws 
 relative to the Relief of the Poor in England and Wales, and 
 passed that year, some of the main clauses being an acknow- 
 ledgment of the claims to the relief of the really necessitous, the 
 abolition of settlement by hiring and service, and of all out-door 
 relief to the able-bodied. The enactment provided for the union 
 of small and neighbouring parishes, the rating and expenditure of 
 the rates remaining a distinct and separate matter ; each union 
 was to have a common workhouse for all its parishes, in which 
 the men, women, children, able-bodied, and infirm must be 
 separated, and where the able-bodied inmates should do a certain 
 amount of work for each meal. The distribution of relief was 
 left to the guardians and select vestries, and to the overseers in 
 their absence. The whole system of unions and parish relief was 
 placed under the control of a Central Board, by Avhom everything 
 was arranged and settled, and to whom any appeals were to be 
 directed. 
 
 Shortly after the passing of this act, the following twenty-three 
 townships of the Fylde were banded together for parochial pur- 
 poses, and denominated the Fylde Union : Bispham-with-Nor- 
 breck, Bryning-with-Kellamergh, Carleton, Clifton-with-Salwick, 
 Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick, Elswick, Freckleton, Greenhalgh- 
 with-Thistleton, Hardhorn-with-Newton, Kirkham, Layton-with- 
 Warbreck, Lytham, Marton, Medlam-with-Wesham, Newton- 
 with-Scales, Poulton, Ribby-with-Wrea, Singleton, Thornton, 
 Treales, Roseacre, Wharles, Warton, Weeton-with-Preese, and 
 Westby-with-Plumptons. In 1844 the guardians erected the 
 Union Workhouse at Kirkham, at a cost of about ^5,400, and in 
 1864 the building was enlarged so as to be able to accommodate 
 250 paupers. All small, local workhouses in the districts com- 
 prised in the union were of course closed on the opening of the 
 central one. The guardians of the different townships constitute 
 
 I. History of England, by H. Martineau.
 
 480 
 
 PAUPERISM. 
 
 a board, in whose hands rests the regulation of all matters con- 
 cerning the union. 
 
 By a subsequent act, the original Central Board of Poor Law 
 Commissioners was superseded by a controlling board composed 
 of four members of the government, ex officio, and certain 
 other commissioners appointed by Her Majesty in council, the 
 inspectors, whom, it should have been mentioned, were pro- 
 vided under the previous act, were now invested with more 
 extended powers ; workhouse visitors were appointed ; annual 
 reports were ordered to be issued ; and a clause forbidding the 
 cohabitation of man and wife in the workhouses was dispensed 
 with after the parties had arrived at sixty years of age.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 AGRICOLA, 5, 9 
 
 Aggriculture, 89 
 
 Allen, cardinal, 50, 152 
 
 "Allen of Rossall Hall," 151 
 
 Alfred the Great, 18 
 
 All-Hallows' Eve, 107 
 
 All-Souls' Day, 107 
 
 Ambroses, of Ambrose Hall, 472 
 
 Ambrose, Rev. Isaac, 71 
 
 Ambrose, John, 62 
 
 Amounderness, derivation, 1 ; forests, 
 2, 10 ; Ripon grant, 15 ; See of York, 
 16, 21; Wapentake, 16; Earl Tosti, 
 21; Roger de Poictou, 30; Theobald 
 Walter, 33 ; Edmund Crouchback, 
 36; John of Gaimt, 38; military 
 musters, 45, 46, 47 ; tax of provisions, 
 48; Cambden's description, 53 
 
 Anglo- Saxons, 12, 90 
 
 Anlaf, 19 
 
 Armada, Spanish, 50 
 
 Ashton, Col., 62 
 
 Athelstan, 16, 19 
 
 BANKFIELD, 415 
 Baxter, Rev. Nathaniel, 72 
 Bailiffs of Kirkham, 376 
 Banastre, Sir Adam, 37, 189 
 Bede, the venerable, 14 
 Belisama ^5Cstuarium, 6, 25 
 Bispham-with-Norbreck, 297 
 Bispham church, 33, 299 
 Birds, 127 
 Blackpool, 80, 311 
 Blackburne, family of, 141 
 Bolton, siege of, 64 
 Botany, 131 
 
 Brtmanclune, battle of, 19 
 Brigantes, 3, 13 
 Bradkirk, 410 
 
 Brank or Scolds' Bridle, 104 
 Bryning-with-Kellamergh, 404 
 Bryning Hall, 404 
 
 Bullock, Rev. W., 72 
 
 Bull and Bear-baiting, 95 
 
 Burn, 19, 270 
 
 Burn Hall, 183, 270 
 
 " Butler of Rawcliffe Hall," 153 
 
 CAMDEN, 3, 14, 40, 53 
 
 Cairn near Weeton, 8 
 
 Catholic chapels, 81 1 
 
 Carling Sunday, 106 
 
 Cart-Ford, 137 
 
 Carleton, Great and Little, 280 
 
 Caiieton Hall, 281 
 
 Carletons, family of, 280 
 
 Campion, Father Edm., 47 
 
 Christianity introduced, 15 
 
 Charles II., 70 
 
 Christmas customs, 96 
 
 Chantries, closure of, 45 
 
 Civil wars, 42, 58 
 
 "Clifton of Clifton, Lytham, etc.," 155 
 
 Clifton, Sir Willm. de, 37, 370 
 
 Clifton, Sir Thomas, 75 
 
 Clifton, Capt.,64 
 
 Clifton-with-Salwick, 423 
 
 Classis, Presbyterian, 68 
 
 Cock-fighting, 103 
 
 Columba, 15 
 
 Commissions of Inquiry, 49, 69 
 
 Coins, near Rossall, 10 
 
 Condition, customs, etc., 87 
 
 Copp church, 467 
 
 Costumes, 115 
 
 Country of the Fylde, 124 
 
 Court of Requests, 209 
 
 County Court, 212 
 
 Coupland, Sir Jno. de, 39 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 65, 71 
 
 Crouchback, Edmund, 36 
 
 Crustacese, 150 
 
 Culdees, 15 
 
 Cuck-stool, 104
 
 482 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 DANISH settlements, 27 
 Danish invasions, 17 
 Danish insurrections, 18 
 Danes, massacre of, 21 
 Danes' Pad, 7, 20 
 David II. of Scotland, 39 
 Derby, earl of, 58, 60, 70 
 Dock, Lytham, 144 
 Dock, Fleetwood, 248 
 Domesday Book, 31 
 Drayton, the poet, 138, 144 
 Druids, 4, 87 
 Druids'-eggs, 5, 8 
 Ducking-stool, 104 
 Dudley, Edmund, 44 
 
 ECCLESTON, Great, 466 
 Eccleston, Little, 422 
 Elswick, 471 
 
 Estates, compounders for, 68 
 Esprick school, 411 
 Ethelwerd's Chronicle, 10, 19 
 
 FAIRIES, 110 
 
 Fast, a general, 84 
 
 Fenny-farm, 25 
 
 " ffrance of Little Eccleston Hall," 161 
 
 Fleetwood, town of, 7, 81, 84, 218 
 
 Fleetwood, church of, 222 
 
 Fleetwood, harbour of, 251 
 
 " Fleetwood of Rossall Hall," 158 
 
 Fleetwood, Sir P. H., 82, 161 
 
 Fleetwoods, of Little Plumpton, 158 
 
 Flodden Field, 42 
 
 Fox Hall, 312 
 
 Freckleton marsh, 66, 67 
 
 Freckleton, 402 
 
 Free-tenants, 51, 57 
 
 Fylde. present extent, 1 ; original ex- 
 tent, 23 ; definition, 2, 3 ; aborigines, 
 3 ; Celtic relics, 3 ; Roman road or 
 Dane's Pad, 7 ; Roman relics, 8, 10, 
 22 ; Kate's Pad, 9 ; Christianity, 15 ; 
 churches built, 16 ; the Danes, 17 ; 
 Roman station, 6, 22 ; Anglo-Saxon 
 towns, 13, 27 : dialect, 28, 35 ; wild 
 animals, 29 ; Domesday survey, 31 ; 
 churches in A.D. 1080, 32; members of 
 parliament, 39 ; extracts from Duchy 
 Rolls, 41 ; High-sheriffs, 43 ; poverty, 
 40 ; complaints and petitions, 49, 56 ; 
 plague, 57 ; recruiting, 61, 63, 64 
 
 Fylde Union, 475 
 
 GAUNT, John of, 38 
 
 Gentry, list of, 74 
 
 Geoffrey, the crossbowman, 34, 139 
 
 Greenhalgh-with-Thi.stleton, 411 
 
 Greenhalgh Castle, 67 
 
 Gregory the Great, 15 
 
 Gynn-house, 318 
 
 HACKENSALL Hall, 138 
 Hambleton, 425 
 Hardhorn-with-Newton, 292 
 Harleian Collectisn, extracts from, 48 
 Harrison, the topographer, 52, 138, 144 
 Harrison, Rev. Cuthbert, 419 
 Harrison, Rev. Joseph, 72 
 Heptarchy, 17 
 
 Heskeths of Little Poulton Hall, 213 
 " Hesketh of Mains Hall," 162 
 High Sheriffs, 43 
 Holinshed, 10, 53 
 ' Hornby of Poulton," 164 
 " Hornby of Ribby Hall," 164 
 Horse-bridge, 113 
 Hundreds, 18 
 
 INCORPORATION of Kirkham, 367 
 Incorporation of Blackpool, 354 
 Inskip-with-Sowerby, 474 
 
 JACOBITE plot, 74 
 James I., 55 
 James II., 74 
 John, King, 34 
 
 KATE'S Pad, 9 
 
 King John, 34 
 
 Kirkham, 37, 57, 61, 63, 66, 363 
 
 Kirkham church, 16, 32, 39, 386 
 
 Kirkham grammar school, 394 
 
 Knots, Great and Little, 17, 219 
 
 LAMBERT Simnel, 42 
 
 Lancashire, inhabitants, 52 ; houses and 
 
 inns, 53 ; regiment, 58 
 Lancaster, honor, 30, 34, 36 ; bay, 24 ; 
 
 earl, 36 ; duke, 38 ; town, 59, 62 
 Landowners, Catholic, 77, 78 
 Larbrick Hall, 422 
 Layton-with-Warbreck, 306 
 Layton Hall, 308 
 Layton Hawes, 60, 64, 308, 316 
 Layton miser, 309 
 Leigh, Dr. Charles. 414 
 " Leckonby of Leckonby House," 166 
 "Leyland of Leyland House," 168 
 Leyland, the antiquary, 2, 37, 52 
 Leyland House, 404 
 Lifting at Easter, 106 
 Linen burial act, 73 
 Little Poulton Hall, 213 
 " Longworthof St. Michael's Hall," 168 
 Lune, river, 26 
 " Lune Deep," 23 
 Lund, 27 
 
 Lund church, 423 
 Lytham, 81, 429 
 Lytham churches, 432, 446 
 Lytham Dock, 144 
 Lytham Hall, 60, 438
 
 INDEX. 
 
 483 
 
 MAINS Hall, 79, 421 
 May Day, 96, 101 
 Marton, Great and Little, 285 
 Marton church, 288 
 Marton Mere, 127, 287 
 Marton Moss, 124 
 Medlar-with-Wesham, 410 
 Military musters, 45, 46, 47 
 Midsummer's Eve, 112 
 Ministers ejected, 72 
 Molluscs, 150 
 
 Monasteries, suppression of, 45 
 Moot Hall of Kirkham, 380 
 Moot Hall of Poulton, 204 
 Morecambe Bay, 3, 24, 59 
 Moricambe ^Estuarium, 6, 25 
 Moreton, earl of, 34 
 Mowbreck Hall, 410 
 Myerscough Lodge, 56 
 
 NATIONAL language, 35 
 Newton-with-Scales, 425 
 Newton, Hardhorn-with, 292 
 New Year's Day, 97 
 Norman Conquest, 30 
 Northumbria, 13, 18, 19, 30 
 
 OUT-RAWCLIFFE, 469 
 
 PACE EGG mummers, 106 
 
 " Parker of Bradkirk Hall," 169 
 
 Pan-ox Hall, 139 
 
 Parliament, members of, 39 
 
 Parliamentary army, 58 
 
 Pastimes, 95 
 
 Paulinus, 13, 15 
 
 Peel, hamlet of, 287 
 
 Peel, in Morecambe Bay, 42, 50 
 
 Pedigrees of ancient families, 151 
 
 Penny Stone, 328 
 
 Petitions and prayers, 11, 40, 49, 56 
 
 Picts and Scots, 11 
 
 Plague at Kirkham, 57 
 
 Plough Monday, 96 
 
 Plunderings, 61, 63, 66 
 
 Portus Sentantiorum, 7, 25 
 
 Poulton, town of, 60, 66, 185 
 
 Poulton church, 32, 188, 192 
 
 Poulton free school, 215 
 
 Poulton, assault near, 37, 190 
 
 Poulton, port of, 208 
 
 Preese Hall, 409 
 
 Preston, 36, 62, 76 
 
 Priests, dress of, 52 
 
 Pretender, the first, 76 
 
 Pretender, the young, 78 
 
 Provisions, prices of, 88, 93, 94, 100, 113 
 
 Ptolmemy, 6, 
 
 RAIKES HALL, 351 
 
 Hallway, Preston and Wyre, 82, 226 
 
 Railway, Lytham and Blackpool, 448 
 
 Rawcliffe, Out, 469 
 
 Rawcliffe, Upper, 454 
 
 Rawcliffe Hall, 470 
 
 Recruiting, 61, 63, 64 
 
 Rebellion of 1715, 76 
 
 Rebellion of 1745, 78 
 
 Relics and traces, Celtic, 3, 8, 26 ; 
 
 Roman, 8, 10, 22, 27 ; Danish, 17, 27 ; 
 
 Anglo-Saxon, 27 
 Reformation, 45 
 Ribble, river, 7, 15, 143 
 Ribby-with- Wrea, 405 
 Ribby Hall, 406 
 Rigodunum or Ribchester, 26 
 " Rigby of Layton Hall," 170 
 Ripon, monastery of, 15 
 Roger cle Poicton, 30, 32 
 Royal Army, 58 
 Royal Oak, order of the, 72 
 Romans, 5, 10 
 Roman stations, 6, 22 
 Roman roads, 7 
 Roseacre, 424 
 Rossall, 51, 273 
 Rossall Hall, 61, 274 
 Rossall School, 276 
 
 SALMON fishery act, 41 
 
 Salt manufactories, 53, 437 
 
 Saxon Chronicle, 10, 15, 19 
 
 Saxon deities, 14 
 
 Saxons, arrival of, 12 
 
 Seaweeds, 148 
 
 Sea, the Irish, 146 
 
 Sea, encroachments of, 24, 327 
 
 Seteia ^Estuarium, 6, 25 
 
 Setantii, 3, 87 
 
 Severus, 9 
 
 Shard, 60, 137 
 
 Shrove Tuesday, 97 
 
 Singleton Thorp, 25, 328 
 
 Singletons, Great and Little, 411 
 
 Singleton church, 415 
 
 Singleton grange, 413 
 
 " Singleton of Staining Hall," 172 
 
 Simnel, Lambert, 42 
 
 Skippool, 141, 208 
 
 South Shore, 360 
 
 Staining, 292 
 
 Staining Hall, 34, 295 
 
 "Stanley of Great Eccleston Hall," 173 
 
 Stang, riding, 105 
 
 St. Annes-on-the-Sea, 452 
 
 St. Michael's-on-Wyre, 63, 457 
 
 St. Michael's-on-Wyi-e church, 16, 32, 
 
 39, 42, 457 
 
 St. Mary's of Lancaster, 32 
 St. Wilfred, 16 
 St. Valentine's Day, 97 
 Superstitions, 94, 107
 
 4 8 4 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 TARNACRE, 457 
 
 Taxes, 40, 48, 55 
 
 Testa de Nevill, extracts from, 38 
 
 Thurland Castle, 63 
 
 Thornton, 268 
 
 Thornton Church, 271 
 
 Thornton Hall, 269 
 
 Theobald Walter, 33 
 
 Thirty-men of Kirkham, 380, 384 
 
 Tithings, 18 
 
 Tosti, earl, 21 
 
 Treales, Roseacre, and Wharles, 424 
 
 " Tyldesley of Fox Hall," 175 
 
 Tyldesley, Sir Thos , 62, 65, 70, 176 
 
 Tyldesley, Edward, 76, 312, 314 
 
 Tyldesley, James, 79 
 
 Tyldesley, Thomas, 179, 313 
 
 UNIFORMITY, act of, 71 
 
 Upper Rawcliff e-with-Tarnacre, 454 
 
 " VEALE of Whinney Keys," 181 
 Victoria, Queen, 84, 235 
 
 WADDDM THORP, 327, 437 
 
 Wages, 95, 99, 102 
 
 Walter, Theobald, 33 
 
 Wapentake, 16 
 
 Warbreck, Layton-with, 306 
 
 Wardleys. 141, 208 
 
 Wars, civil, 42, 58 
 
 Warton, 403 
 
 Water and wind-mills, 92 
 
 Waterworks, the Fylde, 85 
 
 Weeton-with-Preese, 409 
 
 Westby-with-Plumptons, 408 
 
 " Westby of Mowbreck Hall," 183 
 
 " Westby of Burn Hall," 183 
 
 Westbys, of White Hall, 455 
 
 Wharles, 424 
 
 Whinney Keys, 309 
 
 Wigan-lane, 70 
 
 Wild animals, 29 
 
 Wood Plumpton, 472 
 
 Wyre, river, 3, 24, 60, 70, 136 
 
 FLEETWOOD AND BLACKPOOL : PRINTED BY W. PORTER AND SONS.
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS,
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Abbott, Christopher 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Bamber, Joseph 
 
 Thistleton 
 
 Abbott, John 
 
 
 
 Bamber, Nicholas 
 
 Greenhalgh 
 
 Abbott, Chris., jun. 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Bamber, Lawrence 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Ackroyd, Miss Annie 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Bamber, W. F. 
 
 Stoke-u-Trent 
 
 Adams, John 
 
 
 Bainbridge, John 
 
 Preesall 
 
 Adamson, William 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 Banks, Henry 
 
 Little Carleton 
 
 Adcock, John 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Banks, John 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Addey, Jacob 
 
 Chorlton - cum - 
 
 Banks, W. B. 
 
 Thornton 
 
 
 Hardy 
 
 Bannerman, Charles A. 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Akroyd, James 
 
 Preston 
 
 Barber, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Allmark, 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Baron, Henry 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Anderson, Councillor 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Baron, J. 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Anderton, Robert 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Baron, .Robert 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Anderton' William 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Baron, Mrs. E. 
 
 
 Andrews, John 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Barrow, William 
 
 
 Archer, Henry 
 
 ,, 
 
 Barrett, G. C. 
 
 
 Archer, William 
 
 Bispham 
 
 Barton, Grimshaw 
 
 
 Armstrong, John 
 
 Claughton 
 
 Barton, Henry 
 
 
 Armytage, Rev. J. 
 
 Els wick 
 
 Barton, Thomas 
 
 
 Arthur, Christopher 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Barton, Henry T. 
 
 Stalmine 
 
 Ascroft, Alfred 
 
 Preston 
 
 Barton, Benjamin G. 
 
 Skippool 
 
 Ashforth, George 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Bates, William 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Ashworth, John J. 
 
 Pendleton 
 
 Bates, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Ashworth, J. W. 
 
 , , 
 
 Bees, Enock 
 
 ii 
 
 Ashworth, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Bell, John 
 
 M 
 
 Ashton, J. F. 
 
 
 Bell, Matthew 
 
 
 Ashurst, William 
 
 
 Bennett, James 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Aspden, Henry 
 
 
 Bennett, Miss B. 
 
 Rock Ferry 
 
 Aspden, Thomas 
 
 
 Bennett, Miss E. 
 
 
 Atherton, Charles 
 
 
 Bennett, William 
 
 Treales 
 
 Atherton, Daniel 
 
 
 Bennett, James 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Atkinson, James 
 
 Preesall 
 
 Benson, William 
 
 Catterall 
 
 Atkinson, John 
 
 M 
 
 Berry, Charles J. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Atkinson, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Best, Thomas 
 
 > 
 
 Atkinson, William 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Bickerstaffe, Thomas 
 
 
 Axon, Charles H. 
 
 Blackburn 
 
 Bickerstaffe, John 
 
 
 
 
 Bickerstaffe, Robert 
 
 
 Bailey, Councillor 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Bickerstaffe, Councillor 
 
 
 Balderson, J. 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Billington, William 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Ball, James 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Billington, Thomas 
 
 Wrea Green 
 
 Ball, John 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Bilsbury, Miss 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Ball, William 
 
 Westby 
 
 Birch, Miss 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Bamber, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Birch, Henry 
 
 j? 
 
 Bamber, William 
 
 j 
 
 Bird, Henry 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Bamber, George 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Bird, P. H., 
 
 
 Bamber, James A. 
 
 Layton 
 
 F.R.C.S..F.L.S. 
 
 Lytham
 
 11 
 
 LIST OF 
 
 Birley, A. Leyland Kirkham 
 
 Bryning, John Wesham 
 
 Blackurst, William ,, 
 
 Bryning, Edward Bispham 
 
 Blackburn, Agnes Blackpool 
 
 Bryning, John, J.P. Newton 
 
 Blackburn, Edward Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Burdekin, Elizabeth Lytham 
 
 Blackburn, Mrs. ,, 
 
 Burns, Rev. William South Shore 
 
 Bleasdell, Rev. Canon W. 
 
 Burridge, Stephen Ardwick 
 
 M.A., Kingston, Ontario 
 
 Burton, Edward Norbreck 
 
 Blundell, W. B. Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Butcher, Paul Blackpool 
 
 Boardman, George Blackpool 
 
 Butcher, R. ,, 
 
 Boardman, James ,, 
 
 Butcher, James 
 
 Boardman, William Great Marton 
 
 Butcher, Thomas ,, 
 
 Bolton, George Blackpool 
 Bond .Miss A. Fleet wood 
 
 Butcher, Robert ,, 
 Butcher, William South Shore 
 
 Bond, John 
 Bond, Charles Preston 
 
 Butcher, Thomas Great Marton 
 Butler, William Fleetwood 
 
 Bond, Whittaker Blackpool 
 
 Butler, James Thistleton 
 
 Bone, John W. Cromble- 
 
 Butler, James S. Poulton (2) 
 
 holme,B.A.,F.S.A. London 
 
 Butler, Richard St. Michael's 
 
 Bonny, James Fleetwood 
 
 
 Bonny, Councillor Blackpool 
 
 Callund, Alfred, J. Fleetwood 
 
 Bonny, John ,, 
 
 Camotta, Josephine Blackpool 
 
 Bonny, Thomas 
 Bottomley, Wm. H. 
 
 Cannon, Josepn Lee Lytham 
 Cardwell, Edward Singleton 
 
 Bourne, Col. James 
 
 Cardwell, Gilbert, Blackpool 
 
 M.P.,J.P.,D.L. Heathfield(3) 
 
 Cardwell, Thomas 
 
 Bourne.Capt. J. Dyson 
 
 Cardwell, W. and Bros., ,, 
 
 5th Dragoon Guards London 
 
 Cardwell, E. Lytham 
 
 Bourne, Lady Marion ,, 
 
 Cardwell, William Revoe 
 
 Bourne, Thomas R. Bristol 
 
 Cardwell, Robert Little Marton 
 
 Butler-Bo wden, Lieut. -Col. 
 
 Carr, Thomas H. Fleetwood 
 
 Pleasington Hall 
 
 Carson, Alexander ,, 
 
 Bowers, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Carson, Samuel ,, 
 
 Bowdler, Wm. H. Kirkham 
 
 Carter, John 
 
 Bowker, George Blackpool 
 
 Carter, John Wesham 
 
 Bowman, James 
 
 Carter, T. South Shore 
 
 Bowman, Richard Hambleton 
 
 Carter, Thomas Larbrick 
 
 Bowness, R. H., M.D. Poulton 
 
 Carter, Miss A. Blackpool 
 
 Boys, William Catterall 
 
 Carter, Mrs. E. Lytham 
 
 Brade, John Thornton 
 
 Carter, Miss ,, 
 
 Bradley, Robert Pilling 
 
 Cartmell, N. Westby 
 
 Bradley, James Weeton 
 
 Cartmell, Richard Little Carleton 
 
 Bradley, John Kirkham 
 
 Cartmell, George Fleetwood 
 
 Bradley, Miss ^ Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Cartmell, James Freckleton 
 
 Bradshaw, William Blackpool 
 
 Cardwell, Elizabeth Blackpool 
 
 Bradshaw, Alice ,. 
 
 Catlow, Mrs. Sarah A. Lytham 
 
 Bradshaw, Matthew Elswick 
 
 Caton, Richard Blackpool 
 
 Braithwaite, Councillor Blackpool 
 
 Catterall, James Larbrick 
 
 Braithwaite, Ralph W. 
 
 Catterall, Sarah A. Kirkham 
 
 Brandon, Edward J. Fleetwood 
 
 Catterall, Robert 
 
 Brearlev, Martha Ann Blackpool 
 
 Catterall, James 
 
 Breckell, Edmund 
 
 Catterall, William Poulton 
 
 Brenerd, James Fleetwood 
 
 Causton, H. K. Brigton 
 
 Brewer, Miss Lytham 
 
 Charlton, Robert Kirkham 
 
 Brewster, Charles ,, 
 
 Charnley, William M. Blackpool 
 
 Bridge, James Cheetham Hill 
 Brooks, A. Mrs. Bournemouth 
 
 Chew, John 
 Clarke, John Little Eccleston 
 
 Brooks, John Blackpool 
 
 Clarke, D. Singleton 
 
 Brook, John 
 
 Clarke, Robert Lytham 
 
 Brown, William J. ,, 
 
 Clarke, Thomas R. Blackpool 
 
 Brown, Jonathan ,, 
 
 Clarkson, John Kirkham 
 
 Bryne, John 
 
 Clarkson, Thomas Blackpool
 
 SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 111 
 
 Clarkson, James Carleton 
 
 Cunliffe, Mary Blackpool 
 
 Clarkson, Mrs. Mary ,, 
 
 Curtiss, Lawrence 
 
 Clarkson, Kobert Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Currie, Thomas ,, 
 
 Clarkson, Henry Wesham 
 
 Curwen, John ,, 
 
 Clegg, Matthew Kirkham 
 
 Curwen, John ,, 
 
 Clegg, Miss Blackpool 
 
 Curwen, Ann Miss Lytham 
 
 Clifton, John Talbot LythamHall(3) 
 Cook, George Blackpool 
 
 Curwen, Robert Birkenhead 
 Curwen, Henry Liverpool 
 
 Cookson, Richard Wrea Green 
 
 
 Cookson, Mrs. R. Lytham 
 
 Dagger, William Lytham 
 
 Cookson, Thomas South Shore 
 
 Dagger, William Blackpool 
 
 Cookson, Helen Blackpool 
 
 Dagger, Richard ,, 
 
 Cookson, Miss ,, 
 
 Dakin, John ,, 
 
 Cookson, William Freckleton 
 
 Dalby, George B. Preston 
 
 Cooksley, Mrs. South Shore 
 
 Daniels, John Blackpool 
 
 Crabtree. John Blackpool 
 
 Darlow, Henry ,, 
 
 Cragg, William ,, 
 
 Davenport, Mrs. ,, 
 
 Crestadoro, A.,P.H.D. Manchester 
 
 Davies, T. R. Kirkham 
 
 Crippin, William Old Trafford 
 
 Davies, Alexander Fleetwood 
 
 Critchley, P. Singleton 
 
 Davies, James N. Poulton 
 
 Crombleholme, R. A. Halifax 
 
 Davies, William Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Cross, James Fleetwood 
 
 Danson, William ,, 
 
 Crossley, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Deakin, William Blackpool 
 
 Crossfield, W. P. Freckleton 
 
 Dean, C. A. Glasgow 
 
 Croxall, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 Derby, the Right Hon. 
 
 Crozier, Robert Lytham 
 Crookall, Elizabeth Fleetwood 
 
 Earl of KnowsleyHall 
 Desquesnes B. Blackpool 
 
 Crookall, John Springfield 
 
 Devonshire, His Grace 
 
 Coop, William Blackpool 
 
 the Duke of London 
 
 Coop, John ,, 
 
 Dewhurst, Edward Blackpool 
 
 Cooper, Henry ,, 
 
 Dewhurst, William ,, 
 
 Cooper, Jane Miss Kirkham 
 
 Dewhurst, William ,, 
 
 Cocker, Aid. Wm. H., 
 
 Dewhurst, John ,, 
 
 J.P., Mayor of Blackpool 
 
 Dewhurst, William Great Marton 
 
 Cockhill, Tom ,, 
 
 Dickinson, Mrs. Rock Ferry 
 
 Collins, George Fleetwood 
 
 Dickinson, Robert Blackpool 
 
 Collinson, Joseph Lytham 
 
 Dickson, W. J. Kirkham 
 
 Collinson, Elizabeth Barrow 
 Cornall, Cuthbert Blackpool 
 
 Dickson, William Preston 
 Dickson, J. B. ,, 
 
 Cornall, Richard ,, 
 
 Dickson, William Bryning 
 
 Cornall, Robert South Shore 
 
 Dixon, Mrs. Wesham 
 
 Corless, Thomas Pilling 
 
 Dixon, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Coulston, William Blackpool 
 
 Dixon, William ,, 
 
 Coulston, Councillor ,, 
 
 Dobson, John Preesall 
 
 Cowl, George ,, 
 
 Dobson, Miss Poulton 
 
 Cowell, Joshua Thornton 
 
 Dodgson, William Westby 
 
 Cowell, David Fleetwood 
 
 Dodgson, Brian Catterall 
 
 Crompton, Robert Blackpool 
 
 Donnelly, John Blackpool 
 
 Croft, John Fleetwood 
 
 Douglas, Robert Fleetwood 
 
 Croft, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Drewry, William 
 
 Croft, Mary Ann 
 
 Drewry, Thomas ,, 
 
 Crook, George 
 
 Drummond, Thomas A. ,, 
 
 Crook, Robert A. ,, 
 
 Dudley, Mrs. E. Kingswinford 
 
 Crook, H. M. 
 Crook, H. Newton 
 
 Dugdale, Richard Blackpool 
 Dunderdale, Richard ,, 
 
 Crook, Thomas Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Dunderdale, R., J.P. Poulton 
 
 Crook, Thomas Inskip 
 
 Dunkerley, John W. South Shore 
 
 Crookshaiik, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 
 Gumming, W. C. South Shore 
 
 Eastham, Henry Blackpool 
 
 Cunningham, J., J.P., Lytham 
 
 Eaton, Ellen 
 
 Cunliffe, Ellis, J.P. 
 
 Eaves, Robert
 
 IV 
 
 LIST OF 
 
 Eaves, William Blackpool 
 
 Garlick, George Bispham 
 
 Eaves, Edward South Shore 
 
 Garnett, James Lytnam 
 
 Eaves, Henry Poulton 
 
 Gardner, C. Kirkham 
 
 Eaves, Thomas Hambleton 
 
 Gardner, Thomas 
 
 Edmondson, Oswald R. Lytham 
 
 Gardner, R.C., J.P. Lune Bank 
 
 Edmondson, Thomas ,, 
 
 Gardner, Henry Blackpool 
 
 Edmondson, Margaret Blackpool 
 
 Gardner, John Layton 
 
 Edmondson, James ,, 
 Knt wi-t If, James South Shore 
 
 Gartside, Edward Blackpool 
 Gartside, J. S. 
 
 
 Garstang, James Lytham 
 
 Fagg, L. Davyhulme 
 
 Gaskell, T. J. Stalmine 
 
 Fair, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Gaskell, Mrs. Blackpool 
 
 Fair, Thomas, J.P. Lytham 
 
 Gaskell, David ,, 
 
 Fairclough, William Fleetwood 
 
 Gaskell, George Stockport 
 
 Fairclough, Richard Blackpool 
 
 Gaulter John South Shore 
 
 Fairclough, James Out Rawcliffe 
 Fairhurst, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Gaulter, Cuthbert Fleetwood 
 Gill, John Blackpool 
 
 Fairhurst, John ,, 
 
 Gillett, Agnes ,, 
 
 Fairweather, Wm. Ardwick 
 
 Gibson, John Fleetwood 
 
 Fallows, Margaret Blackpool 
 
 Gibson, Anne Kirkham 
 
 Farrar, William Withington 
 
 Gleave, Mary Blackpool 
 
 Farrington. James Fleetwood 
 
 Gorst, Richard Blackpool 
 
 Faulkner, Elizabeth Blackpool 
 
 Gore, John Weeton 
 
 Featherstonhaugh, H. ,, 
 
 Gornall, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 FeatherstonhaughjMrs. Poulton 
 
 Gornall, James Kirkham 
 
 Fenton, Mrs. Warton 
 
 Gornall, James Barrow 
 
 Fenton, Richard Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Green, Henry J. Blackpool 
 
 Field, William Fleetwood 
 
 Green, James 
 
 Fielden, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 Green, James Barrow 
 
 Fish, John Fleetwood 
 
 Gratrix, Samuel Manchester 
 
 Fish, B Barrow 
 
 Greenwood, J. B. Lytham 
 
 Fish, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 Greenwood, John Eccles 
 
 Fish, Edward 
 
 Greenwood, Edward Blackpool 
 
 Fish, Jane 
 
 Gregson, W. 
 
 Fish, John 
 
 Gregson, E. 
 
 Fisher, Councillor J. B. 
 
 Gregson, John Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Fisher, H. Mus. B., Can. 
 
 Gregson, Thomas Thornton 
 
 Fisher, Councillor J. Layton Hall 
 
 Gregson, Richard ,, 
 
 Fisher, Mrs. Layton Lodge 
 
 Gregson, Mrs. Hambleton 
 
 Fisher, Edward ., 
 
 Greenhalgh, John Blackpool 
 
 Fisher, Joseph Lytham 
 
 Greenhalgh, Richard Lytham 
 
 Fisher, Luke, M.D. 
 Fisher, S. Kirkham 
 
 Gregory, William Blackpool 
 Gregory, I. , F. R G. S. South Shore 
 
 Fitton, John ,, 
 
 
 Fleetwood, Baron Axel Sweden 
 Fleming Hugh Blackpool 
 
 Harper, Elizabeth Blackpool 
 Haigh, George ,, 
 
 Fletcher, M. 
 
 Harcoiirt and Foden 
 
 Fletcher, James Southport 
 
 Hall, James South Shore 
 
 Ford, Isaac Blackpool 
 
 Hall, Henry 
 
 Foster, George Fleetwood 
 
 Hall, Richard Freckleton 
 
 Fox, Henry Kirkham 
 
 Hall, Councillor L. South Shore 
 
 Fox, Miss Janet Upper Rawcliffe 
 
 Hall, Lawrence Great Eccleston 
 
 Fox, J. S. Rawcliffe 
 
 Hall, Thomas Fleetwood 
 
 Fox, Matthew Westby 
 
 Hargreaves, Joshh Blackpool 
 
 Fox, Thomas Avenham Hall 
 
 Hargreaves, Robert Lytham 
 
 Freeman, William Blackpool 
 
 Hargreaves, Edward H. Kirkham 
 
 Furness, John Fulwood 
 
 Hargreaves John Warton 
 
 
 Hargreaves, William 
 
 Garlick, Edward, J.P. Greenhalgh 
 
 Hammond, Mr. Poulton 
 
 Garlick, Ambrose 
 
 Hardhern, Mrs. ,, 
 
 Garlick, Robert 
 
 Hardman, James Thornton
 
 SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Hardinan, Aid., J.P., 
 
 South Shore (2) Hosker, William 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Hardman, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Horsfall, John 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Hardiuau, John 
 
 Little Marton 
 
 Holt, Richard 
 
 Roa Island 
 
 Harrison, J. 
 
 St. Michaels 
 
 Holt, James 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Harrison, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Holt, John W. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Harrison, Robert 
 
 j> 
 
 Howson, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Harrison, John 
 
 
 Howson, Thomas 
 
 
 Harrison, Ainsworth 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Howson, Thomas 
 
 
 Harrison, Edward 
 
 Norbreck 
 
 Hornby, Archdeacon 
 
 Bt Michael's 
 
 Harrison, William 
 
 
 Hornby Mr. 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 F.S.A..D.L., J.P. 
 
 Preston 
 
 Hornby, William 
 
 St. Michael's 
 
 Harrison, R. B. 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Hornby, John 
 
 Thornton 
 
 Harrison, Matthew 
 
 Catterall 
 
 Hope, Rev. S. 
 
 Southport 
 
 Harrison, William 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 Hope, Miss 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Harrop, Miss A. 
 
 Manchester 
 
 Houghton, William 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Halstead, Robert' 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Houghton, Thomas 
 
 Stalmine 
 
 Hanby, Richard 
 
 Manchester 
 
 Houghton, Adam 
 
 Pilling 
 
 Hawkins, Rev. H. B. 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Hoyles, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Harris, Henry 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Howard, Thomas 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Handley, Joseph 
 
 Bury 
 
 Hutchinson, William 
 
 Great E ccleston 
 
 Handley, Richard 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hull, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hayhurst, John 
 
 Preston 
 
 Hull, Richard 
 
 Thornton 
 
 Hayhurst, Thomas 
 
 Pilling 
 
 Hull, Thomas 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Haslem, D. 
 
 Singleton 
 
 Hull, Mrs. 
 
 Higher Lickow 
 
 Hatton, G. jun. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hull, John 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hankinson, John 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Hull, Rev. John, hon. canon 
 
 Hayworth, L. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 of Manchester 
 
 Y.-Tlll 
 
 Hayes, Mr. 
 
 it 
 
 Hull, Henry 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Heap, Thomas H. 
 
 
 Humphrys, G. M. 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Heath, Edward 
 
 S >uth Shore 
 
 Hunt, John 
 
 Cleveleys 
 
 Hemmingway, Edward 
 
 M 
 
 Hughes, Rev. R. J. 
 
 Rossall 
 
 Hesketh, William 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Hughes, W. H. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hesketh, R. 
 
 Treales 
 
 
 
 Hesketh, James 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Ibbison, Edward 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hedges, David 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Ingham, Robert 
 
 
 Heaton, T. W. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Ireland, Thomas 
 
 Westby 
 
 Hermon, Edward, M.P.Preston 
 
 
 
 Higginson, John 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Jackson, John 
 
 Preston 
 
 Higginson, Thomas 
 
 }> 
 
 Jackson, William 
 
 Singleton 
 
 Hill, Henry 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Jackson, Joseph 
 
 Gars tang 
 
 Hill, Samuel 
 
 PI 
 
 Jackson, Thomas 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Hines, William 
 
 
 Jackson, Mrs. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hines, Rev. Frederick 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Jackson, Robert 
 
 Hambleton 
 
 Hopwood, W. B. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Jackson, James 
 
 Stalinine 
 
 Holt, Alfred 
 
 ii 
 
 Jackson, Joseph 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hooton, William A. 
 
 ,, 
 
 Jackson, Richard 
 
 Newton 
 
 Holmes, George 
 
 
 Jackson, James 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Hogarth, Thomas 
 
 Revoe 
 
 Jackson, Richard 
 
 ,, 
 
 Hogarth, James 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Jackson, Jonathan 
 
 > 
 
 Holgate, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Jackson, James 
 
 Garstang 
 
 Holmes, John 
 
 , , 
 
 Jacson, C. R., J.P. 
 
 Barton Hall 
 
 Home, Rev. J. C. 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Jameson, J. M. 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Hodgson, James 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Jenkinson, William 
 
 Pilling 
 
 Hodgson, W. S. 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 Jenkinson, Miss 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hodgkinson, T. 
 
 Great Eccleston 
 
 Jenson, Evan 
 
 Pilling 
 
 Hodgkinson Thomas 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Jeffrey, Rev. N. S. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Hough, Rev. William 
 
 Hambleton 
 
 Jeffery, Ann 
 
 
 
 Holclen, James 
 
 Manchester 
 
 Johnson, Richard 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Holden, George 
 
 
 Johnson, John 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Holden, John 
 
 
 Johnstone, Margaret 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Holden, Thomas 
 
 Pilling 
 
 Johns, Henry 
 
 Blackpool
 
 VI 
 
 LIST OF 
 
 Jolly, John Wrea Green 
 
 Lord, Mrs. Catherine Hgr Broughton 
 
 Jolly, John Singleton 
 
 Lodge, Matthew Prestwich 
 
 Jolly, Miss Poulton 
 
 Lowe, George Blackpool 
 
 Jolly, George ,, 
 
 Lund, Richard Kirkham 
 
 Jolly, John South Shore 
 
 Lund, Mary 
 
 Jolly, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 
 Jolly, Elizabeth ,, 
 
 Mather, R. B. > Blackpool 
 
 Jolly, Margaret E. 
 
 Mather, Councillor ,, 
 
 Jolly, Edward G. 
 
 May bury, John 
 
 Jolly, William Elswick 
 Jolly, James Staining 
 
 Masheter, Alderman ,, 
 Markland, James 
 
 
 Macfadin, F. H. 
 
 Kay, Henry Thornton 
 
 Surgeon-Major 47th Regiment 
 
 Kay, Joseph Blackpool (3) 
 
 Marquiss, John Wesham 
 
 Kay, William South Shore 
 
 Marquiss, Thomas ,, 
 
 Kay, Andrew Pilling 
 
 Marquiss, James Kirkham 
 
 Kenworthy, E. E. Great Eccleston 
 
 Marsden, James Lytham 
 
 Kenyon, Betsy Blackpool 
 
 Martin, Jonathan Lytham 
 
 Keighley, Benjamin South Shore 
 Kettlewell, William Blackpool 
 
 Mason, Thomas Fleetwood 
 Mason, Richard Freckleton 
 
 Kemp, Frederick, J.P. Bispham Lodge 
 
 Mason, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Kemp, B. Working 
 
 Mason, John Layton Hawes 
 
 Kenoal, Rev. James Warton 
 
 Mayor, Charles Freckleton 
 
 Kerr, J. Lytham 
 
 McNaughtan,Ald.,M.D. Blackpool 
 
 King, Elizabeth Elswick 
 King. James Rochdale 
 Kirkham. Robert Great Eccleston 
 
 McNeal, Miss ,, 
 McMurtrie, William Lwr Broughton 
 Melling, Mrs. Preesall 
 
 Kirkham, Thomas Clifton 
 
 Memory, William Blackpool 
 
 Kirkham, Edward Blackpool 
 
 Meredith, Charles ,, 
 
 Kirtland, James Lytham 
 Knight, Robert Fleetwood 
 
 Meadows. Rev. T. Thornton 
 Miller, Mr. Great Eccleston 
 
 Knowles, John Heaton Grange 
 
 Miller, William P. Singleton 
 
 Knowles, James Blackpool 
 
 Miller, John Blackpool 
 
 Knowles, Mrs. Richard Lytham 
 
 Miller, Mary South Shore 
 
 Knowles, Mrs 
 
 Miller, T. H. Singleton Park 
 
 Knipe, Miss Kirkham 
 
 Miller, Mrs. Fleetwood 
 
 
 Milner, Thomas Inskip 
 
 Lane, Edwin Fleetwood 
 
 Milner, James Blackpool 
 
 Lazonby, R. E. Didsbury 
 
 Mitchell, Rev. W. W. 
 
 Lawrenson, Wm. Preesall 
 
 Mitchell, Mrs. S. 
 
 Lawrenson, John Bispham 
 
 Moss, Thomas 
 
 Lawrenson, Peter Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Moore, Thomas 
 
 Lawson, John Little Singleton 
 Lennard, James Blackpool 
 
 Moore, Alfred 
 Moore, Alexander 
 
 Lewtas, Robert ,, 
 
 Moore, C. E. 
 
 Lewtas, Thomas C. 
 
 Moore, Robert 
 
 Lewtas, Henry 
 Lewtas, Misses J. & C. Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Morris, Miss Louisa 
 Morris, C. H., M.D. 
 
 Lee, Thomas Packington 
 
 Morris, Edward 
 
 Lees, Joseph Oldham 
 
 Morris, Joshua ,, 
 
 Leech, William Fleetwood 
 
 Monk, Josiah Padiham 
 
 Leadbetter, Robert 
 
 Monk, Esau C. Fleetwood 
 
 Leadbetter, Richard ,, 
 
 Moon, Robert Freckleton 
 
 Leadbetter, Thomas 
 
 Moon, Robert South Shore 
 
 Leake, Robert Whitefield 
 
 Moon, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Lindley, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 Morrison, William ,, 
 
 Lister, William Blackpool 
 
 Morgan, A. F. ,, 
 
 Livesey, Howard Lancaster 
 
 Mossop, Rev. Isaac Woodplumpton 
 
 Linaker, Peter ^ Blackpool 
 
 Munn, John Blackpool 
 
 Longworth, David Preston 
 
 Murdock, James D. ,, 
 
 Loxharn, J. Walton Lytham 
 
 Mycock, Councillor ,,
 
 SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Vll 
 
 Myres, J. J. junr. Preston 
 Myres, J. J. Freckleton 
 
 Pickup, John 
 Pickup, Henry 
 Pickop, John 
 
 Blackpool 
 > 
 
 Newsham, Joseph F. Great Eccleston 
 Newby, James Blackpool 
 Newall, J. H. 
 Nickson, Mary Salwick 
 Nickson, Joseph Ballam 
 Nickson, Squires Blackpool 
 
 Pilling, Rev. W. 
 Pilling, Thomas 
 Poole, W. H. 
 Poole, John 
 Poole A. M. 
 Porter, Robert 
 
 Lytham 
 Blackpool (2) 
 Fleetwood 
 Bispham 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 Blackpool 
 
 Nickson, William ,, 
 
 Porter, J. E. 
 
 >j 
 
 Nickson, James 
 Nickson, John 
 Nickson, Richard ,, 
 Nicholson, Thomas Pilling 
 Nicholl, William Blackpool 
 Noblett, Miss Dorothy 
 Noblett, John Thornton 
 Nutter, Mrs. Elizabeth Accrington 
 Nutter, Win. H. St. Annes-on-the-Sea 
 Nuttall, Ann Blackpool 
 Nuttall, John Lees 
 
 Porter, John , 
 Porter, William St. Michael's 
 Porter, Edward Kirkham 
 Porter, Ralph Dowbridge 
 Porter, James Wigton 
 Porter, Edmund Fleetwood 
 Porter, Robert ,, 
 Porter, Miss ,, 
 Porter, William Rossall 
 Pollitt, J. B. Blackpool 
 Pountney, W. E., M.B.M.C. 
 
 Nuttall, Richard Warton 
 
 Pollard, Miss 
 
 .L/yciiam 
 Poulton 
 
 O'Donnell, Michael Blackpool 
 Ormerod, Councillor Newton Hall 
 Orr, J. A., M.D. Fleetwood 
 
 Pratt, James 
 Preston, Emma 
 Preston, Richard 
 
 Fleetwood 
 Blackpool 
 
 OSWIB, Miss Blackpool 
 
 Preston, George 
 Preston, Daniel 
 
 
 Pakes, Rev. C. Blackpool 
 Parsons, Mrs. Nantwich 
 
 Preston, Mrs 
 Prince, Daniel 
 
 
 Parnell, Alderman South Shore 
 Parker, William Lytham 
 Parker, William Blackpool 
 Parker, Peter 
 Parker, John 
 Parker, Thomas ,, 
 Parker, Adam 
 
 Price, John 
 Preston, George 
 Preston, Joseph 
 Preston, Henry 
 Preston, James 
 Proctor, Miss 
 Pye, Edward 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 Fleetwood 
 Thornton 
 Els wick 
 Blackpool 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Parker, Michael 
 Parkinson, John ,, 
 Parkinson, Thomas ,, 
 Parkinson, James 
 Parkinson, Nicholas Fleetwood 
 Parkinson, Robert Poulton 
 Parkinson, Robert ,, 
 Parkinson, Robert ,, 
 Parkinson, Richard ,, 
 Parkinson, William ,, 
 Parkinson, Richard Wesham 
 Parkinson, James Marton 
 
 Rawcliffe, Alexander 
 Ray, John 
 Ramsbottom, Jamea 
 Raby, Benjamin 
 Radford, William 
 Redman, John 
 Reynolds, Thomas 
 Reynolds, W. H. 
 Read, William 
 Read, John 
 Read, William 
 
 _ ; ci l 
 
 Fleetwood 
 Bispham 
 Castle Hill 
 Freckleton 
 Blackpool 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Grappenhall 
 Blackpool 
 
 Parkinson, James Lytham 
 Parkinson, James Layton 
 Parkinson, Robert Hambleton 
 Parkinson, Miss Preesall 
 Parr, Thomas E. Thornton 
 Pearson, Rev. James Fleetwood 
 Pearson, J. E. H. Blackpool 
 Pearson, John St. Michael s 
 
 Rennison, Sarah. 
 Reason, William 
 Ripus, D. 
 Rigby, James 
 Rigby, John 
 Ridgway, Squire 
 Riley, Thomas 
 Riley, P. D. 
 
 Freckleton 
 Blackpool 
 Singleton 
 Blackpool 
 
 Phipps, Emma M. Great Eccleston (2) 
 Phillips, Charles Blackpool 
 Phillips, Rev. S. J. Rossall 
 Pickup, Miss E. Fleetwood 
 
 Riley, Mr. 
 Riley, John, J.P. 
 Rimmer, John, jun. 
 Pvimmer, William 
 
 Oldham 
 Blackpool 
 ii
 
 Vlll 
 
 LIST OF 
 
 Rimmer, Samuel 
 
 Blackpool Singleton, George 
 
 St. Michaels 
 
 Richards, R. C., J.P. 
 
 Clifton Lodge 
 
 Singleton, Joseph 
 
 Layton 
 
 Richardson. Rev. W. 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Singleton, James 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Richardson, John 
 
 Warton 
 
 Singleton, Richard 
 
 Wardleys 
 
 Richardson, Edward 
 
 
 
 Singleton, John 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Richardson, Robert 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 Singleton, John 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Richmond, Edward 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Singleton, John 
 
 Heyhouses 
 
 Roskell, Robert 
 
 Hambleton 
 
 Singleton, John 
 
 Stalmine 
 
 Roskell, Robert 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Singleton, Richard 
 
 L. Poulton Hall 
 
 Roskell, John 
 
 ^ 
 
 Simpson, John 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Rossall, Richard 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Simpson, W. E. 
 
 
 Rossall, Robert 
 
 St. Michael's 
 
 Simpson, John 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Rossall, William 
 
 Little Bispham 
 
 Silcock, Richard 
 
 Thornton Hall 
 
 Rossall, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Simmons, Rev. J. F. 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Robinson, Roger 
 
 > 
 
 Silverwood, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Robinson, J. H. 
 
 M 
 
 Skelton, James 
 
 f> 
 
 Robinson, T. G. 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Slater, John 
 
 
 Rowley, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Slater, James 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Rowcroft. William 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Smith, Mrs. 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Royles. Thomas 
 
 J, 
 
 Smith, Robert 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Roe, Miss 
 
 Hambleton 
 
 Smith, T. H. 
 
 M 
 
 Ross, Thomas 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Smith, Christopher 
 
 Bispham 
 
 Rossall, Richard 
 
 Little Marton 
 
 Smith, Robert 
 
 
 Rushton, Theodica 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Smith, John L 
 
 
 Rnshton, R. 
 
 M 
 
 Smelt, Thomas 
 
 Old Trafford 
 
 Rymer, Thomas 
 
 
 Snalam, George 
 
 Thistleton 
 
 Rymer, Thomas 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Sowerbutts, H. E. 
 
 Preston 
 
 
 
 Southward, Ambrose 
 
 Rawcliffe 
 
 Sanderson, William 
 
 Carleton 
 
 Southward, John 
 
 Preesall 
 
 Sanderson, William 
 
 Bispham 
 
 Speakman, Thomas 
 
 Hghr Broughton 
 
 Sanderson, Peter 
 
 Carleton 
 
 Speak, W. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Sanderson, Robert 
 
 n 
 
 Speak, William 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Salthouse, Thomas 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Spencer, James 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 Salthouse, Ezekiel 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Stanton, Thomas 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Sandham, William 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Stanley, Isaac 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Scott, Thomas 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Stephenson, Mrs 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Scott, John 
 
 Clifton 
 
 Stead, Edward George 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Scott, Rev. Walter 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 Stirzaker, Matthew 
 
 LittleEccleston 
 
 Seed, Mrs. James 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Strickland, Thomas 
 
 )( 
 
 Seed, James 
 
 Freckleton 
 
 Strickland, Henry 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Seed, G. L. 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Strickland, John 
 
 Marton 
 
 Seed, William 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 St. Clair,J.,M.B.,C.M 
 
 . Blackpool 
 
 Seed, Thomas 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 Stott, Samuel 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Seddon, Mrs 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Stanclish, Mrs 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Sedgwick, Elizabeth 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Standish, John 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Shepherd, William 
 
 Singleton 
 
 Stoba, William 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Shepherd, James 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Stafford, Thomas 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Sharpies. George 
 
 tj 
 
 Stewart, Thomas 
 
 St. Michael's 
 
 Sharpies, John 
 
 Lytham 
 
 Sumner, John 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Sharpies, Councillor 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Sumner, Joseph 
 
 Preston 
 
 Shaw, William 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Sunderland. T. 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Sharp, Henry 
 
 y| 
 
 Sutcliffe, Gill 
 
 
 Shee, Michael 
 
 ,, 
 
 Swarbrick, George 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Shaw, Robert, J.P. 
 
 Come Hall 
 
 Swarbrick, James 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Sharp," John 
 
 Lancaster 
 
 Swarbrick, Edward 
 
 Great Eccleston 
 
 Shorrocks, James 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Swarbrick, John 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Shawcross, James 
 
 t> 
 
 Swarbrick, James G. 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Shorrocks, Miss E. S. 
 
 St. Michael's 
 
 Swallow, George 
 
 Cheetham 
 
 Sheffington, Edward 
 Singleton, William 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Swann, Robert 
 Swan, John 
 
 Wesham 
 Kirkham 
 
 Singleton, Richard 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Swain, James 
 
 Fleetwood
 
 IX 
 
 Swift, James 
 Sykes, James, jun. 
 Sykes, Isaac 
 Sykes, Robert 
 Sykes, B. Corless 
 Sykes, James Albert 
 Sykes, Thomas B. 
 Sykes, James 
 Sykes, Benjamin 
 
 Taylor, Miss N. 
 Taylor, Mr 
 Taylor, William 
 Taylor, Rev. Roger 
 Taylor, Miss E. 
 Taylor, Robert 
 Taylor, A. 
 Taylor, Richard 
 Taylor, James 
 Talbot, William 
 Terry, W. H. 
 Thompson, William 
 Thompson, Joseph 
 Thompson, Christopher 
 Thompson, Wm. C. 
 Thompson, James 
 Thompson, James 
 Thompson, Stephen 
 Thornton, Mrs 
 Thornber, P. Harrison 
 Threlfall, Thomas 
 Threlfall, Richard 
 Threlfall, George 
 Threlfall, Richard 
 Topping, Edward 
 Townson, Richard 
 Todd, Eave 
 Towers, John 
 Topham, John 
 Tomlinson, Richard 
 Turner, Philip 
 Turner, James 
 Turner, Mrs. 
 Turner, Capt. Henry 
 Turnbull, Joseph 
 Tunstall, James 
 Twigg, J. B. 
 Tyler, Robert 
 
 Warbreck 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Seaforth 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 Breck Honse 
 Preston 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 Southport (2) 
 Poulton 
 Lytham 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Els wick 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Hambleton 
 
 Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Preesall 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 South Shore 
 
 Rossall 
 Blackpool 
 
 Fleetwood 
 Kirkham 
 Warton 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Poulton 
 
 Stockport 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 St. Michael's 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Thornton 
 
 Ulyeat, William Blackpool 
 
 Underwood, Thomas H. ,, 
 Upton, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 Valiant, Robert 
 Valiant, James 
 
 Ward, Robert 
 Ward, John 
 Ward, William 
 Ward, John 
 Walsh, Richard 
 
 Fleetwood 
 Skippool 
 
 Blackpool 
 
 Kirkham 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Fleetwood 
 
 Wardleys 
 
 Walsh, John 
 
 Upper Raw- 
 cliffe 
 
 Hambleton 
 Blackpool 
 
 Wade, Mrs. I. 
 Wade, Elizabeth M. 
 Wade, Thomas 
 
 Wade, Thomas ,, 
 
 Waring, Thomas ,, 
 
 Waring, Robert Lytham 
 
 Ware, Titus Nibbert Bowden 
 
 Watts, Edward Longsight 
 
 Warbrick, Richard Fleetwood 
 
 Warbrick, John Lytham 
 
 Warbrick, Richard ,, 
 
 Walmsley, Fred ,, 
 
 Walmsley, Thomas ,, 
 
 Walmsley, Joseph Carleton 
 
 Walmsley, Joeeph Fleetwood 
 
 Waddii*gton, Miss M. Kirkham 
 Walker, Dr. J. D. 
 
 Walker, Thomas Blackpool 
 
 Walker, William Arbroath 
 
 Walker, Joseph Eccles 
 
 Walker, Miss Alice 
 Wainwright, Rev. C. H. Blackpool 
 
 Waite, John ,, 
 
 Wayrnan, Rev. James ,, 
 Whatmough and Wilkinson ,, 
 
 Weston, D. 
 
 Wartenberg, Siegfried Lytham 
 
 Westhead, Mrs. Lytham 
 
 Whiteside, John Bispham 
 
 Whiteside, John, jun. ,, 
 
 Whiteside, John Larbreck 
 
 Whiteside, John Freckleton 
 
 Whiteside, Robert Kirkham 
 
 Whiteside, George Lytham 
 
 Whiteside, Jane Blackpool 
 
 Whiteside, Ann ,, 
 
 Whiteside, Charlotte ,, 
 
 Whiteside, Robert ,, 
 
 Whiteside, Robert ,, 
 
 Whiteside, Robert Ballam 
 
 Whiteside, Robert Marton 
 
 Whiteside, Thomas South Shore 
 
 Whiteside, William Westby 
 
 Whiteside, Thomas Ballam 
 
 Whiteside, George Larbrick 
 
 Whiteside, Thomas Little Eccleston 
 
 Whiteside, John Fleetwood 
 
 Whiteside, John J. ,, 
 
 White, Ann Blackpool 
 
 White, Evan ,, 
 
 Whittington, Mr. 
 
 Whittaker, James ,, 
 
 Whittaker, John ,, 
 
 Whittaker, John ,, 
 
 Whittaker, Henry Lytham 
 
 Whitworth, John Alderley Edge 
 
 Whitworth, Robert Manchester 
 
 Whitworth, Alfred Ru.sholme 
 
 W'hitworth, B., M.P. London, (3)
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Whitworth, Thomas Withington (3) 
 
 Worthington, W. H. South Shore 
 
 Whalley, John Blackpool 
 
 Worthington, Thomas Poulton 
 
 Whalley, Henry South Shore 
 
 Worthington, John Warton 
 
 Whalley, Charles Kirkham 
 
 Worthington, Thomas Trenton, Ontario 
 
 Whitehead, Edward Bolton 
 
 Worthington, James Stockport 
 
 Wild, James Blackpool 
 
 Worthington, Henry South Shore 
 
 Wilson, Henry T. Blackpool 
 
 Wood, Rev. L. C. Singleton 
 
 Wilson, William R. Lytham 
 
 Woods, Richard Kirkham 
 
 Wilson, George Blackpool 
 
 Woods, George Butler Fleetwood 
 
 Wilson, Thomas ,, 
 
 Wood, Robert 
 
 Wilson, Thomas Fleetwood 
 
 Woodcock, Miss Blackpool 
 
 Wilson, Edward Norbreck 
 
 Woodcock, Elizabeth 
 
 Wilton, John Freckleton 
 
 Woodcock, J. & M. 
 
 Wiggins, W. Blackpool 
 
 Wolstenholme Bros. 
 
 Williamson, Robert Out Rawcliffe 
 
 Woodley, Mrs. Jane ,, 
 
 Williamson, Thomas ,, 
 
 Woodhead, Miss M. A. ,, 
 
 Williamson, Thomas ,, 
 
 Woodhall, John 
 
 Wilkinson, Miss Ellen 
 
 Woodhouse, John Stalmine 
 
 Wilkinson, Thomas . ,, 
 
 Woodhouse, Charles 
 
 Wilkinson, Joseph Blackpool 
 
 Wright, John Thornton 
 
 Wilkinson, Robert ,, 
 Wildman, William 
 
 Wright, Joseph Blackpool 
 Wright, William Fleetwood 
 
 Wilde, Isaac 
 
 Wright, Sarah ,, 
 
 Wilding, Richard ,, 
 
 Wright, G. 
 
 Wilkinson, George Bispham 
 
 Wright, Rev. Adam Gilsland 
 
 Wilkinson, John Blackpool 
 
 Wright, Miss Jane Kirkham 
 
 Wilks, Christopher Lytham 
 
 Wray, John Blackpool 
 
 Winterbot.tam, Dr. Manchester 
 
 Wray, John ,, 
 
 Wignall, John, J.P. Fleetwood 
 
 Wyhe, Robert 
 
 Worthington, George Lytham 
 
 Wylie, Jonathan >} 
 
 Worthington, John Blackpool 
 
 
 Worthington, William 
 
 Young, John Kirkham
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
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