The parish of Preston

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1912.

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'The parish of Preston', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp72-91 [accessed 25 November 2024].

'The parish of Preston', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online, accessed November 25, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp72-91.

"The parish of Preston". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1912), , British History Online. Web. 25 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp72-91.

In this section

PRESTON

Preston; Ribbleton; Grimsargh and Brockholes; Elston; Fishwick; Broughton; Haighton; Barton; Lea, Ashton, Ingol and Cottam

The parish of Preston lies on the north bank of the Ribble, and has an area of 16,116 acres, including 207½ acres of tidal water. The population in 1901 was 115,483, mostly within the borough of Preston. The surface is undulating, with a general rise towards the north and east.

The history of the parish is practically that of the town which has given its name to the whole. The old portion of the town occupies the centre of a table-land between two brooks which flow south-west into the Ribble, (fn. 1) this navigable river completing the boundary on the south side. Along each side of the Ribble are level tracts of low-lying land, but just at the town the surface rises sharply from the river to the table-land named. To the west of the town was the marsh, while a moor extended itself along the northern boundary. The main street ran from east to west, being the continuation of the road from the south across Ribble Bridge, into which at the entrance of the town came a road from Ribchester. The street had a continuation down to the riverside, but its main line turned to the north-west, and after passing out of the town divided, part forming the main road north and part going west to Kirkham. On the south side of the main street stood the parish church, while on the opposite side, further west just at the turning was the moot hall, with the market place behind it. These streets and buildings, though improved and renewed on a grander scale, have remained predominant features of the town.

PRESTON

The traces of early history are but scanty. (fn. 2) From the Roman station at Walton-leDale on the south bank of the Ribble, the north road, crossing the river by a ford, passed through Preston, (fn. 3) and as this place had good communication westward by water and stood in the centre of two level and fruitful districts—The Fylde to the north-west and Leyland to the south—it had probably some importance from an early time, and may well have been part of 'the land by Ribble' granted to St. Wilfrid for the endowment of his monastery at Ripon about 670. (fn. 4) On the other hand it was obviously exposed to the incursions of the Norse pirates.

Preston was at that time within the kingdom of Northumbria and diocese of York, and at the Conquest was fiscally still part of the county of York. It was in 1066 the head of a fee or lordship comprising the whole district of Amounderness, held by Earl Tostig. Afterwards it was granted to Roger of Poitou, (fn. 5) who probably created a borough there, on which the privileges of a guild merchant were conferred in 1179, the town being then in the king's hands. There is other evidence of its relative importance, and it had a market and fair. (fn. 6) As a borough Preston sent two burgesses to some of the early Parliaments—from 1295 to 1331—but the burdensome duty fell into abeyance, not being resumed till 1529 and 1545. (fn. 7) Even in 1601 the election of a member was left to the choice of Sir Robert Cecil. (fn. 8)

The position of the town in the centre of the county and on a great road from south to north has occasioned its being the scene of many stormy events. On 4 November 1315 Adam Banastre and his confederates led their force to Preston, and, having overcome Sir Adam de Huddleston and others sent to check them, captured the place and made levies on the townsmen. Later in the same day, however, they were overthrown by Edmund de Nevill, the sheriff, who led the main force of the county. (fn. 9) Some seven years later the parish was laid waste by the Scots, who probably burnt the town. (fn. 10) A minor disturbance took place in 1338, when John, Nicholas and William Deuyas, with a number of armed comrades, having crossed the Ribble, made sundry assaults at Ribchester and then went on to Preston. Here they lay hid in the fields near the Grey Friars' house, and when Thomas Starkie and others came near those in ambush set upon them, shooting arrows and driving them into the Friars' church. The rioters afterwards went to Kidsnape in Goosnargh. (fn. 11)

In 1332 a total of £9 4s. 7¼d. was raised in the parish by a subsidy, the hundred paying £53 18s. 2¼d. The amounts for the various townships (fn. 12) are much the same as those fixed for the 'fifteenth' (fn. 13); while the county lay of 1624, considered a fair tax at the time, required the parish to contribute £15 17s. 4½d. towards £100 for Amounderness. (fn. 14) This shows a reduction in the relative value of Preston in the 300 years' interval.

About 1340 the borough had not only the parish church, but an old leper hospital with its chapel and a house and church of Grey Friars (fn. 15); the chapel at Broughton probably existed, and one or two minor oratories. In the centre of the parish was the forest district of Fulwood, in which the burgesses had secured certain rights. The parish suffered from the plague in 1349–50; the Archdeacon of Richmond in a claim for probate dues alleged that 3,000 men and women had succumbed to it, and the jury, in allowing him £10, seem to have estimated the number of wills proved as about fifty in the period defined, viz. from 8 September 1349 to 11 January following. (fn. 16) Some trouble with the labourers appears to have followed the plague. (fn. 17)

The Guild meetings are known to have been held early in the 14th century, for Kuerden has preserved certain regulations of a mayor's court held in June 1328, (fn. 18) in which reference was made to an order decreed 'in the time of our last Guild Merchant.' It was agreed that the mayor, bailiffs and burgesses might 'set a guild merchant at every twenty years,' if necessary, the fees to 'go whole to the mayor at the renewing of the guild and refreshing of our town,' the object being the preservation of the guild, and therefore of the royal charter, by a regular purging of the roll and admission of new burgesses. (fn. 19) The earliest roll extant is that of 1397, and in spite of the order quoted the Guilds were held at irregular intervals; from 1542, however, they have been celebrated every twenty years without a break, the latest being that of 1902. (fn. 20) From 1562 the time of holding the festival has been the Monday after 29 August, the Decollation of St. John Baptist, patron of the guild. The roll of 1397 gives first the In Burgesses—' those who are in the forenamed guild and whose fathers were in' it; then the Foreign Burgesses—knights and gentry of the county in many cases (fn. 21); and then 'the names of those whose fathers were not in the forenamed guild and therefore made fine.' (fn. 22) The entries afford information as to the trades practised in the town, for there are named chaloner, coaler, draper, fleshewer, glover, mason, mercer, miller, saddler, souter, spicer, tailor, webster and wright. At the back of the roll are names of women members, being widows or daughters of members. (fn. 23)

The class of foreign burgesses was at first very small, but in the 17th century and later 'wholesale admissions of the neighbouring gentry and others seeking connexion with Preston as a matter of honour or social advantage and the promotion of many Out Burgesses of long standing to the class of In Burgesses with its larger privileges,' made the number of non-resident burgesses larger than that of the townsmen enrolled, and ' it became necessary to check the process of appropriation of these franchises by non-residents and strangers.' (fn. 24) An inferior class named Stallingers first appeared in the roll of 1562; they were permitted to live and trade in the town, but not admitted to be burgesses. The new borough created seventy years ago destroyed the political importance of the guild, but it remains in full vigour as a popular festival.

The officers ot the Guild were the mayor, who was also mayor of the borough, stewards and aldermen. The following is a list of mayors: 1328, Aubred son of Robert; 1397, William de Erghum (Arkholme); 1415, Henry Johnson; 1459, Robert Hoghton; 1500, William Marshall; 1542, Thomas Tipping; 1562, Thomas Wall; 1582, George Walton; 1602, Henry Catterall; 1622, William Preston; 1642, Edmund Werden; 1662, James Hodgkinson; 1682, Roger Sudell; 1702, Josias Gregson; 1722, Edmund Assheton; 1742, Henry Farington; 1762, Robert Parker; 1782, Richard Atherton; 1802 and 1822, Nicholas Grimshaw; 1842, Samuel Horrocks; 1862, Robert Townley Parker; 1882, Edmund Birley; 1902, the Earl of Derby. (fn. 25) The meetings sometimes lasted a fortnight.

To return from this digression, we find that in the time of Henry Duke of Lancaster (1351–61) the courts of the duchy were held at Preston, (fn. 26) and once at least the parish church served as a court-house. (fn. 27) Usually they seem to have been held at Lancaster, but in time of pestilence were transferred to Preston. (fn. 28) An inquiry as to the obstructions to the passage of vessels up the Ribble was ordered in 1359. (fn. 29) A matter of this kind may have contributed to the decline evident in the importance of the town in the 15th century. 'The burgesses were fewer in number in 1459 than in 1415. The old freemen, sons of fathers who had been in the guild, had dwindled down . . . to about ninety persons,' though the foreign burgesses had slightly increased to forty-five. The new in burgesses admitted in 1459 numbered ninety-three, the roll being thus doubled. (fn. 30)

In 1536, during the excitement of the Pilgrimage of Grace, the Earl of Derby made Preston his head quarters, but on 30 October was able to publish the king's proclamation and desire the gentlemen to go home. (fn. 31) The Earl of Sussex was there in 1537 on a similar work for the pacification of the north; he thought there was 'not a scarcer country both for horse meat and man's meat in England.' As to his mission, he expected to leave the people as 'obedient, faithful, and dreadful subjects' as any in England. (fn. 32) Leland visited the place about that time, and writes thus: 'Half a mile beyond Darwen I passed over the great stone bridge of Ribble, having a v. great arches. From Ribble Bridge to Preston half a mile. Preston hath but one parish church. The market place of the town is fair. Ribble goeth round about a great piece of the ground about town, yet it toucheth not the town itself by space of almost half a mile. . . . A mile without Preston I rode over Savock, a big brook, the which, rising in the hills a iii. or iv. miles off on the right hand, not very far off goeth into Ribble.' (fn. 33)

The town and district were hostile to the Reformation. Even at present, in spite of former penal laws and the vast changes effected by modern industries with their new populations, Preston remains a stronghold of Roman Catholicism. Various incidents recorded in the accounts of the church and the separate townships give evidence of the state of affairs in the time of Elizabeth, and a few more may be added to illustrate a matter of such importance. Thus the Guild of 1582 was marked by a complaint from Lawrence Wall, one of the principal burgesses, that George Walton, the Guild mayor, was promoting the celebration for his own gain, while he himself opposed it as 'tending to mere superstition, as may appear by the view of the ancient records of the said town concerning the keeping of the old guild merchant there, (fn. 34) tending to this effect that the guild should begin with procession and a mass of the Holy Ghost—now not tolerable—and divers other superstitious rites and ceremonies now abrogated.' Wall had urged the mayor—but in vain—to execute the statute against unlawful games and plays, such as the keeping of common bowling alleys, unlawful playing at cards and dice. The mayor and his wife had been ordered by the ecclesiastical commission to receive the holy communion but had not done so. (fn. 35)

Next year it was the Bishop of Chester who denounced it and two other places as having a people 'most obstinate and contemptuous' of the Elizabethan laws on religion; he desired the government 'to deal severely and roundly with them.' (fn. 36)

In the autumn of 1600 a priest named Robert Middleton, a Yorkshireman educated at the English College at Rome, was arrested near Preston by Sir Richard Hoghton, and after being examined by him and Thomas Hesketh (fn. 37) was delivered to the mayor of Preston, who sent him to Lancaster Castle. On the way, near Myerscough, 'they were overtaken by four horsemen and a man on foot, who demanded whether the prisoner was a priest and attempted to rescue him. A desperate affray ensued, in which the assailants were worsted and Greenlow, one of the horsemen, was taken prisoner. The party then returned to Preston, and Greenlow was examined.' It turned out that he was a seminary priest, a Yorkshireman named Thurstan Hunt. In the end both the priests were condemned as traitors for their priesthood only, and were executed at Lancaster in the March following. (fn. 38)

At the Bishop of Chester's visitation in 1605 sixty-eight recusants were presented in Preston town, and nineteen others in the parish, some being described as arch-recusants. Argument was dealt with after the manner of the time: 'William Urmston, gentleman, a great seducing Papist, seduceth the people very much, and sometimes a crafty subtle lawyer. The churchwardens desire some course may be taken with him that they be not troubled with his subtle arguments.' One William Ridley was 'supposed to have many masses said in his house since the death of the queen, whereunto many have resorted.' (fn. 39)

Somewhat later, in 1629 and subsequent years, the following recusants compounded by annual fines for the sequestration of two-thirds of their estates: In Preston—Henry Ashton, £3 6s. 8d.; Alexander Rigby, £2; James Walton, £6; Grace Wilkinson, £3. In Broughton—Hugh Crook, William Singleton and George Wilkinson, £2 each. In Ribbleton —John Farington, £6 13s. 4d. In Grimsargh— William Hoghton, £10. The following compounded for arrears only, having been induced to conform: Henry Sudell of Preston and Henry Grayson of Fulwood. (fn. 40) Richard Hurst, a yeoman of the district, probably of Broughton, was to be arrested for recusancy by order of the Bishop of Chester. The violence of the officers provoked a fight, and one of them afterwards died. Hurst was charged with murder, and it is stated that the judge at the trial, Sir Henry Yelverton, 'informed the jury that the prisoner was a recusant and had resisted the bishop's authority; and told them that he must be found guilty of murder, as an example.' The jury returned this verdict, but Hurst on his way to execution was offered his life if he would take the oath of allegiance. As it contained anti-Catholic clauses he refused, and was accordingly executed 29 August 1628. (fn. 41)

James I was entertained by the mayor and corporation during his progress from the north to London in 1617. Arriving at the cross on 15 August he was received by the mayor and corporation and presented with a bowl; after the recorder's speech the king went to a banquet in the Guildhall. (fn. 42) A great pestilence is recorded in 1630–1. The guild order book of the time states that 1,100 persons and upwards died within the town and parish of Preston from the plague, which began about 10 November 1630 and lasted a whole year. (fn. 43)

On the outbreak of the Civil War the people of the district in general espoused the king's side. (fn. 44) One of the powder magazines for the county had been established at Preston in 1639. (fn. 45) Before the actual outbreak of war Lord Strange in June 1642 summoned a muster of the armed force of the county on the moor to the north of the town, (fn. 46) and Preston itself was garrisoned by Royalists soon afterwards. (fn. 47) Early in the following year Sir John Seaton led the Parliament's troops to attack it. They found it to be defended by a brick wall, but made the assault with great courage on 9 February 1642–3, and after two hours' fighting captured the town. The mayor, Adam Mort, died of his wounds; he had threatened to burn the place, beginning with his own dwelling, rather than suffer it to fall into the power of the Parliament. (fn. 48) Mr. Anderton of Clayton, the commandant of the garrison, was taken prisoner with several other local men of importance, and some were killed. Various guns and war stores were captured 'and divers were pillaged to a purpose.' (fn. 49) Rosworm, the famous engineer, afterwards re-fortified the position.

Five weeks later, 20 March, Lord Derby having learnt that the place was weak because troops had been drawn away to resist him at Lancaster, hurried to Preston and recaptured it for the king. The mayor, Edmund Werden, was in charge of the town, and refused to surrender it; but assaults were made at three points by Captains Chisnall, Radcliffe and Rawstorne, and after an hour's struggle the place was taken. There was no general plunder, but Lord Derby 'gave command that the houses of those who had betrayed the town before should be responsible to his majesty for their masters' treason, whose goods his lordship ordered to be seized and equally divided among the soldiers.' (fn. 50)

Prince Rupert was in the town on 23 June 1644, (fn. 51) and returned to it about a fortnight later, having been defeated at Marston Moor. He then retreated south to Chester, and from that time the Parliament had command of Preston. (fn. 52) The meetings of the Sequestration Committee were usually held there, and there was a Presbyterian classis with meetings of the Provincial assembly. (fn. 53) The post stages arranged at that time show that starting from London on Saturday morning a dispatch should reach Manchester on Wednesday night and Preston the next day at noon. (fn. 54)

After a few years' rest the town had renewed experience of war, for in August 1648 the army of Scotch Covenanters under the Duke of Hamilton in their march southward were joined near Preston by English Cavaliers under Sir Marmaduke Langdale. Religious differences prevented the two bodies acting in harmony, and when Cromwell, hastening unexpectedly from Yorkshire, attacked them on 17 August they were overcome. The field of battle was to the east of the town, from Ribbleton Moor to the river. The duke's forces were partly to the north of the Ribble and partly to the south. Langdale's horse covered their left flank and thus met the first onset of Cromwell's army. It was imagined that this was no more than Colonel Assheton and the Lancashire bands, and so the duke seems to have continued sending his infantry over the river southwards. The weakened force, after a hot fight of some four hours, was driven into Preston itself, where fighting was witnessed, and then scattered to north and to south; many were slain, numerous prisoners were taken, and the ammunition also. (fn. 55) The duke was hotly pursued the next day and finally routed near Winwick. Just three years later, on 14 August 1651, Prince Charles, 'the King of Scots,' passed through Preston on his way south, riding through the streets on horseback so that he might be seen by the people. Lord Derby, having there assembled what force he could from the district, followed him to the overthrow at Worcester. (fn. 56)

The people seem to have welcomed the Restoration, and the public proclamation of Charles II, on 11 May 1660, was made with the usual signs of popular approval. (fn. 57) William Cole, the vicar, preached a sermon on 24 May, the public thanksgiving day, and it was printed with a dedication to Sir George Booth, the leading Presbyterian Royalist. (fn. 58) By a singular decision of the House of Commons in 1661 'all the inhabitants' of the borough were declared entitled to vote for the members of Parliament; and though it does not seem to have been acted upon till 1768 this democratic suffrage was the law till 1832. (fn. 59) The hearth tax return of 1663 (fn. 60) shows that there were 727 hearths taxable in the town; Alexander Rigby had the largest dwelling, with fifteen hearths. (fn. 61) Ribbleton had twenty hearths taxed; the hall seems to have had six, but was divided into three tenements. Fishwick had twentyfive, four being the largest number to one house. Grimsargh with Brockholes had thirty-six, the principal houses being those of the two squires, each with five hearths. Elston had twenty-eight; three of the houses had four hearths taxed. Barton had 102, all in small houses except the hall, which had twenty-two hearths, being the largest house in the parish. Broughton had eighty-two, of which twelve belonged to the Tower. Lea, Ashton and Cottam had forty-nine, thirty-two and twenty-seven respectively; all the houses were small, except Lea Hall, with thirteen hearths. (fn. 62) Fulwood had fiftyone; the largest house had seven hearths. A number of tradesmen's tokens were issued about 1666. (fn. 63)

From several descriptions of the town about the end of the 17th century it seems to have been prosperous. Kuerden has left two descriptions of its state in 1680–90. Crossing the Ribble by the bridge at Walton he entered the town at the Bars. The Pattens' mansion stood on the right, 'a sumptuous house.' Proceeding along Church Street he passed the church and school on the left and 'many stately houses' on the right, on which side also stood the town hall and shambles. Opposite these last a footpath led down to the Penwortham ferry boat. Going past the cross, leaving Fishergate on the left, with its ' many good houses . . . lately erected,' he went through Cheapside and along Friargate, where were yet more 'good houses.' Passing through the Bars he came to the Moorgate and the common, noticing Alderman Wall's 'fair house' on the left. He then followed the causey The town seems to have maintained the same loyal disposition, for when James II visited Chester in 1687 the corporation of Preston sent a deputation with an address; Cartwrighfs Diary (Camd. Soc.), 74. over the moor to Fulwood and Cadley Moor; so he came to Broughton Tower and church and afterwards to St. Lawrence's Chapel and Barton Hall, and passed on to Goosnargh. (fn. 64) Celia Fiennes was pleased with it: 'Preston (she says) stands on a hill and is a very good market town. Saturday is their market, which day I was there and saw it was provided with all sorts of things: leather, corn, coals, butter, cheese, and fruit and garden things. There is a very spacious market place and pretty church and several good houses. . . . The generality of the buildings, especially in two or three of the great streets, were very handsome, better than in most country towns, and the streets spacious and well pitched.' (fn. 65) In 1709 it was thought 'a very pretty town with abundance of gentry in it; commonly called Proud Preston.' (fn. 66) As a port it had declined. (fn. 67)

The religious conditions it is difficult to determine. The corporation was Tory and the vicars of the parish Whig. There were numerous Dissenters, but the relative importance of the Roman Catholics had no doubt declined during the century, and was still further weakened by the disasters of 1715. (fn. 68)

The invasion of the Scottish Jacobites in that year penetrated as far south as Preston, and drew many adherents from the neighbourhood, but ' all Papists.' (fn. 69) The army was placed under the command of a lawyer, Thomas Forster of Etherston, member of Parliament for Northumberland, and it arrived at Preston on 9–10 November some 1,700 strong (fn. 70) James III was proclaimed king in the market place. On Saturday the 12th orders were given that the whole force wae to advance to Manchester, but news being brought, greatly to their surprise, that General Wills was advancing from Wigan to attack them, they resolved to await him. Forster appears to have been badly advised; he refused to defend Ribble Bridge and the fords, so that the royal troops crossed the river without opposition and at once made a vigorous attack on the town (fn. 71) Some trenches and barricades had been formed, and the defenders repelled all the attacks with success, the king's troops suffering severely. Darkness put a stop to the fighting on Saturday, but next day Wills received a considerable accession of strength from General Carpenter, who came up from the east, and was thus able to surround the town. The Jacobites found that they must either cut their way through the king's forces or surrender, having but slight provision for a sustained defence. The following day accordingly they laid down their arms in the market place, (fn. 72) and the king's troops took possession of the town; it is said that they plundered many of the houses. The prisoners were confined in the church for a month, and fed upon bread and water at the cost of the townspeople. (fn. 73) Some were executed; in December four officers were shot (fn. 74); the next month some local volunteers were hanged at Gallows Hill, close to the present Moor Park: Richard Shuttleworth of Preston, Roger Muncaster of Garstang, Thomas Cowpe of Walton-le-Dale, William Butler and William Arkwright; and in the following February Richard Chorley of Chorley and six others (fn. 75) were executed in the same way.

Defoe in 1727 found Preston a fine and gay town, but inferior in population to Liverpool and Manchester. It was 'full of attorneys, proctors and notaries' employed in the special palatine courts. There was 'a great deal of good company,' but not so much 'as was before the late bloody action with the Northern rebels; not that the battle hurt many of the immediate inhabitants, but the consequences of it so severely affected many families thereabout that they still retain the remembrance of it.' (fn. 76) The earliest 'prospect' of the town is dated 1728; it was drawn from the south side by S. and N. Buck. (fn. 77) A printing press was at work as early as 1740. (fn. 78) A verbal description of Preston in 1745 reads thus: 'This town is situated on a clean, delightful eminence, having handsome streets and variety of company, which the agreeableness of the place induces to board here, it being one of the prettiest retirements in England, and may for its beauty and largeness compare with most cities, and for the politeness of the inhabitants none can excel. . . . Here is a handsome church and a town hall where the corporation meet for business and the gentlemen and ladies for balls and assemblies. Here is likewise a spacious market place in the midst of which stands a fine obelisk; the streets are neatly paved, and the houses well built of brick and slates. This town being a great thoroughfare there are many good inns for the reception of travellers. . . . This town has a pretty good trade for linen yarn, cloth, cotton, &c.' (fn. 79)

It was in the winter of 1745 that the Prince Charles Edward led his army south through Preston in his attempt to win the crown of England. He arrived there on 27 November (fn. 80); the bells were rung, and a few joined them, including Francis Towneley, nephew of the squire of Towneley. The army left next day for Manchester. On its hasty retreat north the force regained Preston on 12 December and left for Lancaster the next morning, being closely followed by Oglethorpe's dragoons and the Duke of Cumberland himself.

Pococke in 1750 thought the town subsisted 'chiefly by its being a great thoroughfare and by many families of middling fortune living in it'; hence, he says, 'it is remarkable for old maids, because these families will not ally with tradesmen and have not sufficient fortunes for gentlemen.' (fn. 81)

From that time the history of the parish has been peaceful, with the exception of election battles— notably that of 1768 (fn. 82) —and industrial disturbances. These latter conflicts appear to have been less dangerous here than in other parts of the county, but there was a threatening demonstration against power-looms in 1826. (fn. 83) In 1797–8 the Royal Preston Volunteers were raised for the defence of the county, and a rifle corps also was formed. (fn. 84) The modern volunteer movement received due support in the district, two corps being formed in 1859, (fn. 85) and Preston is now, under the Territorial system, the head quarters of a squadron of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry, a battery of the 2nd West Lancashire Brigade Royal Field Artillery, and three companies of the 4th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

Communications were improved by the turnpiking of the north road in 1751 (fn. 86) and the erection of Penwortham Bridge in 1755. (fn. 87) The old Ribble Bridge was rebuilt in 1781, (fn. 88) and in the following year a new town-hall was erected. (fn. 89) Stage coaches began running to Wigan and Warrington about 1771, and to Liverpool in 1774. (fn. 90) The cotton manufacture was introduced in 1777, (fn. 91) and from that time the place has grown in importance and population. A plan made in 1774 (fn. 92) shows that the streets had remained almost unchanged for a century. (fn. 93) The houses extended eastward nearly as far as the present Deepdale Road and west along Fishergate to the site of the railway station. Northward the houses did not go beyond Lord Street, except that they extended a little further along Tithebarn Street and to the end of Friargate and Back Lane. There were also a few blocks of dwellings to the south of Church Street. The plan of 1824 (fn. 94) shows a great increase in all directions, more especially on the south side, and also to the north-west of Fishergate as far as the Lancaster Canal, which had been constructed in 1798. (fn. 95) The first railways were opened in 1838 and 1840. (fn. 96)

Of the old townships Preston, Fishwick and Ashton have become urban in character and Fulwood is a residential suburb; the others still remain for the most part agricultural. The following figures show the way in which the agricultural land of the parish is at present utilized. In the whole there are but 446 acres of arable land, the great bulk, viz. 12,103 acres, being in permanent grass. There are 363 acres of woods and plantations. The details are thus given (fn. 97) :—

Arable Grass Woods
ac. ac. ac.
Ribbleton 23 555
Grimsargh 147½ 2,367½ 251
Brockholes
Elston
Fishwick 57 529 10
Broughton 5 2,202½
Haighton 942
Barton 2,753 65
Newsham
Lea 211 2,754 24
Ashton
Ingol
Cottam
To the above may be added:
Fulwood 35 1,833 5
Myerscough 509 1,977½ 31

In consequence of changes in the boundaries in 1894, when the township of Preston was extended to coincide with the municipal borough, Fishwick ceased to be a township, and the areas of Ribbleton, Grimsargh and Brockholes, and Lea, Ashton, Ingol and Cottam were reduced.

Something has been said of Preston as a port. Dr. Kuerden about 1682 found that a vessel of reasonable burden might be brought up the river to Preston by a knowing and well-skilled pilot. (fn. 98) The Ribble, however, could only be used by small vessels. A company was formed in 1806 to improve the navigation, (fn. 99) and in 1838 was merged in the Ribble Navigation Company, in which Preston Corporation took shares. (fn. 100) The bed of the river was deepened at Preston, the channel seawards was dredged and sea walls were built. A dock was made at Lytham in 1841, and in 1843, owing to the increase of trade, the corporation made a new quay near the border of Ashton. In 1853 additional powers were obtained for the reclamation of tide-washed land.

Though there was a considerable coasting trade, (fn. 101) the navigation of the river continued unsatisfactory. The corporation purchased the company's undertaking in 1883, (fn. 102) and began a comprehensive system of improvement, the river course having since been straightened below the town, and a large dock formed in Ashton was opened in 1892. A small change in the township boundaries followed the alteration of the stream. The channel is kept open by dredging and by a system of retaining walls to prevent silting. The customs port extends from Preston to Hundred End on the south side of the Ribble and as far as the mouth on the north, and thence up to Blackpool. (fn. 103)

The parish has not produced many men of distinction. In view of its present industrial position the first place may be given to Sir Richard Arkwright, the inventor, who was born in the town of Preston in 1732. After following the trade of barber and wigmaker for thirty years or more, living part of the time at Bolton, he turned his attention to cottonspinning machinery. He and his assistant are said to have set up a trial machine in a large house at Stonygate, Preston, but his first mill (1771) was built at Nottingham and his second near Wirksworth in Derbyshire. He purchased the manor of Cromford, was made a knight in 1786 and acted as High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1786–7. He died in 1792. (fn. 104)

The most distinguished of the natives of the place in the world of letters was the late Francis Thompson, a lyrical poet of great genius and splendour of diction. He was the son of a doctor, and born in 1859. He was educated for the priesthood at Ushaw, but renounced that calling, desiring to devote himself to literature. He fell into destitution, but his talents were recognized and the later years of his life were fruitful. He died in November 1907; in 1910 a memorial tablet was placed on the house where he was born.

Lawrence Claxton or Clarkson, born at Preston in 1615, became a prominent sectary of the Commonwealth times—Presbyterian, Baptist, 'Seeker,' and Muggletonian in turn. He published various tracts and died in 1667. (fn. 105)

Edward Baynard, M.D., is thought to have been born at Preston in 1641. In 1719 he published a poem entitled Health. His daughter Anne was noted for her learning and piety. (fn. 106)

Josiah Chorley, son of Henry Chorley of Preston, became the Presbyterian minister at Norwich, 1691, till his death, about 1719. He published a metrical index to the Bible. (fn. 107)

Richard Shepherd, born at Kendal, settled at Preston, where he practised as a physician. He died in 1761, having bequeathed his library to the town, together with a sum for a librarian's salary and the purchase of fresh books. The library, which was to be strictly for works of reference, is now deposited in the Harris Free Library. (fn. 108) The erection of this building was due to the trustees of Edmund Robert Harris of Ashton, who was born at Preston in 1804 and died in 1877, he having given them power to establish an institution of public utility in Preston to perpetuate the memory of his father and family. (fn. 109) His father was the Rev. Robert Harris, incumbent of St. George's, Preston, from 1797 to 1862. In the Harris Library is preserved also the art collection bequeathed to the town by another native of it, Richard Newsham, 1798–1883.

Sir Edward Stanley of Bickerstaffe, who succeeded to the earldom of Derby in 1736, is stated to have been born at Preston in 1689; he served as mayor of the town in 1731. His descendant, the late earl, took the title of Lord Stanley of Preston on being raised to the peerage in 1886, and was guild mayor in 1902.

Arthur Devis, born at Preston about 1711, became a portrait painter, exhibiting at the Free Society of Artists, 1762–80. He died in 1787. (fn. 110)

William Turner, son of a Nonconformist minister, was born at Preston in 1714, and himself became a minister at Wakefield. He contributed to Priestley's Theological Repository. He died in 1794. (fn. 111)

Edward Crane, born at Preston in 1721, was educated at Kendal. He became a Nonconformist minister at Norwich, but died young, in 1749. (fn. 112)

William Gregory Sharrock, born at Preston in 1742, became a Benedictine monk. He was consecrated in 1781 as coadjutor to Bishop Walmesley, with the title of Bishop of Telmessus, and in 1797 succeeded him as vicar apostolic of the western district, acting till his death in 1809. (fn. 113)

Thomas Jackson, who took the surname of Calvert in 1819, was born at Preston in 1775. He became Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, Norrisian Professor in the university, and Warden of Manchester. He died in 1840. (fn. 114)

Charles Hardwick was born at Preston in 1817, being son, of an innkeeper there. He acquired distinction as an antiquary, and his history of his native town, issued in 1857, has been frequently quoted in the present account. He died in 1889. (fn. 115)

Robert Cornthwaite, born in 1818, became (Roman Catholic) Bishop of Beverley in 1861, and on the division of the diocese in 1878 was appointed to the Leeds portion. He died in 1890.

William Dobson, born at Preston in 1820, and educated at the local grammar school, was editor of the Preston Chronicle, and wrote on local antiquities. He died in 1884. (fn. 116)

Robert Gradwell, son of a Preston alderman, was born in the town in 1825, and after education at Ushaw became assistant priest at St. Augustine's, Preston, and from 1860 till his death in 1906 was stationed at Claughton-on-Brock. He was a domestic prelate to Leo XIII. He was of antiquarian tastes, and published a life of St. Patrick and various essays. (fn. 117)

John Samuel Raven, landscape painter, was son of the Rev. Thomas Raven, minister of Holy Trinity Church in Preston, and was born in the town in 1829. He was drowned at Harlech, while bathing, in 1877. (fn. 118)

Some other worthies are noticed in the accounts of the various townships.

Church

The church (fn. 119) of ST. JOHN THE DIVINE stands in the middle of the town, on the south side of Church Street, and is a handsome building in the style of the 14th century, erected in 1853–5. The former church which stood on the same site was a low 16thcentury structure, consisting of chancel, clearstoried nave of four bays, with north and south aisles, and west tower, but before its demolition it had undergone many changes and alterations. In 1644–5 the decay of the building was such that a levy of £30, which had been previously ordered, but a great part of which had not been paid, was increased by an additional £20. Pews were erected in the 17th century, and a rough plan of the seating c. 1650, showing the pulpit in the middle of the nave on the south side, has been preserved. (fn. 120) In 1671 the interior had 'become foule and uncomely,' and efforts were made to 'adorn and beautify' it, but the churchwardens were desired to get the work done 'as well and as cheap as they could.' In 1680 four pinnacles were ordered to be set upon the steeple and 'the weathercock to be placed handsomely in the middle,' and some time before 1682 a clock and chimes were placed in the tower. Towards the end of the 17th century Dr. Kuerden describes the building as 'spacious, well-built, or rather re-edifyed,' (fn. 121) but during the 18th century the church was allowed to fall into decay to such an extent (fn. 122) that on 7 February 1770 the entire roof fell in, and in consequence the north and south walls had to be taken down and the nave rebuilt. (fn. 123) In 1811 the tower, which had for some time been in an unsafe condition, was pulled down to the level of the church roof, and was left in that state till 1814, when it was rebuilt. The chancel was rebuilt by Sir Henry Philip Hoghton in 1817. (fn. 124) An account of the building written in 1821 (fn. 125) describes the body or nave as containing three aisles, with the royal arms where the rood formerly stood. 'Two chapels exist, the Lea chapel and Wall's chapel. . . . The mayor has a grand throne erected on the right corner from the altar. . . . The galleries are supported by eight Gothic arches, the pillars of an octagon shape. The front gallery facing the altar contains a well-tuned organ. . . . The spiral pulpit and reading desk is finely constructed of solid oak and supported by four pillars.' A view of the church about 1845 (fn. 126) shows the walls of chancel, nave and aisles to have been embattled, with lean-to roofs to the aisles, those of the chancel and nave being hidden behind the parapets. The clearstory windows were square-headed and of three lights, but those in the aisles had segmental heads, and the chancel was lit with tall pointed windows of three lights, the mullions crossing in the heads. The tower was lofty and had an embattled parapet with clustered angle pinnacles. (fn. 127) Showing fresh symptoms of decay in the middle of the 19th century, the whole of the building, with the exception of the lower part of the tower, was pulled down in 1853, (fn. 128) and a new church erected on the old foundations.

The present building, (fn. 129) which was finished in 1855, consists of chancel with south chapel, clearstoried nave with north and south aisles and west tower and spire, with north and south entrances in the angles between the tower and aisles. The building is a good example of modern Gothic and is built of Longridge stone. The church was reseated in 1867 (fn. 130) and a new reredos was erected in 1871. In 1885 an organ chamber was built in the north side of the chancel and vestries were added on the south side of the chapel. There are galleries over the north and south aisles and at the west end.

All the mural tablets and brasses which were in the old church in 1853 have been preserved, but with the exception of the Bushell brass at the west end of the north aisle they are of little interest and of no antiquity. (fn. 131) This brass, to the memory of Seth Bushell, a woollen draper who died in 1623, was discovered when the old building was pulled down, and is in two pieces, one bearing a quaintly drawn figure and the other the inscription. Both plates fell into private hands and were not restored to the church till 1900, when they were fixed in their present position. (fn. 132) The Hoghton memorials in the quire comprise mural monuments to Sir Henry Hoghton (d. 1768) and his first and third wives, Mary Boughton (d. February 1719–20) and Susannah Butterworth (d. 1772), and to Ann Boughton, his sister-in-law (d. 1715), (fn. 133) who are all there interred, and there are tablets to the memory of Sir Henry Bold Hoghton (d. 1862), who is buried at Anglesea, near Gosport, and Sir Henry de Hoghton (d. 1876), who is buried in the Bold chapel at Farnworth.

There is a ring of eight bells cast by T. Mears in 1814. (fn. 134) The commissioners of Edward VI reported that there were four bells, (fn. 135) besides one lent by Sir Richard Hoghton, kt. In 1711 an order was given to collect in the parish for a new set of eight bells which were afterwards cast by Rudhall. The fourth bell of an older peal had been recast in 1696, the seventh was recast in 1737.

The plate (fn. 136) consists of a flagon and small paten of 1705, both inscribed 'The gift of the Right Hon. John, Lord Gower, Baron of Stitnam, 1705 '; a flagon and two large patens of 1708, all inscribed 'The gift of Madame Margery Rawstorne, widdow, of Preston, to the Church of Preston, 1708'; a flagon of 1719, purchased by order of the vestry, inscribed 'Preston Lancs1719 ' and round the bottom 'St. John the Evangelist, Parish of Preston'; a flagon of 1725 purchased by subscription, inscribed at the bottom 'Thos. Astley, Robert Walsham, churchwardens, 1725 '; and four chalices, two of 1729 and two of 1785, all without inscriptions. There is also a wine-strainer inscribed 'The Parish Church of Preston, 1819.'

The early registers have been lost or destroyed. Except for two pages dated 1603 the existing registers begin in October 1611, and from that date to the end of 1631 have been printed. (fn. 137) In 1821 the following books were chained to the pillars of the tower archway: The Homilies, Bible, Foxe's Martyrs and Synopsis Papismi. (fn. 138)

The churchyard was enlarged in 1804. The oldest dated stone, of 1619, having become indecipherable has been replaced by an exact copy of the original. The old churchyard cross is named in a will dated 1551. (fn. 139)

Advowson

It is possible that a church at Preston was one of those holy places deserted by the British clergy on the approach of the destroying English of Northumbria and about 670 granted with lands by the Ribble and elsewhere to St. Wilfrid. (fn. 140) Though its existence may be implied in the reference to churches in Amounderness in Domesday Book, (fn. 141) the first express record of it is that in the grant of Roger of Poitou to the abbey of Sees in 1094, by which he gave it the church of Preston with the tithe of his demesne and fishery, also 2 oxgangs of land and all the tithes of the whole parish. (fn. 142) Together with Roger's other possessions the advowson reverted to the Crown in 1102. (fn. 143) It was included in the grant of the hundred to Theobald Walter about 1191, (fn. 144) but claimed by the Abbot of Sées. By a compromise made in 1196 the advowson was resigned to Theobald, but the rector was to pay 10 marks yearly to the Prior of Lancaster. (fn. 145) After King John's accession the advowson reverted to the Crown, (fn. 146) and as part of the honour of Lancaster descended to the earls and dukes.

Thomas Earl of Lancaster in 1316 had leave to appropriate the rectory, (fn. 147) but his purpose, whatever it may have been, does not seem to have been carried further (fn. 148); and it was not till July 1400 that an appropriation was made by Henry IV in favour of the new collegiate church of St. Mary at Leicester, known as the college of Newark; a vicarage was to be endowed and a sum of money distributed annually to the poor. (fn. 149) After the confiscation of such colleges in 1546–8 the rectory remained in the Crown (fn. 150) until 1607, when it was sold to Sir Richard Hoghton, the advowson of the vicarage being included. (fn. 151) His family, retaining the rectory, sold the advowson of the vicarage in 1828 to Hulme's Trustees, (fn. 152) the present patrons.

About 1222–6 the value of the rectory was estimated at 50 marks, (fn. 153) and in 1297 at double that sum, (fn. 154) this agreeing with the Valor of 1292. (fn. 155) Within thirty years, however, owing to the havoc wrought by the Scottish invasions, the taxation was reduced to 35 marks. (fn. 156) The ninth of sheaves, &c., assessed in 1341, shows a recovery. (fn. 157) In 1527 the rectory was thought to be worth £42 a year and the vicarage £20, (fn. 158) and this estimate is almost the same as that of the Valor of 1535 (fn. 159); it appears, however, that the vicar had to pay the ancient 10 marks rent to the Abbess of Syon, who had taken the place of the Abbot of Sees. (fn. 160) After the sale of the rectory in 1607, a rent of £45 3s. 8d. had to be paid to the Crown by the lay rector, but in 1650 the value of the tithes was estimated as £309. (fn. 161)

The vicarage about 1620 had an annual value of £66. (fn. 162) In 1650, on account of the 'distracted, troublesome times,' it was not worth so much, but the vicar, one of the leading Puritan divines, had £50 from the Committee of Plundered Ministers and another £50 from the duchy revenues, as one of the four itinerant preachers. (fn. 163) The vicar in 1705 certified that he had £53, but the true value was nearly double, though part was precarious. (fn. 164) The income has greatly increased in modern times and is now returned as £802 net. (fn. 165)

The following is a list of the incumbents:—

Rectors
Instituted Name Patron Cause of Vacancy
oc. 1153–60 William (fn. 166)
c. 1190 Robert (fn. 167)
c. 1196 Adomar de la Roche (fn. 168) Theobald Walter
25 Feb. 1200–1 Randle de la Tour (fn. 169) The King
? 8 July 1202 Mr. Peter Russinol (fn. 170) "
oc. 1219–40 Amery des Roches (fn. 171) " d. P. Russinol
3 July 1243 William de Haverhill (fn. 172) "
25 Aug. 1252 Arnulf (fn. 173) " d. W. de Haverhill
22 May 1256 Henry de Wingham (fn. 174) " d. Arnulf
20 June 1262 Walter de Merton (fn. 175) " d. Bp. Wingham
oc. 1286–94 Aubrey de Roseriis (fn. 176)
oc. 1306 Eustace de Cottesbach (fn. 177)
oc. 1312 James de Fairford (fn. 178)
1321 Thurstan de Holland (fn. 179) Thomas Earl of Lanc. exch. J. de Fairford
24 Sept. 1348 Henry de Walton (fn. 180) Henry Earl of Lanc.
9 Dec. 1359 Robert de Burton (fn. 181) Henrg Duke of Lanc. d. H. de Walton
oc. 1369 John de Charneles (fn. 182)
13 Oct. 1374 Ralph de Erghum, D.C.L. (fn. 183) John Duke of Lanc.
?1380–99 John de Yarburgh (fn. 184)
1399 William de Stevington (fn. 185)
Vicars
? 1400 Richard Walton (fn. 186)
17 Jan. 1418–19 John White (fn. 187) New Coll., Leicester d. R. Walton
26 Apr. 1421 John York alias Legeard (fn. 188) " res. J. White
6 Mar. 1451–2 Thomas Tunstall (fn. 189) " d. J. York
9 Sept. 1454 Robert Cowell (fn. 190) exch. T. Tunstall
oc. 1482–1501 Thomas Bolton (fn. 191)
c. 1516 Robert Singleton (fn. 192) Sir A. Osbaldeston d. T. Bolton
oc. 1548–62 Nicholas Bradshaw, LL.B. (fn. 193)
22 Oct. 1563 Roger Chorley (fn. 194) Thomas Packet d. N. Bradshaw
15 Sept. 1566 Leonard Chorley (fn. 195) William Chorley d. R. Chorley
12 Sept. 1572 Nicholas Daniel, B.D. (fn. 196) John Bold res. L. Chorley
15 Sept. 1580 Thomas Wall (fn. 197) " res. N. Daniel
21 Dec. 1592 William Sawrey, M.A. (fn. 198) Henry Bold d. T. Wall
The Queen
12 Feb. 1603–4 John Paler (fn. 199) Rt. Parkinson res. W. Sawrey
28 May 1621 James Martin, M.A. (fn. 200) Sir Richard Hoghton d. J. Paler
18 Nov. 1626 Augustine Wildbore, D.D. (fn. 201) Sir R. Hoghton
16 Dec. 1626 The King
11 Nov. 1630 James Starkie M.A. (fn. 202) Sir R. Hoghton res. A. Wildbore
2 Dec. 1630 The King
? 1639 Isaac Ambrose, M.A. (fn. 203)
2 July 1657 George Thomason (fn. 204) Sir R. Hoghton
10 Feb. 1657–8 William Cole, B.A. (fn. 205) "
14 Feb. 1662–3 Thomas Stanhope, M.A. (fn. 206) " cess. W. Cole
27 Nov. 1663 Seth Bushell, D.D. (fn. 207) " res. T. Stanhope
12 Dec. 1682 Thomas Birch (fn. 208) Sir C. Hoghton res. S. Bushell
29 May 1700 Samuel Peploe, M.A. (fn. 209) " d. T. Birch
14 July 1727 Samuel Peploe, D.D. (fn. 210) The King prom. Bp. Peploe
30 Apr. 1743 Randal Andrews, B.A. (fn. 211) William Shaw res. S. Peploe
30 Oct. 1782 Humphrey Shuttleworth, M.A. (fn. 212) Sir H. Hoghton d. R. Andrews
6 Sept. 1809 James Penny, M.A. (fn. 213) Sir H.P. Hoghton res. H. Shuttleworth
1 Mar. 1817 Roger Carus Wilson, M.A. (fn. 214) W. W. Carus Wilson d. J. Penny
14 Apr. 1840 John Owen Parr, M.A. (fn. 215) Hulme's Trustees d. R. C. Wilson
12 July 1877 James Hamer Rawdon, M.A. (fn. 216) " d. J. O. Parr
9 Apr. 1900 Hercules Scott Butler, M.A. (fn. 217) " res. J. H. Rawdon

The rectory, having been in the patronage of the kings or lords of the honour of Lancaster, was filled by a series of royal clerks or busy officials, most of whom probably never resided, discharging their priestly duties by curates. Hence it was an advantage to the church, and no doubt to the parish, when the rectory was appropriated to the New College at Leicester and a responsible vicar placed in the cure. In addition to the chapel at Broughton there seem to have been two or three others in the parish, (fn. 218) and for these and the chantries there was no doubt a competent staff of chaplains. A list of twelve clergy was recorded about 1530, (fn. 219) but the visitation list of 1548 names only the vicar, two chantry priests and three others; in 1562 there were still the vicar, his curate, the curate of Broughton and another. (fn. 220) Nothing seems to be known of the first Elizabethan vicars, but from the character of the district the conformity with the religious legislation of the time was little more than nominal, and when a convinced Protestant was appointed in 1572 he was soon 'in great perplexity' and 'many ways threatened of his life for his well doing,' i.e. in particular because at Easter he had ' taken the names of all such as would not receive the blessed communion,' (fn. 221) and because he had captured a ' false priest at mass.' (fn. 222) The curate or parish priest whom he found in charge, a married man of openly evil life, (fn. 223) had winked at every abuse and insulted the vicar, causing the ' bells to be rung for souls' when the vicar was preaching and telling him to come down from the pulpit. The parish clerk was a ' popish boy,' who never appeared at church except to make such a noise on the organ on Sunday that no one could understand the singing. (fn. 224) The communion table was formed from an old altar, and 'altar stones and idols' seats' were still in their places; even a 'great number of alabaster images' which had been taken down in accordance with the queen's commands had been carefully buried in the vicarage garden, but the vicar had found and destroyed them.

This incumbent stayed but a few years and his successor, who was 'no preacher,' had tried many occupations before becoming a minister. His successors, and in particular John Paler, may have been those who influenced the Protestant population towards Puritanism, so that Vicar Martin seems to have been driven out by this party. (fn. 225) In 1637 Lancashire was reported to Archbishop Laud as an extremely Puritan county; at Preston and Manchester they called the surplices' the rags of Rome,' and suffered no organs in the churches. (fn. 226) At the formation of the Presbyterian classis in 1646 three Preston aldermen became members of it. (fn. 227)

There is evidence of a somewhat higher type of churchmanship in the town after the Restoration, (fn. 228) and in the last century, under modern conditions, a great change has taken place in Preston, as elsewhere, by the provision of new churches and schools and a large staff of clergy, the new movement being due apparently to the Rev. R. C. Wilson, vicar from 1817 to 1839. (fn. 229)

There were two endowed chantries in the parish church, those at the altars of the Rood or Crucifix of Jesus and St. Mary. The former is stated to have been founded by a Sir Richard Hoghton for the souls of his ancestors, and in 1547 John Shepherd was the chaplain, and celebrating accordingly. There was no plate belonging to it, and the endowment, producing £5 1s. 8d. yearly, was derived from burgages, lands, &c., in Preston. (fn. 230) In other places William or Richard Whalley is called the founder of the Crucifix chantry. (fn. 231) After the confiscation there were numerous disputes about the property. (fn. 232) The altar of St. Mary is mentioned in 1349. (fn. 233) The chantry thereat was said to have been founded by Ellen widow of Henry Hoghton for a chaplain to celebrate continually for her soul and all Christian souls, and to keep a free grammar school. (fn. 234) This chantry can be traced back to 1430, and seems to have been due to contributions from various sources. (fn. 235) Nicholas Banaster was the incumbent in 1547, and 'by report of the inhabitants' the ordinances of the foundation had been 'well kept and used.' There was no plate, and the endowment, derived from burgages and lands in Preston and Fishwick, was only £3 2s. 3d. a year. (fn. 236)

A school can be traced back to the 14th century. (fn. 237) Its connexion with a chantry threatened its existence, (fn. 238) but it seems to have been preserved by the corporation, and under their care has developed to its present standing. (fn. 239)

Charities

The principal charities (fn. 240) are those for education, (fn. 241) medical (fn. 242) and religious purposes (fn. 243); but there are in addition a considerable number of smaller benefactions for the benefit of the poor by gifts of money, food, clothing, apprentices' fees, and other ways. None of them appear to be intended for the whole parish; some are restricted to the borough of Preston, and others to particular townships or groups. (fn. 244)

Catherine Pennington in 1871 left £1,000 for the benefit of poor women in the town and neighbourhood of Preston, to be distributed by the wardens of Church of England parishes. The total income is £29 2s. 5d., and it is distributed according to the founder's wish. (fn. 245) Margaret Becconsall in 1872 left money to the New Jerusalem Church, one-seventh being for poor members of the congregation; £7 9s. 6d. is distributed accordingly among from five to nine persons. William Edmundson in 1735 left £50 to buy bread for the prisoners at Lancaster and Preston; half the income, £6 10s. 8d., is given to assist prisoners discharged from Preston Gaol, usually by gifts of clothing or travelling expenses. Mary Cross in 1889 gave £600, now producing £17 14s. a year, for the poor of the borough; the income is distributed in small money doles. The benefits of the Harris Orphanage in Fulwood are available for children whose parents reside within eight miles of Preston Town Hall. This includes the whole parish of Preston and large parts of the adjacent parishes. (fn. 246)

For the township of Preston several apprenticing charities have been absorbed into the grammar school endowments, (fn. 247) but the combined gifts of Dorothy Cosney (1678) (fn. 248) and John Dawson (1698) are now applicable in part for apprenticing and in part for medical relief, nursing, &c. (fn. 249) Some gifts, amounting to £14. 14s. 4d., have been combined with the mayor's dole. (fn. 250) The almshouses have been pulled down, (fn. 251) the bread money has ceased, (fn. 252) and some charities have been lost. (fn. 253) There remain, however, a number of others, so that over £30 a year is given in money doles, (fn. 254) the gifts of bread having ceased.

The township of Barton has a poor's stock of unknown origin, represented by £78 5s. 8d. consols. The interest, 39s., is divided between poor persons in the township. In 1904 there were only two, both imbeciles. Miss Mary Cross of Myerscough in 1889 gave £200 for the poor, and the income is divided as the preceding charity.

William Daniel of Broughton in 1656 gave land there to trustees, charging it with 20s. for the maintenance of a grammar school in the township, or in default for the repair of the church and church bridges. His widow added £20, and the trustees were able to purchase the land for the poor. In 1734, after the payment of 20s. as directed, the rent was applicable to the purchase of white kersey for coats for the poor, (fn. 255) for binding apprentices, buying Bibles or other orthodox books, a preference being had to widows, householders and dwellers in Broughton Row. The charity is still known as the Petticoat Charity, though for a long time only money has been given. The land now produces £17 a year gross; £1 is paid to the school, and the rest in sums from 5s. to £4 among the aged poor of Broughton, being Protestants. The fourth part of Thomas Houghton's charity, already described, is distributed in sums of money varying from 2s. 6d. to 25s. A small rent of 1s. 6d. from Almond's Croft has been lost, the place not being known now. Miss Damaris Dixon in 1895 bequeathed £1,000 for the benefice of Broughton, £1,000 for the benefit of the poor, and £50 for the repair of her grave in the churchyard there. The money for the poor, producing £30 a year, is given to the sick, partly in money, partly by paying doctors' bills.

The township of Grimsargh has a share in that fourth part of Thomas Houghton's charity which is due to Preston. By custom a third of the Preston share is given, and the money, 26s. 8d. in 1903, is distributed on St. Thomas's Day in money doles. John Charnley in 1737 charged his land at Penwortham with various sums, including 20s. yearly for the poor of Grimsargh. In 1824 the land (fn. 256) was owned by the representatives of one Henry Dawson, who died in 1823, and the money was distributed by the constable of the township to poor housekeepers. The payment was discontinued in 1881, no reason being assigned. A charge of £3 15s. a year for the use of the poor of Brockholes existed as early as 1650. The lands charged, known as the Boylton estate were purchased by William Cross in 1808. The charge has been commuted and the capital is represented by £125 6s. consols, now yielding £3 2s. 8d. a year. This is allowed to accumulate, as there are no poor persons in the hamlet.

The townships of Elston and Ribbleton benefit equally by the charity founded by John Farington in 1670. He gave his tenement in Elston to bind children apprentices or to benefit the poor in other ways. As early as 1824 there were no cottagers in Elston, all the poor belonging to it residing elsewhere, and from two to eight persons sharing the interest. At Ribbleton the rents of a number of poor persons were paid and other help given. At the present time the land gives a rent of £78, and accumulations of over £10,000 are invested in consols. Of the total income, £145 17s. 4d. is spent on education, and £193 8s. 5d. is applicable for the benefit of the poor in various ways in accordance with an order of the Charity Commissioners in 1890. (fn. 257) For Elston the charity is scarcely required; for Ribbleton there is more demand, chiefly for gifts of clothes, food, fuel, and aid in sickness. Elston by itself receives a third part of the fourth share of Thomas Houghton's charity appropriated to Elston and Alston; the £1 6s. 8d. received in 1903 was given to Grimsargh. Ribbleton by itself had two charities: the Luck Field in Brockholes and a rent-charge of £5 10s. out of an estate in Elston known as Willacy's Tenement. The former, (fn. 258) augmented by a share of Ribbleto Moor, on inclosure in 1870, was sold in 1873 and the price (£345) invested in consols, and, as no distribution was made, the capital increased to £608 by 1892, when a scheme was made similar to that for the Farington gift. The income is £19 3s. 4d., but only a small part is used. The rent-charge, commuted, with accumulations was in 1869 invested in £307 consols, and the income, 'not being required in the township,' continued to accumulate; but in recent years small weekly gifts of groceries, &c., in the nature of pensions have been given. The capital is now £618, producing about £14 6s. a year.

Edmund Robert Harris of Ashton in 1876 left £500 to provide a fund for gifts of clothing, bedding, &c., to the poor of Ashton, Lea, Ingol and Cottam on St. Thomas's Day yearly. The income is £15, which is now usually given in money doles.

Footnotes

  • 1. The northern brook, the position of which is marked by Moorbrook Street, fell into the Ribble at the division between Preston and Ashton. The southern one, named Swill Brook, formed the boundary between Preston and Fishwick.
  • 2. For the ancient remains see Fishwick, Preston, 3–7, and the sections of the present work.
  • 3. The bridge at Walton, emphatically 'Ribble Bridge,' is supposed to be of postConquest erection.
  • 4. See the account of the church.
  • 5. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 288a. The manors within the limits of the parish were assessed as 18 plough-lands in all.
  • 6. See the account of the borough. The assizes appear to have been held there in 1226 and 1229; Cal. Pat. 1225–32, pp. 71, 284.
  • 7. Pink and Beaven, Land. Parl. Repre. 135–176, referring to W. Dobson, Preston Parl. Repre. (1868), and articles in the Preston Guardian; L. and P. Hen. VIII, iv (3), p. 2692.
  • 8. Cecil MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), xi, 443.
  • 9. Coram Rege R. 254, m. 52. Adam de Bury and William the Marshal were among the townsmen whose goods were taken by the insurgents.
  • 10. Preston was taken by the Scots in 1322; see V.C.H. Lancs. ii, 199. The extent of 1346, quoted later, mentions a house which had been burnt by them.
  • 11. Assize R. 430, m. 22. Thomas Starkie and others in 1343 terrified the bailiffs in order to prevent the execution of writs and caused disturbances: ibid, m. 21 d.
  • 12. Preston, 53s. 4d.; Ribbleton, 12s. 1¼d.; Grimsargh and Brockholes, 11s. 10d.; Elston, 14s., 8d.; Fishwick, 8s.; Broughton, 26s. 8d.; Haighton, 11s.; Barton, 24s.; Lea and Ashton, each 11s. 6d.; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 54–72.
  • 13. Gregson,Fragments(ed.Harland), 19.
  • 14. Ibid. 23. The townships paid thus: Preston, £4. 11s. 2¾d.; Ribbleton, £1 2s. 2¾d.; Grimsargh and Brockholes, 17s. 1¼d.; Elston, £1 8s. 6d.; Fishwick, 17s. 1¼d.; Broughton, £2 5s. 7½d.; Haighton, £1 3s. 11½d.; Barton, £1 18s. 9¼d.; Lea, 15s. 2¼d. Ashton, &c., 17s. 8d. In addition Myerscough paid £3 1s. 1¾d.
  • 15. Leland (Itin. iv, 22) states that the Friars' house was built on 'the soil of a gentleman named Preston,' and that several of his family were buried there, as also some of the Shireburnes and Daltons.
  • 16. Engl. Hist. Rev. v, 526–7.
  • 17. Ibid, xxi, 534, citing Anct. Indictments, Lane. 54.
  • 18. Kuerden MSS. iv, P 23; printed by Abram, Memorials of the Preston Guilds, 8.
  • 19. It was ordered that 'all manner of burgess the which is made burgess by court roll and out of the Guild Merchant, shall never be mayor nor bailiff nor serjeant; but only the burgess the which the name be in the Guild Merchant last made before; for the king gives the freedom to the burgesses which are in the Guild and to none other.'
  • 20. Guilds are known to have been held in 1397, 1415, 1459 and 1500; this is believed to be a complete list for the period covered. The rolls of the three former and those of the guilds from 1542 to 1682 have been printed by the Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire(vol. ix). The originals are preserved at Preston. The roll of 1500 has been lost, but there are notes of it in Kuerden MSS. iv, P 36.
  • 21. The 1397 list is headed by Sir Richard de Hoghton.
  • 22. The fines were of various amounts, from 2s. up to 40s.
  • 23. In 1562 it was ordered that widows should 'have and enjoy such liberties and freedoms during their widowhood as theit husbands in lifetime had and enjoyed by reason of their burgess-ship.
  • 24. W. A. Abram in introduction to Guild R.
  • 25. Details of the celebrations down to 1882 may be seen in the work already cited, Abram's Memorials. It contains, for example, the minute account of the Guild of 1682 given by Dr. Kuerden. The Guild sermons on this occasion, preached by Richard Wroe and Thomas Gipps, were afterwards printed.
  • 26. Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 130, &c.
  • 27. Assize R. 450, m. 8. There was probably no other public building in the town large enough for a court house.
  • 28. Final Conc, iii, 140; this was in 1466. Lancaster retained a monopoly of the assizes and quarter sessions until a century ago, but in the 17th century, if no earlier, the Chancery Court of the duchy was held at Preston, which became a lawyers' town.
  • 29. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 346.
  • 30. Preston Guild R. xxi.
  • 31. L. and P. Hen. VIII, xi, 922, 947, 1212 (3).
  • 32. Ibid, xii, 695.
  • 33. Itin. v, 97. Camden's notice of Preston some fifty years later is but brief: 'A great and (for those countries) a fair town, and well inhabited'; Britannia (ed. 1695), 752. Taylor, the Water Poet, Drayton, in Polyolbion, and 'Drunken Barnaby' have verses about it in the first part of the 17th century.
  • 34. The 'articles and points' agreed upon in 1500 and 1542 show that the guild was proclaimed on three preceding market days, and all burgesses were expected to attend on the first day, going in procession from the Maudlands through the town and hearing mass of the Holy Ghost in company with the mayor and aldermen. Afterwards the enrolling began, when new burgesses could be admitted to the franchise; Abram, Memorials.
  • 35. Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. exxvii, W 11. From these it appears further that the mayor, either before or after Wall's interference, empanelled a jury who sanctioned a right of way over certain of the complainant's land in the Newfield. About the same time Wall alleged that William Hodgkinson, lately bailiff, had, 'of a covetous humour,' unjustly levied certain dues; ibid. W 10.
  • 36. Foley, Rec. S. J., v, 392, quoting S. P. Dom. Eliz. clxiii, 84.
  • 37. Ibid, viii, 1367, quoting S. P. Dom. Eliz. eclxxv, 83. 'The priest . . . had no letters nor any other thing of importance found upon him saving only a popish service book.' In reply to his examiners, 'being demanded whether he have said mass, christened children, married any person, or reconciled any to the Church of Rome he said he had done so and all other things concerning a priest, and saith that such as he hath reconciled he doth instruct them to be Catholic. Being required to declare whether he used in his reconciling or otherwise any persuasion that if the pope should invade the realm of England for alteration ot religion with force, whether those that are reconciled to the Catholic Roman Church should take part with the queen's majesty against the forces of the pope coming for such a cause, to that he saith he doth not answer, for he doubteth of it. And being demanded whether he taketh the queen's majesty to be lawful Queen of England, he saith "In temporal matters," and that he hath done and will pray that God would make her majesty a Catholic. And being likewise demanded whether her majesty ought to be Queen of England, the pope's excommunication notwithstanding, to that he saith he will not answer, nor any more questions.'
  • 38. Gillow, Bibl. Dict, of Engl. Cath. iii, 481; v, 13; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1598–1601, p. 485; Foley, op. cit. viii, 962. Middleton was admitted to the Society of Jesus just before his execution. The cause of the beatification of both priests, also of Richard Hurst, hereafter mentioned, and George Haydock of Cottain, was allowed to be introduced at Rome in 1886; Pollen, Acts of Martyrs, 379–82.
  • 39. Presentments, Chester Dioc. Reg.
  • 40. Trans, Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xxiv, 175, &c. To the first class of compounders should be added Thomas Richardson of Myerscough, £14 10s.
  • 41. Gillow, op. cit. iii, 487–9, from a contemporary account, reprinted 1737.
  • 42. Assheton's Journ. (Chet. Soc), 36–7.
  • 43. Abram, Memorials of the Guilds, 42; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 45; Civil War in Ches. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 6.
  • 44. The Protestation of 1641, which affords a list of the inhabitants of the parish, is remarkable as showing that a large number refused to assent. The names are printed in Fishwick, op. cit. 425–31.
  • 45. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1638–9, p. 387. The small stock there in 1642 was seized by the Royalists; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. 31, 32.
  • 46. Lord Strange, Lord Molyneux and many of the gentry were present, the whole assemblage being estimated to number 5,000. A large number of them were in favour of the Parliament; ibid.; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 14, 23.
  • 47. Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 66.
  • 48. War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc), 23. The troops had crossed by Ribble Bridge, and the main body attacked from the east side; but a small force went round to the house of correction and entered by Friargate Bars. This writer states that the town was captured on the morning of 8 Feb., but the more detailed account in Civil War Tracts (p. 74) says it was the following day. John Tyldesley of Deane also has given a description of the event; he adds: 'So soon as matters were settled we sang praises to God in the streets,' and 'the sun brake forth and shined brightly and hot, in the time of the exercise, as if it had been midsummer'; ibid. 73. For the importance of the capture see Broxap, Civil War in Lancs. 63–5.
  • 49. Civil War Tracts, 75. For evidence of plundering by the Parliament's soldiers see Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 2849.
  • 50. Civil War Tracts, 85–6; Stanley P. (Chet. Soc), iii, p. lxxxiv.
  • 51. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1644, p. 265. He is said to have seized the mayor, William Cottam, and the bailiffs and imprisoned them at Skipton. They were afterwards compensated by the corporation.
  • 52. Ibid. 440, 447.
  • 53. Heywood, Diaries, i, 78.
  • 54. The stages were: London to St. Albans, Newport Pagnell, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Manchester, Preston; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1644–5, p. 170.
  • 55. Civil War Tracts, 257–68; Carlyle, Cromwell's Letters, lxiii-iv. The victor wrote that same evening: 'We advanced with the whole army, and the enemy being drawn out on a moor betwixt us and the town the armies on both sides engaged; and after a very sharp dispute, continuing for three or four hours, it pleased God to enable us to give them a defeat. . . . By this means the enemy is broken.' He wrote more fully three days later, describing how the Royalists were forced back into Preston, 'into which four troops of my own regiment first entered; and being well seconded by Colonel Harrison's regiment, charged the enemy in the town and cleared the streets.' The Duke of Hamilton and his staff swam the Ribble and so regained the main body of their foot.
  • 56. Civil War Tracts, 288, 301; War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc), 70, 73–4.
  • 57. Preston Guardian Sketches, no. 344. The Royalist party was weak in the corporation, which was 'purged' in 1661 by the expulsion of Edmund Werden and seven others for disloyalty; while William Banastre (formerly expelled) was restored; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1670, p. 663. Even then there were complaints that the loyal party was too weak; ibid. 1661–2, p. 93, &c.
  • 58. Preston Guardian, 11 Mar. 1876. There is a copy in the Bodleian Library.
  • 59. Hardwick, Preston, 329, &c. In practice' the right was confined to all the male inhabitants above twenty-one years of age who had resided six months in the town and were untainted with pauperism or crime.' Religious tests excluded Roman Catholics.
  • 60. Fishwick, op. cit 432–6.
  • 61. The next houses in size were those of Jane Langton with twelve hearths, William Hodskinson and Joan Banastre eleven each, William Walmesley and William Banastre ten each. There were three of nine, three of eight, four of seven, thirteen of six and the rest smaller.
  • 62. Edmund Wearden at Ashton had six hearths; Cottam Hall had only four.
  • 63. Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 87–9.
  • 64. Local Glean. Lancs, and Ches. i, 217. A more elaborate description by the same observer is quoted in Hardwick, Preston, giving the names of many of the streets and passages, the ferry and fords, and particulars of various buildings, including the 'ample, ancient and yet well beautified town or guild hall or toll booth,' in which was the council chamber. The description in Ogilby's Britannia (1690) calls Preston 'a large and well frequented town, governed by a mayor, eight aldermen, four under-aldermen and twelve. common councilmen. . . . Here are kept the chancery courts, &c., for the county palatine of Lancaster.'
  • 65. Through England on a Side Saddle, 155. She, too, was specially struck with the Patten mansion: 'All stone work, five windows in the front and high built according to the eastern building near London. The ascent to the house was fourteen or fifteen stone steps, large, and a handsome court with open iron palisades in the gate and on each side the whole breadth of the house, which discovered the gardens on each side of the house.' Patten House was pulled down in 1835; the gateway was re-erected at Howick House; Hardwick, op. cit. 430–1. The site is marked by Lord's Walk and Derby Street There are said to have been four almshouses, viz. in Fishergate near the top of Mount Street, at the north ends of Friargate and St. John Street, and at the east end of the town; Hewitson, Preston Ct. Leet Rec. 54.
  • 66. Edmund Calamy's Autobiography, quoted by Fishwick, op. cit. 62. See N.and Q. (ser. 7), vii, 428; viii, 55, 214.
  • 67. In a fishery dispute in 1691–2 a witness deposed that he had known vessels and boats, some of 40 tons burthen, sail op the Ribble as far as Preston Marsh, and sometimes even as far as Holme. Some of these vessels went to Bristol laden with lead; others took millstones to Ireland, and did 'often lie or ride' at a place called Old Millstones in Ashton; Fishwick, op. cit. 87.
  • 68. In 1687, during a moment of liberty, Bishop Leyburne confirmed 1,153 at Preston and Tulketh and 1,099 at Fernyhalgh; Gillow, Bibl. Dict, of Engl. Cath. ii, 145. The vicar of Preston wrote thus to the Bishop of Chester in 1715: 'I beg leave to acquaint your lordship that there are three townships and part of another in this parish, which lie three, four and five miles from the church, and have no other convenient place of public worship; that by this unhappy situation they have still been exposed to temptations and popery, which is too prevalent in these parts of your lordship's diocese, and are thereby an easier prey to the priests of that communion, we having no less than six of these men in the one parish. From my first coming to this place I have wished for some hopeful remedy against this growing evil'; Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 470. This vicar secured three new churches—Grimsargh, Barton and Preston St. George's. This last is a significant dedication. In 1717 there were reported to the Bishop of Chester to be only 643 'Papists ' in the parish, no doubt very much below the true number. Fifty years later the numbers returned to him were: In Preston, 1,043, with a resident priest; in Broughton chapelry, 313, with two priests; in Grimsargh, 117; in Barton, 131; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new sen), xviii, 218. In 17 54–5 a religious census was taken, and the Preston return gives the families thus: In the town of Preston—Protestants 762, Papists 145, Dissenters 21; in Lea, Ashton, &c.—Protestants 47, Papists 30; Ribbleton, Grimsargh, Elston and Fishwick—58, 57; Broughton—41, 47; Barton—52, 19; Haighton—7, 18. No Dissenters are recorded outside the town; Visitation Returns.
  • 69. Robert Patten, chaplain to Mr. Forster, was an eye-witness of the whole affair; he turned king's evidence and wrote a history of the rebellion, which passed through several editions. It appears to be the principal source of other accounts, e.g. that in Hardwick's Preston, 219–33. There are many allusions in the Stuart P. (Hist. MSS. Com.), ii, iii.
  • 70. Two troops of dragoons quartered in the town retired before them.
  • 71. Two plans of the operations give the earliest maps of the town. One of them, 'drawn on the spot by P. M., esq.,' is given in Hewitson, Preston, 23; the other in Fish wick's work, 64. They show the positions of the barricades across the chief streets and the disposition of the king's forces. Several houses in the outskirts are represented as in flames.
  • 72. Patten gives the losses thus: On the king's side-killed, five officers and over 200 privates; wounded, sixteen officers, privates not recorded. On the Jacobite side—killed seventeen, wounded twentyfive; prisoners, seven lords and 1,490 gentlemen, officers and privates, and two clergymen. There is a note of the prisoners in Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xi, App. iv, 170.
  • 73. On the behaviour of the vicar of Preston, the inhabitants and the neighbouring gentry, see reports in Payne, Engl. Cath. Rec. 85–8, 97–9. A list of residents in the district who were attainted is printed in Fishwick, op. cit. 66.
  • 74. Major Nairne, Captains Lockhart, Shaftoe and Erskine. See Hardwick, op. cit. 235–6.
  • 75. James Drummond, William Black, Donald Macdonald, John Howard, Berry Kennedy and John Rowbottom.
  • 76. Tour Through Great Britain (ed. 1738), iii, 183.
  • 77. A large reproduction of it forms the frontispiece to Fishwick's Preston. In the same work (p. 417) is an old view of the market place, showing a large timbered house on the south side, with a smaller one adjoining it to the east. An obelisk or market cross stood in the square. The large house had the initials I.I.A. and date 1629 carved over a doorway; the builder was John Jenkinson, who by his will directed its completion, leaving it to his widow Anne and his daughters Grace and Elizabeth. Adam Mort, the mayor, killed in 1643, once occupied it. It was sold to the corporation in 1822. The smaller house had the inscription I. A. 1618, for James Archer. They were demolished in 1855, when a pamphlet was printed giving a full history of them; Hardwick, op. cit. 432.
  • 78. Local Glean. Lancs, and Ches. i, 37,43; Hewitson, op. cit. 341. William Cadman, a local bookseller, is mentioned some eighty years earlier; Pal. Note Bk. i, 13.
  • 79. Ray, Hist. of the Rebellion.
  • 80. Hardwick, op. cit. 241–52. It was noticed that on his arrival at Preston Prince Charles, 'who had hitherto marched on foot, mounted on horseback and surveyed the passes and bridges of the town, taking with him such as had been there in the year 1715.'
  • 81. Travels through England (Camd. Soc), i, 12.
  • 82. This was the election in which the democratic franchise of 1661 first became effective. In 1741 the foreign burgesses were considered to be disqualified as electors, though resident; Abram, Memorials of the Guilds, 83. In 1768 the Earl of Derby, in the Whig interest as opposed to the corporation, called attention to the franchise, and raised a popular disturbance, Roman Catholic chapels being wrecked and other damage done. The Stanley family for a long time exercised a preponderating influence in the elections, but the power of the manufacturers began to manifest itself before 1800. The last election before the Reform Act was a most exciting one, for on the Hon. E. G. Stanley seeking reelection on being placed in the ministry in 1830 he was defeated by Henry Hunt the Radical by 3,730 to 3,392 votes. Hunt was defeated in 1832. For some of the more important contests see Hardwick, op. cit. 330–43. Long accounts, in which the old poll books were reprinted and annotated, appeared in the Preston Guardian in 1878 and later.
  • 83. Hardwick, op. cit. 375. There were notable riots and strikes in 1831, 1836 (a three months' strike), 1842 (riots, five men mortally wounded), 1853 (eight months' lock-out), and 1878; ibid. 415– 22; Hewitson, Preston, 180–4.
  • 84. Hardwick, op. cit. 256. There volunteers joined the militia in 1808; ibid. 387. Details of their regulations and uniforms will be found in Fishwick, op. cit. 418–19.
  • 85. Hewitson, op. cit. 374–7.
  • 86. Stat. 24 Geo. II, cap. 20. Garstang Road was formed in 1817, replacing an old crooked lane. The highway known as Blackburn New Road was made in 1824.; a wooden bridge over the Ribble was built for it at Lower Brockholes, replaced by a stone one in 1861.
  • 87. Hardwick, op. cit. 459. An Act of Parliament wat obtained in 1750. This was the road from Preston to Liverpool, the river having been crossed by a ford. The first bridge fell down in 1756, and a new one was built after a fresh Act had been obtained.
  • 88. Ibid. 458.
  • 89. A view is given in Fishwick, Preston, 71. The older building fell down in 1780; Hewitson, op. cit. 357.
  • 90. Ibid. 198. In Sept. 1823 seventytwo coaches ran in and out of Preston every Wednesday; Hardwick, op. cit. 389. A list of those running in 1825 is given in Baines' Lancs. Dir. ii, 519–20. The coaches ceased in 1842.
  • 91. In that year a cotton-mill was built in Moor Lane by Collinson and Watson. The practical founder of the industry, however, was John Horrocks. He was born at Edgeworth in 1768 of Quaker parents, and he built a mill in 1791 at the east end of Church Street (see Fishwick, op. cit. 72); this was followed by another at Spital Moss in 1796 and a third near Lark Hill in 1797. His business rapidly increased and in 1802 he was elected a member of Parliament for the borough. He died in London in 1804, and was buried at Penwortham. Other mills quickly followed those of Horrocks. See Hardwick, op. cit. 366, 660.
  • 92. Hewitson, op. cit. 40. A larger plan founded on this and the tithe map is inserted in the same writer's Preston Ct. Leet Rec. The field-names given show Cuckstool Pit Meadow near the present infirmary, Causeway Meadow west of it, and Platford Dales still further west. Cockpit Field was opposite the north end of Friargate, near St. Peter's. Avenham gave name to a number of fields on the south of the town. Grimshaw Street passes through the old Water Willows, to the south of which was Great Albin Hey. Winckley Square has replaced a Town End Field, but there were other fields of the name on the east side of the town. Hepgreave was to the north of the railway station in Fishergate. Woodholme seems to have been in the marsh, at the extreme south-west. The common fields were chiefly on the north and west sides of the town. Colley's Garden, to the north of Lord Street, was afterwards known as the Orchard. Open-air meetings were held there.
  • 93. The following references to the mediaeval streets and districts of the town may be useful:— Cecily widow of Adam de Grimshaw and Henry son of Henry de Rishton and Margaret his wife in 1394–5 granted on lease to John de Knoll, tailor, and Maud his wife a burgage, together with lands in the Moor Field by the Friars' house, and a plat in St. John's Weind; the lessees were to build a timber house; Towneley MS. OO, no. 1054. In 1363 William son of John de Walton granted a burgage in Kirkgate to Grimbald the Tailor; ibid. no. 1103. Roger de Birewath had in 1366 a toft in the road to the rectory of Preston; Kuerden MSS. iii, P7. This road may have been the Parsonweind occurring in the same set of deeds, which show that in 1388–9 Ellen del Moor had a burgage in Preston and a barn in Parsonweind, and that in 1408 William Winter the younger had a barn in Parsonweind next the kiln; ibid. James son of John Moor gave James Walton the elder and Ellen his wife (mother of the grantor) a burgage in the Kirkstile in 1441–2; ibid. A claim by Emma widow of Henry del Kirkstile shows that one Henry del Moor had land in Preston as early as 1311–12; De Banco R. 190, m. 195. Kirkstile is a frequently recurring surname; e.g. Assize R. 405, m. 4. Lambert Stodagh in 1428–9 granted to John Moor of Preston a grange in Frereweind, &c., formerly the property of Sir Christopher Preston; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 227. Alice widow of Ralph Kekilpenny granted to Robert son of Hugh le Sposage land on Avenham in the town fields of Preston next to land of St. Wilfrid; OO, no. 1162. Henry son of William Simson in 1349 released to Roger Watson a roodland in the field called Avenham between land of B. Wilfrid on either side; ibid. no. 1157. The Grethill, where the town's windmill formerly stood, is named in a Hoghton deed of 1527; Kuerden MSS. iv, P 11. Adam son of Adam de Wich in 1335 granted to Robert son of Walter de Preston and Maud his wife lands including 1½ acres on Avenham and ½ acre at Hepgreve; OO, no. 1117. Adam son of Philip de Preston gave land on Ingleridding, next land of the church, to Roger son of Hugh le Sposage; ibid, no. 1143. Thomas son and heir of John Lussell had in 1527 closes called Rawmoors in Preston; ibid. no. 1111. John Lussell and Katherine his wife occur a century earlier [Final Conc, iii, 95), while Thomas Lussell, clerk, and Maud his wife, daughter of Thomas de Howick, had land in the vill and fields of Preston in 1371; OO, no. 1132. Land; in Woodholme are mentioned frequently. Robert son of Roger son of Adam de Preston gave a burgage, &c., and land in Woodholme and Platfordale to Richard de Ribbleton and Helen his wife; Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 171. William son of Hugh de Preston gave land in Woodholme to John the Marshal in 1320–3; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 226b. William de Wigan gave land in the same place to Roger de Preston in 1337; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), W 211. Adam de Deepdale and Maud his wife sold land in 1354; Final Conc. ii, 145.
  • 94. This plan, in the atlas accompanying Baines' Directory of 1825, is reproduced by Fishwick, op. cit.
  • 95. In 1802 a tramroad was constructed connecting the terminus of this canal with that of the Leeds and Liverpool branch to 'Summit,' west of Brindle. The Ribble was crossed by a slight bridge. The tram wagons ceased running in 1859; Hardwick, op. cit. 386, 480; Hewitson, Preston, 198. The bridge is now used for foot passengers.
  • 96. Hewitson, op. cit. 199–207. The railway from Preston to Wigan was opened 31 Oct. 1838; this gave access to Liverpool, Manchester and the south. Three railways were opened in 1840– from Preston to Longridge (1 May), to Lancaster (25 June), and to Fleetwood (15 July). The line from Bolton to Chorley was opened in 1841, but owing to difficulties in construction the continuation to Euxton was not ready till 1843, when Preston obtained another route to Manchester. In 1846 the Fleetwood line opened branches to Lytham artd to Blackpool, and the Longridge line was continued by a tunnel to Maudlands. The new line to Blackburn was opened, also a short branch line to the quay by the Ribble. In 1849 the line to Ormskirk and Liverpool was opened, from which a branch to Southport was made in 1855. The West Lancashire Company's direct route to Southport was opened in Sept. 1882.
  • 97. a Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
  • 98. Quoted by Hewitson, Preston, 214, from which work the details in the text have for the most part been taken. See also Hardwick, op. cit. 391–400.
  • 99. Priv. Act, 46 Geo. III, cap. 121. In 1821 the river was used by coasters from Liverpool, Kirkcudbright, Dublin, &c., as well as for coal flats and other small craft. There was a good fishery; Whittle, Preston, 26, 27. A list of trading vessels, the lnrgest being of 130 tons, is given ibid. 345.
  • 100. The first steamboat on the Ribble appeared about 1829; the second, built at Preston, in 1834.
  • 101. 'Not very long ago steamers sailed regularly between Liverpool and Preston, carrying grain principally. . . Formerly considerable quantities of iron were brought by water to Preston. There was also a large china-clay traffic up the river. The outward cargoes of the vessels consisted mainly of coal from the Wigan district': Hewitson, op. cit. (1883), 224.
  • 102. Loc. Act, 46 & 47 Vict. cap. 115, &c.
  • 103. In 1826 Preston was a creek of the port of Lancaster; in 1839 it was joined with Fleetwood, and became independent in 1843.
  • 104. Dict. Nat. Biog. In Lancashire he built a mill near Chorley, but it was destroyed by the populace in 1779 in spite of the protection of police and military.
  • 105. Ibid. A Lawrence Clarkson, son of Henry, appears among the burgesses of 1622 and 1642; Preston Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 88, 97.
  • 106. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 107. Ibid.; Preston Guild R. 127.
  • 108. Hewitson, op. cit 294–6.
  • 109. The trustees gave £100,000 in all, of which £70,000 was for the building and the rest for books and endowment. The corporation gave the site. The trustees also gave £40,000 to found the Harris Institute, a successor of the Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge, founded in 1849. A third large gift resulted in the Harris Orphanage m Fulwood.
  • 110. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 111. Ibid.; Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. i, 10–12.
  • 112. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 113. Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser), xiii, 131. He wrote some tracts.
  • 114. He published sermons; Dict. Nat. Biog.; Wardens of Manch. (Chet. Soc), 178–83.
  • 115. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 116. Ibid.
  • 117. Liverpool Cath. Annual, 1907.
  • 118. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 119. See T. C. Smith, Rec. of the Parish Church of Preston in Amounderness, 1892. The mediaeval invocation was St. Wilfrid. The rector of St. Wilfrid'i, Preston, was defendant in 1342; De Banco R. 332, m. 149. The church was regularly called St. Wilfrid's, as may be seen by subsequent notes, but in the 16th century and later the name is found as Winifred. The change to St. John the Divine is said to have been made at the end of the 16th century. There was in early times a St. John the Baptist's Weind or street (vicus), leading perhaps to lands held by the Knights Hospitallers; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc), i, 222, 219; Kuerden MSS. iii, P7 (1340). 'St. John's Weind' is said to have been the old name of Tithebarn Street.
  • 120. It is reproduced in Smith, op. cit. 247, and in Fishwick's Hist, of Preston, 114. A large space at the south-east corner of the nave is marked 'The antient burying place of the Lords of Hoghton and Lea.' This was usually known as the Lea chapel. At the time of the demolition of the old church in 1853 notes were made of several carvings on the backs of the pews. They are given in Fishwick, op. cit. 115, and bear various dates (1626, 1630, 1694) and initials. Many of the oak panels were elaborately carved. Coats of arms emblazoned on the windows of the church about 1580 are recorded in Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), vi, 271; xiv, 204. These have been imitated in the windows of the present church.
  • 121. Quoted by Fishwick, op. cit. 116.
  • 122. In Nov. 1769 the church was reported to be in imminent danger and the churchwardens were ordered to contract for its taking down and rebuilding. The nave roof fell in, however, before anything was done.
  • 123. At a meeting held 9 Feb. 1770 'the roof and all the pillars on the north side of the church were reported to have fallen down and the rubbish was ordered to be cleared away and a proper person obtained to inspect the present state of the church.' The rebuilding was more or less on the old lines; the estimate of cost was £1,006.
  • 124. Hardwick, Hist, of Preston, 462, where it is further stated that the quire was renovated in 1823.
  • 125. Peter Whittle, Hist, of Preston, 55, quoted by Fishwick, op. cit. 117.
  • 126. Drawn by William Physick. Reproduced in Fishwick, op. cit. 116.
  • 127. Glynne's description, undated, but probably written about this time, is as follows: 'A large church originally of plain Perpendicular work, much modernized and partially rebuilt. It has a lofty west tower with crocketed pinnacles, nave, aisles and chancel. The tower and chancel are modern in imitation of Perpendicular work. The nave and aisles are embattled, the nave divided from each aisle by four lofty pointed arches rising from octagonal columns, the capitals of which are much encroached on by the side galleries. The clerestory windows are square-headed of three lights. Those of the aisles have chiefly depressed arches and tracery of three lights. The chancel is tolerably large but rebuilt in poor style. The interior, though spacious, is as usual encumbered with galleries, and there are some poor modern Gothic fittings. The organ pretty good'; Churches of Lancs. 38. Hardwick (Hist, of Preston, 462) says: 'The pretensions of the old church to architectural beauty or even character were so ambiguous that it was sometimes quoted in derision as an excellent specimen of "joiners' Gothic." '
  • 128. Plans and elevations of the old church as it existed in 1853 are given in Smith, op. cit. 248–9.
  • 129. Designed by Edward Hugh Shellard.
  • 130. There was a rearrangement of seats in the quire in 1885.
  • 131. The inscriptions are given in full in Smith, op. cit. 258–66, and in Fishwick, op. cit. 121–3.
  • 132. The figure was in the possession of Mr. T. Harrison Myres and the inscription in that of Mr. F. J. Holland, both of Preston. These gentlemen restored them to the church. The brass is illustrated in Thornely, Brasses of Lancs, and Ches. 272, in Smith, op. cit. 258, and Fishwick, op. cit. 120.
  • 133. There is a small tablet inscribed, 'Sir Henry de Hoghton, bart., in his will expressed his desire that no person should be interred under any of the four stones which cover the remains of Dame Mary, his first lady, Miss Ann Boughton, her sister, himself, and Dame Susannah, his last lady.'
  • 134. The inscriptions (in addition to the weight and name of maker) are as follows: (1) 'Venite exultemus Domino.' (2) '4 June 1814., foundation laid by Sir H. P. Hoghton, bart., lay rector and patron.' (3)'June 4, 54 George III, the king's birthday: Vivat Rex.' (4) 'June 4, 1814, account received of the Treaty of Peace.' (5) 'The Rev. James Penny, vicar; the Rev. Wm, Towne, curate, 1814.' (6) 'Rich. Newsham, esq., mayor, 1814.' (7) 'Jno. Green, Jno. Fallowfield, Jno, Grimbaldeston, Hen. Heaton, Jas. Middlehurst, Jno. Harrison, churchwardens, 1814.' (8) 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Resurgant.'
  • 135. In 1602 Thomas Woodruff was admitted burgess on condition of ringing the day bell and curfew for the summer season during his life; Preston Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 64. The ringing of these bells was maintained till recent times.
  • 136. The list of church ornaments considered necessary in 1659 is printed by Smith, op. cit. 253. It includes two silver bowls with covers. In 1660 there were five pewter flagons' to be used at the time of the Sacrament.'
  • 137. In Smith's Preston Church, 83– 224. In this work are also contained extracts from the records of the 'Four and Twenty Gentlemen'afterwards (1770) known as the Select Vestry who governed the parish. Lists of churchwardens are also given.
  • 138. T. C. Smith, op. cit. 265.
  • 139. George Crook desired to be buried 'in the south side of the churchyard, nigh unto the cross'; cited by Fishwick, Preston, 124.
  • 140. Hist. Ch. of York (Rolls Sen), 1, 25.
  • 141. V.C.H. Lancs, i, 288a.
  • 142. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 290.
  • 143. This is an inference from the later history, but the matter is not clear, for Roger's grant, including Preston, was confirmed by John when Count of Mortain, i.e. before 1193; ibid. 298.
  • 144. Ibid. 434–5. To justify Theobald Walter's claim Preston must have been included among the 'advowsons of churches' not recorded by name.
  • 145. Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 6. The monks, described as tenants, retained the church of Poulton, but surrendered Preston. Each clerk presented to the church was to promise to pay the 10 marks annuity.
  • 146. From the list of rectors it will be seen that John presented in 1201 and 1202.
  • 147. Cal. Pat. 1313–17, p. 512. He may have intended to bestow it on Whalley Abbey. In a later petition from the abbey to the Archbishop of York the abbot and monks state that they have obtained the church, so far as a layman could give it, from Henry Earl of Lancaster, and pray for its appropriation to their house, undertaking to pay a vicar £20 a year; Whitaker, Whalley (ed. Nicholls), i, 168–9. The abbot's initial is printed as C.
  • 148. In 1354 it was found that it would not be to the king's injury that the advowson of the church of Preston—including, it would seem, the whole rectory worth £100—should be appropriated to St. Mary's Collegiate Church at Leicester; Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. III (2nd nos.), no. 2. The scheme was not carried through, as the Dukes of Lancaster continued to present to the church.
  • 149. Cal. Pat. 1399–1401, p. 341. The New College (or Newark) was founded in 1355; Cal. Papal Letters, iii, 585. The appropriation was in 1401 confirmed by Boniface IX; ibid, v, 411; vi, 110. In 1520 the Dean and Chapter of the New College of our Blessed Lady of Leicester demised to Richard Hesketh for twenty-five years the parsonage of Preston with its demesne and glebe land and the chapel of Broughton at a rent of £40 and 37s. Thomas Hesketh, brother and heir of Richard, afterwards demised it to Sir Alexander Osbaldeston at a rent of £52 3s. 8d. for the use of Thomas's son Robert; Towneley MS. DD, no. 231. Robert Hesketh in 1531 procured afresh lease from the college for a term of forty years at the old rent of £40 and 37s.; ibid. no. 384. Various disputes arising out of these and other grants are related in Smith, op. cit. 14–19.
  • 150. Certain possessions of Newark College at Preston seem to have been granted with other church property to Richard Venables and others in 1549; Pat. 3 Edw. VI, pt. ix. The rectory with the advowson was probably leased for short terms, judging from the changes of patrons. In 1569–70 Christopher Anderton of Lostock transferred to John Bold of North Meols the advowson of Preston; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 225, m. 7; 227, m. 5 d. Thurstan Anderton in 1592 granted the same to Henry Bold, who in 1596 transferred it to Richard Hoghton; De Hoghton D.
  • 151. Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xiii. The rectory of Preston and the advowson of the vicarage were included in the Hoghton properties in 1616; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 317, m. 7. The De Hoghton D. show that Thomas Hoghton had in 1587 procured a lease of the rectory from the Crown.
  • 152. Smith, op. cit. 6. It appears from a fine of 1772 that the rectory and advowson of Preston were in that year sold or mortgaged to William Shaw, jun., by Sir Henry Hoghton; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 387, m. 114.
  • 153. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 120.
  • 154. Ibid. 298.
  • 155. Pop Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 307; £66 13s. 4d.
  • 156. Ibid. 327; £23 6s. 8d. The pension payable to the Abbot of Sees is not mentioned.
  • 157. Inq. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 37. The inquiry was made at Preston. The borough, which was excepted, was worth 7 marks and the rest of the parish 28 marks and 20d. The several townships paid as follows: Ashton, £1 16s. 8d.; Lea, £2. 6s. 8d.; Broughton, £3 13s, 4d.; Barton, £3 6s. 8d.; Haighton, £1 8s. 4d.; Grimsargh, £1 10s.; Brockholes, £1 1s. 8d.; Elston, £1 8s. 4d.; Ribbleton, £1 1s. 8d.; Fishwick the same; in all, £18 15s. The reasons given why the 100 marks was not reached were that the excepted revenues were considerable (tithe of hay £10, other small tithes 15 marks, oblations, &c., 5 marks, glebe 25s.), and that by the destruction wrought by the Scots and other insupportable charges daily increasing there were waste lands in the parish causing a loss of 28 marks to the tax; in all, £43 5s.
  • 158. Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15.
  • 159. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 169; the rent received by Newark College was £41 17s.
  • 160. Ibid. v, 262; the net value was £15 4s. The manse and garden were valued at 2s., the vicarial tithes at £7 1s. 4d., and the oblations and Easter roll at £14 16s. 8d.
  • 161. Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 144–5. In 1670 a rent of £45 was paid to the Crown for the rectory by Sir Richard Hoghton and Edward Rigby; Pat. 22 Chas. II.
  • 162. Commonw. Ch. Surv. 146.
  • 163. Ibid. The endowment of the vicarage included cottage and barn, with 1½ acres of glebe, small tithes of the whole parish, and the corn tithes also in Ribbleton, but in some cases a prescriptive rent limited the amounts payable. A terrier of the glebe lands of the vicarage made in 1663 and a table of Easter dues of about the same time are printed in Smith, op. cit. 12.
  • 164. Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 461. The vicar paid £4 to the curate of Broughton.
  • 165. Manch. Dioc. Dir. The old vicarage was in the street so called, off Tithebarn Street, to the north of the church. The present house, at Eastcliff, was built in 1846.
  • 166. William the priest of Preston was first witness to an important charter; Farrer, op. cit. 323, 325.
  • 167. Ibid. 361. He is called only Robert de Preston, but is one of a number of witnesses, all apparently clergymen. In another ecclesiastical deed of 1193 he appears as Master Robert de Preston; Lanc. Ch. (Chet. Soc), i, iii.
  • 168. After making the settlement with the Abbot of Sees recorded in the text, Theobald Walter presented Adomar de la Roche; ibid, ii, 519.
  • 169. Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 101. The dates in the first column are often those of presentation, the institutions not being known.
  • 170. Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 14. He was precentor of York in 1213; Le Neve, Fasti, iii, 154. The statement that Peter was dead in 1222 shows that the Master Peter de Russinol who occurs later must be a different person.
  • 171. He was nephew of the Bishop of Winchester and is said to have been presented by Henry III; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 120 (where he is called Henry). Americus, rector of Preston, had letters of protection in 1219 and 1222; Cal. Pat. 1216–25, pp. 199, 336. He occurs again in 1228, when Herbert the clerk and other guardians of the church had letters of protection; ibid. 1225–32, p. 189. He was still rector in 1240, when he claimed Chipping as a chapel of Preston; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), no, in.
  • 172. Haverhill was one of the king's clerks in 1223, as appears by the Patent Rolls, the calendars containing many references to him. He became the king's treasurer and died in 1252. He was a canon of St. Paul's; Le Neve, Fasti, ii, 400. According to T. C. Smith (op. cit. 9, 26) he was presented to Preston 3 July 1243, referring to Pat. 27 Hen. Ill, m. 3. The entry does not appear in the printed calendar, where instead it is recorded that on 22 July 1243 Guy de Russilun (Rousillon) was presented to Preston; Cal. Pat. 1232–47, p. 387. Guy was the king's clerk and kinsman (Cal. Papal Letters, i, 201) and there are a number of references to him in the Patent Rolls. There is probably some error, for in 1246 the church of Preston was of the king's presentation. William de Haverhill, the treasurer, was rector, and it was worth 140 marks a year; Assize R. 404, m. 19 d. A papal dispensation to hold two additional benefices was given to William de Haverhill in 1244; Cal. Papal Letters, i, 211.
  • 173. Cal. Pat. 1247–58, p. 149; he was archdeacon of 'Tours' or Thouars. Matthew Paris, whose description must be considered that of a hostile partisan, says that Arnulf was a Poitevin and chaplain to Geoffrey de Lusignan, the king's brother, and played the fool to amuse the king and court, being a disgrace to the priesthood; 'we have seen him pelting the king, his brother Geoffrey, and other nobles while walking in the orchard of St. Albans with turf, stones and apples, and pressing the juice of grapes in their eyes, like one devoid of sense'; Chran. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), v, 329. Such behaviour, though undignified, does not seem vicious. Arnulf was also a prebendary of York; Cal. Pat. 1247–58, p. 414.
  • 174. Ibid. p. 471. He was an important public official, becoming keeper of the great seal 1255–9, and held a number of benefices and dignities, including the rectory of Kirkham. He became Bishop of London in 1259, but retained Preston, Kirkham and some other churches till his death in 1262. See Dict. Nat. Biog.; Foss, Judges; Le Neve, Fasti, ii, 285, &c. In 1254 Henry de Wingham, subdeacon, one of the king's clerks, was made a papal chaplain; Cal. Papal Letters, i, 300. There are several other privileges and dispensations recorded for him in the same volume, including permission (in 1259) to hold for five years all the benefices he had at the time of his election to the see of London; ibid. 366.
  • 175. Pat. 46 Hen. III, m. 9 (quoted by Smith, op. cit. 31). This, the most famous of the rectors of Preston, was also a great State officer holding many ecclesiastical preferments. He was Chancellor of England 1261–3 and again 1272–4, being made Bishop of Rochester in 1274. He founded Merton Coll., Oxf. He was drowned while crossing the Medway in 1277. See Dict. Nat. Biog.; Foss, Judges; Le Neve, Fasti, ii, 561, &c. Walter de Merton, chancellor of the Bishop of Durham, obtained a papal dispensation in 1246 5 Cal. Papal Letters, i, 225.
  • 176. Protections were granted him in 1286 and 1294; Cal. Pat. 1281–92, p. 249; 1292–1301, p. 121. He occurs also in pleadings of 1292, the surname in one case being given as De Roseys; Assize R. 408, m. 39 d., 99, 24. He made a gift to Henry de Haydock of Ashton in return for land in Dobcroft given to Preston Church; Kuerden MSS. iv, C 25.
  • 177. Cal. Pat. 1301–7, p.457; 'Preston' may be an error for Prescot (q.v.), but Eustace was defendant in a plea regarding land in Preston in 1305; De Banco R. 153, m. 206 d.
  • 178. The name is also given as Fairstead. In Jan. 1311–12 letters dimissory were granted by the Archbishop of York to James de Fairford, rector of Preston in Amounderness; note by J. P. Earwaker, Raines MSS. (from the York records). James de Fairford is named as the immediate predecessor of Thurstan de Holland, rector in 1323, in a claim for tithes by the Prior of Lancaster; Lanc. Ch. ii, 448.
  • 179. Thurstan de Holland is stated to have exchanged the rectory of Hanbury for Preston with James de Fairford; the reference given is Add. MS. 6065, fol. 267 (Fishwick, Preston). As Thurstan is often named in pleadings, &c., it is probable that he, unlike most of the other rectors, was resident. He when eighteen (about 1314) accepted the rectory of Hanbury, and obtained a papal dispensation in 1319 to retain it, his intercessor being Thomas Earl of Lancaster; Cal. Papal Letters, ii, 189. The Abbot of Sés' claim against Thurstan for the annuity of 10 marks, already recorded, occurs in the Plea Rolls from 1325 onwards; De Banco R. 258, m. 140; 292, m. 257; 300,111.185. Thurstan de Holland occurs as rector down to the beginning of 1348; ibid. 350, m. 20; 353, m. 302.
  • 180. For the presentations about this time reference is given to Torre's Registers of the Archdeacons of Richmond; Fishwick's Preston. Henry de Walton was of the family of Walton-le-Dale, and became Archdeacon of Richmond in 1349 by papal provision, he then holding the church of Preston and canonries at Salisbury and York; Cal. Papal Letters, iii, 290. There are many other references to him in the same volume, including dispemations from residence and for further benefices, &c. He incurred sentence of excommunication in 1357, but it was suspended; ibid. iii, 584. See also Le Neve, Fasti, iii, 138, &c.
  • 181. An abstract of the will of Robert de Burton, rector of Preston, dated at Leicester Abbey, 16 Jan. 1360, is given from Gibbon's Early Linc. Wills, 23, by T. C. Smith, op. cit. 35. No benefice or dignity except Preston is named. Another Robert de Burton had several preferments; Cal. Papal Letters, iii, 241, &c.
  • 182. He was rector in 1369, when he complained that various persons had broken his close at Preston; De Banco R. 435, m. 368. John de Charneles had canonries at York and Lichfield, and dispensations for benefices, &c.; Cal. Papal Letters, iii, 92 {1342), &c. He died in 1374; Le Neve, Fasti, i, 591.
  • 183. Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 389. Ralph de Erghum (Arkholme) was chancellor of John of Gaunt and became Bishop of Salisbury (1375) and Bath (1388). He had various canonries, &c.; Cal. Papal Letters, iv, 167, 215, &c.; Le Neve, Fasti, ii, 600; i, 139, &c.
  • 184. John de Yarburgh became canon of York in 1385 and exchanged for a canonry at St. Paul's in 1395, resigning the latter in 1400; ibid, iii, 205; ii, 380. He, being in his fifty-eighth year and unable from his infirmities to reside at Preston, received a papal dispensation for non-residence there in 1397; Cal. Papal Letters, v, 22. He was a clerk of the Duke of Lancaster's in 1378; Cal. Pat. 1377–81, p. 262. In 1399 he became one of the prebendaries of the New College at Leicester; ibid. 1399–1401, p. 13. An incident of his time may be recorded here. One John Robinson Atkinson of Balderston having killed Thomas Banastre at Preston in May 1395, fled to the church for safety. Acknowledging his crime before the king's coroner he was, about a month later, allowed to go on abjuring the realm. He was pardoned in 1397; Pal. of Lanc. Chan. Misc. 1/3, no. 80.
  • 185. He resigned in order to allow the dean and canons to take possession; Cal. Papal Letters, vi, 110. The date is not given, but it must have been before 1406 and may have been in 1400.
  • 186. Richard Walton was vicar of Preston in 1400 if a deed preserved by Kuerden is rightly dated; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 250, no. 25. In Harl. MS. 2042 (fol. 168) what seems to be the same deed bears the years 3 Hen. IV and 3 Hen. V. He was a burgess of Preston by hereditary right in 1415; Preston Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 7. In an undated deed (c. 1410) Magota widow of William Walton of Walton-leDale granted certain lands to her son Richard Walton, vicar of St. Wilfrid's, Preston; Kuerden MSS. iv, P 118, no. 26.
  • 187. Raines MSS. xxii, 395.
  • 188. Ibid, xx, 397. He occurs in local charters and pleadings; e.g. Add. MS. 32107, no. 2292; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 2, m. 1; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 21.
  • 189. Raines MSS. xxii, 379. The vicarage fell vacant on 18 Feb. 1451–2 by the death of John York alias Legeard, and on inquiry it was found that the Dean and Chapter of New College, Leicester, were patrons. Tunstall is named in a local deed; Add. MS. 32107, no. 552, 2953.
  • 190. Raines MSS. xxii, 379. Cowell had been rector of Thurnby, Linc, dioc, to which Tunstall went. Robert Cowell was an in burgess at the guild of 1459; Preston Guild R. 12. His name occurs in local deeds down to 1473; e.g. Kuerden MSS. iii, W 8 {no. 95), K 2.
  • 191. Thomas Bolton, vicar, was one of the witnesses to the will (dated 1482) of Richard Taylor, who desired his body to be buried in St. Wilfrid's Church; Kuerden fol. MS. fol. 396, T. Thomas 'Berton' was vicar in 1483–4; Kuerden MSS. iv, R 14. He is again named as Thomas Bolton in 1486 5 Add. MS. 32107, no. 363. The king, apparently in 1498, leased to Thomas Bolton for thirty years the vicarage of the parish church of Preston; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxi, 56 a/d. There is nothing to show how the vicarage had come into the king's hands. Thomas Bolton was still rector in 1501; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 542.
  • 192. By inquiry made in 1527 it was found that the church was appropriated to the college of 'New Work,' Leicester, and that the vicar was Robert Singleton, who had held it for eleven years; Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. Sir Alexander Osbaldeston in 1494 obtained a grant of the next presentation from the College of Newark, Leicester, and presented Robert son of John Singleton some time between 1515 and 1522. The grant was disputed, but on trial upheld; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 195, printed by Smith, op. cit. 15–16. A writ in this case was issued 8 Oct. 1516, the church being then vacant; Pal. of Lanc. Writs Proton. 8 Hen. VIII, Lent. Robert Singleton was vicar in 1535; Valor, v, 262. One of the name became archpriest of St. Martin's, Dover, in 1535; ibid, i, 95. He was a correspondent of Cromwell's; L. and P. Hen. VIII, x, 612, 640. The same or another graduated at Oxford (M.A. 1527) and became rector of Potsgrove, Beds., 1549; Foster, Alumni.
  • 193. Nicholas Bradshaw was in 1535 one of the canons of the Newark College; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv, 171. The inventory of church goods at Preston in 1552, signed by him, shows a fair number of vestments, &c., remaining. There was also a 'painted cloth which was about the sepulchre'; T. C. Smith, op. cit. 252–3. The name is given as James Bradshaw in Chet. Misc. (new ser.), i, 3. He occurs as vicar of Preston in the Chester visitation lists of 1548 and 1562. In the latter it is said he 'appeared and subscribed.' Mortuus is marked against his name.
  • 194. In the visitation list of 1563 he was curate of Chorley and vicar of Preston. He was buried at Chorley 26 July 1566. The names of patrons and dates of institution from this period are taken from papers in the Dioc. Reg. Chester.
  • 195. Compounded for first-fruits 26 Oct. 1566; Lancs, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 409. One of this name was B.A. at Oxford 1571, and afterwards (1581) a barrister; Foster, Alumni. He seems to have become Recorder of Liverpool 1602–20; Picton, Munic. Rec. i, 112.
  • 196. Nicholas ap Evan Daniel was vicar of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, 1563–8, being deprived—for nonconformity, Canon Raines supposed; he was also a Fellow of Manchester and was there accused of unsound doctrine; Raines, Manch. Fellows (Chet. Soc), 56–7. He compounded for his first-fruits at Preston 19 Nov. 1572. At Preston he preached twice every Sunday and holiday. He was a married man.
  • 197. Act Bk. at Chester, 1579–1676, fol. 3b. Compounded for first-fruits 30 Nov. 1580. An abstract of his will, dated 18 Aug. 1592, is printed by T. C. Smith, op. cit. 45. He was in 1591 described as 'an old grave man of simple persuasion in divinity and one that in his youth hath used sundry callings and now at last settled himself in the ministry'; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 601. In 1590 it was reported that the vicar, who was 'no preacher,' had 'by corruption' only 20 marks a year out of the vicarage revenues; S. P. Dom. Eliz. xxxi, 47.
  • 198. Act Bk. at Chester, fol. 21. He appears to have had two presentations, one from the queen and another from Henry Bold of North Meols; Smith, op. cit. 46. He compounded for firstfruits 5 Feb. 1592–3. He was also rector of Windermere 1594–1610.
  • 199. Act Bk. at Chester, fol. 37; 'preacher of the Word of God.' Parkinson presented by virtue of a grant from Richard Hoghton. John Paler was buried at Preston 16 Apr. 1621, the entry in the register describing him as 'a notable labourer in the Lord's vineyard.' An inventory of his goods (Smith, op. cit. 47) shows that he had a considerable library, his books being worth £14 10s.
  • 200. Act Bk. at Chester, fol. 72. He was a king's preacher. Martin paid firstfruits 29 May 1621. He graduated at Oxford (M.A. 1611) and Cambridge; Foster, Alumni. He was deprived for simony in 1623. Some ten years later he made bitter complaint of his treatment, alleging that his wife and son had starved to death in the street; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1633–4, pp. 7, 11, 39. His charactersketch of his enemies, who were Puritans, is printed by Fishwick, op. cit. 180–2. Martin seems to have been regarded as of unsound mind. The institutions from this time have been compared with those recorded at the P.R.O. as printed in Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Notes.
  • 201. The history of the vicarage from 1623 to 1626 is obscure, the proceedings concerning Martin causing difficulty. The records of the Chester registry show that Alexander Bradley, B.A., was presented by the king, 'by lapse,' on 21 June 1623, and John Inskip on 6 July following. The latter sought institution, but does not appear to have obtained it; Act Bk. at Chester, fol. 73b, 76b, and at end of volume. Augustine Wildbore was presented by Sir Richard Hoghton on 3 Mar. 1625–6, the vacancy being due to the 'deprivation of James Martin, last vicar'; but on 1 Dec. following he was presented by the king, 'patron for this turn by reason of the outlawry of the patron or by lapse.' The first-fruits were paid 20 Feb. 1626–7. Some entries relating to John Inskip, with an abstract of his will (1632), are printed by T. C. Smith, op. cit. 51. Wildbore was educated at Sidney-Sussex Coll., Camb. (M.A. 1614, D.D. 1633). He was appointed a king's preacher; was vicar of Garstang in 1621, of Preston in 1626, and of Lancaster 1630, vacating Preston. He was a strong Royalist and was expelled from his benefices by Parliament in 1643. He died in 1654. See the full account by H. Fishwick in Garstang (Chet. Soc), 149–53.
  • 202. Act Bk. at Chester, fol. 91b, 116b. First-fruits paid 25 Nov. 1630. The king's nomination was said to be due to the outlawry of the patron, lapse, or simony. James Starkie was in 1636 admonished by the High Commission Court, probably for some nonconformity; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1635–6, p. 485. In 1639 he was promoted to the rectory of North Meols(q.v.).
  • 203. This noteworthy vicar of Preston was the son of Richard Ambrose, vicar of Ormskirk, where he was baptized in 1604. He was educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf.; B.A. 1624, M.A. Camb. 1632; Foster, Alumni. Incumbent of Castleton, Derb., 1627; Clapham, 1629; king's preacher in Lancashire, 1631; was a zealous Presbyterian and member of the classis 1646, signing the 'Harmonious Consent' in 1648; became vicar of Garstang in 1654 and was ejected for nonconformity in 1662. He died in Jan. 1663–4. He published various religious works, including Looking unto Jesus, 1658. See Dict. Nat. Biog.; Wood, Athenae; Garstang (Chet. Soc), 154–176. Ambrose was still vicar of Preston till 1657, when he released to Sir Richard Hoghton all right in the vicarage; De Hoghton D. During part of the time (1655 on) William Brownsword was in charge of the parish but was not styled vicar; he was afterwards of Kendal. See articles by Rev. B. Nightingale in Preston Guardian, 9–30 Apr. 1910.
  • 204. Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 189. One of this name was educated at Oxford; B.A. 1659; and afterwards held various benefices; Canon of Lincoln 1683–1712; Foster, Alumni.
  • 205. Plund. Mins. Accts. ii, 216, 222. Educated at Corpus Christi Coll., Camb.; B.A. 1640; Fishwick, Preston, 185. In 1662 he was willing to conform to some extent, but was ejected from Preston or left it voluntarily. Next year, however, he accepted the vicarage of Dedham; Smith, op. cit. 59. He had previously held Kirkby Lonsdale and Newcastle-onTyne.
  • 206. Stanhope was educated at St. John's Coll., Camb.; Admissions (ed. Mayor), i, in; M.A. 1660. He is said to have acted afterwards as chaplain at Hoghton Tower; Smith, op. cit. 60. His son George became Dean of Canterbury 1704 to 1728.
  • 207. Educated at Oxford; M.A. 1654, D.D. 1672; Foster, Alumni. Some notice of this vicar has been given under Euxton, of which he was curate in 1650. Conforming at the Restoration he was very tolerant of Dissenters, and became popular at Preston and Lancaster, where he was vicar from 1682 till his death in 1684. His epitaph describes him as devoted to the English Reformed Church, and faithful to the two Charleses in very difficult times; Smith, op. cit. 61–3, where his will is given; Wood, Athenae; Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 208. Act Bk. at Chester, fol. 158. Neither vicar nor curate is recorded in the visitation list of 1691, but James Bland, curate, was 'conformable' in 1689; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 230. Birch's will is printed in Smith, op. cit. 68. He was not liked by some of the more influential of his parishioners, who complained that he did not reside and that he disparaged the Prayer Book. Bishop Stratford made inquiry and wrote to the mayor, showing that some of the charges were untrue and other matters would be reformed. In particular the vicar was willing to restore the daily prayers in the church; Loc. Glean. Lancs, and Ches. ii, 6,9.
  • 209. The Hoghton family were Nonconformists, and from a letter among the De Hoghton D. it appears that Sir Charles Hoghton gave the nomination of Birch's successor to the mayor of Preston and others. It is not clear, however, that they selected Peploe, who was a zealous Whig, afterwards warden of Manchester 1718, and Bishop of Chester 1726, when he resigned Preston. Peploe is said to have owed these promotions to his courage in reading the prayers for King George at the time when the Jacobite army was actually in possession of Preston. He was also very energetic in prosecuting Roman Catholics. See further in the account of Manchester Church. He died in 1752. John Stanley was presented 13 Apr. 1726 by the king, but there does not seem to be any record that he was instituted; he at once accepted a rectory at Liverpool.
  • 210. Son of Bishop Peploe, whom he succeeded also as warden of Manchester in 1738; see the account of the church there. He resigned Preston in 1743 on being collated to Tattenhall in Cheshire. He died in 1781.
  • 211. William Shaw presented by grant of Sir Henry Hoghton. The new vicar was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxf.; B.A. 1732; Foster, Alumni. He was curate of St. George's, Preston. Being a Whig he had many enemies in the town, who asserted he had paid for the presentation. He died at the Bull's Head, Manchester, 4 Aug. 1782. His son became vicar of Ormskirk.
  • 212. Educated at Christ Church, Oxf.; M.A. 1760; Foster, Alumni. Vicar of Kirkham, 1771, king's preacher 1790, Canon of York 1791. He resigned Preston in 1809, but retained Kirkham till his death in 1812. He published Lectures on the Creed of Pius IV and some anti-Popery tracts. See Fishwick, Kirkham (Chet. Soc), 84–5.
  • 213. Educated at Oxf.; M.A. 1784. Rector of Chipping (q.v.) 1807–16.
  • 214. Educated at Trinity Coll., Camb.; M.A. 1818. A monument to him was erected in the chancel by public subscription.
  • 215. Educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf.; M.A. 1830; Indian chaplain 1821, Wear of Durnford 1834, hon. canon of Manchester 1853. He was also a county magistrate. There is a monument to him in the chancel.
  • 216. Educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf.; M.A. 1861; incumbent of Shaw 1875, hon. canon of Manchester 1890, rector of Yelverton 1900.
  • 217. Educated at Brasenose Coll., Oxf.; M.A. 1877; vicar of St. Barnabas', Holbeck, 1883, of Farnworth near Bolton 1894. Hon. canon of Manchester 1908.
  • 218. As at Fernyhalgh and Barton. Kuerden, about 1680, speaks of a foot passage 'through the churchyard southward by the public school and ancient place called Chapel of Avenham, over the Swillbrook,' &c.; Hardwick, Preston, 210. Nothing else seems known of this chapel. A John ' de Capella' occurs c. 1240; Cockersand Chartul. i, 217. A lease of the rectory made in 1545 (quoted in a petition of 1572) speaks of 'the glebe and demesne lands belonging to the said church and rectory together with the chapels of Broughton, Ribbleton, Ashton Bank and Lea, and three burgages in Preston,' &c.; but there has probably been some mistake in quoting; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. xci, F 15.
  • 219. Smith, op. cit. 20, citing 'a subsidy book in the Record Office.' The names given fix the date as between 1527 and 1535. In the same work (p. 19) is given a list of seven names, dated 1525, from 'the Chapter House Book, B 2/15 (R.O.)'; this is incomplete, as it does not contain Thomas Bostock's name.
  • 220. Visitation lists at Chester. It appears that another priest (not named) was in 1548 paid by the corporation in accordance with a lease ending in 1560. This priest, whose name occurs in the list of 1525, was still ministering in 1561, though 'somewhat addicted to the alehouse, and insufficient'; Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc), 205. He does not occur in 1562. It further appears that the old chantry priest and schoolmaster (not named in 1562) continued to minister; he was reported to be 'an unlearned priest,' and being a recusant was under surveillance by the authorities; Cal. S. P. Dom. Add. l547–65, p. 523.
  • 221. In the Consistory Court Records at Chester is a certificate sent to the vicar of Preston c. 1575 stating that Arthur Hoghton of Broughton had received 'the holy communion at Easter last in the church of Goosnargh according to the laws of this our English Church.'
  • 222. The vicar's letter and his curate's reply are printed in Smith, op. cit. 42–4. It was only with the greatest difficulty that the judge and jury could be forced to convict the priest and others.
  • 223. His name, William Wall, does not seem to occur in the lists of pre-Reformation clergy. William Wall, clerk, was an in burgess at the guild of 1582, and Thomas son of William Wall, clerk, deceased, at that of 1602; Preston Guild R. 32, 49. The curate in his reply admitted some of the serious faults alleged, but said he had not taken bribes from recusants to conceal their not coming to church, &c. He had had a dispute with the vicar about the burial of unchristened children; it had never been the custom to bury them in the churchyard. The custom of the Rogation Days is mentioned: 'During the three days before Ascension Day he (the curate) went to the cross in the town and willed the people to pray to God to prosper the fruits of the earth as is appointed by the book.'
  • 224. The singers would have 'no Geneva psalm' before the sermon. The clerk in reply admitted 'that he being one that can sing and play on the organs and a teacher of children to sing, did never sing a psalm before the sermon,' but he had 'no book of psalms.' From what is said in the text it is clear that the organ was soon afterwards taken down. The next was erected in 1802 in the west gallery; Smith, op. cit. 257. The bequest of Thomas Hoghton, the exiled lord of Lea, in 1580, for a pair of organs, &c., may be mentioned here; Knox, Life of Card. Allen, 85.
  • 225. See the accounts of the vicars above. Evidence of Puritan feeling is given by the strict prohibition of trading on 'the Sabbath Day,' passed by the guild of 1602. In 1616 the Council ordered housekeepers to keep their street doors shut during service time on Sabbath days and festivals, and to prevent their children playing in the streets or sitting in the street doors on the Sabbath. Ale-houses were regulated, being ordered to close at 9 p.m.; Abram, Memorials of the Guilds, 36, 37. In 1625–8 Henry Banister bequeathed £600 'towards the maintenance and settling of a minister or ministers of God's Word, if (the trustees) should so think fit, to water the dry and barren places in the County of Lancaster, where there should be greatest want of a preaching ministry, to direct the people to the glory of God.' With this and other sums land in Brockholes was purchased, and of the resulting rent-charge of £16 a moiety has since been paid to the vicar of Preston; End. Char. Rep. 1905, p. 742. The vicar now applies it to the payment of a deaconess and a Church Army evangelist,
  • 226. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1637, p. 26.
  • 227. Baines, Lancs. (ed. Harland), i, 228.
  • 228. See the account of Vicar Birch. The full clerical staff probably consisted of the vicar, his curate and the curate of Broughton. An additional church was built in 1716 at Grimsargh and another in 1723 at Preston.
  • 229. T. C. Smith, op. cit. 78.
  • 230. Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc.), 202–4; Smith, op. cit. 233. It does not appear which of several Sir Richards founded this chantry; it may have been the founder of one at Ribchester in 1407. In 1487 it was found that Alexander Hoghton and Elizabeth his wife had a chantry in Preston Church, John Troutbeck being chaplain, and they were bound to maintain the fabric and supply book, vestments, &c.; Raines, loc. cit. If this altar were at the end of the south aisle, where the Lea burial-place was, the crucifix was probably some special one, and not the chancel rood.
  • 231. In 1495 and 1500 the mayor and burgesses, being patrons of the chantry of the Rood of Preston, demised a burgage in Fishergate and an acre of land for forty years, rents of 10s. for each to be paid to the priest who should say mass, according to the intent of Richard Whalley, founder of the same; Kuerden MSS. iv, P 121, no. 95, 96. In 1507 Thomas Whalley, chaplain, and another surrendered to the mayor and others certain lands for the enlarging or augmentation of the chantry belonging to the altar before the holy crucifix within the parish church of St. Wilfrid the Bishop in Preston, the priest to pray especially for the soul of William Whalley, priest, late founder of the same; ibid. no. 91, 92. From this it appears that Whalley's foundation was intended for an additional priest at the Rood altar. His benefaction seems to have led to disputes with the Hoghtons. Thus in 1498 Sir Alexander Hoghton nominated William Galter to celebrate, and in 1500 and 1507 the corporation named the same priest; ibid. iii, H 9; and iv, P 121, no. 76, 79, 86. The agreement with the corporation was that William Gaiter 'shall say mass afore the rood in Preston Kirk three days in a week, that is to say Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, and he be disposed, and to pray for the souls of Richard Whalley and his wifes (sic) and William Whalley priest his son,' &c.; and that 'he shall keep and maintain God's service to his power as St. Mary's priest does'; and 'be ready to say mass if the mayor require him'; ibid, iv, P 11. The charters are in Duchy of Lanc. Misc. bdle. 2, no. 15. Richard Hoghton as feoffee of Richard Whalley nominated James Tarleton to celebrate in the chantry; Add. MS. 32106, no. 751. In 1527 the chantry before the crucifix was held by Thomas Bostock, who had been appointed about eleven years before; the Hoghton patronage is admitted; Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. John Shepherd, named in the text, was the priest in 1535; Valor Eccl. v, 263. The income was then given as £4 4s. 10d. clear.
  • 232. An account of them is given by T. C. Smith, op. cit. 235. For grants of the chantry lands see Pat. 5 Jas. I, pt. xx, and 7 Jas. I, pt. xxxiv.
  • 233. In that year Adam de Brockholes gave his lands in Brockholes to William de Elston, charged with a rent of 6s. 8d., to continue for a hundred years, for the celebration of masses at the altar of B. Mary in the church of Preston for the souls of Adam and his kindred; Add. MS. 32108, fol. 289.
  • 234. Raines, op. cit. 205–7; Smith, op. cit. 230. Ellen was the wife of Sir Henry Hoghton, who died in 1479; she may have augmented an older foundation. The altar was probably at the end of the north aisle, afterwards known as 'Wall's chapel.'
  • 235. In 1430 the feoffees granted to Ellen Young certain property charged with a payment of 13s. 4d. a year to God and B. Mary of the church of Preston for a priest celebrating there for the souls of John Young and Maud his wife; Kuerden MSS. iv, P 121. Again in 1456 John Inglesle of Preston gave two small rentcharges (is. in all) to the wardens (procuratoribus) of B. Mary the Virgin of the church of St. Wilfrid of Preston for the souls of himself and Joan his consort; ibid. no. 73. In 1470 Margaret widow of Sir Richard Hoghton gave burgages on the east side of Friargate towards paying the priest before St. Mary's altar; ibid. no. 37. Ralph Hoghton son of Margaret, in accordance with her intention, gave a charge of 12d. for the priest singing 'daily afore our Lady,' the whole tenement to be so devoted after his wife's death; ibid. no. 94. Another deed attributes the endowment in part to Richard Whalley, whose son William, a chaplain, was to hold certain lands for life. After his death they were to remain to Henry Hoghton and other trustees and to the mayor and burgesses to maintain a chaplain to celebrate daily (or at least thrice a week) before the image of the B. V. Mary at her altar in Preston Parish Church; Add. MS. 32106, no. 848. The mayor, in defending a suit brought by Roger Levens, the chantry priest, about 1522 stated that this chantry had been founded by the corporation about 1440 for 'a priest continually to sing and pray for the souls of the said persons, and for the prosperity and welfare of the mayor and burgesses and other inhabitants of the town, within the church of Preston; and every priest so appointed should keep a free school within the said town to teach the scholars there'; Smith, op. cit. 232 (from Duchy of Lanc Plead. Hen. VIII, i, N.D. L 6). It appears that Levens' predecessor was named George Hale, and had died in 1518. Roger Levens was in 1519 admitted to the possession of copyhold lands in Walton-leDale belonging to this chantry; Kuerden MSS. iv, P 120, no. 53. Again in 1527 the mayor and burgesses were returned as patrons of our Lady's chantry, of which Henry Coventry was chaplain, having held the post about four years; Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 15. Nicholas Banaster was the incumbent in 1535; Valor Eccl. v, 263. The revenue was 61s.
  • 236. The chantry lands were in 1556 granted by Mary to the Savoy Hospital, which she revived; Anderton D. (Mr. Stonor).
  • 237. In a disturbance at St. Mary Magdalene's Chapel in May 1358 John the Clerk of Broughton, master of the schools of Preston, was among those incriminated; Assize R. 439, m. 2. Raines (Chantries, 206) quotes from the registers of the Archdeacon of Richmond the appointment of Richard Marshall in 1399 to the grammar schools at Preston. Marshall was enrolled as a burgess in 1415; Preston Guild R. 9.
  • 238. The story is given in Fishwick's Preston, 204–12. Peter Carter, the schoolmaster who died in 1590, was author of Annotations on Seton's Logic; see Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 239. See article on 'Schools,' V.C.H. Lancs, ii, 569, and End. Char. Rep. Preston, 1905.
  • 240. An official inquiry was made in Oct. 1904, and the report, published in 1905, includes a reprint of that of 1824. Some earlier charities are recorded by Bishop Gastrell, Notitia, ii, 465.
  • 241. The Grammar School, Blue School, and Harris Institute and Free Library are the principal of these.
  • 242. The Royal Infirmary has an endowment of £2,148 a year; the Industrial Institute for the Blind has about £300. Mary Cross's gift for poor deaf and dumb children, founded in 1899, produces an income of £31.
  • 243. The Blue School, founded by Roger Sudell in 1702 in a cottage in Minspit Weind, off Fishergate, is now absorbed in the schools attached to the parish church. The founder desired the vicar 'to appoint a sober and religious person for a catechist, of the communion of the Church of England, to catechize and teach in the said school the poorest children of Preston and of the parish of Preston, gratis, the true fear and worship of God, and to teach them to read English, that they might be better enabled to attain to holines' Maria Holland in 1873–7 gave a capital fund of nearly £20,000 to found St. Joseph's Orphanage for destitute female children and for other charitable purposes, of which £1,106 was devoted to an institution for the sick poor, providing an endowment of £38 13s. 4d. There are various smaller endowments for religious purposes.
  • 244. The details here given are taken from the report of 1905.
  • 245. A smaller gift of the same kind was made by William Cooton in 1876, by which £40 came to the poor of St. Saviour's, Preston. The interest (28s.) is distributed by the vicar in small doles of money and provisions.
  • 246. End. Char. Rep. Lanc. 1902.
  • 247. George Rogerson in 1619 charged his lands in Broughton with £13 a year, payable £9 to the mayor of Preston for apprenticing and £4 to the mayor of Lancaster for the prisoners there. Henry Banister in 1625 left sums including £200 towards the apprenticing of poor children of Preston; this is now represented by the moiety of a rent-charge of £16. Thomas Winckley in 1710 left £50 for apprenticing. Henry Rishton and Eleanor his wife in 1738 gave £300 for the poor, of which half the interest was for apprenticing poor children. These sums with various accumulations are intact; but, as applications for apprentice fees ceased, no grants having been made since 1855, the gross income (about £55) is applied to scholarships at the grammar school.
  • 248. Her main gift was £100 for 'twelve pious men or widows,' but she added £6, the interest whereof was to be spent in entertaining the trustees at the 'Hind' or elsewhere. The Hind Inn is mentioned by John Taylor the ' Water Poet' in 1618.
  • 249. His gift was £100 for the poor and for apprenticing in alternate years. The combined charity, represented by a rent-charge of £10 10s. on the 'Three Legs of Man' in Preston, with accumulations of £289, is administered under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners made in 1904. The gross income is £18 12s. 4d., of which £8 is for nursing, subscriptions to dispensaries, supply of clothes, &, and the residue primarily for apprenticing, and then (should there be any balance) for outfit on entering a trade, or on passage money or outfit of emigrants.
  • 250. Henrietta Rigby in 1741 left £100 to the vicar and the mayor for the benefit of six poor widows, housekeepers in Preston. The capital is held by the corporation; £2 a year is distributed by the mayor to three poor widows, and £2 likewise by the vicar. William Rishton in 1729 left £100 to the mayor and aldermen, the interest to be given to the poor at Christmas. This is preserved, the mayor distributing £4. in doles of 1s. each. Thomas Hogkinson in 1697 bequeathed £50 for the poor, and in respect of it £2 is distributed by the mayor at Christmas in doles of 1s. to 2s. 6d. Elizabeth Parker in 1757, acting according to the desire of her father Joseph Chorley, gave a rent-charge of £4. on land at Claughton (as the interest of £100), half to go to the poor of Preston. This £2 is now distributed by the mayor in gifts of 2s. 6d. each. A moiety of the gift of Henry and Eleanor Rishton, already named, has recently been administered by the mayor; but this appears to be an irregularity. The amount is £4 14s. 4d.
  • 251. Bartholomew Worthington, a benefactor of the grammar school, in 1663 directed his wife to build a small almshouse on the waste near Fishergate bars. It was built, but there was no endowment, and, on its falling into decay, the materials were sold, and the money, with an addition, applied to build an almshouse at the east end of the town. Here there had been a range of almshouses, of unknown origin, managed by the corporation, which in 1790 were replaced by six houses, Worthington's being a seventh. The corporation nominated the inmates. There were three other almshouses occupied by poor persons put in by the mayor. The almshouses were sold in 1835, the corporation being under no known obligation to maintain them.
  • 252. It was a sum of 30s. a year paid out of the Blue Coat charity fund for bread for the poor on Sacrament days It ceased about 1812.
  • 253. These included £20 given by Seth Bushell, whose memorial brass has been mentioned, and other sums amounting to about £290, with rent-charges of 90s. All had been 'lost' before 1824. It is possible that they had been used to build the above-mentioned almshouses and to found 'Brown's Charity.' The benefactions were for the poor, for distributions of bread, and 'for buying Bibles and Testaments for the poorer sort of boys who should be taught at the grammar school.'
  • 254. Thomas Addison in 1729 charged land called Davil Meadows, near Preston Marsh, with a rent of £5 for twenty poor housekeepers. About 1820 the land belonged to John Grimshaw, and in 1904 to T. Coulthard and Co. The rent-charge is still paid. Thomas Houghton in 1649 gave land in Woodplumpton, now known as Houghton House Farm, for the poor of various townships; the gross rent paid is £67, the share of Preston being about £2 13s. 4d. Mrs. Smith in 1710 gave £10 to found a bread charity, and the money was (with other funds) invested in land in Whittingham; the share of the income due to the Smith charity is £2 4s. 4d. These three charities are administered together. Till recently bread or tickets for bread were given on St. Thomas's Day to poor persons, members of the Church of England; but money is now given instead. What is known as Brown's charity is the result of various gifts of ancient and unknown origin, represented by a share (now £5) of the rent of land in Kirkham, distributed by the vicar of Preston in Christmas doles of 2s. 6d. each to poor widows. Thomas Crooke in 1688 charged lands called Shaw, in Alston, with various sums, including £4 for the poor of Preston, to be distributed on Shrove Tuesday. Richard Hoghton in 1613 gave land called Woodcrook in Whittingham for charities, including 15s. payable every Good Friday at the font stone within the parish church of Preston. The whole rent of this land is given, and one fourth is paid to Preston. The amount, £2 19s. 11d., is distributed with Crooke's, to poor persons belonging to the Church of England, in money doles. Anne Oliver in 1825 bequeathed £300 for the benefit of the poor, to be distributed by the incumbent of St. George's. The income is now £6 15s. 8d., and is distributed by the vicar, partly at Christmas time and partly during the year, in money doles. Anne widow of Nicholas Winckley in 1779 gave £100 for the benefit of poor widows. The interest, £2 12s. 4d., is divided equally among poor widows of the ecclesiastical parishes of St. Saviour, Holy Trinity and St. Matthew.
  • 255. The trustees were to have 'a particular respect to those who should be most sober, honest and industrious, and frequenters of the Protestant churches.'
  • 256. It is called Crabby Nook.
  • 257. The money may be applied in subscriptions to hospitals, &, provident societies, paying nurses, or providing cost of outfit, emigrants' passage-money, clothes, tools, &, money gifts, or in other ways.
  • 258. The origin of it is unknown.