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Title: History of the Fylde of Lancashire


Author: John Porter



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HISTORY OF THE FYLDE OF LANCASHIRE,

by

JOHN PORTER, M.R.C.S., L.S.A.


[Illustration]






Fleetwood and Blackpool:
W. Porter and Sons, Publishers.
1876.
[All rights reserved.]

Fleetwood and Blackpool:
Printed by W. Porter and Sons.




TO BENJAMIN WHITWORTH, ESQUIRE, M.P., IN ADMIRATION OF HIS ENTERPRISE,
GENEROSITY, AND PHILANTHROPY, DISPLAYED IN THE FYLDE, AND ELSEWHERE, AND
AS A TRIBUTE OF PERSONAL REGARD AND ESTEEM, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY
INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR.




PREFACE.


A few, and only a few, words are needed to introduce the History of the
Fylde to the public. In its preparation my aim has been to make the work
as comprehensive in description and detail as the prescribed limits would
allow, and I have endeavoured to write in a style free from any tendency
to pedantry, and I hope, also, from dulness. How far these conditions
have been fulfilled I must now leave to the judgment of the reader, doing
so with some degree of confidence that at any rate the attempt will be
generally appreciated, if the success be not universally acknowledged. In
the course of my labours I have availed myself of the works of various
authors, and desire to acknowledge my indebtedness, especially to
Baines’s Lancashire, Fishwick’s Kirkham, Thornber’s Blackpool, and many
volumes of the Cheetham and other historical societies. My thanks for
valuable aid are also due to the following gentlemen, amongst others, the
Ven. Archdeacon Hornby, of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre; the Rev. W. Richardson,
of Poulton-le-Fylde; Col. Bourne, M.P., of Hackensall and Heathfield;
John Furness, esq., of Fulwood; W. H. Poole, esq., of Fleetwood; and the
Bailiffs of Kirkham.

                                                           _JOHN PORTER._

  _Fleetwood, August, 1876._




ERRATA.


Page 7, line 15, after the word _crossing_, insert _the Main Dyke from_.
This Dyke is crossed after leaving, and not before reaching, Staining, as
stated.

Page 147, line 9 from the bottom, for _Gulph_, read _Gulf_.

Page 183, line 2, for 1857, read 1657.

Page 256, dele the heading _Coasting_.

Page 286, line 2 from the bottom, for _fortified_, read _forfeited_.

Page 289, line 13 from the bottom, for the first _funds_, read
_expenses_.




CONTENTS.


                                                                      PAGE.

                               CHAPTER I.

  THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, ANGLO-SAXONS AND DANES                 1-29

                               CHAPTER II.

  THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO JAMES THE FIRST                             30-54

                              CHAPTER III.

  JAMES THE FIRST TO QUEEN VICTORIA                                  55-86

                               CHAPTER IV.

  CONDITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE              87-114

                               CHAPTER V.

  COSTUMES, COUNTRY, RIVERS AND SEA                                115-150

                               CHAPTER VI.

  THE PEDIGREES OF ANCIENT FAMILIES                                151-185

                              CHAPTER VII.

  PARISH OF POULTON-LE-FYLDE. POULTON                              186-217

                              CHAPTER VIII.

  FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE                                                218-267

                               CHAPTER IX.

  THORNTON, CARLETON, MARTON, AND HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON             268-296

                               CHAPTER X.

  THE PARISH OF BISPHAM. BISPHAM-WITH-NORBRECK.
    LAYTON-WITH-WARBRECK                                           297-310

                               CHAPTER XI.

  BLACKPOOL                                                        311-362

                              CHAPTER XII.

  PARISH OF KIRKHAM. KIRKHAM                                       363-401

                              CHAPTER XIII.

  FRECKLETON. WARTON. RIBBY-WITH-WREA. WEETON-WITH-PREESE.
    GREENHALGH-WITH-THISTLETON. GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON.
    CLIFTON-WITH-SALWICK. NEWTON-WITH-SCALES. HAMBLETON, &C.       402-428

                              CHAPTER XIV.

  PARISH OF LYTHAM. LYTHAM. ST. ANNES-ON-THE-SEA                   429-453

                               CHAPTER XV.

  PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL’S-ON-WYRE. UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE.
    GREAT ECCLESTON. OUT RAWCLIFFE. ELSWICK. WOOD PLUMPTON.
    INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY                                            454-474

  PAUPERISM AND THE FYLDE UNION                                    475-480




[Illustration]




HISTORY OF THE FYLDE.




CHAPTER I.

THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, ANGLO-SAXONS, AND DANES.


  “See! in what crowds the uncouth forms advance:
  Each would outstrip the other, each prevent
  Our careful search, and offer to your gaze,
  Unask’d, his motley features. Wait awhile,
  My curious friends! and let us first arrange
  In proper order your promiscuous throng.”

The large district of western Lancashire, denominated from time
immemorial the Fylde, embraces one third at least of the Hundred of
Amounderness, and a line drawn from Ashton, on the Ribble, to Churchtown,
on the Wyre, forms the nearest approach to an eastern boundary
attainable, for although the section cut off by its means includes more
land and villages than properly appertain to the Fylde, a more westerly
division would exclude others which form part of it. The whole of the
parishes of Bispham, Lytham, Poulton, and St. Michael’s; and the parish
of Kirkham, exclusive of Goosnargh-with-Newsham and Whittingham, are
comprised in the Fylde country.

The word Amounderness was formerly considered to signify the “Promontory
of Agmund,” or “Edmund,” and this origin is alluded to in a treatise
written some years since by Mr. Thomas Baines on the “Valley of the
Mersey,” in which the following remarks occur:—“In the year 911 the
Northumbrians themselves began the war, for they despised the peace which
King Edward and his ‘Witan’ offered them, and overran the land of Mercia.
After collecting great booty they were overtaken on their march home by
the forces of the West Saxons and the Mercians, who put them to flight
and slew many thousands of them. Two Danish Kings and five Earls were
slain in this battle. Amongst the Earls slain was Agmund, the governor,
from whom the Hundred of Agmunderness (Amounderness) was probably named.”
In order that the reader may properly comprehend why Mr. Baines should
surmise that Amounderness received its title from the Danish Earl,
Agmund, it may be stated that the extensive province of Northumbria, then
colonised by the Northmen or Danes, embraced, amongst other territory,
the district afterwards called Lancashire, and, consequently, the Hundred
of Amounderness would be in a great measure under Danish governance.
When, however, we call to mind that the Danes did not invade England
until A.D. 787, and learn that this Hundred was entered in the Ripon
grant in A.D. 705, as Hacmunderness, it becomes obvious that the name
cannot have been conferred upon it by that nation, and some other source
must be looked to for its origin. In Gibsons’ Etymological Geography
there is “Anderness” (for Ackmunderness) described as a “promontory
sheltered by oaks, (ac, oak; and mund, protection).” As many large trunks
of trees have been discovered beneath the layers of peat in the extensive
local mosses, whilst others have been laid bare along the shore by the
action of the tides, it can be readily believed that at one time the
greater share of the district was clothed with forests. Leyland, who
was antiquary to Henry VIII., and surveyed the Hundred during the reign
of that monarch, 1509-47, says:—“Al Aundernesse for the most parte in
time paste hathe been full of woods, and many of the moores replenished
with hy fyrre trees; but now such part of Aundernesse as is towarde the
se is sore destitute of woodde.” With such irrefutable evidences of the
early woodland condition of Amounderness, there need be no hesitation
in accepting the signification which Messrs. Gibson have given to the
name—the Ness or Promontory protected by oaks. The word Fylde is regarded
simply as a corruption of “Field.” Camden in his “Britannia” of 1590,
writes:—

  “Tota est campestris, unde Fild pro Field appellatur.”[1]

  (The whole is champaign, whence it is called Fild for Field.)

In a subsequent edition of the same work Fild is spelt File, and the
latter orthography was used in Fileplumpton, in the Duchy records,
afterwards called Fylde Plumpton, and now Wood Plumpton. The Fylde
section of this Hundred is a level well-watered country, highly
cultivated and richly productive, especially of grain, from which
circumstance it was formerly designated the corn-field of Amounderness.

Anterior to the third invasion of the Romans in A.D. 43, the inhabitants
of the Fylde and other portions of Lancashire lying between the range
of mountains which separates this county from Yorkshire, and the coast
about the Bay of Morecambe, were called the Setantii or Segantii, “the
dwellers in the country of water,” but at that date the whole tract
populated by these people was included in the more extensive province of
the Brigantes, comprehending what are now known as the six counties of
York, Durham, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Lancaster.
The Fylde at that epoch would be composed chiefly of morasses and
forests, interspersed with limited areas and narrow paths of more
stable land, and there can be little doubt that the dwellers on such
an uninviting spot must have been very few, but that it was traversed
and, as far as practicable, inhabited by the ancient Setantii is evident
from the several relics of them which have been discovered amongst the
peat in modern days. Two or three canoes, consisting of light wooden
frameworks, covered with hides, were found by a man named Jolly, about
half a century ago, when cutting the “Main Dyke” of Marton Mere;[2]
Celtic hammers, axes, and spears have also been taken out of the mosses
in the district, all of which were doubtless originally the property of
the aboriginal Britons. The bay of Morecambe and the river Wyre acquired
their distinctive appellations from the Setantii, the one being derived
from the Celtic _gwyr_, pure or fresh, and the other from _mawr_, great,
and _cam_, winding or bent.

The hardihood of the native Britons of these parts is attested by Dion
Cassius, who informs us that they lived on prey, hunting, and the fruits
of trees, and were accustomed to brave hunger, cold, and all kinds of
toil, for they would “continue several days up to their chins in water,
and bear hunger many days.” In the woods their habitations were wicker
shelters, formed of the branches of trees interwoven together, and, in
the open grounds, clay or mud huts. They were indebted to the skins of
animals slain in the chase for such scanty covering as they cared to
wear, and according to Cæsar and other writers, dyed their bodies with
woad, which produced a blue colour, and had long flowing hair, being
cleanly shaved except the head and upper lip. That the power of endurance
possessed by the Setantii, and the neighbouring Brigantes is not to be
understood literally as expressed by Cassius may, we venture to think,
be taken for granted. It can scarcely be credited that the human frame
could ever be reduced or exalted to such an amphibious condition as to
be indifferent whether it passed a number of days on dry land or under
water; it seems more probable that in his description Cassius referred
to the hunting and other expeditions of the inhabitants into the forests
and morasses of the Fylde and similarly wooded and marshy tracts, where
there is no question the followers of the chase would be more or less in
a state of immersion during the whole time they were so engaged.

The religion of the Setantii was Druidical, and their deities resembled
those of other heathen nations, such as the Romans and Greeks of that
era, but differed in their names. Cæsar tells us that this order of
priesthood was presided over by a superior, who was known as the chief
Druid, and had almost unlimited authority over all the rest. The Druids
were settled at various points of the island, where they erected their
temples, but in addition to these principle stations, many of their order
were scattered amongst the native tribes of Britain, over which they
appear to have exercised the functions and power of judges, arranging
both public and private disputes, and deciding all criminal cases. It
was part of the creed professed by the Setantii, to vow, when they were
engaged in warfare, that they would, through the agency of the Druids,
immolate human victims as an atonement for slaughtered enemies, believing
that unless man’s life were given for man’s life, the divine anger of
the immortal Gods could not be appeased. There were other sacrifices of
the same kind instituted at regularly appointed seasons and on special
occasions. The Setantii also believed in an immortal soul, but seem to
have had no idea of a higher state, as their priests inculcated the
doctrine that after death the soul was transported to another body,
“imagining that by this the men were more effectually roused to valour,
the fear of death being taken away.”[3] Ornaments called “Druids’ eggs,”
and worn only by these priests, have been found in the Fylde.

How Cæsar, in B.C. 54 and 55, invaded Britain a first and a second time,
achieving at best an empty conquest, and how, after his death, the
emperor Claudius sent over an army with a determination to exterminate
the Druids, and after thirty pitched battles, subdued province after
province, is beyond the limits of this work to state, but as a connecting
link of the history of the country with that of our own county, and
that portion of it especially under examination, it may be stated that
Britain was finally conquered by the Romans under Julius Agricola, and
that the best investigation of the subject leads to the opinion that the
district which we call Lancashire, was brought into subjection to the
Roman conqueror in A.D. 79. A vigorous resistance was for long offered
to the army of invaders in the territory of the Setantii by the natives
under the Brigantine chief Venutius, but the well drilled legions of the
Romans, when commanded by Agricola, proved too formidable to be checked
or broken by the wild, undisciplined valour of the Setantii. Tacitus,
the son-in-law of the general, informs us that early in the summer of
A.D. 79, Agricola personally inspected his soldiers, and marked out many
of the stations, one of which, either made at that time or later by the
same people, was situated at Kirkham, on the line of the Roman road
running from the mouth of Wyre, which will be described hereafter. He
explored the estuaries and woods along the western coast of Lancashire,
and harassed the enemy by sudden and frequent incursions. When the
Brigantes and Setantii had been thoroughly overawed and disheartened by
the invincible Romans, Agricola stayed his operations in order to shew
them the blessings of peace, and in that way many towns which had bravely
held out were induced to surrender and give hostages. These places he
surrounded with guards and fortifications. The following winter was
passed in endeavouring, by various incentives to pleasure, to subdue
the warlike nature of the Britons, thereby diminishing the danger of an
outbreak, especially amongst such tribes as the Setantii, whose intrepid
spirits had been so difficult to quell, and who were not likely to submit
quietly to the yoke of the conqueror, unless some means were adopted to
allure them by the charms of civilised luxury from their free field and
forest mode of existence. Temples, courts of justice, and comfortable
habitations were first erected; the sons of the petty chiefs were next
instructed in the liberal arts, and Agricola professed to prefer the
genius of the Britons to the attainments of the Gauls. The Roman dress
became the fashion, and the _toga_ was frequently worn. The “porch,
luxurious baths, and elegant banquets” were regularly instituted, and by
degrees the crafty design of the Roman general was accomplished, and the
vanquished Britons had ceased to be the hardy warriors of old.

About one century after the subjugation of Britain by Agricola no less
than seven important Roman stations, or garrisoned places, had risen
up in the county of Lancaster, and were situated at Manchester, Colne,
Warrington, Lancaster, Walton-le-dale, Ribchester, and Overborough. The
minor ones, such as Kirkham, supposing their sites to have been first
built upon in a season of warfare, subsequently became small settlements
only, and were, in all probability, unused as military depots. The rivers
which flowed in the neighbourhood of the several encampments, terminated
in three estuaries, denominated by Ptolemy,[4] the ancient geographer,
in his book, completed in A.D. 130, the Seteia Æstuarium, the Moricambe
Æstuarium, and the Belisama Æstuarium. The first of these estuaries is
generally regarded as the mouth of the Dee, the second is identified with
Morecambe Bay, and the third with the Ribble by some historians and the
Mersey by others. The same authority mentions also a Portus Setantiorum,
which has been located on the banks of the Ribble, Lune, and Mersey, by
different antiquarians, but in the opinion of the most recent writers the
ancient harbour of the Setantii was situated at the mouth of the river
Wyre. Further reference to the Setantian port will be made in a later
page of the present chapter.

At the shore margin of the warren at Fleetwood there was visible, about
forty years ago, the abrupt and broken termination of a Roman road, which
could be traced across the sward, along the Naze below Burn Hall, and
onward in the direction of Poulton. From that town it ran in a southerly
line towards Staining, crossing Marton Mere, on its way, in the cutting
of which its materials were very apparent, and lying on the low mossy
lands to the depth of two yards in gravel. From Staining it proceeded to
Weeton, and in a hollow near to the moss of that township, consisted of
an immense stony embankment several yards in height; in the moss itself
the deep beds of gravel were distinctly observable, and from there the
road continued its course up the rising ground to Plumpton, the traces as
usual being less obvious on the higher land. From Plumpton it travelled
towards the elevated site of a windmill between Weeton moss and Kirkham,
at which point it turned suddenly, and joined the public road, running in
a continuous straight line towards the latter town. The greater part of
the long street of Kirkham is either upon or in the immediate vicinity
of the old Roman road. From Kirkham the road directed its course towards
Lund church, somewhere in the neighbourhood of which it was joined by
another path formed by the same people and commencing at the Neb of the
Naze near Freckleton.[5] Leaving Lund it ran through Lea on to Fulwood
moor, where it took the name of Watling street, and proceeded on to
Ribchester. This road has always been known in the Fylde as the Danes’
Pad, from a tradition that those pirates made use of it at a later period
in their incursions into our district, visiting and ransacking Kirkham,
Poulton, and other towns or hamlets of the unfortunate Saxons. Numerous
relics, chiefly of the Roman soldiery, have been dug or ploughed up at
different times out of the soil, bordering on the road, or found amongst
the pebbles of which it was composed, and amongst them may be mentioned
spears, both British and Roman, horse shoes in abundance, several stone
hammers, a battle axe, a broken sword, and ancient Roman coins, all
of which were picked up along its line between Wyre mouth and Weeton.
Several half-baked urns marked with dots, and pieces of rudely fashioned
pottery were discovered in an extensive barrow or cairn near Weeton-lane
Heads, which was accidentally opened, and is now pointed out as the abode
of the local hairy ghost or boggart. In the neighbourhood of Kirkham
there have been found many broken specimens of Roman pottery, stones
prepared for building purposes, eight or ten urns, some containing ashes
and beads, stone handmills for corn grinding, ancient coins, “Druids’
eggs,” axes, and horse shoes; in the fields near Dowbridge, where several
of the above urns were discovered, there was found a flattened ivory
needle, about five or six inches long with a large eyelet. A cuirass was
also picked up on the banks of the Wyre; but the most interesting relic
of antiquity is the boss or umbo of a shield, taken out of a ditch near
Kirkham, which will be fully described in the chapter devoted to that
township. The Romans were accustomed to make three kinds of roads, the
first of which, called the Viæ Militares, were constructed during active
warfare, when they were engaged in pushing their way into the territory
of the enemy, and easy unobstructed communication between their various
encampments became a matter of the utmost importance. The second, or
public roads, were formed to facilitate commerce in time of peace; and
the third were narrower paths, called private roads. The county of
Lancaster was intersected by no less than four important Roman routes,
two of which ran from north to south, and two traversed the land from
west to east. The course of one road, and perhaps the best constructed
of the whole four, we have just followed out; of the remainder, the
first, commencing at Carlisle, passed near Garstang and Preston, crossed
the Irwell at Old Trafford, and maintaining its southerly direction,
ultimately arrived at Kinderton, in Cheshire. The second extended
from Overborough to Slack, in Yorkshire, passing on its way through
Ribchester, the Ribble, Radcliffe, Prestwich, and Newton Heath; whilst
the third had its origin at a ford on the Mersey, in close proximity to
Warrington, and from that spot could be traced through Barton, Eccles,
Manchester, Moston, Chadderton, Royton, and Littleborough, thence over
Rumbles Moor to Ilkley, where was located the temple of the goddess
Verbeia. It is conjectured that these roads, which consisted for the most
part of pavement and deep beds of gravel, were begun, or at least marked
out, by Agricola during the time he was occupied in the subjugation of
Lancashire, and if this very probable hypothesis be correct the course
taken by that general in his exploration of the woods of the Fylde, and
the estuaries of Morecambe and the Ribble is clearly indicated by the
direction of the ancient path communicating with the mouth of Wyre and
the Naze.

At the opening of the third century the Roman governor of Britain found
it necessary to obtain the personal co-operation of Severus, in order
to put an effectual check to the repeated outbreaks of the natives; in
A.D. 207, that emperor having landed and established his head-quarters
at York, a considerable force marched northwards under his leadership
to punish the revolting tribes, and it is surmised that the curious
road, running across the mosses of Rawcliffe, Stalmine, and Pilling,
was constructed by the legionaries whilst on this tour. The pathway
alluded to, and commonly known as Kate’s Pad, was deeply situated in the
mosses, and had apparently been formed by fastening riven oak planks
on to sleepers of the same material, secured and held stationary by
means of pins or rivets driven into the marl a little above which they
rested. Its width was about twenty inches, but in some places rather
more.[6] Herodian, in describing the expedition of Severus to quell the
insurrection of the Briton, says:—“He more especially endeavoured to
render the marshy places stable by means of causeways, that his soldiers,
treading with safety, might pass them, and having firm footing fight
to advantage. In these the natives are accustomed to swim and traverse
about, being immersed as high as their waists: for going naked as to the
greater part of their bodies they contemn the mud. His army having passed
beyond the rivers and fortresses which defended the Roman territory,
there were frequent attacks and skirmishes, and retreats on the side
of the barbarians. To these indeed flight was an easy matter, and they
lay hidden in the thickets and marshes through their local knowledge;
all which things being adverse to the Romans served to protract the
war.” There can be no doubt that, when the path, which consisted in some
parts of one huge tree and in others of two or more, was formed, timber
must have been very plentiful in the vicinity, and at the present day
numbers of tree trunks of large size are to be found in the mosses,
further corroborating the conclusions arrived at by Leyland, whose words
have already been quoted, and Holinshed, who wrote:—“The whole countrie
of Lancaster has beene forests heretofore.” An iron fibula, a pewter
wine-strainer, a wooden drinking bowl, hooped with two brass bands and
having two handles, a brass stirrup, and other relics have been taken
out of the moss fields; and in the same neighbourhood an anvil, several
pieces of thin sheet-brass, and a pair of shears were discovered in a
ditch.

About the year 416 the Romans finally removed themselves from our island,
taking with them many of the brave youths of Britain, and leaving the
country in the hands of a people whose inactive habits, acquired under
their dominion, had rendered them ignorant of the art and unfit for the
hardships of warfare. According to Ethelwerd’s Chronicle, in the year 418
those few of the Roman race who were left in Britain, not being able to
put up with the manifold insults of the natives, buried their treasure in
pits, hoping that at some future day, when all animosity had subsided,
they would be able to recover it and live peaceably, but such a fortunate
consummation never arrived, and weary at length of waiting, they
assembled on the coasts and “spreading their canvass to the wind, sought
an exile on the shores of Gaul.” The Saxon Chronicle says:—“This year,
A.D. 418, the Romans collected all the treasures that were in Britain,
and some they hid in the earth so that no one since has been able to find
them; and some they carried with them into Gaul.” It is far from unlikely
that the silver denarii, discovered in 1840 by some brickmakers near
Rossall, and amounting to four hundred coins of Trajan, Hadrian, Titus,
Vespasian, Domitian, Antonius, Severus, Sabina, etc., were deposited in
that spot for security by one of those much harassed Romans, previous to
his departure from our coast.

A prize so easily to be obtained as Britain in its practically
unprotected state appeared, was not long in attracting the covetousness
of the neighbouring Picts and Scots, who came down in thousands from
the north, forced their way beyond the Roman Wall erected by Hadrian,
occupied the fortresses and towns, and spread ruin and devastation in
their track. The northern counties were the chief sufferers from these
ruthless marauders. Cumberland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, were ravaged
and plundered to such an extent that had it not been for the seasonable
assistance of the Saxons, the whole country they embrace would have been
utterly devastated and almost depopulated. Gildas, the earliest British
historian[7], born about 500, described our land before the incursions of
the Picts and Scots as abounding in pleasant hills, spreading pastures,
cultivated fields, silvery streams, and snow-white sands, and spoke of
the roofs of the buildings in the twenty-eight cities of the kingdom as
“raised aloft with threatening hugeness.” We may readily conceive how
this picture of peace and prosperity was marred and ruined, as far as the
three counties above-named were concerned, by the destroying hand of the
northern nation. The British towns were still surrounded by the fortified
walls and embattled towers, built by the Romans, but the unfortunate
inhabitants, so long unaccustomed to

  “The close-wedged battle and the din of war,”

and deprived of their armed soldiers and valiant youth, were panic
stricken by the fierce onslaughts of the Scottish tribes, and fled before
their advancing arms. Some idea of the critical and truly pitiable
condition to which they were reduced may be gleaned from the tenor of an
appeal for help sent by them to their old rulers, which the author last
quoted has preserved as follows:—

  The Lamentation of the Britons unto Agitius, thrice Consul.

  “The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us back to
  the barbarians. Thus of two kinds of death, one or other must be
  our choice, either to be swallowed up by the waves or butchered
  by the sword.”

The Romans were fully occupied with enemies of their own, the Goths, and
consequently were unprepared to offer any assistance to the Britons,
whose position was shortly afterwards rendered additionally wretched
by famine and its attendant evils. At that period both the state of
Lancashire itself and of its inhabitants must have been exceedingly
deplorable—the country ravaged and still exposed to the depredations and
barbarities of the enemy, had now become a prey to a fearful dearth. Many
of the descendants of the old Setantii, unable any further to support
the double contest, yielded themselves up to the Picts and Scots in
the hope of obtaining food to appease the fierce cravings of hunger,
whilst others, more hardy, but outnumbered and weakened by long fasts,
sought refuge in the woods and such other shelters as the neighbourhood
afforded. Disappointed in the Romans, the Britons applied for aid to
the Saxons, or Anglo-Saxons, a mixed and piratical tribe, dwelling on
the banks of the German Ocean, and composed of Jutes, Angles, and pure
Saxons. The men of this race are described as determined, fearless, and
of great size, with blue eyes, ruddy complexions, and yellow streaming
hair. They were well practised in warfare, and armed with battle-axes,
swords, spears, and maces. Their chief god was Odin, or Woden, and their
heaven Valhalla. About one thousand of these warriors, under the command
of Hengist and Horsa, embarked in three vessels, built of hides, and
called _Cyulæ_ or _Ceols_. They landed on the coast of Kent, about the
year 449, and by the direction of Vortigern, king of the Island, marched
northwards until they arrived near York, where an encounter of great
moment took place, terminating in the utter defeat of the Picts and
Scots. Inspirited by so early and signal a success the Saxons followed
up their advantage with alacrity, drove the baleful marauders out of the
counties of Lancaster and York, and finally compelled them to retreat
across the frontier into their own territory. After having rescued the
kingdom from these invaders the Saxons settled at York and Manchester,
and not only evinced no sign of returning to their own country, but even
despatched messengers for fresh troops. This strange and suspicious
conduct on the part of their allies excited considerable alarm and
anxiety amongst the Britons, who practically expressed their disapproval
by refusing to make any provision for the reinforcements. After a
short interval a mandate was issued to the Saxon leader ordering him to
withdraw his army from the soil of Britain. Incensed and stimulated by
such decisive action Hengist determined at once to carry out the object
he had cherished from the first—the subjugation of the people and the
seizure of the island. Having procured a further supply of men under
his son Octa, he established them in the country of the Brigantes, and
almost immediately invited the native nobles to a friendly conference
with his chiefs on Salisbury plain. The Britons, who were far from
suspecting his treacherous design, attended the assembly unarmed, and in
that defenceless state fell an easy prey to their Saxon hosts, who in
the midst of feasting and revelry, brutally massacred the whole of their
guests. Successful in his cowardly and murderous stratagem, Hengist took
possession of the southern counties, whilst his son Octa maintained his
sway over the Brigantine province of Northumbria, in which the Fylde was
included, as intimated at the beginning of the chapter.

The ancient warlike spirit of the Setantii, which had lain almost
dormant for centuries, was once more thoroughly aroused in the natives
of Lancashire, and a determined and valiant opposition offered by them
to Octa and his army. Overborough capitulated only when its inhabitants
were worn out by fatigue and famine, whilst Warrington and Manchester
sustained severe and protracted sieges before they fell into the hands
of the enemy. Nennius, another early historian, who was born towards the
end of the sixth century, informs us that the famous King Arthur and his
sixty Knights of the Round Table worsted the Saxons in twelve successive
battles, four of which were fought on the banks of the Douglas, near
Wigan. In those conflicts our county was well and effectively represented
in the person of Paulinus, the commander of the right wing of the army,
who after many brave and sanguinary struggles overthrew the hitherto
unconquered Octa, and for a time, at least, delivered the Fylde and other
parts of Northumbria from the rule of the Saxons. This gallant soldier
was the offspring of a union between a Roman warrior and a British
maiden, who had established themselves in Manchester. The chieftain
Ella, however, compelled the Britons to submission, and assumed the
government over part of Northumbria. Clusters of Saxon huts, soon growing
into villages, now sprang up on the soil of the Fylde, which under the
wood-levelling and marsh-draining Romans had lost much of its swampy and
forest characters and been transformed into a more habitable locality. We
need have little hesitation in conjecturing that the valour displayed by
the inhabitants of our county was greatly increased, and often rendered
almost desperate, by the knowledge that if their land were subdued
and occupied by the Saxons the key, if it may so be called, to their
mountainous strongholds would be lost, and the line of communication
between them impassably and irretrievably obstructed; for the venerable
Bede[8] tells us that a portion of the Britons fled to the hills and
fells of Furness, and we are aware that a much larger share sought refuge
amongst the mountains of Wales, lying to the south-west, and visible
from the shores of the Fylde. Others escaped over to Armorica in France,
and from them it acquired the name of Brittany. Additional evidence that
Furness was peopled by the Britons, even for more than two centuries
after the arrival of the Saxons, is to be found in the writings of
Camden, who says:—“The Britons in Furness lived securely for a long time,
relying upon those fortifications, wherewith nature had guarded them; for
that the Britons lived here in the 228th year after the coming of the
Saxons, is plain from hence; that at that time Egfrid, the king of the
Northumbrians, gave to St. Cuthbert the land called Cartmell, and all the
Britons in it; for so it is related in his life.”

The Saxons were great idolaters, and soon crowded the country with their
temples and images. The deities they worshipped have furnished us with
names for the different days of the week, thus Sunday is derived from
_Sunan_ the sun, Monday from _Monan_ the moon, Tuesday from _Tuisco_
a German god, Wednesday from _Woden_, Thursday from _Thor_ or _Thur_,
Friday from _Friga_, and Saturday from _Seater_.

When the nation was once more at peace, all the towns and castles which
had been damaged during the wars were repaired, and others, which had
been destroyed, rebuilt. The Britons were brought by degrees to look
with less disfavour on their conquerors, and as time progressed adopted
their heathenish faith and offered up prayer at the shrines of the same
idols, drifting back into darkness and forgetting or ignoring those true
doctrines which, it is said, had been declared and expounded to them at
the very commencement of the Christian era. According to Clemens Romanus
and Theodoret, the Apostle Paul was one of the earliest preachers of the
Gospel in Britain, but whatever amount of truth there may be in this
statement, it is certain that at the Council of Arles in A.D. 314, and
ten years later at that of Nicene, three British bishops were present.
All traces of their former religion quickly vanished from amongst the
native population of Lancashire under the pagan influence of their
rulers; and it was during that unhallowed age that Gregory, surnamed the
Great, and afterwards pontiff, being attracted by the handsome appearance
of some youths exposed for sale in the market-place at Rome, and finding,
on inquiry, that they came from the kingdom of Deira, in Britain,
determined to send over Augustine and Paulinus to Christianise the
inhabitants. In 596 Augustine landed with forty missionaries on the coast
of Kent, the king became a convert, and the new faith spread rapidly
throughout the island. Thousands were baptised by Paulinus in the river
Swale, then called the Northumbrian Jordan, and the waters of Ribble were
also resorted to for the performance of similar ceremonies.

The advent of the Roman mission initiated a fresh epoch in the
ecclesiastical history of the county, monasteries and religious houses
sprang up in different parts, and at the consecration of the church and
monastery of Ripon, lands bordering on the Ribble, in Hacmundernesse
(Amounderness), in Gedene, and in Duninge were presented amongst other
gifts to that foundation. Paulinus was created bishop of Northumbria in
627, and it is to his ministrations and pious example that the conversion
of the inhabitants of the Fylde and vicinal territory is generally
attributed. The Saxon Chronicle records, however, that in 565 Columba
“came from Scotia (Ireland) to preach to the Picts.” Columba was born
at Garten, a village in county Donegal, and according to Selden and
other learned writers, the religion professed by him and the Culdees, as
the priests of his order were called, was strictly Presbyterian. Bede
writes:—“They preached only such works of charity and piety as they could
learn from prophetical, evangelical, and apostolic writings.” Columba
established a monastery at Iona. Dr. Giles states that “the ancient name
of Iona was I or Hi, or Aoi, which was Latinised into Hyona, or Iona; the
common name of it now is I-colum-kill, the Island of Colum of the Cells.”
Bishop Turner affirms that “the lands in Amounderness, on the Ribble,”
were first presented to a Culdee abbot, named Eata, on the erection of
a monastery at Ripon, but that before the building was finished he was
dismissed and St. Wilfred made abbot of Ripon, sometime before 661. If
the foregoing assertion be correct there is certain evidence that the
Culdee doctrines were also promulgated in Lancashire, and doubtless in
our own district, at that early date. Bede seems to support such an
assumption when he states that the Ripon lands were originally granted to
those who professed the creed of the Picts to build a monastery upon, and
did not pass to St. Wilfred, bishop of Northumbria, until afterwards, in
705, when he re-edified the monastery. Whatever discrepancies may exist
as to the exact period and manner in which Christianity was introduced
or revived in the bosoms of our forefathers, there is ample and reliable
proof that the majority of them had embraced the true faith about the
middle of the seventh century, when churches were probably erected in the
hamlets of Kirkham and St. Michael’s-on-Wyre.

About the year 936 the Hundred of Amounderness was granted by Athelstan
to the See of York:—“I, Athelstan, king of the Angles, etc., freely give
to the Omnipotent God, and to the blessed Apostle Peter, at his church
in the diocese of York, a certain section of land, not small in extent,
in the place which the inhabitants call Amounderness,” etc. The Hundred
of Amounderness when this grant was made must have been pretty thickly
peopled, for Athelstan states that he “purchased it at no small price,”
and land at that date was valued chiefly by the number of its residents.
Here it will be convenient to observe that in some instances, as in
that of Amounderness, the Hundreds acquired the additional titles of
Wapentakes, and, in explanation of the origin of the term, we learn from
“Thoresby Ducat Leodiens,” that when a person received the government of
a Wapentake, he was met, at the appointed time and usual place, by the
elder portion of the inhabitants, and, after dismounting from his horse,
he held up his spear and took a pledge of fealty from all according to
the usual custom. Whoever came touched his spear with theirs, and by
such contact of arms they were confirmed in one common interest. So from
_wœpnu_, a weapon, and _tac_, a touch, or _taccare_, to confirm, the
Hundreds were called _Wapentakes_. Traces of the above antique ceremony
are still to be met with in the peculiar form of expression used when the
tenantry and others are summoned by the manorial lords of Amounderness to
attend their court-barons and court-leets.

The Heptarchy, established about 550, and consisting of seven sovereign
states, was finally abolished in 830, and Egbert became king over the
whole island. The province of Northumbria, more especially the Fylde
and tracts of adjoining territory, had at that date been the scene of
irregular and intermittent warfare during the previous forty years.
Lancashire had suffered cruelly from the visitations of the Northmen,
or Danes, who spared neither age, sex, nor condition in their furious
sallies. In the years 787, 794, and 800, these pirates invaded the soil,
ravaged the country, butchered the inhabitants, and on the last occasion
shot Edmund, the king of the West Saxons, to death with arrows, because
he refused to renounce the Christian faith and embrace the errors of
heathenism. Egbert was no sooner seated on the throne than the Danes
re-appeared off the coasts, and there can be little doubt that some
of their bands made their way down the western shore of the island,
entered the Bay of Morecambe, and, guided by the old Roman road near
the mouth of the Wyre, pushed onwards into and through the heart of the
Fylde, plundering and laying waste villages, hamlets, and every trace
of agriculture in their path. “The name of the _Danes’ Pad_,” says Mr.
Thornber, “given to the Roman agger is and ever will be an everlasting
memorial of their ravages and atrocities in this quarter.”[9] In addition
it may be stated that many warlike relics of the Danes have been found
along the road here indicated, and that the names of the Great and
Little Knots in the channel of Wyre, opposite Fleetwood, were of pure
Scandinavian derivation, and signified “round heaps,” probably, of
stones. These mounds were, during the formation of the harbour entrance,
either destroyed or disfigured beyond recognition. Several localities,
also, along the sea boundary of the Fylde bear Danish denominations,
which will be treated of hereafter. In 869 Lancashire was again visited
by a dreadful famine, and many of the people in every part of the
county fell victims either to the dearth itself or the fatal disorders
following in its train. Those who were fortunate enough to escape the
wholesale destruction of the scourge suffered so severely from the
merciless massacres of the Danes that at the accession of Alfred the
Great, in 871, our Hundred was but sparsely populated. During the reign
of that illustrious monarch England was divided into counties, which
again were subdivided into Hundreds. Each Hundred was composed of ten
Tithings, and each Tithing of ten Freeholders and their families. When
this division of the kingdom was effected the south-western portion of
the old province of Northumbria was separated from the remainder, and
received the name of _Lonceshire_, from the capital _Loncaster_, the
castle on the _Lone_, or Lune. Alfred, as we are told by his biographer
Asser, did much to improve the condition of his subjects both for peace
and war; referring to their illiterate state, on his accession the king
himself says:—“When I took the kingdom there were very few on the south
side of the river Humber, the most improved portion of England, who could
understand their daily prayers in English, or translate a letter from
the Latin. I think they were not many beyond the Humber. There were so
few that I cannot, indeed, recollect one single instance on the south
of the Thames.”[10] After suffering a defeat at Wilton almost at the
outset of his career, Alfred surprised and overthrew the Danish camp at
Eddington; Guthrum, their leader, and the whole of his followers were
taken prisoners, but afterwards liberated and permitted to colonise East
Anglia, and subsequently Northumbria, an act of clemency which entailed
most disastrous consequences upon the different sections of the latter
province. The Fylde now became the legalised abode of numbers of the
northern race, between whom and the Saxon settlers perpetual strife was
carried on; in addition the restless and covetous spirit of the new
colonists constantly prompted them to raids beyond the legitimate limits
of their territory, rebellions amongst themselves, and conspiracies
against the king; insurrection followed insurrection, and it was not
until Athelstan had inflicted a decisive blow upon the Danish forces,
and brought the seditious province of Northumbria under his own more
immediate dominion, that a short lull of peace was obtained. In the reign
of his successor, however, they broke out again, and having been once
more reduced to order, agreed to take the name of Christians, abjure
their false gods, and live quietly henceforth. These promises, made to
appease the anger of Edmund, were only temporarily observed, and their
turbulent natures were never tranquilised until Canute, the first Danish
king, ascended the throne of England in 1017. The Norse line of monarchs
comprised only three, and terminated in 1041. Reverting to Athelstan
and the Danes we find that about ten years after the subjugation of the
latter in 926, as recorded in the Saxon Chronicle, Anlaf, a noted Danish
chieftain, made a vigorous attempt to regain Northumbria. The site of the
glorious battle where this ambitious project was overthrown and the army
of Anlaf routed and driven to seek refuge in flight from the shore, on
which they had but a short time previously landed exulting in a prospect
of conquest and plunder, is a matter of dispute, and nothing authentic
can be discovered concerning it beyond the fact that the name of the
town or district where the forces met was Brunandune or Brunanburgh, and
was situated in the province of Northumbria. The former orthography is
used in Ethelwerd’s Chronicle:—“A fierce battle was fought against the
barbarians at Brunandune, whereof that fight is called great even to the
present day; then the barbarian tribes were defeated and domineer no
longer; they are driven beyond the ocean.” Burn, in Thornton township,
is one of the several rival localities which claim to have witnessed the
sanguinary conflict. In the Domesday Survey, Burn was written _Brune_,
and it also comprises a rising ground or _Dune_, which seem to imply some
connection with _Brunandune_. From an ancient song or poem, bearing the
date 937, it is clear that the battle lasted from sunrise to sunset, and
that at night-fall Anlaf and the remnant of his followers, being utterly
discomfited, escaped from the coast in the manner before described. This
circumstance also upholds the pretentions of Burn, as it is situated
close to the banks of the Wyre, and at a very short distance both from
the Irish Sea and Morecambe Bay, as well as being in the direct line
of the road called Danes’ Pad, the track usually taken by the Northmen
in former incursions into the Fylde and county. In addition it may be
mentioned that tradition affirms that a large quantity of human bones
were ploughed up in a field between Burn and Poulton about a century
ago. Sharon Turner says:—“It is singular that the position of this
famous battle is not yet ascertained. The Saxon song says it was at
Brunanburgh; Ethelwerd, a contemporary, names the place Brunandune. These
of course are the same place, but where is it?”[11] Having done our best
to suggest or rather renew an answer presenting several points worthy of
consideration to Mr. Turner’s query, we will, before bidding farewell to
the subject, give our readers a translated extract from the old song to
which allusion has been made:—

  Athelstan king,
  Of earls the Lord,
  Of Heroes the bracelet giver,
  And his brother eke,
  Edmund Atheling,
  Life-long glory,
  In battle won,
  With edges of swords,
  Near Brunanburgh.
  The field was dyed
  With warriors blood,
  Since the sun, up
  At morning tide,
  Mighty planet,
  Gilded o’er grounds,
  God’s candle bright,
  The eternal Lord’s,
  Till the noble creature
  Sank to her rest.
  ...
  West Saxons onwards
  Throughout the day,
  In numerous bands
  Pursued the footsteps
  Of the loathed nations.
  They hewed the fugitives,
  Behind, amain,
  With swords mill-sharp.
  Mercians refused not
  The hard-hand play
  To any heroes,
  Who with Anlaf,
  Over the ocean,
  In the ship’s bosom,
  This land sought.
  ...
  There was made to flee
  The Northmens’ chieftain,
  By need constrained,
  To the ships prow
  With a little band.
  The bark drove afloat.
  The king departed.
  On the fallow flood
  His life he preserved.
  The Northmen departed
  In their nailed barks
  On roaring ocean.

Athelstan, in order to encourage commerce and agriculture, enacted that
any of the humbler classes, called Ceorls, who had crossed the sea
thrice with their own merchandise, or who, individually, possessed five
hides of land, a bell-house, a church, a kitchen, and a separate office
in the king’s hall, should be raised to the privileged rank of Thane.
Sometime in the interval between the death of this monarch, in 941, and
the arrival of William the Conqueror, the Hundred of Amounderness had
been relinquished by the See of York, probably owing to frequent wars and
disturbances having so ruined the country and thinned the inhabitants
that the grant had ceased to be profitable.

During the earlier part of the Saxon era the clergy claimed one tenth or
tithe of the produce of the soil, and exemption for their monasteries
and churches from all taxations. These demands were resisted for a
considerable period, but at length were conceded by Ethelwulf “for the
honour of God, and for his own everlasting salvation.”[12] In 1002, it
is recorded in the Saxon Chronicle, that “the king (Ethelred) ordered
all the Danish men who were in England to be slain, because it was made
known to him that they would treacherously bereave him of his life,
and after that have his kingdom without any gainsaying.” In accordance
with the royal mandate, which was circulated in secret, the Anglo-Saxon
populace of the villages and farms of the Fylde, as elsewhere, rose
at the appointed day upon the unprepared and unsuspecting Northmen,
barbarously massacring old and young, male and female alike. Great must
have been the slaughter in districts like our own, where from the Danes
having been established for so many generations and its proximity to
the coast and the estuaries of Wyre and Ribble, a safe landing and a
friendly soil would be insured, and attract numbers of their countrymen
from Scandinavia. The vengeance of Sweyn, king of Denmark, was speedy and
complete; the country of Northumbria was laid waste, towns and hamlets
were pillaged and destroyed, and for four years all that fire and sword,
spurred on by hatred and revenge, could effect in depopulating and
devastating a land was accomplished in Lancashire, and the neighbouring
counties, by the enraged Dane. Half a century later than the events just
narrated, earl Tosti, the brother of Harold, who forfeited his life and
kingdom to the Norman invaders on the field of Hastings, was chosen duke
of Northumbria. The seat of the new ruler has not been discovered, but
as far as his personal association with the Fylde is concerned it will
be sufficient to state that almost on its boundaries, in the township
of Preston, he held six hundred acres of cultivated soil, to which all
the lands and villages of Amounderness were tributary. As a governor
Tosti proved himself both brutal and oppressive. In a very limited
space of time his tyrannical and merciless conduct goaded his subjects
to rebellion, and with one consent they ejected him from his dukedom
and elected earl Morcar in his stead, a step commended and confirmed by
Harold, when the unjust severity of his brother had been made known to
him. Tosti embraced the Norman cause, and fell at the head of a Norwegian
force in an engagement which took place at Standford a few months before
the famous and eventful battle of Hastings.

We have now traced briefly the history of the Fylde through a period of
eleven hundred years, and before entering on the era which dates from the
accession of William the Conqueror, it will be well to review the traces
and influences of the three dissimilar races, which have at different
epochs usurped and settled on the territory of the old Setantii; our
reference is, of course, to the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Danes. Under
the first, great advances were made in civilisation; clearings were
effected in the woods, the marshes were trenched, and lasting lines
of communication were established between the various stations and
encampments. The peaceful arts were cultivated, and agriculture made
considerable progress, corn even, from some parts of Britain, being
exported to the continent. Remains of the Roman occupation are to
be observed in the names of a few towns, as Colne and Lincoln, from
_Colonia_, a Colony, also Chester and Lancaster, from _Castra_, a Camp,
as well as in relics like those enumerated earlier. The word “street” is
derived from _Stratum_, a layer, covering, or pavement. Their festival
of Flora originated our May-day celebrations, and the paraphernalia of
marriage, including the ring, veil, gifts, bride-cake, bridesmaids,
and groomsmen, are Roman; so also are the customs of strewing flowers
upon graves, and wearing black in time of mourning. That the Romans had
many stations in the Fylde is improbable, but that they certainly had
one in the township of Kirkham is shown by the number and character
of the relics found there. This settlement would seem to have been a
fairly populous one, if an opinion may be formed from the quantity of
cinereal urns discovered at various times, in which had been deposited
the cremated remains of Romans, who had spent their days and done good
service in levelling the forests and developing the resources of the
Fylde. The traffic over the Roman road through the district must have
been almost continuous, to judge from the abundance of horse-shoes and
other matters picked up along its route, and whether the harbour of the
Setantii was on Wyre, Ribble, or elsewhere, it is evident from the course
taken by the well constructed path that something of importance, say a
favourable spot for embarcation or debarcation, attracted the inhabitants
across the soil of the Fylde towards its north-west boundary. Now arises
the question what was the boundary here denoted, and in reply we venture
to suggest that the extent of this district, in both a northerly and
westerly direction, was much greater in ancient days than it is in our
own, and that the Lune formed its highest boundary, whilst its seaward
limits, opposite Rossall, were carried out to a distance of nearly eight
miles beyond the existing coast, and comprised what is now denominated
Shell Wharf, a bank so shallowly covered at low water spring tides that
huge boulders become visible all over it. Novel as such a theory may at
first sight appear, there is much that can be advanced in support of it.
From about the point in Morecambe Bay, near the foot of Wyre Lighthouse,
where the stream of Wyre meets that of Lune at right angles, there is
the commencement of a long deep channel, apparently continuous with
the bed of the latter river as defined by its sandbanks, which extends
out into the Irish Sea for rather more than seven miles west of the
mouth of Morecambe Bay, at Rossall Point. This channel, called “Lune
Deep,” is described on the authorised charts as being in several places
twenty-seven fathoms deep, in others rather less, and at its somewhat
abrupt termination twenty-three fathoms. Throughout the entire length
its boundaries are well and clearly marked, and its sudden declivity
is described by the local mariners as being “steep as a house side.”
Regarding this curious phenomenon from every available point of view,
it seems more probable to us that so long and perfect a channel was
formed at an early period, when the river Lune was, as we conjecture,
continued from its present mouth, at Heysham Point, through green plains,
now the Bay of Lancaster, in the direction and to the distance of “Lune
Deep,” than that it was excavated by the current of Lune, as it exists
to-day, after mingling with the waters of Morecambe and Wyre. The course
and completeness of Wyre channel from Fleetwood, between the sandbanks
called Bernard’s Wharf and North Wharf, to its point of junction with
the stream from Lancaster, prove satisfactorily that at one time the
former river was a tributary of the Lune. Other evidence can be brought
forward of the theory we are wishful to establish—that the southern
portion of Morecambe Bay, from about Heysham Point, bearing the name of
Lancaster Bay, as well as “Shell Wharf” was about the era of the Romans,
dry or, at least, marshy land watered by the Wyre and Lune, the latter
of which would open on the west coast immediately into the Irish Sea.
If the reader refer to a map of Lancashire he will see at once that the
smaller bay has many appearances of having been added to the larger one,
and that its floor is formed by a continuous line of banks, uncovered
each ebb tide and intersected only by the channels of Wyre and Lune. The
Land Mark, at Rossall Point, has been removed several times owing to the
incursions of the sea, and within the memory of the living generation
wide tracts of soil, amounting to more than a quarter of a mile westward,
have been swallowed up on that part of the coast, as the strong currents
of the rising tides have swept into the bay; and in such manner would
the land about the estuary of “Lune Deep,” that is the original river
of Lune, be washed away. As the encroachments of the sea progressed,
the channel of the river would be gradually widened and deepened to the
present dimensions of the “Deep”; the stream of Wyre would by degrees be
brought more immediately under the tidal influence, and in proportion
as the Lune was absorbed into the bay, so would its tributary lose its
shallowness and insignificance, and become expanded to a more important
and navigable size. About the time that “Lune Deep” had ceased to exist
as a river, and become part of the bay, the overcharged banks of the Wyre
would have yielded up their super-abundance of waters over the districts
now marked by Bernard’s Wharf and North Wharf, and subsequently, as the
waves continued their incursions, inundations would increase, until
finally the whole territory, forming the site of Lancaster Bay, would be
submerged and appropriated by the rapacious hosts of Neptune. The “Shell
Wharf” would be covered in a manner exactly similar to the more recently
lost fields off Rossall; and as illustrations of land carried away from
the west coast in that neighbourhood, may be instanced a farm called
Fenny, at Rossall, which was removed back from threatened destruction
by the waves at least four times within the last fifty years, when its
re-building was abandoned, and its site soon swept over by the billows;
also the village of Singleton Thorp, which occupied the locality marked
by “Singleton Skeer” off Cleveleys until 1555, when it was destroyed by
an irruption of the sea. Numerous other instances in which the coast
line has been altered and driven eastward, between Rossall Point and
the mouth of Ribble, during both actually and comparatively modern days
might be cited, but the above are sufficient to support our view of the
former connection of “Shell Wharf” with the main-land, and its gradual
submersion. If on the map, the Bay of Lancaster be detached from that
of Morecambe, the latter still retains a most imposing aspect, and its
identity with the Moricambe Æstuarium of Ptolemy is in no way interfered
with or rendered less evident. The foregoing, as our antiquarian readers
will doubtless have surmised, is but a prelude to something more, for it
is our purpose to endeavour to disturb the forty years of quiet repose
enjoyed by the Portus Setantiorum on the banks of the Wyre and hurl it
far into the Irish Sea, to the very limits of the “Lune Deep,” where, on
the original estuary of the river Lune, we believe to be its legitimate
home. No locality, as yet claiming to be the site of the ancient harbour,
accords so well with the distances given by Ptolemy. Assuming the Dee
and the Ribble to represent respectively, as now generally admitted,
the Seteia Æstuarium and the Belisama Æstuarium, the Portus Setantiorum
should lie about seven miles[13] to the west and twenty-five to the
north of the Belisama. The position of the “Lune Deep” termination is
just about seven miles to the west of the estuary of the Ribble, but is,
like most other places whose stations have been mentioned by Ptolemy,
defective in its latitudinal measurement according to the record left by
that geographer, being only fifteen instead of twenty-five miles north
of the Belisama or Ribble estuary. Rigodunum, or Ribchester, is fully
thirty miles to the east of the spot where it is wished to locate the
Portus, and thus approaches very nearly to the forty-mile measurement of
Ptolemy, whose distances, as just hinted, were universally excessive.
As an instance of such error it may be stated that the longitude, east
from Ferro, of Morecambe Bay or Estuary given by Ptolemy, is 3° 40´ in
excess of that marked on modern maps of ancient Britannia, and if the
same over-plus be allowed in the longitude of the Portus Setantiorum a
line drawn in accordance, from north to south, would pass across the
west extremity of the “Lune Deep,” showing that its distance from the
Bay corresponds pretty accurately with that of the Portus from the
Morecambe Æstuarium as geographically fixed by Ptolemy. In describing the
extent and direction of the Roman road, or Danes’ Pad, in his “History
of Blackpool and Neighbourhood,” Mr. Thornber writes:—“Commencing at
the _terminus_, we trace its course from the Warren, near the spot
named the ‘Abbot’s walk’;” but that the place thus indicated was not
the _terminus_, in the sense of _end_ or _origin_, is proved by the
fact that shortly after the publication of this statement, the workmen
engaged in excavating for a sea-wall foundation in that vicinity came
upon the road in the sand on the very margin of the Warren. Hence it
would seem that the path was continued onwards over the site of the
North Wharf sand bank, either towards the foot of Wyre where its channel
joins that of Lune, and where would be the original mouth of the former
river, or, as we think more probable, towards the Lune itself, and
along its banks westward to the estuary of the stream, as now marked by
the termination of “Lune Deep.” The Wyre, during the period it existed
simply as a tributary of the Lune, a name very possibly compounded from
the Celtic _al_, chief, and _aun_, or _un_, contractions of _afon_, a
river, must have been a stream of comparatively slight utility in a
navigable point of view, and even to this day its seaward channel from
Fleetwood is obstructed by two shallows, denominated from time out of
mind the Great and Little Fords. The Lune, or “Chief River,” on the
contrary, was evidently, from its very title, whether acquired from its
relative position to its tributary, or from its favourable comparison
with other rivers of the neighbourhood, which is less likely, regarded
by the natives as a stream of no insignificant magnitude and importance.
As far as its navigability was concerned the Portus may have been placed
on its banks near to the junction of Wyre, but the distances of Ptolemy,
which agree pretty fairly, as shown above, with the location of the
Portus on the west extremity of the present “Lune Deep,” are incompatible
with such a station as this one for the same harbour. The collection of
coins discovered near Rossall may imply the existence in early days of a
settlement west of that shore, and many remains of the Romans may yet be
mingled with the sand and shingle for centuries submerged by the water of
the still encroaching Irish Sea. Leaving this long-argued question of the
real site of the Portus Setantiorum, in which perhaps the patience of our
readers has been rather unduly tried, and soliciting others to test more
thoroughly the merits of the ideas here thrown out, we will hasten to
examine the traces of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes.

Many, in fact most, of the towns and villages of the Fylde were founded
by the Anglo-Saxons, and have retained the names, generally in a modified
form, bestowed upon them by that race, as instance Singleton, Lytham,
Mythorp, all of which have Saxon terminals signifying a dwelling,
village, or enclosure. The word _hearb_, genitive _hearges_, indicates in
the vocabulary of the same people a heathen temple or place of sacrifice,
and as it is to be traced in the endings of Goosnargh, and Kellamergh,
there need be no hesitation in surmising that the barbarous and pagan
rites of the Saxons were celebrated there, before their conversion to
Christianity. Ley, or lay, whether at the beginning of a name, as in
Layton, or at end, as in Boonley, signifies a field, and is from the
Saxon _leag_; whilst Hawes and Holme imply, respectively, a group of
thorps or hamlets, and a river island. Breck, Warbreck, and Larbreck,
derive their final syllables from the Norse _brecka_, a gentle rise; and
from that language comes also the terminal _by_, in Westby, Ribby, and
other places, as well as the _kirk_ in Kirkham, all of which point out
the localities occupied by the Danes, or Norsemen. Lund was doubtless the
site of a sacred grove of these colonists and the scene of many a dark
and cruel ceremony, its derivation being from the ancient Norse _lundr_,
a consecrated grove, where such rites were performed.

At the present time it is difficult, if indeed possible, to determine
from what races our own native population has descended, and the subject
is one which has provoked more than a little controversy. Palgrave, in
his “History of the Anglo-Saxons,” says:—“From the Ribble in Lancashire,
or thereabouts, up to the Clyde, there existed a dense population
composed of Britons, who preserved their national language and customs,
agreeing in all respects with the Welsh of the present day; so that
even to the tenth century the ancient Britons still inhabited the
greater part of the west coast of the island, however much they had been
compelled to yield to the political supremacy of the Saxon invaders.”
Mr. Thornber states that he has been “frequently told by those who were
reputed judges” that the manners, customs, and dialect of the Fylde
partook far more of the Welsh than of the Saxon, and that this was more
perceptible half a century ago than now (1837). “The pronunciation,” he
adds, “of the words—laughing, toffee, haughendo, etc., the Shibboleth
of the Fylde—always reminds me of the deep gutterals of the Welsh,[14]
and the frequent use of a particular oath is, alas! too common to both.”
Another investigator, Dr. Robson, holds an entirely different opinion,
and maintains in his paper on Lancashire and Cheshire, that there is
no sufficient foundation for the common belief that the inhabitants of
any portion of those counties have been at any time either Welsh, or
Celtic; and that the Celtic tribes at the earliest known period were
confined to certain districts, which may be traced, together with the
extent of their dominions, by the Celtic names of places both in Wales
and Cornwall. From another source we are informed that at the date of
the Roman abdication the original Celtic population would have dwindled
down to an insignificant number acting as serfs and tillers of the land,
and not likely to have much influence upon future generations. Mr.
Hardwick, in his History of Preston, writes:—“Few women would accompany
the Roman colonists, auxiliaries, and soldiers into Britain; hence
it is but rational to conclude, that during the long period of their
dominion, numerous intermarriages with the native population would take
place.” Admitting the force of reasoning brought forward by the last
authority, it can readily be conceived that the purity of the aboriginal
tribes would in a great measure be destroyed at an early epoch, and that
subsequent alliances with the Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans, have
rendered all conjectures as to the race of forefathers to which the
inhabitants of the Fylde have most claim practically valueless.

The dense forests with which our district in the earliest historic
periods abounded must have been well supplied with beasts of chase,
whereon the Aborigines exercised their courage and craft, and from
which their clothing and, in a great measure, their sustenance were
derived. The large branching horns of the Wild Deer have been found
in the ground at Larbrick, and during the excavations for the North
Union and East Lancashire Railway Bridges over the Ribble, in 1838 and
1846 respectively, numerous remains of the huge ox, called the _Bos
primigenius_, and the _Bos longifrons_, or long-faced ox, as well as of
wild boars and bears, were raised from beneath the bed of the river, so
that it is extremely likely that similar relics of the brute creation
are lying deeply buried in our soil. Such a supposition is at least
warranted by the discovery, half-a-century ago, of the skull and short
upright horns of a stag and those of an ox, of a breed no longer known,
at the bottom of a marl pit near Rossall. Bones and sculls, chiefly
those of deer and oxen, have been taken from under the peat in all the
mosses, and two osseous relics, consisting each of skull and horns, of
immense specimens of the latter animal, have been dug up at Kirkham. In
the “Reliquiæ Diluvianæ” of Mr. Buckland is a figure of the scull of a
rhinoceros belonging to the antediluvian age, and stated to have been
discovered beneath a moss in Lancashire.




[Illustration]




CHAPTER II.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO JAMES THE FIRST.


When the battle of Hastings, in 1066, had terminated in favour of William
the Conqueror, and placed him on the throne of England, he indulged his
newly acquired power in many acts of tyranny towards the vanquished
nation, subjecting the old nobility to frequent indignities, weakening
the sway of the Church, and impoverishing the middle and lower classes of
the community. This harsh policy spread dissatisfaction and indignation
through all ranks of the people, and it was not long before rebellion
broke out in the old province of Northumbria. The Lancastrians and
others, under the earls Morcar and Edwin, rose up in revolt, slew the
Norman Baron set over them, and were only reduced to order and submission
when William appeared on the scene at the head of an overwhelming
force. The two earls escaped across the frontier to Scotland, and for
some inexplicable reason were permitted to retain their possessions in
Lancashire and elsewhere, while the common insurgents were afterwards
treated with great severity and cruelty by their Norman rulers. Numerous
castles were now erected in the north of England to hold the Saxons in
subjection, and guard against similar outbreaks in future. Those at
Lancaster and Liverpool were built by a Norman Baron of high position,
named Roger de Poictou, the third son of Robert de Montgomery, earl of
Arundel and Shrewsbury. When William divided the conquered territory
amongst his followers, the Honor[15] of Lancaster and the Hundred of
Amounderness fell, amongst other gifts, amounting in all to three hundred
and ninety-eight manors,[16] to that nobleman, and, as he resided during
a large portion of his time at the castle erected on the banks of the
Lune, our district would receive a greater share of attention than his
more distant possessions.

After the country had been restored to peace, William determined to
institute an inquiry into the condition and resources of his kingdom.
The records of the survey were afterwards bound up in two volumes, which
received the name of the Domesday Book, from _Dome_, a census, and _Boc_,
a book.

The king’s commands to the investigators were, according to the Saxon
Chronicle, to ascertain—“How many hundreds of hydes were in each shire,
what lands the king himself had, and what stock there was upon the land;
or what dues he ought to have by the year from each shire. Also he
commissioned them to record in writing, how much land his archbishops had
and his diocesan bishops, and his abbots and his earls; what or how much
each man had, who was an occupier of land in England, either in land or
stock, and how much money it was worth. So very narrowly, indeed, did he
commission them to trace it out, that there was not one single hide, nor
a yard of land; nay, moreover (it is shameful to tell, though he thought
it no shame to do it), not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine, was there
left that was not set down in his writ.” The examination was commenced
in 1080, and six years afterwards the whole of the laborious task was
accomplished. In this compilation the county of Lancaster is never once
mentioned by name, but the northern portion is joined to the Yorkshire
survey, and the southern to that of Cheshire.

The following is a translation of that part of Domesday Book relating to
the Fylde:—

  AGEMUNDERNESSE UNDER EVRVIC—SCIRE (YORKSHIRE).

  _Poltun_ (Poulton), two carucates;[17] _Rushale_ (Rossall), two
  carucates; _Brune_ (Burn), two carucates; _Torentun_ (Thornton),
  six carucates; _Carlentun_ (Carleton), four carucates; _Meretun_
  (Marton), six carucates; _Staininghe_ (Staining), six carucates.

  _Biscopham_ (Bispham), eight carucates; _Latun_ (Layton), six
  carucates.

  _Chicheham_ (Kirkham), four carucates; _Salewic_ (Salwick),
  one carucate; _Cliftun_ (Clifton), two carucates; _Newtune_
  (Newton-with-Scales), two carucates; _Frecheltune_ (Freckleton),
  four carucates; _Rigbi_ (Ribby-with-Wray), six carucates;
  _Treueles_ (Treales), two carucates; _Westbi_ (Westby), two
  carucates; _Pluntun_ (Plumptons), two carucates; _Widetun_
  (Weeton), three carucates; _Pres_ (Preese), two carucates;
  _Midehope_ (Mythorp), one carucate; _Wartun_ (Warton), four
  carucates; _Singletun_ (Singleton), six carucates; _Greneholf_
  (Greenhalgh), three carucates; _Hameltune_ (Hambleton), two
  carucates.

  _Lidun_ (Lytham), two carucates.

  _Michelescherche_ (St. Michael’s-on-Wyre), one carucate;
  _Pluntun_ (Wood Plumpton) five carucates; _Rodecliff_ (Upper
  Rawcliffe), two carucates; _Rodecliff_ (Middle Rawcliffe), two
  carucates; a third _Rodecliff_ (Out Rawcliffe), three carucates;
  _Eglestun_ (Ecclestons), two carucates; _Edeleswic_ (Elswick),
  three carucates; _Inscip_ (Inskip), two carucates; _Sorbi_
  (Sowerby), one carucate.

  All these vills belong to _Prestune_ (Preston); and there are
  three churches (in Amounderness). In sixteen of these vills[18]
  there are but few inhabitants—but how many there are is not known.

  The rest are waste. _Roger de Poictou_ had [the whole].

When we read the concluding remark—“The rest are waste,” and observe the
insignificant proportion of the many thousands of acres comprised in the
Fylde at that time under cultivation, we are made forcibly cognizant of
the truly deplorable condition to which the district had been reduced by
ever-recurring warfare through a long succession of years. There is no
guide to the number of the inhabitants, excepting, perhaps, the existence
of only three churches in the whole Hundred of Amounderness, and this
can scarcely be admitted as certain evidence of the paucity of the
population, as in the harassed and unsettled state in which they lived it
is not very probable that the people would be much concerned about the
public observances of religious ceremonials or services. The churches
alluded to were situated at Preston, Kirkham, and St. Michael’s-on-Wyre.
The parish church at Poulton was the next one erected, and appears to
have been standing less than ten years after the completion of the
Survey, for Roger de Poictou, when he founded the priory of St. Mary,
Lancaster, in 1094, endowed it with—“Pulton in Agmundernesia, and
whatsoever belonged to it, and the _church_, with one carucate of land,
and all other things belonging to it.”[19] The terminal paragraph of the
foundation-charter of the monastery states that Geoffrey, the sheriff,
having heard of the liberal grants of Roger de Poictou, also bestowed
upon it—“the tithes of Biscopham, whatever he had in Lancaster, some
houses, and an orchard.” It is difficult to determine whether a church
existed in the township of Bispham at that date or not, but as no such
edifice is included in the above list of benefactions, we are inclined
to believe that it was not erected until later. The earliest mention
of it occurs in the reign of Richard I., 1189 to 1199, when Theobald
Walter quitclaimed to the abbot of Sees “all his right in the advowson of
Pulton, with the _church of Biscopham_.”[20]

The rebellious and ungrateful conduct of Roger de Poictou ultimately led
to his banishment out of the country, and the forfeiture of the whole
of his extensive possessions to the crown. The Hundred of Amounderness
was conveyed by the King on the 22nd of April, 1194, being the fifth
year of his reign, to Theobald Walter, the son of Hervens, a Norman who
had accompanied the Conqueror. “Be it known,” says the document, “that
we give and confirm to Theobald Walter the whole of Amounderness with
its appurtenances by the service of three Knights’ fees, namely, all
the domain thereto belonging, all the services of the Knights who hold
of the fee of Amounderness by Knight’s service, all the service of the
Free-tenants of Amounderness, all the Forest of Amounderness, with all
the Venison, and all the Pleas of the Forest.” His rights “are to be
freely and quietly allowed,” continues the deed, “in wood and plain, in
meadows and pastures, in highways and footpaths, in waters and mills, in
mill-ponds, in fish-ponds and fishings, in peat-lands, moors and marshes,
in wreck of the sea, in fairs and markets, in advowsons and chapelries,
and in all liberties and free customs.” Amongst the barons of Lancashire
given in the MSS. of Percival is—“Theobald Walter, baron of Weeton and
Amounderness,” but, as Weeton never existed as a barony, it is clear that
the former title is an error. The “Black Book of the Exchequer,” the
oldest record after the “Domesday Book,” has entered in it the tenants
and fees _de veteri feoffamento_[21] and _de novo feoffamento_,[22] and
amongst others is a statement that Theobald Walter held Amounderness by
the service of one Knight, thus the later charter, just quoted, must be
regarded as a confirmation of a previous grant, and not as an original
donation. He was an extensive founder of monastic houses, and amongst
the abbeys established by him was that of Cockersand, which he endowed
with the whole Hay of Pylin (Pilling) in Amounderness. He was appointed
sheriff of the county of Lancaster by Richard I. in 1194, and retained
the office until the death of that monarch five years afterwards. His
son, Theobald, married Maud, sister to the celebrated Thomas à Becket,
archbishop of Canterbury, and assumed the title of his office when
created _Chief Butler_ of Ireland. The family of the same name which
inhabited Rawcliffe Hall until that property was confiscated through
the treasonable part played by Henry Butler and his son Richard in the
rebellion of 1715, was directly descended from Theobald Walter-Butler.
The Butlers of Kirkland, the last of whom, Alexander Butler, died in
1811, and was succeeded by a great-nephew, were also representatives of
the ancient race of Walter, and preserved the line unbroken. Theobald
Walter, the elder, died in 1206, and Amounderness reverted to the crown.

Richard I. a few years before his death presented the Honor of Lancaster
to his brother, the earl of Moreton, who subsequently became King John,
and it is asserted that this nobleman, when residing at the castle of
Lancaster, was occasionally a guest at Staining Hall, and that during
one of his visits he so admired the strength and skill displayed
by a person called Geoffrey, and surnamed the Crossbowman, that he
induced him to join his retinue. How far truth has been embellished
and disguised by fiction in this traditional statement we are unable
to conjecture, but there are reasonable grounds for believing that the
story is not entirely supposititious, for the earl of Moreton granted to
Geoffrey l’Arbalistrier, or the Crossbowman, who is said to have been
a younger brother of Theobald Walter, senior, six carucates of land in
Hackinsall-with-Preesall, and a little later, the manor of Hambleton,
most likely as rewards for military or other services rendered to that
nobleman. John, as earl of Moreton, appears to have gained the affection
and respect of the inhabitants of Lancashire by his liberal practices
during his long sojourns in their midst. He granted a charter to the
knights, thanes, and freeholders of the county, whereby they and their
heirs, without challenge or interference from him and his heirs, were
permitted to fell, sell, and give, at their pleasure, their forest woods,
without being subject to the forest regulations, and to hunt and take
hares, foxes, rabbits, and all kinds of wild beasts, excepting stags,
hinds, roebucks, and wild hogs, in all parts within his forests beyond
the desmesne hays of the county.[23] On ascending the throne, however,
he soon aroused the indignation of all sections of his subjects by his
meanness, pride, and utter inability to govern the kingdom. His indolent
habits excited the disgust of a nobility, whose regular custom was to
breakfast at five and dine at nine in the morning, as proclaimed by the
following popular Norman proverb:—

  Lever à cinque, dîner à neuf,
  Souper à cinque, coucher à neuf,
  Fait vivre d’ans nonante et neuf.[24]

Eventually his evil actions and foolish threats so incensed the nation,
that the barons, headed by William, earl of Pembroke, compelled him, in
1215, to sign the Magna Charta, a code of laws embodying two important
principles—the general rights of the freemen, and the limitation of the
powers of both king and pope.

About that time it would have been almost, if not quite, impossible
to have decided or described what was the national language of the
country. The services at the churches were read in Latin, the aristocracy
indulged only in Norman-French, whilst the great mass of the people
spoke a language, usually denominated Saxon or English, but which had
been so mutilated and altered by additions from various sources that
the ancient “Settlers on the shores of the German Ocean” would scarcely
have recognized it as their native tongue. Each division of the kingdom
had its peculiar dialect, very much as now, and from the remarks of a
southern writer, named Trevisa, it must be inferred that the _patois_
of our own district, which he would include in the old province of
Northumbria,[25] was far from either elegant or musical. “Some,” he
says, “use strange gibbering, chattering, waffling, and grating; then the
Northumbre’s tongue is so sharp, flitting, floyting, and unshape, that we
Southron men may not understand that language.” Such a list of curious
and uncomplimentary epithets inclines us at first sight to doubt the
strict impartiality of their author, but when it is remembered that, in
spite of the greatly increased opportunities for education and facilities
for intercommunion amongst the different classes, the provincialisms of
some of our own peasantry would be utterly unintelligible to many of us
at the present day, we are constrained to admit that Trevisa may have had
just reason for his remarks.

In 1268 the Honor of Lancaster, the Wapentake of Amounderness, and the
manors of Preston, Ribby-with-Wray, and Singleton were given by Henry
III. to his son Edmund Crouchback, and in addition the king published
an edict forbidding the sheriffs of neighbouring counties to enter
themselves, or send, or permit their bailiffs to enter or interfere with
anything belonging to the Honor of Lancaster, or to the men of that
Honor, unless required to do so by his son. Edmund was also created
earl of Lancaster, and became the founder of that noble house, whose
possessions and power afterwards attained to such magnitude as to
place its representative, Henry IV., upon the throne, although nearer
descendants of his grandfather Edward III. were still living.

We have now arrived at the unsettled era, comprising the reigns of the
three Edwards and Richard II., and during the whole of the time these
monarchs wore the crown, a period of one hundred and twenty-six years,
the nation was engaged in continual wars—with the Welsh under Llewellyn,
the Scotch under Bruce and Wallace, and the French under Philip. The
reign of Richard II. was additionally agitated by the insurrection of Wat
Tyler. Looking at that long uninterrupted season of excitement, we cease
to wonder at the riotous and disorganized state into which society was
thrown. The rulers, whether local and subordinate, or those of a higher
grade, were too actively engaged in forwarding the efficiency of the
army, to devote much attention to the welfare and proper government of
the people. Crimes and disturbances were allowed to pass unpunished, and
evil-doers, being thus encouraged to prosecute their unlawful purposes,
carried their outrages to the very confines of open rebellion against
all power and order. It was not until such a dangerous climax had been
reached that a commission, consisting of the following judges, Peter de
Bradbate, Edmund Deyncourt, William de Vavasour, John de Island, and
Adam de Middleton, was appointed to deal summarily and severely with all
offenders in the counties of Lancaster and Westmoreland. During those
troublesome times Sir Adam Banastre and a number of others assaulted
Ralph de Truno, prior of Lancaster, and his train of attendants at
Poulton-le-Fylde, seized and carried him off to Thornton, where they
brutally ill-used and finally imprisoned him. An inquiry into the
disgraceful proceeding was instituted by order of Edward I., but the
result has not been preserved, at least no record of it has as yet been
discovered amongst any of the ancient documents concerning this county.
Leyland, who was antiquary to Henry VIII., alluding to the death of the
disorderly knight, says,—“Adam Banastre, a bachelar of Lancastershire,
moved ryot agayne Thomas of Lancaster by kraft of kynge Edward II., but
he was taken and behedid by the commandment of Thomas of Lancaster.”
The first part of the quotation has reference to a quarrel between the
earl of Lancaster and Sir Adam, who for his own aggrandizement and to
curry favour with the king, as well as to divert the attention of that
monarch from his own misdeeds, declared that Thomas of Lancaster wished
to interfere with the royal prerogative in the choice of ministers; and,
professedly, to punish such presumption he invaded the domains of that
nobleman. An encounter took place in the valley of the Ribble, not far
from Preston, in which the followers of Sir Adam were vanquished and put
to flight. Their leader secreted himself in a barn on his own lands, but,
being discovered by the soldiers of his opponent, was dragged forth and
beheaded with a sword. Subjoined is an account of a disturbance which
occurred at Kirkham during the same period, transcribed from the Vale
Royal[26] register:—“A narrative of proceedings in a dispute between
the abbot of Vale Royal, and Sir Will. de Clifton, knt., respecting the
tithes in the manor of Clifton and Westby, in the parish of Kirkham, A.D.
1337, in the time of Peter’s abbacy. The charges alleged against Sir
William state, that he had obtained twenty marks[27] due to the abbot;
had forcibly obstructed the rector in the gathering of tithes within the
manor of Clifton and Westby; seized his loaded wain, and brought ridicule
on his palfrey: that he had also burst, with his armed retainers, into
the parish church of Kirkham, and thereby deterred his clerks from the
performance of divine service; had prevented the parishioners from
resorting to the font for the rite of baptism; and that, having seized on
Thomas, the clerk of the abbot of Vale Royal, he had inflicted on him a
flagellation in the public streets of Preston. After a complaint, made to
the abbot of Westminster, a conservator of the rights and privileges of
the order to which Vale Royal belonged, Sir William confessed his fault
and threw himself on the mercy of the abbot of the Cheshire convent,
who contented himself, after receiving a compensation for his rector’s
losses, with an oath from the refractory knight, that he would in future
maintain and defend the privileges of the abbey, and would bind himself
in forty shillings to offer no further violence to the unfortunate
secretary of the abbot.”

During the reign of Edward III., Henry, earl of Lancaster, was created
duke of the county with the consent of the prelates and peers assembled
in parliament. This nobleman, whose pious and generous actions earned
for him the title of the “Good duke of Lancaster,” received a mandate
from the king during the war with France, when there were serious
apprehensions of an invasion by that nation, to arm all the lancers on
his estates, and to set a strict watch over the seacoasts of Lancashire.
These precautions, however, proved unnecessary, as the French made no
attempt to cross the channel. In his will, bearing the date 1361, (the
year of his death), Duke Henry bequeathed the Wappentakes or Hundreds of
Amounderness, Lonsdale, and Leyland, with other estates, to his daughter
Blanche, who had married John of Gaunt, the earl of Richmond and fourth
son of Edward III. John of Gaunt succeeded to the dukedom in right of his
wife.

“In the ‘Testa de Nevill’,” a register extending from 1274 to 1327, and
containing, amongst other matters, a list of the fees and serjeanties
holden of the king and the churches in his gift, it is stated under the
latter heading:—“St. Michael upon Wyre; the son of Count Salvata had
it by gift of the present king, and he says, that he is elected into a
bishoprick, and that the church is vacant, and worth 30 marks[28] per an.
Kyrkeham; King John gave two parts of it to Simon Blundel, on account of
his custody of the son and heir of Theobald Walter. Worth 80 marks[29]
per an.” In another part of these records it is named that Richard de
Frekelton held fees in chief in Freckleton, Newton, and Eccleston; Alan
de Singilton, in Singleton, Freckleton, Newton, and Elswick; and Adam de
Merton, in Marton; also that Fitz Richard held serjeanties in Singleton,
by serjeanty of Amounderness.

The earliest intimation of members being returned to represent our own
district, in conjunction with the other divisions of the county, is to
the parliament of Edward I., assembled in 1295, when Matthew de Redmand
and John de Ewyas were elected knights of the shire for Lancaster,
and in his report the sheriff adds—“There is no city in the county of
Lancaster.” The members of parliament in 1297 were Henricus de Kigheley
and Henricus le Botyler; in 1302 Willielmus de Clifton and Gilbertus de
Singleton; and in 1304 Willielmus de Clifton and Willielmus Banastre.
Henricus le Botyler, or Butler, belonged to the family of the Butlers
of Rawcliffe; Gilbertus de Singleton was probably connected with the
Singletons whose descendants resided at Staining Hall; Willielmus de
Clifton was an ancestor of the Cliftons of Lytham, and here it may be
stated that Lancashire was represented in 1383 by Robt. de Clifton, of
Westby, and Ric’us de Hoghton; and in 1844 by J. Wilson Patten, now Lord
Winmarleigh, and Jno. Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall. Thos. Henry
Clifton, esq., son of the last gentleman, and the Hon. F. A. Stanley are
the present members for North Lancashire.

During the Scottish wars of Edward III., John de Coupland, of Upper
Rawcliffe, valiantly captured David II., king of Scotland, at the battle
of Durham, and although that monarch dashed out Coupland’s teeth and
used every means to incite the latter to slay him, the brave soldier
restrained his wrath and delivered up his prisoner alive. For that
signal service Edward rewarded him with a grant of £500 per annum,
until he could receive an equivalent in land wherever he might choose,
and created him a knight banneret.[30] “I have seen,” says Camden, “a
charter of King Edward III., by which he advanced John Coupland to the
state of a banneret in the following words, because in a battle fought
at Durham he had taken prisoner David the Second, King of Scots:—‘Being
willing to reward the said John, who took David de Bruis prisoner, and
frankly delivered him unto us, for the deserts of his honest and valiant
service, in such sort as others may take example by his precedent to do
us faithful service in time to come, we have promoted the said John to
the place and degree of a banneret; and, for the maintenance of the same
state, we have granted, for us and our heirs, to the same John, five
hundred pounds by the year, to be received by him and his heirs’,” etc.

For some time after a truce had been concluded with Scotland, the war, in
which the incident narrated occurred, continued with little abatement,
and in 1322 this county with others was called upon to raise fresh
levies. These constant drains upon its resources, and the devastations
committed by riotous companies of armed men, so impoverished our district
that the inhabitants of Poulton forwarded a petition to the Pope, praying
him to forego his claims upon their town on account of the deplorably
distressed condition to which they had been reduced. The taxations of
all churches in the Fylde were greatly lowered in consideration of the
indigency of the people; that of Kirkham from 240 marks per annum to 120,
and the others in like proportion. Further evidence of the poverty of
this division may be gathered from a census taken in 1377, which states,
amongst other things, that—“There is no town worthy of notice anywhere
in the whole of the county”; and again, twenty years later, when a loan
was raised to meet the enormous expenditure of the country, Lancashire
furnished no contributors.

In 1389, during the reign of Richard II., it was enacted, with a view
to the preservation and improvement of the salmon fisheries throughout
the kingdom, “that no young salmon be taken or destroyed by nets, at
mill-dams or other places, from the middle of April to the Nativity of
St. John Baptist”; and special reference is made to this neighbourhood in
the following sentence of the bill:—“It is ordained and assented, that
the waters of Lone, Wyre, Mersee, Ribbyl, and all other waters in the
county of Lancaster, be put in defence, as to the taking of Salmons, from
Michaelmas Day to the Purification of our Lady (2nd of February), and in
no other time of the year, because that salmons be not seasonable in the
said waters in the time aforesaid; and in the parts where such rivers be,
there shall be assigned and sworn good and sufficient conservators of
this statute.” The foregoing is the earliest regulation of the kind, and
the wisdom and utility of its provisions are evinced by the existence of
similar measures at the present day.

From the annals of the Duchy may be learnt some interesting particulars
relative to changes in ownership at that period of certain portions of
the territory comprised in the Fylde. In 1380 John of Gaunt, duke of
Lancaster, issued a “precept to the Escheator to give seisin of the Lands
of William Botyler in Layton Magna, Layton Parva, Bispham, Warthebrek,
and Great Merton,” etc.; and shortly afterwards gave orders to “seize
the Lands of William Botyler.” In 1385 mandates were issued by the same
nobleman to his Escheator to “seize into the Hands of the King and
himself the Lands of Thomas Banastre, (deceased, 1384), in Ethelswyk,
Frekculton, Claughton in Amoundernes, Syngleton Parva, Hamylton,
Stalmyn,” etc.; also those of “Emund Banastre, (deceased, 1384), in
Wodeplumpton, Preston,” etc. In the Rolls the subjoined entries also
occur:—

  1381.

  GRANTORS.           GRANTEES.             MATTERS AND PREMISES.

  John Botyler, Knt.      Henry de Bispham,     Enrolment of the Grant
                          Richard de Carleton,  of the Manors of Great
                          Chaplains.            Layton, Little Layton,
                                                Bispham, and Wardebrek;
                                                lands in Great Merton,
                                                and the whole Lordship
                                                of Merton Town.

  Henry de Bispham,       John Botyler, Knt.,   Enrolment of the Grant of
  Richard de Carleton.    and Alice his wife.   the above Manors, Lands,
                                                and Lordship, in Fee Tail
                                                special.

  1382.

  Robert de Wasshyngton.  William de Hornby,    Enrolment of Grant of
                          Parson of St.         Lands, etc., in Carleton
                          Michael-upon-Wyre,    in Amounderness, for a Rose
                          and William le        Rent per ann. 8 years, and
                          Ducton.               increased rent £20 per ann.

There is nothing of interest or importance to recount affecting the Fylde
from the death of Richard II. until the year 1455, when the battle of
St. Albans, resulting in the defeat of Henry VI. and the royal forces by
the Duke of York, initiated those lamentable struggles between the rival
houses of York and Lancaster; and the inhabitants of our section shared,
like the rest, in the ruin and bloodshed of civil war. Those contests,
which lasted no less than thirty years, and included thirteen pitched
battles, were finally terminated in 1485, by the union of Henry VII. with
Catherine of York, daughter of Edward IV.

In 1485 a malady called the “Sweating Sickness” visited the different
districts of Lancashire, and so rapid and fatal were the effects, that
during the seven weeks it prevailed, large numbers of the populace
fell victims to its virulence. Lord Verulam, describing the disease,
says:—“The complaint was a pestilent fever, attended by a malign vapour,
which flew to the heart and seized the vital spirits; which stirred
nature to strive to send it forth by an extreme sweat.”

In 1487 the impostor Lambert Simnel, who personated Edward, earl of
Warwick, the heir in rightful succession to Edward IV., landed at the
Pile of Fouldrey, (Peel harbour) in Morecambe Bay, with an army raised
chiefly by the aid of the Duchess of Burgundy, and marched into the
country. At Stoke, near Newark, he was defeated and taken prisoner, and
subsequently the adventurer was made a scullion in the king’s kitchen,
from which humble sphere he rose by good conduct to the position of
falconer. Henry VIII., soon after his accession in 1509, became embroiled
in war with France, and whilst he was engaged in hostilities on the
continent, James IV. of Scotland crossed the border, and invaded England
with a force of fifty thousand men. To resist this aggression large
levies were promptly raised in Lancashire and other northern counties,
and on the field of Flodden, in Northumberland, a decisive battle took
place in 1513, in which the Scottish monarch was slain, and his army
routed. The Lancashire troops were led by Sir Edward Stanley, and
their patriotism and valour are celebrated in an ancient song called
the “Famous Historie or Songe of Floodan Field.” In the following
extract certain localities in and near the Fylde are mentioned as having
furnished their contingents of willing soldiers:—

  “All Lancashire for the most parte
  The lusty Standley stowte can lead,
  A stock of striplings stronge of heart
  Brought up from babes with beef and bread,
  From Warton unto Warrington,
  From Wiggen unto Wyresdale,
  From Weddecon to Waddington,
  From Ribchester to Rochdale,
  From Poulton to Preston with pikes
  They with ye Standley howte forthe went,
  From Pemberton and Pilling Dikes
  For Battell Billmen bould were bent
  With fellowes fearce and fresh for feight
  With Halton feilds did turne in foores,
  With lusty ladds liver and light
  From Blackborne and Bolton in ye moores.”

The office of High Sheriff is one of considerable antiquity, and in
early times it was no uncommon thing for the elected person to retain
the position for several years together. Annexed is a list of gentlemen
connected with the Fylde who have been High Sheriffs of the county of
Lancaster at different times, with their years of office:—

  1194 to 1199. Theobald Walter, of Amounderness.
  1278.         Gilbert de Clifton, of Clifton and Westby.
  1287.         Gilbert de Clifton, of Clifton and Westby.
  1289.         Gilbert de Clifton, of Clifton and Westby.
  1393.         Sir Johannes Butler, Knt., of Rawcliffe.
  1394.         Sir Johannes Butler, Knt., of Rawcliffe.
  1395.         Sir Johannes Butler, Knt., of Rawcliffe.
  1397.         Sir Richard Molyneux, Knt., of Larbrick (for life).
  1566.         Sir Richard Molyneux, Knt., of Larbrick.
  1606.         Edmund Fleetwood, of Rossall.
  1677.         Alexander Rigby, of Layton.
  1678.         Alexander Rigby, of Layton.
  1691.         Sir Alexander Rigby, Knt., of Layton.
  1740.         Roger Hesketh, of Rossall.
  1797.         Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, of Rossall.
  1820.         Robert Hesketh, of Rossall.
  1830.         Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, of Rossall.
  1835.         Thomas Clifton, of Lytham.
  1842.         Thomas Robert Wilson ffrance, of Rawcliffe.
  1853.         John Talbot Clifton, of Lytham.

It may be here noticed that Edmund Dudley, so notorious in English
history as the infamous agent of Henry VII. in the wholesale and
scandalous extortions that monarch practised upon his subjects, held
many and large territorial possessions in the county of Lancashire, the
reward in all probability of his unscrupulous services to the king.
After the death of his royal patron a loud outcry for the punishment of
Dudley was raised by the nation, and in the first year of Henry VIII. a
proclamation was issued inviting those subjects who had been injured by
Dudley and his fellow commissioner, Sir Richard Empson, to come forward
and state their complaints; the number of complainants who appeared was
so great that it was found impossible to examine all their claims, so
in order to pacify the universal indignation, the two obnoxious agents
were thrown into prison on a charge of treason. From the Inquisition for
the Escheat of the Duchy of Lancaster taken on the attainder of Edmund
Dudley, in 1509, it is discovered that amongst his numerous estates, were
lands in Elswick, Hambleton, Freckleton, Thornton, Little Singleton,
Wood Plumpton, Whittingham, Goosnargh, and Claughton. Stow, writing
about the circumstances alluded to, says:—“Thereupon was Sir Richard
Empson, Knight, and Edmund Dudley, Esquire, by a politicke mean brought
into the Tower, where they were accused of treason, and so remained
there prisoners, thereby to quiet men’s minds, that made such suit to
have their money restored. On the seventeenth of July Edmund Dudley
was arraigned in the Guildhall of London, where he was condemned, and
had judgement to be drawn, hanged, and quartered.... Henry VIII. sent
commandment to the Constable of the Tower, charging him that Empson and
Dudley should shortly after be put to execution. The Sheriffs of London
were commanded by a special writ to see the said execution performed and
done, whereupon they went to the Tower and received the prisoners on the
17th of August, 1510, and from thence brought them unto the scaffold on
Tower Hill, where their heads were stricken off.”

The most conspicuous event which happened during the sovereignty of Henry
VIII. was the Protestant Reformation. Henry, having quarrelled with the
Supreme Head of the Church at Rome, determined to suppress all religious
houses in his kingdom whose incomes amounted to less than £200 per
annum. Doctors Thomas Leigh and Thomas Layton were appointed to inspect
and report on those in Lancashire; and amongst the number condemned on
their visit was a small Benedictine Cell at Lytham. This Cell owed its
origin to Richard Fitz Roger, who towards the latter part of the reign of
Richard I. granted lands at Lytham to the Durham Church, in order that a
prior and Benedictine monks might be established there to the honour of
St. Mary and St. Cuthbert. Its yearly revenue at the time of suppression
was only £55. A little later, in 1540, the larger monastic institutions
suffered the fate of the smaller ones; and amongst the chantries closed
were two at St. Michael’s-on-Wyre. All Catholic places of worship were
closed by a proclamation, bearing the date September 23rd, 1548, and
issued by the lord protector Somerset on behalf of the young king Edward
VI. On the death of that monarch in 1553 the crown descended to his
sister Mary, only daughter of Catherine of Arragon; and one of her first
acts was to re-establish the old faith and re-open the churches and
chantries which her predecessors had closed. Mass was again celebrated
in the churches of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, Kirkham, and Singleton, as in
former days, the officiating priests being:—

  Kirkham                 Thomas Primbet, annual fee £2 10s. 0d.
  Singleton               Richard Goodson,  ”     ”  £2  9s. 0d.
  St. Michael’s-on-Wyre,  Thomas Cross      ”     ”  £4 13s. 10d.

In the early part of this reign a grand military muster was ordered to
be made in the county palatine of Lancaster, and towards the 300 men
raised in the Hundred of Amounderness the Fylde townships contributed as
follows:—

  Warton                              4 men.
  Carleton                            8  ”
  Hardhome with Newton                8  ”
  Much Eccleston                      5  ”
  Clifton                             6  ”
  Bispham and Norbreke                5  ”
  Freckleton                          5  ”
  Thilston                            8  ”
  Thornton                            8  ”
  Out Rawcliffe                       4  ”
  Upper Rawcliffe and Tornecard       1  ”
  Pulton                              3  ”
  Weton                               3  ”
  Threleyle                           6  ”
  Little Eccleston and Larbreke       6  ”
  Little Singleton and Grange         5  ”
  Newton with Scales                  3  ”
  Layton with Warbrick                8  ”
  Elliswicke                          5  ”
  Kelmyne and Brininge                5  ”
  Kirkham                             3  ”
  Westbye and Plumpton                8  ”
  Rigby with Wraye                    8  ”
  Lithum                              5  ”
  Much Singleton                      7  ”
  Plumpton                           11  ”

The commanders of the regiment were—Sir Thomas Hesketh, Sir Richard
Houghton, George Browne, John Kitchen, Richard Barton, William Westby (of
Mowbreck), and William Barton, Esquires.

Dodsworth, who lived in the latter part of the sixteenth and early part
of the seventeenth centuries, informs us that sometime during the year
1555 “a sudden irruption of the sea” took place near Rossall grange, and
a whole village, called Singleton Thorp, was washed away by the fury of
the waves. “The inhabitants were driven out of their ancient home, and
erected their tents at a place called Singleton to this day.” It has been
surmised that Singleton Thorp was the residence of Thomas de Singleton,
who opposed Edward I. in a suit to recover from that king the manors of
Singleton, Thornton, and Brughton. The site formerly occupied by the
ancient village is now called Singleton Skeer. Dodsworth also declares
that the Horse-bank lying off the shores of Lytham was, in 1612, during
the reign of James I., a pasture for cattle, and that, in 1601, a village
called Waddum Thorp existed between it and the present main-land.

In January, 1559, about two months after the accession of Elizabeth,
another muster took place throughout the several counties of the kingdom,
and subjoined are enumerated the bodies of soldiers furnished by the
different Hundreds of Lancashire:—

  BLACKEBURNE HUNDRED—407 harnessed men, 406 unharnessed men.
  AMOUNDERNES HUNDRED—213 harnessed men, 369 unharnessed men.
  LONDESDALL HUNDRED—356 harnessed men, 114 unharnessed men.
  LEYLONDE HUNDRED—80 harnessed men, 22 unharnessed men.
  SALEFORDE HUNDRED—394 harnessed men, 649 unharnessed men.
  WEST DERBY HUNDRED—459 harnessed men, 413 unharnessed men.
  Sum Total of harnessed men 1919.
  Sum Total of unharnessed men 2073.[31]

An epidemic, described by Hollinworth as a “sore sicknesse,” prevailed
in this county during some months of 1565, and carried off many of the
inhabitants.

Queen Elizabeth on her accession wrought another change in the national
religion, but taking warning from the outcries and disturbances produced
by the sudden and sweeping policies of Henry VIII. and Mary, proceeded
to affect her purpose in a more deliberate manner. She retained some of
her Catholic ministers, taking care, however, to have sufficient of the
reformed faith to outvote them when occasion required, and appointed
a commission to inquire into the persecutions of the last reign, with
orders to liberate from prison all those who had been confined on account
of their attachment to Protestant principles. In her own chapel she
forbade several Popish practices, and commanded that certain portions of
the services should be read in the English tongue. Shortly afterwards a
proclamation was issued, ordering that all chantries should conduct their
services after the model of her own chapel. This comparative moderation
was succeeded at a later period of her sovereignty by sterner measures,
and many Catholic recusants were placed in confinement, being subjected
to heavy penalties and degradations. During the same reign the military
strength of the nation was again ascertained by a general muster. The
gathering took place in 1574, when six gentlemen of our neighbourhood
were thus rated:—

Cuthbert Clifton, esq., to furnish:—Light horse 1, Plate-coate 1, Pyke 1,
Long bows 2, Sheaves of arrows 2, Steel caps 2, Caliver 1, Morion 1.

James Massey, George Alane to furnish:—Plate-coat 1, Long bow 1, Sheaf of
arrows 1, Steel cap 1, Caliver 1, Morion 1, Bill 1.

William Hesketh to furnish of good will:—Caliver 1, Morion 1.

William Singleton, John Veale to furnish:—The same as William Hesketh
doth.

The whole complement raised in the Hundred of Amounderness consisted of—5
Light horse, 1 Demi-lance, 2 Corslets, 17 Plate-coats, 11 Pykes, 22 Long
bows, 22 Sheaves of arrows, 27 Steel caps, 15 Calivers, 20 Morions, and
10 Bills.

Father Edmund Campion, the notorious Jesuit, was apprehended in 1581,
immediately after travelling through Lancashire endeavouring to spread
the doctrines of his faith, and imprisoned in the Tower. Under the cruel
influence of the rack he divulged the names of several persons by whom he
had been received and entertained whilst on his journey, and amongst them
were Mrs. Allen of Rossall Hall, the widow of Richard Allen, and John
Westby of Mowbreck and Burn Halls. Shortly before his execution Campion
deplored his compulsory confession in a letter to a friend in these
words:—“It grieved me much to have offended the Catholic cause so highly,
as to confess the names of some gentlemen and friends in whose houses I
have been entertained; yet in this I greatly cherish and comfort myself,
that I never discovered any secrets there declared, and that I will not,
come rack, come rope.”

The following extracts are taken from some manuscripts in the Harleian
collection, and will explain themselves:—

  “Names of such as are detected for receiptinge of Priests,
  Seminaries, etc., in the County of Lancashire.

  “This appeareth by the presentment  One named little Richard receipted
  of the Vicar of Garstang.           at Mr. Rigmaden’s of Weddicar by
                                      report.

  “This appeareth by the presentment  Ricard Cadocke, a seminary priest,
  of the Vicar of Kirkham.            also Deiv. Tytmouse conversant in
                                      the Company of two widows—viz.
                                      Mistress Alice Clyfton and Mistress
                                      Jane Clyfton, about the first of
                                      October last, 1580, by the report
                                      of James Burie.

  “This also appeareth by the         Richard Brittain, a priest receipted
  presentment of the Vicar of         in the house of William Bennett of
  Kirkham.                            Westby, about the beginning of June
                                      last, from whence young Mr. Norrice
                                      of Speke conveyed the said Brittain
                                      to the Speke, as the said Bennett
                                      hath reported.

  “The said Brittain remayneth now at the house of Mr. Norrice of
  the Speke, as appeareth by the deposition of John Osbaldston.

                             “Diocese of Chester

                            “Amounderness Deanery
                    Cuthb. Clifton, Esq.      Obstinate.
                    Will. Hesketh, gent.      Obstinate.
                    John Singleton, gent.     Obstinate.”

At that period it was customary to levy a tax of live stock and different
articles of food on each county, for the supply of the royal larder, and
Sir Richard Sherburn, of Carleton and Hambleton, and Alexander Rigby, of
Middleton, near Preston,[32] ratified an agreement with the treasurer
and controller of Elizabeth’s household, that Lancashire should provide
annually forty great oxen, to be delivered alive at her majesty’s
pasture at Crestow. Afterwards the sums to be contributed by each Hundred
for the purchase of these animals was arranged, and Amounderness rated at
£16 10s. 0d. per year. The latter agreement was ratified by Sir Richard
Sherburne and Edward Tyldesley, of Myerscough, amongst others. Grievous
complaints were made in the Fylde and other parts of the county of the
desecration of the Sabbath by “Wakes, fayres, markettes, bayrebaytes,
bull baits, Ales, Maygames, Resortinge to Alehouses in tyme of devyne
service, pypinge and dauncinge, huntinge and all manner of unlawfull
gamynge.” A letter praying that these profanations might be reformed
was signed by the magistrates of the several districts, amongst whom
were Edmund Fleetwood of Rossall, and R. Sherburne of Carleton, etc.,
and forwarded to London. A commission of inquiry was appointed, and
after an investigation, the commissioners charged all mayors, bailiffs,
and constables, as well as other civil officers, churchwardens, etc.,
to suppress by all lawful means the said disorders of the Sabbath,
and to present the offenders at the quarter sessions, that they might
be dealt with for the same according to law. They also directed that
the minstrels, bearwards, and all such disorderly persons, should be
immediately apprehended and brought before the justices of the peace, and
punished at their discretion; that the churchwardens should be enjoined
to present at the sessions all those that neglected to attend divine
service upon the Sabbath day, that they might be indicted and fined
in the penalty of twelve pence for every offence; that the number of
alehouses should be abridged, that the ale-sellers should utter a full
quart of ale for one penny, and none of any less size, and that they
should sell no ale or other victuals in time of divine service; that
none should sell ale without a license; that the magistrates should be
enjoined not to grant any ale-licenses except in public sessions; that
they should examine the officers of the commonwealth to learn whether
they made due presentment at the quarter sessions of all bastards born
or remaining within their several precincts; and that thereupon a strict
course should be taken for the due punishment of the reputed parents
according to the statute, as also for the convenient keeping and relief
of the infants.[33]

In 1588, the year following the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, Philip
of Spain, urged on by an ambition to conquer the kingdom of England and
re-establish the Romish religion, equipped an immense fleet, consisting
of seventy-two galliasses and galleons, forty-seven second-class ships of
war, and eleven pinnaces, to which he gave the name of the “Invincible
Armada.” The rumour of this invasion spread great alarm throughout the
country; and the magistrates, gentry, and freeholders of Lancashire
were summoned to meet Lord Strange at Preston, to consider what steps
should be taken for the defence of their coast, on which, at Peel in
Morecambe Bay, it was deemed probable the Spaniards would attempt a
landing. So doubtful does Elizabeth appear to have been of the loyalty
of her Lancashire subjects that Lord Strange was commanded to append
to his summonses the words,—“Fayle not at your uttermost peril.” Nor
were these suspicions on the part of the queen without good reason, for
the principal landed proprietors and gentry of the county were members
of the Romish Church, and it was to be feared that they would be only
lukewarm in repelling, if not, indeed, active in encouraging, an enemy
whose professed object was the restoration of their religion. Baines,
in reviewing the Reformation, says,—“In the county of Lancashire it was
retrograde. The Catholics multiplied, priests were harboured, the book
of common prayer and the service of the Church, established by law, were
laid aside; many of the churches were shut up, and the cures unsupplied,
unless by the ejected Catholics.” Numerous crosses on the highways, as
well as the names of several places, as Low-cross, High-cross, Norcross,
etc., also testify to the Romish tendency of the inhabitants. Cardinal
Allen, who had for many years been living on the continent at Douai and
elsewhere[34] was suspected of having, in conjunction with Parsons, the
Jesuit, instigated Philip to this invasion. The harbour of “Pille,”
(Peel) is described in the Lansdowne manuscripts as the “very best haven
for landings with great shyppes in all the west coast of England, called
St. George’s Channel,” and further in the same folio we read:—“What the
Spanyerd means to do the Lord knows, for all the countrie being known to
Doctor Allen, who was born harde by the pyle,” (Rossall Hall was the
birth-place of Allen,) “and the inhabytentes ther aboutes all ynfected
with the Romish poyson, it is not unlike that his directione will be used
for some landinge there.... One Thomas Prestone (a papyshe atheiste) is
deputye steward, and commandes the menrede, and lands ther, wch were
sometyme appertayning to the Abbeye of Fornes.”

Whilst preparations for resisting the Spaniards were being pushed forward
with as much expedition as possible, the “Invincibles” appeared in the
English Channel, and arranged themselves for battle in the form of a
crescent. The British fleet, numbering only thirty-four ships of war, and
sundry private vessels equipped for the occasion, under the command of
Lord Howard, sailed out to engage them. A series of actions took place,
and although nothing decisive had been effected, the advantage seemed
to be leaning towards the English fleet, when eight fire-ships drifted
in amongst the Armada and threw them into utter confusion. This _coup
de maître_ took place on the 29th of July, 1588. The panic-stricken
Spaniards, fearing that the whole of their ships would be destroyed in
a general conflagration, severed their cables, and fled. A westerly
gale, however, sprang up, and wrecked many of the vessels on the coast
between Ostend and Calais; the shores of Scotland and Ireland were also
covered with fragments of their ships and bodies of their mariners, while
tradition asserts that one of the galleons was stranded on the Point of
Rossall, where it was attacked by the country people, either for the sake
of pillage or in the hope of capturing it. Whether one or both of these
desires actuated the rustics they were doomed to disappointment, for the
Spaniards successfully resisted their first attempt, and escaped on the
returning tide, before further efforts could be made by the little band
on shore. Two cannon balls were formerly to be seen at Rossall Hall, and
it was stated that they were the identical ones fired by this vessel, as
a parting salute, when she sailed away. They were found on removing some
of the walls belonging to the old mansion.

The annexed is a list of free-tenants residing in the Fylde district
about the year 1585, the 27th of the reign of Queen Elizabeth:—

  Molyneux, Sir Richard, of Larbrick, knight.
  Clifton, Thomas, of Westby, esq.
  Rigby, Edward, of Layton and Burgh, esq.
  Veale, John, of Mythorp, esq.
  Butler, Henry, of Out-Rawcliffe, esq.
  Parker, William, of Bradkirk, esq.
  Westby, John, of Mowbreck, esq.
  Kirkby, William, of Upper Rawcliffe, esq.
  Singleton, George, of Staining, esq.
  Hesketh, William, of Little Poulton, esq.
  Stanley, Thomas, of Great Eccleston, esq.
  Warren, ⸺, of Plumpton, esq.
  White, Nicholas, of Great Eccleston, gent.
  Rogerly, George, of Lytham, gent.
  Banister, William, of Carleton, gent.
  Sharples, John, of Freckleton, gent.

The dress of the priests previous to the Protestant Reformation is
thus described by Harrison:—“They went either in divers colours like
plaiers, or in garments of light hew, as yellow, red, greene, etc., with
their shoes piked, their haire crisped, and their girdles armed with
silver; their shoes, spurs, bridles, etc., buckled with like mettall;
their apparell chiefly of silke, and richlie furred, their cappes laced
and buttoned with gold; so that to meet a priest in those days, was to
beholde a peacocke that spreadeth his taile when he danseth before the
henne.” “The manners and customs of the inhabitants of Lancashire,”
writes John de Brentford, “are similar to those of the neighbouring
counties except that the people eat with two pronged forks[35]; the men
are masculine, and in general well made, they ride and hunt the same
as in the most southern parts, but not with that grace, owing to the
whip being carried in the left hand; the women are most handsome, their
eyes brown, black, hazel, blue, or grey; their noses, if not inclined
to the aquiline, are mostly of the Grecian form, which gives a most
beautiful archness to the countenance, such indeed as is not easy to be
described, their fascinating manners have long procured them the name
of Lancashire witches.” Leyland in his “Itinerary” says:—“The dress
of the men chiefly consists of woollen garments, while the women wear
those of silk, linen, or stuff. Their usual colours are those of green,
blue, black, and sometimes brown. The military are dressed in red, which
is vulgarly called scarlet.” In the time of Henry VIII. the custom of
placing chimneys on the tops of the houses was first introduced amongst
the English; before that period the smoke usually found its way through
an opening in the roof or out of the doorway. The houses of the middle
classes were for the most part formed of wood, whilst those of the
peasantry were built of wattles plastered over with a thick coating of
clay. The few stone mansions existing in Lancashire were the residences
of the nobility or of the most opulent gentry. Harrison, referring to the
improvements in accommodation gradually gaining ground, remarks:—“There
was a great, although not general, amendment of lodging; for our fathers,
yea, and we ourselves also, have lien full oft upon straw pallets, on
rough mats, onelie covered with a sheet under coverlets made of dagswam
or hopparlots, and a good round log under the head instead of a bolster
or pillow, which was thought meet onelie for women in childbed; as for
servants, if they had anie sheets above them, it was well, for seldome
had they anie under their bodies to keep them from the prickly straws
that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet, and raised their hardened
hides.” Holinshed, also, notices the better style of entertainment at
the inns of Lancaster, Preston, etc.; at which he tells us the guests
were well provided with “napierie, bedding, and tapisserie,” and each was
sure of resting “in cleane sheets wherein no man had been lodged since
they came from the laundress.” Camden, writing of our more immediate
neighbourhood a little later than the period we are now discussing,
says:—“The goodly and fresh complexion of the natives does sufficiently
evince the goodness of the county; nay and the cattle too, if you will;
for in the oxen, which have huge horns and proportionate bodies, you will
find nothing of that perfection wanting that Mago, the Carthagenian, in
Columella required. This soil (Amounderness) bears oats pretty well, but
is not so good for barley; it makes excellent pasture especially towards
the sea, where it is partly Champain; whence a great part of it is called
the File, probably for the Field. But being in other places Fenny ’tis
reckoned less wholesome. In many places along the coast there are heaps
of sand, upon which the natives now and then pour water, till it grows
saltish, and then with turf boyl it into white salt.” Several of these
salt manufacturies were located near Lytham, and it is very likely that
the two brass pans and an ancient measure, discovered about forty years
since deeply imbedded in the peat not far from Fox Hall, were used in the
production of salt somewhere in that vicinity.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER III.

JAMES THE FIRST TO QUEEN VICTORIA.


On the accession of James I., in 1603, the crowns of England and Scotland
became legally united, although it was not until a considerable time
afterwards that they could be regarded as practically so. This monarch
was the first to assume the title of King of Great Britain.

A custom prevailed in former days of relieving the secular portion of
the community by imposing exclusive taxes on the clergy, and hence it
is seen, that in 1608 a rate was levied upon the latter by the Right
Reverend George Lloyd, D.D., the eighth bishop of Chester. The following
is a copy of the impost so far as the Hundred of Amounderness was
concerned:—

            “_Archid. Decanatus_ Cestrie _in Com._ Lancastrie

  A Rayte imposed by me George Bushoppe of Chestʳ upon the Clergie
  within the Countye of Chesshyre and Lancashyre within the Dyoces
  of Chest,ʳ By vertue of Ires from the lordes grace of Yorke
  grounded upon + from the lordes and others of his maᵗᵉˢ most
  honorable privye counsell for the fyndinge of horses, armes, and
  other furniture, the XXVIIIth of October 1608.

                  Amounderness Decanatus Archid. Richm.


  Mr. Porter, vicar of Lancastʳ                       a corslet furnished.
  Mr. Paler, vicar of Preston                      ⎱  a musket furnished
  Mr. Norcrosse, vicar of Ribchestʳ                ⎰
  Mr. Whyt, vicar of Poulton &                     ⎱  a musket furnished.
  Mr. Greenacres, vicar of Kirkham                 ⎰
  Mr. Aynsworth, vicar of Garstange                ⎱  a musket furnished.
  Mr. Woolfenden, vicar of St. Michael’s upon Wyre ⎰
  Mr. Calver, vicar of Cockerham                   ⎱  a caliver furnished.
  Mr. Parker, vicar of Chippin.                    ⎰

                                                 George Cestriensis.”[36]

Here it may be mentioned that, although about 636, Honorus, archbishop
of Canterbury, attempted to divide the kingdom into parishes, it was not
until many years later, in the reign of Henry VIII., that the diocese
to which Lancashire belonged was clearly defined. At that date Chester
was created a distinct bishopric, and the southern part of our county
included in the archdeaconry of Chester, whilst the northern portion was
attached to the archdeaconry of Richmond.

In 1617 James I., on his return journey from Scotland to London, was
entertained at Myerscough Lodge, near Garstang, by Edward Tyldesley,
the grandfather of the gentleman who erected Fox Hall, at Blackpool.
Thomas Tyldesley, a cousin of the owner of Myerscough Lodge, and
attorney-general of the county of Lancaster, had been knighted by the
monarch at Wimbleton in the previous year. From Myerscough the King
proceeded to Hoghton Tower, where a petition was presented to him by the
agricultural labourers, petty tradesmen, and ordinary servants in this
and other districts lying near Preston, praying that the edict of the
late queen, whereby sports and games had been prohibited on the Sabbath,
might be repealed. The prayer of the petitioners found favour with James,
and shortly afterwards he caused it to be proclaimed—“that his majesty’s
pleasure was, that the bishops of the diocese should take strict order
with all the puritans and precisians within the county of Lancaster, and
either constrain them to conform themselves, or to leave the countrie,
according to the laws of this kingdom and the canons of the church; and
for his good people’s recreation his pleasure was, that after the end
of divine service, they be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from
any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women; archery
for men, leaping, vaulting, or any such harmless recreation; nor having
of May-games, Whitson-ales, and Morice-dances, and the setting up of
May-poles, and other sports therewith used; so as the same be had in due
and convenient time, without impediment or neglect of divine service;
and that women should have leave to carry rushes to the church, for
decorating of it according to the old custom; but withal his majesty
did here account still as prohibited, all unlawful games to be used
on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baitings, interludes, and, at all
times, in the meaner sort of people, by law prohibited, bowling.” A few
months after this concession to the wishes of a portion of his subjects,
James issued a publication designated the “Book of Sports,” in which he
explained what were to be considered lawful sports to be indulged in on
“Sundays and Festivals.”

The gentlemen enumerated below were free-tenants, residing in the Fylde,
during his reign:—

  Clifton, Sir Cuthbert, of Westby, knight.
  Banister, Sir Robert, of Plumpton, knight.
  Fleetwood, Edward, of Rossall, esq.
  Westby, Thomas, of Mowbreck, esq.
  Kirkby, William, of Upper Rawcliffe, esq.
  Veale, Edward, of Whinney Heys, esq.
  Burgh, Richard, of Larbrick, esq.
  Leckonby, John, of Great Eccleston, esq.
  Longworth, Richard, of St. Michael’s, esq.
  Parker, John, of Bradkirk, esq.
  Hesketh, William, of Mains, esq.
  Singleton, Thomas, of Staining, esq.
  Brown, James, of Singleton, gent.
  Leigh, Robert, of Plumpton, gent.
  Smith, John, of Kirkham, gent.
  Sharples, Henry, of Kirkham, gent,
  ffrance, John, of Eccleston, gent.
  Thompson Wm., of Little Eccleston, gent.
  Dobson, William, of Bispham, gent.
  Hornby, Henry, of Bankfield, gent.
  Bradley, James, of Bryning, gent.
  Taylor, James, of Poulton, gent.
  Bamber, Thomas, of Poulton, gent.
  Bailey, Lawrence, of Layton, gent.
  Bonny, Robert, of Kirkham, gent.
  Whiteside, Robt., of Thornton, gent.

In the Registers of Kirkham is the annexed statement, from which it
appears that a few years from the death of James I. the Fylde, or at
least a considerable tract of it, was visited by some fatal epidemic,
but its peculiar nature cannot be ascertained:—“A.D. 1630. This year
was a great plague in Kirkham, in which the more part of the people of
the town died thereof. It began about the 25th of July and continued
vehemently until Martinmas, but was not clear of it before Lent; and
divers towns of the parish was infected with it, and many died thereof
out of them, as Treales, Newton, Greenall, Estbrick, Thistleton. N.B.—The
great mortality was in the year 1631; 304 died that year, and were buried
at Kirkham, of whom 193 in the months of August and September”. Charles
I. soon after ascending the throne in 1626, provoked a breach with his
parliament by endeavouring to enforce subsidies, with which to carry on
his foreign wars, and further, he alienated the affections and respect of
the Puritan section of his subjects by confirming the regulations of the
“Book of Sports.” Dissatisfaction and murmurings were quickly fermented
into rebellion, and the closing of the gates of Hull against the king
in 1642 initiated those fearful wars, which desolated and disorganised
the country for so many years. In 1641, Alexander Rigby,[37] esq., of
Layton Hall, Sir Gilbert de Hoghton, with eight other gentlemen, were
removed from the commission of the peace, by order of parliament, on
suspicion of being favourably disposed towards the royal party. The
chief supporters of the king in the ensuing conflicts were the nobility,
in great numbers; the higher orders of the gentry, and a considerable
portion of their tenantry; all the High-churchmen; and a large majority
of the Catholics. The parliamentarian army, on the other hand, was mainly
composed of freeholders, traders, manufacturers, Puritans, Presbyterians,
and Independents. An engagement near Wigan roused up the people in our
vicinity to a sense of the dangers menacing them, and a public meeting
of royalists was called at Preston under the presidency of the earl of
Derby. Amongst other gentlemen who took a prominent part in the assembly
were Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, and Alexander Rigby, esq., of
Layton. Several resolutions were adopted, the most important being that
a sum of money, amounting to £8,700, should be raised and devoted to the
payment of a regiment, consisting of 2,000 foot and 400 horse, in the
following scale of remuneration:—

  DRAGOONERS.

  Captain                  12s. 0d. per diem.
  Lieutenant                6s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Cornet                    4s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Sergeant                  3s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Corporal                  2s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Dragooner                 1s. 6d.  ”   ”
  Kettle-drum               2s. 0d.  ”   ”

  FOOT.

  Captain                 10s. 0d. per diem.
  Lieutenant               4s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Sergeant                 1s. 6d.  ”   ”
  Drummer                  1s. 3d.  ”   ”
  Corporal                 1s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Private                  0s. 9d.  ”   ”

  HORSE.

  Captain                 16s. 0d. per diem.
  Lieutenant               8s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Cornet                   6s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Corporal                 4s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Trumpeter                5s. 0d.  ”   ”
  Private                  2s. 6d.  ”   ”

  And to every Commissary  5s. 0d. per diem.

Parliamentary commissioners were sent this year, 1642, into all parts of
Lancashire to visit the churches and chapels and to remove therefrom all
images, superstitious pictures, and idolatrous relics, which any of them
might contain.

Preston and Lancaster were amongst the earliest towns to fall into
the hands of the Roundheads, and about ten days after the surrender
of the former place, when the people of this district were labouring
under the excitement of war on their very frontier, Alexander Rigby,
of Layton Hall, accompanied by Captain Thomas Singleton, of Staining,
and other officers, appeared near Poulton at the head of a number of
horsemen, and threw the inhabitants into a state of great consternation
and alarm, fortunately proving unnecessary, for the cavalcade had other
designs than that of bringing devastation and bloodshed to their own
doors, and continued their journey peaceably northward. A few weeks
later a Spanish vessel was seen at the entrance of Morecambe Bay, off
Rossall Point, and as it evinced no signs of movement, either towards
the harbour of Lancaster or out to sea, the yeomen and farm servants of
that neighbourhood at once surmised that some sort of an invasive attack
was meditated on their coast, nor were these fears in any way allayed
by the constant firing of a piece of cannon from the deck of the ship,
and it was not until the discharges had been repeated through several
days that they realised that distress and not bombardment was intended
to be indicated. On boarding the vessel they found that she contained a
number of passengers, all of whom, together with the crew, were reduced
to a pitiable and enfeebled condition through exposure and scarcity
of provisions, for, having lost their way in the heavy weather which
prevailed, they had been detained much over the time expected for the
voyage, blindly cruising about in the hope of discovering some friendly
haven or guide. The craft was piloted round into the mouth of the river
Wyre, opposite the Warren, and relief afforded to the sufferers. Rumour
of the presence of the ship was not long in reaching the ears of the earl
of Derby, who, with promptitude determined to march down and seize it in
the king’s name. On the Saturday he arrived at Lytham Hall with a small
troop of cavalry, where he sojourned for the night, with the intention
of completing his journey and effecting his purpose the following day
before the parliamentarians had got word of the matter; but here his
calculations were at fault, for the parliamentary leader had already
dispatched four companies of infantry, under Major Sparrow, to take
possession of the prize, and on the same Saturday evening they took up
their quarters at Poulton and Singleton, having arrived by a different
route to the earl, who had forded the river at Hesketh Bank. On the
Sunday Major Sparrow, who throughout showed a lively horror of risking
an encounter with the renowned nobleman, posted scouts with orders to
watch the direction taken by the latter, and convey the information
without delay to the chief station at Poulton, where the soldiers were
in readiness, not for action, as it subsequently turned out, but to put
a safe barrier between themselves and the enemy, for no sooner was it
ascertained that the earl, “all his company having their swords drawn,”
was marching along Layton Hawes towards Rossall, than Sparrow conducted
his force across the Wyre, at the Shard, and followed the course of the
stream towards its outlet “until he came over against where the shipp
lay, being as feared of the earle as the earle was of him.”[38] The earl
of Derby advanced along the shore line and across the Warren to the mouth
of the river without the naked weapons of his followers being called into
service, but finding when he boarded the ship that two parliamentary
gentlemen had forestalled his intention by seizing her for the powers
they recognized, he unhesitatingly took them prisoners, and set fire
to the vessel, whilst Sparrow and his men stood helplessly by, on the
opposite side of the water, where the gallant major perhaps congratulated
himself on his caution in having avoided a collision with so prompt and
vigorous a foe. Some of the Spaniards attached themselves to the train of
the earl, whilst others were scattered over the neighbourhood, depending
for subsistence upon the charity of the cottagers and farmers, but their
final destiny is unknown. The noble general, enraged at the unlooked for
frustration of the main object of his journey, determined that it should
not be altogether fruitless, and on his return forced admittance into
the mansion of the Fleetwoods, at Rossall, and bore off all the arms he
could lay hands upon. Resuming his march he re-passed through Lytham,
forded the Ribble, and finally made his way to Lathom House, his famous
residence.

Inactivity, however temporary, was ill suited to the temperament of the
earl, and on receiving the news that the solitary piece of artillery
belonging to the luckless Spanish vessel had been appropriated by
the parliamentary officials before he appeared upon the scene, and
transferred to their stronghold at Lancaster, he conceived the idea of
reducing the ancient castle on the Lune, and so taking vengeance on
those who had anticipated him in the Wyre affair, as well as removing a
formidable obstacle to the success of the royal arms. Before entering on
an undertaking of such importance it was necessary that his small body of
troops should be materially increased, and after exhausting the districts
south of the Ribble, he crossed it, in search of recruits amongst the
yeomanry and peasantry of the Fylde. The earl lodged his soldiers in
and about Kirkham, and fixed his own quarters at Lytham Hall. Dreadful
stories are related by the old historian, from whose work we have already
quoted, of the doings of the troops for the short time they remained
in the neighbourhood, but it is only fair to state that their rapacity
was directed exclusively against the property of those whose sympathies
were with their opponents, whose houses and farms they plundered most
mercilessly, driving off their horses, and carrying away ornaments,
bedding, and everything which could either be turned to immediate use
or offered a prospect of future gain. Warrants were issued on the first
day of their arrival, from the head quarters at Lytham, over the whole
of our section, calling upon every male above sixteen years of age and
under sixty, “upon payne of death to appear before his Honor at Kirkham
the next morning by eight of the clock, in their best weapons, to attend
the King’s service.”[39] The officers to whom fell the task of heralding
the mandate over the large area in the brief interval allowed, fulfilled
their duties with energy, and a goodly company responded to the arbitrary
summons of the commander. After having seen that the fresh levies were as
suitably equipped for warfare as means would permit, the earl appointed
John Hoole, of Singleton, and John Ambrose, of Wood Plumpton, as captains
over them, and gave the order to march. On reaching Lancaster Lord Derby
summoned the mayor and burgesses to surrender the town and castle into
his hands, to which the chief magistrate replied that the inhabitants
had already been deprived of their arms and were unresisting, but that
the fortress, now garrisoned by parliamentary troops, was out of his
keeping, an answer so far unsatisfactory to the besieger that he set fire
to the buildings, about one hundred and seventy of which were destroyed,
and inflicted other injury on the place. Colonel Ashton, of Middleton,
who had been sent to relieve the castle, arrived too late, when the earl
was some distance on his return towards Preston, from which town he
dislodged the enemy. A little later the tide of fortune turned against
the royalists, and the earl of Derby was one of the earliest to suffer
defeat. Colonel Thomas Tyldesley, a staunch partizan of the king, and
the father of Edward Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, Blackpool, retreated before
Colonel Ashton, from Wigan to Lathom, and afterwards to Liverpool, where
he was besieged and forced again to fly by his indefatigable opponent.
(Later he distinguished himself at Burton-on-Trent, by the desperate
heroism with which he led a cavalry charge over a bridge of thirty-six
arches, and for that display of valour as well as his faithful adherence
to Charles, he received the honour of knighthood.) Driven from Liverpool,
Tyldesley, in company with Lord Molyneux, withdrew the remnant of his
regiment towards the Ribble, crossed that stream, and quartered his men
in Kirkham, whilst Molyneux occupied the village of Clifton. In these
places they rested a night and a day, keeping a vigilant look out for
their pursuer, Ashton, from the old windmill, situated at the east end
of Kirkham. About one o’clock on the day succeeding the evening of their
arrival the soldiers, acting under orders, repaired to their several
lodgings to further refresh themselves after their prolonged fatigues,
but before four hours had elapsed, a report came from the outpost that
the enemy was approaching. An alarm spread through the camp, and with
difficulty Lord Molyneux and Colonel Tyldesley assembled their forces in
the town of Kirkham, where they elected once more to make a stand against
the victorious Ashton. Command was given that all the women and children
should confine themselves within doors, and preparations were hurried
forward to offer the parliamentarians a vigorous resistance; but as
daylight waned and the besiegers were momentarily expected, the courage
of the royal troops seems to have oozed away, and they precipitately
vacated the town, fording the Wyre, and flying towards Stalmine, whence
they continued their retreat to Cockerham, and so on northwards.
When Colonel Ashton entered Kirkham he found the enemy gone and the
inhabitants in a state of extreme trepidation, but their fears were soon
dismissed by the action of the gallant soldier who, on learning the
course taken by Tyldesley and Molyneux, pushed on without delay. Ashton
followed up the pursuit as far as the boundaries of Lancashire, without
overtaking any of the royalists, and then returned to Preston. The rear
of his troops diverged from the main road at Garstang, unknown to their
leader, and marched into the Fylde for plunder. They passed through St.
Michael’s, and visiting the residence and estate of Christopher Parker,
of Bradkirk, drove away many of his cattle, and stripped his house of
everything of value. In Kirkham they laid the people under heavy toll,
and even spared not those who were notoriously well affected towards
parliament. At Clifton they found more herds of cattle, which were joined
to those already with them; but at Preston they fell to quarrelling over
the booty, and it is questionable whether their ill-gotten stores did not
prove rather a curse than a blessing to them.

Towards the end of 1643, the year in which the events just narrated
occurred, Thurland Castle, the seat of Sir John Girlington, was captured
by the parliamentary colonel, Alexander Rigby, of Middleton, near
Preston. In the engagement the Lancashire troops were under the command
of Alexander Rigby, of Layton, who allowed his small regiment to be
surprised and routed by his namesake. After his success at Thurland,
Colonel Rigby, of Middleton, proceeded to raise fresh levies in
Amounderness. Mr. Clayton, of Fulwood Moor, was appointed to superintend
the whole of the recruiting and directed to place himself at the head of
the new regiment. Mr. Patteson, of Ribby, and Mr. Wilding, of Kirkham,
were each apportioned half of the parish bearing the latter name, in
which they were respectively ordered to raise a company. In the parishes
of Poulton and Bispham, Mr. Robert Jolly, of Warbreck, Mr. William
Hull, of Bispham, Mr. Richard Davis, of Newton, and Mr. Rowland Amon,
of Thornton, were made captains, and had similar duties imposed upon
them. In Lytham parish, Mr. George Sharples, of Freckleton, received a
commission, but was unable to muster more than a very few followers, as
the people of that neighbourhood reflected the loyal sentiments of the
lord of the manor, and could neither be coerced nor seduced from their
allegiance to the king. Captains Richard Smith and George Carter, of
Hambleton, raised companies in Stalmine, Hambleton, and the adjacent
townships and villages. Mr. William Swarbrick recruited a company in his
native parish of St. Michael’s, and Mr. Duddell obtained another in Wood
Plumpton.

At the siege of Bolton, in May, 1644, when the town was stormed and
surrendered after a valiant resistance, to Prince Rupert, with an army of
over nine thousand royalists, Duddell and Davis were amongst the officers
slain, whilst their companies were literally cut to pieces. Captain
George Sharples, of Freckleton, was taken prisoner, and dragged, almost
naked and barefooted, through the miry and blood-stained streets to the
spot where Cuthbert, the eldest son of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, was
standing after the carnage, in which he had led a party of the besiegers.
Captain Clifton and others near him were in a mood for a somewhat rude
and ungenerous entertainment, and placed the hapless Sharples, in his
dilapidated attire, in a prominent position and, thrusting a Psalter into
his hand, compelled him to sing a Psalm for their delectation. After
they had amused themselves in such fashion for some time the prisoner
was handed over to the guard, from whom he ultimately made his escape.
Captain Cuthbert Clifton was elevated to the rank of colonel as an
acknowledgment of his gallant services at Bolton, after which he returned
for a few days into the Fylde, where he engaged himself in procuring a
fresh detachment of soldiers, who readily flocked to his standard. For
their provision and comfort he did not hesitate or scruple to appropriate
a number of cattle on Layton Hawes, and to relieve some of the Puritans
of Kirkham, Bispham, and Poulton, of their bedding, etc. Having fully
supplied his commissariat department by these means, he marched to
Liverpool, and joining Prince Rupert, was present at the sacking of that
town.

The Civil War had proved most disastrous to Lancashire, where the
constant movements and frequent collisions of the contending parties
had ruined the towns, destroyed almost all attempts at agriculture,
and reduced the inhabitants to a state of wretchedness and poverty,
in many instances to the verge of starvation; and notwithstanding the
fact that in not one single instance had the Fylde been the scene of an
encounter, the people of this section were in as lamentable a condition
of penury and suffering as those of the less fortunate districts, a
circumstance not to be wondered at when the incessant plunderings are
taken into consideration, and when it is remembered that the youth and
strength of the neighbourhood were serving as volunteers or recruits,
either under the banner of parliament or that of the king. The 12th of
September, 1644, was appointed by the Puritans as a day of solemn prayer
and fasting throughout the country, and parliament decreed that half of
the money collected “in all the churches within the cities of London and
Westminster and within the lines of communication,” should be devoted to
the relief of the distressed and impoverished in this county.

Sir Thomas Tyldesley accompanied the army of Prince Rupert to York, near
to where the sanguinary and famous battle of Marston Moor, in which no
less than sixty thousand men were engaged on both sides, was fought on
the 2nd of July, 1644. Oliver Cromwell commanded the parliamentarians
in person, and after a fierce struggle discomfited the troops of Prince
Rupert and drove them in confusion from the field. Sir Thomas Tyldesley
retreated with his shattered regiment in hot haste towards Amounderness,
where he made diligent search for arms and ammunition, but hearing
that the enemy, under Sir John Meldrum, was marching in quest of him
he hurried to the banks of the Ribble, and crossed the ford into the
Fylde. This latter incident happened towards the end of the week, and
on Saturday he was joined in his ambush by the immense royalist force
of Colonel Goring, so great indeed that “before the last companies had
marched over the bridge at St. Michael’s Church the first company was
judged to be at Kirkham.”[40] There is probably some little exaggeration
in the quoted statement, but even allowing it to be verbally correct,
there can be no doubt that it is unintentionally misleading, as the
extreme length of road covered would be due more to the wide intervals
between the companies and the straggling manner in which they proceeded
than to their actual numerical strength. Nevertheless the detachment,
chiefly composed of cavalry, was enormous, and completely inundated the
towns and villages in the parishes of Poulton, Kirkham, and Lytham.
The men were lodged twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and even sixty in a
house, and on the Sunday morning they set out on an errand of pilfering
without respect to persons, pillaging those who were friendly with as
much eagerness and apparent satisfaction as others who were inimical to
their cause, an impartiality so little appreciated by the inhabitants
that they are said to have blessed the Roundheads by comparison with
these insatiate freebooters. Horses, money, clothes, sheets, everything
that was portable or could be driven, was greedily seized upon, and, in
spite of threats and entreaties, remorselessly borne away. Hundreds of
households were stripped not only of their ornaments, bedding, etc., but
even of the very implements on which the family depended for subsistence.
It is in truth no figure of speech to state that by far the larger share
of the people were reduced to utter and seemingly hopeless destitution,
and grateful indeed were they when their portion of the parliamentary
grant of collections in the metropolis, before mentioned, was distributed
amongst them, coming like manna from the heavens to comfort their
desolated homes. To add insult to injury the graceless troopers compelled
their entertainers to employ the Sabbath in winnowing corn in the fields
for their chargers, and even refused to allow them to erect the usual
curtains to protect the grain from being carried away by the high wind,
so that the loss and waste amounted to barely less than the quantity
utilised as fodder, and completely exhausted the fruits of their harvest.
Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Lord Molyneux, and others of the leaders, fixed
their lodgment near the residence of a gentleman named Richard Harrison,
and were supplied with necessaries from Mowbreck Hall. Freckleton marsh
was the rendezvous, and there the entire forces assembled on the morning
of Monday, but were compelled to remain until one o’clock at noon before
the Ribble was fordable, when they took their departure, to the intense
joy of all those who had trembled for their lives and suffered ruin in
their small properties during their brief sojourn. Sir John Meldrum
appeared in the district only a few hours after the royalists had left,
and thus the Fylde had again a narrow escape of adding one more to
the long list of unnatural battles, most truly described as suicidal
massacres of the nation, where men ignoring the ties of friendship or
kinship imbrued their swords in the blood of each other with a relentless
and inhuman savagery, reviving as it seemed the horrid butcheries of the
dark ages. Sir John Meldrum hastened in the direction of the retreating
foe, but failed to overtake them.

“In 1645,” writes Rushworth, “there remained of unreduced garrisons
belonging to the king in Lancashire only Lathom House and Greenhalgh
Castle.”[41] This castle was erected about half a mile eastward of
Garstang, overlooking the Wyre, by Thomas, the first earl of Derby, in
1490, after the victory of Bosworth Field, as a protection from certain
of the outlawed nobles, whose estates in that vicinity had rewarded the
services of the earl to Henry VII. The castle was built in a rectangular
form almost approaching to a square, with a tower at each angle. The
edifice was surrounded and protected by a wide moat. The garrison
occupying the small fortress at the date under consideration held out
until the death of the governor, when a capitulation was made, and,
about 1649, the castle was dismantled. In 1772 Penant spoke of the “poor
remains of Greenhalgh Castle.”[42]

The fall of Lathom House and other strongholds of the king and the
surrender of Charles himself to the Scotch army of Puritans, brought
the contests for a time to a close in 1647, and Sir Thomas Tyldesley,
with several more, received instructions to disband the troops under
his command. During the foregoing struggles parliament, in order to
provide the necessary funds for the increased expenditure, had allowed
“delinquents, papists, spies, and intelligencers” to compound for their
sequestered estates, and amongst those connected with this locality who
had taken advantage of the permission were:—

  Brown, Edward, of Plumpton,      compounded for £127 8s. 0d.
  Breres, Alexander, of Marton, gent.,    ”        £82 4s. 5d.
  Bate, John, of Warbreck,                ”        £11 0s. 0d.
  Leckonby, Richard, of Elswick, esq.,    ”        £58 6s. 0d.
  Nicholson, Francis, of Poulton, yeoman  ”       £133 3s. 4d.
  Rigby, Alexander, of Layton, esq.,      ”       £381 3s. 4d.
  Walker, William, of Kirkham, gent.,     ”       £175 0s. 0d.
  Westby, John, of Mowbreck, esq.,        ”     £1,000 0s. 0d.

Presbyterianism became the national, or at least, the state religion, and
for the regulation of ecclesiastical matters the Assembly of Divines, at
Westminster, suggested that the country should be divided into provinces,
whose representatives should hold annual conferences at the larger towns.
The county of Lancaster was divided into nine Classical Presbyteries,
and the seventh Classis, embracing the parishes of Preston, Kirkham,
Garstang, and Poulton, consisted of—

  Mr. Isaac Ambrose, of Preston, minister.
  Mr. Robert Yates, of Preston, minister.
  Mr. Ed. Fleetwood, of Kirkham, minister.
  Mr. Thos. Cranage, of Goosnargh, minister.
  Mr. Chr. Edmondson, of Garstang, minister.
  Mr. John Sumner, of Poulton, minister.

LAYMEN.

  Alexander Rigby, of Preston, Esq.
  William Langton, Esq.
  Alderman Matt. Addison, of Preston, gent.
  Alderman Wm. Sudall, of Preston, gent.
  Alderman Wm. Cottam, of Preston, gent.
  Edward Downes, of Wesham, gent.
  Edmund Turner, of Goosnargh, yeoman.
  Thomas Nickson, of Plumpton, gent.
  Robt. Crane, of Layton, gent.
  Wm. Latewise, of Catterall, gent.
  Wm. Whitehead, of Garstang, gent.
  Edward Veale, of Layton, Esq.
  Rd. Wilkins, of Kirkham, yeoman.

One of the duties of these Classes was to examine, ordain, and appoint
ministers, or presbyters, as they were called, whenever vacancies
occurred in the district over which, respectively, they had jurisdiction;
subjoined is the certificate given in the case of Cuthbert Harrison,
B.A., when selected and appointed presbyter of Singleton chapel:—

  “Whereas Cuthbert Harrison, B.A., aged 30 years, hath addressed
  himself to us, authorised by ordinance of parliament of 22 Aug.
  1646, for ordination of ministers, desiring to be ordained a
  presbyter, being chosen by the inhabitants within the chapelry
  of Singleton to officiate there; and having been examined by us
  the ministers of the Seventh Classis, and found sufficiently
  qualified for the ministerial functions, according to the rules
  preserved in the said ordinance, and thereupon approved—we have
  this day solemnly set him apart to the office of presbyter and
  work of the ministry of the gospel, by laying on of hands by us
  present, with fasting and prayer, by virtue whereof we declare
  him to be a lawful and sufficiently authorised minister of Jesus
  Christ. In testimony whereof we have hereunto put our hands the
  27th Nov., 1651.”

  (Here follow the signatures.)

In 1648 General Langdale, a royalist officer, appealed to the loyalty
of the northern counties to attempt a rescue of the imprisoned monarch
from the hands of his enemies. Many rushed to his standard, and the
parliamentarians of the Fylde shared the general consternation which
pervaded Lancashire at the success of his effort to rekindle the still
smouldering embers of civil war. There is no necessity to trace the steps
of this ill-judged enterprise to its disastrous issue, but suffice it to
say that the defeat and routing of the little army was followed at a very
short interval by the execution of Charles I., after a formal trial in
which he disclaimed the jurisdiction of the court.

On the 22nd of June, 1650, a meeting of Commissioners under the Great
Seal of England was held at Preston—“for inquiring into and certeifying
of the certeine numbers and true yearely value of all parsonages and
vicariges presentative, of all and every the sp’uall and eccli’call
benefices, livings, and donatives within the said countye”; and after
examining the good and lawful men of Kirkham and Lytham, it was
recommended by the assembly that Goosnargh and Whittingham should be
formed into a separate parish on account of their great distance from
the church at Kirkham. At this inquiry it was also stated that—“the
inhabitants of Newsham desired to be annexed to Woodplumpton; the
inhabitants of Clifton and Salwick, together with the inhabitants of
Newton-cum-Scales, and the upper end of Treales, desired to be united in
one parish. Singleton chappell, newly erected, desired that it might be
made a parish. The inhabitants of Weeton-cum-Preese desired that that
township might be made a parish, and the inhabitants of Rawcliffe desired
to be annexed to it. The townships of Rigby-cum-Wraye, and of Warton, and
of Kellamore-cum-Bryning, and Westbye-cum-Plumpton, all humbly desired to
be made a parish. The several townships of Eccleston Parva-cum-Labrecke,
and the inhabitants of Medlar and Thistleton, and the inhabitants of
Rossaker-cum-Wharles, desired to be annexed to Elswick, and that it
might be made a parish.” Although at that time these petitions failed
in obtaining their objects, much the same thing has been accomplished in
more recent years by Lord Blandford’s Act, by which separate parochial
districts, as far as ecclesiastical matters are concerned, have been
appropriated to each church, thus rendering it independent of the
mother-church of the ancient parish in which it might happen to be
situated.

In 1651 the son of the unfortunate monarch, who had been proclaimed king
by the Scotch under the title of Charles II., crossed the frontier and
invaded England with a force of fourteen thousand men. That year the earl
of Derby, Sir Thomas Tyldesley, and several other officers, sailed from
the Isle of Man, whither they had retired, in obedience to the call of
the young prince, and landed either on the Warren, at the mouth of the
river Wyre, or at Skippool higher up the stream, with a regiment of two
hundred and fifty infantry and sixty cavalry. Two of the vessels grounded
during the operation of disembarking the horses, and in the heavy winds
that ensued were reduced to total wrecks. As soon as the news of the
earl of Derby’s arrival on the banks of the Wyre was rumoured abroad,
“all the ships,” says the _Perfect Diurnall_, “were wafted out of the
rivers of Liverpool, and set sail with a fair wind fore Wirewater, where
the Frigots rid that brought the Lord Derby over with his company, to
surprise them and prevent his Lordship escaping any way by water.” The
earl marched through the Fylde, but the martial ardour of the inhabitants
was not so readily excited as on former occasions, for the recollection
of their abusive and piratical treatment by the troopers of Colonel
Goring, in 1644, was still fresh in their minds, and effectually checked
any feelings of enthusiasm at seeing the royal banners once again
unfurled in their midst. A scattered few, however, there were who were
willing to forget the misdeeds of the agents in their eagerness for the
success of the cause, and with such meagre additions to his strength the
earl hastened on. At Preston he raised six hundred horse, and shortly
afterwards encountered the parliamentarians, under Colonel Lilburne,
at Wigan-lane, where the royalists were defeated with great slaughter.
Sir Thomas Tyldesley was slain, and the gallant earl escaped from the
field only to be taken prisoner in Cheshire and suffer the fate of his
late regal master, Charles I. Alexander Rigby, the grandson of the
Alexander Rigby, of Layton, before mentioned, and only seventeen years of
age, also took part in this eventful engagement, and twenty-eight years
subsequently, when High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster, erected a
monument to the memory of Major-General Sir Thomas Tyldesley near the
spot where he fell. So universally esteemed was the valiant knight for
his bravery and honourable conduct that the title of “Chevalier sans peur
et sans reproche” was conferred upon him alike by friends and enemies.
Charles II., after the overthrow of his army by Cromwell, adopted the
disguise of a peasant, and having narrowly escaped detection by hiding
himself amidst the foliage of an oak tree, fled at the first opportunity
over to France. Cromwell was now installed in the chief seat of authority
and held the reins of government under the style of Lord Protector.

In 1660, two years after the death of Cromwell, Charles II. was recalled
and placed upon the throne; and in 1662 a law was passed by which it was
enacted that before St. Bartholomew’s Day of that year, all ministers
should arrange their services according to the rules contained in the new
book of Common Prayer, under pain of dismissal from their preferments.
The following letter was received by the churchwardens of Garstang,
ordering the ejectment of the Rev. Isaac Ambrose, who was a member of the
family of Ambrose of Ambrose Hall, in Wood Plumpton, from his benefice on
account of his refusal to conform to the arbitrary regulation:—

  “Whereas in a late act of Parliament for uniformitie, it is
  enacted that every parson, vicar, curate, lecturer, or other
  ecclesiasticall person, neglecting or refusing, before the Feast
  Day of St. Bartholomew, 1662, to declare openly before their
  respective congregations, his assent and consent to all things
  contained in the book of common prayer established by the said
  act, _ipso facto_, be deposed, and that every person not being in
  holy orders by episcopall ordination, and every parson, vicar,
  curate, lecturer, or other ecclesiasticall person, failing in
  his subscription to a declaration mentioned in the said act to
  be subscribed before the Feast Day of St. Bartholomew, 1662,
  shall be utterly disabled, and _ipso facto_ deprived, and his
  place be void, as if the person so failing be naturally dead. And
  whereas Isaac Ambrose, late Vicar of Garstang, in the county of
  Lancaster, hath neglected to declare and subscribe according to
  the tenor of the said act, I doe therefore declare the church of
  Garstang to be now void, and doe strictly charge the said Isaac
  Ambrose, late vicar of the said church, to forbear preaching,
  lecturing, or officiating in the said church, or elsewhere in
  the diocese of Chester. And the churchwardens of the said parish
  of Garstang are hereby required (as by duty they are bound) to
  secure and preserve the said parish church of Garstang from any
  invasion or intrusion of the said Isaac Ambrose, disabled and
  deprived as above said by the said act, and the churchwardens are
  also required upon sight hereof to show this order to the said
  Isaac Ambrose, and cause the same to be published next Sunday
  after in the Parish Church of Garstang, before the congregation,
  as they will answer the contrary.—Given under my hand this 29th
  day of August, 1662.

                                                   “Geo. Cestriens.

  “To the Churchwardens of Garstang, in the County Palatine of
  Lancaster.”

In this county sixty-seven ministers refused to submit to the mandate,
and were removed from their churches by the authority of documents
similar to the above, and prohibited from officiating in their priestly
capacity anywhere within the diocese. Amongst the number, so interdicted,
were the Rev. W. Bullock, of Hambleton, the Rev. Joseph Harrison, of Lund
chapel, and the Rev. Nathaniel Baxter, M.A., of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre.
The Nonconformists were subsequently subjected to even greater harshness
and injustice by an act which decreed that no clergyman, belonging to any
of their sects, should reside within five miles of the town or place at
which he had last preached, unless he took an oath as under:—

  “I do swear that it is not lawful, upon any pretence whatsoever,
  to take arms against the king, and that I do abhor the traitorous
  position of taking arms against his authority; against his
  person; or against those that are commissioned by him, in
  pursuance of such commissions; and that I will not at any time
  endeavour any alteration of government either in church or state.”

The sufferings experienced by those ministers who had been deprived
of their benefices are described as having been extreme, nay, almost
intolerable, and it was doubtless owing to the great severity practised
towards the body of Nonconformists that the old creed gained such little
popularity for some time after its re-establishment.

Charles II., soon after the restoration of monarchy at his coronation,
determined to create a new order of knighthood, to be called the “Royal
Oak,” as a reward to some of the more distinguished of his faithful
adherents, and amongst the number selected for the honour were Col.
Kirkby, of Upper Rawcliffe, Richard Butler, of Out Rawcliffe, and Edward
Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, Blackpool.[43] The design was shortly abandoned
by the advice of the crown ministers, who foresaw that the necessarily
limited distribution of the distinction would give rise to jealousy and
animosity amongst those who had been active in the late wars.

In 30 Charles II. a statute was passed entitled “An act for lessening the
importation of linen from beyond the seas, and the encouragement of the
woollen and paper manufactories of the kingdom”; and by it was provided,
under a penalty of £5, half of which was to be distributed to the poor of
the parish, that at every interment throughout the country a certificate
should be presented to the officiating minister stating that the winding
sheet of the deceased person was composed of woollen material and not of
linen, as heretofore. The certificate ordered to be used at every burial
ran thus:—

  “_A_, of the parish of _B_, in the county of _C_, maketh Oath
  that _D_, of the parish of _B_, in the county of _C_, lately
  deceased, was not put in, wrapt or wound up or Buried, in any
  Shirt, Shift, Sheet, or Shroud, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp,
  Silk, Hair, Gold, or Silver, or other than that which is made
  of Sheep’s Wool only. Nor in any Coffin lined or faced with any
  cloth, stuff, or anything whatsoever, made or mingled with Flax,
  Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold, or Silver, or any other material but
  Sheep’s Wool only.

  “Dated the ... day of ... in the xxxth year of the reign of our
  Sovereign Lord, Charles the second, king of England, Scotland,
  France, and Ireland, etc.

  “Sealed and Subscribed by us, who were present and witnesses to
  the Swearing of the above said affidavit

                                     (Signatures of two witnesses.)

  “I, ..., esq., one of the King’s Majesties Justices of the Peace
  for the County above said, do hereby certify that the day and
  year above said _A_ came before me and made such affidavit as is
  above specified according to the late Act of Parliament, entitled
  An Act for burying in Woollen.

                                                      (Signature.)”

The foregoing statute was amended two years later, and the modified
enactment continued in force for some time, when it was repealed. In the
registers of old churches, such as Bispham, Poulton, Kirkham, and St.
Michael’s-on-Wyre, where they have been preserved, notices of burials
according to this regulation during the two years it was in operation,
may be seen; and amongst the records of the Thirty-men, or governing body
of Kirkham, is an entry of expenses incurred when they went “to justice
Stanley” to obtain his authority to “demand 50s. for Tomlinson’s wife
buried in linen,” contrary to the law.

Three years from the accession of James II., his repeated attempts to
curtail the civil and religious liberties of his subjects had so far
incensed them against him that William, Prince of Orange, was invited
over to free them from his rule. In 1688 James abdicated the throne, and
the following year William and Mary were crowned at Westminster. Annexed
is a list of the gentry residing in the Fylde from the reign of Henry
VIII., to their accession, as prepared from original records and private
manuscripts:—

  Allen of Rossall Hall.
  Ambrose of Ambrose Hall.
  Bradley of Bryning.
  Bradshaw of Preese and Scales.
  Butler of Rawcliffe Hall.
  Butler of Layton and Hackensall.
  Clifton of Westby.
  Eccleston of Great Eccleston Hall.
  Fleetwood of Plumpton.
  Fleetwood of Rossall Hall.
  Hesketh of Mains Hall.
  Kirkby of Upper Rawcliffe.
  Kirkby of Mowbreck.
  Leigh of Singleton.
  Longworth of St. Michael’s Hall.
  Lowde of Kirkham.
  Massey of Carleton.
  Molyneux of Larbrick Hall.
  Parker of Bradkirk Hall.
  Rigby of Layton Hall.
  Sharples of Freckleton.
  Shuttleworth of Larbrick.
  Singleton of Singleton.
  Singleton of Staining Hall.
  Stanley of Great Eccleston Hall.
  Tyldesley of Fox Hall, Blackpool.
  Veale of Whinney Heys.
  Westby of Rawcliffe.
  Westby of Mowbreack and Burn Halls.

James II., when force of circumstances had driven him into exile, left
a considerable number of supporters behind him, chiefly amongst the
Roman Catholics, who were not dilatory in devising schemes for his
re-establishment. On the 16th of May, 1690, Robert Dodsworth deposed
upon oath, before Lord Chief Justice Holt, that the following Popish
gentry of the Fylde, amongst others, had entered into a conspiracy to
restore James, and that they had received commissions as indicated for
the purpose of raising troops to carry out the enterprise:—Colonel
Thomas Tyldesley, son of the late Sir Thomas; Captains Ralph Tyldesley,
son of the late Sir Thomas; Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, nephew to
the two preceding; Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, and Henry, his
eldest son; Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck Hall, and William, his third
son, who was designated a lieutenant; and Lieutenant Richard Stanley,
of Great Eccleston Hall. Nothing is recorded as to the result of the
above information, but in 1694 Sir Thomas Clifton, brother to Cuthbert
Clifton, of Lytham, was arraigned, with several more, on a charge of
treason in connection with a reported Jacobite plot, but was acquitted,
as also were those with him. During the course of the trial, Thomas
Patten, of Preston, as witness to the loyalty of Sir Thomas Clifton to
the existing government, stated that “in 1689 he received orders from
the Lord Lieutenant to secure several Popish gentlemen, and that amongst
them Sir Thomas Clifton was one who was taken and brought prisoner to
Preston upon the 16th day of June in that year; that Sir Thomas being a
very infirm man and unfit to be carried so far as Manchester, which was
the place where the rest of the Popish gentlemen then made prisoners were
secured, he undertook for Sir Thomas, and prevailed to have him kept
at his (Patten’s) own house in Preston, where he continued prisoner,
and was not discharged until the January following, at which time all
the gentlemen were set at liberty; that during Sir Thomas Clifton’s
confinement he expressed to him much zeal and affection to the present
government, saying how much the persons of his religion ought to be
satisfied with their usage, as putting no difference betwixt them and
other subjects save the public exercise of their religion, so long as
they themselves would be quiet, and protested for himself that he could
never endure to think of practising any change.” Further Mr. Patten
affirmed “that he knew Sir Thomas’s disposition to have always been
peaceful and quiet.” During the time that James II. was engaged in
inciting the Irish nation to espouse his cause and furnish him with an
army to invade England and regain his throne, Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox
Hall, prepared a secret chamber in that mansion for his reception. The
disastrous battle of the Boyne, however, in which James was vanquished
by William, Prince of Orange, and King of England, crushed all hope of
future success in the fallen monarch, and at the earliest opportunity he
escaped to France. In 1715, during the reign of George I., his son, the
Chevalier de St. George was proclaimed king in Scotland under the title
of James III. The earl of Mar and several other influential supporters
of the Stuarts assembled a large force and marched southwards; on
arriving at the border five hundred of the Highlanders refused to proceed
further, but the remainder passed through the northern counties as far
as Preston. Here they were besieged by the loyal troops under Generals
Carpenter and Wills, who stormed the town and forced the rebels to an
unconditional surrender. Many of the leaders were executed, whilst others
were incarcerated for various terms; the general treatment of their
unfortunate followers may be gleaned from the journal of William Stout,
of Lancaster, in which it is written:—“After the rebellion was suppressed
about 400 of the rebels were brought to Lancaster Castle, and a regiment
of Dragoons was quartered in the town to guard them. The king allowed
them each 4d. a day for maintenance, viz., 2d. in bread, 1d. in cheese,
and 1d. in small beer. And they laid on straw in stables most of them,
and in a month’s time about 100 of them were conveyed to Liverpool to be
tried, where they were convicted and near 40 of them hanged at Preston,
Garstang, Lancaster, etc.; and about 200 of them continued a year, and
about 50 of them died, and the rest were transported to America.” Thomas
Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, died in 1715, just before the outbreak of the
rebellion, but his son Edward, who succeeded him, joined the rebels.
For this act of treason he was put on his trial, but escaped conviction
and punishment through the favour of the jury, by whom he was acquitted
in spite of clear and reliable evidence that he had entered Preston at
the head of a company of insurgents with a drawn sword in his hand.
After the capitulation, when the king’s troops had entered the town and
were marching along the streets, many men from our district, who had
congregated on Spiral’s Moss, armed with fowling pieces and implements
of husbandry, joined their ranks, and a huge duck-gun belonging to a
yeoman named Jolly, from Mythorp, near Blackpool, was instrumental in
doing good service to the besiegers by slaying one Mayfield, of the
Ashes, Goosnargh. The rebel had secreted himself behind a chimney on one
of the houses, and was engaged in picking off the loyal soldiers as they
made their way along the thoroughfare below. His murderous fire was at
length put an end to by a charge from the famed gun of Jolly, whose keen
eye had detected the assassin in his hiding place. Jolly himself appears
to have had an aversion to causing the death of a fellow-creature in
cold blood, even though a rebel, and the credit of the shot is due to
a soldier, whose own weapon failed in reaching the object. The Rev. W.
Thornber tells us in his History of Blackpool, that the family of the
Jollys, for many years, treasured up the wonderful gun, and that the tale
of its exploit was circulated far and wide in the neighbourhood of their
home. From the remarks of the Rev.—Patten, who accompanied the army of
the Chevalier, as chaplain to General Forster, we learn that those who
joined the insurgents in Lancashire were chiefly Papists, and that the
members of the High-church party held aloof, much to the disappointment
and chagrin of General Forster, who, in his anger, declared “that for
the time to come he would never again believe a drunken tory.” Edward
Tyldesley, Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, and his son Richard Butler,
were the most distinguished personages amongst the small body of men
belonging to this section who openly espoused the cause of the Pretender.
The paucity of the recruits attracted by the insurgent standard from our
neighbourhood is easily to be accounted for, when it is remembered that
for many years the county of Lancashire had enjoyed an immunity from
strifes and disturbances, so that the inhabitants of the rural districts,
such as the Fylde, had settled down to the cultivation of the soil, and
would care little to assist in a work which as far as they were privately
concerned, could only terminate in the devastation of their fields,
and, probably, in the ruin of many of their households. Especially,
in 1715, would the people be disinclined to take part in or encourage
insurrectionary and warlike proceedings, for in that year extraordinarily
bountiful harvests had rewarded their labours, and general prosperity
had taught them the blessings of peace.[44] After the rebellion of 1715
many Papists registered their estates and the respective yearly values
thereof, according to an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of George
I., and amongst the number may be observed the names of sundry local
personages as:—

                                                            Annual Value.

  Sherburne, Sir Nicholas, of Carleton, Hambleton, and
                             Stonyhurst                     £1210  6s. 3½d.

  Butler, Mary,     ⎱  wife and only child of Rich. Butler,  100  0   0
  Butler, Catherine,⎰    who died in gaol,                   537  0   0
  Butler, Elizabeth,   of Kirkland, afterwards the third
                         wife of Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe,  11 10   0
  Butler, Christopher, second son of H. Butler, of Rawcliffe, 10 19   6
  Brockholes, John,    of Claughton, etc.,                   522 19   1
  Clifton, Thomas,     of Lytham, Clifton, etc.,            1548 16  10½
  Clifton, Bridget,                                            3 10   0
  Blackburne, Thomas,  of Wood Plumpton,                       1  6   0
  Blackburne, Richard, of Stockenbridge, near St. Michael’s,  21  2   0
  Hesketh, William,    of Mains,                             198  3   4½
  Hesketh, George,     brother to W. Hesketh,                 13  6   8
  Hesketh, Margaret,   widow of Thos. Hesketh, of Mains,      57  0   0
  Singleton, Anne,     of Staining and Bardsea,               76 15  10
  Stanley, Anne,       widow of Richard Stanley of Great
                         Eccleston,                          118 15   0
  Swartbreck, John,    of Little Eccleston,                   23 15   0
  Tyldesley, Edward,   of Fox Hall, and Myerscough,          720  9   2
  Tyldesley, Agatha,   half-sister of Edward Tyldesley,       52 10   0
  Threlfall, Cuthbert, of Wood Plumpton,                      31 12   6
  Westby, John,        of White Hall, St. Michael’s,         119 11   1
  Westby, John,        of Mowbreck,                          230  5   1½
  Westby, Thomas,   ⎱  bros. of J. Westby, of Mowbreck,       20  0   0
  Westby, Cuthbert, ⎰                                         20  0   0
  Leckonby, William,   of Leckonby House, Elswick, etc.,      79 11   6
  Walley, Thurstan,    of Kirkham,                            12  0   8
  Charnock, Anne,      of Salwick,                             1  4   0
  Knott, Thomas,       of Thistleton,                         20  0   0

Prince Charles Edward, the son of the former Pretender, landed in the
Hebrides, in 1745, with a well-officered force of two thousand men, and
after defeating Sir John Cope, seized the city of Edinburgh and commenced
his march southwards. Crossing the border, he passed through Lancashire,
and arrived at Preston with an army barely six thousand strong. At
Preston he met with an enthusiastic welcome, the church bells were rung,
and loud cheers greeted the proclamation of his father, the Chevalier,
as king of Great Britain and Ireland. His sojourn in the town was brief,
and on the 27th of November the rebel troops set out for Manchester,
inspirited by the lively strains of “The King shall have his own again.”
Arriving at that city, they continued their march towards Derby, where,
on receiving the news that the Duke of Cumberland was at Lichfield on his
way to intercept them, Prince Charles Edward hastened to beat a retreat,
and on the 12th of December re-passed through the streets of Preston, the
wearied feet of his followers keeping time to the doleful but appropriate
air of “Hie the Charlie home again.”

The battle on the moor of Culloden, in which the rebel army was defeated
by the Duke of Cumberland, finally decided the fate of the House of
Stuart, and after experiencing many hardships, Prince Charles Edward
escaped across the channel into France. James, the son of Edward
Tyldesley who took part in the insurrection of 1715, served in the army
of the Young Pretender. During the excitement and alarm produced by these
rebellions, silver spoons, tankards, and other household treasures,
were deposited for safety in a farm house at Marton; cattle and other
farm-stock were driven to Boonley, near Blackpool, whilst money and
articles of jewelry were buried in the soil of Hound Hill in that town.
The Scots who accompanied Prince Charles were so renowned for their
voracious appetites that the householders of the Fylde prepared for their
expected visit by laying in an abundant supply of eatables, hoping that
a good repast, like a soft answer, would turn away wrath. Mr. Physic, of
Poulton, was an exception to the general rule, and having barricaded his
house, determined vigorously to resist any attack of the rebels either
on his larder or his purse. Hotly pursued by the Duke of Cumberland in
their retreat towards Scotland, the insurgents were quickly hurried
through the country, but some of the stragglers found their way to Mains
Hall, where they were liberally provided with food by Mrs. Hesketh. It
is probable that these rebels formed part of the number of Highlanders,
who were afterwards captured at Garstang, and that one of them was the
bare-footed Scot who seized the boots of John Miller, of Layton, dragging
them from his feet with the cool remark—“Hout mon, but I mon tak’ thy
brogues.” William Hesketh, of Mains, had considered it prudent to secrete
himself on the warren at Rossall until the excitement had subsided, as
in some way or other he had been mixed up with the former outbreak, and
wished to avoid any suspicion of having been implicated in this one
also. At the sanguinary and decisive battle of Culloden, two notorious
characters from Layton and Staining were present; one of them, named
Leonard Warbreck, served in the capacity of hangman at the executions
following the rebellion, whilst the other, James Kirkham, generally known
as Black Kirkham, was a gallant soldier, remarkable for his giant-like
size and immense strength. The country people near his home were wont
to declare that, for a small wager, this warrior carried his horse and
accoutrements round the cross at Wigan to the astonishment and admiration
of the by-standers. One incident of these times, reflecting little credit
on this neighbourhood, but which, as faithful recorders, we are bound
to relate, was the journey of Henry Hardicar, of Little Poulton, to
London, a distance of two hundred and thirty-three miles, all of which
he travelled on foot, solely to gratify a morbid taste by witnessing the
legal tragedies performed on Tower Hill. “I saw the lords heided” was his
invariable answer to all inquiries as to the wonders he had seen in the
metropolis. In this rising, as in the earlier one, the inhabitants of
the Fylde evinced their prudence and good sense by remaining as nearly
neutral as their allegiance to the reigning monarch would permit them.
Those insurgents who found their way into the district were treated
with kindness, but no encouragement was given them to prolong their
stay, either by professions of sympathy or offers of assistance in their
insurrectionary enterprise.

We have at last come to the end of the long chain of wars and
disturbances which from the period of the struggles between the Houses
of York and Lancaster, had exercised their baneful influence on the
territory and population of the Fylde, and are now entering on an era of
peace and unbroken prosperity. The small water-side hamlets of Blackpool
and Lytham put forth their rival claims to the patronage of the inland
residents,—

  “And had their claims allow’d.”

In 1788, Mr. Hutton described the former place as consisting of about
fifty houses and containing four hundred visitors in the height of
the season. This historian also informs us, that the inhabitants were
remarkable for their great longevity, and relates the anecdote of a woman
who, forming one of a group of sympathising friends around the couch
of a dying man, exclaimed—“Poor John! I knew him a clever young fellow
four score years ago.” Lytham, also, attracted a considerable number of
visitors during the summer, and for many years was a more popular resort
than Blackpool. In Mr. Baines’s account of Lytham, published in 1825, we
read as follows:—“This is one of the most popular sea-bathing places in
the county of Lancashire; and if the company is less fashionable than at
Blackpool, it is generally more numerous, and usually very respectable.”

A list of the Catholic Chapels and Chaplains, together with the number of
their respective congregations, in the county of Lancaster, was collected
in 1819, and subjoined are enumerated those situated in the Hundred of
Amounderness:—

    Place.       Chapels.          Priest.      No. of
                                             Congregation.
  Preston            2    Revd. ⸺ Dunn  ⎫
      ”                     ”   ⸺ Morris⎬    6,000
      ”                     ”   ⸺ Gore  ⎪
      ”                     ”   ⸺ Bird  ⎭
  Alston Lane        1      ”   ⸺ Cowburne     400
  Fernyhalgh         1      ”   ⸺ Blakoe       500
  The Hill           1      ”   ⸺ Martin       450
  Claughton          1      ”   ⸺ Gradwell     800
  Scorton            1      ”   ⸺ Lawrenson    350
  Garstang           1      ”   ⸺ Storey       600
  New House          1      ”   ⸺ Marsh        600
  Cottam             1      ”   ⸺ Caton        300
  Lea                1      ”   ⸺ Anderton     400
  Willows            1      ”   ⸺ Sherburne    600
  Westby             1      ”   ⸺ Butler       300
  Lytham             1      ”   ⸺ Dawson       500
  Poulton            1      ”   ⸺ Platt        400
  Great Eccleston    1      ”   ⸺ Parkinson    450
                  ----                        ------
    Total           16                  [45]12,650

In 1836 the first house of Fleetwood was erected, and in a few years the
desolate warren at the mouth of the Wyre was converted into a rising and
prosperous town. The rapidity of its early growth may be inferred from
the following paragraph, extracted from a volume on Lancashire, published
during the infancy of this new offspring of the Fylde:—“As a bathing
place, it possesses very superior attractions: hot water baths, inns, and
habitations of all kinds have sprung as if by magic on one of the most
agreeable sites it is possible to imagine, very superior to any other
in Lancashire, admitting, as from a central point, excursions by land
and water in all directions, amongst some of the most beautiful scenery
in the empire. A couple of hours steaming takes the tourist across
Morecambe Bay to the Furness capital, and into the heart of a district of
surpassing interest. Charming indeed is Fleetwood in the height of the
summer, with its cool sands, northern aspect, and delightful prospects.
First there is a noble bay in front, an ocean of itself when the tide is
in; and when it is out offering firm sands of vast extent, for riding
or walking.” Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., of Rossall Hall, lord
of the manor, and founder of the town to which he gave his name, was
returned on four occasions as one of the parliamentary representatives of
Preston:—

  MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR PRESTON.

  1832.—Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and the Hon. Henry Thos. Stanley.
  1835.—Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and the Hon. Henry Thos. Stanley.
  1837.—Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, and Robert Townley Parker.
  1841.—Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, Bart., and Sir Geo. Strickland, Bart.

The year 1840 was an auspicious one in the history of the Fylde. On the
25th of July, the Preston and Wyre Railway, running through the heart of
this district, was completed and declared open for traffic. By its means
the farmer became enabled to convey his produce to the extensive market
of Preston; and Kirkham, Poulton, and Garstang were no longer the only
towns accessible to our agriculturists for the sale of their crops. The
early appreciation of the utility and benefit of the line is apparent
from the rapid increase of its traffic, as shown by the annexed tables,
in which the official returns of passengers and goods for the week ending
Dec. 14th, 1842, and the corresponding weeks of the four succeeding years
are stated:—

  Week ending Dec. 14th, 1842.    911 Passengers.    £65 10s. 5d.
                                      Goods.          62  8   1
                                                    -----------
                                                     127 18   6
                                                    -----------

  Corresponding week in 1843.    1105 Passengers.     88  1   6
                                      Goods.         140 11   9
                                                    -----------
                                                     228 13   3
                                                    -----------

  Corresponding week in 1844.    1601 Passengers.    139  4   6
                                      Goods.         163 18  11
                                                    -----------
                                                     303  3   5
                                                    -----------

  Corresponding week in 1845.    1997 Passengers.    144 12   1
                                      Goods.         234 13   4
                                                    -----------
                                                     379  5   5
                                                    -----------

  Corresponding week in 1846.    2820 Passengers.    243 19   0
                                      Goods.         308 18   5
                                                    -----------
                                                     552 17   5
                                                    -----------

At the present date, 1876, the average weekly traffic on this railway and
its branches to Lytham and Blackpool, amounts in round numbers to £1,200
for passengers, and £800 for goods.

The Preston and Wyre Railway was amongst the earliest formed, and the
impression made on the natives of this district, who had been accustomed
to the slow-going coaches, must have been one of no little amazement,
when, for the first time, they beheld the “iron horse” steaming along
the rails at a speed which their past experience of travelling would
make them regard as impossible. The following lines were written by a
gentleman named Henry Anderton, a resident in the Fylde, on the opening
of the railway:

  “Some fifty years since and a coach had no power,
  To move faster forward than six miles an hour,
  Till Sawney McAdam made highways as good,
  As paving-stones crushed into little bits could.
  The coachee quite proud of his horse-flesh and trip,
  Cried, ‘Go it, ye cripples!’ and gave them the whip,
  And ten miles an hour, by the help of the thong,
  They put forth their mettle and scampered along.
  The Present has taken great strides of the Past,
  For carriages run without horses at last!
  And what is more strange,—yet it’s truth I avow,
  Hack-horses themselves have turned passengers now!
  These coaches alive go in sixes and twelves,
  And once set in motion they travel themselves!
  They’ll run thirty miles while I’m cracking this joke,
  And need no provisions but pump-milk and coke!
  And with their long chimneys they skim o’er the rails,
  With two thousand hundred-weight tied to their tails!
  While Jarvey in stupid astonishment stands,
  Upturning both eyes and uplifting both hands,
  ‘My nags,’ he exclaims, betwixt laughing and crying,
  ‘Are good ’uns to go, but yon devils are flying.’”

The fares on the Preston and Wyre Railway at its commencement were:—

                                     1st class. 2nd class. 3rd class.

  Preston to Fleetwood or Blackpool    4s. 6d.    3s. 0d.    2s. 0d.
  Preston to Poulton                   3s. 6d.    2s. 6d.    1s. 6d.
  Preston to Kirkham                   2s. 0d.    1s. 3d.    0s. 9d.
  Preston to Lytham                    3s. 0d.    2s. 6d.    1s. 6d.

Until the opening of the branch lines to Lytham and Blackpool
respectively, in 1846, passengers completed their journies from Kirkham
and Poulton to those watering places by means of coaches. Three trains
ran from the terminus at Fleetwood to Preston on each week-day, and one
on Sunday, a similar number returning.

In consequence of the severe distress prevailing throughout the country,
a proclamation was issued by Her Majesty for a General Fast to be held on
Wednesday, the 24th of March, 1847; and from the public prints of that
date it is evident that the occasion was observed with great solemnity
in our division—the shops of the different towns were closed during the
whole of the day, the streets were quiet, the hotels deserted, whilst
the churches were crowded even to overflowing. This distress was caused
by an almost complete failure in the potatoe harvests; and at that time
these necessary articles of diet were sold at 26s. per load in the local
markets, whilst meal, also scarce, rose to 52s. per load.

In September of the same year, the Fylde was honoured by a passing visit
from Queen Victoria and the late Prince Consort, who arrived at Fleetwood
in the Royal Yacht on their return journey from Scotland to London. An
address was presented by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart., the Rev. St. Vincent
Beechey, Frederick Kemp, esq., James Crombleholme, esq., and Daniel
Elletson, esq., on behalf of the inhabitants of Fleetwood, and received
by Lord Palmerston, who promised that it should be laid before the
Queen. In the course of a few days an acknowledgment was received from
the metropolis. In Her Majesty’s book, published in 1868, and entitled
“Leaves from our Highland Journal,” these diarian entries relating to
the above event appear:—

                                    “Monday, September 20th, 1847.

  “We anchored at seven in Fleetwood Harbour; the entrance was
  extremely narrow and difficult. We were lashed close to the pier,
  to prevent our being turned by the tide; and when I went on
  deck there was a great commotion, such running and calling, and
  pulling of ropes, etc. It was a cheerless evening, blowing hard.”

                                    “Tuesday, September 21st, 1847.

  “At ten o’clock we landed, and proceeded by rail to London.”

In 1860, a project was launched for a comprehensive scheme of water
supply for the towns of this district; a company was established, and, in
the session of 1861, an act of parliament was obtained “for incorporating
the Fylde Waterworks Company, and for authorising them to make and
maintain waterworks, and to supply water at Kirkham, Lytham, Blackpool,
Fleetwood, Poulton, Rossall, Garstang, South-shore, and Bispham, in the
county palatine of Lancaster, and to shipping at Fleetwood and Lytham.”
The act granted power to take the water from Grizedale Brook, a tributary
of the Wyre, which rises in Grizedale Fell, one of the Bleasdale range,
and, flowing through the gorge or pass, called Nickey Nook, divides
the township of Nether-Wyersdale and Barnacre-with-Bonds, and falls
into the Wyre a mile or so before that river reaches Garstang. A dam
or embankment, upwards of 20 feet high, 70 feet wide at the base, and
12 feet wide at the top, was raised across the valley, converting the
upper portion of it into a reservoir. At the west end of the reservoir,
below the embankment, is a culvert, through which the water passes to
a guage, where a stipulated quantity is turned into the brook, and the
rest enters the pipe for the Fylde. Twelve miles of twelve inch pipes
carry the water to the service reservoir at Weeton. The course is down
Grizedale, under the railway, through Greenhalgh Green, Bowgrave, leaving
Garstang to the right, then past Catterall Mill, through the grounds of
Catterall Hall, and onward to the east of St. Michael’s, through Elswick,
to Weeton. The service reservoir, situated on the most elevated ground,
called Whitprick Hill, in the township of Weeton, has a diameter at the
base of 400 feet, and at the top 468 feet. The embankment is at the base
70 feet in diameter, and 12 feet at the top, with a puddle trench in it,
varying from 8 feet 8 inches to 6 feet wide. To the south a 10 inch main
takes the supply of water for Kirkham and Lytham; and from the west
side a main of similar size takes the water for Fleetwood and Blackpool,
the supply for the former place branching off near Great Marton, and
going by Bispham and Rossall. The Weeton reservoir was formed capable
of containing fifteen million gallons of water. An additional pipe,
running from Weeton through Singleton, Skippool, and Thornton, to join
the Fleetwood main at Flakefleet, near Rossall, was laid in 1875; and a
new reservoir, to hold 190,000,000 gallons, is in course of formation at
Barnacre, above Grizedale.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER IV.

CONDITION, CUSTOMS, AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEOPLE.


There is little to be remarked, because little is known, respecting
the social and moral aspects of the untutored race which, in the
earliest historic age, sought a domicile or refuge amidst the forests
of the Fylde, or invaded its glades in search of prey. The habits of
the Setantii were simply those of other savage tribes who depended for
their daily sustenance upon their skill and prowess in the chase, and
whose intercommunion with the world beyond their own limited domains,
was confined to hostile or friendly meetings with equally barbarous
races whose frontiers adjoined their own. Certain disinterred roots were
necessary adjuncts to their repasts, and indeed, on many occasions, when
outwitted by the wild tenants of the woods, formed the sole item. Their
Druidical faith and the supreme power of the priesthood over their almost
every action, both secular and religious, have already been referred to
in an earlier page. The remorseless sacrifice of fellow beings on their
unhallowed altars, and the general spirit of cruelty and inhumanity
which pervaded all their rites, are not to be regarded as disclosing a
naturally callous and brutal disposition on the part of the Setantii, but
as indications of the deplorable ignorance in which they existed, and
the blind obedience which they yielded to the principles indoctrinated
by the Druids. That the Setantii, however submissive to the dictates
and requirements of their priests, were far from passively allowing the
encroachments of others on their liberties is shown by the promptitude
and fierceness with which they combatted the progress of the Roman
legions through their territory. No portion of the British conquest
cost the conquerors more trouble, time, and bloodshed, than did the land
peopled by the hardy and valorous Brigantes with their comparatively
small, but equally intrepid, neighbours and allies the Setantii. The two
most striking characteristics of the aboriginal Fylde inhabitants were
their ignorance and bravery, and whilst the former rivetted the chains
which held them in subjection to the priesthood, the latter incited them
to oppose to the death the usurpations of the stranger. There is nothing
of local interest to recount during the period the Romans held the
soil, but after their abdication, when the Anglo-Saxons violated their
faith and traitorously seized a land which they had come professedly
to protect, the Fylde began to evince symptoms of greater animation;
villages sprang up in different spots on the open grounds or clearings
in the woods; the solitary Roman settlement at Kirkham was appropriated
and renamed by the new arrivals, and, perhaps, for the first time a
population of numerical importance was established in the district.

During the earlier part of this era the inhabitants were graziers rather
than agriculturists or ploughmen. Three quarters, even, of the entire
kingdom were devoted to rearing and feeding cattle, so that the grain
produce of the country must have been extremely small when compared
with the superabundance of live stock, and as a consequence of such a
condition of things, those animals which could forage for themselves
and exist upon the wild herbage of the waste lands or the fallen
fruits of the trees, as acorns and beech-mast, were to be purchased
at prices almost nominal, whilst others which required the cultivated
products of the fields, as corn and hay, for their sustenance, were
disproportionately dear; thus about the end of the tenth century the
values of the former were:—

  One Ox                   7s.  0½d.
   ”  Cow                  5s.  6d.
   ”  Pig                  1s. 10½d.
   ”  Sheep                1s.  2d.
   ”  Goat                 0s.  5½d.

The latter commanded these comparatively high prices—

  One Horse            £1  5s.  2d.
   ”  Mare, or Colt    £1  3s.  5d.
   ”  Ass, or Mule     £0 14s.  1d.

Trees were valued not by the circumference or magnitude of their trunks,
but by the amount of shelter their branches would afford to the cattle,
which seem to have lived almost entirely in the open pastures; and
bearing that in mind we are not surprised to read in the Saxon Chronicle
of periodical plagues or murrains breaking out amongst them. “In 1054,”
says that journal, “there was so great loss of cattle as was not
remembered for many winters before.” This, however, is only one extract
from frequent entries referring to similar misfortunes in different
years, both before and after the date quoted. Swine were kept in immense
herds throughout the kingdom, and there is every probability that in a
locality like the Fylde, where trees would still abound and provender
be plentifully scattered from the oaks and beeches, hogs would be
extensively bred. Indeed immediately after the close of the Saxon empire,
Roger de Poictou conveyed his newly acquired right to pawnage (swine’s
food) in the woods of Poulton, amongst other things, to the monastery
of St. Mary, in Lancaster, a circumstance strongly favourable to the
existence of swine there in considerable numbers. Kine, also, are usually
reported to have been a favourite stock with the breeders of Lancashire,
whilst sheep were rare in proportion, although in other places they were
exceedingly popular and profitable, chiefly from the sale of their wool.

The Saxon inhabitants of the small villages in the Fylde who were
engaged in agriculture had no knowledge of any manure beyond marl, which
they mixed with lighter and finer soils; nor were their farm-lands
cultivated all at one time, but a portion only of the estate was
subjected to the action of the plough, and when its fertility had been
thoroughly exhausted, the remainder was tilled and brought into service,
the first plot being allowed to lie fallow for a few years until its
productive powers had been renewed. Grain was not, as now, purchased
from the growers by dealers and stored up in warehouses, but each of
the neighbouring people, as soon as the crops had been gathered into
the barns, bought whatever quantity he thought would suffice for his
household wants until the ensuing harvest, and removed it to his own
residence. The universal waste and improvident consumption of grain
during this season of abundance, led frequently to famines in other
parts of the year, and many instances of that punishment following such
prodigality are related in the chronicle before named. One notice,
bearing the date 1044, says:—“This year there was very great hunger all
over England, and corn so dear as no man ever remembered before; so that
a sester of wheat rose to sixty pence and even further.”

The ploughs of our forefathers were, as would naturally be supposed,
somewhat rude and clumsy in construction, differing considerably in
appearance, although not in their _modus operandi_, from those which
may be seen furrowing the same land in the present day. Each plough
was furnished with an iron share, in front of which, attached to the
extremity of a beam projecting anteriorly, was a wheel of moderate
diameter, its purpose being to relieve the labour of the oxen and to
facilitate the guiding of the instrument, especially in turning. The
oxen employed were ordinarily four, and yoked to the plough by means of
twisted willow bands. Horses were prohibited by law from being used on
the land, but there must have been little need, one would imagine, for a
legal prohibition in the matter when it is remembered that horses were
nearly four times as valuable as oxen, and that the latter were fully
efficient at the task. The month of January commenced their season for
preparing the ground, and during the period thus occupied the labours
of the ploughman began each morning at sunrise, when the oxen were
tethered and conducted to the fields, where the duty of the husbandman
was lightened by the assistance of a boy, who superintended the cattle,
driving or leading them whilst at work. In the inclement months of
winter these oxen were fed and tended in sheds under the special care
of the ploughman, but during summer they shared a common lot with
the other cattle and were turned out to pasture in the fields, being
transferred to the charge of the cowherd. Other implements of husbandry
in use, in addition to the plough, were scythes, sickles, axes, spades,
pruning-hooks, forks, and flails, besides which the farmers possessed
carts and waggons of rather a cumbersome pattern. It is doubtful whether
the harrow was known here so early, but opinion usually refers its
introduction to a later date.

Of the moral tone of our Saxon settlers it is difficult to judge,
but that their business transactions were not always governed by a
very strict sense of honour is intimated by the following enactment,
apparently framed to check repudiations of bargains and, perhaps, to
insure fair dealing:—“No one shall buy either what is living or what
is dead to the value of four pennies without four witnesses either of
the borough or of the village.” William of Malmesbury, who wrote about
a century after the Norman Conquest, informs us that “excessive eating
and drinking were the common vices of the Saxons, in which they spent
whole nights and days without intermission.” It may, however, with much
probability be conjectured that not only is the statement in some degree
exaggerated, but that its application was designed more particularly for
the inhabitants of the larger towns than those of comparatively sparsely
populated districts like our own. Nevertheless it cannot be claimed, with
any show of reason, that the small section of the nation established
in the Fylde was entirely uninfected by the vices which enervated and
degraded the wealthier and more populous regions of the kingdom. The
evil of intemperance in both food and drink, especially the latter,
pervaded the whole community, but as its indulgence required both means
and opportunity, its loathsome features were less prominently visible in
localities where these were scarce than in others where they abounded.
The Church used every effort to awaken a better feeling in the minds
of her degenerate sons, and liberate them from the chains of a passion
which had so thoroughly enslaved them. Canons were directed against the
“sin of drunkenness,” and in order that no plea of ignorance could be
urged by any who had overstepped the bounds of sobriety, a curious and
minute description of the condition of body and brain which constituted
inebriation was appended to one of them, as here quoted:—“This is
drunkenness—when the state of the mind is changed, the tongue stammers,
the eyes are disturbed, the head is giddy, the belly is swelled, and pain
follows.” Ale and mead were the beverages on which these excesses were
committed, and cow-horns the drinking cups. It would seem that there was
yet another national blemish, that of gambling, which even invaded the
cloister and threw its veil of fascination over the clergy themselves,
for a canon of the reign of Edgar ordered—“That no priest be a hunter, or
fowler, or player at tables, but let him play upon his books, as becometh
his calling.”

Water-mills, planted on the banks of streams and consisting of square
weather-boarded structures, usually open at the top, were the means
possessed during the Saxon era for grinding the cereal products of the
Fylde. The wheel which received the pressure of the current, and conveyed
its motive power to the simple machinery within the fabric, differed
little from those still in use in various parts of the country, one of
which until recently was connected with a small mill on the brink of
the brook which drains the mere at Marton into the river Wyre, and less
than a century ago another mill, situated in the township of Marton and
worked on a similar principle, was turned by a stream from the same
mere. A water-mill is at present in use near Great Eccleston. After the
grinding process had been completed the bran and flour were separated
by hand-sieves. About seventy or eighty years after the Normans had
settled in the district these primitive sheds were superseded by a fresh
species of mill, in which sails supplied the place of the wheel, and
another element was called into service. The new erections were of wood,
and separated from the ground by a pivot of slight altitude, on which
they turned bodily in order to be fixed in the most favourable position
for their sails to reap a full harvest of wind. Solitary specimens of
this early piece of mechanical ingenuity are still visible hereabouts,
but most of the old mills were pulled down about a hundred years ago,
or less, and rebuilt with more stable material, whilst the modern
improvement of a revolving top only, did away with the necessity for the
venerable pivot, and allowed the foundations of the edifices to be more
intimately associated with mother earth than formerly.

Throughout the whole of the Saxon dynasty the mass of the inhabitants
would be what were termed the “villani,” that is, a class forming a
link between abject slavery and perfect independence. They were not
bound to any master but to the soil on which they happened to be
born, and on no plea were they permitted to leave such localities. To
the lord of the manor each of the “villani” gave annually a certain
portion of the produce of the ground he tilled, but beyond that they
acknowledged no claim to the proceeds of their thrift by the large
territorial proprietors. When a manor changed ownership the “villani”
were transferred with it in exactly the same condition as before, so that
really they seem to have occupied the position of small tenants paying
rent in kind, with the important addition that they were forced to pass
their lives in the district where they had first seen the light of day.
It should be noted that any “villani” not having domiciles of their own
were compelled to enter the service of others who were more fortunately
situated in that respect.

During the twelfth century the house-wife’s plan of preparing bread
for the table, in the absence of public bakehouses, common in some
neighbourhoods, was to knead the dough into large flat cakes and lay them
on the hearth in full glare of the fire, where they were permitted to
remain until thoroughly baked. Bread from pure wheat of the best quality
was a luxury unattainable except by those of high station or wealth,
the bulk of the people having to content themselves with an inferior
quality, brownish in colour and made from rye, oats, and barley. The
amount of this indispensable commodity to be sold at a specified price
was regulated by law, and the punishments for not supplying the proper
measure, or for “lack of size” as it was termed, were—for the first
offence, loss of the bread; for the second, imprisonment; and for the
third, the pillory or tumbrel.[46] In 1185 the maximum charges to be made
for certain provisions were settled by an act which decreed that the
highest price for a hen should be ½d., a sheep 5½d., a ram 8d., a hog
1s., an ox 5s. 8d., and a cow 4s. 6d.

In the ensuing century no restrictions were placed upon the tenants
of the Fylde as to the course of husbandry to be pursued, but each on
renting his farm or parcel of ground cultivated it according to the
dictates of his own inclination or experience, the only stipulation
being that the soil should suffer no deterioration from any ignorant or
imprudent action on the part of the holder. Oats and barley mixed, and
a light description of wheat, very inferior to the best grain, were the
favourite crops, the former being known as “draget,” and the latter as
“siligo.” Arable land was let at 4d. per acre, and the annual yield of
each acre sown with wheat, usually amounted to 12 bushels, the value of
the grain itself averaging about 4s. 6d. per quarter. Demand notices were
sent in two days after the rent had become due, and if not complied with
in two weeks the landlord distrained without further ceremony; after an
interval of another fortnight, if the money still remained unpaid, the
tenant was summarily ejected, and the owner seized both farm and stock.

The meals consumed by the peasantry comprised only two during the
twenty-four hours, one, called dinner, being eaten at nine in the
morning, and the other, supper, at five in the afternoon. It is very
possible, however, that during the summer those farm servants whose
arduous duties were entered on at daybreak, partook of some slight repast
at an early hour of the morning, but the only meals for which regular
times were appointed were the two mentioned. During harvest the diet
of the labourers consisted for the most part of herrings, bread, and
an allowance of beer, whilst messes of pottage were far from uncommon
objects on the rustic boards. Between the year 1314 and 1326 the prices
of live stock were again arranged, as under:—

  The best grass fed ox            16s. 0d.
  The best cow (fat)               12s. 0d.
  The best short-horn sheep         1s. 2d.
  The best goose                    0s. 3d.
  The best hen                      0s. 1½d.
  The best chickens, per couple     0s. 1½d.
  Eggs, twenty for                  0s. 1d.

In 1338 no domestic or husbandry servant residing in the Hundred of
Amounderness was allowed to pass beyond the boundaries of the Wapentake
on profession of going to dwell or serve elsewhere, or of setting out
on a pilgrimage, without bearing with him a letter patent stating the
reason of his departure and the date of his return. This law, which
applied to all Hundreds alike, was intended to prevent the threatened
decay of agriculture from a dearth of labourers, who heretofore had been
in the habit of deserting their employment and wandering away into other
divisions of the country, where they supported an idle and frequently
vicious existence by soliciting alms and by petty thefts.

It will scarcely surprise the reader to learn that superstition was rife
amongst the populace during the periods so far noticed, and that nothing
was too absurd to be accepted as an omen, either of good or evil, by our
credulous forefathers. A timid hare encountered in their walks abroad
announced the approach of some unforeseen calamity, as also did a blind
or lame man, a woman with dishevelled hair, or even a monk; whilst the
visions of a wolf crossing the path, St. Martin’s birds flying from
left to right, a humpbacked man, or the sound of distant thunder, were
welcomed as heralds of prosperity. All amusements were of an athletic
kind, and consisted of archery, casting heavy stones, spear darting,
wrestling, running, leaping, and sword and buckler playing. On festivals,
and occasionally at other seasons, the barbarous and cruel sports of bull
and bear-baiting were indulged in,[47] but cock-fighting was considered,
until a later epoch, an entertainment only suitable for children, and on
Shrove Tuesday each boy took his pet bird to the school-house, which was
for that day converted into a cock-pit, superintended by the master.

In 1444, the wages received by different classes of agricultural servants
were:—

  A bailiff           £1  3s. 4d. per year, and 5s. for clothing, with
                                                                  board.
  A chief hind      ⎫
      ”   carter    ⎬ £1  0s. 0d.    ”      and 4s. for clothing,   ”
      ”   shepherd  ⎭
  A woman servant     £0 10s. 0d.    ”      and 4s. for clothing,   ”
  A boy under 14      £0  6s. 0d.    ”      and 3s. for clothing,   ”
  A common husbandman £0 15s. 0d.    ”      and 40d. for clothing,  ”

At harvest time, when special labour was required, the scale of
remuneration was:—

  A mower                              4d. per day, with board.
      ”                                6d.    ”     without ”
  A reaper or carter                   3d.    ”     with    ”
      ”                                5d.    ”     without ”
  A woman labourer, or other labourer  2½d.   ”     with    ”
      ”                                4½d.   ”     without ”

The statute which arranged the above rates of payment concluded by saying
that “such as deserve less shall take less, and also in places where less
is used to be given less shall be given from henceforth;” so that the
table just completed would seem to represent the maximum rather than the
ordinary scale of wages. This statute also enacted that farm servants who
purposed leaving their employers, must engage themselves to other masters
and give reasonable warning before leaving their present ones, by which
idleness and mendicancy were effectually guarded against.

The common pastimes of the inhabitants during the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, in addition to some of those already enumerated which still
held their sway, were club, and trap-ball, bowling, prisoners’-bars,
hood-man blind, (a game similar to the modern blindman’s-buff, but
entered into by adults alone,) battledore and shuttlecock, and during
hard frosts skating, at first by means of the shank bone of a sheep
fastened on to the sole of the boot and afterwards with iron-shod
skates. Hawking and hunting were confined to the families of position
who resided at the ancient Halls of the Fylde and to others of similar
social standing, forming but a small proportion of the entire population.
At Christmas the largest log obtainable was lighted on the hearth and
denominated the yule log. If the mass burned throughout the night and
the whole of the next day, it was regarded as an omen of good fortune by
the members of the household, but if it were consumed or extinguished
before that time had expired, it was looked upon as auguring adversely
for their prosperity. The first Monday after Twelfth Day was called
Plough Monday, a name still familiar to many an old Fylde man, and was
observed as a general holiday by the men whose labours were associated
with that instrument, who on this day went about the villages from house
to house asking for plough-money to spend in ale. Their processions,
if such they could be called, consisted of a plough, which was dragged
along by a number of sword-dancers; a labourer, dressed to resemble an
old woman; and another, who was clothed in skins, and wore the tail of
some animal hanging down his back. These two oddly garbed individuals
solicited small contributions from the people whilst the remainder were
engaged in dancing, and if anyone refused to disburse some trifling sum
when requested, they turned up the ground fronting his doorway with
the plough. During Christmas week the country people blackened their
faces, and thus disguised committed all sorts of frolics and absurdities
amongst their neighbours. The chief rustic festival, however, was
appointed for the first of May, on which day the May-pole was drawn
to the village green by several oxen, whose horns were decorated with
bunches of flowers, and accompanied by a joyous band of revellers, who
after its erection on the accustomed site held their jubilee of feasting
and dancing around it. The pole itself was covered with floral garlands,
and streamed with flags and handkerchiefs from its summit. A Lord and
Lady, or Queen, of May were elected by a general vote, and to them
belonged the honour of presiding over the festivities. The costumes of
these pseudo-regal personages were liberally adorned with scarfs and
ribbons, so that their appearances should be in unison with the rest of
the gay preparations. The morris-dance formed an important feature of
the festival, and the performers in that somewhat vigorous exercise wore
richly decorated habits on to which small bells, varying in tone, had
been fastened. The new year was ushered in with feasting and joviality,
whilst friendly interchanges of presents took place amongst all classes.
In the evening, a huge wassail-bowl filled with spiced ale was carried
to the different houses of the villages, and all who quaffed its
exhilarating contents drank prosperity to the coming year, and rewarded
the cup-bearers, usually female farm-servants, with some small donation;
the following carol in a more antique form, or some similar one, was sung
on the occasion:—

  “Good Dame, here at your door,
    Our Wassel we begin,
  We are all maidens poor,
    We pray now let us in,
                With our Wassel.

  “Our Wassel we do fill,
    With apples and with spice,
  Then grant us your good will
    To taste here once or twice
                Of our Wassel.

  ...

  “Some bounty from your hands
    Our Wassel to maintain.
  We’ll buy no house nor lands
    With that which we do gain,
                With our Wassel.”

On Shrove Tuesday a barbarous custom prevailed of tying cocks to a stake
driven into the ground, and throwing at them with sticks, until death
ensued from repeated blows. St. Valentine’s day received a merry welcome
from the country swains and maidens, who at that auspicious time made
choice of, or more properly speaking were mated to, their true loves for
the year. The all important selection was made by writing the names of an
equal number of each sex on separate slips of paper, and then dividing
them into two lots, one of which represented the males and the other the
females. The women drew from the male heap, and the men from that of the
females, so that each person became possessed of two sweethearts, and the
final pairing was really the only element of real choice in the matter;
in this the men usually claimed the girl whom each of them had drawn,
and thus an amicable settlement was soon arrived at. After the mirthful
ceremony had been completed and each happy couple duly united, the men
gave treats and dances to their sweethearts, and wore their billets for
several days pinned on to their breasts or coat sleeves. Another, and
much simpler, plan of choosing a valentine was to look out of the door or
window on the eventful morning, and the first person seen was regarded as
the special selection of the patron Saint, provided always the individual
was of the opposite sex, and unfettered by the silken bonds of Hymen.
Whitsun-ales and Easter-ales were assemblies held within, or in the
immediate neighbourhood of, the church-yards, at which the beverage,
giving the title to these festivities, was sold by the clergy or their
assistants, and consumed by the country people, the proceeds being
devoted to ecclesiastical purposes and the relief of the poor. Wakes
originated in an ancient custom of gathering together on the evening
before the birthday of a Saint or the day appointed for the dedication of
a church, and passing the night in devotion and prayer. These watches,
however, were soon altered in character, and instead of religious
exercises employing the period of vigil, feasting and debauchery became
the recognized occupations.

The festival of Rush-bearing is of such antiquity that its origin has
become in a great measure obscured, but there is a strong probability
that the practice arose from a recommendation given by Pope Gregory IV.
to Mellitus, who was associated with St. Augustine in christianising
the inhabitants of England, to celebrate the anniversaries of the
dedications of those places of worship, which they had rescued from Pagan
influences, “by building themselves huts of the boughs of trees about
such churches, and celebrating the solemnities with religious feastings.”
The rush-cart, decorated with flowers and ribbons, was paraded through
the village streets, accompanied by morris-dancers and others bearing
flags or banners. One of the mummers, dressed in a motley suit, somewhat
resembling that of a circus jester, jingled a horse-collar hung with
bells, and kept up a constant succession of small jokes at the expense
of the bystanders as the procession advanced. In early days before
churches were flagged it was the annual custom to strew their floors with
rushes on the day of the dedication of the sacred edifice, and in the
parish register of Kirkham we find, as follows:—“1604. Rushes to strew
the church cost this year 9s. 6d.” From the register at Poulton church
we have also extracted an entry, at random, from similar ones occurring
each year:—“Aug. 6th, 1784. To Edward Whiteside for rushes, 6s. 8d.” The
practice appears to have arisen simply from a desire to promote warmth
and comfort within the churches by providing a covering for the bare
earth, and its connection with rush-bearing, when it existed, must be
regarded as having been purely accidental. Brand has discovered another
motive for rush-strewing, more especially in private houses, and one
not very flattering to our forefathers:—“As our ancestors,” writes he,
“rarely washed their floors, disguises of uncleanliness became very
necessary.” Erasmus, also, a Greek Professor at Oxford in the time of
Henry VIII., in describing the hovels in which the agricultural labourers
and others of the lower classes lived, says:—“The floors are commonly
of clay strewed with rushes; under which lies unmolested an ancient
collection of beer, grease, fragments, bones, spittle, and everything
that is nasty.”

From 1589 to 1590 inclusive, the daily wages, without board, of a
ditcher were 4d., a thresher 6d., a hedger 4d., a gardener 10d., and a
master-mason 14d. In 1533 it was enacted that no tenant should hold more
than two farms at once; and fifty-five years later sundry penalties were
imposed upon any one erecting cottages for the agricultural population
without attaching four acres of land to each, also for allowing more than
one family to occupy a cottage at the same time.[48] A law was passed
in 1597, directing that all houses of husbandry which had fallen into
decay within a period of seven years should be rebuilt, and from twenty
to forty acres of ground apportioned to each.[49] The average yields of
grain per acre on well-cultivated soils during the latter half of the
sixteenth century were—wheat 20 bushels, barley 32 bushels, and oats 40
bushels. The subjoined tables contain the average prices of some of the
common articles of consumption:—

                    In 1500.    In 1541.    In 1590.   In 1597.
  12 Pigeons             4d.    0s. 10d.    1s. 0d.    4s. 3d.
  100 Eggs               7d.    1s.  6d.               3s. 6d.
  1 Goose                4d.    0s.  8d.
  1 Chicken              1d.                           0s. 8d.
  1 Lb. of Butter               0s.  3d.    0s. 4d.

In 1581, the charge for shoeing a horse was 10d., and sometimes 12d. Here
it may be noticed, although perhaps rather digressive, that the herb
tobacco was introduced into this country sometime during the summer of
1586, by a party of Englishmen, who for a short time colonised the island
of Roanoak, near the coast of Virginia, but, having quarrelled with the
aborigines, were removed home in the ships of Sir Francis Drake. Camden,
writing of these men, says:—“They were the first that I know of that
brought into England that Indian plant which they called _tabacca_ and
_nicotia_, or _tobacco_, which they used against crudities, being taught
it by the Indians. Certainly, from that time forward, it began to grow
into great request, and to be sold at a high rate; whilst in a short time
many men, everywhere, some for wantonness, some for health sake, with
insatiable desires and greediness, sucked in the stinking smoke thereof
through an earthen pipe, which presently they blew out again at their
nostrils; insomuch that tobacco-shops are now as ordinary in most towns
as tap-houses and taverns.”

The following rhymes, descriptive of the games and recreations common
in Lancashire amongst the youth of both sexes, were written in 1600, by
Samuel Rowland:—

  “Any they dare challenge for to throw the sledge,
  To jump or leap over ditch or hedge;
  To wrestle, play at stool-ball, or to run,
  To pitch the bar or to shoot off a gun;
  To play at loggats, nine-holes, or ten-pins,
  To try it out at foot-ball by the shins;
  At tick-tacke, seize-noddy, maw, and ruff;
  At hot-cockles, leap-frog, or blindman’s buff;
  To drink the halper-pots, or deal at the whole can;
  To play at chess, or pue, and inkhorn;
  To dance the morris, play at barley-brake;
  At all exploits a man can think or speak:
  At shove-groat, venter-point, or cross and pile;
  At ‘beshrew him that’s last at any style’;
  At leaping over a Christmas bonfire,
  Or at ‘drawing the dame out of the mire’;
  At shoot-cock, Gregory, stool-ball, and what-not;
  Pick-point, top and scourge, to make him hot.”

Many of these games have long since become obsolete. Tick-tacke resembled
backgammon, but was rather more complicated; seize-noddy, maw, and ruff
were games of cards, the first being somewhat similar to cribbage, while
the two latter have no modern representatives, although the expression
_to ruff_ is frequently used at the whist-table; ‘cross and pile’ is
merely an earlier name of ‘pitch and toss’; and shoot-cock has been
modernised into shuttlecock.

During the seventeenth century occasional village fairs were held in the
Fylde, at which such uncouth games as “grinning through a horse-collar,”
as well as trials in whistling, etc., were common amusements, while
pedlars’ stalls, puppet shows, raffling tables, and drinking booths were
well attended by the holidaymakers. At that period any damsel, wishing to
learn something, be it ever so little, of her future mate, was directed
to run until out of breath on hearing the first notes of the cuckoo,
and on removing her shoe she would find a hair of the same colour as
that of the husband whom fate had selected for her. On May-day a snail
placed upon the ashes of the hearth would trace the initial letter, or
letters, of the lover’s name; or the rind, peeled from an apple and
thrown backwards over the head, would by its arrangement on falling to
the ground effect a similar purpose:—

  “Last May-day fair I search’d to find a snail
  That might my secret lover’s name reveal:
  Upon a gooseberry bush a snail I found,
  For always snails near sweetest fruit abound.
  I seiz’d the vermin; home I quickly sped,
  And on the hearth the milk white embers spread,
  Slow crawled the snail, and if I right can spell
  In the soft ashes marked a curious L.”[50]

This couplet was recited by young maidens after capturing an insect
called a Lady-bird, and on releasing it:—

  “Fly, Lady-bird, fly south, east, or west;
  Fly where the man is that I love best.”

The following extracts from an “inventarye of all the goods and chattels
of Peter Birket, late of Borrands,” taken after his decease in 1661,
will furnish a pretty accurate idea of the monetary worth of certain
articles of farming stock at that time:—“One outshoote of hay, £1 6s.
8d.; one stack of hay without dores, 10s.; one scaffold of hay, 10s.;
one mare and one colt, £3; five geese, 4s.; 13 sheepe, £3; one cock and
five hens, 2s.; one calfe, 10s.; two heiffers, £3; one heiffer, £2; one
cow, £2 10s.; another cow, £3 10s.” Whether this gentleman was a fair
representative of his class or not we are unable to say, but if so, the
small farmers of Lancashire, to whom he appears to have belonged, were
not over indulgent in articles of dress or comfort, for the whole of
his wearing apparel was valued at no more than £1, whilst his bedding
realised only 5s.

In 1725 the Lancashire justices arranged and ordered that the rate of
wages in all parts of this county should be:—

  A bailiff in husbandry,
    or chief hind                  £6   0s.  0d. per year, with board.

  A chief servant in husbandry,
    able to mow or sow              5   0    0      ”          ”

  A common servant in husbandry
    of 24 years of age and upwards  4   0    0      ”          ”

  A man servant from 20
    to 24 years of age              3  10    0      ”          ”

  A man servant from 16
    to 20 years of age              2  10    0      ”          ”

  The best woman servant,
    able to cook                    2  10    0      ”          ”

  Dairy man, or lower servant       2   0    0      ”          ”

  Woman servant under
    16 years of age                 1  10    0      ”          ”

  The best of millers               5   0    0      ”          ”

They also appointed the hours of labour for those hired by the day to be,
between the middle of March and the middle of September, from five in the
morning until half-past seven in the evening, and during the remainder of
the year from sunrise to sunset, resting half-an-hour at breakfast, an
hour at dinner, and half-an-hour at “drinking,” as the meal corresponding
to our “tea” was termed. “In the summer half,” added the magisterial
mandate, “the labourers may sleep each day half-an-hour; else for every
hour’s absence to defaulk a penny; and every Saturday afternoon or eve of
a holiday, that they cease to work, is to be accounted but half a day.”
The day wages, as fixed by the same authorities, were:—

  The best kind of husbandry labourer  12d. without, and 6d. with board.
  An ordinary labourer                 10d.   ”      and 5d.     ”
  A male haymaker                      10d.   ”      and 6d.     ”
  A woman haymaker                      7d.   ”      and 3d.     ”
  A mower                              15d.   ”      and 9d.     ”
  A man shearer                        12d.   ”      and 6d.     ”
  A woman shearer                      10d.   ”      and 6d.     ”
  Hedgers, Ditchers, Threshers, and
    persons employed in task work      10d.   ”      and 6d.     ”
  Masons, Joiners, Plumbers, Tilers,
    Slaters, Coopers, and Turners      12d.   ”      and 6d.     ”
  Master workman, acting as foreman    14d. without board.

From 1660 to 1690, the average price of mutton was 2d. per pound; from
1706 to 1730, 2½d.; and from 1730 to 1760, 3d. per pound. The prices of
beef, veal, and lamb in 1710, were respectively 1⅒d., 2⅗d., and 2⁹⁄₁₀d.,
per pound.

During the eighteenth and earlier part of the nineteenth centuries
there was perhaps no pastime more popular amongst the adult members of
all classes than the callous sport of cock-fighting; every village and
hamlet in the Fylde had its pit, where mains were held at all times and
seasons. The following were the rules pretty generally adopted in this
neighbourhood for the regulation of the contests:—

  “1.—To begin the main by fighting the lighter pair of cocks which
  fall in match first, proceeding upwards towards the end, that
  every lighter pair may fight earlier than those that are heavier.

  “2.—In matching, with relation to the battles, after the cocks of
  the main are weighed, the match bills are to be compared.

  “3.—That every pair of equal weight are separated, and fight
  against others; provided it appears that the main can be enlarged
  by adding thereto.”

Skippool was one of the favourite resorts for the gentry of our district
when wishful to indulge in their favourite amusement, and frequent
allusions to the cockpit there are to be found in the journal of Thomas
Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, as—“June 9, 1714, ... thence to Skipall, where
at a cockin I meet with a deal of gentlemen. Gave Ned M⸺y 1s. for his
expenses; spent 1s., and won 2s. 6d. of Dr. Hesketh’s cockes.” In 1790 a
notice appeared in Liverpool that “The great main of cocks between John
Clifton, Esq., of Lytham, and Thomas Townley Parker, Esq., of Cuerden,
would be fought on Easter Monday, the 5th of April, and the three
following days, at the new cockpit in Cockspur Street—to show forty-one
cocks each. Ten guineas each battle, and two hundred guineas the main.”
The great-grandfather of the present Lord Derby compelled each of his
tenants to maintain a game-cock for his benefit, and many were the birds
supplied from the Fylde to uphold his great reputation as a successful
cock-fighter.

One of the most ancient punishments amongst our forefathers was that
of the Brank or Scolds’ Bridle, a specimen of which was possessed by
Kirkham, and doubtless many others existed in the Fylde. This instrument
was but little removed in severity from those implements of torture in
vogue at the time of the Inquisition, but differed from them in one
important particular—it was intended to control or silence, and not to
stimulate, the tongue of its victim. The Brank consisted of an iron
framework, which was fitted on to the head of the offender, usually some
woman whose intemperate language had incensed her husband; and a metal
spike, attached to the front of it, was so inserted into the mouth that
the slightest movement of the tongue brought that sensitive organ in
contact with its sharp edge or point. Doctor Plott, who appears to have
held the Brank in high estimation, and to have considered it greatly
superior to another mode of correction, much in fashion during his day,
says:—“This artifice is much to be preferred to the ducking-stool, which
not only endangers the health of the party, but gives liberty of tongue
betwixt every dip.”

The Ducking-stool or Cuck-stool consisted of a substantial chair,
fastened to the extremity of a long pole, and suspended over a pool of
water. The middle of the pole rested on an upright post near the edge of
the pond, and was attached to it by means of a pivot-hinge, so that the
chair could be swung round to the side to receive its victim, and, after
being freighted and restored to its original position, plunged into the
water by raising the other end of the shaft as often as those on the
bank deemed it necessary to cool the anger of the unfortunate scold.
Several pools in different parts of the Fylde still retain their names
of Cucking-ponds, and the last person condemned to suffer the barbarous
punishment was a young woman at Poulton, but she was happily rescued by
the kindly intervention of Madam Hornby, who became surety for her good
conduct in future.

In the belfry of Bispham church there formerly stood a plain-looking
wooden frame, which in earlier times had done duty as a pennance-stool,
but some years since the chair was removed, and probably destroyed, as no
trace of its existence has since been discovered. The last to perform
pennance in this church and sit upon the stool was a woman, who seems to
have been living as recently as 1836. A public pennance was exacted by
the Church from all frail maidens, who desired to obtain pardon for the
sins into which they had fallen. The ceremony consisted of parading the
aisles of the parish church with a candle in each hand, barefooted, and
clothed in white. Jane Breckal, of Poulton, was the last to undergo the
ceremony at that place, some time during the ministry of the Rev. Thos.
Turner, 1770 to 1810. The sobs and cries of the unfortunate girl aroused
the indignation of the inhabitants against the pennance, and the cruel
and degrading exhibition was never repeated.

Riding Stang was another plan of punishment formerly inflicted on
quarrelsome or adulterous persons, and a woman named Idle, of Great
Layton, is mentioned as being the last of its victims in that locality,
and very likely in the whole of the Fylde. There seem to have been two
ways adopted of Riding Stang, one of which was to mount the offending
party or parties on a ladder, supported at each end on the shoulders of
one or sometimes two men, and carry them about the neighbourhood for
several hours, accompanied by a band of men and boys beating tin kettles,
frying-pans, etc.; the other mode, and perhaps the more antique one, was
to place a youth astride a ladder, borne as in the previous case, and
arm him with a hand-bell, so that he was fully equipped to undertake
the duties of town crier. A procession was then formed, and, amidst the
discordant sounds of the instruments just alluded to, paraded through
the streets of the village, whilst the crier, who usually did his part
with great gusto, shouted out the following doggrel rhymes, varying some
portions of them when occasion required:—

  “Ran a dan, ran a dan, dan, dan,
  But for ... has been banging his good dame.
  He banged her, he banged her, he banged her, indeed,
  He banged her, poor woman, before she stood need;
  For neither wasting his substance nor spending his brass,
  But she was a woman, and he was an ass.
  Now, all good people that live in this row,
  I would have you take warning, for this is our law,
  And if you do your good wives bang,
  For you three nights we will ride this stang.
                        Hurrah! hurrah!”

When the offender happened to be some woman, who had inflicted
chastisement on the person of her spouse, the rhyme was altered to suit
her sex, and asserted that “he was a coward, and she was an ass.” The
remains of stocks in various states of preservation, are still to be seen
in many old villages, and their use is of too recent a date to require
any elucidation in this volume.

On the fifth Sunday in Lent, Carling Sunday, the villagers prepared a
feast, consisting chiefly of peas, first steeped in water, and afterwards
fried in butter, which were eaten on the afternoon of that day. Small
troops or companies of pace-egg mummers went from house to house in
Passion week enacting a short dramatic piece, and afterwards soliciting
money, or, in some cases, eggs, from their audience. The _dramatis
personæ_ usually represented St. George, the champion of England; a Turk,
dressed in national costume; the Doctor, of the quack fraternity; the
Fool; and one or two others. In the play, the Turk was wounded by St.
George, and being left for dead upon the field, guarded by the Fool, was
restored to health and strength by the Doctor, who opportunely arrived,
and concluded his self-laudatory harangue over the body of the apparently
defunct Turk, thus:—

  “Here, Jack, take a little out of my bottle,
  And let it run down thy throttle;
  If thou be not quite slain,
  Rise, Jack, and fight again.”

Easter mumming is now rapidly becoming obsolete, and at present amounts
to nothing more entertaining than the recital of a few weak, almost
meaningless, rhymes, by, usually, five young boys, decorated with ribbons
and coloured paper, and supposed to represent Lord Nelson, a Jack-Tar, a
Lovely Youth, Old Toss-pot, and Old Bessy Branbags.

“Lifting at Easter” was an old-established practice, existing in the
villages, of hoisting individuals in the air, either in a chair or by any
other means that might be convenient, until they purchased their release
by payment of a forfeit, generally some small coin. On Ascension-day
the parochial schoolmaster conducted his pupils, armed with peeled
willow wands, round the limits of the parish, and each pupil struck the
various boundary marks with his stick as he passed them. All-Hallows’
E’en was the time when the young people tested the durability of love or
friendship by burning nuts:—

  “Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame,
  And to each nut I gave a sweetheart’s name:
  This with the loudest bounce, me sore amazed,
  That in a flame of brightest colour blazed;
  As blazed the nut, so may thy passion grow,
  For ’twas thy nut that did so brightly glow!”[51]

Other pastimes contributed to the evening’s amusement, such as “ducking
for apples,” and “snatch apple”—a tub, in the former case, having been
nearly filled with water, and the fruit placed in it, each in turn, with
hands bound behind them, endeavoured to seize the prize with the teeth;
in the latter game, an apple was fastened to one extremity of a rod and a
lighted candle to the other, the whole being suspended by a string from
the ceiling, and the players, bound as before, snapped at the apple, and
avoided the flame as well as they were able.

Until within the last fifty or sixty years, the mosses of Marton and
the hills in the vicinity of the Fylde were illuminated with bonfires
on All-Hallows’ Eve, or Teanlay-night, as it was called, kindled by
the country people with the avowed object of succouring their friends
who were lingering in the imaginary regions of a middle state. A field
near Poulton received the name of “Purgatory” from the mummery of the
“Teanlays” having, on one occasion at least, been celebrated there.[52]
This ceremony was simple in its performance, and consisted merely of a
circle of men raising masses of blazing straw on high with pitch-forks.
On All Souls’ Day our Catholic forefathers were accustomed to bake cakes
of oatmeal and aromatic seeds, named Soul-cakes, and these, together with
pasties and furmety, formed a feast invariably eaten at that season.
Remnants of this custom existed even in late years amongst the youths of
Marton and some other townships and villages, who on the day of ancient
festival solicited money, under the name of Soul-pence, from their
neighbours.

We will now enumerate some of the superstitions and beliefs that have
prevailed in the Fylde more recently than those to which allusion has
been made in the earlier part of the chapter.

The following adage, showing the signification of certain marks on the
nails, will probably be familiar to many of our readers, and it is
questionable whether, even yet, it is not regarded by a few of the less
enlightened of the peasantry as something more than a mere saying:—

  “Specks on the fingers,
  Fortune often lingers;
  Specks on the thumbs,
  Fortune surely comes.”

No sick person could die if the bed or pillow upon which he lay contained
a pigeon’s feather; and, at an earlier date, the dwellers near the
coast firmly believed that life could only depart with the ebbing tide.
A horse-shoe nailed against the stable or barn-door, or a broom-stick
placed across the threshold of the dwelling, prevented the entrance of
witches or evil persons; also a hot heater placed in the churn, and
the mark of a cross, protected respectively the cream and baking of
dough from their presence. The advent of guests was made known to the
family circle by certain conditions of the fire-grate; thus, a flake
of soot hanging from the topmost bar foretold a boy visitor, from the
second a man, from the third a woman, and from the fourth a girl. Cats
were popularly supposed to have the power of drawing the breath, and
as a natural consequence the life, out of children when asleep, and
for this reason great care was taken to exclude them from bedchambers.
Should a dark complexioned person be the first to enter a dwelling on
New Year’s morning, the household looked forward with confidence to a
prosperous year; but if the person happened to be light, more especially
if he had red hair, the omen was regarded as unpropitious. Moon-beams
shining through the windows of bedrooms were considered injurious to the
sleepers, and even capable of distorting their features, or rendering
them imbecile. Children were taught to recite these simple lines whenever
the moon shone into their chambers:—

  “I see the moon,
  The moon sees me;
  God bless the priest
  That christened me.”

A tooth, after extraction, was sprinkled with salt and thrown into the
fire in order to insure peace and comfort to the person from whose mouth
it had been removed. A pair of shoes placed under the bed so that the
tips of the toes alone were visible, formed a certain remedy for cramp.
Warts were removed by rubbing them with a piece of stolen beef, which was
afterwards carefully and secretly buried to render the charm complete;
a snail hung on to a thorn was equally efficacious in removing these
excrescences, which gradually faded away as the snail itself melted and
vanished. A bag, containing small stones of the same number as the warts,
thrown over the left shoulder, transmitted them to the person who had
the misfortune to pick up the pebbles. People labouring under attacks of
ague, jaundice, or other ailments, applied for relief to the wise-men
of the neighbourhood, who professed to cure them by incantations. The
two following receipts are taken from an old medical work, published as
early as 1612, and in its time a highly popular authority on matters of
“Phisicke and Chirurgerie” amongst our rural populations:—

  “A good Medicine to staunch the bleeding of the Nose, although it
  bleed never so freely.

  “Take an egg and breake it on the top, in such sorte that all
  the white and yolke may issue cleane forthe of it; then fill the
  egg-shell with some of the bloud of the party which bleedeth, and
  put it in the fire, and there let it remaine until it be harde,
  and then burne it to ashes, and it will staunch the bleeding
  immediately without all doubt.”

  “A very good Medicine to staunch bloud when nothing else will do
  it, by reason the veine is cut, or that the wound is greate.

  “Take a Toade and dry him very well in the sunne, and then put
  him in a linen Bagge, and hang him about the necke of him that
  bleedeth with a stringe, and let it hange so low that it may
  touch his breaste on the left side neere unto his hart, and
  commonly this will stay all manner of bleeding at the mouth,
  nose, wound, or otherwise whatever. Probatum est.”

A woman named Bamber, living at Marton, attained to considerable
celebrity amongst the peasantry and others by her skill in checking
bleeding, which she is reported to have accomplished by the utterance of
some mystic words.

The people of the Fylde were not exempt from the common belief in the
miraculous power of the Royal touch in that particular form of disease
known as king’s evil, for amongst the records of the Thirty-men of
Kirkham is a notice that in 1632 a sum of money was “given to Ricd.
Barnes’s child, that had the king’s evil, to help him up to London,” to
be touched by Charles I.

The fairies of the Fylde were supposed, like those of other localities,
to reside in the earth; the vicinity of a cold spring, situated between
Hardhorn and Newton, was one of their legendary resorts, and from such
reputation acquired the name of “Fairies’ well.” Many stories are told
of the mischievous, or good-natured doings of these imaginary beings;
one or two of which we will here narrate:—A poor woman when filling her
pitcher at the above well, in order to bathe the weak eyes of her infant,
was gently addressed by a handsome man, who gave her a small box of
ointment, and told her at the same time that it would prove an infallible
remedy for the ailment of her child. The woman, although grateful for
the present, either overcome by that irresistible curiosity which is
commonly, but perhaps erroneously, supposed to attach itself to her sex,
or doubtful of the efficacy which the stranger had assigned to the drug,
applied it to one of her own eyes. A few days afterwards she had occasion
to go to Preston, and whilst there detected her benefactor in the act of
stealing corn from the open mouths of some sacks exposed for sale, and,
having accosted him, began to remonstrate with him on the wickedness of
his proceedings, when he inquired with evident surprise, how she became
enabled to observe him, as he was invisible to all else. She explained
the use that had been made of his ointment, and pointed to the powerful
eye; but hardly had the words been uttered and the organ of supernatural
vision indicated, before he raised his clenched hand, and with one blow
struck out the offending optic, or rather reduced it to a state of total
and irrecoverable blindness. Another anecdote refers to a milkmaid, who,
whilst engaged in her avocation, perceived a jug and sixpence placed
near to her by some invisible means; but no way disconcerted by the
singular event, and probably attributing it to the agency of one of the
elvan tribes, she filled the pitcher with milk, and, having watched its
mysterious disappearance and, with unerring commercial instinct, pocketed
the silver coin, took her departure. This episode was repeated for many
successive mornings, until the maiden, overjoyed at her good fortune,
revealed the curious adventures to her lover, and from that hour the
hobgoblins appear either to have grown less thirsty, or, annoyed at what
they might consider the betrayal of their secret, to have removed their
custom to some other dairy, for neither jug nor sixpence ever gladdened
the morning labours of the milkmaid again. A ploughman had his good
nature, in cheerfully repairing the broken “spittle” of a lady liberally
rewarded. The fairy, for such she proved to be, made known her presence
to the agriculturist by suddenly crying in a distressed tone—“I have
broken my speet,” and then held out in her hands the useless instrument
with a hammer and nails. No sooner had she received her property,
restored to a state of utility, than she vanished into the earth, but
not, however, without leaving a substantial acknowledgment of his skill
and kindness in the palm of the astonished husbandman.

We can only discover a record of one witch in the Fylde; this person of
unenviable notoriety is stated to have had her abode in Singleton, and
to have been known to the villagers as Mag Shelton. Her food, according
to local tradition, was composed of boiled groats mixed with thyme or
parsley, and numerous are the anecdotes related of her evil machinations
and doings in the neighbourhood—the cows of the country people were
constantly milked by her, whilst the pitcher walked before her in the
form of a goose; lives were blighted and prosperity checked by the
influence of her evil eye. Once, however, she was foiled by a girl, who
fastened her to a chair by sticking a bodkin, crossed with two weavers’
healds, about her dress when seated before a large fire.

Some idea of the spiritual condition of the peasantry may be obtained
from the perusal of the following prayer, a common one amongst the
children of the Fylde about one hundred years ago:—

  “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
  Bless the bed that I lie on;
  There are four corners to my bed,
  And four angels overspread,
  Two at the feet and two at the head.
  If any ill thing me betide,
  Beneath your wings my body hide.
  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
  Bless the bed that I lie on.”

Bacon was considered to prove the finest and best if the hogs were
slaughtered before the moon began to wane, and in some month whose name
contained the letter R:—

  “Unless your bacon you would mar
  Kill not your pig without the R.”

The dumb-cake was made by unmarried women who wished to divine the
selection of fate as to their future husbands. The cake was baked in
strict silence by two maidens on Midsummer’s eve, and afterwards broken
into three pieces by another, who placed one under each of their pillows;
during sleep the expectant fair ones were rewarded with a vision of their
lovers, but the charm was ruined if only a single word were spoken.
Hemp-seed, also, was sown by young maidens, who whilst scattering it
recited the words “Hemp-seed I sow, hemp-seed I hoe, and he that is my
true-love come after me and mow.” After repeating the rhyme three times
it was only necessary to look over the shoulder, and the apparition of
the destined swain would never fail to appear:—

  “At eve last Midsummer no sleep I sought,
  But to the field a bag of hemp-seed brought;
  I scattered round the seed on every side,
  And three times, in a trembling accent cried:
  ‘This hemp-seed with my virgin hand I sow,
  Who shall my true love be the crop shall mow.’
  I straight looked back, and, if my eyes speak truth,
  With his keen scythe behind me came a youth.”[53]

A spinster who fasted on Midsummer’s eve, and at midnight laid a clean
cloth, with bread, cheese, and ale, and sat down to the table as though
about to eat, would be gratified with a sight of the person to whom
she would be married. This individual was supposed to pass through the
doorway, left open for the purpose, as the clock struck twelve, and,
approaching the table, to salute his future partner with a bow and a
pretence of drinking her health, after which he vanished, and the maid
retired to her couch to rejoice or mourn, according as she admired or
contemned the prospect in store for her. Cuttings or combings from the
hair were thrown into the fire, and upon their blazing brightly or
smouldering away depended the duration of life likely to be enjoyed
by the person from whose head they had been taken. Wishing-wells and
gates were visited by credulous rustics, who were anxious to make use
of their mysterious power in obtaining their desires in matters of love
or business. The forefinger was deemed venomous, and on that account
children were instructed not to spread salve or ointment with it.

About a century ago oats formed the chief production, and nearly, if
indeed not quite, the only grain crop cultivated in the Fylde. When
reaped, in harvest time, this commodity was carried on the backs of
pack-horses to the markets of Poulton, Kirkham, Garstang, and Preston.
The “horse bridge” between Carleton and Poulton was originally a narrow
structure, capable only of affording passage to a single horse at once,
and it was from the practice of the farmers, with their laden cattle,
crossing the stream by its aid, when journeying to market, that the
bridge derived its name. These horses followed a leader ornamented
with a bell, and after they had arrived at their destination and been
relieved of their burdens, returned home in the same order without a
driver, leaving him to attend to his duties at the market. The old bridge
in use at the period to which we allude, still exists, but is built
over and hidden by the present erection. Later experience has taught
the agriculturist that the soil of the Fylde is capable of producing,
under proper tillage, other crops, equal in their abundance to the one
to which it appears formerly to have been mainly devoted, and it would
be difficult at the present day to enumerate with accuracy the many and
varied fruits of the earth that have found a home in the Corn-field of
Amounderness.

We mentioned about the commencement of the chapter that marl was in
general use as a manure in the Anglo-Saxon era, and here it is perhaps
hardly necessary to state that this substance, so rich in lime and so
adapted for giving consistency to the sandy soils, is still occasionally
had recourse to by the husbandman. Guano was first introduced into this
country about the year 1842, but it is probable that it was not commonly
used in our district until the beginning of 1845, when a cargo was
imported from Ichaboe to Fleetwood by Messrs. Kemp and Co., and offered
for sale to the farmers of the neighbourhood. Other cargoes followed.
Subjoined are arranged some tables showing the average market values of
certain productions of the Fylde in the two years given:—

                                 1847.                      1867.
                               Inclusive.                 Inclusive.
                         Jan. to      July to      Jan. to       July to
                          June.         Dec.        June.         Dec.
  Wheat, per windle     39s.  6d.    25s.  6d.    31s.  8d.    32s.  6d.
  Meal, per load        52s.  6d.    41s.  6d.    37s.  0d.    37s.  6d.
  Beans, per windle     25s.  6d.    22s.  6d.
  Oats, per bushel       5s. 10½d.    4s.  8d.     4s.  5d.     4s.  6d.
  Potatoes, per windle  21s.  6d.[54] 7s.  0d.    12s.  8d.    11s.  6d.
  Butter, per pound      1s.  1d.     1s. 1½d.     1s.  5d.     1s.  3d.
  Eggs, per dozen        0s. 10d.     0s. 10d.     0s. 11d.     1s.  0d.
  Pork, per pound        0s.  6d.     0s.  6d.     0s. 5½d.     0s.  6d.
  Beef     ”             0s. 6½d.     0s. 7½d.     0s. 7¾d.     0s. 6¾d.
  Mutton   ”             0s. 6¾d.     0s. 8½d.     0s.  8d.     0s.  7d.
  Geese    ”             0s. 6¾d.[55]

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER V.

COSTUMES, COUNTRY, RIVERS, AND SEA.


The history of the dresses and costumes of the inhabitants of the
Fylde is interesting not only on account of the multifarious changes
and peculiarities which it exhibits, but also as a sure indication of
the progress in civilisation, wealth, and taste, made in our section
at different eras. To Julius Cæsar we are indebted for our earliest
knowledge of the scanty dress worn by the aborigines of this district,
and from that warrior it is learnt that a slight covering of roughly
prepared skins, girded about the loins, and the liberal application of
a blue dye, called woad, to the rest of the body constituted the sole
requisites of their primitive toilets. Cæsar conjectures that the juice
or dye of woad was employed by the people to give them a terror-striking
aspect in battle, but here he seems to have fallen into error, for the
wars engaged in by the Setantii would be confined to hostilities with
neighbouring tribes, stained in a similar manner, and it is scarcely
reasonable to suppose that either side would hope to intimidate the other
by the use of a practice common to both. A more probable explanation
of the custom is, that it was instituted for the ornamental qualities
it possessed in the eyes of the natives. Such a view is supported
by the remarks of Solinus, a Roman author, who informs us that the
embellishments usually consisted of the figures of animals, “which grew
with the growth of the body”; and from this it is evident that before
the frame had arrived at maturity, in either youth or childhood, the
skin was subjected to the painful and laborious process of tattooing,
for such according to Isidore, appears to have been the nature of the
operation. The latter asserts that the staining was accomplished by
squeezing out the juice of the plant on to the skin, and puncturing it
in with sharp needles. When the Romans established a station at Kirkham,
and opened out the Fylde by means of a good road-way to the coast, the
Setantii modified their wild uncultivated habits, and, taking pattern
from the more civilised garb of their conquerors, adopted a covering
for the lower limbs, called _brachæ_, hence the modern breeches, whilst
many of the chiefs were not long before they strutted about in all the
pride of a _toga_, or gown. About four hundred years later, when the
Anglo-Saxons had taken possession of the soil of the Fylde, and had
either appropriated the deserted settlements and renamed them, or reared
small and scattered groups of dwellings of their own, a marked change
became visible in the nationality, character, and costumes of the people.
No longer the semi-civilised and half-clad Briton was lord of the domain,
but the more refined Saxon with his linen shirt, drawers, and stockings,
either of linen or woollen, and bandaged crosswise from the ankle to the
knee with strips of leather; over these a tunic of the same material as
the stockings was thrown, and reached as low as the knees, being plain or
ornamented according to the means or rank of the wearer. This garment was
open at the neck and for a short distance over the chest; the sleeves,
extending to the wrists, were generally tight, and a girdle frequently,
but not universally, confined the gown round the waist. In addition a
small cloak was worn for out-door purposes over the tunic, and fastened
on the breast or shoulder with brooches or clasps. The shoes of the Saxon
settlers were open down the instep, where they were laced or tied with
two thongs. Even the very lowest of the population, although poverty
might reduce them to miserable straits, seldom, if ever, went barefooted.
Caps, on the contrary, were not in great request, and rarely to be seen,
unless on the heads of some of the more affluent. Our female ancestors at
that era were habited in a close-fitting dress, falling to the feet and
furnished with tight sleeves, reaching as far as the wrists, over which
was placed a shorter gown with loose open sleeves. Their head-dress was
simply a strip of linen of sufficient length to wrap round the temples
and fall on the neck. Amongst the wealthiest of the nation a flowing
mantle, ornaments of precious metal, and sable, beaver, and fox furs
were common, but the inhabitants of the Fylde, being of less exalted
social standing, were obliged to content themselves with the skins of
lambs and cats by way of adornment. The inferior farm servants, called
serfs, amongst whom many of the vanquished Britons would be classed,
were seldom indulged by their masters with more than a coat, a pair of
drawers, and sandals, the shirt, we presume, being deemed ill suited to
their positions of servitude and dependence.

The colonisation of the Danes, whatever effect it may have had upon the
habits and condition of the people, exercised no lasting influence upon
their dress, and it was not until half a century after the Norman baron,
Roger de Poictou, had parcelled out the land amongst his tenants, that
the bulk of the males were induced, by the example of the new-comers, to
display their taste in the choice of a head-covering. Many varieties were
daily open to their inspection on the brows of the Norman landholders
and servants, but the diffidence, let us hope, of the now humbled Saxons
suggested the adoption of an exceedingly plain flat species of bonnet,
which speedily became the common cap of the district. The ladies,
however, with a greater aptitude for rising superior to disappointment
and affliction, were not dilatory in benefitting by the superior style
of the fair partners of their conquerors, and soon, putting aside all
semblance of depression, appeared in long cuffs, hanging to the ground
from their upper dress sleeves and tied in a large knot; their kerchiefs,
also, whose modest proportions had formerly served only to encircle the
forehead, were now extravagantly lengthened and fastened in a similar
manner. As years rolled on and fashion began to assert her sway with
a greater show of authority, the shoes of the men underwent certain
changes, becoming more neat in workmanship and having the toes somewhat
elongated and pointed, whilst the richer of the gentry, chiefly Normans,
wore short boots reaching a little distance up the calf. In the early
part of the thirteenth century the female head-dresses consisted of
nets, made from various materials, in which the hair was confined; and
the trains of the gowns were lengthened. Later in the same era cowls
or hoods, twisted and pinned in fanciful shapes, adorned the heads of
the ladies, and formed the main feature of their walking costumes.
Aprons also came up at that period. The dress of the men underwent
no alteration of any moment until the first half of the fourteenth
century, when the manorial lords of the neighbourhood, and others of
the inhabitants, discarded the cloaks and tunics of their forefathers,
and substituted in their stead a close-fitting outer garment of costly
and handsome material, scarcely covering the hips, immediately above
which it was surrounded by a girdle. The sleeves usually terminated at
the elbows, and from there long white streamers depended, whilst the
sleeves of an under dress reached to the wrists, and were ornamented
with rows of buttons. A long cape and cowl was the general overcoat.
The most characteristic dress of the ladies was a habit cut away at the
sides so as to expose the under skirt, which was invariably of rich and
fine texture. The long white streamers, just alluded to, were part of
the female as well as the male attire, and the borders of the habit were
bound with fur or velvet. We may mention that an English beau of that
era wore long pointed shoes, the toes of which were connected with the
knees by gold or silver chains, a long stocking of different colour on
each leg, short trowsers, barely extending to the middle of the thigh, a
coat, half of which was white and the other blue or some equally bright
colour, and a silken hood or bonnet, fastened under the chin, embroidered
with grotesque figures of animals, and occasionally decked with gold and
precious stones. Lest, however, the reputations of our ancestors should
suffer in the eyes of the present generation from the existence in their
age of the absurdity here pictured, it is our duty and pleasure to assure
all readers that such parodies on manhood were strictly confined to the
populous cities, and that there is no probability of even a solitary
specimen ever having desecrated the modest soil of the Fylde.

During the greater portion of the succeeding cycle of a hundred years
a species of cloth turban was much in favour amongst the male sex of
the middle and upper classes, from one side of which a length of the
same material hung down below the waist, and was either thrust between
the girdle and the coat, or wrapped round the neck as a protection from
cold. Faces were cleanly shaved, and hair cut as close to the scalp as
possible; hitherto, from about the date of the first arrival of the
Normans, the practice had been to allow the latter to grow long and to
wear the beard. The hose were long and tight. The boots were either
short, or reached half-way up the thighs, both kinds being long toed.
Occasionally a single feather relieved the plainness of the turban-shaped
cap. The ordinary dress of the gentlewomen was a full trained robe
or gown, made high in the neck, and sometimes, with a fur or velvet
turn-over collar, its folds at the short-waist being confined by means of
a simple band and buckle. Coiffures were mostly heart-shaped, but in some
rare instances horned. The sleeves of the above costume were, shortly
after its institution, lengthened and widened to a ridiculous extent.
Towards the end of the particular era of which we are writing trains
were discontinued, and broad borders of fur substituted, whilst round
tapering hats, two feet in height, with loose kerchiefs floating from the
apex, came much into favour. The last few years of the fifteenth and the
earliest ones of the sixteenth centuries were marked by great changes
in the male attire; the Butlers, Cliftons, Carletons, Westbys, Allens,
Molyneux, and many others of the gentry of the neighbourhood, figured
at that period in fine shirts of long lawn, embroidered with silk round
the collar and wristbands, a doublet with sleeves open at the elbows to
allow the shirt to protrude, a stomacher, over which the doublet was
laced; a long gown or cloak, with loose or hanging sleeves and broad
turn-over collar of fur or velvet; long hose or stockings; broad-toed
shoes for ordinary use, and high boots, reaching to the knees, for riding
purposes; and broad felt hats, or variously shaped caps of fur or velvet,
adorned with ostrich or other feathers. The hair was permitted to grow
enormously long and fall down the back and over the shoulders, but the
face was still cleanly shaved, with the exception of military and aged
persons, who wore mustaches or beards. The wives and daughters, belonging
to such families as those alluded to, were habited in upper garments, cut
square at the neck, and stomachers, belts, and buckles, or costly girdles
with long pendants in front. The sleeves were slit at the elbows in a
manner similar to those of the men. High head-dresses were abandoned,
and a cap or caul of gold net or embroidery, which allowed the hair to
flow beneath it half way to the ground, took their place. Turbans, also,
were fashionable for a brief season. The females of a humbler sphere
wore plain grey cloth gowns, ornamented with lambs’ skin or wool, and
cloaks of Lincoln green; the appearance of such an one upon a holiday is
described by Skelton, the laureate of Henry VII., as under:—

  “Her kirtle bristow red,
  With cloths upon her head,
  They weigh a ton of lead.
  She hobbles as she goes,
  With her blanket hose,
  Her shoone smeared with tallow.”

In the following reign, the commonalty, in imitation of the example set
by the resident squires in this and other parts of the kingdom, became
so extravagant in their ideas of suitable habiliments that Henry VIII.
issued an edict, prohibiting them from wearing ornaments of even the
most simple description, and confining them to the use of cloth at a
certain fixed price, and lambs’ fur only. At the same time, velvets of
any colour, furs of martens, chains, bracelets, and collars of gold
were allowed only to those who possessed an income of not less than two
hundred marks per annum; but the sons and heirs of such were permitted
to wear black velvet or damask, and tawny-coloured russet or camlet.
None but those in the yearly receipt of one hundred marks could venture
on satin or damask robes. The dress which may be taken as the most
characteristic garb under the sovereignty of the last Henry and of his
two immediate successors, comprised a doublet with long bases, or skirts,
and extensive sleeves, over which was thrown a short cloak, provided with
armholes for the passage of the doublet sleeves. The cloak had a wide
rolling collar, made of velvet, fur, or satin, according to taste. The
shirt was plaited, and embroidered with gold, silver, or silk. The hose
were closely fitted to the limb, being in some cases long and entire,
and in others divided, under the names of the upper and nether stocks.
Slashed shoes, or buskins of velvet and satin, with broad toes, and a cap
of one of sundry forms, either simply bordered, or laden with feathers,
completed the costume of every male member of the numerous families
inhabiting the ancient halls of this section. Sir Walter Scott, who is
generally allowed to have been pretty correct in the costumes of his
heroes and minor characters, has described the appearance of a yeoman of
our county about the middle of the sixteenth century as follows:—

  “He was an English yeoman good,
  And born in Lancashire.
  ...
  His coal-black hair, shorn round and close,
    Set off his sun-burnt face;
  Old England’s sign, St. George’s cross,
    His barret-cap did grace;
  His bugle horn hung from his side,
    All in a wolf-skin baldric tied;
  And his short falchion, sharp and clear,
  Had pierced the throat of many a deer.
  His kirtle, made of forest green,
    Reached scantly to his knee;
  And at his belt, of arrows keen
  A furbished sheaf bore he.”

Shortly after the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, remarkable
alterations became evident in the fashions of the inhabitants. The skirts
of the doublet were reduced to much smaller dimensions, so as thoroughly
to expose the upper stocks, which, under the new title of trunk-hose, had
risen to a very important place in the toilet. French trunk-hose were the
first to render themselves conspicuous in our locality, and consisted of
two varieties, the former of which were short, round, and full, becoming,
in fact, in course of time, so swollen by padding that their use was
abandoned by universal consent; and the second variety, going to the
other extreme and fitting tightly to the limb, introduced. The next to
arrive were the Gallic hose, very large and wide, and extending to the
knee only; after which came the Venetian hose, reaching below the knee to
the garter, where they were secured with silken bands. The trunk-hose,
of every kind, were made of silk, velvet, satin, or damask. The nether
stocks, or stockings, were of jarnsey, thread, fine yarn, and later, of
silk, whilst the shoes partook more of the nature of slippers, and were
variously decorated. Ruffs encircled the necks of the males as well as
the females. Above the doublet was worn in the Spanish style a cloak of
silk, velvet, or taffeta, and of a red, black, green, yellow, tawny,
russet, or violet colour, many being bordered with long glass beads.
Hats were conical and high, flat and broad, and flat and round, but in
all cases were made of velvet or sarcenet, and ornamented with bunches
of feathers. The robes of the ladies, made of bright-coloured velvet,
silk, or fine cloth, had both tight and wide sleeves, and were branched
or opened at the front of the skirt to expose the handsome petticoat
beneath. The farthingale distended the dresses of our female ancestry
from just below the bodice or stomacher, in a manner that few, we opine,
of the fair sex would care to see revived at the present day. The ruff
was of cambric or lawn, and when first introduced, moderate in its
proportions, but like many other fashions of that epoch, became enlarged
into an absurdity as years passed on. The hair of the ladies was curled,
crisped, and arranged with most elaborate care; indeed, so curious and
changeable were the coiffures that it would be tedious to our readers
to offer more than this general description of them. Capes falling but
a short way beyond the shoulders, and faced with fringe or velvet,
were also worn. The costume of the gentlewomen during the seventeenth
century, if the sombre garbs of the Roundhead families be excepted,
consisted of an upper gown, which comprised a bodice and short skirt,
the former being open over a laced stomacher, and the latter divided
anteriorly, and its sides drawn back and looped up behind; a petticoat
or under-dress, of expensive material, reaching to the ground; a yellow
starched neckerchief, overspreading the shoulders and terminating on the
bosom in two pointed ends; and a high crowned hat, beneath which long
ringlets escaped and flowed down the back. The peasant girls or female
farm servants had plain dresses, falling to the ankles, and usually
tight sleeves and aprons. The bodices of some were open to the waist,
but the stomachers, although laced, were of a very inferior kind, and
the starched neckerchiefs were wanting. The gentlemen of the Fylde were
influenced in their choice of garments according as their sympathies
were with the King or Parliament, but there can be little question that
in a locality so staunchly loyal as our own, the picturesque garb of the
Cavaliers would predominate over the affectedly modest and plain attire
of the partizans of Cromwell. The existence on the soil of such men as
Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Thomas Singleton of Staining Hall, Thomas Hesketh
of Mains Hall, who laid down their lives in the service of the crown,
and numbers of others, who drew the sword in the cause of the throneless
monarch, are fair evidence that the above conjecture is not hazarded
without good reason. A doublet of silk, satin, or velvet, with large
wide sleeves slashed up the front; a collar covered by a band of rich
point lace, with Vandyke edging; a short cloak, thrown on one shoulder;
short trousers, fringed and reaching to the wide tops of the high boots;
a broad-leaved Flemish beaver hat, with a plume of feathers and band;
and a sword belt and rapier, constituted the full costume of a Cavalier.
Instead of the velvet doublet, a buff coat, richly laced, and encircled
by a broad silk or satin scarf, fastened in a bow, was substituted when
the inhabitants were under the excitement produced by actual war, in
which so many took part. The hair, it should be mentioned, was worn long
by the Cavaliers, and closely cropped by the Roundheads, whose dress
offers no special features to our notice.

In the earlier part of last century the occupiers of Layton, Lytham,
Fox, Burn, Mains, Rawcliffe, Rossall, Larbrick, etc., Halls, and others
of equal social standing, who formed the gentry of the Fylde, and who
consequently must be taken as our mirror of fashion, were clothed in
straight square-cut waistcoats, extending to the knees, and of very
gorgeous patterns; velvet breeches fastened below the knees; long silk
stockings; buckled shoes, with high red heels; periwigs of monstrous
size; hats, cocked on three sides; long lace neckerchiefs; and lastly,
but far from the least important, a coat of rich material, having long
stiff skirts and wide cuffs, turned back and adorned with gold or silver
lace. The ladies had laced stomachers beneath a bodice with straight
sleeves, ending at the elbow in moderately wide cuffs. The skirt of the
dress was divided in front and looped up behind, disclosing a petticoat
equalling or surpassing the richness of the upper garment, and trimmed
with flounces and furbelows. The boots resembled those just described,
but were more delicate in workmanship. The head-dress was composed of a
species of cap, the lace material of which rose in three or four tiers,
placed one above another, almost to a point, whilst the hair was brushed
up and arranged in stiff curls, somewhat resembling a pyramid. This
coiffure had only a brief reign, and was superseded by one less exalted,
and of more elegant appearance. Hoops were introduced about 1720, and
thirty years later silk aprons and gipsy straw hats, or small bonnets,
were worn. In 1765 periwigs were discarded, and the natural hair was
allowed to grow, being profusely sprinkled with powder, both by males and
females. The country people were habited in long, double-breasted coats,
made from frieze or homespun, and of a dark brown, grey, or other quiet
shade; a light drugget waistcoat, red shag or plush breeches, and black
stockings. There is no necessity to trace the costumes of our ancestors
further than the point here reached, as their varieties present few
phases of special interest, and probably the most striking are already
sufficiently familiar to our readers. A sure, though somewhat unsteady,
decline was shortly inaugurated in the sumptuous and elaborate dresses
of the people, which continued its course of reform until the more
economical and unostentatious dress of modern days had usurped the place
of the showy habiliments of the eighteenth century.

THE COUNTRY or district of the Fylde may be briefly described as broad
and flat, for although in many places it is raised in gentle undulations,
no hill of any altitude is to be seen upon its surface. The fertility of
its soil has long been acknowledged, and a visit to its fruitful fields
during the warm months of summer would disclose numbers of rich acres
yellow with the ripening grain, while potatoe and bean-fields, meadow
and pasture-lands, orchards and fruit gardens, are scattered over the
wide area. Our design in the present instance is not, however, to enlarge
upon these cultivated features, but to notice some of the more striking
natural peculiarities, and to arrange in a classified list sundry of the
rarer wild plants growing in the neighbourhood, enumerating also the
different birds and sea-fowl, which are either natives or frequenters of
the locality.

The features most calculated by their singularity to attract the
attention of the stranger on surveying this division of the county are
the moss-lands, the sand-hills, the mere at Marton, and the stunted
appearance and inclination from the sea of those trees situated anywhere
in the vicinity of the coast.

The great moss of the Fylde lies in the township of Marton, and extends
six miles from north to south, and about one mile from east to west. On
examining the structure of this moss, below the coarse herbage covering
its surface, is discovered a substance called peat, brown and distinctly
fibrous at its upper part, but becoming more and more compact as we
descend, until at the bottom is presented a firm, dark-coloured, or even
black mass, betraying less evidence, in some cases barely perceptible,
of its fibrous formation. Beneath the peaty layer is a thick bed of
clay, having imbedded in it, either partially or wholly, large trunks of
trees—oak, yew, fir, etc., which, by their frequency and arrangement,
show that at some period the extensive tract must have been a dense
woodland, but at what particular era it is impossible, with any degree
of exactness, to determine. The disinterment, however, of certain Celtic
relics from the substance of the peat, which may be supposed to have
belonged to the aboriginal Britons of the section, inclines us to the
opinion that the lower layers of the moss were formed, and consequently
the forest overthrown, anterior to the Roman occupation of our island,
but how long before that time it was standing, must remain purely a
matter of conjecture, unless some reliable proofs of its more precise
antiquity are disclosed during operations in the turf. The manner in
which the demolition of the forest was effected is also somewhat wrapt
in obscurity, although it is probable that the noble trees of which it
was composed were overturned and uprooted by the fury of some wide-spread
inundation or the violence of some terrific hurricane. The fearful
devastations, both or either of the elements here brought into action
can accomplish, are too well marked in the histories of other countries
for us to hesitate in ascribing to them the power of overthrowing, under
similar turbulent conditions, even so substantial an obstruction as the
forest must have been; but a careful study of the locality and of the
several sudden incursions of the tide which have occurred during recent
years, leads to the belief that the sea was the chief destructive agent,
and that the gale which hurled the raging volumes of water over the
low-lying lands at the south of Blackpool, and the then level wooded
tract beyond, assisted only in the ruinous work. In support of such
a hypothesis may be instanced the flood of 1833, when a tide, only
estimated to rise to a height of sixteen feet, but greatly swollen by
a furious storm from the south-west, burst over at that spot, swept
away several dwelling-houses in its course, battered down the hedges,
and laid waste the fields far into the surrounding country. Had this
inundation occurred during the high spring tides, it is impossible to
say to what extent its ravages might have been carried, but the incident
as it stands, being within the recollection of many still living, and
by no means a solitary example of the usual direction taken by the
storm-driven waves, furnishes an apt illustration of the most natural
way in which the downfall of the forest may have been accomplished. The
Rev. W. Thornber, who has bestowed much time and labour on the subject,
says:—“There are some facts that will go far to prove that these forests,
once standing on Marton Moss, were overthrown by an inundation of the
sea, viz., every tree on the Moss, as well as the Hawes, lies in a
south-eastern direction from the shore; and the bank, which appears
to have been the extent of this irruption, commencing at the Royal
Hotel, runs exactly in the same direction. The shells, similar to those
collected on the shore, intermixed with wrack of the sea, which are found
in abundance under the peat, also corroborate this supposition. Moreover
the tide is constantly depositing a marine silt similar to that which
lies beneath the peat, and in some instances upon it.”

The wreck of such a vast number of trees would cause a great but gradual
alteration in the surface of the ground. The masses of fallen timber,
blocking up the streamlets and obstructing drainage, would create a more
or less complete stagnation of water upon the land; the bark, branches,
and leaves undergoing a process of decay would form the deepest layers
of the peat; rank herbage and aquatic plants springing up and dying in
endless succession, would form annual accumulations of matter, which in
course of time would also be assimilated into peat, and in this manner
the moss overlaying the original clayey surface and burying the ancient
forest, would grow step by step to its present dimensions. Again, each
layer of peat, as they were successively formed, would press upon those
beneath, so that the weight of its own increase would give firmness and
solidity to the substance of the moss. Thus we see that the whole secret
of the creation or formation of the moss is simply a process of growth,
decay, and accumulation of certain vegetable products annually repeated.
The huge moss of Pilling and Rawcliffe owes its existence to similar
phenomena.

The large mounds, or star-hills as they are called, which undulate the
coast line from Lytham to South-Shore, are composed simply and purely
of sand, covered over with a coarse species of herb, bearing the name
of star-grass. Similar eminences at one time occupied the whole of the
marine border of the Fylde, but in many places the encroaching tide has
not only annihilated the hills themselves, but even usurped their sites.
The town of Fleetwood is erected on a foundation of sand, and several
extensive mounds of that nature exist in its vicinity. Below this light
superficial substance, in some places very deep and thrown into its
elevated forms by the long-continued action of the wind, is a subsoil
resembling that found in other parts of the Fylde, and consisting of
a clayey loam and alluvial matter. The diminutive size of those trees
growing near the coast is due both to the openness and bleakness of the
site, and the deleterious effects of the saline particles contained in
the air; whilst the peculiar leaning from the water of their branches,
and in many instances their trunks, is caused by the mechanical action
or pressure of the strong winds and sea breezes prevailing from the west
during three-fourths of the year.

Marton Mere, situated in the township indicated by its name, was formerly
a lake of no inconsiderable extent, but drainage and the accumulation
within its basin of sediment have reduced it to its present comparatively
unimportant dimensions. Traces of the more extensive boundaries of the
sheet of water in former days are still discernible along its banks,
and at one time, it is stated, the wheel of a water-mill near to the
village of Great Marton, was turned by a stream from the mere. The right
of fishery in the lake, for such it was in the earlier periods, was the
subject of legal contest in the reign of Edward III., and in 1590 John
Singleton, of Staining Hall, held the privilege.

There are few districts of similar area which can boast so many and
such interesting varieties of the feathered tribes, either natives or
visitants, as the Fylde. Some of the rarest sea-fowl are occasionally
seen along the coasts, while the fields and hedgerows abound with most
of the melodious songsters of our island. Amongst the number of both
land and sea birds which have been observed in the neighbourhood, either
during the whole year or only in certain parts of it, may be mentioned
the following:—

  ORDER—RAPTORES OR RAPACIOUS BIRDS.

  FALCONIDÆ OR FALCON FAMILY.

  Tinnunculus Alaudarus     Kestrel                    Common
  Accipiter Nisus           Sparrow Hawk               Common
  Circus ceruginosus        Moor Buzzard               Very rare
  Strix flammea             Barn Owl                   Common
  Otus vulgaris             Long-eared Owl             Common
  Otus brachyotus           Short-eared Owl            Common

  ORDER—PASSERES OR PERCHERS.

  HIRUNDINIDÆ OR SWALLOW FAMILY.

  Hirundo rustica           Common Swallow             Common
  Cotyle riparia            Sand Martin                Common
  Chelidon urbica           House Martin               Common

  LUSCINIDÆ OR WARBLER FAMILY.

  Sylvia undata             Whitethroat                Common
  Sylvia trochilus          Willow Warbler             Rare
  Sylvia curruca            Lesser Whitethroat         Common
  Sylvia sibilatrix         Wood Warbler               Rare
  Calamodyta phragmitis     Sedge Warbler              Rare
  Saxicola ænanthe          Wheatear                   Common
  Pratincola rubetra        Whinchat                   Common
  Pratincola rubicola       Stonechat                  Rare
  Ruticilla phœnicura       Redstart                   Rare
  Parus major               Great Titmouse             Common
  Parus cæruleus            Blue Titmouse              Common
  Parus caudatus            Long-tailed Titmouse       Rare
  Parus ater                Cole Titmouse              Rare
  Motacilla Yarrellii       Pied Wagtail               Common
  Motacilla sulphurea       Yellow Wagtail             Common
  Motacilla campestris      Grey Wagtail               Rather rare
  Anthus pratensis          Meadow Titlark             Common
  Anthus arboreus           Tree Titlark               Rare
  Regulus cristatus         Golden-crested Wren        Rare
  Regulus ignicapillus      Fire-crested Wren          Very rare

  TURDIDÆ OR THRUSH FAMILY.

  Turdus musicus            Song Thrush                Very common
  Turdus viscivorus         Missel Thrush              Common
  Turdus pilaris            Fieldfare                  Common
  Turdus iliacus            Redwing                    Rather rare
  Turdus merula             Blackbird                  Common
  Turdus torquatus          Ring Ousel                 Rather rare

  LANIIDÆ OR SHRIEK FAMILY.

  Lanius collurio           Red-backed Shriek          Rare

  CORVIDÆ OR CROW FAMILY.

  Corvus Corone             Carrion Crow               Very common
  Corvus cornix             Hooded Crow                Rare
  Corvus frugilegus         Rook                       Very common
  Pica caudata              Magpie                     Rather rare

  STURNIDÆ OR STARLING FAMILY.

  Sturnus vulgaris          Common Starling            Common

  FRINGILLIDÆ OR FINCH FAMILY.

  Fringilla carduelis       Goldfinch                  Common
  Fringilla cælebs          Chaffinch                  Common
  Fringilla spinus          Siskin                     Rare
  Fringilla chloris         Greenfinch                 Common
  Fringilla cannabina       Linnet                     Common
  Emberiza citrinella       Yellow Bunting             Common
  Emberiza schæniculus      Reed Bunting               Common
  Emberiza miliaris         Common Bunting             Common
  Emberiza nivalis          Snow Bunting               Rare
  Pyrrhula rubicilla        Bullfinch                  Rare
  Alauda arvensis           Skylark                    Very common
  Alauda arborea            Woodlark                   Rare

  ORDER—SCANSORES OR CLIMBERS.

  CUCULIDÆ OR CUCKOO FAMILY.

  Cuculus canorus           Cuckoo                     Common

  ORDER—COLUMBÆ OR DOVES.

  COLUMBIDÆ OR DOVE FAMILY.

  Columba palumbus          Ring Dove                  Rare
  Columba ænas              Stock Dove                 Common

  ORDER—GALLINÆ OR FOWLS.

  PHASIANIDÆ OR PHEASANT FAMILY.

  Phasianus Colchicus       Common Pheasant            Common

  TETRAONIDÆ OR TETRAO FAMILY.

  Perdix cinereus           Common Partridge           Common
  Coturnix communis         Quail                      Common

  ORDER—GRALLATORES OR WADERS.

  CHARADRIADÆ OR PLOVER FAMILY.

  Charadrius pluvialis      Golden Plover              Common
  Charadrius hiaticula      Ringed Plover or Dotterel  Common
  Charadrius morinellus     Common Dotterel            Common
  Vanellus griseus          Grey Plover                Common
  Vanellus cristatus        Common crested Lapwing     Common
  Hæmatopus ostralegus      Oyster-catcher             Very common
  Cinclus interpres         Turnstone                  Common

  ARDEIDÆ OR HERON FAMILY.

  Ardea cinerea             Common Heron               Common
  Nycticorax Europæus       Common Night Heron         Rare
  Botaurus stellaris        Bittern                    Very rare indeed

  SCOLOPACIDÆ OR WOODCOCK FAMILY.

  Tringoides hypoleuca      Common Sandpiper           Common
  Totanus ochropus          Green Sandpiper            Rare
  Totanus Calidris          Redshank Sandpiper         Common
  Numenius arquata          Curlew or Whaup            Common
  Numenius phæopus          Whimbrel                   Common
  Limosa vulgaris           Common Godwit              Rare
  Philomachus pugnax        Ruff                       Rare
  Tringa Canutus            Knot                       Rare
  Tringa Temminckii         Temminck’s Stint           Rare
  Tringa minuta             Little Stint               Very rare
  Tringa cinclus            Dunlin                     Common
  Phalaropus fulicarius     Grey Phalarope             Rare
  Scolopax rusticola        Woodcock                   Common
  Gallinago media           Common Snipe               Common
  Gallinago gallinula       Jack Snipe                 Common

  RALLIDÆ OR RAIL FAMILY.

  Rallus aquaticus          Water Rail                 Common
  Ortygometra crex          Land Rail                  Common
  Gallinula chloropus       Water Hen                  Common
  Fulica atra               Common Coot                Common

  ORDER—NATORES OR SWIMMERS.

  ANATIDÆ OR DUCK FAMILY.

  Anser ferus               Grey-lag Goose             Rare
  Anser segetum             Bean Goose                 Common
  Bernicla leucopsis        Bernicle Goose             Common
  Cygnus ferus              Whistling Swan             Rare
  Tadorna vulpanser         Common Shieldrake          Common
  Mergus Castor             Goosander                  Rare
  Anas boschas              Mallard                    Common
  Querquedula Crecca        Common Teal                Common
  Spatula clypeata          Shoveller Duck             Rare
  Moreca Penelope           Common Wigeon              Common
  Myroca Terina             Common Pochard             Rather rare
  Margellus albellus        Smew                       Occasional visitor
  Fuligula cristata         Tufted Duck or Pochard     Rather common
  Fuligula marila           Scaup Duck or Pochard      Rather rare
  Oidemia fusca             Velvet Scoter              Rare
  Oidemia nigra             Black Scoter               Very rare
  Clangula vulgaris         Golden-eye Duck or Garrot  Rather common
  Clangula albeola          Buffel-headed Duck         Common

  COLYMBIDÆ OR DIVER FAMILY.

  Colymbus glacialis        Great Northern Diver       Very rare
  Colymbus arcticus         Black-throated Diver       Rare
  Colymbus septentrionalis  Red-throated Diver         Rather common
  Chaulelasmus strepera     Gadwall                    Very rare
  Podiceps minor            Little Grebe               Common

  ALCIDÆ OR AUK FAMILY.

  Fratercula artica         Puffin                     Common
  Alca torda                Razor-bill                 Rare
  Uria Troile               Common Guillemot           Rare

  PROCELLARIDÆ OR PETREL FAMILY.

  Thalassidroma pelagica    Stormy Petrel              Common
  Thalassidroma Leachii     Fork-tailed Petrel         Rather rare

  LARIDÆ OR GULL FAMILY.

  Larus canus               Common Gull                Very common
  Larus ribibundus          Black-headed Gull          Very common
  Larus fuscus              Little Black-headed Gull   Common
  Larus tridactylus         Kittiwake Gull             Very common
  Larus Glaucus             Glaucus Gull               Rare
  Larus argentatus          Herring Gull               Very common
  Sterna hirundo            Sea-swallow or Tern        Common
  Sterna fuliginosa         Sooty Tern                 Rare
  Sterna minuta             Lesser Tern                Common

  PELECANIDÆ OR PELICAN FAMILY.

  Graculus Carbo            Common Cormorant           Common
  Graculus Cristata         Crested Cormorant          Rather rare
  Sula Bassanea             Gannet or Solan Goose      Common

The fertile fields and sunny lanes of the Fylde afford ample opportunity
for the botanist to indulge in his favourite pursuit, and a short ramble
over any portion of the pleasant country will unfold to his inquiring
gaze many of Nature’s most beautiful and interesting offsprings.
Specimens, especially of the maritime varieties of several of the floral
families, unobtainable in the inland districts, may here be found lightly
planted on the loose, sandy margins of the shore. In the context it is
not intended to enter into a description of the different plants or of
the localities in which they may most commonly be found, but merely to
enumerate some of the more important ones; and in the following list
all those inhabitants of the district, which are likely to interest the
student of Botany or lover of Nature, are arranged in their various
groups or orders:—

  RANUNCULACEÆ OR BUTTERCUP ORDER.

  Ranunculus aquatilis        Water Crowcroft
      ”      Lingua           Spearwort
      ”      acris            Meadow Crowfoot
      ”      arvensis         Corn      ”
  Thalictrum minus            Lesser Meadow-rue
  Delphinium consolida        Field Larkspur

  NYMPHÆACEÆ OR LILY ORDER.

  Nymphæa Alba                White Water-lily

  PAPAVERACEÆ OR POPPY ORDER.

  Papaver dubium              Long Smooth-headed Poppy
      ”   Rhæas               Corn Poppy
  Chelidonium majus           Common Celandine

  CRUCIFERÆ OR CABBAGE ORDER.

  Nasturtium officinale       Common Water-cress
  Hesperis matronalis         Common Damewort
  Cochlearia officinalis      Common Scurvy-grass
      ”      Danica           Danish      ”
  Cakile maritima             Purple Sea Rocket
  Crambe     ”                Sea Kale
  Sisymbrium Irio             Broad-leaved Hedge-mustard
      ”      Sophia           Fine-leaved        ”

  VIOLACEÆ OR VIOLET ORDER.

  Viola odorata               Sweet Violet
    ”   tricolar              Heartsease

  RESEDACEÆ OR MIGNONETTE ORDER.

  Reseda Luteola              Yellow Weed

  DROSERACEÆ OR SUNDEW ORDER.

  Drosera rotundifolfa        Sundew
  Parnassia pallustris        Grass of Parnassus

  CARYOPHYLLACEÆ OR CLOVEWORT ORDER.

  Saponaria officinalis       Common Soapwort
  Lychnis Diocia              White Campion
     ”    Floscuculi          Cuckoo-flower
  Silene inflata              Bladder Catchfly
     ”   maritima             Sea        ”
  Arenaria marina             Sea Sandwort
     ”     serpyllifolia      Thyme-leaved Sandwort
  Adenaria peploides          Sea Chickweed

  LINACEÆ OR FLAX ORDER.

  Linum usitatissimum         Common Flax
    ”   catharticum           Purging ”

  MALVACEÆ OR MALLOW ORDER.

  Malva rotundifolia          Dwarf Mallow
  Althæa officinalis          Marsh Mallow

  GERANIACEÆ OR CRANESBILL ORDER.

  Geranium sanguimeum         Bloody Crane’s-bill
  Geranium pratense           Meadow Crane’s-bill
  Geranium purpurea           Odoriferous Cranes-bill
  Erodium cicutarium          Hemlock Stork’s-bill

  LEGUMINOSÆ OR LEGUMINOUS ORDER.

  Anthyllis vulneraria        Common Kidney-vetch
  Vicia lathyroides           Spring Vetch
  Ononis procurrens           Procurrent Restharrow
    ”    spinosa              Spinous         ”
  Melilotus officinalis       Common Melilot
  Trifolium arvense           Hare’s-foot Trefoil

  ROSACEÆ OR ROSE ORDER.

  Rosa canina                 Dog rose
    ”  spinosissima           Burnet-leaved Rose
    ”  eglantaria             Sweet Briar
  Agrimonia Eupatoria         Agrimony
  Spiræa ulmaria              Meadow Sweet
  Rubus fruticosus            Blackberry Brambles

  ONAGRACEÆ OR ŒNOTHERA FAMILY.

  Epilobium hirsutum          Great Willow-herb
      ”     montanum          Small      ”

  LYTHRACEÆ OR LYTHRUM FAMILY.

  Lythrum salicaria           Spiked purple Loosestrife

  HALORAGEACEÆ OR THE MARE’S TAIL ORDER.

  Hippuris vulgaris           Common Mare’s-tail

  PORTULACACEÆ OR PURSLANE ORDER.

  Montia foutana              Water Blinks

  CRASSULACEÆ OR THE CRASSULA ORDER.

  Sedum acre                  Biting Stonecrop
    ”   album                 White     ”
  Sempervivum tectorum        Houseleek

  SAXIFRAGACEÆ OR SAXIFRAGE ORDER.

  Saxifraga granulata         White Saxifrage
       ”    stellaris         Starry    ”
       ”    aizoides          Yellow    ”

  UMBELLIFERÆ OR UMBELLIFEROUS ORDER.

  Crithmum maritimum          Samphire
  Hydrocotyle vulgaris        Marsh Pennywort
  Conium maculatum            Hemlock
  Cicuta virosa               Cowbane
  Eryngium maritimum          Sea-holly
  Apium graveolens            Wild Celery
  Bupleurum tenuissimum       Slender Hare’s-ear
  Œnanthe Crocata             Dead-tongue
  Peucedanum ostruthium       Master-wort
       ”     officinale       Sea Sulphurwort
  Daucus Carato               Wild Carrot
  Anthriscus sylvestris       Wild beaked Parsley
  Scandix Pecten-Veneris      Venus’ Comb

  CAPRIFOLIACEÆ OR HONEYSUCKLE ORDER.

  Louicera Periclymenum       Pretty piped Woodbine
     ”     Caprifolium        Common Woodbine
  Sambucus Nigra              Elder

  RUBIACEÆ OR MADDER ORDER.

  Galium verum                Yellow Bedstraw
     ”   mollugo              Hedge     ”
  Sherardia arvensis          Little Spurwort

  VALERIANACEÆ OR VALERIAN ORDER.

  Valeriana officinalis       Common Valerian
  Valerianella olitoria       Lamb’s Lettuce

  DIPSACACEÆ OR TEAZEL ORDER.

  Dipsacus sylvestris         Wild Teazel

  COMPOSITÆ OR COMPOSITE ORDER.

  Aster Tripolium             Sea Starwort
  Apargia hispida             Rough Hawkbit
  Hieracium pallidum          Hawkweed
     ”      umbellatum        Narrow-leaved Hawkweed
  Carduus tenuiflorus         Slender-flowered Thistle
     ”    palustris           Marsh Thistle
  Chrysanthemum maritimum     Sea Feverfew
  Tanacetum vulgare           Common Tansey
  Centaurea Cyanus            Corn Bluebottle
  Pryethrum parthenium        Common Feverfew
     ”      inodorum          Corn      ”
  Senecio vulgaris            Common Groundsell
     ”    aquaticus           Marsh Groundsell
  Silybum Marianum            Milk Thistle
  Tragopogon pratense         Yellow Goatsbeard
  Helminthia echioides        Bristly Oxtongue

  VACCINIACEÆ OR CRANBERRY ORDER.

  Oxycoccus palustris         Cranberry

  CAMPANULACEÆ OR HAREBELL ORDER.

  Campanula rotundifolia      Harebell

  PYROLACEÆ OR WINTERGREEN ORDER.

  Pyrola media                Intermediate Wintergreen

  APOCYNACEÆ OR DOGBANE ORDER.

  Vinca major                 Greater Periwinkle

  GENTIANACEÆ OR GENTIAN ORDER.

  Gentiana Pneumonanthe       Marsh Gentian
     ”     Campestris         Field   ”
  Chironia Centaurium, var.   White-flowered Centaury
     ”     latifolia          Broad-leaved     ”
     ”     pulchella          Dwarf-branched   ”

  CONVOLVULACEÆ OR CONVOLVULUS ORDER.

  Convolvulus Soldanella      Sea Bindweed
     ”        Sepium, var.    Great Ditto, Pink-flowered
     ”        arvensis        Small Bindweed

  SCROPHULARIACEÆ OR FIGWORT ORDER.

  Veronica Anagallis          Water Speedwell
     ”     arvensis           Wall     ”
     ”     Beccabunga         Brooklime
     ”     Serpyllifolia      Thyme-leaved Speedwell
  Digitalis purpurea          Purple Foxglove
  Linaria vulgaris            Yellow toadflax
  Antirrhinum Cymbalaria      Ivy-leaved Snapdragon
  Scrophularia vernalis            ”     figwort

  LABIATÆ THE DEAD-NETTLE ORDER.

  Thymus Serpyllum            Wild Thyme
  Marrubium vulgare           White Horehound
  Prunella vulgaris           Selfheal
  Mentha viridis              Spearmint
     ”   arvensis             Corn mint
  Betonica officinalis        Wood Betony
  Lamum album                 White Dead-nettle
     ”  purpureum             Red       ”
  Galeopsis ladanum           Red Hemp-nettle
  Scutellaria galericulata    Skullcap

  PLUMBAGINACEÆ OR LEADWORT FAMILY.

  Armeria vagaris             Common Thrift
  Statice Limonium            Lavender ”

  BORAGINACEÆ OR BORAGE ORDER.

  Myosotis palustris          Forget-me-not
     ”     cæspitosa          Water Scorpion-grass
     ”     arvensis           Field       ”
     ”     versicolor         Yellow and Blue ”

  LENTIBULARIACEÆ OR BLADDERWORT ORDER.

  Utricularia vulgaris        Greater Bladderwort

  PRIMULACEÆ OR PRIMROSE ORDER.

  Primula vulgaris            Primrose
     ”    veris               Cowslip
  Glaux maritima              Black Saltweed
  Samolus Valerandi           Brookweed
  Anagallis cærula            Blue Pimpernel
     ”      tenella           Bog      ”
  Hottonia palustris          Water Featherfoil
  Lysimachia vulgaris         Yellow Loosestrife

  PLANTAGINACEÆ OR RIBGRASS ORDER.

  Plantago major              Plantain
     ”     media              Hoary Plantain
     ”     maritima           Sea-side Plantain
  Littorella lacustris        Plantain Shoreweed

  POLYGONACEÆ OR BUCKWHEAT ORDER.

  Rumex crispus               Curled Dock
    ”   acetosa               Common Sorrel

  EUPHORBIACEÆ OR SPURGEWORT ORDER.

  Euphorbia paralias          Sea purge

  URTICACEÆ OR NETTLE ORDER.

  Humulus Lupulus             Hop
  Urtica pilulifera           Roman nettle
  Parietaria officinalis      Common Wall-pellitory

  SALICACEÆ OR WILLOW ORDER.

  Salix argentea              Silky Sand Willow
    ”   repens                Dwarf Willow
  Myrica Gale                 Sweet Gale

  IRIDACEÆ OR IRIS ORDER.

  Iris Pseudacorus            Yellow water-iris

  AMARYLLIDACEÆ OR THE AMYRILLIS ORDER.

  Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus  Common Daffodil
  Galanthus nivalis           Snowdrop

  ALISMACEÆ OR WATER-PLANTAIN ORDER.

  Butomus umbellatus          Flowering-rush
  Alisma ranunculoides        Lesser Thrumwort

  POTAMOGETONACEÆ OR PONDWEED ORDER.

  Ruppia maritima             Sea Tasselgrass
  Zannichellia palustris      Common Lakeweed

  ORCHIDACEÆ OR ORCHID ORDER.

  Orchis morio                Green-winged Orchis
     ”   pyramidalis          Pyramidal      ”
  Epipactis latifolia         Broad-leaved Helleborine
     ”   palustris            Marsh          ”

  JUNCACEÆ OR RUSH ORDER.

  Juncus effesus              Soft Rush
    ”    filiformis           Threadrush
    ”    squarrosus           Heathrush
  Narthecium ossifragrum      Bog Asphodel

  ARACEÆ OR ARUM ORDER.

  Lenna minor                 Lesser Duckweed

  CRONTIACEÆ OR SWEET-FLAG ORDER.

  Acorus Calamus              Sweet-flag

  CYPERACEÆ OR SEDGE ORDER.

  Carex limosa                Mud Sedge
    ”   flava                 Yellow ”
    ”   arenaria              Sea    ”
  Eriophorum polystachyon     Broad-leaved Cotton-grass

  EQUISETACEÆ OR HORSETAIL ORDER.

  Equisetum arvense           Corn Horsetail
      ”     variegatum        Variegated Horsetail

THE RIVER WYRE rises in the hills of Wyersdale and Bleasdale; running in
a south-westerly direction and passing the towns of Garstang and Church
Town, it arrives at St. Michael’s, from which point its tortuous course
is continued almost due west as far as Skippool. Thence winding past
the ancient port of Wardleys, the stream, much widened, flows north
and a little inclined towards the west, until it reaches the harbour of
Fleetwood, situated at its mouth. From that seaport, the channel of the
river, unaltered in direction, lies for a distance of nearly two miles
between the sand-banks of North Wharf and Bernard’s Wharf, and finally
terminates in Morecambe Bay, meeting the well-defined bed of the Lune
at right angles. The origins of the Wyre in the hills consist of two
small rivulets, and the stream formed by their union is joined near
Scorton by the Grizedale Brook, whilst lower down, about two miles beyond
the town of Garstang, it receives the Calder, rising on the slopes of
Bleasdale. Before leaving the parish of Garstang, the Wyre is further
increased by the brook springing from Fairsnape and Parlick Pike, which
passes Claughton and Myerscough, not far from where it receives a small
tributary from the south. At Skippool also a brook, the Skipton, which
springs from the mere and marshy grounds of Marton Moss, pours its
contents into the river.

The Wyre is crossed at Garstang by the aqueduct of the Preston,
Lancaster, and Kendal canal, and at St. Michael’s, near the Church, it is
spanned by a rather narrow but substantial stone bridge. For a distance
of about six miles in the neighbourhood of the latter place the stream
is enclosed within artificial banks, which in some parts have a descent
of thirty feet. In spite of these precautions, however, high floods
occasionally occur, when the swollen waters burst over the embankments
and inundate the adjoining country. At Cart Ford there is a wooden
structure of very limited width, connecting the opposing banks; and a few
miles further down is the Shard Bridge, built of iron, and presenting
a neat and elegant appearance. The river at that spot is 500 yards in
breadth, and until the erection of the bridge in 1864, was crossed by
means of a ferry-boat, or forded at low water by carts and conveyances.
The ancient name of this ford was Ald-wath, and we learn from the
following entry in the diary of Thomas Tyldesley, that in 1713 the charge
for crossing by boat was 6d. each journey:—“September 14, 1713.—Went
after dinr. to ffox Hall; pd. 6d. ffor boating att Sharde; saw ye ferry
man carry out of ye boat a Scot and his pack, a sight I never saw beffor,
beeing 56 years off age.”

About three hundred years since the venerable Harrison described the
principal rivers of Lancashire, and from his writings at that time we
quote as under:—

  “The Wire ryseth eight or ten miles from Garstan, out of an hill
  in Wiresdale, from whence it runneth by Shireshed chappell, and
  then going by Wadland, Grenelaw Castle (which belongeth to the
  erle of Darbie), Garstan and Kyrkeland hall, it first receiveth
  the seconde Calder, that commeth down by Edmersey chappell,
  then another chanel increased with sundrie waters, the first
  water is called Plympton brooke. It riseth south of Gosner, and
  commeth by Craweforde hall, and eare long receyving the Barton
  becke, it proceedeth forward till it joyneth with the Brooke
  rill that commeth from Bowland Forest by Claughton hall, where
  M. Brokehales doth live, and so throw Mersco forest. After this
  confluence the Plime or Plimton water meeteth with the Calder,
  and then with the Wire, which passeth forth to Michael church and
  the Rawcliffes, and above Thorneton crosseth the Skipton, that
  goeth by Potton, then into the Wire rode, and finally into the
  sea, according to his nature.”

Drayton also has left the subjoined versified account of the Wyre, and
as in addition to its poetic merit, it possesses the virtue of being a
faithful description, we need not apologise for giving it unabridged:—

  “Arising but a rill at first from Wyersdale’s lap,
  Yet still receiving all her strength from her full mother’s pap,
  As downe to seaward she her serious course doth ply,
  Takes Calder coming in, to beare her company,
  From Woolscrag’s cliffy foot, a hill to her at hand,
  By that fayre forest knowne, within her Verge to stand.
  So Bowland from her breast sends Brock her to attend,
  As she a Forest is, so likewise doth she send
  Her child, on Wyresdale Flood, the dainty Wyre to wayte,
  With her assisting Rills, when Wyre is once repleat;
  She in her crooked course to Seaward softly glides,
  Where Pellin’s mighty Mosse, and Merton’s on her sides
  Their boggy breasts outlay, and Skipton down doth crawle
  To entertain this Wyre, attained to her fall.”[56]

White Hall, (formerly Upper Rawcliffe Hall,) Rawcliffe Hall, and Mains
Hall, each of which will claim our attention more particularly hereafter,
are seated on the banks of the Wyre, so also is the ancient house of
Preesall-with-Hackensall, and although not properly comprised within the
limits of this work, it has a right from its association with the river,
to some description—a right the more readily conceded when it is known
that in point of antiquity and interest, the hall and domain are well
deserving of our consideration. The site of the mansion is a little
removed from the brink of the stream, and almost directly opposite the
southern extremity of Fleetwood. The present building is of considerable
age, having been erected by Richard Fleetwood, of Rossall, in 1656, as
indicated by an inscription over the main entrance, but there can be
no question that the origin of its predecessor was co-eval, at least,
with the grant of the manor by King John, when earl of Moreton, to
Geoffrey, the Crossbowman, who, with his descendants, resided there. The
whole of the large estate remained in the family of Geoffrey until the
fifteenth century, when it was conveyed in marriage to James Pickering,
of Layton, by Agnes, the sole offspring and heiress of the last male
Hackensall, the title assumed, according to custom, by the Crossbowman.
James Pickering left at his decease four daughters, co-heiresses, and
married to Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe, Thomas Aglionby, Nicholas
Aglionby, and James Leybourne, each of whom inherited one-fourth of the
manor in right of his wife. In 1639 Sir Paul Fleetwood, of Rossall,
held three-fourths of Hackensall, whilst the remaining quarter had
descended to Henry Butler. Under the will of Richard Fleetwood, the
re-erector of the hall, at that time occupied by his brother Francis,
the three-fourths just named were sold by his trustees, being purchased,
in part, for the Hornbys, of Poulton. Geoffrey Hornby, vicar of Winwick,
and Robert Loxham, vicar of Poulton, held between them three-quarters of
the manor in 1729, and William Elletson, of Parrox Hall, had possession
of the other fourth, which is now the hereditary estate of Daniel Hope
Elletson, esq., justice of the peace, residing at the same seat. At the
end of the last century the Hornbys disposed of their share to John
Bourne, gentleman, of Stalmine, from whom it descended to his second
son, James Bourne, of Stalmine, and from him to his nephews, Thomas,
James, and Peter, successively. The other portion of the manorial rights
of the three-fourths was subsequently acquired by the last-surviving
nephew, Peter Bourne, of Heathfield and Liverpool. Peter Bourne, esq.,
of Hackensall, married Margaret, the only daughter of James Drinkwater,
esq., of Bent, in Lancashire, and left issue James, who is the present
lord of three-quarters of the manor, and owner of the ancient Hall. James
Bourne, esq., M.P., of Hackensall, and of Heathfield, near Liverpool,
is Col.-Comdt. of the Royal Lancashire regiment of Militia Artillery, a
deputy-lieutenant, and a justice of the peace of this county. Colonel
Bourne has recently restored the old manor house, but in such a way
as to preserve, and not obliterate, its links with a bygone age. The
antique fire-places, one of which was protected by a massive arch of
stone sweeping across the whole width of the room, have been renewed as
before, and although the main doorway has been removed to another part
of the building, the stone with the initials F. R. A., being those of
Richard Fleetwood and Anne, his wife, has been reinstated in its original
position above the newly-constructed lintel. Rumour affirms that during
certain alterations two or three skeletons, supposed to be those of
females, were found bricked up in a narrow chamber in one of the walls,
and whilst confirming the discovery of a long secret recess, we dare not
venture, for the evidence is somewhat contradictory, to hold ourselves
responsible for the strict accuracy of the other part of the story, which
suggests the enactment of a scene of revolting cruelty, similar to that
introduced by Sir Walter Scott in the following lines:—

  “Yet well the luckless wretch might shriek,
  Well might her paleness terror speak!
  For there was seen in that dark wall,
  Two niches, narrow, deep, and tall.
  Who enters at such grisly door
  Shall ne’er I wean find exit more.
  In each a slender meal was laid
  Of roots, of water, and of bread.
  ...
  Hewn stones and mortar were display’d,
  And building tools in order laid.”

The moat has now been nearly filled up, but its extent and direction
can still be pointed out. There are no indications of a chapel having
formerly constituted part of the residential building, but several years
since, when an outhouse was destroyed, at a short distance, about twenty
yards, two gravestones were discovered, and it is probable that they
were somewhere near, if not actually on the site of, the private chapel
or oratory. One of the stones was broken up immediately, and the other
is practically illegible, although three or four words, still preserved,
prove that the inscription has not been in raised characters. The rights
to wreckage, etc. on the foreshore of the manor have pertained to the
lords of Hackensall from time immemorial, and still continue to be held
and exercised as portion of the lordship.

Anterior to the establishment of a port at Fleetwood, or more correctly
speaking, to the foundation of a town and the erection of wharfage, etc.,
on the warren forming the western boundary of Wyre estuary, Wardleys
and Skippool, almost facing each other, were the harbours to which all
commercial traffic on the river was directed. Ships of considerable
size, freighted with cargoes of various sorts, found their way to
those secluded havens, and even within the last few years, during high
tides, vessels laden with grain have been berthed and unloaded in the
narrow creek leading from Skippool bay, while bags of guano have often
terminated their sea-voyages at Wardleys. A solitary warehouse, however,
undated, but bearing on its battered exterior and decaying timbers the
unmistakable stamp of time, is, at the present day, almost the only
remaining witness to the former pretentions of the first named place. At
Wardleys, three or four spacious warehouses, in a similarly dilapidated
condition and now partially converted into shippons, the remainder being
unused except as lumber-rooms or temporary storehouses for guano or some
local agricultural produce, together with a stone wharf, are evidences of
a fair amount of business having once been carried on at that little port.

In 1825 Baines described Wardleys as “a small seaport on the river
Wyre, where vessels of 300 tons register may discharge their burdens,
situated in the township of Stalmine with Stainall, in the hundred of
Amounderness;” but in the year 1708 customs were established at Poulton
in connection with Wardleys and Skippool. Nor should we be justified
in limiting the antiquity of the ports to that date, for as early as
1590-1600, William and James Blackburne, of Thistleton, carried on an
extensive trade with Russia, and there can be no doubt that their cargoes
of merchandise, most likely flax and tallow, were landed on the banks of
the Wyre at those ancient harbours. The father of the above merchants was
the first of the family to take up his residence in this neighbourhood,
and appears to have settled at Garstang, about 1550, from Yorkshire. That
the commercial dealings of the partners were both large and successful is
shown in the property acquired by William Blackburne, the elder brother,
who purchased Newton, lands in Thistleton, and several other estates of
considerable magnitude in the Fylde, all of which he bequeathed to his
son and heir, Richard. Richard Blackburne married Jane, the daughter of
John Aynesworth, of Newton, and had issue John of Eccleston; Richard, of
Goosnargh; Thomas, of Orford and Newton; Edward, of Stockenbridge, near
St. Michael’s-on-Wyre; Robert, who was suspected of being implicated
in the Gunpowder Plot, but acquitted, the evidence being insufficient;
Annie, who married—Nickson; and Elizabeth, the wife of William Standish.
When the Singletons of Staining became extinct, the Hall and estate of
that name passed to a William Blackburne, as heir-at-law, and there is
great probability that he was a descendant of one of the sons of Richard
Blackburne of Thistleton, Newton, etc.—most likely of John Blackburn, of
Eccleston.

During the years more immediately previous to the opening of the new port
at the mouth of the river, a great many large ships from America, laden
with timber, and brigs from Russia, with flax and tallow, were discharged
at Wardleys. A three masted vessel, for the foreign trade, was also
constructed in the ship-yard attached to that place, but as far as can
be learnt this was the only vessel of equal dimensions ever built there,
repairs being the chief occupation of the workpeople.

Several of the officers connected with the Custom House at Poulton, were
stationed at Knot End, opposite the Warren, living in the small cottage
standing near the shore, in order to board the different craft as they
entered the river, and pilot them up the stream to Wardleys. A large
hotel is situated behind the site of the old ship-yard, and during the
summer months is generally well patronised by visitors, to whom, as
well as to the pleasure-parties arriving by water from Fleetwood, and
by road from Blackpool, the hamlet is now mainly indebted for support.
Some large mussels, the “Mytili angulosi,” but known amongst the natives
of those parts as “Hambleton hookings,” were found formerly in large
quantities a little lower down the river, but lately specimens of this
fine shell-fish have been growing much scarcer. Dr. Leigh, in his
Natural History of our county, informs us that pearls have frequently
been discovered enclosed within the shells of these molluscs, and also
that their popular name arises from the manner in which they are taken,
the feat being accomplished “by plucking them from their Skeers, or
Beds, with Hooks.” The tidal estuary of the Wyre embraces an area of
three miles by two, and it is near to its termination that the port and
town of Fleetwood are situated. Our purpose now is not to enter into a
description of the harbour, which will be found in the chapter specially
devoted to the seaport itself, but a few words as to the advantages
derived from the nature of the river’s current and its bed, will not be
out of place. Captain Denham, R.N., F.R.S., after inspecting the site
of the proposed port on behalf of the promoters, issued a report in the
month of January, 1840, and amongst other things, stated that during the
first half of the ebb-tide, a reflux of backwater was produced which
dipped with such a powerful under-scour as to preserve a natural basin,
capable of riding ships of eighteen or twenty feet draught, at low water,
spring tides; also that the anchorage ground, both within and without
the harbour, was excellent. These facts alone seemed sufficient to
warrant the gallant officer’s prediction that the undertaking would be
successful and remunerative, but when in addition it is called to mind,
that “as easy and safe as Wyre water” had for long been a proverb amongst
the mariners of our coast, and that the harbour was, and is, perfectly
sheltered from all winds, as well as connected with a railway terminus
which communicates with Preston, Manchester, etc., we are astonished that
comparatively so little encouragement has been given to it, and that now,
thirty-five years from the date of this survey, the first dock is only
approaching completion.

The river Wyre is plentifully supplied with fish of various sorts; in
the higher parts of the stream trout and smelts may be found, whilst
the lower portion and estuary contain codling, flounders, sea-perch,
conger, sand eels, and occasionally salmon. The earliest enactments with
regard to the fisheries connected with the last-named fish related to the
Wyre, Ribble, and other rivers of Lancashire. In 1389, during the reign
of Richard II., a law, which arranged the times and seasons when the
fisheries in these rivers should be closed, and other matters affecting
them, was passed and brought into force, being the first regulation of
its kind.

The Ribble is associated with the Fylde only in so much as its tidal
estuary is concerned, which forms the southern boundary of the district.
Since 1837 great alterations have been effected in the channel of the
river by the Ribble Navigation Improvement Company. The stream for the
larger portion of its extent from Preston to the Naze Point has been
confined within stone embankments, and its bed considerably deepened by
dredging. During the progress of these improvements wide tracts of land
have been reclaimed both north and south of the current. From Freckleton
the river rapidly widens as it approaches the sea, so that a direct
line drawn from Lytham to Southport across its mouth would pass over a
distance of seven or eight miles. The channel here is shallow, while the
sands on each side are flat and extensive, and midway in the estuary, at
its lowest part, lies the far-famed Horse-bank, which divides the stream
into a north and south current, scarcely discernible, however, after the
tide has risen above the level of the bank. About one mile from the town
of Lytham, in the direction of Preston, is a pool of moderate dimensions,
having an open communication with the river, and formed into a small
harbour or dock for yachts and vessels connected with the coasting trade.
In the bed of the river, a little higher up than that locality, trunks of
large trees are occasionally observed at low water, and many such remains
of a once noble forest, which is believed to have extended from near the
Welsh coast as far even as Morecambe, have been raised at different times
during the operation of dredging.

The following descriptions of the Ribble, its source, course, and
tributaries, were written, respectively, by the ancient topographer
Harrison, and the poet Drayton, whose accounts of the Wyre have been
previously quoted:—

  “The Rybell, a river verie rich of Salmon and Lampreie, dooth
  in manner inviron Preston in Andernesse, and it riseth neere to
  Ribbesdale above Gisburne. It goeth from thence to Sawley or
  Salley, Chatburne, Woodington, Clitherow Castell, and beneath
  Mitton meeteth with the Odder, which ryseth not farre from the
  Cross of Grete in Yorkshire, and going thence to Shilburne,
  Newton, Radholme parke, and Stony hirst, it falleth ere long into
  Ribble water. From thence the Ribble hath not gone farre, but it
  meeteth with the Calder. Thys brooke ryseth above Holme Church,
  goeth by Townley and Burneley (where it receiveth a trifeling
  rill), thence to Higham, and ere long crossing one water that
  cometh from Wicoler, by Colne, and another by and by named Pidle
  brooke that runneth by Newechurch, in the Pidle: it meeteth with
  ye Calder, which passeth forth to Padiam, and thence (receyving
  a becke on the other side) it runneth on to Altham, and so to
  Martholme, where the Henburne brooke doth joyn with all, that
  goeth by Alkington chappell, Dunkinhalge, Rishton, and so into
  ye Calder as I have sayde before. The Calder therefore being
  thus inlarged, runneth forth to Reade (where M. Noell dwelleth),
  to Whalley, and soon after into Ribell, that goeth from this
  confluence to Salisbury hall, Ribchester, Osbaston, Sambury,
  Keuerden, Law, Ribles bridge, and then taketh in the Darwent,
  before it goeth by Pontwarth or Pentworth into the sea. The
  Darwent devideth Leland shire from Andernesse,[57] and it ryseth
  by east above Darwent Chappell, and soone after uniting it selfe
  with the Blackeburne, and Rodlesworthe water it goeth thorowe
  Howghton Parke, by Howghton towne, to Walton hall, and so into
  the Ribell. As for the Sannocke brooke, it ryseth somewhat above
  Longridge Chappell, goeth to Broughton towne, Cotham, Lee hall,
  and so into Ribell.”

  “From Penigent’s proud foot as from my source I slide,
  That mountain, my proud sire, in height of all his pride,
  Takes pleasure in my course as in his first-born flood,
  And Ingleborrough too, of that Olympian brood,
  And Pendle, of the north, the highest hill that be,
  Do wistly me behold, and are beheld of me.
  These mountains make me proud, to gaze on me that stand,
  So Longridge, once arrived on the Lancastrian strand,
  Salutes me, and with smiles me to his soil invites,
  So have I many a flood that forward me excites,
  As Hodder that from Home attends me from my spring,
  Then Calder, coming down from Blackstonedge doth bring
  Me easily on my way to Preston, the greatest town
  Wherewith my banks are blest, where, at my going down,
  Clear Darwen on along me to the sea doth drive,
  And in my spacious fall no sooner I arrive,
  But Savock to the north from Longridge making way
  To this my greatness adds, when in my ample bay,
  Swart Dulas coming in from Wigan, with her aids,
  Short Taud and Dartow small, two little country maids,
  In these low watery lands and moory mosses bred,
  Do see me safely laid in mighty Neptune’s bed,
  And cutting in my course, even through the heart
  Of this renowned shire, so equally it part,
  As nature should have said, lo! thus I meant to do,
  This flood divides this shire, thus equally in two.”

The beautiful scenery and historical associations of the Ribble render
it the most interesting and charming of the several rivers which water
the county of Lancaster. The quietude of its fair valley has on more than
one occasion been rudely broken by the clash of arms, and students of our
country’s history will readily call to mind that calamitous day to the
Duke of Hamilton, when Cromwell routed the Highlanders under his command,
near Preston,

  “And Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbrued.”

Other instances of war-like doings along the banks of this river might
be recounted, but as the neighbourhoods in which they occurred are
not enclosed within the Fylde boundaries, we are perforce obliged to
exclude them from this volume, and must refer those of our readers who
are anxious to learn more both of them and of the river itself to other
sources for the required information. The chief fish of the Ribble is
of course its salmon, but in addition the estuary contains numbers of
flounders and other varieties of the finny tribes similar to those found
in the tidal portion of the Wyre. During the sixteenth century sturgeons
seem to have been captured occasionally in the Ribble, and amongst the
records of the duchy in 1536, there is a complaint that when “one certain
sturgeon was found within the township of Warton and seized for the use
of the King (who held the right of fishery there), and laid up in a house
in Warton, one Christopher Bone, of Warton, and James Bradʳton, of the
ley, with divers riotous persons, about the 6th of May last, did then and
there take out of the said house the said sturgeon, and the said Bone
hath at divers times and in like manner taken sturgeons and porpoises to
his own use and the injury of his majesty.”[58]

As such a small part, and that far from the most important, of Ribble
stream is really connected with the Fylde, and as it is not our intention
to trespass beyond the limits of that district,—at least not knowingly,
and the margin in the present instance is so clearly defined that no
excuse could be offered for overstepping it,—we are compelled to content
ourselves with this brief account, leaving much unsaid that is of
considerable historical and general interest.

THE SEA which washes over the westerly shore of the Fylde forms part
of St. George’s Channel or the Irish Sea, whilst the narrow northern
boundary of the same district is limited by the waters of Morecambe Bay.
The main peculiarities to be noticed along the extensive line of this
coast swept over by the billows of the Irish Sea, are the almost entire
absence of seaweeds and the levelness of the sands; indeed, so gentle is
the slope of the latter that its average declivity has been estimated
at no more than one foot in every fifty yards, and to the flatness of
this surface it is due that the beach is in a very great measure freed
from putrifying heaps of fish and seaweed, for the rising tides glide
with such swiftness over the level sandy beds that most driftmatters
and impurities are left behind in the depths beyond low water mark. An
analysis, made by Dr. Schweitzer, of the waters of the English coast,
furnishes the following result:—

                                       No. of grains.
  Water                                   964.74
  Chloride of Sodium (Table salt)          27.06
  Chloride of Magnesium                     3.67
  Sulphate of Magnesia (Epsom Salts)        2.30
  Sulphate of Lime                          1.40
  Carbonate of Lime                         0.03
  Carbonate of Magnesia              ⎫
  Carbonic Acid                      ⎪
  Potash                             ⎬    Traces
  Iodine                             ⎪
  Extractive matter                  ⎪
  Bromide of Magnesium               ⎭
                                      ----------
                                        1,000

There are few, we imagine, who have not at one time or another admired
the luminous appearance of the sea on certain evenings. This astonishing
and beautiful phenomenon is brought about by the presence in the water
of myriads of tiny beings, called Noctilucæ, which possess the power of
emitting a phosphorescent light, and seemingly convert the bursting waves
into masses of liquid fire. The immense expanse of sea spreading out from
the westerly border of the Fylde has, independently of its association
with the Gulph Stream, a marked influence in equalising the climate and
averting those sudden and extreme degrees of heat and cold commonly
experienced inland. The atmosphere over water does not undergo such rapid
alterations in its temperature as that over land, and hence it happens
that localities situated near the coast are cooler in summer and warmer
in winter than others far removed from its vicinity. Most people will
have observed that after a calm sunny day at the seaside, a breeze from
the land invariably arises after sunset, due to the fact that the air
over the earth being cooled and condensed much sooner than that over the
sea, the heavier body of atmosphere endeavours to displace the warmer and
lighter one. A gentle evaporation is daily taking place from the surface
of the sea, by which the air becomes loaded with moisture, remaining
suspended until the coolness of evening sets in, when it is deposited
on the ground as dew. The water thus obtained from the deep is not pure
brine, as might at first sight appear, but is freed from its salts by
the process of natural distillation which has been undergone. Similar
evaporation also goes on from the surfaces of the Ribble and Wyre, and it
is doubtless chiefly owing to the Fylde being almost environed by water,
constantly disseminating dew, that its fecundity is not only so great,
but also so constant. The following is a list of the seaweeds to be found
on the coast:—

  MELANOSPERMEÆ OR OLIVE GREEN SEAWEEDS.

  TRIBE—FUCACEÆ.

  Fucus nodosus               Knobbed Wrack
    ”   serratus              Serrated   ”
    ”   canaliculatus         Channelled ”
    ”   vesiculosus           Bladder    ”

  TRIBE—SPOROCHNACEÆ.

  Desmarestia aculeata        Spring Desmarestia
      ”       viridis         Green      ”

  TRIBE—LAMINARIEÆ.

  Alaria esculenta            Edible Alaria
  Laminaria digitata          Tangle
      ”     saccharina        Sweet Laminaria
      ”     bulbosa           Sea-furbelows
  Chorda filum                Thread Ropeweed

  TRIBE—DICTYOTEÆ.

  Dictyosiphon fæniculaceus   Tubular Netweed
  Asperococcus echinatus      Wooly Rough-weed
       ”       compressus     Compressed  ”

  TRIBE—CHORDARIEÆ.

  Chordaria flagelliformis    Whiplash weed
  Mesogloia virescens         Verdant Viscid-weed
      ”     vermicularis      Wormy        ”

  TRIBE—ECTOCARPEÆ.

  Cladostephus verticillatus  Whorled Cladostephus
       ”       spongiosus     Spongy        ”
  Sphacellaria scoparia       Brown-like Sphacellaria
       ”       plumosa        Feathered     ”
       ”       Cirrhosa       Nodular       ”
  Ectocarpus litoralis        Shore Ectocarpus
      ”      siliculosus      Podded    ”
      ”      tomentosus       Feathered ”

  RHODOSPERMEÆ OR RED SEAWEEDS.

  TRIBE—RHODOMELEÆ.

  Polysiphonia fastigiata     Tufted Polysiphonia
       ”       urceolata      Hair-like    ”
       ”       nigrescens     Dark         ”

  TRIBE—LAURENCIEÆ.

  Bonnemaisonia asparagoides  Asparagus-like Bonnemaisonia
  Laurentia pinnatifida       Pinnatifid Pepper-dulse
      ”     cæspitosa         Tufted           ”
      ”     dasyphylla        Sedum-leaved     ”

  TRIBE—CORRALLINEÆ.

  Corallina officinalis       Officinal Coralline
  Jania                       Jania
  Melobesia                   Melobesia

  TRIBE—DELESSERIEÆ.

  Delesseria alata            Winged Delesseria

  TRIBE—RHODYMENIEÆ.

  Rhodymenia palmata          Dulse
      ”      ciliata          Ciliated Rhodymenia
  Hypnea purpurescens         Purple Hypnea

  TRIBE—CRYPTONEMIEÆ.

  Gelidium                    Jellyweed
  Gigartina mamillosa         Papillary Grape-stone
  Chondrus crispus            Irish moss
  Polyides rotundus           Round Polyides
  Furcellaria fastigiata      Slippery Forkweed
  Halymenia rubens            Red Sea-film
      ”     membranifolia     Membranous Sea-film
      ”     edulis            Edible        ”
      ”     palmata           Palmated      ”
      ”     lacerata          Lacerated     ”
  Catanella opuntia           Catanella opuntia

  TRIBE—CERAMIEÆ.

  Ceramium rubrum             Red Hornweed
      ”    diaphanum          Diaphanous ”
      ”    ciliatum           Hairy      ”
      ”    echionotum         Irregularly-spined Hornweed
      ”    acanthonotum       Spined                ”
      ”    nodosum            Nodose                ”
  Callithamnion tetragonum    Square-branched Callithamnion
      ”         plumula       Feathery              ”
      ”         polyspermum   Many-spermed          ”

  CHLOROSPERMEÆ OR GRASS GREEN SEAWEEDS.

  TRIBE—CONFERVEÆ.

  Couferva rupestris          Rock Crowsilk
     ”     lanosa             Woolly   ”
     ”     fucicola           Wrack    ”
     ”     tortuosa           Twisted  ”

  TRIBE—ULVEÆ.

  Ulva latissima              Oyster Green or Laver
    ”  Lactuca                Lettuce Laver
  Entermarpha intestinalis    Intestinal Entermorpha
      ”       compressa       Branched       ”

The subjoined table contains the names of some of the crustaceous animals
and molluscs commonly met with in the neighbourhood:—

  Arctopsis tetraodon         Four-horned Spider-crab
  Hyas araneus                Great Spider-crab, or Sea-toad
  Portunus puber              Velvet Fiddler-crab
  Corystes dentata            Toothed Crab
  Gonoplax angulata           Angular Crab
  Pinnotheres pisum           Pea-crab
  Porcellana platycheles      Broad-claw porcelain Crab
  Cancer pagurus              Edible crab
  Cancer mænas                Common Crab
  Pagurus Bernhardus          Hermit-crab
  Pilumnus hirtellus          Hairy-crab
  Palæmon serratus            Common Prawn
  Crangon vulgaris            Common Shrimp
  Corophium longicorne        Long-horned Corophium
  Orchestia littorea          Shore-hopper
  Talitrus saltator           Sand-hopper
  Sulcator arenarius          Sand-screw
  Mytilus edulis              Edible Mussel
  Cardium edule               Cockle
  Buccinum undatum            Whelk
  Litorina litorea            Periwinkle
  Calyptra vulgaris           Common Limpet




[Illustration]




CHAPTER VI.

THE PEDIGREES OF ANCIENT FAMILIES.


ALLEN OF ROSSALL HALL.

The Allens who resided at Rossall Hall for a period of more than half
a century, and by intermarriage became connected with the Westbys of
Mowbreck, the Heskeths of Mains, and the Gillows of Bryning, sprang
from the county of Stafford. At the time of the Protestant Reformation,
George Allen, of Brookhouse, in the division just mentioned, held a long
lease of the Grange and Hall of Rossall from a kinsman of his family,
one of the abbots of Deulacres, a Staffordshire monastery, to which the
estate had been granted by King John. George Allen at his death left one
son, John, who resided at the Hall, and subsequently married Jane, the
sister of Thomas Lister, of Arnold Biggin, in Yorkshire. The offspring
of this marriage were Richard, William, Gabriel, George, who espoused
Elizabeth, the daughter of William Westby, of Mowbreck; Mary, afterwards
the wife of Thomas Worthington, of Blainscow; Elizabeth, subsequently
the wife of William Hesketh, of Mains Hall; and Anne, who married George
Gillow, of Bryning. Richard Allen, of Rossall Hall, the eldest son, left
at his demise a widow with three daughters, named respectively, Helen,
Catherine, and Mary, who were deprived of their possessions and rights
in the Grange in the year 1583 by Edmund Fleetwood, whose father had
purchased the reversion of the lease from Henry VIII., at the time when
the larger monastic institutions were dissolved in England. The widow
and her daughters fled to Rheims to escape further persecution, where
they were hospitably received by their near relative, Cardinal William
Allen, who interested the princely family of Guise in their behalf and so
obtained for them the means of subsistence.

William Allen, the second son of John Allen, of Rossall Hall, was born
in 1532, and at the early age of fifteen entered Oriel College, Oxford,
under the tutorship of Morgan Philips, perhaps the most eminent logician
of his day. Three years later he was elected to a fellowship. Upon the
accession of Mary he entered the church, and in 1556 was made principal
of St. Mary’s Hall, acting as Proctor for the two succeeding years. In
1558 he was created canon of York, but on the accession of Elizabeth, he
refused the Protestant oaths, was deprived of his fellowship, and, in
1560, retired to Louvaine, where he wrote his first work, entitled “A
Defence of the Doctrine of Catholics, concerning Purgatory and Prayers
for the Dead,” in answer to an attack on those dogmas by Bishop Jewell.
In 1565, the year in which this publication appeared and fermented great
excitement both here and abroad, William Allen determined, in spite of
the extreme dangers of such an act, to visit his native country, more
especially the home of his fathers at Rossall. Religious zeal prevented
his active spirit from being long at rest; after residing in England
about three years and visiting different parts of Lancashire, seeking
converts to his creed, he was obliged to secrete himself from the eye of
the law amongst his friends, Layton Hall and Mains Hall being two of his
hiding places, until a suitable opportunity occurred for escaping over
to the continent. Flanders was his destination, and from there he went
to Mechlin, afterwards taking up his abode at Douai, where he obtained a
doctor’s degree, and established an English seminary. This college, we
learn from the “Mem: Miss: Priests: Ed. 1741,” was founded in 1568 “to
train up English scholars in virtue and learning, and to qualify them
to labour in the vineyard of the Lord, on their return to their native
country; it was the first college in the Christian world, instituted
according to the model given by the council of Trent.”

Whilst engaged at the above scholastic institution, William Allen was
appointed canon of Cambray; subsequently when the English council
applied to the ruling powers of the Spanish Netherlands to suppress the
college of Douai, the Doctor and his assistants were received under the
protection of the house of Guise. Afterwards Doctor Allen, on being
appointed canon of Rheims, established another seminary in that city. At
that time perhaps no one was more admired and revered by the Catholic
party abroad, and detested by the Protestant subjects of England, than
William Allen. He was even accused by his countrymen at home of having
traitorously instigated Philip II. of Spain, to attempt the invasion and
conquest of England, and although he strenuously denied any agency in
that matter, it is certain that after the defeat of the Armada, he wrote
a defence of Sir William Stanley and Sir Rowland York, who had assisted
the enemy. In 1587, he was made cardinal of St. Martin in Montibus by
Pope Sectus V., and a little later was presented by the king of Spain
to a rich abbey in Naples with promises of still higher preferment. In
1588 he published the “Declaration of the Sentence of Sixtus the Fifth,”
which was directed against the government of the British queen, whom he
declared an usurper, obstinate and impenitent, and for these reasons to
be deprived. As an appendix to the work he issued shortly afterwards an
“Admonition to the Nobility and People of England and Ireland,” in which
he pronounced the queen an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII. Although
the effect of these publications on the English nation was not, as he
hoped, to arouse the people to open rebellion, or in any way to advance
the Catholic cause, the efforts of the cardinal were so far appreciated
by the king of Spain that he promoted him to the archbishopric of
Mechlin. He lived at Rome during the remainder of his life in great
luxury and magnificence. On October 6th, 1594, this remarkable man
expired at his palace, in the 63rd year of his age, and was buried with
great pomp at the English church of the Holy Trinity in the ancient
imperial city.


BUTLER OF RAWCLIFFE HALL.

The name of Butler, or as it was formerly written Botiler, belonged to an
office in existence in earlier times, and was first assumed by Theobald
Walter, who married Maud, the sister of Thomas à Becket, on being
appointed _Butler_ of Ireland.

Theobald Walter-Botiler gave to his relative Richard Pincerna, or
Botiler, as the family was afterwards called, the whole of Out Rawcliffe
and one carucate of land in Staynole. This gentleman was the founder
of that branch of the Butlers which was established at Rawcliffe Hall
for so many generations. Sir Richard Botiler, of Rawcliffe, married
Alicia, in 1281, the daughter of William de Carleton, and thus obtained
the manor of Inskip. He had issue—William, Henry, Richard, Edmund, and
Galfrid. Richard Botiler, the third son, who had some possessions in
Marton, left at his death one son, also named Richard, who was living
in 1323, and became the progenitor of the Butlers of Kirkland. William,
the eldest son, espoused Johanna de Sifewast, a widow, by whom he had
Nicholas de Botiler, who was alive in 1322, and had issue by his wife
Olivia, one son, William Botiler, living in 1390. William Botiler had
three children—John, Richard, and Eleanor. John Botiler was created a
knight, and in 1393-4-5 was High Sheriff of the county of Lancaster. Sir
John Botiler left at his death, in 1404, three sons and one daughter,
the offspring of his marriage with Isabella, his second wife, who was
the widow of Sir John Butler, of Bewsey. Nicholas, the eldest son,
was also twice married, and had issue by his first wife, Margeria,
the daughter of Sir Richard Kirkeby,—John and Isabella Botiler. John
Botiler espoused, in 1448, Elizabeth, the daughter of William Botiler,
of Warrington, and had issue—Nicholas and Elizabeth Botiler. Nicholas
Botiler married Alice, the daughter of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, knt., and
was succeeded by his eldest son John Botiler, who subsequently espoused
Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Lawrence, knt., and had
issue—William, James, Richard, and Robert Botiler. James Botiler, the
second son, inherited the estates, most probably owing to the death of
William, his elder brother, and married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir
Thomas Molyneux, knt., of Larbrick Hall. James Botiler, or Butler, was
living in 1500, but died shortly afterwards, leaving two sons and two
daughters—John, Nicholas, Isabella, and Elizabeth. John, the elder son,
had issue four daughters, whilst Nicholas, the second son, had issue by
his first wife, the daughter of Richard Bold, of Bold, two sons, Richard
and Henry, and by his second wife, Isabel, the daughter and co-heiress of
John Clayton, of Clayton, one daughter, who died in 1606. Richard Butler
married Agnes, the daughter of Sir Richard Houghton, knt., but having no
offspring, the estates of Rawcliffe passed to William Butler, the eldest
son of his younger brother, Henry Butler, somewhere about 1627. William
Butler espoused Elizabeth, the daughter of Cuthbert Clifton, of Westby,
by whom he had one son, Henry, who was thrice married, and had numerous
offspring. Richard, the eldest son of Henry Butler by his first wife,
Dorothy, the daughter of Henry Stanley, of Bickerstaffe, died before his
father, but left several sons, one of whom, also named Richard, succeeded
to the Rawcliffe property, and was thirty-two years of age in 1664;
another, Nicholas, was a colonel in the time of Charles I.; and another,
John, was a citizen of London. Richard Butler espoused Katherine, the
daughter of Thomas Carus, of Halton, by whom he had a large family, the
eldest of which, Henry, was six years of age in 1664. Henry Butler, of
Rawcliffe, espoused as his first wife, Katherine, the granddaughter, and
subsequently heiress, of Sir John Girlington, knt., of Thurland Castle,
and had issue—Richard, Christopher, Philip, Mary, and Katherine. Henry
Butler, and Richard, his eldest son, took part with the Pretender in
the rebellion of 1715, and for this piece of disaffection their estates
were confiscated by the crown, and afterwards sold. Henry Butler made
his escape over to France, but Richard was seized, tried, and condemned
to death. He died in prison, however, in 1716, before the time appointed
for his sentence to be carried out, leaving an only child, Catherine, by
his wife, Mary, the daughter of Henry Curwen, of Workington, who married
Edward Markham, of Ollarton, in the county of Nottingham, and died a
minor without issue. Henry Butler lived in the Isle of Man for several
years, and espoused Elizabeth Butler, of Kirkland, his third wife, but
had no further issue.


CLIFTON OF CLIFTON, WESTBY, AND LYTHAM.

The family of the Cliftons, whose present seat is Lytham Hall, has been
associated with the Fylde for many centuries. The earliest ancestor of
whom there exists any authentic record, was Sir William de Clyfton, who
lived in the time of William II., surnamed Rufus, and during the last
year of that monarch’s reign, A.D. 1100, gave certain lands in Salwick
to his son William upon his marriage. In 1258 a namesake and descendant
of this William de Clyfton held ten carucates of land in Amounderness,
and was a collector of aids for the county of Lancaster. His son Gilbert
de Clyfton was lord of the manors of Clifton, Westby, Fylde-Plumpton,
etc., and High Sheriff of the county in the years 1278, 1287, and 1289.
He died in 1324, during the reign of Edward II., and was succeeded by
his eldest son, Sir William de Clifton, who was Knight of the Shire for
Lancaster 1302-1304. Sir William de Clifton,[59] knt., the son of the
latter gentleman, came into possession of the estates on the demise
of his father, and married in 1329, Margaret, the daughter of Sir R.
Shireburne, knt., of Stonyhurst, by whom he had issue one son, Nicholas,
afterwards knighted. He also entailed the manors of Clifton and Westby
on his male issue, and settled the manor of Goosnargh upon his son and
heir. He died in 1365. Sir Nicholas de Clifton, during one portion of
his life, held the post of Governor of the Castle of Ham, in Picardy.
He married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas West, of Snitterfield,
in Warwickshire, and had issue two sons—Robert and Thomas. The former,
who succeeded him, was Knight of the Shire 1382-1383, and espoused
Eleyne, the daughter of Sir Robert Ursewyck, knt., by whom he had three
sons—Thomas, Roger, and James. In course of time, Thomas, the eldest,
became the representative of the family, and married Agnes, the daughter
of Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton. This gentleman (Thomas Clifton),
accompanied the army of Henry V., when that monarch invaded France in
1415. He settled Goosnargh and Wood-Plumpton upon his second son, James,
while the other portion of the estates passed, on his death in 1442, to
Richard, his heir. Richard Clifton formed a matrimonial alliance with
Alice, the daughter of John Butler, of Rawcliffe, from which sprang
one child, James Clifton, who afterwards espoused Alice, the daughter
of Robert Lawrence, of Ashton. The offspring of the latter union were
Robert and John Clifton. The former on inheriting the property married
Margaret, the daughter of Nicholas Butler, of Bewsey, in Lancashire.
His children were Cuthbert and William; and now, for a few generations,
we have two separate branches, the descendants of these gentlemen,
which afterwards became united in the persons of their respective
representatives:—

  SENIOR BRANCH.

  Cuthbert Clifton,  =  Alice, d. and co-heiress of
        of Clifton,  |   Sir John Lawrence, of
        died 1512.   |   Ashton-under-Lyne.
                     |
                     |
  Sir R. Hesketh, = Elizabeth Clifton, = Sir W. Molyneux,
  of Rufford,        died 1548.        |  of Sefton & Larbreck,
  1st husband.                         |  2nd husband.
        +------------------------------+
        |                       |      |
        |                       |      William Molyneux, died young.
  Thos. Molyneux,    Ann Molyneux, = Hy. Halsall
    unmarried         heiress of   |  of Halsall.
  or without issue.   her brother. |
            +----------------------+
            |
  Richard Halsall, = Ann, d. of Alex. Barlow.
                   |
         +---------+
         |
  Sir Cuthbert Halsall, = (     )
  of Halsall and        |
  Clifton.              |
          +-------------+
          |
  Ann Halsall, = Thomas Clifton, [Transcriber’s Note: refer to the
  daughter     |   of Westby      JUNIOR BRANCH (below) for the
  and          |   and Lytham,    descent of this Thomas Clifton.]
  co-heiress.  |   died 1657.
      +--------+-----+--------------+-----------------------+
      |              |              |                       |
  Cuthbert       Sir Thos.  John Clifton. = Widow of     Ten other
  Clifton.        Clifton.          |  Geo. Parkinson,   children.
                                    |  of Fairsnape.
                                    |
                               Thos. Clifton,
                               of Clifton, etc.

  JUNIOR BRANCH.

  William Clifton, = Isabel, d. of William
   who inherited   | Thornborough, of
   Westby.         |  Hampsfield, in Furness.
                   +----------------------------+----+
                   |                            |    |
         Thos. Clifton, = Elinor, d. of        Wm.  Ellen.
          of Westby.    |  Sir A. Osbaldiston,
                        |  of Osbaldiston, co.
                        |  Lancashire, Knt.
                +----------------------------------+
                |                                  |-William
         Cuthbert Clifton, = Catherine, d. of      |-Ellen
          of Westby.       |   Sir R. Houghton,    |-Isabel
                           |   of Houghton, Knt.
  +------------------------+------------------+
  |                                           |
  Thos. Clifton, = Mary, d. of Sir Ed.    Seven other
  of Westby.   |  Norreys, of Speke, Knt.  children.
         +------------+
         |
   Sir Cuthbert Clifton,[60] = Ann, d. of Sir Thos. Tyldesley,
   of Westby & Lytham,       | of Morley.
   Knt.                      |
  +--------------------------+-------------------------------+
  |                          |                               |
  Thomas Clifton, of      Cuthbert                        Elizabeth.
  Westby and Lytham,      Colonel in the army of Charles
  died 1657.              I., and slain at Manchester.

This Thomas Clifton retained the Fairsnape estates, which he had
inherited from his mother, during his lifetime, but on his decease they
passed to his uncle. He married Eleanora Alathea, the daughter of Richard
Walmsley, of Dunkenhalgh, in Lancashire. At his death he left a family
of five daughters and two sons, the eldest of whom, Thomas Clifton, of
Clifton, Westby, and Lytham, subsequently espoused Mary, the daughter of
the fifth Viscount Molyneux. His heir, also Thomas, and born in 1728,
rebuilt Lytham Hall, and allied himself to the noble house of Abingdon by
marrying, as his third wife, Lady Jane Bertie, the daughter of the third
earl. The children of this union were seven, and John, the eldest, born
in 1764, inherited the estates, and married Elizabeth, the daughter of
Thomas Horsley Widdrington-Riddell, of Felton Park, Northumberland. John
Clifton was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas, who had four brothers
and three sisters—John, William, Charles, Mary, Harriet, and Elizabeth.
Thomas Clifton, of Clifton and Lytham, born in 1788, was a justice of
the peace, a deputy-lieutenant, and in 1835, High Sheriff of the county
of Lancaster. He married Hetty, the daughter of Pellegrine Trevis, an
Italian gentleman of ancient lineage, by whom he had issue John Talbot,
born in 1819; Thomas Henry, lieut.-colonel in the army, and knight of the
Legion of Honour and of the Mejidie; Edward Arthur, died abroad in 1850;
Charles Frederick, who espoused Lady Edith Maud, eldest daughter of the
second Marquis of Hastings, and assumed in 1859, by act of parliament,
the arms and surname of Abney Hasting; and Augustus Wykenham, late
captain in the Rifle Brigade, who married Lady Bertha Lelgarde Hastings,
second daughter of the second Marquis of Hastings. John Talbot Clifton,
esq., is still living, and is the present lord of Lytham, Clifton, etc.
He was for some years colonel of the 1st. Royal Lancashire Militia, and
sat in Parliament from 1844 to 1847 as Member for North Lancashire. In
1844 he married Eleanor Cicily, the daughter of the Hon. Colonel Lowther,
M.P., and has one son, Thomas Henry Clifton, esq., who was born in 1845,
and is now one of the Members of Parliament for North Lancashire. John
Talbot Clifton, esq., is a justice of the peace, and deputy-lieutenant
of this county. Thomas Henry Clifton, esq., M.P., espoused, in 1867,
Madeline Diana Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir Andrew Agnew, bart.,
and has issue several children.

In 1872 Henry Lowther succeeded his uncle as third earl of Lonsdale,
and at the same time his sisters Eleanor Cicily, the wife of John
Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, and Augusta Mary, the wife of the
Right Hon. Gerard James Noel, M.P., younger son of the first earl of
Gainsborough, were elevated to the rank of earl’s daughters.


FLEETWOOD OF ROSSALL HALL.

This family sprang originally from Little Plumpton in the Fylde. Henry
Fleetwood being the first of whom there is any reliable record, and of
him nothing is known beyond the place of his residence, and the fact that
he had a son named Edmund. Edmund Fleetwood married Elizabeth Holland,
of Downholme, and was living about the middle and earlier portion of the
latter half of the fifteenth century. From that marriage there sprang one
son, William Fleetwood, who subsequently espoused Ellyn, the daughter of
Robert Standish, and had issue John, Thomas, and Robert Fleetwood. Of
these three sons, Thomas, the second, resided at Vach in the county of
Buckingham, and at the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.,
about 1536, purchased from that monarch the reversion of the lease of
Rossall Grange, then held by the Allens from the Abbot and convent of
Deulacres, in Staffordshire. Thomas Fleetwood married Barbara, the cousin
and heiress of Andrew Frances, of London, and had issue five sons, the
second and third of whom were knighted later in life, whilst the eldest,
Edmund, came into possession of Rossall Hall and estate in 1583, after
the demise of Richard Allen, whose widow and daughters were ejected.
Thus Edmund Fleetwood was the first of the name to reside at Rossall,
where he died about forty years later. This gentleman married Elizabeth,
the daughter of John Cheney, of Chesham Boys, in Buckinghamshire, and
had issue several sons and daughters. Paul, the eldest son and heir,
who succeeded him, was knighted by either James I. or Charles I., and
married Jane, the daughter of Richard Argall from the county of Kent, by
whom he had three sons and two daughters. Edmund, the eldest son, had no
male issue, and at his death, in 1644, Richard, his brother, succeeded
to the property and resided at Rossall Hall. Richard Fleetwood, who was
only fifteen years of age when the death of his predecessor occurred,
subsequently espoused a lady, named Anne Mayo, from the county of Herts,
by whom he had only two children, a son and a daughter, and as the former
died in youth, the estate passed to the next male heir on his demise.
The heir was found in the person of Francis, of Hackensall Hall, the
brother of Richard Fleetwood and the third son of Sir Paul Fleetwood.
Francis Fleetwood, of Rossall, married Mary, the daughter of C. Foster,
of Preesall, and had issue Richard Fleetwood, who succeeded him, and
a daughter. Richard Fleetwood resided at Rossall Hall, and married
Margaret, the daughter of Edwin Fleetwood, of Leyland, in 1674. The
offspring of that union were two sons, Edward and Paul, and a daughter
Margaret. Edward, the heir, was born in 1682, and practised for some
time as an attorney in Ireland. On the death of his father, however, he
inherited the property, and took up his abode at the ancestral Hall.
He espoused Sarah, the daughter of Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys.
Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, Blackpool, was on terms of friendship
and intimacy with the Fleetwoods of Rossall at that period, and on the
fourteenth of April, 1714, the following entry occurs in his diary,
referring to Edward Fleetwood, the lord of the manor, and his brother
Paul, also Edward Veale, the father of Mrs. Ed. Fleetwood, whom, for some
reason unknown, the diarist invariably designated Captain Veale:—“Went to
Rosshall. Dinᵈ with the trustys, yᵉ Lord & his lady, Mr. Paull, and Capᵗᵗ
Veal. Gave I. Gardiner 1s., and a boy 6d.; soe to ffox Hall.”

Paul Fleetwood, the younger brother of the “Lord” died in 1727 and was
buried at Kirkham, where some of his descendants still exist in very
humble circumstances.

The offspring of Edward Fleetwood consisted only of one child, a
daughter, named Margaret, who was born in 1715, and to whom the estates
appear to have descended on the decease of her father. On the sixteenth
of February, 1733, she married, at Bispham church, Roger Hesketh, of
North Meols and Tulketh. Roger Hesketh and his lady resided at Rossall
Hall until their respective demises, which happened, the latter in 1752,
and the former in 1791. Fleetwood and Sarah Hesketh were the children
of their union. On the decease of his father at the ripe age of 81
years, the son and heir, Fleetwood, had already been dead 22 years, and
consequently his son, Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, the eldest offspring of his
marriage, in 1759, with Frances, the third daughter of Peter Bold, of
Bold Hall, in the county of Lancaster, succeeded his grandfather Roger
Hesketh. Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, who was born in 1762, died unmarried in
1819, and was buried at Poulton, his younger brother, Robert Hesketh,
inheriting the Hall and estates. Robert Hesketh was in his 55th year when
he became possessed of the property, and had already been married 29
years to Maria, the daughter of Henry Rawlinson, of Lancaster, by whom he
had a numerous family. His four eldest sons died in youth and unmarried,
the oldest having only attained the age of twenty three, so that at
his decease in 1824 he was succeeded by his fifth son, Peter Hesketh.
This gentleman, who was born in 1801, espoused at Dover, in 1826, Eliza
Delamaire, the daughter of Sir Theophilus J. Metcalf, of Fern Hill,
Berkshire, by whom he had several children, who died in early youth. As
his second wife he married, in 1837, Verginie Marie, the daughter of
Senor Pedro Garcia, and had issue one son, Peter Louis Hesketh. In 1831,
Peter Hesketh obtained power by royal license to adopt the surname of
Fleetwood in addition to his own, and in 1838 he was created a baronet.
In 1844, Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood vacated Rossall Hall, and the site
is now occupied by a large public educational institution, denominated
the Northern Church of England School. Sir P. H. Fleetwood died, at
Brighton, in 1866, leaving one son and heir, the Rev. Sir Peter Louis
Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., M.A., of Sunbury on Thames, in the county of
Middlesex. The Rev. Charles Hesketh, M.A., rector of North Meols, is the
younger brother of the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood, and consequently uncle
to the present baronet.


FFRANCE OF LITTLE ECCLESTON HALL.

William, the son of John ffrance, who married the younger daughter of
Richard Kerston, of Little Eccleston, was the first of this family to
reside at the Hall, and he was living there at the beginning of the
seventeenth century. William ffrance had two sons and a daughter—John,
born 1647; Henry, born 1649; and Alice, born 1653. John, the eldest
son, succeeded to the Hall and estates on the demise of his father, and
married Deborah Elston, of Brockholes, by whom he had issue—Robert, who
died in 1671; Anne, died 1672; Thomas, died 1672; Deborah, died 1673;
John, born 1675; William, died 1680; Henry, died 1676; Mary, died 1701;
and Edward, died 1703. John ffrance, senʳ., survived all his sons except
John and Edward, and on his death, in 1690, was succeeded by the former
and elder of the two brothers. John ffrance, like his father, resided
at the Hall, and espoused Joan, daughter of John Cross, of Cross Hall,
by whom he had issue—John, born 1699; Anne, died 1702; and Henry, died
1707. John ffrance died in 1762, and his eldest son, John, inherited the
estates. This John ffrance married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of
Thomas Roe, of Out Rawcliffe, and by that union became possessed, later,
of Rawcliffe manor and Hall, to which the family of ffrance removed.
John ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall, the son and heir of John and Elizabeth
ffrance, of Little Eccleston Hall, and subsequently of Rawcliffe, died
childless in 1817, aged 91 years, and bequeathed his property to Thomas
Wilson, of Preston, who assumed the name of ffrance.[61]


HESKETH OF MAINS HALL.

This family was descended from the Heskeths, of Rufford, through
William Hesketh, of Aughton, the sixth son of Thomas Hesketh, of
Rufford. Bartholomew, the son of William Hesketh, of Aughton, succeeded
to his father’s estates, and married Mary, the daughter of William
Norris, of Speke, by whom he had one son, George, residing at Little
Poulton Hall in 1570. George Hesketh married Dorothy, the daughter of
William Westby, of Mowbreck, and had issue a son, William, who, on his
father’s death, somewhere about 1571, inherited considerable property,
comprising possessions in no less than twenty-eight different townships
in Lancashire. William Hesketh, who was living in 1613, married
Elizabeth, the daughter of John Allen, of Rossall Hall, and sister to
Cardinal Allen. The children springing from that union were William and
Wilfrid. William, the elder son, is the first of the Heskeths mentioned
as inhabiting Mains Hall, and he appears to have been living there in
1613. We have no documents throwing any certain light upon the way in
which he gained possession of the seat, but it is most probable that he
purchased it. William Hesketh, of Mains Hall, espoused Anne, the daughter
of Hugh Anderton of Euxton, and had issue—Thomas, Roger, John, William,
Hugh, George, Anne, Alice, and Mary. Thomas, the eldest son, was nine
years old in 1613, hence it is extremely likely that he was the first
representative of the family born at Mains Hall. Thomas Hesketh was
twice married; the first time to Anne, the daughter of Simon Haydock,
of Hezantford, and after her decease, to Mary, the daughter of John
Westby, of Westby and Mowbreck. The children of his first marriage were
William; Thomas, an officer in the royalist army, and slain at Brindle
in 1651; Anne, who became the wife of Thomas Nelson, of Fairhurst; and
Margaret, afterwards the wife of Major George Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe.
William, the elder son, married Perpetua, the daughter of Thomas
Westby, of Mowbreck, and had issue—Thomas, born in 1659; William, who
died in infancy; John; Anne, married to Richard Leckonby, of Leckonby
House, Great Eccleston; Helen; Dorothy, married to Thomas Wilkinson,
of Claughton; Perpetua, died in infancy; and six other daughters, all
of whom died in youth. Thomas Hesketh, the eldest son, left four sons
and three daughters—William; Thomas, who was a priest; John; George;
Mary; Perpetua; and Anne. William Hesketh, the eldest of these sons, was
living at the same time as Thomas Tyldesley, who died in 1714, and was
a frequent visitor at Fox Hall. He married Mary, the daughter of John
Brockholes, of Claughton, and heiress to her brother William Brockholes,
of Claughton, and had issue—Thomas, Roger, William, Joseph, James,
Catherine (an abbess), Margaret, Anne, Mary (a nun), and Aloysia (a nun).
Thomas, the eldest son, inherited the property of his deceased uncle,
William Brockholes, and assumed the name and arms of Brockholes. He died
in 1766. Roger, the second son, also died in 1766. William, the third
son, was born in 1717, and in later years entered the “Society of Jesus,”
dying in 1741. Joseph succeeded to the Brockholes’ estates on the death
of his brother Thomas, and, like him, assumed the name of Brockholes. He
married Constantia, the daughter of Bazil Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton, and
dying in a few years without issue, was succeeded by his sole remaining
brother, James, who also assumed the name and arms of Brockholes,
and some years afterwards died unmarried. The Brockholes’ property
now passed, under the will of Joseph Hesketh-Brockholes, to William
Fitzherbert, the brother of his widow; and that gentleman, after the
manner of his predecessors, assumed the name of Brockholes. He espoused
Mary, the daughter and co-heiress of James Windsor Heneage, of Cadeby,
Lincolnshire, and had issue—Thomas Fitzherbert-Brockholes, of Claughton;
Catherine, abbess of the Benedictines at Ghent; Margaret; Ann; Mary, who
became a nun; and Frances.


HORNBY OF POULTON.

The Hornbys, of Poulton, were descended from Hugh Hornby, of Singleton,
who died about 1638, after having so far impoverished himself during
the civil wars as to be obliged to dispose of his estate at Bankfield,
inherited from his sister, and purchased from him by the Harrisons.
Geoffrey Hornby, the son of this gentleman, practised very successfully
as a solicitor in Preston, and probably was the first to acquire property
in Poulton. Edmund Hornby, his eldest son, of Poulton, where he also
practised as a solicitor, and Scale Hall, married Dorothy, the daughter
of Geoffrey Rishton, of Antley, in Lancashire, Member of Parliament
for Preston, and had issue—Geoffrey, George, and Anne. George, the
second son, went into holy orders, became rector of Whittingham, and
subsequently died without surviving offspring. Anne Hornby married
Edmund Cole, of Beaumont Cote, near Lancaster; and Geoffrey Hornby, who
inherited the Poulton property, as well as Scale Hall, espoused Susannah,
the daughter and heiress of Edward Sherdley, of Kirkham, gentleman, by
whom he had issue—Edmund and Geoffrey, the latter dying unmarried in
1801. Geoffrey Hornby, who died in 1732, was buried in Poulton church,
being succeeded by his son Edmund, who came into the possessions at
Poulton and Scale. Edmund Hornby, born in 1728, married Margaret,
the daughter of John Winckley, of Brockholes, and had issue one son,
Geoffrey, and three daughters. At his decease, in 1766, the estates
descended to his only son and heir, Geoffrey, born at Layton Hall in
1750, who, after being High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1774, and for some
time colonel of a Lancashire regiment of militia, entered the church and
became rector of Winwick. The Rev. Geoffrey Hornby espoused the Hon. Lucy
Smith Stanley, daughter of Lord Strange, and sister of the twelfth earl
of Derby, and had issue; but the departure of this representative of the
family from the homes of his fathers severed the close connection between
the town of Poulton and the name of Hornby, after an existence of about a
century.


HORNBY OF RIBBY HALL.

Richard Hornby, of Newton, who was born in 1613, married Elizabeth,
the daughter of Christopher Walmsley, of Elston, and had issue a son,
William Hornby, also of Newton. That gentleman had several children by
his wife Isabel, the eldest of whom, Robert Hornby, was born in 1690,
and espoused Elizabeth Sharrock, of Clifton, leaving issue by her at his
decease in 1768, three sons—Hugh, William, and Richard. Hugh Hornby took
up his abode at Kirkham, where he married Margaret, the daughter and
heiress of Joseph Hankinson, of the same place, and had issue—Joseph,
born in 1748; Robert, born in 1750, and died in 1776; Thomas, of
Kirkham, born in 1759, married Cicely, the daughter of Thomas Langton,
of that town, and died in 1824, having had a family of two sons and five
daughters; William, of Kirkham; John, of Blackburn and Raikes Hall,
Blackpool, born in 1763; Hugh, vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, born
in 1765; Alice, who became the wife of Richard Birley, of Blackburn;
and Elizabeth. Joseph Hornby was a deputy-lieutenant of the county of
Lancaster, and erected Ribby Hall. He married Margaret, the daughter of
Robert Wilson, of Preston, by whom he had Hugh; Margaret, who espoused
William Langton, of Manchester; and Alice, who died a spinster. Hugh
Hornby, the only son, born in 1799, succeeded to the Hall and lands on
the death of his father in 1832, and left issue at his own demise, in
1849, Hugh Hilton, Margaret Anne, and Mary Alice. Hugh Hilton Hornby, of
Ribby Hall, esq., who married his relative, Georgina, the daughter of the
Rev. Robert Hornby, M.A., J.P., in 1868, is the present representative of
the family, and was born in 1836.

John Hornby, of Blackburn and Raikes Hall, married Alice Kendal, a widow,
and the daughter of Daniel Backhouse, of Liverpool, by whom he had
four sons—Daniel, born in 1800, who espoused Frances, daughter of John
Birley, of Manchester, and dying in 1863, left issue, Fanny Backhouse
and Margaret Alice Hornby; Robert, born in 1804, M.A., a clergyman and
justice of the peace, who married Maria Leyland, daughter of Sir William
Fielden, bart., and had issue, Robert Montagu, William St. John Sumner,
Leyland, Frederick Fielden, Henry Wallace, Hugh, and ten daughters, the
first and third sons being captains in the army, and the second in the
royal navy; William Henry, of Staining Hall, J.P. and D.L., born in
1805, and Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1857 to 1869, married
Susannah, only child of Edward Birley, of Kirkham, by whom he had John,
Edward Kenworthy, Henry Sudell, William Henry, Cecil Lumsden, Albert
Neilson, Charles Herbert, Elizabeth Henriana, Frances Mary, Augusta
Margaret, and Caroline Louisa, of whom Edward Kenworthy Hornby, esq.,
has sat as M.P. for Blackburn; John, M.A., formerly M.P. for Blackburn,
and born 1810, married Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Christopher Bird,
having issue, John Frederick, Wilfrid Bird, Edith Diana, and Clara
Margaret. The Rev. Hugh Hornby, M.A., sixth son of Hugh Hornby, of
Kirkham, was vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, and espoused Ann, daughter
of Dr. Joshua Starky, a physician, of Redbales, having issue one son,
William, now the Venerable Archdeacon Hornby, M.A., and the present vicar
of St. Michael’s, born in 1810. Archdeacon Hornby married, firstly,
Ellen, daughter of William Cross, esq., of Red Scar, and four years after
her decease, in 1844, Susan Charlotte, daughter of Admiral Sir Phipps
Hornby, K.C.B. The offspring of the earlier union were two—William Hugh
and Joseph Starky, both of whom died young; whilst those of the second
marriage are—William, Hugh Phipps, Phipps John, James John, William
Starky, Susan, and Anne Lucy, the eldest of whom, William, died in 1858,
aged thirteen years.


LECKONBY OF LECKONBY HOUSE.

John Leckonby, the earliest of the name we find mentioned as connected
with Great Eccleston, on the borders of which stood Leckonby House,
was living in 1621, and was twice married—first to Alice, the daughter
of Thomas Singleton, of Staining Hall, and subsequently, in 1625, to
Marie, the daughter of Henry Preston, of Preston. Richard Leckonby,
the eldest son and heir, was the offspring of his first marriage, and
like his father, became involved in the civil wars on the royal side.
Richard succeeded to the family estates sometime before 1646, for in
that year he compounded for them with Parliament. He left issue at his
death in 1669, by his wife, Isabel, a numerous family—John; Richard,
of Elswick; George; William, of Elswick; Sarah; Martha; and Mary, who
married Gilbert Whiteside, of Marton, gentleman. John Leckonby inherited
the estate, and resided at the ancestral mansion—Leckonby House. He
married Ann, the daughter of William Thompson, gent., of Little
Eccleston, but dying without offspring, was succeeded by his brother
Richard, who had espoused Ann, the daughter of William Hesketh, of
Mains Hall. The children of Richard Leckonby, of Leckonby House, were
William; Richard, who was born in 1696, and afterwards became a Romish
missionary; and Thomas, also a missionary, who died at Maryland in 1734.
William Leckonby, the eldest son, occupied Leckonby House, after the
decease of his father, as holder of the hereditary estates. He espoused
Anne, the daughter of Thomas Hothersall, of Hothersall Hall, and sister
and co-heiress of John Hothersall, and had issue—Richard; Thomas, born
in 1717, who entered the Order of Jesus; William, of Elswick, who died
in 1784; Anne, born in 1706; Bridget; and Mary, who became the wife of
Thomas Singleton, of Barnacre-with-Bonds, gent. Richard Leckonby, who
succeeded his father in 1728, inherited, in addition to the lands in
Great Eccleston and Elswick, the extensive manor of Hothersall, and by
his marriage with Mary, the daughter of William Hawthornthwaite, of
Catshaw, gent., came into possession, on the death of her brother John
Hawthornthwaite in 1760, of Catshaw, Lower Wyersdale, Hale, Luddocks, and
Stockenbridge. Notwithstanding these large accessions to the original
family domain, Richard Leckonby managed, by a long career of dissipation
and extravagance, to run through his resources, mortgaging his estates,
and bringing himself and his family to comparative poverty. He died in
1783, at about 68 years of age, having survived his wife many years, and
was buried at St. Michael’s-on-Wyre. His offspring were two sons, the
elder of whom was thrown from a pony and killed in early youth; whilst
the second, William, met with a fatal accident when hunting in Wyersdale
the year before the death of his father. William Leckonby, left, at his
untimely death, by his wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of James Taylor, of
Goosnargh, gent., two sons and a daughter. Of these children, Richard,
the eldest, died in 1795, when only sixteen years of age; James, the
second son, died in infancy; and Mary, their sister, married in 1799, at
the age of twenty-two years, Thomas Henry Hale Phipps, of Leighton House,
Wiltshire, a justice of the peace and deputy-lieutenant of his county, by
which union, Leckonby of Leckonby House, became a title of the past.


LEYLAND OF LEYLAND HOUSE AND KELLAMERGH.

Leyland House was occupied during the latter half of the seventeenth and
part of the eighteenth centuries by a family of wealth and position,
named the Leylands of Kellamergh. Christopher Leyland, the first of the
line recorded, resided at Leyland House in 1660, and married in 1665,
Margaret Andrew, of Lea, by whom he had issue—John; Ralph, died in 1675;
Anne, born 1671; Ellen, born 1679; Susan, died 1670; another Ralph, born
1680 and died 1711; Francis, died 1674; Bridget, died 1687; Roger, died
1678; and Thomas, who died in 1682.

John Leyland, who succeeded to the Kellamergh property and Leyland
House on the death of his father in 1716, married, in 1693, Elizabeth
Whitehead, and had offspring—Christopher, born 1694; Thomas, born 1699,
afterwards in holy orders; Joseph, died 1709; Ralph, born 1712; John,
died 1716; and William, who espoused Cicely, widow of Edward Rigby, of
Freckleton, and daughter of Thomas Shepherd Birley, by whom he had two
daughters, one of whom, Jane Leyland, subsequently married Thomas Langton.

Christopher Leyland inherited Kellamergh and the mansion on the demise
of his father, John Leyland, in 1745, and at his own death, some years
later, left one child, Elizabeth, who married, as her second husband, the
Rev. Edward Whitehead, vicar of Bolton.


LONGWORTH OF ST. MICHAEL’S HALL.

The family of Longworths, inhabiting St. Michael’s Hall until the early
part of the eighteenth century, was descended from the Longworths,
of Longworth, through Ralph, a younger son of Christopher Longworth,
of Longworth, by his wife Alice, the daughter of Thomas Standish, of
Duxbury. Ralph Longworth married Anne, the daughter of Thomas Kitchen,
and had issue two sons and one daughter. Robert, the younger son,
espoused Helen Hudson, whilst Elizabeth, his sister, married Richard
Blackburne, and afterwards Thomas Bell, of Kirkland. Richard, the elder
son and heir, is the first of the Longworths, described as of St.
Michael’s Hall, in Upper Rawcliffe. He married Margaret, the daughter
of George Cumming, of Upper Rawcliffe, and had issue—Ralph, Thomas,
Lawrence, Christopher, Anne, Elizabeth, and Katherine. Ralph, the
eldest son, espoused Jane, the daughter of Richard Cross, of Cross Hall,
in Chorley parish, but further than this fact, we have no information
concerning him. The family of the Crosses, into which he married,
belonged to Liverpool, and their old country seat, Cross Hall, is now
converted into cottages and workshops. Thomas Longworth, the second
son, born in 1622, resided at St. Michael’s Hall, and married Cicely,
the daughter of Nicholas Wilkinson, of Kirkland, by whom he had one
son—Richard Longworth. The latter representative, having succeeded in
course of time to the Hall and estates, was a justice of the peace for
the county of Lancaster, and on terms of intimacy with Thomas Tyldesley,
of Fox Hall, Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, William Hesketh, of Mains
Hall, and a number of other leading gentry in the district. He married
Fleetwood, the daughter of Edward Shutteworth, of Larbrick, and Thornton
Hall, and left at his demise one son—Edward Longworth, who became a
doctor of medicine, and resided at St. Michael’s Hall until 1725, about
which time he removed to Penrith, in the county of Cumberland.


PARKER OF BRADKIRK HALL.

The Parkers, who inhabited Bradkirk Hall for over a hundred years, were
relatives of the Derby family, and came originally from Breightmet Hall,
near Bolton, where they had lived for many centuries. William Parker,
of Bradkirk Hall, who died in 1609, and was buried at Kirkham, is the
first of whom we have any authentic account, and he is stated to have
married Margaret, the daughter of Robert Shaw, of Crompton. The children
springing from that union were—John, who inherited Bradkirk Hall; Thomas,
of Bidstone, in the county of Chester; and Henry, who espoused, in
1609, Alice Threlfall, and became the founder of the family of Parkers
of Whittingham. John Parker, of Bradkirk Hall, married Margaret, the
daughter and co-heiress of Anthony Parker, of Radham Park, Yorkshire;
and after her decease he espoused Alice, the daughter of Richard
Mason, of Up-Holland, near Wigan, by whom he had three sons and one
daughter—William, Richard, John, and Margaret. The offspring of his first
marriage were Anthony, Elizabeth, Jennet, Anne, Alice, and Christopher.
Anthony died unmarried, and Christopher, the second son, born in 1625,
succeeded to Bradkirk Hall on the demise of his father. He was a justice
of the peace for the county of Lancaster, and married Katherine, sister
to James Lowde, of Kirkham, and daughter of Ralph Lowde, of Norfolk.
His children were Anthony; Alexander, who married Dorothy, the daughter
of Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck; John, William, Gerrard, Christopher,
Margaret, Mary, and Jane, the last married John Westby, of Mowbreck, at
Poulton church, in 1688. Anthony Parker, the eldest son, born in 1657,
lived at Bradkirk Hall, and espoused Mary, the daughter of Sir Thomas
Stringer, sergeant-at-law, by whom he had issue—Christopher, Catherine,
and Rebecca, who died young. Christopher Parker inherited Bradkirk Hall,
and was Member of Parliament for Clitheroe in 1708. He died unmarried
about 1713, and the Hall and estates passed by will to his sister
Catherine, the wife of Thomas Stanley, of Cross Hall, in Ormskirk Parish,
conjointly with her uncle Alexander Parker. In 1723 the possessions of
the deceased Christopher Parker in Lancashire and Yorkshire were sold by
Catherine Stanley and Alexander Parker. The latter, however, resided at
Bradkirk Hall for some time after that date with his wife Dorothy, the
daughter, as before stated, of Thomas Westby of Mowbreck, by whom he had
nine sons and two daughters. The sons appear to have died without issue,
and one of the daughters, Dorothy, married ⸺ Cowburn, whilst the other
Katherine, became the wife of William Jump, of Hesketh Bank.


RIGBY OF LAYTON HALL.

The Rigbys, of Layton, were descended from Adam Rigby, of Wigan, who
married Alice, the daughter of ⸺ Middleton, of Leighton, and had
issue—John, Alexander, and Ellen. John Rigby, of Wigan, married Joanna,
the daughter of Gilbert Molyneux, of Hawkley, and became the founder of
the family of Rigby of Middleton. Ellen became the wife of Hugh Forth;
and Alexander Rigby, of Burgh Hall, in the township of Duxbury, espoused
Joanna, the daughter of William Lathbroke, by whom he had three sons and
one daughter—Edward, Roger, Alexander, and Anne. Edward Rigby, of Burgh,
who purchased the estate of Woodenshaw from William, earl of Derby, in
1595, was the first of the family, as far as can be ascertained, who
held property in the Fylde, and from his _Inq. post mortem_, dated
1629-30, we find that he possessed Laiton, Great Laiton, Little Laiton,
Warbrecke, Blackepool, and Marton, besides other estates in Broughton
in Furness, Lancaster, Chorley, etc. This gentleman married Dorothy,
the daughter of Hugh Anderton, of Euxton, and had issue—Alexander,
Hugh, Alice, Jane, and Dorothy. Alexander Rigby, who was born in 1583,
succeeded to Layton Hall, and Burgh, on the death of his father, and
afterwards married Katherine, the daughter of Sir Edward Brabazon, of
Nether Whitacre, in the county of Warwick. In 1641, during the time of
Charles I., he was a colonel in the king’s forces, and was, somewhere
about that period, removed from the commission of the peace for this
county by command of Parliament on account of certain charges made
against him of favouring the royal party. In 1646 he compounded for
his sequestrated estates by paying £381 3s. 4d. His offspring were
Edward, of Burgh, and Layton Hall; Thomas, rector of St. Mary’s, Dublin;
William, a merchant; Mary, wife of John Moore, of Bank Hall; Elizabeth,
wife of Edward Chisenhall, of Chisenhall; Jane, the wife of the Rev.
Paul Lathome, rector of Standish; and Alexander, who died in infancy.
Edward, the eldest son, who died before his father, married Mary, the
daughter of Edward Hyde, of Norbury, and left issue—Alexander, William,
Hamlet, Robert, Richard, Mary, and Dorothy. Alexander Rigby, the heir,
who was born in 1634, was also an officer in the royalist army, and
erected a monument to Sir Thomas Tyldesley near the spot where he was
slain at Wigan-lane, at which battle “the grateful erector” fought as
cornet. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1677 and 1678, and married
Alena, the daughter of George Birch, of Birch Hall, near Manchester. His
children were Edward, Alexander, Mary, Alice, Eleanor, and Elizabeth.
Of Edward we have no account beyond the fact that he was born in 1658,
and consequently must conclude that he died young. Alexander, the second
son, succeeded to the estates, and was knighted for some reason, which
cannot be discovered. He was High Sheriff of the county in 1691-2.
Mary, the eldest daughter, married Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, and
was co-heiress with Elizabeth, wife, and subsequently, in 1720, widow
of ⸺ Colley, to her brother, Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall and
Burgh, who married Alice, the daughter of Thomas Clifton, of Clifton,
Westby, and Lytham, but left no surviving offspring. Sir Alexander Rigby
is reputed to have been a gambler, and to have so impoverished his
estates, already seriously injured by the attachment of his family to the
fortunes of Charles I. and II., that he was compelled to dispose of his
possessions in Poulton and Layton for the benefit of his creditors. He
also appears to have been imprisoned for debt until released by an act
of Parliament, passed in the first year of George I., and his property
vested in trustees. His estates in Layton and Poulton were sold for
£19,200. After his liberation he resided in Poulton at his house on the
south side of the Market-place, where the family arms, bearing the date
1693, may still be seen fixed on the outer wall. The pew of the Rigbys
is still in existence in the parish church of that town, and has carved
on its door the initials A. R., and the date 1636, separated by a goat’s
head, the crest of the family.


SINGLETON OF STAINING HALL.

There is every reason to suppose that the Singletons who resided at
Staining Hall during the greater part of two centuries were a branch
of the family founded in the Fylde by Alan de Singleton, of Singleton.
George, the son of Robert Singleton by his wife Helen, the daughter of
John Westby, of Mowbreck, purchased the hamlet and manor of Staining from
Sir Thomas Holt, of Grislehurst, and was the first of the name to occupy
the Hall. He married Mary Osbaldeston, and left issue at his death, in
1552, William, the eldest; Hugh, who espoused Mary, sister of William
Carleton, of Carleton, and left a son, William, who died without issue;
Richard; Lawrence; and Margaret, the wife of Lawrence Carleton, heir
and subsequently successor to his brother William. William Singleton,
of Staining, became allied to Alice, the daughter and heiress of Thomas
ffarington, by whom he had Thomas, John, George, Richard, Helen, and
Margaret. On the demise of his father in 1556, Thomas, the heir, came
into possession of the estate; he married Alice, the daughter of James
Massey, and had one child, a daughter, Ellen, who espoused John Massey,
of Layton. Thomas Singleton died in 1563, and was succeeded by his
brother John, who had married Thomasine, the daughter of Robert Anderton,
and had issue two daughters, the elder of whom, Alice, became the wife
of Henry Huxley, of Birkenhead, and the younger, Elizabeth, of James
Massey, of Strangeways. John Singleton died in 1590, and was in his turn
succeeded by the next male representative, his brother George, who had
issue by his wife Mary, the daughter of John Houghton, of Penwortham or
Pendleton, two sons and a daughter—Thomas, George, and Anne, the wife
of Robert Parkinson, of Fairsnape. Thomas Singleton, the heir, became
lord of Staining in 1597, previously to which he had espoused Cicely,
the daughter of William Gerard, of Ince, and had issue Thomas, John,
Mary, Grace, Alice, the last of whom married John Leckonby, of Great
Eccleston, and Anne, the wife of Richard Bamber, of the Moor, near
Poulton. Thomas Singleton, the eldest son, succeeded to the lordship in
the natural course of events, and formed an alliance with Dorothy, the
daughter of James Anderton, of Clayton, who was left a widow in 1643,
when her husband was slain at Newbury Fight in command of a company of
royalists. The offspring of Thomas and Dorothy Singleton were John, born
in 1635 and died in 1668, who espoused Jane, the daughter of Edmund
Fleetwood, of Rossall; Thomas, who died childless; George; James; Anne,
of Bardsea, a spinster, living in 1690; Mary, the wife of John Mayfield;
and Dorothy, the wife of Alexander Butler, of Todderstaff Hall. John
Singleton, of Staining, whose widow married Thomas Cole, of Beaumont,
near Lancaster, justice of the peace, and deputy-lieutenant, had no
progeny, and the manor passed, either at once, or after the death of
the next brother, Thomas, to George Singleton, who had possession in
1679, but was dead in 1690, never having been married. He held Staining,
Hardhorne, Todderstaff, and Carleton manors or estates. The whole of
the property descended to John Mayfield, the son and heir of his sister
Mary, whose husband, John Mayfield, was dead. John Mayfield, of Staining,
etc., ultimately died without issue, and was succeeded by his nephew and
heir-at-law, William Blackburn, of Great Eccleston, whose offspring were
James, and Gabriel, under age in 1755.


STANLEY OF GREAT ECCLESTON HALL.

The Stanleys, of Great Eccleston, were descended from Henry, the fourth
earl of Derby, who was born in 1531, through Thomas Stanley, one of his
illegitimate children by Jane Halsall, of Knowsley, the others being
Dorothy and Ursula. Thomas Stanley settled at Great Eccleston Hall,
probably acquired by purchase, and married Mary, the relict of Richard
Barton, of Barton, near Preston, and the daughter of Robert Hesketh,
of Rufford. The offspring of that union were—Richard Stanley; Fernando
Stanley, of Broughton, who died unmarried in 1664; and Jane Stanley, who
was married to Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall. Richard Stanley, the
eldest son, succeeded to Great Eccleston Hall and estate on the death of
his father, and espoused Mary, the daughter and sole heiress of Lambert
Tyldesley, of Garret, by whom he had one son, Thomas Stanley, who in
course of time inherited the Eccleston property, and married Frances,
the daughter of Major-General Sir Thomas Tyldesley, of Tyldesley and
Myerscough Lodge, the famous royalist officer slain at the battle of
Wigan-lane in 1651. Richard Stanley, the only child of this marriage,
resided at Great Eccleston Hall, and espoused Anne, the daughter and
eventually co-heiress of Thomas Culcheth, of Culcheth, by whom he had two
sons—Thomas and Henry Stanley. Richard Stanley, who died in 1714, was
buried at St. Michael’s church, and the following extract is taken from
the diary of Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, the grandson of Sir Thomas
Tyldesley, and consequently Richard Stanley’s cousin, who at that time
appears to have been in failing health, and whose death occurred on the
26th of January in the ensuing year:—

  “October 16, 1714.—Wentt in ye morning to the ffuneral off Dick
  Stanley. Partᵈ with Mr. Brandon att Dick Jackson’s dor; but fell
  at Staven’s Poole; and soe wentt home.”

It may here be mentioned that for two years the cousins had not been
on very friendly terms, owing to Richard Stanley having at a meeting
of creditors, summoned by Thomas Tyldesley in 1712, when he had fallen
too deeply into debt, objected to an allowance being made to Winefride
and Agatha, daughters of Thomas Tyldesley by a second marriage. We
may form some idea of the strong feeling existing between them from
an entry made on the 7th of May, 1712, by Thomas Tyldesley in his
diary:—“Stanley—Dicke—very bitter against my two poor girlles, and
declared he would bee hanged beffor they had one penny allowed; yet my
honest and never-to-be-forgotten true friend Winckley, with much art
and sence, soe perswaded the otheʳ refferys that the slaving puppy was
compelled to consent to a small allowance to be sedulled—viz.: £100
each.” After the decease of Richard Stanley, Great Eccleston Hall, for
some reason we are unable to explain, passed into the possession of
Thomas Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe.


TYLDESLEY OF FOX HALL.

The family which inhabited the ancient mansion of Fox Hall in the time of
Charles II., and for many subsequent years, sprang originally from the
small village of Tyldesley, near Bolton-le-moors. When or how they first
became associated with the latter place is impossible to determine, as no
authentic documents bearing on the subject can be discovered; but that
they must have been established in or connected with the neighbourhood
at an early epoch is shown by the fact that Henry de Tyldesley held the
tenth part of a Knight’s fee in Tyldesley during the reign of Edward I.,
1272-1307. A Richard de Tyldesley was lord of the manor of Tyldesley
towards the close of the sovereignty of this monarch, and there is
sufficient evidence to warrant the assumption that he was the son and
heir of Henry de Tyldesley.

At a later period Thurstan de Tyldesley, a lineal descendant, who is
accredited with having done much to improve his native village, and
having built Wardley Hall, near Manchester, about 1547, was a justice of
the peace for the county of Lancaster, and Receiver-General for the Isle
of Man in 1532. He was on intimate and friendly terms with the earl of
Derby, and we may safely conjecture that the members of the two houses
had for long been familiarly known to each other, as we read that in
1405 Henry IV. granted a letter of protection to William de Stanley,
knt., John de Tyldesley, and several more, when they set out to take
possession of the Isle of Man and Peel Castle. In 1417, when Sir John
de Stanley, lord of the same island, was summoned to England, he left
Thurston de Tyldesley, a magistrate, to officiate as governor during
his absence. The Tyldesleys held extensive lands in Wardley, Morleys,
Myerscough, and Tyldesley, having seats at the three first-named manors.
Thurstan de Tyldesley, who erected Wardley Hall, was twice married and
had issue by each wife. To the offspring of the first, Parnell, daughter
of Geoffrey Shakerley, of Shakerley, he left Tyldesley and Wardley; and
to those of his second, Jane, daughter of Ralph Langton, baron of Newton,
he bequeathed Myerscough, and some minor property. There is nothing
calling for special notice concerning any, except two, of the descendants
from the first marriage—Sir Thomas Tyldesley, a great-grandson,
attorney-general for Lancashire in the reign of James I.; and his son,
who did not survive him many months, and terminated the elder branch.
In consequence of this failure of issue the Tyldesley estate, but not
Wardley, which had been sold, passed to the representatives of Thurstan’s
children by his second wife. The eldest son of the second alliance,
Edward, had espoused Anne, the daughter and heiress of Thomas Leyland, of
Morleys, and, subsequently, inherited the manor and Hall of Morleys. The
grandson and namesake of Edward Tyldesley, of Morleys and Tyldesley, who
was born in 1585, and died in 1618, entertained James I. for three days
at his seat, Myerscough Lodge, in 1617. Edward Tyldesley, of Myerscough,
was the father of Major-General Sir Thomas Tyldesley, knt., who so
greatly distinguished himself, by his fidelity and valour, in the wars
between King and Parliament. In those sanguinary and calamitous struggles
he served under the standard of royalty. He was slain at the battle of
Wigan-lane in 1651; and as a mark of esteem for his many virtues and
gallant deeds a monument was erected, near the spot where he fell, in
1679, by Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall, High Sheriff for the county of
Lancaster. The monument was inscribed as under:—

  “An high Act of Gratitude, which conveys the Memory of
  SIR THOMAS TYLDESLEY
  To posterity,
  Who served King Charles the First as Lieutenant-Colonel
  at Edge-Hill Battle,
  After raising regiments of Horse, Foot, and Dragoons,
  and for
  The desperate storming of Burton on Trent, over a bridge of 36 arches,
  RECEIVED THE HONOUR OF KNIGHTHOOD.
  He afterwards served in all the wars in great command,
  Was Governor of Litchfield,
  And followed the fortune of the Crown through the Three Kingdoms,
  And never compounded with the Rebels though strongly invested;
  And on the 25th of August, A.D. 1651, was here slain,
  Commanding as Major-General under the Earl of Derby,
  To whom the grateful erector, Alexander Rigby, Esq., was Cornet;
  And when he was High Sheriff of this county, A.D. 1679,
  Placed the high obligation on the whole Family of the Tyldesleys,
  To follow the noble example of their Loyal Ancestor.”

Sir Thomas Tyldesley married Frances, daughter of Ralph Standish, of
Standish, and had issue—Edward, born in 1635; Thomas, born in 1642;
Ralph, born in 1644; Bridget, who became the wife of Henry Blundell,
of Ince Blundell; Elizabeth; Frances, wife of Thomas Stanley, of Great
Eccleston; Anne, who was abbess of the English nuns at Paris in 1721;
Dorothy; Mary, wife of Richard Crane; and Margaret.

Edward Tyldesley, the eldest son and heir, followed in the footsteps of
his father, and was a staunch supporter of Charles II. When that monarch
had been restored to the throne of his ancestors he purposed creating
a fresh order of Knighthood, called the Royal Oak,[62] wherewith to
reward a number of his faithful adherents, whose social positions were
of sufficient standing to render them suitable recipients of the honour.
Edward Tyldesley was amongst those selected; but the design was abandoned
by the king under the advice of his ministers, who considered that it
was likely to produce jealousy and dissatisfaction in many quarters, and
might prove inimical to the peace of the nation. Under an impression,
which afterwards proved erroneous, that Charles II. intended to confer
upon him the lands of Layton Hawes, in recognition of the loyal services
of his father and himself, Edward Tyldesley erected a residence, called
Fox Hall, near its borders, where he lived during certain portions of
the year until his death, which occurred between 1685 and 1687. Edward
Tyldesley espoused Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Fleetwood, of Colwich, in
Staffordshire, and baron of Newton, in Lancashire; and after her decease,
Elizabeth, daughter of Adam Beaumont, of Whitley, by whom he had only
one child, Catherine Tyldesley, of Preston. The offspring of his union
with Anne Fleetwood were Thomas, Edward, Frances, and Maria. Thomas
Tyldesley succeeded to the estates, on the decease of his father, with
the exception of Tyldesley, which had been sold by Edward Tyldesley in
1685, and resided during a considerable part of his life at Fox Hall,
and occasionally at Myerscough Lodge. Thomas Tyldesley was born in 1657,
and at twenty-two years of age married Eleanor, daughter and co-heiress
of Thomas Holcroft, of Holcroft, by whom he had Edward, Dorothy, Frances,
Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Mary. After the death of his wife Eleanor, Thomas
Tyldesley espoused Mary, sister and co-heiress of Sir Alexander Rigby,
of Layton Hall, and had issue—Charles, Fleetwood, James, Agatha, and
Winefrid. Thomas Tyldesley, whilst living at Fox Hall, employed his time
chiefly in field sports, visits amongst the neighbouring gentry, and
frequent excursions to his more distant friends, as we learn from his
diary, a portion of which is still preserved. The following extracts from
it will illustrate what formed the favourite recreations of the numerous
well-to-do families peopling the Fylde at that era:—

  “May 16, 1712.—In the morning went round the commone a ffowling,
  and Franke Malley, Jo. Hull, and Ned Malley, shoot 12 times for
  one poor twewittee; came home; after dinner Cos. W: W: went with
  me to Thornton Marsh, where we had but bad suckses; tho wee
  killed ffive or six head of ffowle.

  “May 31, 1712.—Went to yᵉ Hays to see a race between Mr. Harper’s
  mare and Sanderson’s; meet a greatt deal of good company, but
  spent noe thing.

  “June 7, 1712.—Pd. Mrs. 2s. 6d., pd. pro ffish 1s., pro meat 3s.;
  and affter dinʳ went with cos Walton to bowle with old Beamont.
  I spent 10d. att bowling green house with 4 grubcatchers and Tom
  Walton, and Jo. Styeth.

  “June 10, 1713.—Gave Joⁿ Malley and Jo. Parkinson 1s. to see yᵉ
  cock ffeights. Gave Ned Malley 1s. for subsistence. Dinᵈ in the
  cockpitt with Mr. Clifton and others. Spent in wine 6d., and pro
  dinʳ 1s. Gave yᵉ fidler 6d. Spent in the pitt betwixt battles
  6d.; I won near 30s.

  “June 17, 1713.—Al day in yᵉ house and gardening; went to beed
  about 7, and riss at 10, in ordʳ to goe a ffox hunting.

  “Augᵗ 29, 1713.—Paid 2s. pro servant, &c.; soe a otter hunting to
  Wire, but killed none.

  “Septʳ 5, 1713.—In the morning Jos. Tounson and I went to
  Staining; ... thence to Layton-heys to see a foot race, where I
  won 6d. off Jos. Tounson—white against dun; soe home. Gave white
  my winings.

  “Octʳ 6, 1713.—We hunted yᵗᵗ hare ffive hours; but yᵉ ground soe
  thorrowly drughted by long continewance of ffine wether that we
  could not kill her.

  “Decʳ 16, 1713.—In the morning went a coursing with Sʳ W: G:;
  Lawʳ Rigby, &c.

  “March 16, 1714.—In the morning sent Dick Gorney and 6 more harty
  lads a ffishing; I stopᵈ with a showʳ of raine. Two of Rob.
  Rich his sons came in on my godson, to whom I gave 1s.; thence
  followed the ffishʳˢ, where we had very good sport, and tuck 8
  brave large growen tenches, and 6 as noble carps as I have seen
  tuke, severall pearch, some gudgeons, and a large eyell, and 6
  great chevens.”

The diarist, Thomas Tyldesley, died in 1715, before the outbreak of
the rebellion, and was buried at Churchtown, near Garstang. Edward
Tyldesley, his eldest son, who succeeded him, had two children by his
wife Dorothy—James and Catherine. He was accused, tried, and acquitted
of taking part with the rebels of 1715, although the evidence clearly
convicted him of having led a body of men against the king’s forces. At
the death of Edward Tyldesley, in 1725, Myerscough no longer belonged to
the family, but Holcroft, acquired by marriage in 1679, passed to his son
James, who twenty years later served with the troops of Prince Charles,
the younger pretender, and died in 1765. The offspring of James Tyldesley
by Sarah, his wife, were Thomas, Charles, James, Henry, and Jane, all of
whom with their descendants seem to have sold or mortgaged the remnants
of the once large estates, and gradually drifted into poverty and
obscurity.

It will not be out of place in concluding the notice of a family
connected with the earliest infancy of Blackpool, to state something of
the character and habits of Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, as disclosed
by, and deduced from, the entries in his diary, which unfortunately
comprises only the last three years of his life. At the present time
the appearance of a party of gentlemen in this neighbourhood decorated
with curled wigs, surmounted by three-cornered hats, and habited in
long-figured waistcoats, plush breeches, and red-heeled boots, would
excite no little astonishment, yet in the days of the diarist the sight
must have been one of usual occurrence, for such was the style of costume
worn by the wealthier classes. The lower classes were clothed in garments
made from the undyed wool of the sheep and called hodden gray.

Thomas Tyldesley was a great equestrian, his journeys being so frequent
and rapid that it is difficult to be certain of his whereabouts when he
finished his day’s work and its minute record, with the final “soe to
beed.” He was on terms of intimacy and friendship with the Rigbys of
Layton, the Veales of Whinney Heys, the Westbys of Burn Hall, and all
the wealthy families in the neighbourhood. Fishing, hunting, coursing,
and shooting were his favourite recreations. Nor was he unmindful in
the midst of these amusements of the interests of his farm, as the
accompanying remarks amply testify:—“Very bussy all morning in my hay;”
and “Alday in the house and my garden, bussy transplanting colleflowʳ
and cabage plants;” whilst at other times we find him in communication
with various tenants relative to some portion or other of the Myerscough
property. Unless confined to bed by gout or rheumatism, and the
self-imposed, but fearful, “Phissickings” he underwent, swallowing
doses whose magnitude alone would appal most men of modern days, he
was ever actively engaged in either business or pleasure. Every item
of disbursement and every circumstance that occurred, even to the most
trivial, has found a place in his diary, and from it we learn that while
evidently anxious to avoid unnecessary expenditure, he was neither
parsimonious nor illiberal, always recompensing those who had been put
to any trouble on his account, and paying his share of each friendly
gathering with a scrupulous exactness. There is, however, a satisfaction
expressed in the words, “but spent noe thing,” after the brief notice
of the horse-race he had attended on the Hawes, which, when we call to
mind his natural generosity, showed that his income required care in its
expenditure, and was barely sufficient to support the position he held
by birth. Many other entries in his diary prove that he was frequently
short of money, and as his mode of living appears to have been far
from extravagant, it seems difficult at first sight to account for the
circumstance. But when we discover that he had for years been connected,
as one of the leading members and promoters, with a Catholic and Jacobite
Society at Walton-le-dale, having for its object the restoration of the
Stuarts, then in exile, and remember that a scheme of such magnitude and
importance could not possibly be matured or kept in activity without the
purses of its more earnest supporters suffering to a great extent, we
obtain in some measure an explanation of the matter.

The character of Thomas Tyldesley, as gleaned from his diary, may be
summarised as follows:—He was in every sense a country gentleman, fond of
field sports, happy on his farm, thoughtful of the condition and comfort
of his cattle, although sometimes given to hard, or at least far, riding;
for the rest, he was active and intelligent, liberal to his dependants,
careful in his household, and strictly honourable in all his dealings,
but above all he had an earnest and deep reverence for his creed and
principles that spared no sacrifice.


VEALE OF WHINNEY HEYS.

The Veales, of Whinney Heys, who during a time of considerable license
and extravagance, were renowned for their piety and frugality, were
descended from John Veale, of Mythorp. This gentleman was living during
the reign of Elizabeth, and furnished 1 caliver and 1 morion at the
military muster which took place in 1574. Francis Veale, the son of
John Veale, of Mythorp, is the first of the name we find described as
of Whinney Heys.[63] Francis Veale left a son, Edward, who resided
at Whinney Heys, and appeared amongst the list of Free-tenants of
Amounderness in 1621. According to Sir William Dugdale, he was a justice
of the peace for Lancashire in the reigns of James I. and Charles I.
Edward Veale married Ellen, the daughter and co-heiress, with her
younger sister Alice, of John Massey, of Layton and Carleton, and in
that way the Veales acquired much of their property in the neighbourhood
of Whinney Heys. The offspring of this union were—John, who was born
in 1605; Massey; Edward; Francis; Singleton; Ellen, who married Thomas
Heardson, of Cambridge; Juliana; Dorothy, who married George Sharples,
of Freckleton; Anne, who became the wife of John Austin, of London;
Alice; and Frances, the wife of William Wombwell, of London. The maiden
name of Mrs. Edward Veale’s mother was Singleton, she being the daughter
of Thomas Singleton, of Staining Hall, and for that reason we find
the name borne by one of the sons of Edward Veale. John Veale, the
eldest son, succeeded to the Hall and estate, and espoused Dorothy, the
daughter of Matthew Jepson, of Hawkswell, in Yorkshire. John Veale was
fifty-nine years of age in 1664, and at that date entered the names of
his ancestors, etc., before Sir William Dugdale at Preston, who was
on his heraldic visitation in Lancashire. The children of John Veale,
by Dorothy, his wife, were—John, Edward, Helen, Susan, and Jane. John
Veale, who was twenty years old in 1664, became the representative of the
family on the decease of his father, some time previous to which he had
married Susannah, the daughter of Geoffrey Rishton, of Antley, and by
her had issue—Edward, born in 1680; Ellen, the wife of Richard Sherdley,
of Kirkham, born in 1698; and Dorothy, who died unmarried in 1747, aged
76 years. John Veale was a justice of the peace for this county, and
died in 1704. After the death of John Veale, whose remains were interred
at Bispham church, Edward, his only son, inherited the lands and Hall
of Whinney Heys. Edward Veale was living at the same time as Thomas
Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, Blackpool, and between the two gentlemen a close
friendship seems to have existed, as we glean from the diary of the
latter, in which Edward Veale is frequently mentioned, being invariably,
for some reason, styled Captain,—perhaps he once held that rank in some
temporary or reserve force, for there is no record of his ever having
been connected with the regular troops. The following is a short extract
from the above diary in 1712:—

  “Aug. 2.—Att my returne I wentt to yᵉ King’s Arms, and got my
  dinʳ with Broʳ. We spent 1s. a pice in whitte wine, and as wee
  went through yᵉ hall met with Just. Longworth,[64] Capᵗᵗ Veale,
  Just. Pearson, Franke Nickinson, and small Lᵈ of Roshall.[65] Wee
  were very merry upon yᵉ small Lord, and spent 1s. a pice in sack
  and white wine, wʰ elevated yᵉ petite Lᵈ that before he went to
  bed he tucke yᵉ ffriedom of biting his man Sharocke’s thumb off
  just beyond yᵉ nail. I found cos. W: W: att home.”

Edward left issue at his death in 1723, at forty-three years of age—John,
Sarah, and Susannah. John Veale, the heir, entered into holy orders, and
subsequently died unmarried. Sarah and Susannah Veale, the co-heiresses
of their brother, married respectively Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall
(the small lord), and John Fayle, of the Holmes, Thornton, who erected
Bridge House in Bispham, after the model of the original Hall of Whinney
Heys. The lands and residence of Whinney Heys eventually passed into the
possession of the Fleetwoods, of Rossall, through the wife of Edward
Fleetwood. The Veales were Puritans in religion, and one of the family,
named Edward Veale, whose father was the third son of Edward and Ellen
Veale mentioned above, and a lay member of the Presbyterian Classis for
this district in the time of the Commonwealth, attained considerable
eminence, first as a Puritan preacher and afterwards as a Nonconformist
minister. Calamy, in his _Nonconformist Memorial_, tells us that “Mr.
Edward Veale, of Christ Church, Oxford, afterwards of Trinity College,
Dublin, was ordained at Winwick in Lancashire, August 4th, 1657. When he
left Ireland he brought with him a testimonial of his being ‘a learned,
orthodox minister, of a sober, pious, and peaceable conversation, who
during his abode at the college was eminently useful for the instruction
of youth, and whose ministry had been often exercised in and about
the city of Dublin with great satisfaction to the godly, until he was
deprived of his fellowship for nonconformity to the ceremonies imposed
in the church, and for joining with other ministers in their endeavours
for a reformation;’ signed by Richard Charnock and six other respectable
ministers. He became chaplain to Sir William Waller, in Middlesex, and
afterwards settled as a Nonconformist pastor in Wapping, where he lived
to a good old age. He had several pupils, to whom he read university
learning, who were afterwards useful persons; one of whom was Mr.
Nathaniel Taylor. He died June 6th, 1708, aged 76. His funeral sermon was
preached by Mr. T. Symonds, who succeeded him.”


WESTBY OF MOWBRECK HALL AND BURN HALL.[66]

The family of this name, so long associated with the township of
Medlar-with-Wesham, in the parish of Kirkham, is descended from the
Westbys of Westby, in the county of York.

William Westby, who was under-sheriff of Lancashire in 1345, is the first
of the name, we can find, residing at Mowbreck; and a great-grandson of
his, named William Westby, is recorded as inheriting the Mowbreck and
Westby property in the reign of Henry VI., 1422-61. John Westby, the
son of the latter William, succeeded to the estates, residing, like his
ancestors, at Mowbreck Hall, and was twice married, the offspring of
the first union, with Mabill, daughter of Richard Botiler, being two
daughters; and of the second, with Eleanor Kirkby, of Rawcliffe, a son
and heir, named William, who succeeded him at his death in 1512. William
Westby, although the lawful holder of the estates, did not obtain control
over them until after 1517, being a minor at that date. He married
Elizabeth Rigmayden, of Wedacer, and had issue—John, Elizabeth, and
Helen. John Westby, the heir, had possession of Mowbreck, and Burn in
Thornton township, about the year 1556, after the decease of his father;
his places of residence were Mowbreck and Burn Halls. He was thrice
married, and by his last wife, Ann, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux,
of Sefton and Larbrick, and widow of Thomas Dalton, of Thurnham, had
issue—John, Thomas, William, Ellen, and Mary. John Westby succeeded his
father in 1591, and dying unmarried in 1604, was in his turn succeeded
by his brother, Thomas Westby, who was twice married, and purchased the
estate of Whitehall, where the children of his second union established
themselves. The offspring of his first wife, Perpetua, daughter of Edward
Norris, of Speke, were—John, Thomas, Edward, William, Francis, Margaret,
Perpetua, and Anne. John Westby, the heir, came into the Mowbreck estate
and Burn Hall some time after 1622, but dying without issue in 1661, was
succeeded by his nephew, Thomas, the eldest son of his fourth brother,
Francis Westby, Thomas Westby, M.D., slain in the civil wars, and his two
other brothers, Edward and William, having died childless. Thomas Westby,
the inheritor of Westby, Mowbreck, and Burn, was born in 1641, and
espoused Bridget, daughter of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham Hall, his issue
being John, Thomas, William, Cuthbert, Robert, Francis, Bridget, Anne,
and Dorothy. John Westby, the eldest son, inherited Westby, Mowbreck, and
Burn Hall, on the demise of his father in 1700. Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox
Hall, was intimate with this gentleman, as observed from the following
entry in his diary in the year 1715:—

  “June primo.—Went to Mains to prayers; thence with Jack Westby to
  Burn to dinner; stayed till 4; thence to Whinneyheys; stayed till
  9; soe home.”

John Westby married, in 1688, Jane, daughter of Christopher Parker,
of Bradkirk Hall, and had issue four daughters—Catherine, who married
Alexander Osbaldeston, of Sunderland; Bridget, the wife of William
Shuttleworth, of Turnover Hall; Mary, the wife of the Rev. Thomas
Alderson; and Anne, the wife of the Rev. J. Bennison, of London. At
the death of John Westby in 1722, Burn Hall and estate passed to the
Bennisons, whilst Mowbreck became the property of Thomas Westby, who died
childless six years later, and afterwards of Robert Westby, brothers of
the deceased John Westby. Margaret Shuttleworth, the daughter of William
and Bridget Shuttleworth, of Turnover, married her cousin, Thomas Westby,
of Whitehall, in 1744, and had numerous offspring, the eldest of whom,
John Westby, succeeded to Mowbreck, as heir-at-law, on the death of his
relative, Robert Westby, before mentioned, in 1762. This John Westby
died in 1811 unmarried, and was succeeded by his only surviving brother,
Thomas Westby. This gentleman also died unmarried, and was succeeded
in 1829 in the Turnover Hall estate, by his cousin, Thomas Westby,
heir-at-law, to whose eldest son, George Westby, he left Whitehall and
Mowbreck. George Westby espoused Mary Pauton, the eldest daughter of
Major John Tate, of the 6th West Indian Infantry, and had issue—Mary
Virginia Ann; Matilda Julia, wife of the Rev. Dr. Henry Hayman; Jocelyn
Tate; Ada Perpetua; Georgina Blanche; Ashley George, late captain in
the army; Cuthbert Menzies; Bernard Hægar, captain 16th regiment; Basil
Clifton, captain 16th regiment. George Westby died at Paris in 1842, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, Jocelyn Tate, the present holder, who
took by royal license the name and arms of Fazakerley on espousing, in
1862, Matilda Harriette Gillibrand-Fazakerley sister and co-heiress of
the late Henry Hawarden Gillibrand-Fazakerley, the son of Henry Hawarden
Fazakerley, of Gillibrand Hall, etc., and lord of the manor of Chorley.

Jocelyn Tate Fazakerley-Westby, of Mowbreck Hall, esq., was formerly a
cornet in the Scotch Greys, and is now a captain of Lancashire hussars,
yeomanry cavalry. He is a justice of the peace and a deputy-lieutenant of
the county of Lancaster.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER VII.

PARISH OF POULTON-LE-FYLDE.


POULTON. The ancient town and port of Poulton occupies the summit of
a gentle ascent about one mile removed from the waters of Wyre at
Skippool, and three from the Irish Sea at Blackpool. Between 1080 and
’86, Poltun, as it was written in the Norman Survey, contained no more
than two carucates of land under tillage, or in an arable condition,
so that out of the 900 acres composing the township, only 200 were
cultivated by the inhabitants. A considerable proportion of the entire
area of the township, however, would be covered with lofty trees, and
provide excellent forage ground for large herds of swine, which formed
the chief live-stock dealt in by our Anglo-Saxon and early Norman
ancestors. Taking this into consideration, the comparatively small amount
of soil devoted to agriculture, may not, indeed, indicate so meagre
a population about the close of the eleventh century as otherwise it
would seem to do, but still the evidence adduced is barely sufficient
whereon to base the assumption that the antecedents of Poulton had been
less under the destructive influence of the Danes than those of its
neighbours. Regarding the locality more retrospectively, and turning
back, for a brief space, to the era of the Romans, it must be admitted
that nothing has as yet been discovered which could be construed into an
intimation that the followers of Agricola, or their descendants, ever had
a settlement or encampment on the site. It is true that the churchyard
has yielded up many specimens of their ancient coinage, whilst others
have been found at no great distance, but the character of the relics
is in no way suggestive of a sojournment, like that of the fragmentary
domestic utensils and urns of Kirkham; and when it is remembered that the
much-used Roman road (Dane’s Pad) leading to the most important harbour
of the west coast, passed through the vicinity on its way towards the
Warren of Rossall, the explanation of the presence of the coins, as
of other antiquities along its line, is obvious. The name of the town
and district now under examination is of pure Anglo-Saxon origin, and
acquired from its proximity to the pool of the Skipton, or Skippool,
the signification of the word being, it is scarcely necessary to add,
the enclosure or township of the pool. The date at which habitations
first became visible on the soil must remain in a great measure a matter
of conjecture, as the annals of history are silent respecting this and
most other towns of Amounderness, until the arrival of William the
Conqueror, but we may safely infer that it was not long after the advent
of the Saxons before a situation so convenient both to the stream of
Wyre and the frequented pathway just mentioned, attracted a small colony
of settlers. Whatever century gave birth to Poulton, it is certain
that from such epoch to 1066, the population would be constituted,
almost exclusively, of the class known as “Villani,” perhaps most
appropriately interpreted by our term villagers, and that the occupation
of these bondsmen of the soil would be the tillage of the land and the
superintendence of swine. Their huts were doubtless of very rude and
primitive construction, but somewhere within the boundaries of the
township there must have been a dwelling of more pretentious exterior,
the residence of the Town-Reve, who received the dues and tolls from
the “Villani,” on behalf of the large territorial lord, and exercised
a general supervision over them. Athelstan appears to have held the
lordship of the whole of Amounderness in 936, when he conveyed it to the
See of York, and possibly before he ascended the throne it was invested
successively in his regal predecessors.

After the Conquest, Poulton passed into the possession of the Norman
nobleman, Roger de Poictou, by whom it was granted in 1094, to the
priory of St. Mary, at Lancaster. “He gave,” says the charter, “Poltun
in Agmundernesia, and whatsoever belonged to it, and the church with
one carucate of land, and all other things belonging to it; moreover
he gave the tithe of venison and of pawnage[67] in all the woods, and
the tithe of his fishery.”[68] This extract proves beyond question
the existence of a church at Poulton exactly eight years after the
completion of the Domesday record; and further, that it was endowed with
one carucate of land, or half the cultivated portion of the township.
At the first glance it seems more probable that the sacred edifice was
overlooked by the investigators in the course of the survey than that
it was erected so shortly afterwards, but a study of other pages of the
register betrays such evident care and minuteness on the part of those to
whom the work of compilation was entrusted, that it appears impossible
for an important building like the church to have escaped their notice.
Roger de Poictou was justly celebrated for zeal in the cause of his
faith; several monastic institutions owed their establishment to his
liberality, and amongst them was St. Mary’s of Lancaster. It will
therefore be but a reasonable conclusion to arrive at, that he built and
endowed the parish church of Poulton with the intention of presenting
it to the Priory of his own founding, in connection with the abbey of
Sees in Normandy. During the reign of Richard I. (1189-99), Theobald
Walter quitclaimed to the abbot of Sees all his right to the advowson of
Poulton and the church of Bispham, owing to a suit instituted against
him by that ecclesiastic;[69] and hence it must be inferred that the
donation of Roger de Poictou had through some cause reverted to him,
being subsequently conferred on Walter in company with other of the
confiscated estates of the rebellious baron. The abbot of Cockersand
also had some interest in the town about the time the last event took
place, and in about 1216 he compounded with the prior of Lancaster for
certain tithes held by him in the parish.[70] In 1246 the mediety of the
church of Poulton and the chapel of Bispham was granted by the archdeacon
of Richmond to the priory of St. Mary, and half a century later John
Romanus, archdeacon of Richmond, confirmed the gift, bestowing on it in
addition the remaining mediety, to be received when death had removed
the present holder. A clause in the document stipulated that immediately
the second mediety had been appropriated a vicar should be appointed at
a salary of twenty marks (£13 6s. 8d.) per annum.[71] Here again it is
clear that some time in the interval between 1199 and 1246 the lands and
living of Poulton had once more been forfeited or disposed of by the
Lancaster monastery, but in the absence of any records bearing on the
subject, the manner and reason of the relinquishment must still continue
enveloped in a veil of mystery. From 1246 the vicarage of Poulton
remained attached to the Lancaster foundation until the dissolution of
alien priories, when it was conveyed to the abbey of Sion, in Middlesex,
and retained by that convent up to the time of the Reformation in 1536.
Alien priories, it may be explained, were small monastic institutions
connected with the abbeys of Normandy, and established on lands which had
been granted or bequeathed to the parent houses by William the Conqueror
or one of his followers. They were occupied by only a very limited number
of brethren and members of the sisterhood. A prior was appointed over
each, his chief duty being to collect the rents and other monies due from
their estates, etc., and transmit them over to Normandy. Such immense
sums were in that way annually exported out of the country, that it was
ultimately deemed expedient by the king and his ministers to suppress all
priories of this description.

The Banastres were a family long connected with the Fylde through landed
property which they held in the neighbourhood; originally they are
stated to have come over from Normandy with William the Conqueror, and
to have settled at Newton in the Willows. On their frequent journeys to
and from Thornton, Singleton, and Staining, the tenants of the priory of
St. Mary were in the habit of crossing over the lands of the Banastres,
by whom their intrusions were deeply resented, which led to constant
feuds between them and the head of the Lancaster monastery. In 1276, as
we learn from the “Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.,” Sir Adam Banastre with
several of his friends and retainers, amongst whom were John Wenne,
Richard le Demande (the collector), William de Thorneton, Richard de
Brockholes, Geoffrey le Procuratoure (the proctor), and Adam le Reve (the
reeve), attacked the prior, Ralph de Truno, and his train of attendants,
when on their way to Poulton. They seized and carried off both him
and his retinue to Thornton, where, after treating them with great
indignity, they chastised and imprisoned them. Edward I., on hearing of
the disgraceful outrage, appointed John Travers, William de Tatham, and
John de Horneby to investigate the matter and ascertain the cause, if
possible; but no paper is now to be found revealing the result of the
examination or hinting at the provocation, although a surmise may be
hazarded that it was no new quarrel, but simply the old feud, which had
at last culminated in a cowardly assault on a defenseless ecclesiastic.

In 1299, Poulton was held in trust by Thomas, earl of Lancaster, for
the prior of St. Mary; and eight years anterior to that date the abbot
of Deulacres, in Staffordshire, drew certain revenues from land in the
township, viz., £8 per annum from 16 carucates of land, about 13s. 4d.
each year from the sale of meadow land, 10s. from assessed rents, and
£5 from the profit of stock, making in all an annual total of £14 3s.
4d. The repeated disputes between Sir Adam Banastre and Adam Conrates,
prior of Lancaster, relative to the trespasses of the latter’s tenants
and the collection of tithes on the domains of the former were peaceably
settled in 1330, by an arrangement, in which Sir Adam pledged himself to
allow two good roads across his lands—one from Poulton and Thornton to
Skippool and thence across the ford of Aldwath, now called Shard, on to
Singleton, the other starting from the same localities and running to
the ford of Bulk higher up the river, probably the modern Cartford, or
in its vicinity; in addition the knight agreed to make good any damage
that the prior or his dependants might suffer over that portion of their
journeys.[72] Adam Conrates on his side promised to withdraw all actions
for trespass, etc., on the fulfilment of these conditions. In 1354 a
person named Robert de Pulton held some small possessions in Poulton, but
nothing further than that trifling fact is recorded about him, although
it is probable from the orthography of his name that his ancestors
were at some time closely and honourably associated with the town
from which their distinctive appellation appears to have been derived.
During the time of Elizabeth, James Massey, gentleman, of Carleton and
Layton, purchased from the governors of the Savoy Hospital, in London,
the tolls in the parish of Poulton, together with all the “chauntry and
appurtenances” founded in the parish church of Bricksworth, and all
messuages, lands, tenements, etc., situated in the town and parish of
Poulton; the tolls remained subject to an annual rent of £2, to be paid
on St. Michael’s day to the governors and chaplains of the hospital.
Later in the same reign James Massey sold to William Leigh, esq., of High
Leigh, in Cheshire, half of these tolls and some pasture fields, called
“Angell’s Holme,” adjoining the Horse-bridge, where in earlier days,
when the waters of Wyre made their way along a brook into the interior
of this neighbourhood, boats are said to have been built. The Rigbys, of
Layton Hall, subsequently became possessed of a great part of Poulton,
and at the present day a large number of houses are leased in their name
for the remainder of terms of 999 years; the Heskeths, of Mains, and
other leading families in the district were also considerable property
owners in the town. On one occasion the ruling powers of Kirkham made an
unsuccessful attempt to obtain the tolls arising from the cattle fairs
held in Poulton and Singleton, but on what plea such claims were urged
the record is silent.

In an entry which occurs in the lists of the Norman Roll, an impost
consisting of the ninth of corn, fleeces, and lambs, and created in 9
Edward III., 1336, it is stated that in 1291 the vicarage of Poulton
was taxed by Pope Nicholas at 10 marks, or £6 13s. 4d. modern coinage,
the prior of Norton taking £2 in garbs or wheat sheaves. Afterwards
the vicarage was freed from the payments of tenths on account of the
smallness of the living. Dr. Whittaker informs us that the priory of
Lancaster was granted by Henry V., in 1422, to the chancellor of England,
who in that year instituted a vicar to the living of Poulton, but eight
years previously, in the same reign, the priory was granted in trust
for the abbess and convent of Sion; from which seemingly contradictory
statements it may be gathered that the chancellor was the trustee for
the property, and in such capacity alone acted as patron of the church
of Poulton. In support of this supposition may be cited the fact
that the Lancaster house and its belongings were not received by the
convent in Middlesex until 1431, during the sovereignty of Henry VI.,
when the vicarage was endowed by the abbess, and William de Croukeshagh
presented to the living. This pastor, the earliest personally mentioned,
was succeeded on his death, in 1442, by Richard Brown, appointed by
the same convent. “Among the records,” writes Baines in his history of
Lancashire, “in the Augmentation Office is in indenture tripartite in
English, bearing the date 11 Henry VIII., 1579, and purporting to be made
between the Abbess of Sion on the first part, Thomas Singleton and Henry
Singleton on the second part, and William Bretherton, vicar of Poulton,
on the third part, by which the tithe-sheaf of Pulton and a tenement are
leased to the vicar, that he may better keep and maintain his house in
Pulton; the term to continue during the existence of a lease granted to
the persons named Singleton by Sion abbey.” At the Reformation the manor
and advowson were claimed by the crown, and a few years later became the
property of the Fleetwoods. The last royal presentation to the living was
made by Edward VI. in 1552, just one year before his death, whilst the
first by this family was in 1565, by John Fleetwood, lord of the manor of
Penwortham. The Rev. Charles Hesketh, M.A., of North Meols, is now the
patron.

The ancient church of Poulton stood on the site now occupied by the
existing edifice, and like it, was dedicated to the Saxon St. Chad
or Cheadda, bishop of Mercia, and seated at Chester in A.D. 669. The
original structure consisted of only a nave and north aisle, the outer
walls of which were composed of sandstone, whilst the double roof rested
on semicircular arches, extending from the chancel to the font, and
supported on four octagonal pillars. These semicircular arches belonged
to a very antique style of architecture, and have given rise to the
belief that the pillars were at first massive cylinders, being carved
into an angular form about the time of Henry VIII. The pulpit had its
place towards the south, and at the east end there appears to have been
a small gallery. A pipe clay monument _in memoriam_ of the Singletons,
of Staining, stood inside the church, but was, intentionally or
accidentally, destroyed when the building was pulled down. A rude brass
crucifix and a chalice, both of which belonged to the church previous to
the Reformation, are still preserved, one being in the possession of
a late priest at Breck chapel, and the other in the Catholic chapel at
Claughton. The upper halves of the windows, including the east one, were
semicircular in form. In 1622 the old chancel was repaired by the Rev.
Peter Whyte, the vicar, and a stone, two feet in length and one foot and
a half in depth, bearing the name “Peter Whyte,” and the date “1622,” in
raised letters about six inches long, was placed over the east window.
This piece of masonry now occupies a situation in the south-west corner
of the edifice. The churchyard, which is reported to have been usually
in a filthy and disgraceful state, was partly surrounded by a moderately
wide ditch, on the brink of which three or four fine sycamore trees
flourished, but were cut down when sundry alterations and improvements
were effected in the ground. In 1751, after the old church had been
standing six centuries and a half, it was determined to demolish it,
and erect a more commodious building on the site. The tower, however,
was retained, as, being of more recent date, it evinced none of those
symptoms of decay which had rendered the body of the edifice dangerous to
worshippers. An opinion prevails that the tower was built about the time
of Charles I., and such a view is upheld by the discovery on the removal
of the pulpit in 1836 of a square stone, having on its face the raised
letters TB. WG. in the first line, IH. TG. IH. in the second line, and
WG. 1638 in the last line. It is supposed that this stone, which is now
fixed in the wall at the south-west corner of the church, was carved in
commemoration of the erection of the tower, and the raised letters are
the initials of the churchwardens then in office, and the date when the
work was accomplished. Between this stone and the one previously referred
to, there is a stained-glass memorial window to “Robert Buck, born
1805, died 1862, presented by his sister, C. D. Foxton.” Mrs. Catherine
Dauntesy Foxton, the lady here indicated, is the representative of the
family of Bucks, of Agecroft Hall, Pendlebury, and inherited considerable
property in the neighbourhood of Poulton. During the time the new
church was in course of building, divine service was performed in the
tithe-barn, and the ceremony of baptism at the residences of the parents.
The funds required for carrying out the important undertaking were
doubtless chiefly supplied through the munificence of a comparatively
small circle of private individuals, whose contributions would probably
be in some measure supplemented by minor collections amongst the less
opulent agriculturists and peasantry. One person, named Welsh, who
resided at Marton, seems to have cherished a bitter antipathy to the
levelling of ancient structures in general, and embodied his refusal to
assist this particular work in the following rhymes:—

  “While here on earth I do abide,
  I’ll keep up walls and pull down pride;
  To build anew I’ll ne’er consent,
  And make the needy poor lament.”

It has usually been affirmed that the side galleries were not erected
until several years after the new church had been finished, but the
annexed extract from an old document discovered in 1875, shows that
authority to build them was obtained in 1751, whilst the church
was levelled with the ground; and as the parchment also discloses
that a number of seats in these galleries were allotted to certain
gentlemen of the parish in the ensuing year, there is ample evidence
that the rebuilding of the church and their erection were carried on
simultaneously:—“25 June, 1751. On the Certificate and request of Roger
Hesketh, Esq., Patron; the Rev. Robert Loxham, Clerk, Vicar; and the
Churchwardens of the Parish Church of Poulton; a Faculty was Granted to
John Bird, John Birley, and Richard Tennant, all of Poulton, Gentlemen
(for the better uniformity of the Parish Church of Poulton, which was
then taken down and rebuilding) to take down the Gallery over the
Chancel in the East of the said Church, which was then very irregular
and incommodious, and to rebuild the same with a convenient staircase,
stairs, and passage leading thereto, of their own expense, in the west
end thereof to adjoin to the north side of the gallery there then
standing, and to be made uniform therewith, and to make satisfaction
to the several owners of the seats in the said Gallery for the damage
sustained in removing the same and altering, and lessening the seats
therein; and to erect a Gallery on each side of the said Church, with
convenient staircases leading thereto at the north-east and south-east
ends of the said Church, if necessary, according to the form of the said
Certificate annexed, and also to remove the Pulpit and reading desk from
the place where the same then lately stood, near to the place where the
Churchwardens’ seat was then lately situate, as it would greatly tend to
the conformity of the said Church and to the benefit and advantage of the
Inhabitants of the said Parish, and also that they might have liberty to
sell and dispose of the seats to be contained in the said intended side
Galleries, to such persons within the said Parish as should stand most in
need thereof, to reimburse themselves the charges and expenses they would
be necessarily put to in building the said intended galleries and making
the alterations aforesaid.”

The present edifice is of stone, plain but commodious, and comprises
a chancel, body, and embattled tower, with buttresses supporting each
corner. Formerly a small shed stood on one side of the tower, and was
used as a repository for the sculls and other osseous relics of humanity,
which were unearthed during the process of making fresh graves; this
house was pulled down some years ago, and its numerous treasures returned
to the ground at the south-east corner of the yard. The chancel now
standing was erected eight years since, mainly through the exertions
of the Rev. Thomas Clarke, M.A., the vicar, who died in 1869. On the
exterior of the building, over a door at the south-east corner of the
body is the inscription:—“Insignia Rici Fleetwood Ari Hujus Eccliæ
Patroni Ann Dni 1699”; above which is a circumscribed uneven space
formerly occupied by the arms of the Fleetwood family. Within the church
the quarterings of the Heskeths and Fleetwoods are hung against the walls
in frames. At the west end of the building there is a wooden panel into
which the following names have been cut:—

  Rich. Dickson.
  Rich. Willson.
  John Hull.
  Rich. Willson.
  John Woodhouse, churchwardens, 1730.

From the way in which the holders of similar offices are arranged at
present it is surmised that these gentlemen respectively represented the
townships of

  Poulton.
  Carleton.
  Hardhorn.
  Thornton.
  Marton.

On the south side of the church is a mural tablet to the memory of the
Rev. Richard Buck, M.A., of Agecroft Hall, Pendlebury, born 1761, died
1845, also Margaret, his wife, and Margaret, his daughter. Another
monument bears the names of Frances Hull, born 1794, died 1847; William
Wilson Hull, born 1822, died 1847, in the Queen’s service, at Bathurst,
St. Mary’s Island in the river Gambia; Henry Mitchell Hull, M.A., born
1827, died 1853; John Hull, M.D., born 1761, died 1843—“left the eldest
of the three children of John Hull, surgeon; an orphan at six years of
age, poor, friendless, by the best use of all means of education within
his power, by unwearied industry, by constant self-denial, he duly
qualified himself for the practice of his profession[73]”; Sarah Hull,
died 1842; William Winstanley Hull, M.A., Fellow of Brazenose College,
Oxford, and Barrister-at-Law, eldest son of John Hull, M.D., F.L.S.,
born 1784, died 1873. Here also was the old churchwardens’ pew, removed
in 1876, having a brass plate inscribed thus:—“Thomas Whiteside, Jno
Wilkinson, Jno Whiteside, Thos. Cornwhite, Jno Hodgson, Churchwardens,
1737”; also the old pew formerly belonging to the Rigbys of Layton Hall,
on the door of which are carved the letters “A.R.,” a goats head, and
the date “1636,” being the initials and crest of Sir Alexander Rigby, of
Layton Hall. Until last year, when they were removed to afford space for
more modern seats, the two family pews of the Fleetwoods and Heskeths
stood on this side. The pews were walled in laterally and in front by
a high ornamental railing of oak, and in the larger of the two traces
of a crest were visible on the wall. Near this spot there are many very
ancient pews, one of which has the date and initials “17.TW.02” carved
upon it, whilst on the floor of the aisle close at hand is the gravestone
of “Edward Sherdley, gentleman, dyed 21st September, 1744, aged 71,” and
almost adjoining lies another stone, surmounting the remains of Geoffrey
Hornby, who died in 1732. On the day of the latter gentleman’s funeral
the west side of the market-place was destroyed by fire, and as the
procession passed the scarves of the mourners were scorched by sparks
driven by a high wind in showers from the conflagration. On the north
side of the church is a pew bearing the date ‘1662’; and near to are the
old pews of Burn Hall, Little Poulton Hall, Mains Hall, and Todderstaff
Hall, above which, fastened to the wall and marking the resting place
of several members of his family, are the arms of Thomas Fitzherbert
Brockholes, esq., of Claughton, the lord of Little Poulton, etc.

The chancel contains a monument in memory of Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, died
1819, and his nephew, Edward Thomas Hesketh, died 1820; also of Fleetwood
Hesketh, of Rossall, who died in 1769, aged 30, and Frances Hesketh, who
died in 1809, aged 74, all of whom were interred beneath the Communion.
In addition there are two recent tablets, one being to the memory of
the late Thomas Clarke, vicar of the parish; and the other in memory of
Francis Wm. Conry, only child of F. A. Macfaddin, surgeon, 47th regt.
Within the Communion rails are two antique and elaborately carved oak
chairs.

In the south gallery are mural tablets inscribed in remembrance of Edward
Hornby, died in 1766, and Margaret, his wife; Edward Sherdley, died 1744,
and Ellen, his wife; Giles Thornber, J.P., died 1860, and his wife;
Geoffrey Hornby, died in 1732, and Susannah, his wife; Richard Harrison,
vicar of Poulton, died in 1718, aged 65; and Christopher Albin, curate
of Bispham, died in 1753, aged 56, on a pew door opposite to which is a
brass plate engraved:—“Introite et orate, cælo supinas si tuleris manus
sacra feceris, malaque effugies.[74] Christopher and Margery Albin 1752.”

At one time a sounding board was suspended over the pulpit. An ancient
font, formerly belonging to the church and now the property of the
vicar, the Rev. William Richardson, M.A., has carved upon its exterior
the date 1649, the letters M.H., a cross, and something, in its damaged
state difficult to trace but betraying some resemblance to a crown. The
successor to this font was removed several years since to make room
for a new one presented by the daughter of the Rev. Canon Hull, of
Eaglescliffe, in memory of her sister Frances Mary Hull, who died in
1866, aged 20 years.

The old church books, extracts from which will be given subsequently,
contain many entries of sums paid for rushes to strew the pews and
aisles, a custom existing here as late as 1813. In the tower is a peal of
six bells, with the inscriptions:—

  1st Bell.—“Prosperity to all our Benefactors.      A. R. 1741.
  2nd. ”   —“Peace and good Neighbourhood.           A. R. 1741.
  3rd. ”   —“Prosperity to this Parish.              A. R. 1741.
  4th. ”   —“When us you ring
              We’ll sweetly sing.                    A. R. 1741.
  5th. ”   —“Able Rudhall
              Cast us all.               M. T. Gloucester. 1741.”[75]

The 6th bell was recast by G. Mears and Company, of London, in 1865,
at the sole expense of the Rev. T. Clarke, and is inscribed:—“T.
Clarke, M.A., vicar; W. Gaulter, J. T. Bailey, W. Jolly, J. Whiteside,
churchwardens.” The original inscription was—“Robert Fishwick, John
Wilkinson, William Cookson, James Hull, John Moore, churchwardens.”

About thirty years since the roof of the church was altered and renewed.
Notwithstanding the fact that the churchyard has been in constant use
for so many centuries very few emblems of antiquity, beyond occasional
coins of the Roman era, have ever been discovered in it, and at present,
unlike most burial grounds of great age, no specimens of raised letters
are to be seen amongst the numerous gravestones, the oldest of which
still legible, intimates the resting place of Richard Elston, and has
the date 1719. At a short distance, and assisting to flag a side pathway
to the south of the church, is another stone, covering the grave of
“Richard Brown, of Great Marton, who died the third day of April, 1723”;
but neither this nor the foregoing one have any interest beyond their
antiquity. The ancient practice of tolling the Curfew-bell is still
continued in the winter evenings from the 29th of September to the 10th
of March, whilst a pancake bell is rung at 12 o’clock on each Shrove
Tuesday.[76]

  VICARS OF POULTON-LE-FYLDE.

  IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER.

  ------------+-------------------+---------------------+----------------
    Date of   |     VICARS.       |     On whose        | Cause of
  Institution.|                   |   Presentation.     | vacancy.
  ------------+-------------------+---------------------+----------------
  In 1431     |Wm. de Croukeshagh |Abbot and Convent    |
              |                   |  of Sion            |
  ”  1442     |Richard Brown      |Ditto                |
  Before 1519 |William Bretherton |Ditto                |
  In 1552     |Ranulph Woodward   |Edward VI.           |
              |Richard Cropper    |                     |
  ”  1565     |Wm. Wrightington   |John Fleetwood, of   |Death of Richard
              |                   |  Penwortham         |  Cropper
  ”  1573     |Richard Grenhall   |Bridget Fleetwood    |Death of William
              |                   |  and William, her   |  Wrightington
              |                   |  son                |
  ”  1582     |Peter Whyte        |Edward Fleetwood     |Death of Richard
              |                   |  and William Purston|  Grenhall
  About 1650  |John Sumner        |                     |
              |George Shaw        |                     |
  In 1674     |Richard Harrison   |Richard Fleetwood,   |Death of George
              |                   |  of Rossall         |  Shaw
  ”  1718     |Timothy Hall       |Edward Fleetwood,    |Death of Richard
              |                   |  of Rossall         |  Harrison
  ”  1726     |Robert Loxham      |Ditto[77]            |Death of T. Hall
  ”  1749     |Robert Loxham      |Roger Hesketh, of    |Resignation of
              |                   |   Rossall           |  R. Loxham
  ”  1770     |Thomas Turner      |Exors. of Fleetwood  |Death of Robert
              |                   |  Hesketh, of        |  Loxham
              |                   |  Rossall, by consent|
              |                   |  of his widow       |
  ”  1810     |Nathaniel Hinde    |Bold Fleetwood       |Death of Thomas
              |                   |  Hesketh, of Rossall|  Turner
  ”  1820     |Chas. Hesketh, M.A.|Peter Hesketh, of    |Cession of
              |                   |  Rossall            |  N. Hinde
  ”  1835     |John Hull, M.A.    |Rev. C. Hesketh, of  |Resignation of
              |                   |  North Meols        |  C. Hesketh
  ”  1864     |Thos. Clarke, M.A. |Ditto                |Resignation of
              |                   |                     |  J. Hull
  ”  1869     |William Richardson,|Ditto                |Death of T.
              |  M.A.             |                     |  Clarke
  ------------+-------------------+---------------------+----------------

Of the earlier vicars mentioned above, nothing is known until we come
to the Rev. Peter Whyte, of whose immediate descendants it is recorded
that, after his death, they rapidly drifted into poverty, and that one
of them, a granddaughter, regularly attended the fairs of Poulton as
the wife of a pedlar or hawker. The Rev. Richard Harrison was cousin to
Cuthbert Harrison, the Nonconformist divine who suffered ejection, and
belonged to the Bankfield family. Until instituted to Poulton, Richard
Harrison was curate at Goosnargh. His son Paul gained some celebrity as
a controversial writer on matters of ecclesiastical interest.[78] The
Loxhams settled at Dowbridge, near Kirkham, and that estate is still held
by the family. The Rev. Thomas Turner purchased the living in 1770, when
it was worth no more than £75 per annum, for £200, and held it until
his death forty years later. The Rev. C. Hesketh, M.A., brother to the
late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., is rector of North Meols and
patron of the living. During a portion of the time when he was vicar of
Poulton, the Rev. R. Bowness was curate in charge. The Rev. John Hull,
M.A., is honorary canon of Manchester, and was examining chaplain to the
Right Rev. Prince Lee, D.D., the first bishop of this diocese, by whom
he was appointed to the rectory of Eaglescliffe, near Yarm, one of the
most valuable livings in his gift. The Rev. Thomas Clarke, M.A., was
originally curate at the Parish Church of Preston, and afterwards became
incumbent of Christ Church in the same town, which living he resigned on
being presented to the vicarage of Poulton.

Subjoined are a number of extracts selected from the old account books
of the churchwardens, and in them will be found much that is both
interesting and curious:—

  “1764.

  “June 4.—To the Ringers, being his Majestie’s Birthday, 3s. 0d.

  July 8.—To a Bottle of Wine to a strange Parson, 2s. 0d.: To
  ditto to a strange Parson, 2s. 0d.

  “1765.

  “June 6.”—To Mr. Lomas for mending clock, 2s. 2d.

  August 18.—To Thomas Parkinson for Rushes, 6s. 8d.: Spent when
  Rush came, 1s. 7d.

  Oct. 20.—To Mr. Loxham for a Prayer, 2d.

  Dec. 25.—Spent Receiving Bassoon, 1s. 6d.: To Clark in full for
  wages, £4 0s. 0d.: To Ringers Last half yʳ Sallary, 18s. 0d.: To
  Singers in full, 12s. 6d.

  “1766.

  “Sept. 15.—Rushes for Church, 6s. 8d.: Candles, Beesoms, &c.,
  12s. 6d.

  “1767.

  “May 13.—Court fees at Visitation, 7s. 10d.: Churchwardens’
  Expenses at Preston, £1 7s. 5d.: Curat’s horse hire to Dᵒ, 2s. 6d.

  July 20.—To Reed for Bassoon, 4s. 6d.

  Nov. 21.—To Hugh Seed for Flaggin, £6 18s. 8½d.: To Thos. Crook
  for Church steps, 18s. 4d.: Ale at fixing dᵒ, 1s. 0d.

  “1768.

  “Sept. 1.—To Mr. Warbrick for Cloth for Surpᶜᵉ, 10½d.: To a
  Sacrament day, 11s. 6d.

  “1769.

  “Feb. 1.—To A New Prayer Book, £1 1s. 3d.

  ” 6.—To Cleaning Candlesticks, 2s. 0d.

  Mar. 27.—To Cash wᵗʰ Marton Parson, 5s. 5d. Received By Miss
  Hesketh’s Burial in the Church, 3s. 4d.

  “1770.

  “Mar. 13.—To Cash allowed Church Wardens for attending sacramᵉⁿᵗ,
  5s. 0d.

  “1771.

  “May 29.—To Ringers ale, 3s. 0d.

  Aug. 18.—Spent when Parson Hull preeched, 4s. 6d.

  “1772.

  Aug. 14.—To cleaning Windows, 7s.; and lowance of ale 2s. 6d.

  “1774.

  “July 4.—Spent on Parson Eckleston and another strange Parson,
  one Red prayrs and the other preached, 3s. 6d.

  Dec. 21.—To Expense of a Meeting in sending for boys that had
  done Mischief at Church, 1s.

  “1775.

  “May 3.—To 5 Church Wardens attending 7 Sacrament Days, £1 15s.
  0d.

  May 6.—To Horse Hire for 5 Church Wardens twice to the
  Visitation, £1 5s.: To Wᵐ Brown for ale for Richᵈ Rossall whilst
  he was altering Pulpit, and at settling his accᵗ, 3s.

  June 30.—Spent on Martin Singers, 10s.

  Oct. 4.—Spent on St. Lawrence’s Singers, 18s. 4d.

  “1781.

  “July 14.—It is agreed this Day among the Parishioners of the
  several Townships of Poulton that all arrears belonging to the
  said Parish unto the time of Visitation last past shall be
  paid and discharged by a Tax regularly laid upon the Parish in
  general, and that all charges of Organ and Organist for the
  Parish Church of Poulton shall not be defrayed hereafter by any
  Tax levied on the Parish in general but by voluntary subscription
  only. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands the Day
  and Year above written.

  THOMAS TURNER, Vicar of Poulton; EDWᵈ SMITH, JAMES BISBROWN,
  PAUL HARRISON.

  “1782.

  “Feb. 6.—Recᵈ for Mr. Brockhole’s Burial in the Church, 3s. 4d.

  July 27.—Memorandum: It is agreed at this Vestry Meeting by all
  the parishioners who have attended here that in future the public
  ringing days in this parish shall be reduced to two, namely, the
  King’s Birthday and Christmas Day,—the ringers to be allowed Six
  Shillings on each day; and further, that the Church Wardens’
  Expenses on every Visitation shall on no pretence exceed forty
  shillings.—JOSEPH HARRISON, WILLIAM DICKSON, JAMES STANDEN, EDW.
  SMITH, THOS. TWISS, RICH. SINGLETON, THOMPSON NICKSON.

  “1788.

  “June 7.—Cartage of Rush and allowance, 9s. 0d.: Kirkham Singers,
  10s. 6d.

  “1793.

  “Pᵈ for ale for Ringers on 29 May, 6s. 0d.
    ”   ”   do  ”    do   on the 4 of June, 6s. 0d.
    ”   ”   do  ”    do   on the 25 Octobʳ, 6s. 0d.
    ”   ”   do  ”    do   on the 5 Novembʳ, 7s. 6d.
    ”   ”   do  ”    do   on the 25 Decembʳ, 6s. 0d.
    ”   ”   do  ”    do   on Easter Tuesday, 7s. 6d.[79]

  Dec. 8.—To Cash Recᵈ for digging a grave in the Church for Mrs.
  Buck, 3s. 4d.

  Nov. 5.—Spent on Singers, 12s. 0d.: ditto on Ribbons for Girls,
  2s. 0d.

  “1798.

  “Oct. 4.—To Ringers on Nelson’s Victory, 2s. 6d.[80]

  “1805.

  “June 9.—To Expˢ to Church Town when John Sauter Clerk convicted
  himself in getting drunk, and Timothy Swarbrick for making him
  drunk (when they were each fined 5s.), 1s. 6d.

  Oct. 2.—To Rush, 14s. 3d.

  “1806.

  Nov. 9.—To Ringers at Lord Nelson’s victory of Trafalgar on the
  21st, 7s. 0d.

  N.B.: No money to be given to the Ringers on account of any
  Victory in future on the Parish account; the Victory of Trafalgar
  was so Extraordinary that 7s. was allowed to the Ringers on that
  occasion.

  “1811.

  “Resolved that in compliance with the request of the inhabitants
  of Marton one pound shall be allowed for an annual Dinner on
  Easter Day in future.

  “1817.

  “Nov. 20.—To Expenses to Churchtown when Wᵐ Hodkinson, Wᵐ
  Whiteside, and Wᵐ Butcher was convicted for getting drunk—Wᵐ
  Hodkinson finde, and the other two acquitted upon the promise of
  future good behaviour, 3s. 0d.”

The following extracts from the parish registers show the numbers of
marriages, baptisms, and burials, which took place during the last and
first years of the specified centuries:—

              1600-1601.  1700-1701.  1800-1801.
  Marriages     16  15      22  21      13  13
  Baptisms      40  74      73  79      63  57
  Burials       52  41      56  57      67  48

Anterior to 1674 the old vicarage was a thatched building of two stories,
the upper one being open to the roof and supported on crooks, but about
that date the vicar, the Rev. Rich. Harrison, made an addition, abutting
the west end, and put the original portion in thorough repair. This
house, which was surrounded by venerable trees, was taken down in 1835,
and the present vicarage erected on the site.

In 1830, a spacious building, capable of holding three hundred persons,
was erected in Sheaf Street by voluntary subscription for the purposes of
a Sunday School, previous to which a small cottage in the Green had been
used as a meeting place for the scholars connected with the church.

About one hundred and fifty years ago the town of Poulton presented a
very different appearance to that it wears in our day. The market-place
was surrounded by a number of low thatched houses of very humble
exteriors, if we except a few private residences, as those of the
Walmsleys and Rigbys, which stood out conspicuously from the rest, not
only by their superiority in size, but also by the possession of slated
or flagged roofs. The house of the Rigbys was built in 1693 by Sir
Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall, who was High-sheriff of the county in
1691-2, and stands at the south end of the square, the family arms and
date of erection being still attached to the front wall. The building is
now used as a dwelling and retail shop combined, and contains little of
moment beyond the ancient oak balustrade and staircase. It is probable
that Sir Alexander Rigby built the house with the intention of using it
as a town residence for himself and family during the winter months,
for we must remember that Poulton contained several persons of note and
distinction at that time, and nothing is more natural than that the
knight should prefer the cheerful society to be found amongst them to the
long solitudes of the Hall during the dull, inclement season of the year,
when country roads were almost impassable. After Sir Alexander Rigby had
been released from prison, having satisfied the claims of his creditors,
he took up his abode permanently in Poulton until his death, Layton Hall
and other property having been sold, but whether his remains were laid in
the churchyard here, or removed elsewhere, cannot be ascertained.

At the opposite end of the market-place was the Moot Hall, connected with
which were shambles and pent-houses, the latter being continued along the
fronts of the dwellings in the square. None of the streets could boast
a pavement, and as a consequence intercourse between the inhabitants in
rainy weather was a matter of considerable inconvenience and difficulty,
visiting under such unfavourable circumstances being usually performed
by means of stepping stones. Public lamps were unknown in the streets,
and any one whose business or pleasure took him abroad after night-fall
or dusk, would have to rely on the feeble glimmer of a horn lantern to
guide him along the proper track and protect him from floundering in the
mud. Looking on this picture of discomfort, it seems pretty certain to us
that our Poultonian forefathers at least, could they but enjoy one week
of our modern life and improvements, would be the very last to join in
the wish, so often enthusiastically, but rather thoughtlessly, expressed,
for a revival of the _good_ old times. The market-square still retains
its fishstones, cross, whipping post, and stocks; and although the wooden
portion of the last has been recently renewed, we are in a position to
inform the curious or alarmed reader that it has not been done with the
view of re-introducing the obsolete punishment, but merely to preserve a
link, be it ever so painful an one, with the past. The cross surmounts
a stone pillar placed on a circular base of similar material, formed in
steps and tapering towards the column.

Although Poulton was never the scene of any military encounter during
the unsettled eras of our history, still there is ample proof that the
inhabitants were far from lethargic or indifferent to the course of
events during those times. During the reign of Henry VIII., when James
IV. of Scotland succumbed to the superiority of the English arms, and
yielded up his life on Flodden Field, the yeomanry and husbandmen of this
town were well represented; and the cheerful alacrity with which they
hastened to join the royal standard under Lord Stanley, in company with
others from the Fylde, between here and Preston, is lauded in an ancient
ballad, written to celebrate the victory, from which the following lines
are extracted:—

  “From Ribchester unto Rachdale,
  From Poulton to Preston with pikes,
  They with yᵉ Stanley howte forthe went.”

There is no necessity to recapitulate the stirring incidents of the Civil
Wars, the bivouacking and plundering in the neighbourhood or the frequent
demands for recruits by the royal and parliamentary generals, but it
will be sufficiently convincing of the earnestness and loyalty of the
inhabitants to state, that most of the local families of influence risked
their lives and fortunes in the service of the king, leaving little doubt
that those of humbler sphere would be actuated by a like enthusiasm.

About a century ago it was customary amongst the gentry and more wealthy
yeomanry to hold their interments at night by the light of lamps or
lanterns, and during the passage of the funeral procession through the
town, each householder illuminated his windows with burning candles. The
last person to be buried with this ceremony was the Rev. Thomas Turner,
the vicar, who died in 1810.

Of the domestic habits of Poulton at that period, and rather earlier,
it need only be said that they presented little variation from those of
other towns or villages similarly situated; removed from the enervating
and seductive temptations of a city, and forced, for the most part, to
earn their bread under the broad canopy of heaven, it is not surprising
to find that the people were a long-lived and vigorous race. Their
feastings and merrymakings took place at fair-times, and at such other
seasons as were universally set apart in rural districts for rejoicings
and festivity, notably harvest gatherings and the first of May, the
latter being especially honoured. On that day the causeways were strewn
with flowers, and all things suitable for the festival were lavishly
provided; wine, ale, and sweetmeats being freely contributed by the
gentry and others. The peasantry were clothed in sober suits of hodden
grey, the productions of the “disty and wharl” or spinning wheel, without
which no household was considered complete, whilst their food was of the
plainest kind, consisting mostly of barley and rye bread, with boiled
parsnips and peas eaten in the pod, wheaten bread being reserved for
the consumption of the more wealthy classes. The present station at the
Breck, a name of Danish origin, and signifying an acclivity, stands
either on, or in close proximity to, the site of the old ducking-pond,
or rather brook, where the scolds of Poulton were wont in former days to
have the

  “Venom of their spleen”

copiously diluted and cooled by frequent immersions.

A native of Poulton thus wrote of the town more than fifty years since,
and if the present generation but emulates the virtues of its forefathers
as herein stated, there are many places which would form, notwithstanding
its protracted inertitia, less agreeable homes than the ancient
metropolis of the Fylde:—

  “Hail happy place, for health and peace renown’d,
  Though not with riches, yet contentment crown’d.
  Riches, the grand promoter of each strife,
  Content, God’s first-best gift in human life.
  Here hospitality has fixed her throne,
  And discord’s jars by name alone are known;
  The stranger here is always entertain’d
  With welcome smile and courtesy unfeign’d.
  Kind to each other, generous and free,
  Plain, yet liberal friends to charity.”

Sixty years since Poulton contained a manufactory for sacking,
sail-cloth, and sheeting, belonging to a Mr. Harrison, who lived in the
house now in the occupation of R. Dunderdale, esq., J.P., and had his
weaving shed at the rear of those premises. That gentleman employed
from thirty to forty hands regularly during the time he conducted the
business—a period of about fifteen years. An establishment connected
with flax dressing and twine spinning, and employing several hands,
was located in the house erected by Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton;
and a currier and leather dresser had his works in Church Street. Of
other trades and professions in the town at that date, there were four
attorneys, two surgeons, seven butchers, nine bakers and flour dealers,
three wine and spirit merchants, two maltsters, ten boot and shoe
makers, five linen and woollen drapers, four tailors, three milliners,
four grocers, three ironmongers, three joiners, two wheelwrights, two
coopers, two painters, three plumbers and glaziers, and two corn-millers.
Subsequently Harrison’s residence was used for parochial purposes, and
formed the town’s workhouse until the bill of Sir Robert Peel brought
about the joint system of pauper relief and management under the name of
Unions; and at one time small looms were placed in the old shed behind
the workhouse, for the purpose of providing remunerative occupation
for some of the inmates. Three fairs are held annually for cattle and
cloth, and take place on the 3rd of February, the 13th of April, and the
3rd of November, whilst a general market, but very indifferently, if
at all, attended, is appointed to be held each Monday. About the year
1840, when the Preston and Wyre Railway was completed and the Poulton
Station erected, a dye-house of some considerable size, and one that had
done a large business in the Fylde for many years, was taken down, and
shortly afterwards the Royal Oak Hotel built on its site. About the same
time the old brook, over which the cuckstool hung in earlier days, and
whose waters had long been polluted by discharges from the dye-house,
was arched over with brick and earth, and included in the station
premises. The Railway Hotel was erected a little anterior to the inn just
mentioned. The other hotels of Poulton, situated in the town itself,
are ancient, and by their size and number, considering the smallness of
the present population, are indicative of the former importance of its
market and fairs, and intimate that its position as the centre of a wide
district was the means of exciting and maintaining a large amount of
commercial activity, such as would necessitate the frequent visits of
business agents and others. Several private houses can be pointed out
as having been in earlier days places of public entertainment, amongst
which may be named one now used as a bakery and bread shop in Queen’s
Square, and which formerly bore the name of the Spread Eagle Hotel;
in Sheaf Street, also, there existed about half a century ago a small
but respectable hotel, called the Wheat Sheaf Inn, with bowling green
attached, but like other more pretentious establishments, it has been
converted into a dwelling-house, whilst a handsome residence occupies the
old bowling green.

The Independents were the first section of the Dissenting community to
erect a chapel for their members, which they accomplished in 1808. After
being in use twenty or thirty years, this place of worship was closed,
and not re-opened until about ten years since. In 1819 a chapel was
erected by the Wesleyans in Back Street, and in 1861 the building was
enlarged. At the Breck there is a Roman Catholic chapel, which stands
back some distance from the road leading to Skippool, and is approached
by a long avenue of trees. The chapel is a plain brick building, with
three unstained windows on each side; and above the entrance has been
placed a square stone inscribed with a verse from the Psalms—“I have
loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy House, and the place where thy Glory
dwelleth,”—and the date of erection, “A.D. 1813.” Within the edifice the
pews are open and arranged in three rows, one running down each side,
and a double set occupying the central portion of the body. The solitary
gallery at the end opposite the altar is lined with seats, and contains a
harmonium, whilst the altar itself is handsomely and suitably decorated.
The chapel is dedicated to St. John, and on the east and south sides
lies the burial ground, wherein may be seen a stone slab carved by an
eccentric character of Poulton, named James Bailey, whose remains are
now deposited beneath it. The upper surface of the stone is ornamented
with the outlines of two coffins, recording respectively the demises of
Margaret Bailey, in 1841, and James Bailey, her father, in 1853. Between
the coffins, and severing their upper portions, is a cross, with a few
words at the foot, on each side of which are the representations of a
scull and cross-bones. Other specimens of the sculptural genius of Bailey
are lavishly, if not tastefully, scattered over the remainder of the
slab. The residence of the priest is attached to the chapel, and in Breck
Road are the elegant Gothic schools connected with it. Until the opening,
in 1868, of these schools, which have since been extended by the erection
of a wing, a loft over an outbuilding facing the priests’ house, received
the Catholic children of the parish for educational purposes.

We now come to speak of Poulton as a port, and in this respect our
information, it must be acknowledged, is very scanty; the harbours of
Poulton were situated at Skippool and Wardleys, on opposite banks of
the Wyre, and it was to the cargoes imported to those places that the
custom-house of the town owed its existence. At what date it was first
established cannot be discovered, but that it was in being nearly two
centuries ago is proved by a paper on “The comparative wages of public
servants in the customs,” in which the following occurs:—

  “We find that William Jennings, collector of the customs at
  Poulton, in the Fylde, received in 1708, during the reign of
  Queen Ann, for his yearly services thirty pounds per annum; and
  five subordinate officers had seventy-five pounds equally divided
  amongst them.”

The chief traffic of the port was in timber, imported from the Baltic and
America; and flax and tallow, which arrived from Russia. In 1825 Poulton
was described by Mr. Baines, in his History of Lancashire, as a creek
under Preston, and it is probable that such had been its position for
a long time anterior to that date. In 1826 Poulton was made a sub-port
under Lancaster, and later, when the town of Fleetwood sprang up at the
mouth of the Wyre, the customs were removed from Poulton to that new port.

Subjoined are the number of inhabitants of the township at intervals of
ten years from 1801, when the first official census was taken:—

  1801        769
  1811        926
  1821      1,011
  1831      1,025
  1841      1,128
  1851      1,120
  1861      1,141
  1871      1,161

In 1770, during the reign of George III., an act of parliament was
obtained by means of which a court was established in this town “for,”
according to the wording of the deed, “the more easy and speedy recovery
of small debts within the parishes of Poulton, Lytham, Kirkham, and
Bispham, and the townships of Preesall and Stalmine.” A number of
gentlemen engaged in commercial pursuits and residing in these several
districts were appointed commissioners, any three or more of whom
constituted a court of justice, by the name and style of The Court of
Requests; they were empowered to hear and determine all such matters of
debt as were under forty shillings, further they were authorised and
required, “to meet, assemble, and hold the said Court in each of the said
Parishes of Poulton and Kirkham, once in every week at least, to wit, on
every Monday at Poulton, and on every Thursday at Kirkham, and oftener
if there should be occasion, in a Court-house, or some convenient place
appointed in each of the said Parishes.” Each commissioner on being
elected took the following oath:—

  “I ... do swear That I will faithfully, impartially, and
  honestly, according to the best of my Judgement, hear and
  determine all such Matters and Causes as shall be brought before
  me, by virtue of an Act of Parliament, for the more easy and
  speedy Recovery of small Debts, within the Parishes etc.; without
  Favour or Affection, Prejudice or Malice, to either Party. So
  help me God.”

Edward Whiteside and Simon Russell were elected, respectively, clerk and
sergeant of this court, and James Standen, of Poulton, in consideration
of having advanced money to pay the expenses of obtaining the act and
providing suitable accommodation for its administration, had authority
given to him and his heirs to appoint a person to be clerk or sergeant
as often as either of those offices should become vacant, until the
sum so advanced with lawful interest had been repaid; after which the
appointments were to be filled up by a majority of votes at a special
meeting of the commissioners, not less than eleven being present. For
the better regulation of the proceedings it was enacted that a majority,
amounting to five, of the commissioners assembled in court should have
full power and authority to make, as often as occasion required, such
rules and orders for the better management of the court as might seem
necessary and conducive to the purposes of the act, provided always such
rules or orders did not abridge or alter the scale of fees as at first
arranged, and were consistent with equity and the true intent of the act.
In the event of anyone neglecting to comply with an order from this court
for the payment of money owing an execution was awarded against the body
or goods of the debtor, if the former, the sergeant was, by a precept
under the hand and seal of the clerk, “empowered and required to take and
apprehend, or cause to be taken and apprehended, such party or parties,
being within any of the parishes or townships aforesaid, and convey him,
her, or them, to some common gaol, or house of correction, within the
county palatine of Lancaster, there to remain until he, she, or they, had
performed and obeyed such order, decree, or judgment, so as no person
should remain in confinement upon any such execution, for any longer
space of time than three months.” In the case of goods the sergeant was
similarly empowered “to levy by distress and sale of goods, of such
party, being within the parishes or townships aforesaid, such sum and
sums of money and costs as should be so ordered and decreed.”

One clause of the act stated that if any person or persons affronted,
insulted, or abused, all or any of the commissioners, the clerk, or
officers of the court, either during the sitting or in going to or
returning from the same, or interrupted the proceedings, or obstructed
the clerk or sergeant in the lawful execution of their different offices,
he, she, or they should be brought before a justice of the peace, who
was hereby empowered to inflict on conviction a fine of not more than
40s., and not less than 5s. The jurisdiction of the court did not extend
to any debt or rent upon any lease or contract, where the title of any
lands, tenements, or hereditaments came in question; nor to any debt
arising from any last will or testament, or matrimony, or anything
properly belonging to the ecclesiastical courts; nor to any debt from any
horse-race, cock-match, wager, or any kind of gaming or play; nor from
any forfeiture upon any penal statute or bye-law; nor did it extend to
any debt whatsoever whereof there had not been contract, acknowledgment,
undertaking, or promise to pay within six years from the date of the
summons, although any of the above mentioned debts should not amount
to forty shillings. No attorney or solicitor was allowed to appear
before the commissioners as attorney or advocate on behalf of either
plaintiff or defendant, or to speak on any cause or matter before the
court in which he was not himself a party or witness, under a penalty
of five pounds for each offence. It was further enacted “that no action
or suit for any debt not amounting to the sum of forty shillings, and
recoverable by virtue of this act in the said Court of Requests, should
be brought against any person or persons, residing or inhabiting within
the jurisdiction thereof, in any of the king’s courts at Westminster,
or any other court whatsoever, or elsewhere, out of the said Court of
Requests, and no suit which had been commenced in the said Court of
Requests in pursuance of this act, nor any proceedings therein, should
or might be removed to any superior court, but the judgments, decrees,
and proceedings of the said court should be final and conclusive to all
intents and purposes; provided always, that nothing in this act should
extend, or be construed to extend, to prevent any person from suing
for small debts in any other court, where such suit might have been
instituted before the passing of this act.” The various fees to be paid
to the clerk of the court were—for entering every case, 6d.; for issuing
every summons, 6d.; for every subpœna, 6d.; for calling every plaintiff
or defendant before the court, 3d.; for every hearing or trial, 6d.; for
swearing every witness, plaintiff or defendant, 3d.; for every order,
judgment or decree, 6d.; for a non-suit, 6d.; for every search in the
books, 3d.; for paying money into court, 6d., if by instalments, 6d. in
the pound more; for every execution, 6d.; for every warrant of commitment
for misconduct in court, 1s. The fees to the sergeant were—for every
summons, order, or subpœna, and attending court with the return thereof,
6d.; for calling every plaintiff or defendant before the court, 1d.; for
executing every attachment, execution, or warrant, against the body or
goods, 1s.; for carrying every plaintiff, defendant, or delinquent to
prison, 6d. more for every mile. Although this was purely a lay-court
the commissioners possessed and exercised the power of placing the
witnesses on oath previous to receiving their evidence. In 1847 the Court
of Requests was superseded by a new court, for the recovery of debts
not amounting to twenty pounds, which held its first sitting on Monday,
the 23rd of April in that year, under the presidency of John Addison,
esq., a barrister and the appointed judge, in the room belonging to the
Sunday school. This gentleman wore a silk gown, as prescribed to the
judges of these courts, and Mr. Elletson, solicitor, the clerk, was also
robed. At the first assemblage the Rev. John Hull, M.A., the vicar, and
Giles Thornber, esq., J.P., were seated on each side of the judge. The
cases for trial or arbitration only numbered seventeen, and were of
little interest, so that the initiative sitting of the court was but of
short duration. The circuits apportioned to the judges had an average
population ranging from 202,713 to 312,220 persons, and the salary paid
to each of these officials was £1,200 per annum. In the schedule of fees
it was stated that for the recovery of debts not exceeding 20s. the cost
should be 3s.; under 40s., 5s.; under £5, 9s.; under £10, £1; under £20,
£1 10s.; and in jury cases 5s. would be charged for the jurymen, while
the other court charges would be a little increased. The powers of this
court, now designated the County Court, have been considerably enlarged
since its first establishment; the following gentlemen are the officers
at present connected with it:—

  Judge         William A. Hulton, esq.
  Registrar     Mr. E. J. Patteson.
  High Bailiff  Mr. J. Whiteside.

Little Poulton is the name given to a district and hamlet lying on the
east of Poulton township, and in it is situated the ancient manorial
residence called Little Poulton Hall, and now used as a farm-house.
The original mansion stood on the land immediately at the rear of the
existing edifice, which was erected about one hundred and ten or twenty
years ago. Until the occupation of the present tenant, Mr. Singleton, the
foundations of the old Hall remained in the ground, but the indications
afforded by them of its dimensions and appearance were not of any great
utility. In 1570 Little Poulton Hall was occupied by George, the son
of Bartholomew Hesketh, of Aughton, a grandson of Thomas Hesketh, of
Rufford, but only in one of the junior lines. George Hesketh married
Dorothy, the daughter of William Westby, of Mowbreck, and had issue one
son, William, who inherited the estate and resided at the Hall. William
Hesketh was living in 1613, about forty years after the decease of his
father, and had two children, William and Wilfrid, by his wife Elizabeth,
the daughter of John Allen, of Rossall Hall. William, the eldest son,
seems to have removed to Maynes, or Mains, Hall, and settled there during
the lifetime of his father; it is probable that his younger brother would
remain at Little Poulton Hall, but of this we have no positive proof,
and consequently can advance it merely as a conjecture. Little Poulton
descended in the Heskeths, of Mains, until about 1750, but the name of
that family was changed, after the marriage of William Hesketh, of Mains
Hall, (living in 1714), with Mary, the daughter of John Brockholes, of
Claughton, by Thomas Hesketh, the eldest son of that union, who inherited
the estates of his maternal uncle, and assumed the name of Brockholes.
Thomas Hesketh-Brockholes died without offspring, and the property
passed, successively, to his younger and only surviving brothers, Joseph
and James, both of whom adopted the name and arms of Brockholes, and
died childless; but by the will of Joseph, Little Poulton and the other
estates descended to William Fitzherbert, the brother of his widow
Constantia, the daughter of Bazil Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton. William
Fitzherbert also assumed the title of Brockholes, and his descendant is
the present proprietor.

A family of the name of Barban preceded the Heskeths at the manor
house, and Gyles Curwen, a descendant of the Curwens, of Workington, in
Cumberland, espoused, about 1550, the daughter and co-heiress of—Barban,
of Little Poulton Hall, having issue—Thomas, Elizabeth, Grace, and
Winefrid. Thomas Curwen died unmarried; Elizabeth became the wife
of—Camden, by whom she had William Camden, Clarenceux king-at-arms;
Winefrid married and settled in London; and Grace espoused Gilbert
Nicholson, of Poulton, by whom she had issue—Francis, Grace, and Giles.
Francis Nicholson had six children—Humphrey, Grace, Bridget, Thomas,
Isabell, and Dorothy. Grace Nicholson married Thomas Braithwaite, of
Beaumont, and was the mother of nine children in 1613, the eldest,
Geoffrey, being fifteen years of age.[81]

On the south side of the Hall is a wood, covering about two acres of
land, and freshly planted within the last half century. Until recent
years, numerous decaying tree stocks were turned up out of the soil, and
their size plainly evidenced the massive nature of the timber formerly
growing there. There is a rookery in the modern wood, and it is surmised
that there was one also amongst the branches of the ancient trees, and
that a large quantity of bullets discovered in a field on its outskirts
record the periodical onslaughts on the unfortunate rooks in days when
marksmen were not so unerring as long practice and improved firearms have
rendered them now. In the hamlet of Little Poulton there are, in addition
to the Hall, three antique houses of considerable pretensions, which
were erected and occupied by persons of good social standing. One of
them, on the opposite side of the road, and a little removed from the old
mansion, was built by a gentleman named Fayle, and on an oaken beam over
a doorway, now bricked up, in an extensive barn, is the inscription, EF:
IF: 1675, the initials of the erector and his wife, with the date when
the edifice was completed. This E. Fayle was probably a relative, perhaps
grandfather, of Edward Fayle, of the Holmes, Thornton, and afterwards of
Bridge House, Bispham, who married, about 1728, Susannah, the younger
daughter of Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, and co-heiress, with her
sister, of the Rev. John Veale, of the same place, her only brother.
Another respectable dwelling, but like the few other buildings around,
becoming dilapidated through age, bears the initials of Henry Porter,
and the date 1723, over the entrance. From sundry documents which have
come to light, it seems that Henry Porter was a gentleman of influence
and position in the neighbourhood, but beyond that no information can
be gained concerning him or his descendants. The tenement he held was
purchased by the Brockholes, of Claughton, in 1846. Close by the side
of Porter’s residence is another of the same model and size, apparently
erected by A. Worswick in 1741, but of this person nothing is known. The
remainder of the hamlet is made up of a few old thatched cottages.

A free school was established by James Baines, draper, of Poulton, in
1717, shortly before his death; and by his will, dated that year, he
bequeathed to Richard Wilson, Richard Whitehead, sen., Richard Johnson,
and Richard Thornton, of Hardhorn-with-Newton, yeomen, to Richard
Dickson, woollen draper, and Samuel Bird, yeoman, of Poulton, to Robert
Salthouse, of Staining, yeoman, and to their heirs “all that Schoolhouse
by me lately erected in Hardhorn-in-Newton, and the parcel of land
whereon the same is erected, which is enjoyed therewith, and which by
me was lately purchased from Thomas Ords, to remain, continue, and be a
Free School for ever for the persons and purposes hereinafter mentioned.
Item: I give and devise unto the seven said Trustees and their Heirs,
all that messuage and tenement, called Puddle House, with the lands
enjoyed therewith, about twenty-two acres, to the special end, intent,
and purpose, that the rents and profits over ten shillings a year,
(allowed for a dinner to the trustees, and their successors, on their
meeting about the affairs of this School on the second of February, on
which day they shall yearly meet for that purpose), and after all costs
for repairs at the said Schoolhouse and ground it stands on be paid, the
balance be given to such person as shall yearly and every year be named,
chosen, and appointed, by the said seven Trustees, and their successors,
or the major part of them, to act as Schoolmaster, to teach and instruct
in writing, reading, and other school learning, according to the best
of his capacity, all such children of the inhabitants of the townships
of Poulton and Hardhorn-in-Newton as shall be sent to the said School,
and behave themselves with care and good manners, without any other
payment or reward, except what the said children or their parents shall
voluntarily give.” The testament then proceeds to direct that when any
two of the seven trustees died, the five surviving should at the cost of
the estate appoint two other of the “most able, discreet, and sufficient
inhabitants in Poulton and Hardhorn within three months,” and that such
a practice should be observed as occasion required “to the end that the
said charity may continue for ever according to the true intent and
meaning of this Will.” The Trustees were invested with power to dismiss
any schoolmaster and appoint a successor, regarding whom there was the
following clause:—“All Schoolmasters on appointment shall give bond with
one or more sureties for good conduct, and be at duty from 7 a.m. to 11
a.m., and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., except from the 1st November to 1st February,
in which quarter alone shall they attend on all school days from 8 a.m.
to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; the afternoons of Thursday and Saturday
to be holiday.”

The schoolhouse is a whitewashed building, a single story high, and has
four windows in front, with one at each end. It stands in the township
of Hardhorn-with-Newton, about half a mile from the town of Poulton, and
has the annexed inscription fixed on the wall facing the main road:—“This
Charity School was Founded and Endowed by Mr. James Baines, of Poolton,
who died the 9th January, 1717. Rebuilt 1818.” The lands bequeathed by
Mr. Baines have been exchanged for others of greater value across the
river Wyre. The attendance at present is small.

Mr. Baines also left £800 to six trustees to be laid out in land, half
the annual income or interest from which he directed to be devoted to the
“maintenance, use, and best advantage of the poorest sort of inhabitants
of the township of Poulton, which receive no relief by the Poor-rate,”
and “for putting out poor children of the said township apprentices
yearly though their parents receive relief by the Poor-rate.” The other
moiety he directed to be devoted to similar purposes in the townships of
Marton, Hardhorn-with-Newton, Carleton, and Thornton.

Jenkinson’s Gift or Charity consists of the rents of a small cottage with
garden behind, and two detached crofts at Forton, in Cockerham parish,
and amounts to about £5 10s. per annum, which is expended in the purchase
of books for the scholars of Baines’s school.

Nicholas Nickson, of Compley, in Poulton, by will dated the 12th of
April, 1720, charged his estate with the payment, after the decease of
his widow, Alice Nickson, of £100 to the churchwardens and overseers of
Poulton, in trust, to invest the sum and give half the interest to the
vicar for the time being, distributing the remainder amongst the poor
house-keepers of the township not in receipt of parish relief. Until the
bequest was paid, the heirs of Nickson, after the death of the widow,
were ordered to disburse five per cent. interest on the money each year.
In 1754 the trustees of this charity released the estate from all charges
in consideration of £100, the legacy, paid to them; and on the 18th of
July, 1783, Joseph Harrison and the four other churchwardens of Poulton,
together with William Brown and Paul Harrison, the overseers, purchased
from James Standen, for £120, a close in Poulton, called Durham’s Croft,
to hold the same in trust and divide the rents into twelve parts, whereof
five were to be given to the vicar, five to indigent inhabitants not
receiving relief, and two in aid of the poor’s rates.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER VIII.

FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRE.


The site of the present town of Fleetwood was at no very distant period,
less than half a century ago, a wild and desolate warren, forming part
of the Rossall estate, and belonging to the late Sir Peter Hesketh
Fleetwood, bart. At that date the northern side showed unmistakable
evidences of having at an earlier epoch been bounded by a broad wall
or rampart of star-hills, continuous with the range until recent
years visible near Rossall Point, or North Cape, as that portion of
the district was locally called, but which has now been destroyed and
levelled by the sea. Beyond the warrener’s cottage and a small farm-house
on the Poulton road, no habitations existed anywhere in the vicinity;
the whole tract of sandhills and sward had been usurped by myriads
of rabbits, which were some little time, even after the erection of
dwellings, before they entirely deserted the spot where for centuries
they had found a home. During the stormy months of winter, and in the
breeding season, immense flocks of sea-fowl made their way to these
shores, and like the rabbits, were allowed to remain in undisputed and
undisturbed possession of the domain they had appropriated.

Whether this district or locality was populated in the earlier eras of
history by any of the aboriginal Britons, invading Romans, or piratical
Danes, is a question difficult to solve, but the existence of a paved
Roman road, discovered some depth beneath the sand when the trench for
the sea-wall was being excavated opposite the Mount Terrace, and traced
across the warren in the direction of Poulton, proves beyond a doubt that
there was traffic of some description, either peaceful or war-like,
over the ground at a very remote age. The road is commonly designated
the Danes’ Pad, from a tradition that these freebooters made use of it
during their incursive warfare in the Fylde.[82] Evidence in support
of the belief that this part of the coast was visited by the Danes or
Northmen, as the inhabitants of Scandinavia were called, is to be found
in “Knot End,” the name by which the projecting point of land on the
opposite side of Wyre has been known from time immemorial. In early days
there were both the “Great and Little Knots,” or heaps of stones, but
the works carried out for the improvement of the harbour involved the
destruction of the small, and mutilation of the big “Knot.” Now arises
the question, why were these round collections of boulder stones called
“Knots?” In answer to which it may be stated that the word “knot” is of
pure Scandinavian origin, and in that ancient Northern language always
marked a round heap, and we believe also a round heap of stones. This
interpretation would be characteristic of what these knots or mounds
of stones were before they were despoiled by the Wyre Harbour Company.
Such an application of the word to rounded hills of stone is common at
no great distance, and must have been applied by the same people to all
these rocky elevations, as instance Hard Knot, Arnside Knot, and Farlton
Knot, all of which indicate the name by the rotundity of their stony
summits, and seem to confirm the opinion that the early inhabitants
of Scandinavia visited the coast, suggesting also that they had some
settlement in its immediate vicinity.

As regards the Romans, the only traces of their presence which have
been discovered in the neighbourhood of the town, consist of the road
above mentioned, and a number of ancient coins which were found near
Rossall, in 1840, by some labourers engaged in brick-making. These coins,
amounting in all to about three hundred, were principally of silver,
and bore the impresses of Severus, Sabina, Antonius, Nerva, etc. It is
quite possible, however, that other relics belonging to that nation or
the Danes, may still exist, hidden by the sand, and more deeply imbedded
than it is necessary to sink when preparing for the foundations of the
houses, whilst many also may have been submerged by the encroaching waves
as they have gradually inundated the north and west sides of the district.

Doctor Leigh, in his Natural History of Lancashire, informs us that at
the mouth of the river Wyre there was in his time a purging water which
sprang up from out of the sand. “This, no doubt,” says the Doctor, “is
the sea-water which filters through the sand, but by reason of the
shortness of its filtration (the spring lying so near the river), or the
looseness of the sand, the marine water is not perfectly dulcified, but
retains a pleasing brackishness, not unlike that which is observable in
the milk of a farrow cow, or one that has conceived.”

To the lord of the manor, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, is due the credit of
having first conceived the idea of converting the sterile warren into
a thriving seaport. Situated at the mouth of a river, the security of
whose stream had originated the proverb—“As safe and as easy as Wyre
water,” and by the side of a natural and commodious harbour, sheltered
from ever wind, the illustrious baronet foresaw a prosperous future
for the place, could he obtain permission from parliament to construct
a railway to its shores from the important town of Preston, thereby
creating a communication with the manufacturing and commercial centres of
Lancashire and Yorkshire. In 1835, a number of gentlemen, denominated the
Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour, and Dock Company, having obtained the
requisite powers, deputed Frederick Kemp, esq., J.P., of Bispham Lodge,
then acting as agent to Sir P. H. Fleetwood, to purchase the land along
the proposed route. Operations were commenced with little delay, the work
progressed with fair rapidity, and on the 15th of July, 1840, the line
was declared open and ready for traffic.

In the meantime dwelling-houses, hotels, and a spacious wharf had been
springing into existence. In 1836 the earliest foundation was laid at
the south-west corner of Preston Street by Robert Banton, of East Warren
Farm. This farm was for a short season a licensed house and brewery,
and is now, under the title of Warrenhurst, the private residence of J.
M. Jameson, esq., C.E. The new erection, which still bears its original
name of the Fleetwood Arms Hotel, made no further progress for about a
year, when it was completed by Thomas Parkinson, the head carpenter at
Rossall Hall. The first building finished and inhabited in Fleetwood was
a beer-house at the south-west corner of Church Street, which was erected
in 1836-7, and is now a shop, owned and occupied by Richard Warbrick,
outfitter. That small inn or licensed dwelling was in the occupation of a
person named Parker, a stonemason, who a little later built the Victoria
Hotel, in Dock-street, where he removed and resided for several months,
until a sale of the property had been effected.

The streets were marked out by the plough according to the design of
Decimus Burton, esq., architect, of London, and so arranged that all the
principal thoroughfares, with the exception of the main road of entrance
to the town, converged towards the largest star-hill, now known as the
Mount, on the highest point of which was placed a small decagon Chinese
edifice, surrounded by a raised platform or terrace, whence an extensive
view of the broad bay of Morecambe, the lofty ranges of Lancashire,
Cumberland, and Westmoreland, and a wide circuit of the neighbouring
country could be obtained. The hollow on the south side of the mound
was fashioned into the form of a basin, and a semicircular gravelled
walk carried along the ridge of each side, leading with a gentle ascent
from the entrance gates on the warren at the end of London Street to
the summit, whilst the slopes were tastefully arranged and planted with
shrubs, to impart a pleasing and ornamental appearance to the otherwise
bare sward. These shrubs, as might have been foreseen, speedily withered
and perished, owing to the bleakness of the site, and a lack of that
indispensable moisture which the dry sandy soil could neither retain nor
supply. In earlier days the Mount was commonly known as Tup, or Top,
Hill, and formed a favourite resort for pic-nic parties from Blackpool,
or some of the surrounding villages, which visited the place during the
summer months, to admire the innumerable sea-fowl and their nests, the
latter being scattered over the shore in endless profusion.

Building proceeded with rapid strides; house after house sprang up in the
lines of streets, which had only lately received their first coating of
shingle, and in 1841, one year after the opening of the railway, the town
had assumed considerable proportions. Near the entrance from Poulton road
were three or four double rows of cottages for the accommodation of the
workpeople, and a Roman Catholic chapel. Preston Street contained but
few houses in addition to the Fleetwood Arms Hotel; thence, travelling
eastward were Dock Street, with the Crown Hotel, as far as and including
the Victoria Hotel; the east side of Warren Street, the west side of St.
Peter’s Place, the church and Sunday school, both sides of Church Street,
Custom House Lane, the Lower Queen’s Terrace, the North Euston Hotel, and
the bath houses. The Upper Queen’s Terrace was in process of erection,
but was not completed until 1844, after having been allowed, for some
reason, to remain in a partially finished state for two years.

The church, standing on a raised plot of ground in the centre of the town
and surrounded by an iron palisading, is dedicated to St. Peter, and
was first opened for divine service in 1841. It is a stone edifice with
a square tower and octagonal spire at the west end, and was erected by
voluntary contributions, the site being provided by Sir P. H. Fleetwood,
who retained the right of presentation to the living. The interior of the
building is neat, and contains sittings for about four hundred persons
in the body, with additional accommodation for two hundred more in the
gallery, at the end of which are the choir-pew and organ-loft, the
latter being occupied by an instrument constructed by Gray, of London.
Previous to the alterations, which were made seventeen years since,
and consisted of the erection of a gallery and the convertion of some
of the private pews into free seats, the family pew of the Fleetwoods
stood in front of the organ-loft, and was the only one raised out of the
body of the church. The chancel window is of stained glass, large and
handsome, representing a central figure of St. Peter bearing the Keys
of Heaven, below and on each side of which several scriptural subjects
are illustrated. This window, purchased by subscription amongst the
parishioners, was inserted in 1860; and in the previous year a handsome
font of Caen stone was presented by Mrs. G. Y. Osborne. Two upright
tablets, the gift of the late vicar, the Rev. G. Y. Osborne, illuminated
with the Ten Commandments, are placed, one on each side of the Communion
table. Four other tablets are fixed against the walls of the church,
the first of which was erected by a few friends as a tribute of respect
to the memory of Dobson Ward, died 1859, aged 43 years, a humble but
zealous worker in the Sunday school; another was placed by the Rev. G. Y.
Osborne, in loving memory of his deceased daughter; the third, a handsome
tablet, was erected at the entrance to the vestry, by parishioners and
friends, to the memory of the Rev. G. Y. Osborne, “for 19 years vicar
of this parish, who died 11 November, 1871, aged 53 years,”[83] and the
last is to the memory of Charles Stewart, esq., died 1873, aged 64 years,
late of High Leigh, Cheshire, and Fleetwood. The living, endowed with the
great tithes of Thornton and augmented by the pew rents, was originally a
perpetual curacy, but during the ministry of the late Rev. G. Y. Osborne,
a distinct district or parish for all ecclesiastical purposes was
assigned to the church, and the title of vicar accorded to the incumbent.

  PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF FLEETWOOD.

  IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER.

  ------------+--------------------+-------------------+------------------
    Date of   |      NAME.         |    On whose       | Cause of vacancy.
  Institution.|                    |  Presentation.    |
  ------------+--------------------+-------------------+------------------
      1841    |St. Vincent Beechey,|Sir P. H. Fleetwood|
              |  M.A.              |                   |
              |                    |                   |
      1849    |G. Yarnold Osborne, |Ditto              |Resignation of St.
              |  M.A.              |                   |  Vincent Beechey
              |                    |                   |
      1868    |Saml. Hastings, M.A.|Exrs. of the late  |Resignation of
              |                    |Sir P. H. Fleetwood|  G. Y. Osborne
              |                    |                   |
      1871    |James Pearson, M.A. |Ditto              |Resignation of
              |                    |                   |  S. Hastings
  ------------+--------------------+-------------------+------------------

The burial ground connected with the church is part of the general
cemetery, situated near the shore in the direction of the Landmark at
Rossall Point, and about one mile distant from the town.

The small building opposite the Church, now used for infants only, was
for several years, until the erection of the Testimonial Schools, the
ordinary Sunday school under the superintendence of the incumbent of St.
Peter’s.

The Market Place, opened on the 7th of November, 1840, is a spacious,
paved area, surrounded by a high wall of sandstone.

The two entrances are closed by means of large wooden gates, and lead
respectively into Adelaide and Victoria Streets. The central portion of
the in-walled space is occupied by a square, wooden structure, covered
over with a slated roof, in the interior of which are stalls for the
goods of the different farmers and traders. Friday is the market day, and
the following list comprises the various commodities exposed for sale on
Friday, the 10th of July, 1846, the earliest recorded, with their prices:—

  Oats, per bushel              3s. 10d.
  Meal, per load               36s.  0d.
  Beans, per windle            16s.  0d.
  Butter, per pound             1s.  1d.
  Eggs, fresh      16 to 18 for 1s.  0d.
  Peas, per strike              0s.  9d.
  Potatoes (new), per score     1s. 10d.
     ”     (old), per windle    8s.  0d.
  Beef, per pound               6d. to 7d.
  Lamb       ”                  0s.  7d.
  Mutton     ”                  0s.  6½d.
  Salmon     ”                  0s. 10d.
  Lobsters   ”                  1s.  0d.

Since the date of the above quotations, Preston has gradually monopolised
the chief portion of the grain trade, and consequently transactions
in oats and other cereals are not of frequent occurrence at the local
markets of the Fylde.

The Roman Catholic chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was erected
at the north end of Walmsley Street, continuous with the line of houses
forming the east side of that street, and opened for divine worship on
the 15th of November, 1841. A few years since a more commodious edifice,
which will be described hereafter, was erected on another and better
site, whilst the old one was dismantled, and subsequently converted into
cottages.

The Crown Hotel, a handsome and substantial stone structure facing the
Railway Station, was the third hotel erected in Fleetwood, the Fleetwood
Arms being the first, and the Victoria the second in point of completion.
The original dimensions of the Crown have been considerably increased
by the addition in recent years of ample stable accommodation, a large
billiard room, and several sleeping apartments.

The North Euston Hotel, which was opened almost simultaneously with
the Crown Hotel, is a superb stone building in the form of a crescent,
with a frontage of nearly 300 feet. This edifice was sold to Government
in 1859, and subsequently opened as a School of Musketry. The noble
portico in front of the main entrance and the spacious hall within are
supported by massive stone pillars, whilst a handsome terrace, raised
a little above the level of the street, encircles the whole length of
the ground floor, and is protected by an ornamental iron railing. On
its transfer to Government, quarters were provided for sixty officers
and a staff of military instructors. There were three chief courses of
instruction held during each year, but in addition to these were two of
shorter duration, one being in the month of January for the adjutants of
volunteers, and another a little later for the volunteers themselves. The
curriculum was similar to that at Hythe. In 1867 the School of Musketry
was discontinued, and after a short interval, in which fresh buildings
were added, the whole structure was turned into barracks, and as such
continues to be occupied. In the early days of the hotel a T-shaped jetty
extended out from the steps on the shore opposite the principal entrance
to the distance of low-water mark, and was used by the visitors as a
short promenade and landing stage, but after standing a few years the
erection was removed, being found to interfere with the course of the
steamers and other vessels round that section of the channel.

The bath-houses, each of which contained a spacious sea-water swimming
bath, were connected with the North Euston Hotel, and therefore became
the property of Government on the transfer of the main building itself.
Since that date their internal arrangements have undergone material
alterations and modifications to suit the requirements of the military,
but their handsome stone exteriors and massive porticoes are still intact.

The custom-house on the Lower Queen’s Terrace is now a private residence
in the occupation of Alexander Carson, esq., who is also the owner, and
the offices have for many years been situated in a house of more modest
pretensions in the same row.

The two lighthouses, one of which is placed in Pharos Street and the
other further north, on the margin of the beach, were also in existence
in 1841, having been erected a short time previously. The former is a
tall circular column of painted stone, having an altitude of about 90
feet above high-water mark. The base of the column is square, each of
the sides being 12 feet high and 20 broad. The focus of the lantern is
104 feet above half-tide level, and outside the reflector is a narrow,
circular, stone gallery, guarded by an iron fencing. The cost of the
column was £1,480. The other lighthouse is much smaller, and stands on a
slightly elevated plot of ground. Each side of its base forms a recess,
furnished with seats, and supported above by round stone pillars. The
centre of the lantern is 44 feet above half-tide level. The whole fabric,
which is built throughout of finely cut stone, was erected at a cost of
£1,375.

We have now reviewed the general appearance of the town in 1841,
including brief accounts of all the more important buildings, but
accidentally omitting to state that gas works were amongst the early
erections, and before proceeding with the history of its further progress
and increase, it will be convenient to revert for a moment to the railway
and matters connected with it, leaving, however, the harbour, wharf,
and shipping for separate examination towards the later pages of the
chapter. The railway, consisting of a single line throughout the whole
extent, was carried over a portion of the estuary of the Wyre, along an
embankment and viaduct of huge wooden piles, running from Burn Naze to
the west extremity of the wharf at Fleetwood, near to which the station
is situated. In 1846 the traffic, both in passengers and goods, had
increased so rapidly that the directors determined to have a double line
without delay. Instructions for that purpose were accordingly issued to
the engineer of the company, and at the same time he was directed that,
in order to afford space and facilities for the construction of the
proposed docks to the westward of the existing railway piling, the double
line should diverge at Burn Naze, run round the Cops, and terminate as
before. The programme here stated was not fully carried out, and the
double line extended only as far as Burn Naze, from which point a single
line ran along a semicircular embankment, lying west of the old one, to
the terminus at Fleetwood.[84] This embankment was the means of rescuing
from the incursions of the tide about 400 acres of marsh land, which has
since by drainage and cultivation been converted into excellent pastures
and productive fields. The entire line was leased, under acts of 1846,
to the Lancashire and Yorkshire and London and North Western Railway
companies, the former taking two thirds and the latter one third of the
profits or losses. The terms agreed upon were a rent of £7 1s. 6d. per
cent., and £1 15s. 4½d. per share on a total capital of £668,000, until
the close of 1854, when the payments were raised to £7 17s. 6d. per
cent., and £1 19s. 3½d. per share in perpetuity. In the month of July,
1846, the electric telegraph in connection with the Preston and Wyre
Railway was introduced into the town, and as its first public act was
the interception, at Kirkham, of a defaulting steamship passenger, who
had neglected to pay her fare, it may be concluded that the inhabitants
welcomed the ingenious invention as a valuable ally in the protection of
their commercial interests, as well as a rapid and convenient mode of
friendly intercommunion in cases of urgency.

The Improvement Act, for “paving, lighting, cleansing, and otherwise
improving the town of Fleetwood and the neighbourhood thereof, and for
establishing a market therein,” came into operation on the 18th of June,
1842. Meetings were appointed to be held on the first Monday in every
month, at which any male person was empowered to sit as a commissioner
on producing evidence that he was either a resident within the limits
prescribed by the act, and rated to the poor-rates of the township of
Thornton for a local tenement of the annual value of £15, or possessed
as owner or lessee or in the enjoyment of the rents and profits of a
messuage, lands, or hereditaments, similarly situated and rated, for a
term of not less than fifty years. In 1869 authority was obtained to
repeal certain sections of the old act and adopt others from the Public
Health Act of 1848, and the Local Government Act of 1858, the most
important being that in future the Board of Commissioners should consist
of twelve members only, having personally the same qualifications as
before, but being elected by the ratepayers. The new regulations also
ordained that one third of the commissioners should retire each year, and
the vacancies be filled up by a general election. This act is still in
force.

It was not possible that the claims of a place so happily situated
as Fleetwood for a summer residence could long remain unrecognised by
the inhabitants of the inland towns. No sooner was free access given
to its shores by the opening of the railway in 1840, than the hotels
and lodging-houses were inundated with visitors, whose annual return
testified to their high appreciation of its mild climate, firm sands,
excellent boating accommodation, and lastly, the diversified and
beautiful scenery of the broad bay of Morecambe. A number of bathing
vans were stationed on the shore opposite the Mount, but were little
patronised during the first two or three seasons owing to the proprietors
demanding 1s. from each person using them, a sum exactly double that
required at other watering-places. The injurious effects of this
exorbitant charge were speedily experienced, not only by the van owners,
whose receipts were reduced to a minimum, but generally throughout the
town, as visitors who greatly preferred Fleetwood were driven to other
places on that account, and each year many who came with the intention
of remaining during the summer left because their families were debarred
from bathing, except at an excessive cost. The error of so grasping a
policy being at last demonstrated to the proprietors by the small and
diminishing patronage extended to their vans, it was resolved, in 1844,
to reduce the charge to 6d. That year several newly-erected houses in
Kemp Street were furnished and tenanted, whilst the hitherto unoccupied
stone residences comprised in the Upper Queen’s Terrace were fitted up
with elegance and convenience for the wealthier class of sojourners, to
whom they were let for periods varying from a few weeks to three or four
months. The terrace of houses situated between the North Euston Hotel and
the Mount, and bearing the latter name, was also completed that year. The
prices at the North Euston Hotel were arranged as under:—

  Sitting-room        3s. 4d. per day.
  Bed-room            2s. 3d. and 4s. 0d. per day.
  Table d’Hote        4s. per head.
  Breakfast or Tea    2s. 0d. and 2s. 6d. per head.

During the Whit-week of 1844 the place was crowded with excursionists,
many of whom, amounting to 1,000 daily, were carried at half fare by
the Preston and Wyre Railway, and came from the neighbouring towns and
villages, whilst others arrived by sea in excursion boats from Dublin,
the Isle of Man, Ulverstone, Blackpool, and Southport. Festivities were
entered into on the warren and slopes of the Mount, lasting three days
and consisting of horse, pony, donkey, foot, sack, and wheelbarrow races,
a cricket match, foot steeplechases, wrestling, and gingling matches.

In 1844 Fleetwood was reduced from a distinct port to a creek under
Preston, and during the month of July the mayor of the latter town paid a
state visit to the watering-place, arriving by sea in the small steamer
“Lily.” A series of misfortunes rather tended to upset the dignity and
imposing aspect of the official cortege. A somewhat rough sea retarded
their passage and rapidly converted the ship into a temporary hospital
for that, perhaps, most distressing of all sicknesses; nearing, at last,
the lighthouse at the foot of Wyre, a large portion of the larboard
gunwale was carried away by the bowsprit of the steamer “Express,” which
had been sent out to meet and tow them into harbour, if necessary; and
finally the unfortunate “Lily” stranded on a bank opposite the beach
at Fleetwood, and the mayoral party, now pallid and dejected, in their
gorgeous robes and liveries, were brought to land in small open boats,
and having formed the following order, marched to the North Euston Hotel,
where a banquet was prepared:—

  Three Policemen.
  Two Sergeants-at-Mace.
  Mace Bearer.
  The Mayor in his Robes of Office.
  The Corporation Steward.
  Recorder of the Borough.
  The Aldermen of the Borough.
  The Members of the Common Council.
  Military Officers and Private Gentlemen.
  Town Crier and Beadle.

This year the Preston and Wyre Railway Company, in conjunction with the
line from Manchester and Bolton, commenced to run Sunday excursion trains
to Fleetwood at reduced fares during the genial months of summer, and in
August upwards of ten thousand pleasure-seekers were estimated to have
been brought into the town by their means alone. These lines were amongst
the first to try the experiment of cheap trains, and the immense success
which attended their efforts on the above occasions soon induced them to
extend the privileges to other days besides the Sabbath. The promoters
of private excursions, also, were offered facilities to direct their
course to this watering-place. During the summer of 1844 no less than
60,000 people in all, that is including both day excursionists and those
who remained for longer periods, arrived, being considerably more than
in any previous season. In July, 1846, the whole of the workpeople of
Richard Cobden, esq., M.P., the great free-trade statesman, visited the
town to celebrate the triumph of free-trade principles in parliament,
the entire expense of the trip being defrayed by that gentleman. Each of
the operatives and others, numbering about 1,300, had a free-trade medal
suspended by a ribbon from the neck; and, having formed in procession,
the large assembly paraded through the streets of Fleetwood, carrying
banners adorned with such appropriate mottoes and inscriptions as “Free
Trade with all the World,” “Peel, Bright, and Cobden,” etc. In the same
year an immense Sunday school trip, bringing no less than 4,200 children
and adults, arrived; and after amusing themselves by rambling about the
shore for a time, the youthful multitude formed a huge pic-nic party on
the warren. This was without doubt the largest single excursion which
ever visited these shores, and on its return, the enormous train of
two engines and fifty-six carriages, many of which were cattle trucks
provided with forms and covered in with canvas, was divided, each engine
taking half, for fear of accidents and delays. In later times it was
no uncommon circumstance to see the spacious wharf opposite the Upper
and Lower Queen’s Terraces, crowded with cheap trains during Easter
and Whit-weeks. Hourly trips in the small steam tug-boats or pleasure
yachts, pony and donkey rides, bathing, and mussel gathering on the bank
opposite the Mount Terrace were the chief amusements of the day visitors,
and innumerable were the exclamations of wonder and delight uttered by
thousands, who for the first time beheld

  “The broad and bursting wave”

at Fleetwood, for our readers may be reminded that at the date of which
we are writing, railway fares, except on special occasions, were beyond
the compass of the labouring populations of our manufacturing and
agricultural districts, and consequently a visit to the, in many cases
unknown, sea, was an event eagerly anticipated and long remembered.

In January, 1845, a general meeting of those who were interested in
Fleetwood, or wished to testify their respect and admiration for the
noble efforts of the founder of the town, was held at the North Euston
Hotel, to determine upon the most suitable public testimonial to be
erected in honour of Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood. Doctor Ramsay proposed
that day schools for 200 children of the labouring classes, with a house
for a master and mistress, having the name of the “Fleetwood Testimonial
Schools,” open to all denominations of Christians and connected with the
National Society, should be erected. This resolution was carried without
a dissentient; subscription lists were opened; and on Wednesday, the 26th
of August, 1846, the foundation stone of the building was laid by Charles
Swainson, esq., of Preston. Large numbers arrived early in the morning to
be present at the ceremony. The town, shipping, and river craft, decked
out in bunting, presented quite a gala appearance as the officials and
guests proceeded to the site in West Street. The procession marched as
stated below:—

  The Beadle.
  Band.
  The Wesleyan Sunday School Children.
  The Independent Sunday School Children.
  The Church Sunday School Children.
  The Architect holding the Mallet and Trowel.
  The Contractors.
  The Clergy.
  Charles Swainson, esq.
  The Treasurer and Mr. Swainson’s Friends.
  Rossall School.
  The Gentry and Visitors.
  The Tradesmen.
  Independent Order of Oddfellows.
  The Rechabites.

In the cavity beneath the foundation stone were enclosed a bottle
containing coins of the present reign, a copy of the _Fleetwood
Chronicle_ of that date, printed on parchment, and another sheet of
parchment inscribed thus:—

  “The first stone of these schools, which are to be erected as
  the fittest Testimonial to the benevolent founder of this town,
  Sir P. H. Fleetwood, Bart., M.P., was laid by Charles Swainson,
  Esq., of Preston, this 26th day of August, 1846.

    THE REV. ST. VINCENT BEECHEY, M.A., Incumbent;
    THE REV. W. LAIDLAY, B.A., Curate;
    B. WALMSLEY, FREDERICK KEMP, Churchwardens;
    THE REV. JOHN HULL, Vicar of Poulton, Chairman of the Committee.
    JOHN LAIDLAY, Esq., Treasurer of the Committee;
    R. B. RAMPLING, Esq., Architect;
    H. B. JONES, Esq., Secretary.

  Non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.”

This scholastic institution is in the Gothic style of architecture, and
the principal front, facing into West Street, extends over a distance
of seventy-one feet. The interior of the building contains separate
school accommodation for boys and girls; and at the east end there is
a comfortable residence for the mistress. The school is surrounded by
an extensive play-ground, and enclosed by a brick wall, surmounted
anteriorly by ornamental iron railings. Since the building was completed
the provision for the reception of boys has been greatly increased by the
erection of a new wing, by private munificence, abutting at right angles
with the east end of the original structure.

In the spring of 1845 a handsome promenade and carriage drive was
completed along the border of the shore from the North Euston Hotel to
the west extremity of the Mount Terrace. The pathway, which ran on the
inner side of the drive, was flagged throughout its entire length, whilst
the outer margin of the road was connected with a substantial sea-wall
of square-cut stone by a broad and well-kept grass plat. Subsequently
this elegant walk was extended round the south side of the Mount, along
Abbots’ Walk, and so on by the side of the shore to the Cemetery Road.
Very little of the portion first constructed is now to be seen, and that
remnant is in such a dilapidated condition as almost to be impassable.
Huge stones which formerly protected the green sward and road from the
waves are now lying scattered and buried about the beach; whilst the
westerly end of the promenade has not only suffered utter annihilation
itself, but serious inroads have been made by the water into the
ornamental gardens fronting the houses of the Mount Terrace.

Strenuous efforts were put forth during the autumn of 1845 to prevent
the visitors forsaking the town immediately the long evenings had
commenced; pyrotechnic displays took place each week on the plot of land
lying to the north of the Upper Queen’s Terrace, and designated the
Archery Ground. Sea excursions to Blackpool, Southport, and Piel Harbour
were liberally provided for by the steamers of the port; a military
band was hired for several weeks, and played daily either on one of the
pleasure craft or near the new promenade; foot races, wrestling, and
cricket matches were arranged and contested at short intervals. But
all in vain, for towards the end of August the reflux of visitors had
thoroughly set in, and by the middle of September the shores were almost
deserted. During that brief period of excitement it was proposed amongst
the inhabitants to erect a large public building to be ready for the
ensuing season, which should combine all the advantages of a reading and
news room, public library, bazaar, ball room, and theatre; but either the
ardour of the people cooled during the winter months or they failed to
discern a fair prospect of dividends from the investment, for the summer
of 1846 discovered that the idea had vanished with the closing year, and

  “Like the baseless fabric of a vision,
  Left not a wreck behind.”

Perhaps, however, it is going too far to assert that no trace or vestige
of the comprehensive project remained after the first ebullition of
enthusiasm had passed from the popular mind, for we find that, although
no noble hall graced the town, a Mechanics’ Institution was modestly
established on the 18th of May, 1846, by the opening of a reading room
in one portion of the Estate Office. This office formerly occupied
the site of the present Whitworth Institute, and was a small, lightly
constructed, Gothic edifice. Subsequently a larger and more convenient
place for the purposes of the Institution was engaged in Dock Street; a
library was provided and arrangements made for lectures and classes to be
held on the premises. In the report of the establishment, issued twelve
months after its foundation, it was stated that the members at that date
amounted to 184, being 138 full members, 20 females, and 26 youths and
apprentices; and that since its organisation 213 persons had availed
themselves of the privileges offered by the society. A considerable
number of cottage houses were erected in different parts of the town,
and not only were these tenanted directly they were completed, but the
demand for further building was still on the increase. A public abattoir,
or slaughter-house, was constructed in 1846 on the outskirts of the town,
and a notice issued, prohibiting the slaying of any cattle, sheep, or
swine anywhere except within its walls, under a penalty of £5 for every
offence. A Wesleyan chapel was also in course of erection in North Church
Street, then open warren, and finished the following year, divine service
being first conducted in it on Monday, the 24th of May, by the Rev.
George Osborne, of Liverpool. As the town gradually developed in size and
population, the attendants at this place of worship outgrew the space
provided for them, and lately, in 1875, it became necessary to enlarge
the edifice. The west gable-end was taken out and the main building
extended in that direction. Galleries were placed along the two sides
and across the east wall; the old-fashioned pulpit was superseded by a
platform situated at the centre of the west end, and extending to within
six feet of the galleries at either side. The new sittings resemble the
old ones in being closed pews, and not open benches. The chapel is now
capable of containing double the congregation it could have held previous
to the recent alterations.

In the month of February, 1847, an extraordinary high tide, rendered
more formidable by strong westerly winds, did great damage on the coast
from here to Rossall; the Landmark was so far undermined that its fall
was hourly expected; an embankment raised on the shore from that point
to Rossall suffered severely, large portions being completely washed
away; and the outbuildings of a farm called “Fenny” were overthrown
and destroyed, serious injury being done also to the land in the
neighbourhood. The more immediate vicinities of the town escaped with
comparatively little loss, the most important being that resulting
from the inundation of several fields and gardens near the Cops, and
the levelling of a few wooden sheds for labourers’ tools and other
outbuildings.

A failure in the potatoe and grain harvests of 1846 spread fearful
distress and famine throughout the United Kingdom; bread riots and
disturbances amongst the starving poor of Ireland were of frequent
occurrence, and it was to assist in alleviating the sufferings of those
unfortunate people that a subscription was started in Fleetwood during
the latter months of that year. Donations purely from the inhabitants
of the town were collected, and in January, 1847, the sum of £105 was
forwarded to the sister country. In consequence of the severe national
affliction, Her Majesty ordained that Wednesday, the 24th of the
following March, should be observed as a general fast-day. On that date
all the shops in the watering place, with one or two exceptions, were
closed; the public-houses and streets were quiet; and stillness and
solemnity everywhere apparent. The church was crowded to overflowing;
every seat was packed, and forms were brought in from the Sunday school
and placed in the aisles to create extra accommodation, so excessive
was the congregation which assembled to join in the special service for
divine intervention.

On Monday, the 20th of September, 1847, Her Majesty, Queen Victoria,
accompanied by their Royal Highnesses, the Prince Consort, the Prince
of Wales, and the Princess Royal, landed at Fleetwood _en route_ from
Scotland to London. The spot fixed for the debarkation of the royal party
was near the north end of the covered pier, upwards of 100 feet of which
were boarded off and converted into a saloon, a covered gallery being
erected leading from it to the railway, where the special train was
stationed. The floors of the saloon and gallery were covered with crimson
drugget and at the entrance to the former a beautiful triumphal arch was
formed of various coloured draperies, and adorned with the national flag
and other emblems of loyalty. The walls of the saloon were hung with
white and coloured draperies, festooned with evergreens, and British
ensigns were suspended from the roof. This elegant apartment contained a
gallery for ladies at the north end, and near to the entrance was a small
octagonal throne, having an ascent of three steps, upon which a handsome
gilded chair of state and a footstool were placed. Behind the two latter,
draperies of crimson cloth were suspended, surmounted by the Arms of Her
Majesty. On Sunday, the 19th of September, the High-sheriff of the county
of Lancaster, William Gale, esq., of Lightburne House, near Ulverston,
who had arrived in order to receive Her Majesty on the following day,
attended divine worship at St. Peter’s Church, being driven there
in his state carriage, drawn by four splendid greys and preceded by
his trumpeters and twenty-four javelin men with halberds. Monday was
ushered in with boisterous winds, a cloudy sky, and other indications of
unpropitious weather, which fortunately for the thousands who crowded
into the place from Yorkshire, Manchester, and intermediate localities,
considerably improved as the day advanced. The ships in the harbour were
draped with flags, and similar decorations floated from the windows of
almost every house. A little after three o’clock in the afternoon the
report of a signal gun announced that the royal squadron, consisting of
the Victoria and Albert, the Black Eagle, the Fairy, the Garland, and the
Undine, was in sight, and as the noble vessels steamed up the channel the
North Euston Hotel and the Pier burst out into brilliant illuminations.
As soon as the royal yacht, Victoria and Albert, had been safely moored
to the quay opposite the triumphal arch, and the gangways adjusted, the
High-sheriff, W. Gale, esq.; Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, K.C.B.;
Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart.; Major-General Sir William Warre; John Wilson
Patten, esq., M.P.; the Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, incumbent of Fleetwood;
Henry Houldsworth, esq., chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Company; George Wilson, esq., deputy-chairman; and Thomas H. Higgin,
esq., managing director of the Preston and Wyre district; presented their
cards, and explained to Captain Beechey the several arrangements which
had been made for Her Majesty’s conveyance to London. Afterwards Sir P.
H. Fleetwood, the Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, Frederick Kemp, and James
Crombleholme, esqrs., of Fleetwood; and Daniel Elletson, esq., of Parrox
Hall, were admitted to an interview with Lord Palmerston, who, on behalf
of Her Majesty, received the subjoined address from the inhabitants of
Fleetwood, printed in gold on white satin, and promised that it should be
laid before the Queen:—

  “THE LOYAL AND DUTIFUL ADDRESS OF THE INHABITANTS OF FLEETWOOD,
  TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

  “_May it Please your Majesty_,

  “We, the Inhabitants of the Town of Fleetwood, in the county of
  Lancaster, desire to approach your Majesty on this auspicious
  occasion, with the most sincere expression of our devoted
  loyalty and attachment to your Majesty, of our deep respect and
  esteem for your Majesty’s august Consort, for his Royal Highness
  the Prince of Wales, and the other members of the Royal Family.

  “We beg to assure your Majesty that it is with feelings of the
  liveliest gratitude that we hail this Royal visit to our humble
  shores, now for the first time pressed by the foot of Sovereignty.

  “We rejoice to think that it has fallen to our happy lot to
  be the first to welcome the Queen of England to her own Royal
  Patrimony in the Duchy of Lancaster.

  “We hasten to lay at your Majesty’s feet the dutiful allegiance
  of the inhabitants of the youngest Town and Port in all your
  Majesty’s dominions, which dates its existence from the very year
  in which your Majesty first ascended the Throne of these realms;
  and which, from the barren and uninhabited sands of the Fylde of
  Lancashire, has already obtained some importance for its town
  of 3,000 inhabitants, its Watering-place, Harbour, and Railway,
  together with its College for the sons of clergymen and other
  gentlemen.

  “We sincerely trust, that the natural facilities and local
  arrangements of this Port may be found such as shall conduce to
  the safety, comfort, and convenience of your Majesty in your
  royal progress. And we beseech your Majesty to receive our united
  and solemn assurance, that whatever progress our Harbour and Town
  may make in wealth and importance, it shall ever be our firmest
  determination and most earnest prayer, that we may never cease
  to boast of a loyal population, entertaining the same feeling of
  devoted duty and attachment to your Majesty and the Royal Family,
  which we experience at this moment, and which the grateful
  remembrance of this Royal visit must ever tend to keep alive in
  our bosoms.

  “Signed on behalf of the Inhabitants,

                “ST. VINCENT BEECHEY, M.A., Incumbent of Fleetwood.”


To the foregoing address the annexed reply was received from London in
the course of a few days:—

                                  “Whitehall, 25th September, 1847.

  “SIR,—I am directed by the Secretary, Sir George Grey, to inform
  you, that the Loyal and Dutiful Address of the Inhabitants of
  Fleetwood, on the occasion of Her Majesty’s late visit, has been
  laid before the Queen, and that the same was very graciously
  received by Her Majesty.

  “I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

                               (Signed)

                                               “DENNIS LE MERCHANT.

  “Rev. St. Vincent Beechey, Incumbent of Fleetwood.”

Early next morning the handsome saloon was occupied by the High-sheriff,
the Under-sheriff, and a select number of gentlemen, and shortly after
ten o’clock Her Majesty and the royal party proceeded from the yacht to
the special train amid joyful acclamations which resounded from all parts
of the shore. The moment Her Majesty set foot, for the first time, on her
Duchy of Lancaster, the royal standard was lowered from the mast-head of
the yacht, and instantly raised on the flag-staff at the custom-house of
Fleetwood, where it received a salute of twenty-one guns. After another
salute of a similar number of guns, as Her Majesty reached the end of
the gallery, the royal party entered their saloon carriage, Mr., now
Sir John, Hawskshaw, engineer to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Company, took his station on the engine, and the train moved slowly off,
followed by the ringing cheers of at least ten thousand spectators.

It should be mentioned that a loyal address, written in Latin, from the
students of the Northern Church of England School, at Rossall, arrived
too late for presentation, and was afterwards forwarded to London.

In the month of July, 1847, Mr. Thomas Drummond, contractor, commenced
the erection of the present Independent Chapel in West Street, and
notwithstanding a serious delay through the destruction of the north
gable and roof-framing by a heavy gale in September, the building was
completed the same year. The edifice, which will contain about 600
persons, is a neat brick structure with side buttresses, and adorned with
a castellated tower. Beneath the chapel are spacious school-rooms for
boys and girls. The site was granted by Sir P. H. Fleetwood, and conveyed
in trust for the use of the church and congregation.

For two or three years little of special interest occurred in the
progress or condition of the town. Each summer brought its assembly of
regular visitors, upon whom many of the inhabitants depended for support,
whilst Whit-week annually inundated the warren, streets, and shores with
crowds of day-excursionists, for whose benefit sports, resembling those
to which allusion has already been made, were instituted. Regattas also
were added to the other attractions of the watering-place, but after
existing for some little time they gradually died out, either because
they failed to excite their former interest amongst the visitors, or
the public spirit of the inhabitants was tardy in providing the funds
necessary for their continuance. Houses in Albert Street, and in other
parts of the town, were slowly increasing in number, but no large demand
for dwellings bespoke a rapid rise in the prosperity or popularity of the
place, like that to which we referred a little earlier. Trade, although
comparatively steady, evinced no signs of enlargement at present, and
as a consequence fresh families hesitated to venture their fortunes in
the new land, until some more regular and reliable means of gaining a
livelihood were offered them than the precarious patronage of uncertain
visitors, many of whom, now that free access had been given to Blackpool
and Lytham through the opening of branch lines, were already being
seduced from their old allegiance to Fleetwood, and attracted to the
gayer promenades of those rival resorts.

In the month of December, 1852, and just at the Christmas season, a
fearful hurricane swept over Fleetwood; slates, chimney tops, and
boardings were torn from their fastenings, and hurled about the streets;
indeed so terrific was the violence of this gale that at its height it
was difficult for the pedestrian to avoid being forced along by its
fury in whatsoever direction the huge gusts willed. During the storm
a singular accident occurred in the harbour. The barque “Hope,” which
had arrived shortly before from America with timber, was lying in the
river attached to one of the buoys, and by some carelessness the men
employed in unloading her had neglected, on leaving their work, to
close up the large square hole near the stem of the ship, through which
the baulks of wood were discharged. The hurricane came on fiercely and
suddenly from the west, and, to the dismay of the solitary watchman who
had been left in charge of the vessel, heeled over her lightened hull
so that the swollen and boisterous tide poured wave after wave through
the unprotected aperture at her bows; a few minutes only were needed
to complete the catastrophe, for as the vessel settled in the deep, no
longer waves but continuous volumes of water rushed into her, and with
a heavy lurch she rolled over on her side, the masts and more than half
her hull being submerged. Fortunately, however, the remnant of the cargo
was sufficiently buoyant to prevent her from vanishing bodily beneath
the surface. The luckless guardian, whose feelings must have been far
from enviable, was quickly rescued from the perilous position he occupied
on the floating portion of the ship; but it was not until some weeks
afterwards that they were able, in the words of the poet Cowper,

  “To weigh the vessel up.”

The “Hope,” 415 tons register, was built up the river at the old port
of Wardleys, being the only vessel of such dimensions constructed in
the shipyard there. Ten years later, on the 27th of February, 1862, this
ill-fated barque was abandoned on the high seas in a sinking condition.

In 1854 sundry improvements were effected in the extent and condition
of the place, and consisted in part of the erection of a row of model
cottages in Poulton Road, near the entrance to the town, as well as a
new police Station in West Street, comprising two dwellings for the
constables and cells for prisoners. The streets were also put in better
order, and efforts made to render the aspect of Fleetwood more finished
and pleasing than it had been during the two or three previous seasons. A
scheme for the partial drainage of the town was proposed at the assembly
of commissioners, and arrangements were entered into for the work to be
promptly carried out at an estimated cost of £1,200. Altogether a sudden
spirit of activity seemed to have superseded the lethargy or indifference
which lately had been too much visible amongst the inhabitants in all
matters of public interest, and which had already exercised a serious
and baneful influence upon the prospects of the place as a sea-side
resort. In the ensuing year the body of Primitive Methodists, which
had now become rather numerous, chiefly owing to the prosperity of the
fishing trade attracting many followers of that calling to the port,
most of whom were members of this sect, commenced and completed a chapel
in West Street. Recently it has been found necessary considerably to
enlarge the edifice, in order to furnish more accommodation for the
increasing congregation. Although the erection of this chapel and of
the other buildings mentioned above mark undoubtedly an era of progress
in the history of the town, still we are constrained to admit that the
wants they supplied were not brought about by the spread of Fleetwood’s
reputation as a watering-place. From the first little had been done to
supplement its natural attractions by laying out elegant promenades, or
improving the state of the Cops or Poulton Road, so as to render them
agreeable rural walks for many who, after a time, grew weary of watching
the eddies and dimples of the river’s current

  “Play round the bows of ships,
  That steadily at anchor rode;”

or of daily rambling where the receding waves left a broad floor of
firm, unbroken sands. True, a carriage-drive and foot-way of some
pretensions to beauty had been constructed along the north shore in 1845,
but the storms we have described, and other heavy seas, had torn breaches
in its wall, and made sad havoc amongst its light sandy material,
completely ruining the fair appearance of the shoreward grass-plat, and
threatening the road with that very destruction which has since overtaken
it through the continued negligence of the residents or governing
powers. There was no public hall, such as that once contemplated, where
a feeling of fellowship might be engendered amongst the visitors. The
regattas instituted for the interest and amusement it was hoped they
would excite amongst the spectators were, as previously stated, conducted
in a desultory manner for a few years, and then abandoned; whilst the
land sports during the week of high festival were discontinued as the
Whit-week excursion trains found other outlets more attractive than
Fleetwood for their pleasure-seeking thousands; but it was not until the
North Euston Hotel was opened for military purposes, that all hope of
reviving the fading reputation of the town as a summer resort was finally
relinquished. For some little time after the foregoing transfer, the
bathing vans, as if to keep up the fiction of the season, re-appeared
with uninterrupted regularity each year upon the beach, but even that
last connecting link between the deserted town, as far as visitors were
concerned, and its former popularity, was doomed shortly to be broken,
for the ancient machines, never renewed, and seldom repaired, were at
length unequal to the rough journey over the cobble stones, and crumbled
to pieces on the way, expiring miserably in the cause of duty, from old
age and unmerited neglect.

In the early part of 1859, a lifeboat, thirty feet in length, was
stationed here by the National Lifeboat Institution, and in the month of
September in the same year, a neat and substantial house was built for it
on the beach opposite the North Euston Hotel. After doing good service
along the coast, in rescuing several crews whose vessels had stranded
amidst the breakers on the outlying sand-banks, this boat was superseded,
in 1862, by one of larger dimensions. In January, 1863, the erection
on the beach was swept away by the billows during a heavy gale, and in
the course of a few months the present structure in Pharos Street, far
removed from the reach of the destructive element, was raised, and the
lifeboat transferred to its safer keeping.

The census of the residents taken in 1861 showed a total of 4,061
persons, being an increase of 940 over the number in 1851, and of 1,228
over that in 1841. Hence it is seen that during the long period of twenty
years, almost from its commencement to the date now under consideration,
through fluctuating seasons of prosperous and depressed trade, the town
had succeeded in adding no more than 1,228 individuals to the roll of
its inhabitants, many of whom would be the offspring of the original
settlers. Truly the foregoing picture is not a very satisfactory one to
review when we call to mind the bright auspices under which the place
was started,—the early and ample railway accommodation, the short and
well-beaconed channel, and the safe and spacious harbour; but could
we only add the extensive area of docks, the Fleetwood of 1871 would
doubtless have presented a widely different aspect to that we are here
called upon to portray. It is scarcely just, however, to lay all the
burden of this slow rate of progress on the want of suitable berth
provision for heavily-laden vessels coming to the harbour. Fleetwood had
other means of extending its circle besides those derived from its happy
situation for shipping trade. Its merits as a watering-place were allowed
on every hand; eulogistic versions of its special charms were circulated
through the public prints; strangers flocked each summer to its shores,
and were enchanted with their visits; but after a while the refreshing
novelty wore off, and the puny efforts made by those whose interests in
the prosperity of the town were greatest, failed to fill the inevitable
void the waning newness left in its train. In the meantime other season
places, urged on by emulation, enhanced the beauties of nature by works
of art; promenades, walks, drives, and, at no distant period, piers,
were constructed to meet the popular demands, and in that way the tide
of visitors was turned from the non-progressive and now over familiar
attractions of Fleetwood to swell the annually increasing streams which
overflowed the rising towns of Blackpool and Lytham. The year 1861 will
ever be remarkable in the history of Fleetwood as being the date at which
the town was for the first time practically diverted from that line of
progress which its founder, in too sanguine expectancy, had early marked
out for it. Its decadence as a summer resort had been too pronounced to
allow of any hope being entertained that a revulsion was probable, or
even possible, in the feelings and tastes of the multitude, which would
again people its shores, during the warm months, with a heterogeneous
crowd of valetudinarians and pleasure-seekers. The noble hotel which
had been erected by Sir P. H. Fleetwood on the northern margin of the
shore, in a style of architecture and at an expense which bore witness
to the firm confidence of the baronet in the brilliant future awaiting
the infant town, had been sold to Government, as previously stated, in
1859, but it was not until two years afterwards that the first detachment
of officers took up their quarters in the newly-established School of
Musketry, and Fleetwood awoke to the novel sound of martial music and
the reputation of being a military centre. Rumour, also, had for several
months been active in circulating a report that the sward lying between
the Landmark and the cemetery, and a field at the corner of Cemetery
Road, had attracted the eye of Government as a suitable locality whereon
to place barracks and lay out a rifle-practice ground; and in February,
1861, doubt on the subject was no longer admissible, for the contract to
carry out the fresh project was let during that month to the gentleman
who had been engaged in the necessary alterations at the North Euston
Hotel. The scheme involved the creation of residential accommodation in
the field just indicated for a small force of 220 men and 12 officers,
some of the quarters being specially designed for married soldiers,
in addition to which lavatories, a canteen, mess-room, magazine, and
guard-house, were to be erected. The work was entered on without delay,
and at no long interval, about ten months, or rather more, the whole
of the buildings were completed, and soon afterwards occupied. The
practice-ground was marked out for range firing, and butts provided,
where the targets were shortly stationed. A spacious hospital, it should
be mentioned, was constructed almost contemporaneously with the main
portion of the barrack buildings.

On Monday, the 20th of May, 1861, a mass meeting was convened to
ascertain the opinion of the inhabitants with regard to a claim of
exclusive use of the road over the Mount-hill, which had recently been
set up by Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, who in order to establish his
right had caused a cobble wall to be erected round that portion of
the estate. The meeting, consisting of about three hundred persons,
was held on the pathway in dispute, which crosses the highest point of
the elevation. A platform was raised, and a chairman, elected by the
unanimous voice of the company, ascended the rostrum, being accompanied
by several of the more enthusiastic advocates of free-road, who in the
course of earnest addresses declared that for twenty years the Mount had
been dedicated to the public service, in consideration of certain sums
paid annually to the lord of the manor out of the town’s rates, and that
having been so long the property of the people, Sir P. H. Fleetwood had
now no moral or legal title to wrest it from them. The ardent language of
the speakers aroused a sympathetic feeling in the breasts of the small
multitude, and murmurs of discontent at the attempted deprivation of
their privileges had already assumed a threatening tone, when a gentleman
who happened to be visiting the neighbourhood, appeared upon the scene,
and in a few spirited words urged the excited listeners to some speedy
manifestation of their disapproval. Uttering a shout of indignation and
defiance the crowd rushed at the enclosure wall, tore down the masonry,
and quickly opened out a wide breach through the offending structure,
after which they filled the air with triumphant cheers and shortly
retired homewards in a comparatively orderly manner. In the course of a
few months the vexatious question was settled between the representatives
of the town and Sir P. H. Fleetwood, who on his part agreed only to
retain to himself a plot of land fifty yards square, lying on the west
side of the hill; another piece one hundred yards square, extending from
the base of the elevation to the sea; the wooden edifice on the summit
of the mound; six square yards whereon to erect a look-out house for the
Coastguards; and the gardens and cottage-lodges at the entrance. The
remainder of the Mount, amounting to about three-fourths, was given up to
the public, together with the right of footway through the cottages just
mentioned, and over the east and west plots; the commissioners engaging,
on their side, to erect and maintain a suitable fence round the Mount,
and to keep the hill itself in a proper manner for the benefit of the
inhabitants or visitors, as well as binding themselves upon no account to
raise any building on the site. The entire ground, with the buildings,
has since been given, on much the same conditions, to the town.

During the year 1862 the town, which for some time had lain dormant in
a commercial point of view, evinced unmistakable signs of returning
animation; trade was more active, rumour once more hinted at the probable
commencement of docks at an early date, and ninety-five houses of
moderate size were erected. In the earlier half of the following twelve
months no less than thirty-seven more dwellings were added to the town,
the foundations of several others being in course of preparation. A
branch of the Preston Banking Company was also opened for a few hours
once in each week; and during later years has transacted business daily.

On Tuesday, the 20th of January, 1863, a storm and flood, such as has
seldom been witnessed on this coast, arose suddenly and raged with fury
for about twenty hours. The whole of the wall under the Mount, which
had been brought to light by some gales in the previous November, after
having been buried in the sand for long, was utterly demolished, not
one stone being left upon another. In addition, the breakers penetrated
with destructive violence, several yards inland beyond the line of
that barrier throughout its whole length, from the west end of the
Euston Barracks to the further extremity of Abbot’s Walk. A wooden
battery of two 32-pound guns at the foot of the Mount, belonging to the
Coastguards,[85] and used for training the Naval Volunteer Reserve,
was undermined and so tilted that its removal became a necessity. The
marine fence, which had been constructed at an immense cost, between
the Landmark and Cleveleys, was almost entirely swept away, leaving
the adjacent country open to the inundations of the sea, which rushed
over and flooded all the land between the points just named, extending
eastward even to the embankment of the Preston and Wyre Railway. Several
of the streets at the west side of Fleetwood were under water, as also
were the fields about Poulton road and the highway itself. The proprietor
of the “Strawberry Garden,” off the same road, and his family, were
compelled to take refuge in an upper storey of their dwelling until
rescued in a boat, the following day, from their unpleasant, if not
perilous, position. It was in this hurricane that the house erected
on the shore for the reception of the lifeboat suffered annihilation,
and the boat itself narrowly escaped serious damage. Tuesday, the 10th
of March, in the same year was observed by the residents as a general
holiday and gala day, in honour of the marriage of Albert Edward, Prince
of Wales, with the Danish Princess, Alexandra. Flags and banners floated
from the windows of nearly every habitation, as well as from the roofs
of many, while the steamships and other vessels in the harbour were
gaily decorated with bunting, which waved in rich and varied tints from
their masts, spars, and rigging. Triumphal arches of the “colours of
all nations” were suspended across the streets at several points. A
large procession of schools and friendly societies in full regalia, with
their banners and devices, paraded the different thoroughfares, and were
afterwards sumptuously entertained, the latter at their various lodges,
and the former in the large area of a cotton warehouse, recently built on
the quay by Messrs. B. Whitworth and Bros., of Manchester. The military
stationed at the School of Musketry evinced their loyalty by discharging
a _feu de joie_ on the warren. In the following November a scheme was
proposed for the construction of a coast railway between Fleetwood and
Blackpool, to pass through Rossall and Bispham. A survey was made of
the route, and according to the plans drawn out, the projected line
was intended to have its Fleetwood terminus at the south extremity of
Poulton Terrace, opposite the end of West Street, whence it was to run
towards the new barracks, near the cemetery, then diverge to the south
in the direction of Rossall. From Rossall its course lay towards Bispham
and thence onwards to the Blackpool terminus, which would be located
in Queen’s street, adjoining the station already standing there. The
stations, besides those at the two termini, were to be placed at the
barracks, Rossall, and Bispham. At Fleetwood the promoters proposed to
form a junction with the Preston and Wyre Railway near the old timber
pond, for the purpose of passing carriages from one line to the other,
whilst at Blackpool a similar object would be effected with the Lytham
and Blackpool Railway by deviating eastward from Queen Street, so as
to avoid the town, and establishing a junction with the latter line
near Chapel Street. On an application being made to parliament for
powers to carry out the design, strenuous opposition was offered by the
representatives of the Preston and Wyre Railway, who pledged themselves
to erect additional stations along their track to accommodate the people
residing at Rossall, Cleveleys, and Bispham, in consequence of which the
bill for a coast-line was thrown out and the project abandoned.

On the 4th of December, 1863, the Lancaster Banking Company established
a branch here; and on the 15th of that month the Whitworth Institute in
Dock Street was publicly opened. This handsome Hall was erected through
the munificence of Benjamin Whitworth, esq., M.P., of London, who for
long resided at Fleetwood, and during that period, and afterwards, was
instrumental in giving a marked stimulus to the foreign trade of the
port by shipping each year, on behalf of the large firm of which he is
the head at Manchester, numerous cargoes of cotton from America _viâ_
Fleetwood. The building is in the Gothic style of architecture. The walls
are built of bricks with stone dressings, the principal features being
the ten arcaded windows, with the stone balcony beneath running across
the entire width of the front, and the elegant entrance. The interior
comprises a spacious reading room and library, a smoking and coffee room,
provided with chess and draughts, an assembly room, capable of containing
400 persons, and two billiard rooms. At the time of its presentation
to the inhabitants the donor generously provided tea urns and other
appliances necessary for holding soirees, in addition to having liberally
furnished the whole of the building, including the gift of a choice and
extensive selection of books, chess and draught-men, a bagatelle-board,
and a billiard-table. The second billiard-table was added out of the
surplus funds in 1875. The Institute is vested in trustees for the use of
the town, and governed by a committee chosen from amongst the subscribers.

During 1864-5 building continued to progress, but not with that great
rapidity which had characterised its advance in 1862 and the earlier
months of the following year. An act of parliament was granted in 1864
to certain gentlemen for the formation of a dock in connection with the
harbour, confirming the rumour which had now agitated the place for the
last two years, and bringing conviction to the hearts of many of the
older inhabitants, whose past experience had taught them to look with
eyes of distrust on all reports which pointed to such a happy realisation
of their youthful dreams. The inaugural ceremony of breaking the turf did
not, however, take place for some time, and will be noticed shortly. On
the 17th of May, 1866, the foundation stone of the present Roman Catholic
church in East Street was laid by Doctor Goss, bishop of Liverpool,
who performed the ceremony, attired in full ecclesiastical robes, and
attended by a numerous retinue of priests and choristers. The sacred
edifice was opened on Sunday, the 24th of November in the ensuing year.
Its general style is early English of the 13th century. The building
consists of a nave and two aisles, with an apsidal sanctuary at the east
end; it is about one hundred feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and fifty
feet in height. The exterior is built of stone, the body of the walls
being Yorkshire parpoints, whilst the dressings are of Longridge stone.
Mr. T. A. Drummond, of Fleetwood, was the builder, and the design was
drawn by E. Welby Pugin, esq., architect, the total cost being about
£4,000.

For many years, in fact ever since steamship communication had been
established between this port and Belfast, large quantities of young
cattle from Ireland were landed each season at Fleetwood, and carried
forward by rail to the markets of Preston and elsewhere. For the benefit
of the dealers, who would thus escape the railway charges, as well as
for the convenience of the graziers and other purchasers residing in the
neighbourhood, it was determined to open a place for the public sale of
such live stock at Fleetwood; the necessary authority was obtained from
the Privy Council, and on the 2nd of April, 1868, the Cattle Market,
lying on the east side of that for general produce, and consisting of
sixteen large strong pens, arranged in two rows with a road between them,
was used for its earliest transactions and much appreciated by those who
were concerned in the traffic.

Wednesday, the 2nd of June, 1869, will not readily be obliterated from
the memories of the people of Fleetwood. On that day the first sod of the
long expected dock was cut by H. S. Styan, esq., of London, the surviving
trustee of the estate under the will of the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood,
who died in 1866. The auspicious event was celebrated with universal
rejoicing, in which many-coloured bunting played its usual conspicuous
part. A large procession of the clergy, gentry, schools, and friendly
societies, enlivened by the band of the 80th regiment of Infantry from
the Euston Barracks, and gay with waving banners, accompanied Mr. Styan
to the site where the important ceremony was performed, and sent forth
hearty congratulatory cheers when the piece of turf had been duly
dissected from the ground. With all apparent earnestness and eagerness,
operations were at once commenced, and for two or three months the
undertaking, under the busy hands of the excavators, made satisfactory
progress, when suddenly several gangs of labourers were discharged, and
the works partially stopped—

  “While all the town wondered.”

Wonderment, however, was turned to a feeling of disappointment and
chagrin, when it was discovered, a little later, that the closing year
would put a period to the labours at the dock as well as to its own
epoch of time, and that its last shadows would fall on deserted works
and idle machinery. For some reason, which may fairly be conjectured
to have been an incompleted list of shareholders, the Fleetwood Dock
Company determined to suspend all operations barely six months after
they had been begun, and it is scarcely necessary to inform our readers
that the work was never resumed under the same proprietorship. Two
years subsequently, in 1871, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Company obtained an act of parliament to carry out, on a larger scale,
the undertaking which their predecessors had abandoned almost in its
birth. The dock, which embraces an area of nearly ten acres, being one
thousand feet long, by four hundred feet wide, has already been in
course of formation for more than two years, and although the labour is
being pushed forward by the contractors, Messrs. John Aird and Sons, of
Lambeth, with as much expedition as is consistent with good workmanship,
the completion of this much-needed accommodation is not expected until
some time in 1877. The dock walls are built with square blocks of stone,
surmounted by a broad and massive coping of Cornish granite, and filled
in behind with concrete, the whole having an altitude of thirty-one
feet, and being placed on a solid concrete foundation fourteen feet
wide. The walls themselves vary in width as they approach the surface,
being in the lower half of their distance 12½ feet, then 10½ feet, and
in the highest section 8½ feet wide. The lock entrance communicates
with the north extremity of the dock, and is two hundred and fifty feet
long by fifty feet wide, being protected at each end by gates, opening,
respectively, into the dock and the channel now in process of excavation
to the bed of the river Wyre. Lying to the south of the dock is the
recently-constructed timber pond, covering an area of 14½ or 15 acres,
and having a depth of 15 feet. The pond is connected with the dock by
means of a gateway, so arranged in the southern wall of the latter that
two feet of water will always remain in the former after the tide has
ebbed below the level of its floor. The timber pond has no other entrance
beyond the one alluded to. Sir John Hawkshaw, previously mentioned in
connection with the visit of Queen Victoria to Fleetwood, is the eminent
engineer from whose designs the dock is being constructed.

The prospect, or indeed certainty, of materially increased trade when the
dock is thrown open has not been without effect upon the town generally,
but its stimulating influence is most remarkable in the large number of
houses which, during the last few years, have sprung into being. Streets
have been lined with habitations where recently not a dwelling existed,
and others have had their vacant spaces filled in with buildings.
Handsome shops have been erected in Dock Street, East and West Streets,
and other localities, whilst many of the residences in Church Street
have been remodeled and converted into similar retail establishments.
Everywhere there is a spirit of activity visible, contrasting most
pleasingly and favourably with the passive inertitia which pervaded the
place for a considerable period previous to the commencement of the dock
operations. In 1875 the commissioners determined to do something towards
protecting the northern aspect of the Mount from the devastations of
the waves, whose boisterous familiarity had already inflicted serious
injury on its feeble sandy sides, and seemed disposed, if much longer
unchecked, to reduce the venerable pile to a mere matter of history. A
public promenade, fenced with a substantial wall of concrete, was laid
out at the base of the hill, extending from near the west extremity of
the Mount Terrace to the commencement of Abbot’s Walk. The damaged side
of the mound itself has been levelled and sown with grass-seed, so that
in course of time the marine walk will have a lofty sloping background of
green sward, and form the prettiest, as it was doubtless the most needed,
object in the neighbourhood.

On the 1st of January, 1875, a number of gentlemen, denominated the
Fleetwood Estate Company, Limited, and consisting of Sir Jno. Hawkshaw,
knt., of Westminster; Thos. H. Carr, J. M. Jameson, C.E., and Philip
Turner, esqrs., of Fleetwood; Capt. Henry Turner and Sturges Meek,
esq., C.E., of Manchester; Thomas Barnes, esq., of Farnworth; James
Whitehead, esq., of Preston; Joshua Radcliffe, esq., of Rochdale; Samuel
Burgess, esq., of Altringham; William Barber Buddicom, esq., C.E., of
Penbedw, Mold; and Samuel Fielden, esq., of Todmorden; purchased the
lands, buildings, manorial rights and privileges (including wreckage,
market-tolls, and advowson of the church), of the late Sir P. H.
Fleetwood, in and near this town, from the trustees of his property,
for £120,000, subscribed in equal shares. Although negotiations were
satisfactorily concluded in 1874, it was not until the month just stated
that the actual transfer was effected, and the gentlemen enumerated
became lords of the soil. We must not omit to name that a portion of the
Fleetwood estate, amounting to about 600 acres, lying between the old and
present railway embankments, had been acquired in a similar manner, for
£25,000, in 1871, by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. Under
the new proprietorship leases for building purposes are sold or let, as
formerly, for terms of 999 years.

In closing this account of Fleetwood as a watering-place and town, and
before delineating its career as a seaport, it should be stated that the
census of the inhabitants taken in 1871 yielded a total of 4,428 persons,
of whom 2,310 were males, and 2,118 females; but in the limited period
which has elapsed since that result was obtained the population has grown
considerably, and the increase during a similar interval after any of the
previous official returns cannot be taken as a criterion of the present
numerical strength of the residents.

Fleetwood was started in 1839 as a distinct port with customs established
by an order of the Treasury; subsequently in 1844 it was reduced to a
creek under Preston; then two years later elevated to a sub-port; and
finally in 1849 reinstated in its first position of independence. The
iron wharf was completed in 1841, and is constructed of iron piles,
each of which weighs two and three quarter tons, driven seventeen feet
below low water mark, and faced with plates of the same metal, seven or
eight inches thick, which are rivetted to the flanges of the piles, and
filled in at the back with concrete. The wooden pier, about 400 feet in
length, and abutting on the north extremity of this massive structure,
was finished in 1845, and roofed over shortly afterwards. On the 22nd of
July in the ensuing year, the last stone of the wharf wall, erected by
Mr. Julian A. Tarner, of Fleetwood, and extending fourteen hundred feet
from the south end of the iron wharf in the direction of the railway, was
laid; and at the same time the coal-shoots connected with the new portion
of the quay were approaching completion.

The improvement of the harbour was entrusted to Captain Denham, R.N.,
F.R.S., under whose superintendence the seaward channel of the river was
buoyed and beaconed, being rendered safe for night navigation by the
erection of a marine lighthouse, in 1840, at the foot of Wyre, nearly
two miles from the mouth of the river at Fleetwood. This lighthouse was
the first one erected on Mitchell’s screw-pile principle. The house in
which the lightkeepers lived was hexagonal in form, and measured 22
feet in diameter, from angle to angle, and nine feet in height. It was
furnished with an outside door and three windows; and divided within
into two compartments, one of which was supplied with a fireplace and
other necessaries, whilst the second was used purely as a dormitory. The
lantern was twelve-sided, 10 feet in diameter and 8 feet in height to the
top of the window, the illumination it produced being raised about 31
feet above the level of the highest spring-tide, and 44½ feet above that
of half-tide. A few years since, in 1870, this lighthouse was carried
away by a vessel, and for some time a light-ship occupied the station,
but subsequently another edifice, similar in appearance and construction
to the original one, was raised about two hundred yards south of the same
site.

Captain Denham, having accomplished his survey of the river and harbour,
issued the following report in 1840:—

  “The river Wyre assumes a river character near Bleasdale Forest,
  in Lancashire, and after crossing the line of road between
  Preston and Lancaster, at Garstang, descends as a tortuous
  stream for five miles westward; then, in another five mile
  reach of one-third of a mile wide, north-westward, sweeping
  the light of Skippool, near Poulton-le-Fylde, on its way, and
  bursting forth from the narrows at Wardleys, upon a north trend,
  into the tidal estuary which embraces an area of three miles
  by two, producing a combined reflux of back-water, equal to
  fifty million cubical yards, and dipping with such a powerful
  _under-scour_ during the first half-ebb, as to preserve a natural
  basin just within its coast-line orifice, capable of riding
  ships of eighteen or twenty feet draft, at _low water spring
  tides_; perfectly sheltered from all winds, and within a cable’s
  length of the railway terminus, nineteen miles from Preston,
  and in connection with Manchester, Lancaster, Liverpool, and
  London. It is on the western margin of this natural dock that the
  town, wharfs, and warehouses are rising into notice, under the
  privilege of a distinct port, and abreast of which, the shores
  aptly narrow the _back-water escape_ into a bottle-neck strait
  of but one-sixth the width of the estuary, so impelling it down
  a two-mile channel as scarcely to permit diminishment of its
  three and four-mile velocity until actually blended with the
  _cross-set_ of the Lune and Morecambe Bay ebb waters. Thus, the
  original short course of Wyre to the open sea, is freed from the
  usual river deposit, its silting matter being kept in suspension
  until transferred and hurried forth at right angles by the ocean
  stream. It is, therefore, the peculiar feature and fortune of
  Wyre that, instead of a _bar_ intervening between its bed or exit
  trough and the open sea, a precipitous river shelf, equal to a
  fall of forty-seven feet in one-third of a mile, exists.”

The first steam dredger, of 20 horse power, was launched on the 21st
of January, 1840, and the important work of deepening and clearing the
channel at once commenced.

At a meeting of the Tidal Harbour Commissioners held at the port on the
21st October, 1845, it was stated that the harbour dues were—for coasting
vessels, 1d. per ton, and for foreign ships, 3d. per ton; whilst the
light charges were in all cases 3d. per ton. At the same time it was
observed that the whole of the dues amounted in 1835 to £36 2s. 0d., and
in 1845 to £528 9s. 5d. (In 1855 the dues on similar accounts reached
£1,520; and in 1875, £2,427.) The Walney light was reported to be a great
tax on vessels coming to Fleetwood, as they were charged 3d. a ton per
year, commencing on the 1st of January; so that if a vessel arrived at
the port on the 28th of December, a charge was made for the year just
closing, and a further sum demanded from the craft on going out in the
month of January. This was not the case with regard to similar taxes in
other localities, where one payment exempted a ship for twelve months;
and consequently the regulation acted in some degree as a deterrent to
traders, who might under a more liberal arrangement have been induced to
have availed themselves in larger numbers of the facilities offered by
the new haven. The total length of useful wharfage in 1845 extended over
1,000 feet, being well supplied with posts and rings, and possessing no
less than sixteen hand cranes, thirteen of which were for the purpose
of unloading vessels at the quay. There was a depth of five feet at
low-water spring tides from the marine lighthouse, at the foot of Wyre,
to the wharf, and it was proposed to dredge until ten feet had been
obtained.

On examining the state of the shipping trade of the harbour during the
year 1845, it is discovered that the imports and exports of foreign
produce and home manufacture, respectively, far outstripped those of any
of the few preceding years. There had been vessels laden with guano from
Ichaboe, sugar from the West Indies, flax from Russia, and timber from
both the Baltic and Canada, making in all twenty-three ships of large
tonnage, only two of which returned with cargoes, in far from complete
stages of fulness, from the warehouses of Manchester, Preston, or other
adjacent commercial towns. The coasting trade had also given earnest of
its progressive tendencies by a remarkable increase in the number of
discharges and loadings over those of the previous twelve months, and
notwithstanding the four hundred feet of extra wharfage, forming the
wooden pier, just opened, the demands for quay berths could not always be
supplied.

New bonding warehouses were erected towards the close of 1845 at the
corner of Adelaide and Dock Streets, the temporary ones previously in
use being abandoned, and comprised three stories capable of providing
accommodation for 400 hogsheads of sugar at one time, as well as spacious
vaults and other conveniences for duty-bearing articles. The goods
allowed to be warehoused were wine, spirits, tea, tobacco, East India
goods, and goods in general.

In 1846 prosperity continued to reward the efforts put forth by the
authorities of the young haven. Twelve vessels arrived from America with
timber, and nine similarly laden from the Baltic; tobacco, sugar, and
other commodities were imported in two ships from the Indies; but the
event which kindled the brightest anticipations in the breasts of the
inhabitants and others interested in the success of the port was the
arrival of the barque “Diogenes,” chartered by Mr. Evans, of Chipping,
with the first cargo of cotton ever landed at Fleetwood. In it was
welcomed an introduction to the chief trade of the county, and a happy
augury of future activity in an import which would not only of itself
materially assist the financial condition of the harbour, but would also
be the means of spreading its reputation throughout the commercial world,
and extending its field of action to a degree which could scarcely be
foretold. How these pleasant visions have been fulfilled the reader is
perhaps aware, but if not a glance at the tables of coasting and foreign
trade, given a little later, will furnish the necessary information. On
the 12th of February, immediately the novel consignment just referred
to, which “afforded a suitable opportunity,” had come to hand, a public
dinner was given by their fellow-townsmen to Frederick Kemp and John
Laidlay, esqrs., as a mark of respect for their assiduous efforts to
develope the mercantile resources of the place. During the evening Mr.
Laidlay remarked that “within a short period the trading intercourse
of the port had extended to various and distant portions of the world,
the products of Africa, the West Indies, and North America having been
imported; and stretching our arm still further, a cargo from the East
Indies may be stated as almost within our grasp.” Mr. Evans, in alluding
to his transatlantic shipment, affirmed that in bringing it by way of
Fleetwood, he had effected a saving of at least a farthing per pound; and
continued,—“When the order was given, it could not have been imported
into Liverpool without loss.”

In the latter part of the year a testimonial was presented by the
inhabitants of the town to Henry Smith, esq., of Fleetwood, manager
of the North Lancashire Steam Navigation Company, as a tribute to his
untiring and successful attempts to promote steamship traffic and advance
the interests of the place, and in the course of a speech made on the
occasion, Mr. Smith said:—“In 1842 I first visited Fleetwood at the
request of the London board of directors, it then presented a most gloomy
aspect—a splendid modern ruin, no shipping, no steamers, no passengers
for the trains, and yet it required no very keen discernment to learn
that all the facilities for trade and commerce existed here, but life was
wanting; here was one of the finest and safest harbours, certainly the
best lighted and marked port on the west coast, being as easily made by
night as by day, with that wonderful natural phenomenon, the Lune Deep,
making it a safety port to take in fog by sounding—a thing having no
parallel in England.... What changes have we witnessed here since 1842?
I have seen your population without employment, and now there is more
work than there are hands to perform—the wages from one shilling a day
have advanced to two shillings and sixpence and three shillings; then
indeed was your port without a ship, now there is a general demand for
more quay room, although since then upwards of 1,000 feet have been added
to the wharfage; then your railway receipts were £100, this year they
have attained £1,500 per week.” This unfortunate gentleman was killed in
the June following, through a collision on the London and North Western
Railway; and there can be no hesitation in affirming that, had his career
of usefulness and activity not been thus prematurely cut short, the trade
of Fleetwood would have developed, in the long period which has elapsed
since his death, into something more important than it presents to day.

The following authentic returns of the whole business of the port in 1846
forms a favourable comparison with those of 1840, the year in which the
railway was opened, when they amounted to 57,051 tons of imports, the
exports being proportionately small:—

  COASTING.

                        IMPORTS.                 EXPORTS.

  1846.  January   59 ships  11,564 tons.   59 ships  11,875 tons.
   ”     February  60   ”    11,251  ”      62   ”    11,208  ”
   ”     March     72   ”    11,252  ”      70   ”    11,289  ”
   ”     April     63   ”    10,971  ”      66   ”    11,098  ”
   ”     May       61   ”    11,539  ”     121   ”    11,790  ”
   ”     June      61   ”    10,637  ”      97   ”    14,715  ”
   ”     July      81   ”    13,413  ”      94   ”    14,274  ”
   ”     August    80   ”    13,194  ”      93   ”    16,042  ”
   ”     September 94   ”    13,515  ”      65   ”    11,609  ”
   ”     October   64   ”    11,472  ”      71   ”    13,158  ”
   ”     November  63   ”    11,094  ”      51   ”     8,619  ”
   ”     December  41   ”     7,785  ”          not obtained.
                 -----------------------  -----------------------
                  799 ships 137,687 tons.  849 ships 135,677 tons.
  Foreign          24   ”     6,935  ”      13   ”     2,703  ”
                 -----------------------  -----------------------
  Total           823 ships 144,622 tons.  862 ships 138,380 tons.

The animated appearance of the harbour was described in 1846 by a
gentleman connected with the town, as here quoted:—“With two Indiamen
at their berths, the splendid steamers alongside, schooners, small
craft innumerable dotting the river, wharfmen, porters, etc., removing
merchandise from vessel to wagon, and _vice versa_, the cranes in
constant operation, goods-trains arriving and preparing for departure,
give the pier-head and harbour an air of bustle and activity, and are
themselves a pleasing indication of what our commerce may become; of the
trade which vigilance, patience, and effort, may secure to the harbour
and railway.”

The twelve months of 1847 proved anything but a re-assuring time. The
foreign imports suddenly fell off to six cargoes, four of which were
timber from America, the two remaining being guano and timber from
Hamburg. One left for Mexico and Hong Kong, laden with British goods,
silk, wine, and spirits from the bonding warehouses. The coasting returns
also showed a diminution of almost fifty discharges at the quay, as
compared with the previous year, and a corresponding decrease in the
exports; but in spite of the sudden dispiriting experience, we find
from the annexed extract out of the annual official report concerning
the harbour, that the future was regarded hopefully:—“There is every
probability of the business increasing at this Port, as an extensive
trade with the Baltic is expected, and most of the goods now in warehouse
under bond will no doubt be taken out for home consumption during the
present year.” 1848 was marked by an increase of nine in the number of
foreign importations; and of the fifteen large vessels which arrived,
one was from France with wines and spirits for re-exportation to Mexico,
two were from the Baltic and Hamburg with timber, eleven from Canada
with timber, and one from Russia with flax. The importers of timber
carried on, and used sedulous efforts to extend, a healthy retail trade
in the adjoining districts and in the west of Yorkshire. The export
trade was still inconsiderable, although gradually increasing, but
it was expected, from the convenient situation of the harbour to the
manufacturing towns, and the local dues upon vessels and goods being much
lower than at other ports, that both it and the imports would, before
many years had passed over, become very extensive, more especially as
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company had recently acquired a
right to the line between Fleetwood and Preston, and were offering every
facility and inducement to shippers and manufacturers, with the view of
making this haven the inlet and outlet for goods to and from the towns
and villages on their several lines. During the twelve months eighteen
small importations of paper from the Isle of Man took place, and it was
necessary for the officers connected with the customs to keep a strict
guard upon the wharf to prevent the smuggling of that and other dutiable
articles by the numerous passenger and coasting vessels from the above
island, as well as from Scotland and Ireland.

In 1849 the foreign imports were more than doubled, the excess being
chiefly due to the increase of timber-laden vessels. Six of the total
number sailed outwards with cargoes of warehoused goods, and nine with
coal and salt. The coasting trade underwent a most remarkable rise
of about four hundred cargoes inwards, and two hundred outwards, the
principal of the former being iron ore, pig iron, and, more occasionally,
grain; and of the latter, coal. The barque “Isabella” discharged 609
bales of cotton at Fleetwood from America in July, 1850, being the
second cargo landed here, and later in the year another consignment of
400 bales was brought by the same vessel. In 1851 the only novel feature
was the arrival of a large shipload of currants; the value of British
goods exported amounted to £90,000, besides which there were considerable
quantities of merchandise sent outwards from bond. The main foreign
business in 1852 was in timber and dried fruits, but such importations
were seriously diminished during the ensuing year by the high price
of the latter and by a temporary misunderstanding between the railway
company and one of the chief timber merchants, through which several
consignments intended for the Wyre were diverted elsewhere; in addition
five large cargoes were lost at sea and not replaced. The coasting trade
continued to expand until 1856, when its zenith was reached, since when
it has been characterised by a gradual decline, and the last report,
that of 1875, is as little encouraging as any, with one exception, of
its degenerate predecessors. The fourth freight of cotton, consisting of
1,327 bales, made its appearance in the ship “Cleopatra,” in the spring
of 1857, and was consigned to Messrs. Benjamin Whitworth and Brothers, of
Manchester, etc. Shortly afterwards, barely two weeks, the “Favourite”
arrived with a further consignment for the same firm, and gave the signal
for the real commencement of a prosperous trade in that commodity with
America, which rapidly developed until the outbreak of civil war in the
transatlantic continent brought it somewhat abruptly to a close in 1862.
In a comparative statement of charges between Liverpool and Fleetwood,
issued during that flourishing time, it was demonstrated that on a vessel
of 500 tons, cotton in and coals out, the following saving in favour of
this port could be effected:—

                                 £  s. d.
  Charges on Ship               66  0  0
     ”    on Cargo inwards      96  8  4
     ”    on Cargo outwards      8  6  8
                               ---------
              Total saving    £170 15  0

Supposing the cargo to have been consigned to parties in Preston, a
further advantage, amounted to £230 0s. 0d. in carriage would be gained,
raising the entire saving to £400 15s. 0d.

During late years, the business firm just alluded to, whose interests in,
and efforts for, the welfare of the port have so long been unflagging,
has made a vigorous attempt to revive the American cotton importations.
For the last few seasons several of their shipments, about ten, have
annually arrived, and there is every prospect that when the dock is
completed many more vessels will be chartered. A large shed for the
reception of cotton was erected in 1875, in Adelaide Street, by Messrs.
B. Whitworth and Bros., who have also established a permanent office in
the town.

In 1859 the trade between Fleetwood and Belfast had developed to such
an extent that a larger covered area for the temporary warehousing,
loading, and discharging of goods was urgently called for, and towards
the close of that year a space of about 190 feet in length, by 30 feet
wide, was walled in and roofed over on the quay, adjoining the building
then in use for the same purposes. Four years later, in 1863, two
steam cranes were placed on the wharf by the North Lancashire Steam
Navigation Company. Subsequently other cranes, working on a similar
principle, have been added to those experimental ones, and gradually the
old system of hand-labour at the quay-side has been superseded by the
adoption of this more expeditious and economical plan. Shortly before
the last-named facilities had augmented the conveniences of the wharf,
a fresh description of mooring appliance was laid down in the harbour,
and consisted of two longitudinal ground chains of 1,000 feet each,
attached at intervals of 50 feet to two sets of Mitchell’s screws, which
were worked into the clay in the bed of the stream. The bridle chains,
shackled above to the mooring buoys, were secured below to the ground
links between the attachments of the screws, the buoys being so arranged
that each vessel was held stem and stern, instead of swinging round with
the tide, or stranding with one end on the large central sandbank, as
heretofore.

From 1862 to the present date, the story of the haven, with the
exceptions of the trawling fleet and the Belfast line, which will be
treated of directly, is not one which will awaken envy in the breasts
of those whose interests are bound up in rival ports, nor indeed can it
be a source of congratulation to those whose interests might ordinarily
be supposed to be best promoted by its prosperity. It is true that the
foreign trade for seven years after 1862 was in a state of fluctuation
rather than actual decline, but the three succeeding years were
stationary at the low figure of 21 imports each, after which there was
a slight improvement, raising the annual numbers to 24, 32, and, in
1875, 33, due more to the staunch allegiance of Messrs. B. Whitworth and
Bros., whose cotton again appeared on the wharf, than to any inducements
offered to them or others by increased facilities or more appropriate
accommodation. The coasting trade has already been referred to, so that
there is no necessity to recapitulate facts but just laid before our
readers. It is proper, however, to mention a few statistics respecting
the trade in exports of coal, the chief business, and below are given
the numbers of tons shipped, mostly to Ireland, in each of the specified
years:—

  1855    31,490
  1860    23,652
  1865    16,225
  1866    12,315
  1867    10,912
  1868     6,809
  1869    24,741
  1870    43,653
  1871    51,473
  1872    54,794
  1873    55,447
  1874    56,939
  1875    71,353

The large and sudden increase from 1869 is mainly owing to several screw
steamships having been extensively engaged in the traffic, and there is
every probability, from the addition within the last few months of a new
and handsome coal-screw, and other indications, that this branch of
commerce will continue to develope with equal, if not greater, rapidity.
Again, it should be remembered, when considering the falling off in the
numerical strength of the coasting vessels trading here, that those
now plying are of much greater carrying capacity than formerly, and
consequently the actual exports and imports have not suffered diminution
in anything like the same proportion as the ships themselves. A series
of tabular statements of all the most important and interesting matters
connected with the harbour from the earliest obtainable dates has been
prepared from the official returns made to the custom-house during
each twelve months, and subjoined will be found a list of the vessels
retained on the register as belonging to the port at the end of the years
indicated, with their tonnages and the number of hands forming the crews:—

          Steam                      Sailing
  Year.  Vessels.  Tonnage.  Hands.  Vessels.  Tonnage.  Hands.
  1850      3         739       49       15        560      54
  1851      3         739       49       21        856      77
  1852      3         739       49       24       1495     104
  1853      4         806       54       31       4002     196
  1854      2         560       32       41       5337     261
  1855      3         586       35       49       4933     267
  1856      4         978       52       51       5458     280
  1857      3         952       49       71       7839     391
  1858      4         968       54       79       8168     427
  1859      4         968       54       76       6930     392
  1860      4         968       54       84      12075     570
  1861      5        1508       74       93      14760     640
  1862      4        1249       62       89      13957     602
  1863      4        1249       62       85      12147     567
  1864      5        1355       71       81      10338     513
  1865      6        1372       74       83       9757     479
  1866      6        1372       74       80       8831     454
  1867      6        1779       90       77       9265     451
  1868      6        1779       90       85      11226     515
  1869      5        1239       70       99      12601     587
  1870      7        1797       93      104      12546     609
  1871      7        1571       81      115      13642     690
  1872      7        1571       81      133      15161     789
  1873      7        1994       92      150      19379     947
  1874      7        1994      122      162      22598    1045
  1875      9        2671      160      165      22655    1061

The foregoing tables, taken by themselves, would seem to imply that
from the year 1868, the business of the place had been characterised by
a rapid and most satisfactory increase, but unfortunately for such a
deduction, the ships registered as belonging to any port afford no clue
to the number actually engaged in traffic there, hence it happens that
many vessels hailing from Fleetwood, as their maternal port, are seldom
to be observed in its waters.

The following are the annual records of the foreign and coasting trade of
the harbour, in which the Belfast and all other steamships are included
under the latter heading:—

  VESSELS WITH CARGOES.

               FOREIGN TRADE.          COASTING TRADE.
  Year.    Inwards.    Outwards.    Inwards.    Outwards.
  1844         8           1           436          327
  1845        23           2           580          473
  1846        24          13           799          927
  1847         6           1           752          913
  1848        15           5           873          857
  1849        36          15          1247         1059
  1850        38          14           986         1014
  1851        35          13           943          932
  1852        32          12           951          823
  1853        22           7          1093          919
  1854        23           6          1119          983
  1855        21           4          1101          971
  1856        10           4          1181         1120
  1857        18           7          1130         1150
  1858        26          13          1020          986
  1859        38          20          1023          865
  1860        71          30          1123          813
  1861        68          28           953          713
  1862        41           7           884          560
  1863        27          10           795          615
  1864        35           6           783          610
  1865        29           2           868          623
  1866        39           2           762          612
  1867        37           4           737          573
  1868        26           3           689          512
  1869        28           3           730          512
  1870        21           4           694          573
  1871        20           6           545          526
  1872        21           3           697          621
  1873        24           3           696          670
  1874        32           6           703          587
  1875        33           2           659          589

The particulars given below, concerning the vessels belonging to
Fleetwood, will form an interesting and useful accompaniment to the
foregoing:—

           New Vessels[86]                   Broken-up    Transferred to
            Registered.    Lost at Sea.    (condemned).    other Ports.
  Year.    No.    Tons.    No.    Tons.    No.    Tons.    No.    Tons.
  1850      —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —
  1851      —       —       1       83      —       —       1       27
  1852      —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —
  1853      3      199      2       62      —       —       1       44
  1854      1      128      —       —       —       —       8     1003
  1855      2      104      1      595      —       —       5      562
  1856      3      484      1       23      —       —       4      294
  1857      8      364      1       26      —       —       —       —
  1858      5      239      4     1050      —       —       1       54
  1859      3       97      5      739      —       —       3      726
  1860      3      865      —       —       1      29       2       74
  1861      8     1012      —       —       —       —       7      518
  1862      5      534      1      416      —       —      12     1844
  1863      2      226      4     1308      —       —       4      318
  1864      2      201      9     3363      —       —       3      666
  1865      2      273      1      538      —       —       2      517
  1866      4      520      5     1449      1      16       2       64
  1867      3      439      6      605      —       —       2      214
  1868      5      588      —       —       —       —       —       —
  1869      6      512      1      518      —       —       —       —
  1870      8     1610      2      683      2      65       1      424
  1871     10      991      —       —       —       —       2      339
  1872     15     1588      3      427      —       —       1       42
  1873     19     2921      6     1966      —       —       2      120
  1874     15     2928      5     2304      1      32       —       —
  1875      9     2410      4     2021      1      16       4      300

Now that the dock is no longer a mere word and promise, but has at
length a definite signification and a material existence, there is every
appearance that those into whose hands the fortunes of the port may be
said to have been entrusted have no intention of any dilatory action in
furthering the interests of their charge. Already, in 1875, a powerful
steam dredger has been purchased at a cost of £12,000 and set to its
labours in the channel and harbour. This dredger, which has superseded
the older and much smaller one, launched in 1840 and used until
recently, was built by Simonds and Company, of Renfrew, on the Clyde,
and is of 100-horse power, being capable of raising 250 tons of sand,
shingle, etc., in an hour. In addition it is able to work in twenty-six
feet of water, whereas the original one was obliged to wait until the
tide had ebbed to fourteen feet before operations could be commenced, so
that really the work which can be accomplished by the new machine is out
of all proportion to that which its predecessor could effect. Several
iron pontoons, or lighters, furnished with false bottoms to expedite
the business of discharging them, formerly performed by hand and spade,
have also been obtained; and the bed of the river seaward from Fleetwood
is rapidly being relieved of its superabundance of tidal deposits and
scourings, which is carried by the lighters beyond the marine lighthouse
at the foot of the Wyre and deposited in the Lune.

Steamboat traffic was, and is, the most important branch of shipping
connected with the port, but notwithstanding the support and
encouragement which has been so freely extended to the Belfast line,
sundry attempts by the same company to establish sea-communications
between Fleetwood and other places have invariably ended in complete
failures. In the context we have endeavoured to trace a brief outline
of the steamship trade of the harbour from its earliest days up to our
time. The North Lancashire Steam Navigation Company was established in
1843, and commenced operations by running the “Prince of Wales” and the
“Princess Alice,” two large and fast iron steamships for that date,
between this port and Belfast on each Wednesday and Saturday evening, the
return trips being made on the Monday and Friday. In that year, however,
the number of trips was increased to three per week, the fares for the
single journey being, saloon, 15s.; and deck, 3s. Another steamship the
“Robert Napier,” of 220 horse-power, sailed also from Fleetwood in 1843,
every Friday morning, at 10 a.m. for Londonderry, calling at Portrush,
and returned on Tuesday, the fares being, cabin, 20s.; and deck, 5s. In
1844 we find that communications, through the exertion and enterprise of
the above company, were open between Fleetwood and Belfast, Londonderry,
Ardrossan, and Dublin, respectively. The Ardrossan line consisted of two
new iron steamboats, “Her Majesty,” and the “Royal Consort,” each of
which was 300 tons register, and 350 horse-power, the fares being, cabin,
17s.; and deck, 4s. The Dublin trip was performed once, and afterwards
twice, a week each way, by the iron steamship “Hibernia,” which called
off Douglas, Isle of Man, to land passengers, but after a year’s trial
this communication was closed. In the summer of 1845, an Isle of Man line
was opened by the steamship “Orion,” which ran daily, except Sundays;
and at the same season the Belfast boats commenced to make the double
journey four days a week, whilst the Londonderry route was abandoned.
As early as 1840, on the completion of the Preston and Wyre Railway, a
daily steam communication had been established to Bardsea, as the nearest
point to Ulverston and the Lakes; and in the month of September, 1846,
on the completion of Piel Pier, it was transferred to that harbour, and
continued by the steamship “Ayrshire Lassie,” of 100 horse-power, the
fares being, saloon, 2s.; and deck, 1s. In the following year this boat
was superseded by a new steamer, the “Helvellyn,” of 50 tons register and
75 horse-power, which continued to ply for many years, in fact, almost
until this summer line was closed, at a comparatively recent date, about
eight or ten years ago. The Fleetwood and Ardrossan steamers discontinued
running in 1847, and at the same time an extra boat, the “Fenella,” was
placed on the Isle of Man route, whilst the Belfast trips were reduced
to three double journeys per week. After a few years experience the Isle
of Man line, a season one only, was given up; but the Belfast trade,
continually growing, soon obliged the company to increase the number of
trips, and step by step to enlarge and improve the boat accommodation. We
need not trace through its different stages the gradual and satisfactory
progress of this line, but our object will be sufficiently attained
by stating that the two steamships were shortly increased to three.
Afterwards larger and finer boats, having greater power, took the places
of the original ones, and at the present day the fleet consists of four
fine steamers of fully double the capacity of the original ones, which
cross the channel from each port every evening except Sunday.

In the year 1874 the whole of the interests of Frederick Kemp, esq.,
J.P., of Bispham Lodge, in the Fleetwood and Belfast steam line were
acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire and London and North Western
Railway Companies, at that time owners of the larger share, and now
practically sole proprietors. Up to the date of this transaction the
vendor had been intimately and personally associated with the traffic as
managing-owner from its first institution, in addition to which he was
the chief promoter of the Ardrossan and Isle of Man routes.

With the solitary exception of the service whose progress has just been
briefly traced out, there is perhaps no single branch of industry which
has assisted so ably in maintaining and stimulating such prosperity as
the town of Fleetwood has enjoyed, throughout its chequered career,
as the fishing traffic. In the earliest years of the seaport, shortly
before the Belfast steamer communication was established, a second pilot
boat, named the “Pursuit,” arrived in the river from Cowes, but finding
little occupation the crew provided themselves with a trawl-net and
turned their long periods of vigil to profitable account by its use.
This sensible plan of launching out into another field of labour when
opportunities of prosecuting their more legitimate avocation failed them
was not of long duration, probably no more than a few months, for on the
Irish line of steamships commencing to ply the pilots secured berths as
second officers, and their boat was laid up. The “Pursuit” soon became
a tender to a government ship engaged in surveying; and about ten or
twelve months later was purchased by some gentlemen, denominated the
Fleetwood Fishing Company, and, together with four more boats, hired
from North Meols, Southport, sent out on fishing excursions. At the end
of one year the hired sloops were discharged, and five similar craft
bought by the company, thus making a fleet of six smacks belonging to
the place, connected with the trawling trade. In the course of three
or four years the whole of the boats were sold, as the traffic had not
proved so remunerative a venture as at first anticipated; and one only
remained in the harbour, being purchased by Mr. Robert Roskell, of this
place. Shortly afterwards a Scotch smack arrived from Kirkcudbright,
and in about twelve months the two boats were joined by three or four
from North Meols, owned for the most part by a family named Leadbetter,
which settled here. Almost simultaneously another batch of fishing
craft made its appearance from the east coast and took up a permanent
station at Fleetwood. The success which attended the expeditions of the
deep-sea trawlers was not long in being rumoured abroad and attracting
others, who were anxious to participate in an undertaking capable of
producing such satisfactory results. Year by year the dimensions of the
originally small fleet were developed as new-comers appeared upon the
scene, and added their boats to those already actively prosecuting the
trade. To trace minutely each gradation in the prosperous progress of
this line of commerce would be wearisome to the reader, and is in no
way necessary to the object we have in view. It will be sufficient for
the purpose to state that in 1860 the number of fishing smacks on the
Fleetwood station amounted to thirty-two, varying in tonnage from 25 to
50 tons each and built at an average cost of £500 each, the lowest being
£400 and the highest £1,000. The following will illustrate the plan by
which men in the humble sphere of fishermen were enabled to become the
proprietors of their own craft: A shipmaster supplied the vessel on the
understanding that £100 was deposited at once, and the remainder paid
by quarterly instalments, no insurance being asked for or proffered
regarding risk. The arrangement entered into by the smack-owners for
the conveyance of fish to shore, when they were engaged out at sea in
their calling was most simple and business-like. The boats kept company
during fishing, and on a certain signal being given one of the number,
according to a previous agreement, received the whole of the fish so far
caught by her fellow craft and returned home, for which service her men
were paid 2s. each by the other crews, who continued their occupation
and arrived in harbour generally on Friday. For the next week another
smack was selected, and thus all in turn performed the mid-week journey.
At present there are no less than eighty-four sloops belonging to this
port, pursuing the business of fishing, and the arrangements both for
their purchase and the landing of the captured fish have undergone a
revolution. All boats are now paid for when they leave the shipbuilder’s
yard, and the former custom of a mid-week relief, has been relinquished,
each sloop returning and discharging as occasion requires. A fishing
boat’s crew usually consists of four men and a boy. In conclusion it
should be noticed that a special warehouse, about 90 feet long, was
erected in 1859, solely for the use of the fishermen and agents, or
dealers, connected with the trade.




[Illustration]




CHAPTER IX.

THORNTON, CARLETON, MARTON, AND HARDON-WITH-NEWTON.


Torentum, or Thornton, was estimated in the time of William the Conqueror
to contain six carucates of land fit for the plough, but this computation
was exclusive of Rossall and Burn, which were valued at two carucates
respectively, so that the whole townships held ten carucates, about one
thousand acres of arable soil, or farming land, a large amount for those
days, but insignificant indeed when we recall the nine thousand seven
hundred and thirty acres embraced by the township at present, either in
use for grazing and agricultural purposes, or forming the sites of town
and village buildings.

Thornton was held immediately after the Conquest by Roger de Poictou, and
subsequently by Theobald Walter, after whose death it passed to the crown.

During the reign of King John, Margaret Wynewick held two of the six
carucates of Torentum, or Thornton, in chief from that monarch, and her
marriage was in his gift. In 1214-15 Baldewinus Blundus paid twenty
marks to John for permission to espouse the lady and gain possession
of her estate.[87] The request was granted conditionally on Blundus
obtaining the consent of her friends; and in this he appears to have
been successful, for we learn from a writ to the warden of the Honor of
Lancaster in 1221, that Michael de Carleton paid a fine of ten marks
to Henry III. at that date for having married Margaret, the daughter
and heiress of William de Winewick, without the royal assent, and for
marrying whom Baldewinus Blundus had formerly paid twenty marks to King
John.[88]

In 1258, Margaret de Carleton still retained her lands in Thornton in her
maiden name of Winewick,[89] and it is probable from that circumstance
that her second husband was then dead, for the writ cited above expressly
commanded that her inheritance should be handed over to Michael de
Carleton, the penalty of ten marks for his disobedience having been
received.

According to the _Testa de Nevil_, Matilda de Thorneton, a spinster,
whose marriage also lay in the king’s gift, held lands in Thornton, of
the annual value of twenty shillings; and later, about 1323, a moiety of
Thornton was held by Lawrence, the son of Robert de Thorneton, a member
of the same family. In 1346, John, son of Lawrence de Thorneton, held one
carucate of land in Thornton and Staynolfe, lately of Robert Windewike,
in thanage, paying yearly at four terms thirteen shillings relief, and
suit to the county and wapentake.[90] In 1421 John de Thornton died,
possessed of half the manor of Thornton and the Holmes, which descended
to his son, William de Thornton, who died in 1429, aged thirty years,
leaving four daughters—Agnes, afterwards the wife of William Wodey;
Katherine, who married William Carleton; Elizabeth, the wife of Robert
Adlington; and Johanna, who espoused Christopher Worthington.[91] Much as
it is to be regretted, no more than the scanty information here given can
be discovered concerning the Thorntons, of Thornton; even tradition is
silent on the matter of their residence or local associations, although
it is very likely they occupied Thornton Hall, a mansion long since
converted into a farm house, and consequently we are obliged to dismiss
with this brief notice what under more favourable auspices would probably
have proved one of the most interesting subjects in the township. In 1292
the king’s attorney sued Thomas de Singleton for the manor of Thornton,
etc., but the defendant pleaded successfully, that he only held a portion
of the manor, Thomas de Clifton and Katherine, his wife, holding the
third of two parts of twelve bovates of the soil.[92] In the seventeenth
year of the reign of Edward II., William, father of Adam Banastre, who
granted certain concessions to the prior of Lancaster, held, half the
vill of Thornton, the other half being held, as before shown, by Lawrence
de Thorneton.

In an ancient survey of the Hundred of Amounderness, completed in the
year 1346, it is stated that the following gentlemen had possessions
in the place called Stena, or Stainall, in Thornton, at the rentals
specified:—John de Staynolfe held four oxgangs of land, at four shillings
and sixpence;[93] Roger de Northcrope, one messuage and one oxgang, at
sevenpence halfpenny; Sir Adam Banastre, knt., five acres, at fourpence;
Thomas, the son of Robert Staynolfe, one messuage and one oxgang, at
sevenpence halfpenny; William Lawrence, a fourth part of an oxgang, at
sixteen pence; Thomas Travers, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen
pence; John Botiler, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen pence; and
Richard Doggeson, five acres, at sixpence. William de Heton held one
carucate of land at Burn, in Thornton township, for which he paid yearly
at two terms, Annunciation and Michaelmas, ten shillings relief, and suit
to the county and wapentake.[94]

In 1521, during the sovereignty of Henry VIII., Thomas, earl of Derby,
was lord of the manor of Thornton, which subsequently passed into the
hands of the Fleetwoods, of Rossall, who retained it until the lifetime
of the late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., when it was sold.
Thornton has for long been regarded only as a reputed manor. The largest
land proprietors at present are the Fleetwood Estate Company, Limited,
and the trustees of the late John Horrocks, esq., of Preston, but in
addition there is a number of smaller soil-owners and resident yeomen.
Burn Hall is a building of the fifteenth century, and was occupied in
1556 by John Westby, of Mowbreck, the owner.[95] In 1323 the land of Burn
was held by William Banastre at a rental of ten shillings per annum, and
about 1346 one carucate of the same land was held, as already stated, by
William de Heton for a similar yearly payment. Within the residence of
Burn was a domestic chapel, over the doorway of which stood a polished
oaken slab or board inscribed—“Elegi abjectus esse in domo Dei mei, magis
quam habitari in tabernaculis peccatorum.”[96] The walls were panelled
with oak and carved with shields and foliage, whilst the ceiling was
embellished with representations of vine leaves and clusters of grapes.
Modern alterations have destroyed most, if not all, interesting relics
of past ages. After the death of John Westby, of Burn Hall, a descendant
of the John Westby before mentioned, in 1722, Burn passed to the Rev. J.
Bennison, of London, who had married Anne, his fourth daughter. It is
said that Mr. Bennison utterly ruined his property, by attempting a style
of agriculture similar to that described by Virgil in his Georgics. Burn
Hall is now, and has been for many years a farm-house, and the estate
forms part of the large tract held by the representatives of the late
John Horrocks, esq. The land lying towards the coast was formerly subject
to occasional inundations of the sea, but an effectual barrier has been
put by raising a mound round such exposed localities.

The extensive area known as Thornton Marsh, was a free open common, used
as a pasture by the poor cottagers of the township until 1800, when it
was enclosed, together with Carleton Marsh, and has since by cultivation
been converted into valuable and productive fields.

A church and parsonage house were erected at Thornton in 1835, the
former being a neat whitewashed building in the early English style of
architecture, with a low square tower, but presenting externally no
special features of attraction beyond its profuse covering of ivy, which
renders it a most picturesque object in the surrounding landscape. The
churchyard also is well worthy of notice, if only for the luxuriance
of its foliage, the beauty of its flowers, and the taste and elegance
exhibited in several of the monuments. This, like the church and
parsonage, is embosomed in trees. The sacred edifice has been named
Christ Church, and a separate parochial district was assigned to it in
1862, the title of vicar being accorded to the incumbent.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF THORNTON.

  ------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------
    Date of   |          NAME.          |      Cause of vacancy.
  Institution.|                         |
  ------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------
      1835    |David H. Leighton        |
      1837    |Edward Thurtell          |Resignation of D. H. Leighton
      1841    |St. Vincent Beechey, M.A.|     ”      ”  E. Thurtell
      1846    |Robert W. Russell        |     ”      ”  St. V. Beechey
      1853    |Isaac Durant, M.A.       |     ”      ”  W. Russell
      1869    |Samuel Clark             |     ”      ”  I. Durrant
      1870    |Thomas Meadows, M.A.     |     ”      ”  S. Clark
  ------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------

Within the building there is a small gallery at the west end, and the
private pews are arranged in two rows, one being placed along each side
of the body of the church, whilst the central portion is filled with
open benches, or forms, free to all worshippers. A marble tablet “To the
memory of Jacob Morris, a faithful warden for 20 years, who died Oct.,
1871,” is fixed against the south wall, and over the mantel-piece in the
vestry is a white-lettered black board stating that—“This Church was
erected in the year 1835, containing 323 sittings; and, in consequence
of a grant from the Incorporated Society for promoting the enlargement,
building, and repairing of churches and chapels, 193 of that number are
hereby declared to be free and unappropriated for ever.—David Hilcock
Leighton, minister; James Smith and Richard Wright, churchwardens.” On
the font is the following inscription:—“Presented to Thornton Church by
Elizabeth Nutter, of Rough Hall, Accrington, July 13th, 1874.”

Mr. James Baines, of Poulton, by will dated 6th of January, 1717, devised
to Peter Woodhouse, of Thornton, and six others, and their heirs, the
school-house lately erected by him on Thornton Marsh, and the land
whereon it stood, to be used for ever as a free school for the children
of the township; in addition he bequeathed to the same trustees several
closes in Carleton, called the Far Hall Field, the Middle Hall Field,
and the Vicar’s Hey, amounting to about twenty-one acres, to the intent,
that the annual revenue therefrom, less 10s. to be expended each year
in a dinner for the trustees, should be devoted to the payment of a
suitable master. In 1806, Richard Gaskell, the sole surviving trustee,
conveyed by indenture to John Silcock, John Hull, Thomas Barton, of
Thornton, Charles Woodhouse of Great Carleton, Bickerstaff Hull, and
Thomas Hull, and the said Richard Gaskell, their heirs and assigns, the
premises above-mentioned, for the purposes set forth in the will of the
founder.[97] A further endowment of £500 was left by Mr. Simpson, with a
portion of which farm buildings have been erected on the school estate.
The school-house is situated on the east side of Cleveleys Station,
and consists of a small single-storey building, having two windows and
a central doorway in front. To the west end is attached a two-storey
teacher’s residence. The double erection was built some years ago, by
subscription amongst the inhabitants, on the site of the original fabric
at a cost of rather more than £100. The master is elected and, when
necessary, dismissed by the trustees, who forego their claim on the
10s. left for an annual dinner. In 1867 the number of scholars amounted
to eighty-eight, fifty-nine of whom were boys, and twenty-nine girls,
presenting about an average attendance since that date.

The small village of Thornton comprises only a limited cluster of
dwellings and the old windmill. The Wesleyan Methodists had established
a place of worship in the township as early as 1812, and about ten years
later the Society of Friends opened a meeting-house here.

The arable land of Rossall, in Thornton township, or Rushale, as it was
written, is estimated in the Domesday volume at two carucates. At that
time Rossall was included amongst the princely possessions of the Norman
baron, Roger de Poictou, after whose banishment it passed, by gift of
Richard I., to Theobold Walter, and again reverted to the crown in 1206,
on his demise. King John, at the instigation of Ranulph de Blundeville,
earl of Chester and Lincoln, presented the grange of Rossall to the
Staffordshire convent of Deulacres, a monastic house founded by that
nobleman; and in 1220-1 Henry III. issued a writ to the sheriff of this
county, directing him to institute inquiries by discreet and lawful men,
into the extent of several specified places, one of which was the pasture
of Rossall, recently, “granted by my father, King John, to the abbot of
Deulacres.”[98] In 1227-8 a deed was drawn up between Henry III. and the
abbot whereby the grange was conveyed, or confirmed, to the latter[99];
and twenty years subsequently a fresh charter appears to have been framed
and to have received the royal signature, for in the following reign of
Edward I., when that monarch laid claim to the land as a descendant of
King John, the head of the Staffordshire convent produced a document of
31 Henry III. (1247), at the trial, granting “to God, the church of St.
Mary, and the abbot of Deulacres and his successors for ever, the manor
of Rossall with its appurtenances and with the wreck of the sea.”[100]
Sir Robert de Lathum, Sir Robert de Holaund, Sir John de Burun, Sir
Roger de Burton, Sir John de Cornwall, Sir John de Elyas, and Sir Alan
de Penyngton, knights; Alan de Storeys, Robert de Eccleston, William du
Lee, Hugh de Clyderhou, and Roger de Middleton, esquires, who composed
the jury in the above suit, decided in favour of the abbot’s title, but
at the request of the king’s attorney, judgment was arrested, and it was
pleaded on behalf of the regal claimant that the abbot’s allegations
seemed to imply that the manor of Rossall was formerly held by the monks
of Deulacres in bailiwick of Kings, John and Henry; that thirty years
at least of the reign of Henry had elapsed before the predecessors of
the present abbot held any fee or free tenement in the manor, which was
worth 100 marks per annum; and that this rent had been in arrears during
the whole of the time; wherefore the king’s attorney demanded that the
accumulation of these arrears, amounting to 3,000 marks, or £2,000,
should be paid by the abbey to Edward I. The jury stated in their verdict
that the manor had been held by the abbot’s predecessors as pleaded by
the king’s attorney, but that during the last seven years of King John,
and the first twenty-four years of Henry III., the manor was only worth
30 marks per annum, and in the remaining six years before the date of the
charter put in as evidence by the abbot in the first trial, they valued
the manor at 40 marks per annum, on which scales the abbey of Deulacres
was condemned to pay the accumulated arrearages. In 1539, during the
reign of Henry VIII., the grange was valued in the Compotus of the king’s
ministers at £13 6s. 3d. per annum.

The site of the original Hall has long since been washed away by the
waves, but in earlier years, before the sea had made such encroachments
on the land, the foundations of red sandstone and the remnant of an
old ivied wall were visible near the edge of the cliff, all being
sufficiently traceable to indicate that the mansion had been one of no
mean dimensions. A coat of arms of the Fleetwood family, rudely engraven
on a flat stone, some ornamental pinnacles, and other relics of the
ancient edifice, have also been discovered at different times. Numerous
foundations of large buildings were once scattered about the sandy soil
of the grange, but most of them were removed eighty years since as
impediments to the course of the plough. In a plot of ground, known by
the title of “Churchyard field,” remains of a structure, running east
and west, in length thirty and in breadth twelve yards, were taken up
about half a century or more ago by a farmer named John Ball, who whilst
removing them came upon some human bones. The fabric once standing there
was conjectured to have been a chapel or oratory, and the bones to have
been those of priests or others buried within its precincts. Harrison,
in describing the course of the Wyre, says “that at the Chapell of
Allhallowes tenne myles from Garstone it goeth into the sea,” and Mr.
Thornber suggests, in his History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood, that
the foundations disturbed by Mr. Ball may have been the remains of the
oratory alluded to by the ancient topographer; but whilst admitting that
the character of the relics discovered points to there having been at one
time a religious edifice on the site, we cannot think that its claims to
be the missing chapel are nearly so great as those of Bispham, which is
now known, by an inscription on an old communion goblet, to have been
actually dedicated to All-Hallows, or at least to have been commonly
designated by that name in the seventeenth century.

The Allens appear to have held Rossall on lease from the abbot of
Deulacres about a century after the dispute between that monastery and
Edward I. had been decided, for in 1397, during the reign of Richard
II., the name of “Allen of Ross-hall” was entered in the list of donors
to the fraternities of the Preston Guild of that year. George Allen,
of Brookhouse, Staffordshire, who held Rossall at the date of the
Reformation, by virtue of a long lease granted to his ancestors by an
abbot of Deulacres, is the earliest of this family to whom these tenants
of the grange can be traced genealogically. The widow and daughters of
the grandson of George Allen were ejected from Rossall in 1583, before
the expiration of their lease, and despoiled of valuable documents and
property by Edmund Fleetwood, whose father had purchased the reversion
from Henry VIII., at the time of the dissolution of monasteries. On that
occasion a neighbour, Anion, seized and appropriated £500 belonging to
the Allens on pretence of remitting it to Dr. William Allen, at Rheims.
Mrs. Allen made an attempt to recover possession of the grange, and a
trial for that purpose took place at Manchester, but her case broke
down through inability to produce the original deeds and papers, all of
which had been either stolen or destroyed when the Hall was plundered
during the ejection.[101] The estate, or grange, of Rossall, remained in
the hands of the Fleetwoods until the death of Edward Fleetwood, when
it passed to Roger Hesketh, of North Meols, who married Margaret, the
only child and heiress of that gentleman in 1733.[102] The Heskeths,
of Rossall, were descended from the Heskeths of Rufford, through Hugh
Hesketh, an offspring of Sir Thomas Hesketh, of Rufford. Hugh Hesketh
married the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Barneby Kytichene, or
Kitchen, and thus acquired a moiety of the manor of North Meols. At the
decease of Hugh Hesketh, in 1625, the lands of North Meols descended to
his son, Thomas Hesketh, then 56 years of age, whose son and heir, Robert
Hesketh, was already married to the daughter of—Formby, of Formby. The
only child of Robert Hesketh was the Roger Hesketh, mentioned above,
who also held Tulketh Hall and estate. The Heskeths continued to reside
at Rossall until the lifetime of the late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood,
bart.; and under their proprietorship, at an early period, or in the
latest years of their predecessors, the ancient Hall was pulled or washed
down and another mansion erected more removed from the shore.

In 1843 the design of establishing a school for the education of the
sons of clergymen and other gentlemen, under the direct superintendence
of the Church of England, but at a less cost than incurred at the public
schools then in existence, was first promulgated by the Rev. St. Vincent
Beechey, incumbent of Thornton and Fleetwood; and mainly through the
exertions of that gentleman a provisional committee for arranging details
and furthering the object in view, was formed in the first month of the
ensuing year. This committee consisted, amongst others, of the Rev. J.
Owen Parr, vicar of Preston, chairman; the Revs. Charles Hesketh, vicar
of North Meols; William Hornby, vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre; John
Hull, vicar of Poulton; R. B. Robinson, incumbent of Lytham; St. Vincent
Beechey, incumbent of Thornton and Fleetwood, hon. sec. _pro. tem._; and
Messrs. Thomas Clifton, of Lytham Hall; Daniel Elletson, of Parrox Hall,
and T. R. Wilson-ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall. At their first meeting it
was decided that the management of the school should be placed in the
hands of a committee of twenty-four of the principal clergy and laity in
the neighbourhood, of whom fourteen should be clergymen and ten laymen,
with power to fill up vacancies; that the bishop of the diocese should
always be the visitor; that the provisional committee should be the first
members of the council, with which should rest the appointment of the
principal, who must be in holy orders, at such a liberal salary as would
insure the services of one eminently qualified for so important a post;
that the council should have power to dismiss the principal; that the
internal management, subject to certain regulations, should be committed
to the principal, who should have the appointment and dismissal of all
the inferior or subordinate masters; and that the system of education
should resemble that in the school connected with King’s College,
London, and in Marlborough school, consisting of systematic religious
instruction, sacred literature, classics, mathematics, modern languages,
drawing, music, etc.

With regard to the admission of pupils it was resolved that the school
should consist of not less than two hundred boys; that no child should
be admitted under eight years of age; that the mode of admission should
be by annual payment, nomination, or insurance; that any pupil should be
admitted on the payment, half-yearly in advance, of £50 per annum for
the sons of laymen, and £40 for the sons of clergymen; that nominations
might be procured, at the first opening of the school, in order to raise
the required capital, whereby pupils could be admitted on the yearly
payment of £40 for the sons of laymen, and £30 for the sons and wards
of clergymen; that a donation of £25, or the holding of two £25 shares,
fully paid up, should entitle the donor or holder, to one nomination,
and a donation of £50, or the holding of four shares of £25 each, should
constitute the donor, or holder, a life-governor, entitled to have always
one pupil in the school on his nomination; that the shares should be
limited to an annual interest of 5 per cent., and be paid off as soon
as possible, the return of such capital, however, not to destroy the
right of nomination during the life of a governor; that clergymen should
be able to provide for the admission of their children to the school
at a reduced charge of £25 per annum, by paying, on the principle of
life-insurance, small sums for several years previous to, or one large
sum at, the date of entry of each child into the establishment, such
payments to be regulated according to certain tables, and, of course,
forfeited in case the child died.

The committee stated that the outlay of capital required to erect a
building expressly for the purposes of the school would be greater than
they were likely to be able to meet at the low rate of nomination which
it had been deemed expedient to adopt, and, therefore, it had been
determined to take advantage of the offer of Rossall Hall by Sir P. H.
Fleetwood, bart., the mansion being eminently adapted to the purpose, on
account of its size and situation. It contained many suites of rooms,
and an organ chamber, well suited for a chapel, and furnished with a
fine instrument; and surrounding the Hall were meadows convenient for
play-grounds, and very productive gardens.

The title of the Northern Church of England School was given to the
institution, and on Thursday, the 22nd of August, 1844, it was formally
opened by the Head Master, Dr. Woolley, in the presence of the junior
masters and from forty to fifty pupils, with their parents. At that date
the school-buildings consisted of apartments in the old Hall for the
principal, junior masters, and lady superintendent; a dining room, 44
feet long and 20 feet wide, fitted with a general and masters’ tables;
four dormitories, able to accommodate 100 boys; and a chapel, formerly
the organ-room above mentioned, having benches for the scholars and
stalls for the masters, the school-house itself consisting of four lofty
rooms, each about 34 feet long by 20 feet wide, being detached from the
Hall, and fitted up with handsome oak desks and benches, fixed upon
bronzed cast-iron standards. The play-ground comprised many acres, and in
addition there were convenient covered areas for the recreation of the
boys in wet weather.

The school was opened with only 70 pupils, but at the beginning of the
second six months the number had increased to 115, and the establishment
was self-supporting.

The rules of the school have undergone some slight modifications and
additions since they were first framed by the provisional committee,
and no pupils are now admitted under ten or over fifteen years of age,
whilst the annual payments of all pupils have been raised £20 in each
case. The insurance plan of entrance was never adopted. A donation of
50 guineas now entitles the donor to a single nomination, and one of
100 guineas constitutes him a life-governor, with power to vote at all
general meetings, and to have always one pupil in the school on his
nomination. Other rules for the internal management and government of the
school have been framed as the number of scholars has increased and their
requirements become greater.

There are three exhibitions connected with this institution, of £50
a year each, called respectively the Council, Beechey, and Osborne
exhibitions, (the last two being named after the late Honorary Secretary
and the late Head Master, through whose exertions the funds were mainly
contributed,) tenable for three years at any of the colleges of Oxford or
Cambridge; and one of £10 a year, in books, tenable for three years, and
founded by Lord Egerton, of Tatton. Besides these there are about eight
or ten entrance scholarships offered for competition every year, ranging
in value from £10 to £20 each. Of these seven were founded by George
Swainson, esq., and one by the Bishop of Rupertsland. A number of other
special prizes have been instituted by the present Head Master, the Rev.
H. A. James, B.D.

In 1850 the estate was purchased, and since then fresh buildings have
been erected to provide accommodation for 400 boys. The old chapel, which
was built to supersede the one in the organ-room, has of late years
been converted into a library and class-room. A dining hall, schools,
class-rooms for different branches of study, spacious dormitories, and
a swimming bath have all been added; whilst extensive enlargements and
improvements have taken place in the sanatorium, kitchens, laundries,
etc. The old school has been arranged and fitted up as a lecture-room
and laboratory. The new chapel is a handsome edifice, containing stained
glass windows and a richly decorated chancel; it is dedicated to the Holy
Trinity. It should be added that the original name,—The Northern Church
of England School,—has been discontinued, and that of Rossall School,
substituted, as a more comprehensive title for a great public school.

  HEAD MASTERS OF ROSSALL SCHOOL.

  ------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------
    Date of   |         NAME.               |   Cause of vacancy.
  Appointment.|                             |
  ------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------
      1844    |Rev. John Woolley, D.C.L.    |
      1849    |Rev. William A. Osborne, M.A.|Resignation of John Woolley
      1869    |Rev. Robert Henniker, M.A.   |    ”       ”  W. A. Osborne
      1875    |Rev. Herbert A. James, B.D.  |    ”       ”  R. Henniker
  ------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------

A preparatory school in connection with this college was successfully
established during the reign of Mr. Osborne, about one mile distant along
the shore, in a southerly direction, to which pupils are admitted at
seven years of age, but not younger, and subsequently drafted into the
higher institution.

  POPULATION OF THORNTON TOWNSHIP, EXCLUSIVE OF FLEETWOOD.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    617    739    875    842  1,014  1,013  1,023    934

CARLETON, anciently written Carlentun, is named in the Domesday Book
as comprising four carucates of land; and in the Black Book of the
Exchequer, it is stated that during the reign of Henry II., 1154-89,
Gilbert Fitz Reinfred held four carucates in Carlinton and another
place. In 1254 the manor of Carleton in Lancashire belonged to Emma de
St. John, and at that date there appears to have been some litigation
concerning her right of proprietorship, but how settled we have no means
of discovering.[103] In the _Testa de Nevill_ it is recorded that Roger
Gernet had the 24th part, and Robert de Stokeport the 48th, of a knights’
fee in Little Carleton of William de Lancaster’s fee.

The earliest allusion to the local territorial family occurs in 1221,
when Michael de Carleton, as before stated under “Thornton,” paid a
fine to Henry III. for having espoused Margaret Wynewick, or Winwick,
a royal ward, without first obtaining permission from the king. It has
been conjectured that Much Carleton received its peculiar title from
this member of the family, and amongst the records of some ancient
pleadings is one of 1557 concerning certain lands in _Miche Carlton_, a
mode of writing the name which lends considerable support to the theory.
Alyce Hull, widow, was the plaintive in the dispute. The Carletons, of
Carleton, were connected with the neighbourhood for a very long period
as holders of the manor; Alicia, the daughter of William de Carleton
married Sir Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, in 1281, and received the
manor of Inskip as her dowry; and in 1346 H. de Carleton possessed four
carucates and a half in Carleton.[104] Thomas de Carleton held the manor
of Carleton up to the time of his death in 1500, when he was succeeded
by his son and heir George Carleton, aged 22,[105] who died in 1516,
leaving an only child, William, then eleven years of age.[106] William
de Carleton came into possession of the property on attaining his legal
majority,[107] and died in 1557, being succeeded by Lawrence Carleton,
probably his brother. Lawrence Carleton, who had married Margaret, the
daughter of George Singleton, of Staining, held the estate for barely
twelve months, as he died in 1558 without issue, leaving his lands and
tenements in Carleton, amounting to several extensive messuages and
Carleton Hall, to his only surviving sister, Margaret, the wife of Thomas
Almond.[108] Thus Lawrence Carleton was the last of the manorial family
of that name connected with the township. Of the ancient Hall of Carlton,
the seat of the Carletons for over three centuries, nothing can be learnt
beyond the fact that it stood opposite the Gezzerts farm, and that
almost, if not quite, within the recollection of the present generation
some ruins of the once noble mansion were visible on its former site,
long since enclosed and used for purposes of agriculture. In 1261 the
abbey of Cockersand held some property in Carleton, as appears from an
agreement entered into at that date between the abbot of Cockersand and
H. de Singleton Parva, by which the latter transferred a messuage in
Carleton, by the side of other messuages already belonging to the abbey,
to the abbot, in exchange for messuages and an acre of ground in the
vicinity of Stanlawe abbey in Cheshire.[109] Stanlawe abbey itself had
sundry possessions in Carleton shortly after its foundation in 1175,[110]
all of which were conveyed to the abbey of Whalley in 1296, when the two
monastic houses were united, and thus it happened that this township was
included amongst the localities in which Whalley abbey held lands at the
time of its dissolution.

Sometime during the reign of Henry VIII. the Sherburnes, of Stonyhurst,
Hambledon, etc., became holders of soil in Carleton, and at a later
period had acquired the manorial rights and privileges. In 1717 Sir
Nicholas Sherburne, bart., bequeathed the manor of Carleton, amongst
numerous other estates, to his only child and heiress, Maria Winifreda
Francisca, the duchess of Norfolk, and two years later the duke of
Norfolk had obtained a settlement by which he held a life interest in
Carleton, Stonyhurst, and other places, the duchess, however, having
reserved to herself the power to dispose of the reversion or inheritance
by will or deed, executed in the duke’s lifetime. The duchess of
Norfolk bequeathed her real estate, including Carleton, on her death
in 1745, to her cousin Edward Weld, esq., grandson of Sir John Weld,
of Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire, whose descendant Edward Joseph Weld,
esq., has disposed of most of his inheritance in the township to various
purchasers, chiefly amongst the local yeomanry and gentry.

The Bambers, of the Moor, in Carleton, were people of position in the
township. Richard Bamber, during the latter half of the sixteenth
century, married Anne, the daughter of Thomas Singleton, of Staining
Hall, and consequently was the brother-in-law of John Leckonby, of
Leckonby House, Great Eccleston, who had espoused Alice, another daughter
of the same gentleman. It is impossible to affirm with certainty what
children sprang from the union of Richard Bamber and Ann Singleton, but
of one of them, Edward, who entered the Romish priesthood, we subjoin an
interesting and tragic account, extracted from the “Memoirs of Missionary
Priests, by the Right Rev. Richard Challoner, D.D.”:—

  “Edward Bamber, commonly known upon the commission by the name
  of Reding, was the son of Mr. Richard Bamber, and born at a
  place called the Moor, the ancient mansion-house of the family,
  lying not far from Poulton, in that part of Lancashire called
  the Fylde. Having made good progress with his grammar studies at
  home, he was sent abroad into Spain, to the English college at
  Valladolid, where he learnt his philosophy and divinity, and was
  ordained priest. My short memoirs leave us much in the dark as to
  many passages and particulars relating to the life and labours
  of this good priest, as well as to the history of his trial; but
  then short as they are they are very expressive of his zeal and
  indefatigable labours, his unwearied diligence in instructing
  the catholics under his charge, disputing with protestants, and
  going about doing good everywhere, with a courage and firmness
  of mind almost above the power and strength of man. When, how,
  or where, he was apprehended, I have not found, but only this,
  that he had lain three whole years a close prisoner at Lancaster
  castle, before he was brought to the bar, where he stood with an
  air of fortitude and resolution of suffering in defence of truth.
  Two fallen catholics, Malden and Osbaldeston, made oath that
  they had seen him administer baptism and perform the ceremonies
  of marriage; and upon these slender proofs of his priesthood,
  the jury, by the judge’s direction, found him guilty of the
  indictment. Whereupon the judge sentenced him to be hanged, cut
  down alive, drawn, quartered, etc., as in cases of high treason.
  It was on the 7th of August, 1646, that he, with two fellow
  priests, and a poor wretch, named Croft, condemned to death for
  felony, were drawn upon sledges to the place of execution at
  Lancaster. There Mr. Bamber exhorted Croft to repentance, and
  besought him to declare himself a Catholic, confess some of his
  more public sins, and be truly contrite and sorry for all—‘and
  I, a priest and minister of Jesus Christ, will instantly in
  his name, and by his authority, absolve thee.’ On hearing this
  the officers of Justice began to storm but Mr. Bamber held his
  ground, and finally absolved the man in sight and hearing of
  the crowd. As Mr. Bamber mounted up the ladder, he paused after
  ascending a few steps, and taking a handful of money from his
  pocket, threw it amongst the people, saying, with a smiling
  countenance, that ‘God loveth a cheerful giver.’ Mr. Bamber was
  encouraging Mr. Whitaker, one of the other two priests about to
  suffer, who appeared not a little terrified at the approach of
  death, to be on his guard against the temptation to save his life
  by renouncing his creed, when the sheriff called out hastily to
  the executioner to dispatch him (Bamber); and so he was that
  moment turned off the ladder, and permitted to hang but a very
  short time, before the rope was cut, the confessor being still
  alive; and thus he was butchered in a most cruel and savage
  manner.”

The two following verses, relating to his death, form part of a long ode
or sonnet written at the time:—

  “Few words he spoke—they stopp’d his mouth,
    And chok’d him with a cord;
  And lest he should be dead too soon,
    No mercy they afford.

  “But quick and live they cut him down,
    And butcher him full soon;
  Behead, tear, and dismember straight,
    And laugh when all was done.”

The free school of Carleton was founded towards the close of the
seventeenth century. On the 17th of May, 1697, Richard Singleton, John
Wilson, John Davy, and six others recited in an indenture between them,
that Elizabeth Wilson, of Whiteholme, by her verbal will of the 22nd
of September, 1680, declared it to be her wish that the interest of a
fourth of her goods, which amounted to £59 2s. 0d., should be used by
the overseers of Carleton for the purpose of procuring instruction for
so many of the poorest children of the town of Carleton as they should
think proper; and that one-quarter of her estate had been invested
in land, and the annual revenue therefrom employed according to her
last directions and desire. William Bamber, by will dated 13th of
October, 1688, bequeathed £40 to his wife Margaret Bamber, and Richard
Harrison, vicar of Poulton, to the intent that they should lay out the
sum in land or other safe investment, not to yield less than 40s. per
annum, half of which was to be given, at their discretion, amongst the
most needful of the poor of Great Carleton, and the other moiety to
be expended in purchasing books, or obtaining tuition for such poor
children of the same place as they might select. After the deaths of
the two original trustees, the will directed that the bequest should
pass under the management of the vicar of Poulton, for the time being,
and the churchwarden of Carleton. The money was invested on the 11th of
May, 1689, in a messuage and appurtenances, a barn, and several closes,
called the Old Yard, the Great Field, the Croft, the New Hey, the Two
Carrs, and the third part of a meadow, named the Great Meadow, all being
situated in Blackpool, and containing by estimation six acres and a half.
The property was immediately leased to the vendor, John Gualter, at a
rental of 40s. a year. By an indenture, dated the 31st of December, 1706,
between Sir Nicholas Sherburne, of Carleton, Hambleton, and Stonyhurst,
and John Wilson, with three others, of Carleton, it appears that Sir
Nicholas leased to the latter, and their assigns, the school-house, newly
erected at a place called the Four Lane Ends, in Great Carleton, and the
site thereof, for a term of 500 years from the foregoing date, at the
nominal rent of 1s. per annum; and John Wilson, with his co-trustees,
covenanted that the same should be used for no other purpose but that of
a school, excepting that Sir Nicholas Sherburne and his heirs should
have free liberty to hold the courts for the manor of Carleton within
the building. Margaret Bickerstaffe, by her will of the 19th of April,
1716, left £20, the interest of which she directed to be employed by
her executors in educating some of the poor children of Carleton. On
the 2nd of February, 1737, Richard Butler and Richard Dickson, trustees
for the sale of certain estates for paying the debts of James Addinson,
conveyed to George Hull, John Sanderson, and others, and their heirs, in
consideration of £42, a close in Thornton, formerly called Rushey Full
Long Meadow, and now Wheatcake, comprising one acre, in trust, to hold
the same and pay the annual proceeds to the master of the Four Lane Ends
school “for his care and pains in teaching such poor children of Carleton
as should be appointed each year by the chief inhabitants or officers
of the township.” The money seems to have been given by some persons
not wishing to disclose their names, and who selected George Hull, John
Sanderson, and five more, as their agents in the matter, and as first
trustees of the charity. When five of the trustees had died, it was
ordained that seven fresh ones should be elected, and the two remaining
be relieved of their trust. John Addinson, in return for £20, given by
some person, to the inhabitants of Carleton, conveyed to the same parties
a close called the Rough Hey, in Thornton, containing half an acre, to be
dealt with and used as in the previous case. It is very likely that the
£20 here concerned was the sum before mentioned as the legacy of Margaret
Bickerstaffe. All the premises belonging to the school were vested in six
new trustees by a deed, dated 3rd of June, 1777; and at the visit of the
school commissioners in 1867, the attendance of boys was 50, and of girls
20, being somewhere about the usual average of later years. The trustees
manage the school property, and appoint or dismiss the master.

  POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE CARLETON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    269    308    356    319    378    400    363    433

The area of the township embraces 1,979 statute acres.

MERETUN, or the town of the Mere, was estimated by the surveyors of
William the Conqueror to comprise six carucates of arable land, and
shortly afterwards Sir Adam de Merton held half of it, on condition that
he performed military service when required.[111] Somewhere about 1200
William de Merton, a descendant of Sir Adam, was one of the witnesses to
a charter, concerning a local marsh, between Cecilia de Laton and the
abbot of Stanlawe.[112] In 1207-8 the sheriff of Lancashire received
orders to give Matilda, widow of Theobald Walter, her third of the lands
at Mereton, which her late husband had held up to the time of his death
in 1206, at first for 12s. per annum, and subsequently for one hawk each
year.[113] According to the _Testa de Nevill_, Henry III. held three
carucates of the soil of Mereton for a few years, as guardian of the
heir of Theobald Walter, and in 1249, during the thirty-third year of
the reign of that monarch, Merton cum Linholme was in the possession of
Theobald Walter, or le Botiler as he was afterwards called, the heir
here mentioned.[114] Marton descended in the Botiler, or Butler, family
until the time of Henry VIII., when it was sold by Sir Thomas Butler to
John Brown, a merchant of London, in company with Great Layton, of which
manor it had for long been regarded as a parcel, although in 1323, Great
Marton was alluded to as a distinct and separate manor held by Richard le
Botiler.[115] Marton was purchased from John Brown by Thomas Fleetwood,
esq., of Vach, in the county of Buckingham, whose descendants and heirs
resided at Rossall Hall; and after remaining in the Fleetwood family for
many generations the manor of Layton, with its dependency Marton, was
again sold, and this time became the property of Thomas Clifton, esq., of
Lytham Hall, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart., being the vendor.

Little Marton was held in trust by William de Cokerham, in 1330, for the
abbot and convent of Furness,[116] but eight years afterwards, the manor
of Weeton and Little Marton, were held by James, the son of Edmund le
Botiler, earl of Ormond.[117] What claim James Botiler had to include
Little Marton amongst his possessions in 1338, cannot now be ascertained,
but it is certain that later, at the dissolution of monasteries, it
passed to the crown as part of the fortified lands of Furness Abbey.
Subsequently Little Marton passed to the Holcrofts, and from them, in
1505, to Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of Lytham Hall, by exchange. John Talbot
Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, a descendant of Sir Cuthbert, and the
son of the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, is the present owner
of Great and Little Marton. As the moss and mere of Marton, perhaps the
most interesting objects in the township, have been fully described in
an earlier chapter, devoted to the country, rivers, etc., of the Fylde,
we refer our readers to that portion of the volume for more detailed
information concerning them. In this place we must content ourselves
by stating that the mere was at one time a lake of no inconsiderable
dimensions, having a fishery of some value attached to it, and that from
the number of trunks of trees, discovered on the clayey soil beneath
the original moss, which extended six miles by one and a half, there is
conclusive evidence that in ancient times the whole of the wide tract was
covered by a dense forest, composed chiefly of oak, yew, and fir trees.
So enormous were some of the trunks discovered that it was impossible for
one labourer to grasp the hand of another over them. The hamlet of Peel,
situated within, but close to the Lytham border of the township, contains
in a field called Hall-stede, traces of the ancient turreted manorial
mansion of the Holcrofts, of Winwick and Marton,[118] and the remains
of a moat out of which about sixty years ago a drawbridge and two gold
rings were taken. The old lake of Curridmere, mentioned in the foundation
charter of Lytham priory in the reign of Richard I., was also located in
this neighbourhood, the site being indicated by the soil it once covered
bearing the name of the _tarns_. A little more than half a century since
the _tarns_ formed nothing but a trackless bog, and beneath its surface
a husbandman discovered the remains of a small open boat, which had
doubtless been used in earlier days on the waters of Curridmere.

About 1625 the inhabitants of Marton petitioned, that in conjunction
with “Layton, Layton Rakes, and Blackpool,”[119] the township might be
constituted a separate parish, stating in support of their prayer that
the parish church of Poulton was five miles distant, and during the
winter they were debarred by inundations from attending that place
of worship. This reasonable request does not appear to have evoked a
favourable response from the parliamentary commissioners, and it was not
until more than a century and a half later that the district had its
claims to the privilege desired practically acknowledged. The church
of St. Paul, in Great Marton was erected by subscription in 1800, and
opened by license the same year, but was not consecrated until 1804. It
was a plain, unpretending structure with front and side galleries, but
having neither chancel nor tower, and capable of holding upwards of 400
worshippers. In 1857 the increase of the population rendered it necessary
to lengthen the church at the east end, and at the same time a neat and
simple tower was added. Within the tower is the vestry, above which a
number of seats were raised for the Sunday school children, many of whom
had previously, for want of space, occupied forms in the aisles. A porch
was built over the entrance of the church about 1848, and in 1871 a
chancel was erected. Three bells were purchased by the parishioners, and
placed in the tower in 1868, whilst the present reading desk and pulpit,
were the gift of Miss Heywood, the daughter of Sir Benjamin Heywood,
bart., who formerly had a handsome marine residence at Blackpool.
Previous to 1845 the musical portion of the service was accompanied by
two bassoons and another wind instrument, but about that date they were
abolished, and a barrel organ substituted, which continued in force until
a few years ago, when it was succeeded by the more modern key organ at
present in use. The church of Marton has now an ecclesiastical district
of its own, but was originally a chapelry under Poulton. A little
anterior to the erection of the church divine service was conducted
in the school-house of Baines’s Charity, Mr. Sawyer being the first
appointed minister.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF MARTON.

  ------------+---------------------+--------------------------
    Date of   |        NAME.        | Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                     |
  ------------+---------------------+--------------------------
  About 1762  | ⸺ Sawyer            |
    ”   1772  | George Hall         |
    In  1814  | Thomas Bryer        | Death of G. Hall
    ”   1843  | James Cookson, M.A. | Resignation of T. Bryer
  ------------+---------------------+--------------------------

The old parsonage stood on the same site as the present one, and
consisted simply of two cottages united to form one small residence. In
1846 this house was pulled down, and another, elegant and commodious,
erected in its place, being completed the following year. Attached to the
parsonage are eleven acres of glebe land.

James Baines, of Poulton, by will dated 6th of January, 1717, devised
unto John Hull and six others, of Marton, their heirs and assigns,
the school-house lately erected by him in Marton, the land whereon it
stood, a messuage or tenement in Warbreck, containing about six acres,
a messuage or dwelling-house in Hardhorn-with-Newton, with the smithy
and two shippons thereto belonging, and several closes of land in the
same township, called the Sheep Field, the Croft, the Garden, being
about three acres; also the Many Pits, the Debdale, the Cross Butts, the
Wradle Meadow, and the field adjoining its north-west end, and the Carr,
containing twelve and a half acres, to the intent that the rents arising
from the foregoing should after the deduction of 10s. for an annual
dinner to the trustees, be directed to the maintenance of a master to
instruct the children of the township in the above-mentioned building.
The revenue of the school was greatly impoverished for many years by
the expenses of a chancery suit about 1850, which arose on the question
whether the school should be continued as formerly or be divided, and
part of its income be devoted to the establishment and support of a
similar institution in the adjoining district of Little Marton. The whole
of the funds were defrayed out of the funds of the charity. A scheme for
its regulation was framed in 1863 by the Master of the Rolls, providing
amongst other matters that the school should be open to Government
inspection, but in no way interfering with its gratuitous character. The
commissioner of 1869 reports:—“Sixty-three children were present on the
day of my visit, of whom fifty-two were girls, who are taught in the same
classes as the boys, and are with them in play hours. The school being
free, no register of attendance is kept. In arithmetic, six boys (average
age 11), and four girls (average age 10½), did fair papers; the questions
of course were simple ones. Grammar and geography, in which subjects I
examined the highest class, were tolerably good. The girls read well; the
boys (as usual) less so; spelling was up to the average. The girls are
taught to write a bad angular hand; the master says that it is to please
the parents. He has been in his present position five years, and receives
a salary of £50 a year.” The school property consists of forty acres of
land, producing a gross annual income of about £130. Both a playground
and gymnasium are attached to the school. There are now two masters. The
vicar of Poulton and the vicar of Marton, _ex officio_, and five other
trustees self-electing, residing within the township, appoint and dismiss
the masters, admit and expel scholars, appoint an examiner, and regulate
the studies. The chief master must be a member of the Church of England,
and is not permitted to take boarders.

Margaret Whittam, widow, by will dated 26th of July, 1814, bequeathed to
Edward Hull, Richard Sherson, and John Fair, of Marton, and her brothers,
their executors and administrators, the sum of £40, duty free, in trust,
the interest to be applied to the benefit of the Sunday school in Marton
so long as it should continue to be taught, and in the event of its being
abolished, to use the same income for the relief of such necessitous
persons of the township as received no alms from the poor rate. The
Sunday school established in 1814 is still kept at Marton, and the master
paid, in part from the interest of the legacy, and the remainder from
subscriptions. About twenty years ago between £200 and £300 were obtained
by means of a bazaar, and expended in the erection of a school building
on a piece of waste land in Marton, for the purpose of providing for the
education of children, both male and female, under the superintendence
of a mistress. At Marton Moss there is another school, used also as a
church, being served from South Shore, which was built a few years since
through the munificence of Lady Eleanor Cicily Clifton, of Lytham Hall;
and at Moss Side, a small Wesleyan Chapel was erected by subscription
about 1871.

Edward Whiteside, of Little Marton, sailor, bequeathed by will, dated
22nd December, 1721, as follows:—“It is my will, that my ground be kept
in lease, according as my executors shall see fit, and what spares it is
my will that they buy cloth and give it to poor people that has nothing
out of the town; it is my will that it be given in Little Marton, and if
there be a minister that preaches in Marton, that they give him something
what they shall see fit: It is my will, that if they can buy land, that
they sell my personal estate, and buy as much as it will purchase: It is
my will, that two acres, which my father hath now in possession, that
when it falls into my hands and possession, that it go the way above
named: It is my mind and will, that my executors give it when they shall
see fit, and I hope they will choose faithful men, who will act according
to themselves; and I make my well-beloved friends, Anthony Sherson and
Thomas Grimbalson, executors of my last will.”

William Whiteside left by will, dated 1742, £100 to be invested, and the
annual proceeds to be spent in furnishing clothing to the poor of Marton,
not in receipt of parish relief. John Hull, Thomas Webster, and Robert
Bickerstaffe, were the original trustees of this charity.

John Hodgson, by will dated 25th of September, 1761, devised his messuage
and lands in Marton, and his personal estate, to John Hull and Richard
Whittam, their heirs and assigns, in trust, to dispose of the same, and
after paying his debts and funeral expenses, to lay out at interest
the remainder of the money so acquired, and devote the yearly income
therefrom to the purchase of meal for poor housekeepers of Great Marton,
not relieved from the town’s rate. The meal to be distributed annually on
the 25th of December. The net amount of the legacy was £100.

Edward Jolly, of Mythorp, by indenture, dated 13th of February, 1784,
conveyed to James Jolly, James Sherson, and Thomas Fair, their executors
and assigns, the sum of £60, to the intent that it should be placed on
good security, and one shilling of the yearly income derived be expended
weekly in bread, to be distributed each Sunday to those poor persons
who had attended divine service in the morning at the chapel of Great
Marton. The deed directed that the dole should be given at the door of
the chapel immediately after morning service, by the clerk or some other
authorised person, and that in the event of Marton Chapel, which was
then unconsecrated and supported by subscription, being closed for four
successive Sundays, or converted into a Dissenting place of worship, the
bread money should be transferred to the townships of Great and Little
Singleton, and Weeton-cum-Preese; and the weekly allowance of food
be distributed as above at the parochial chapel of Great and Little
Singleton. The dole, however, had to return to Marton chapel as soon as
service, according to the Church of England, was again conducted there.
The chapel alluded to was Baines’s school-house, where it had been the
custom of Edward Jolly to distribute bread each Sunday for several years
previously, and it was with the intention of rendering this practice
perpetual, that the indenture was made. No re-investment of the money can
be legally made without the approval of the minister of Marton church.

  POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE MARTON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    972  1,093  1,397  1,487  1,562  1,650  1,691  1,982

The area of the township amounts to 5,452 statute acres, inclusive of the
sheet of water called Marton mere.

HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON contains within the limits of its township the
three hamlets or villages of Hardhorn, Newton, and Staining, of which
the last only is alluded to in the Domesday Survey, where Staininghe is
mentioned as comprising six carucates of land in service. The Coucher
Book of Whalley Abbey furnishes much valuable and interesting information
relating to the district of Staining, and from it we find that sometime
between 1175 and 1296 John de Lascy, constable of Chester, “gave and by
this charter confirms to God and the Blessed Mary, and to the abbot and
monks of the Benedictine Monastery (Locus) of Stanlawe the _vill_ of
Steyninges, with all things belonging to it, in the _vill_ itself, in
the field, in roads, in footpaths, in meadows, in pastures, in waters,
in mills, and in all other easements which are or can be there, for the
safety of my soul and those of my antecessors and successors. To be held
and possessed in pure and perpetual gift without any duty or exaction
pertaining to me or my heirs, the monks themselves performing the service
which the _vill_ owes to the lord King.” The monks of Stanlawe retained
possession until 1296, when their monastic institution, with all its
property, including Staining, was united to, or appropriated by, the
abbey of Whalley, shortly after which, in 1298, an agreement was arrived
at between the prior of Lancaster, who held Poulton church, and the abbot
of Whalley, concerning the tithes of Staining, Hardhorn, and Newton.
“At length,” says the record, “by the advice of common friends they
submitted the matter to the arbitration of Robert de Pikeringe, Elbor.
Official,” who decided that the abbot and convent of Whalley, formerly
of Stanlawe, should receive in perpetuity the major tithes of every and
all their lands within the boundaries of Staining, Hardhorn, and Newton,
whether the harvests were cultivated by the monks themselves or by their
tenants; but the minor tithes, personal and obligatory, whether of the
abbey tenants or of the secular servants, were adjudged to the vicar of
the church of Poulton and the prior and monks of Lancaster. The abbot of
Whalley was also directed to pay to the prior of Lancaster at the parish
church of Poulton an annual sum of eighteen marks, as an acknowledgment,
half at the festival of St. Martin and the remainder at Pentecost. The
Coucher Book contains several deeds of arrangement touching marsh-land
in the vicinity of Staining. Cecilia de Laton, widow, gave to the abbot
and convent of Stanlawe, all her marsh between certain land of Staining
and a long ditch, so that the latter might mark the division between
Staining and Little Layton, the witnesses to the transfer being William
de Carleton, William de Syngleton, and Alan, his son, William de Merton,
and Richard de Thornton; Cecilia de Laton also quitclaimed to the same
monastery all her right to the mediety of a marsh between “Mattainsmure”
and Little Carleton. William le Boteler exchanged with the Stanlawe
brotherhood all the marsh between the ditch above mentioned and the
land of Staining for a similar tract beyond the trench towards Great
Layton, stipulating that if at any time a fishery should be established
in the ditch, which was doubtless both wide and deep, the monks and he,
or his heirs, should participate equally in the benefits accruing from
it. Theobald Walter granted power to the abbot of Stanlawe to make use
of his mere of Marton for the purpose of conducting therefrom a stream
to turn the mill at Staining, belonging to the monastery, care being
taken that the fish in the said mere were not injured or diminished.
Within the grange of Staining a chantry was in existence, and its
services were presided over by two resident priests, whose duty it also
was to superintend the property held by the convent of Stanlawe, and
subsequently by the abbey of Whalley, in the neighbourhood.

The following is a list of the conventual possessions and rentals in
Staining at the date of the Reformation:—The house of Staining 6s.
0d.; Scotfolde close, held by Lawrence Richardson, 5s. 0d., also Cach
Meadow, of one acre, 1s. 8d.; a messuage, 30 acres of land, held by
Lawrence Archer, £1 10s. 4d; a messuage, 16 acres, held by Thomas
Salthouse, 16s. 0d.; a messuage, 15 acres, held by John Johnson, 18s.
2d.; a fishery, held by Richard Whiteside, 18s. 4d.; a messuage, 15
acres, held by Richard Harrison, 18s. 10d.; a messuage, 18 acres, held
by William Salfer, 18s. 2d.; a messuage, 8 acres, held by William Hall,
10s. 4d.; a house and a windmill, held by Lawrence Rigson, £2 0s. 0d.;
a messuage, 18 acres, held by Robert Gaster, 18s. 2d.; a messuage, 30
acres, held by Constance Singleton, widow, £1 13s. 0d.; a messuage, 20
acres, held by Thomas Wilkinson, £1 0s. 0d.; a messuage, 10 acres, held
by John Pearson, 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 10 acres, held by the wife of
William Pearson, 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 6 acres, held by Robert Walsh,
6s. 8d.; a messuage, 13 acres, held by Thomas Dickson, 13s. 4d., and 4
hens; a messuage, 20 acres, held by John Sander, £1 0s. 0d. and 6 hens; a
messuage, 10 acres, held by William Hey, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage,
6 acres, held by Ralph Dape, 7s. 6d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 8½ acres,
held by the wife of Richard Dane, 7s. 6d. and three hens. In Hardhorn the
abbey possessed a messuage, 10 acres, held by William Lethum, at 10s.
per annum; a messuage, 20 acres, held by Robert Lethum, £1 0s. 0d.; a
messuage, 10 acres, held by Henry ffisher, 10s.; a messuage, 10 acres,
held by William Pearson, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 10 acres,
held by John ffisher, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens: a messuage, 10 acres, held
by William Silcocke, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held
by Richard Hardman until “ye time that Richard Hardman, son of William
Hardman, come to ye age of 21 yeares,” 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 10 acres,
held by Richard Hardman, junior, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 10
acres, held by Robert Silcocke, 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 12 acres, held by
Robert Whiteside, 12s. 6d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 12 acres, held by
Richard Bale, 12s. 6d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 7 acres, held by Henry
ffisher, junior, 7s. 6d. and 2 hens; a messuage, 2 acres, held by John
Allards, 2s. 0d. and 2 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by John Walch,
10s. 0d. and three hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by Robert Crow,
10s. 0d. and 2 hens; a messuage, 20 acres, held by Richard Garlick, £1
0s. 0d. and 6 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by John Ralke, 10s. 0d.
and 3 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by Edmund Holle, 10s. 0d. In
Carleton the abbey owned a close named Whitbent, which William Carleton
rented at 1s. 6d., a year; and in Elswick, a barn and 3 acres of land,
held by Christopher Hennett, for an annual payment of 3s. 4d. In the
Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey, from which the foregoing information has
been obtained there occurs the following notice, relating to the Hall,
apparently written when the above survey was made:—“The house of Stayning
is in length xxvii. yards, and lofted ou’r and slated; ye close called
ye little hey contains by estimation halfe an acre, and ye said house
payeth yearly, 6s.” Sir Thomas Holt, of Grizlehurst, appears to have
been the first proprietor of the conventual lands of Staining after they
had been confiscated to the crown at the dissolution of monasteries;
and from him they were purchased, either towards the end of the reign
of Henry VIII., or at the commencement of that of Edward VI., by George
the son of Robert Singleton, by his wife Helen, daughter of John Westby,
of Mowbreck. The Singletons, of Staining, resided at the Hall until the
close of the seventeenth century, and during that long period formed
alliances with several of the local families of gentry, as the Carletons
of Carleton, the Fleetwoods of Rossall, the Bambers of Carleton, and
the Masseys of Layton. On the death of George Singleton, the last of
the male representatives of the Singletons of Staining, somewhere about
1790, the estates descended to John Mayfield, the son of his sister
Mary, and subsequently, on his decease without issue, to his nephew and
heir-at-law, William Blackburne. Staining Hall, now the property of
W. H. Hornby, esq., of Blackburn, is a small and comparatively modern
residence, presenting in itself nothing calling for special notice or
comment from an antiquarian point of view. Remains of the old moat,
however, are still in existence round the building, but beyond this there
is no indication of the important station the Hall must have formerly
held in the surrounding country, both as the abode of some of its
priestly proprietors, of Stanlawe and Whalley, and the seat of a family
of wealth and position, like the Singletons would seem to have been.

The township of Hardhorn-with-Newton contains the free school erected
and endowed by Mr. James Baines, which has already been fully noticed in
the chapter devoted to Poulton. In the hamlet of Staining a chapel and
school combined was erected by private munificence in 1865, the former
building used for such purposes being both inadequate and inappropriate.
The foundation stone was laid by Mrs. Clark, the wife of the late vicar
of Poulton, on a site given by W. H. Hornby, esq., of Blackburn and
Staining. The ceremony took place on the 26th of May, 1865, and on the
3rd of December in that year service was first performed in the edifice
by the Rev. Richard Tonge, of Manchester. The building is of brick, with
stone dressings, and comprises a nave, apsis, and tower of considerable
altitude, containing a fine toned bell.

On the 1st of February, 1748, Thomas Riding re-leased to John Hornby and
Thomas Whiteside, a dwelling-house and certain premises for the remainder
of a term of 1,000 years, to be held in trust by them and their heirs
for the use and benefit of the poor housekeepers in Hardhorn-with-Newton
township, in such manner as directed by the will of Ellen Whitehead. The
property of this charity in 1817 consisted of half an acre of ground,
and three cottages and a weaving shed standing upon it, together with
£40 in money, out at interest. It cannot be ascertained either who Ellen
Whitehead was or when she died.

  POPULATION OF HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    311    324    392    409    358    386    389    436

The area of the township extends over 2,605 statute acres.




[Illustration]




CHAPTER X.

THE PARISH OF BISPHAM.


Biscopham was the appellation bestowed on the district now called
Bispham at and before the era of William the Conqueror, in whose survey
it appears as embracing within its boundaries eight carucates of arable
land. The original name is simply a compound of the two Anglo-Saxon
words _Biscop_, a bishop, and _Ham_, a habitation or settlement, the
signification of the whole being obviously the ‘Bishop’s town,’ or
‘residence.’ Hence it is clear that some episcopal source must be
looked to as having been the means of conferring the peculiar title
on the place, and fortunately for the investigator, the annals of
history furnish a ready clue to what otherwise might have proved a
question difficult, or perhaps impossible, of satisfactory solution.
In a previous chapter it has been noted that for long after the reign
of Athelstan Amounderness was held by the See of York, and nothing can
be more natural than to suppose, when regarding that circumstance in
conjunction with the significance of the name under discussion, that the
archbishops of the diocese had some residence on the soil of Bispham. It
is quite possible, however, that there may have been merely a station of
ecclesiastics who collected the rents and tithes of the Hundred on behalf
of the bishopric, acting in fact as stewards and representatives of the
archbishop for the time being, but in either case it is evident that
the name and, consequently, the town, are of diocesan origin, doubtless
associated with the proprietorship above mentioned. The presence of
priests in residence within the manor of Bispham would necessarily lead
to the establishment there of some chapel or oratory, and the absence
of any allusion to such a structure by the investigators of William I.
seems, at the first glance, a serious obstacle to the episcopal theory,
but Bispham was located between the two Danish colonies of Norbreck
and Warbreck, a people whose hostility to all religious houses was
almost proverbial, and hence it is scarcely likely that a church so
conveniently situated, as that of Bispham would be, could long escape
spoliation and destruction after the prelates of York had removed their
protection from the neighbourhood, at some date anterior to the arrival
of the Normans in England. The ravages of the Danes indeed, throughout
the Hundred of Amounderness are usually the reasons assigned why the
district was relinquished by the See of York, so that the non-existence
of a sacred pile of any description at the period of the Domesday Survey,
is in no way contradictory of such a building having been there, at an
earlier epoch. At the close of the Saxon dynasty the number of acres
in cultivation in the manor of Bispham exceeded those of the five next
largest manors in the Fylde by two hundred, thus Staining, Layton,
Singleton, Marton, and Thornton, each contained six hundred acres of
arable soil, whilst Bispham had eight hundred in a similar condition.
About thirty years after the Norman Survey, Geoffrey, the sheriff,
bestowed the tithes of Biscopham, upon the newly founded priory of St.
Mary, in Lancaster, being incited thereto by the munificent example of
Roger de Poictou. In this grant no allusion is made to any church, an
omission which we should barely be justified in considering accidental,
but which would rather seem to indicate that the edifice was not erected
until later. The earliest allusion to it is found in the reign of Richard
I., 1189—1199, when Theobald Walter quitclaimed to the abbot of Sees,
in Normandy, all his right in the advowson of Pulton and the church of
Biscopham, pledging himself to pay to the abbey ten marks a year during
the period that any minister presented by him or his heirs held the
living.[120] In 1246 the mediety of Pulton and Biscopham churches was
conveyed to the priory of St. Mary, in Lancaster, an offshoot from the
abbey of Sees, by the archdeacon of Richmond; and in 1296 the grant was
confirmed to the monastery by John Romanus, then archdeacon of Richmond,
who supplemented the donation of his predecessor with a gift of the
other mediety, to be appropriated after the decease of the person in
possession, stipulating only that when the proprietorship became complete
the conventual superiors should appoint a vicar at an annual salary
of twenty marks. At the suppression of alien priories the church of
Bispham was conveyed to the abbey of Syon, and remained attached to that
foundation until the Reformation of Henry VIII.

The original church of Bispham, subsequently to the Norman invasion,
was built of red sandstone, and comprised a low tower, a nave, and one
aisle. A row of semicircular arches, resting on round, unornamented
pillars, supported the double-gabled roof, which was raised to no great
altitude from the ground; whilst the walls were penetrated by narrow
lancet windows, three of which were placed at the east end. The pews were
substantial benches of black oak. In 1773 this venerable structure was
deprived of its flag roof and a slate one substituted, the walls at the
same time being raised to their present height. During the alterations
the pillars were removed and the interior thoroughly renovated, more
modern windows being inserted a little later. There is a traditional
statement that the church was erected by the monks of Furness, but beyond
the sandstone of which it was built having in all probability come from
that locality, there appears to be nothing to uphold such an idea. Over
the main entrance may still be seen an unmistakable specimen of the
Norman arch, until recent years covered with plaster, and in that way
retained in a very fair state of preservation.

In 1553 a commission, whose object was to investigate “whether ye belles
belongynge to certayne chapelles which be specified in a certayne shedule
be now remayning at ye said chapelles, or in whose hands or custodie
the same belles now be,” visited Bispham, and issued the following
report:—“William Thompson and Robert Anyan, of ye chapell of Byspham,
sworne and examyned, deposen that one belle mentioned in ye said shedule
was solde by Edwarde Parker, named in ye former commission, unto James
Massie, gent., for ye some of XXIIIˢ. IVᵈ.” Nothing is known respecting
the number or ultimate destination of the peal alluded to. The belfry can
now only boast a pair of bells.

Formerly there were many and various opinions as to the dedication of
the church, Holy Trinity and All Saints having both been suggested, but
the question is finally set at rest by a part, in fact the sole remnant,
of the ancient communion service, the chalice, which is of silver gilt,
and bears the inscription:—“The gift of Ann, Daughter to John Bamber, to
ye Church of Allhallows, in Bispham; Delivered by John Corritt, 1704.”
Within the building, fastened to the east wall, and immediately to the
right of the pulpit, are four monumental brasses inscribed as under:—

  “Here lyes the body of John Veale, late of Whinney Heys, Esq.,
  who dyed the 20th Jan., 1704, aged sixty.”

  “Here lyes the body of Susannah, wife of the late John Veale,
  Esq., of Whinney Heys, Esq., who departed this life the 20th of
  May, 1718, aged 67 years.”

  “Here lyes the body of Edward Veale, late of Whinney Heys, Esq.,
  who departed this life the 11th of August, 1723, aged 43 years.”

  “Here lyes the body of Dorothy Veale, eldest daughter of John
  Veale, late of Whinney Heys, Esq., who departed this life the 9th
  day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1747, and in the 77th
  year of her age.”

Beneath these tablets, the only ones in the church, was the family vault
of the Veales, of Whinney Heys, now covered over by pews. During the
year 1875 the nave was re-seated, and at the time when the flooring was
taken up numerous skulls and bones were found in different parts of the
building, barely covered with earth, plainly indicating that interments
had once been very frequent within the walls, and causing us to wonder
that no mural or other monuments, beyond those just given, are now
visible, or, indeed, remembered by any of the old parishioners. None
of the stones in the graveyard are of great antiquity, and the most
interesting object on that score is a portion of an ancient stone cross,
having the letters I.H.S. carved upon it, on the broken summit of which
a sun-dial has been mounted. Tradition has long affirmed that Beatrice,
or Bridget, the daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who espoused General Ireton,
and after his death General Fleetwood, lies buried here, but this is
a mistake, probably arising from the proximity of the Rossall family,
having the same name as her second husband; the lady was interred at
Stoke Newington on the 5th of September, 1681. There are no stained glass
windows, and the walls of the church are whitewashed externally.

  PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF BISPHAM.

  ------------+--------------------+-------------------+------------------
    Date of   |        NAME.       |   On whose        | Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                    |   Presentation.   |
  ------------+--------------------+-------------------+------------------
  Before 1559 |Jerome Allen        |Abbey of Syon      |
  About  1649 |John Fisher         |                   |
  In     1650 |John Cavelay        |                   |Resignation of J.
              |                    |                   |  Fisher
  Before 1674 |Robert Brodbelt     |                   |Death of J.
              |                    |                   |  Cavelay
    ”    1689 |Robert Wayte        |                   |
    ”    1691 |Thomas Rikay        |                   |Death of R. Wayte
  In     1692 |Thomas Sellom       |Richard Fleetwood  |Death of T. Rikay
  About  1715 |Jonathan Hayton     |                   |
  Before 1753 |Christopher Albin   |Edward Fleetwood   |
  In     1753 |Roger Freckleton    |Roger Hesketh      |Death of C. Albin
   ”     1760 |Ashton Werden       |Roger Hesketh      |Death of Roger
              |                    |                   |  Freckleton
   ”     1767 |John Armetriding    |Roger Hesketh      |Death of A. Werden
   ”     1791 |William Elston      |Thomas Elston      |Death of John
              |                    |                   |  Armetriding
   ”     1831 |Charles Hesketh,    |Sir P. H. Fleetwood|Death of W. Elston
              |  M.A.              |                   |
   ”     1837 |Bennett Williams,   |Rev. C. Hesketh    |Resignation of C.
              |  M.A.              |                   |  Hesketh
   ”     1850 |Henry Powell, M.A.  |       Ditto       |Resignation of B.
              |                    |                   |  Williams
   ”     1857 |W. A. Mocatta, M.A. |       Ditto       |Resignation of H.
              |                    |                   |  Powell
   ”     1861 |James Leighton, M.A.|       Ditto       |Resignation of
              |                    |                   |  W. A. Mocatta
   ”     1874 |C. S. Hope, M.A.    |       Ditto       |Resignation of J.
              |                    |                   |  Leighton
   ”     1876 |Francis John Dickson|       Ditto       |Resignation of
              |                    |                   |  C. S. Hope
  ------------+--------------------+-------------------+------------------

The living was a perpetual curacy until lately, when it was raised to the
rank of a vicarage. The Rev. Charles Hesketh, M.A., of North Meols, has
been the patron for almost half a century. Divine worship, according to
the ritual of the Roman Catholics, was last celebrated in Bispham church
during March, 1559, immediately after the death of Queen Mary, when
her protestant successor, Elizabeth, ascended the throne. The pastor,
Jerome Allen, a member of the Benedictine brotherhood, assembled his
flock at nine in the morning of the 25th of that month, and previous
to administering the holy sacrament, addressed a few words of farewell
and advice to his congregation. “Suffused in tears,” records the diary
of Rishton, “this holy and good man admonished his people to obey the
new queen, who had succeeded Mary, the late one, and besought them to
love God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves.” It is
said that after vacating his cure at Bispham, the Rev. Jerome Allen,
retired to Lambspring, in Germany, where he spent the remainder of his
life in the strictest religious observances enjoined by his creed. In
1650 the following remarks concerning Bispham were recorded by the
ecclesiastical commissioners of the Commonwealth:—“Bispham hath formerly
been a parish church, containing two townships, Bispham-cum-Norbreck
and Layton-cum-Warbreck, and consisting of three hundred families; the
inhabitants of the said towns desire that they may be made a parish.” In
the survey of the Right Rev. Francis Gastrell, D.D., bishop of Chester,
the annexed notice occurs:—“Bispham. Certif. £8 0s. 0d., viz., a parcell
of ground, given by Mr. R. Fleetwood, worth, taxes deducted, £5 per
year; Easter Reckonings, £3. Richard Fleetwood, esq., of Rossall Hall,
settled upon the church in 1687 a Rent Charge of £10 per ann. for ever.
Bispham-cum-Norbreck, and Layton-cum Warbreck, for which places serve
four Churchwardens, two chosen by the ministers and two by the parish.”
In 1725 Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, gave £200 to augment the living,
and a similar amount was granted from Queen Anne’s Bounty for a like
purpose. Three years later £400 more were acquired, half from the fund
just named, and half from Mr. S. Walter. The parish registers commence in
1599.

William le Botiler, or Butler, held the manors of Layton, Bispham, and
Warbreck, according to the Duchy Feordary, in the early part of the
fourteenth century, and in 1365 his son, Sir John Botiler, granted the
manors of Great and Little Layton and Bispham, to Henry de Bispham and
Richard de Carleton, chaplains. Great Bispham probably remained in the
possession of the church until the dissolution of the monasteries.
Norbreck and Little Bispham appear to have belonged to the convent of
Salop, and were leased by William, abbot of that house, together with
certain tithes in Layton, to the abbot and convent of Deulacres, by an
undated deed, for eight marks per annum, due at Martinmas.[121] In 1539
the brotherhood of Deulacres paid rent for lands in Little Bispham and
Norbreck, and an additional sum of 2s. to Sir Thomas Butler, for lands in
Great Bispham.[122] After the Reformation, Bispham was granted by Edward
VI., in the sixth year of his reign, to Sir Ralph Bagnell, by whom it was
sold to John Fleetwood, of Rossall; and in 1571, Thomas Fleetwood, the
descendant of the last-named gentleman, held Great and Little Bispham and
Layton.[123] The manors remained invested in the Rossall family until the
lifetime of the late Sir P. H. Fleetwood, by whom they were sold to the
Cliftons, of Lytham, John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, being the
present lord.

The subjoined account of a shipwreck on this coast is taken from the
journal of William Stout, of Lancaster, and illustrates the uses to which
the church was occasionally put in similar cases of emergency:—

  “Our ship, Employment, met with a French ship of some force,
  bound to Newfoundland, who made a prize of her. The French
  were determined to send her directly to St. Malo; when John
  Gardner, the master, treated to ransome her, and agreed with the
  captors for £1,000 sterling. The French did strip the sailors
  of most of their clothes and provisions; and coming out of a
  hot climate to cold, before they got home they were so weak
  that they were scarce able to work the ship, and the mate being
  not an experienced pilot, spent time in making the land, and
  was embayed on the coast of Wales, but with difficulty got off,
  and then made the Isle of Man, and stood for Peel Fouldrey, but
  missed his course, so that he made Rossall Mill for Walna Mill,
  and run in that mistake till he was embayed under the Red Banks,
  behind Rossall, so as he could not get off; and it blowing hard,
  and fearing she would beat, they endeavoured to launch their
  boat; but were so weak that they could not do it, but came to an
  anchor. She struck off her rudder, and at the high water mark
  she slipped her cables and run on shore, in a very foul strong
  place, where she beat till she was full of water, but the men
  got well to land. But it was believed if they had been able to
  launch the boat and attempted to land in her, the sea was so high
  and the shore so foul, that they might have all perished. This
  happened on the 8th month, 1702, and we had early notice of it to
  Lancaster, and got horses and carts with empty casks to put the
  damaged sugars in, and to get on shore what could be saved, which
  was done with much expedition. We got the sugar into Esquire
  Fleetwood’s barn, at Rossall, and the cotton wool into Bispham
  chapel, and in the neap tides got the carpenters at work, but a
  storm came with the rising tides and beat the ship to pieces. The
  cotton wool was sent to Manchester and sold for £200.”

In the early years of this century Bispham contained a manufactory for
the production of linsey-woolsey. The building was three stories in
height, and employed a considerable number of hands. Subsequently it
was converted into a ladies’ school, and afterwards pulled down. Two or
three residences in the township near the site of the old manufactory
still retain the names of ‘factory houses,’ from their association with
it. There is a small Nonconformist place of worship in the village,
surrounded by a wall, being partially covered with ivy and overshadowed
by trees. This edifice is called Bethel Chapel, and a date over the
doorway fixes its origin at 1834. In 1868 a Temperance Hall, comprising
a reading room, library, and spacious lecture and assembly room, was
erected here by subscription, and forms one of the most striking objects
in the village. The Sunday school connected with the parish church, and
situated by its side, was erected also by subscription, in 1840, and
rebuilt on a larger scale in 1873.

The hamlet of Norbreck is situated on the edge of the cliffs overhanging
the shore of the Irish Sea, and consists of several elegant residences
tenanted by Messrs. Swain, Burton, Harrison, Wilson, and Richards. None
of the houses present any features calling for special comment, but
appear, like others at no great distance, as Bispham Lodge, the seat
of Frederick Kemp, esq., J.P., to have been built within comparatively
recent years as marine retreats for the gentry of neighbouring towns, or
others more intimately associated with the locality.

  POPULATION OF BISPHAM-WITH-NORBRECK.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    254    297    323    313    371    394    437    556

The area of the township includes 2,624 statute acres.

The Free Grammar School was established in 1659, when Richard Higginson,
of St. Faith’s, London, bequeathed unto the parish of Bispham sundry
annual gifts in perpetuity, and especially the yearly payment of £30 for
and towards the support of a school-master and usher at the school of
Bispham, lately erected by him. From a subsequent deed it appears that
the annual sums were made chargeable on two messuages in Paternoster
Row, London, belonging to the dean and chapter of St. Pauls, but as the
interest Higginson possessed in such property was acquired at the sale
of the dean and chapter lands during the Commonwealth, it followed that
on the restoration of Charles II., the rentals forming his bequest were
not forthcoming. Further, the document recites that John Amburst, of
Gray’s-inn, esq., and Elizabeth, his wife, who was the widow and sole
executrix of Richard Higginson, being desirous that the object of the
founder should be carried out, paid to John Bonny and others in trust
£200, to be invested in land and the annual income thereof devoted to the
maintenance of an able and learned schoolmaster at the before-mentioned
school of Bispham. The costs of a chancery suit in 1686 reduced the
donation to £180, but the trustees made up the sum to the original
amount and reimbursed themselves by deducting £5 per annum from the
salary of the master for four years. In 1687, Henry Warbreck conveyed
in consideration of £200, to James Bailey and five other trustees of
the charity, elected by a majority of the inhabitants, the closes known
as the Two Tormer Carrs, the Two New Heys, the Great Hey, the Pasture,
the Boon Low Side, the Little Field, and 35 falls of ground on the west
of the Meadow Shoot close, amounting to about 14 acres, and situated in
Layton, “for the above-named pious use; and it was agreed, that when any
three of the five trustees, or six of any eight which should hereafter be
chosen, should happen to die, the survivors should convey the premises
to eight new trustees to be chosen, two out of each of the respective
townships of Layton, Warbreck, Bispham, and Norbreck, by the consent of
the major part of the inhabitants of those townships, and that the said
trustees should from time to time employ the rents for and towards the
maintenance and benefit of an able and learned schoolmaster, to teach
at the school at Bispham.”[124] In 1817, Thomas Elston, and George
Hodgson, of Layton, Robert Bonny, and William Bonny, of Warbreck, William
Butcher, junior, and James Tinkler, of Bispham, and Thomas Wilson, and
Joseph Hornby, of Norbreck, were appointed trustees at a public meeting
convened by William Bamber and William Butcher, the two surviving
trustees. The newly elected governors were directed “to permit the
dwelling-house and school to be used as a residence for the schoolmaster
and a public school for the instruction of the children of the parish of
Bispham-with-Norbreck, in reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar,
and the principles of the English religion, gratuitously, as had been
heretofore done, and to hold the residue of the premises upon the trust
mentioned in the last deed.”[125] The commissioner who visited the
school in 1868 remarked:—“The building is an old house, through whose
thatched roof the rain penetrates in winter, dropping all over the desks,
and gathering in pools upon the floor; the room is very small, 30½ by
14½ feet and 7½ feet high to the spring of the roof, and the air being
so foul that I was obliged to keep the door open while examining the
children.” The use of the dilapidated structure here alluded to has been
discontinued, and the scholars assemble in a room in the Temperance Hall
until a fresh school-house has been erected.

LAYTON-WITH-WARBRECK is the second of the two townships comprised in
the ancient parish of Biscopham or Bispham. The Butlers, barons of
Warrington, were the earliest lords of Layton. In 1251, Robert Botiler,
or Butler, obtained a charter for a market and fair to be held in “his
manor of Latton.” The estate descended in the same family with some
interruptions, until the reign of Henry VIII., when it was sold by Sir
Thomas Butler to John Brown, of London, who on his part disposed of it,
in 1553, to Thomas Fleetwood. The manor was retained by the Fleetwoods up
to the time of the late Sir. P. Hesketh Fleetwood, of Rossall, by whom it
was conveyed, through purchase, to the Cliftons, of Lytham. The following
abstract from the title deed touching the transfer of the property from
John Brown to Thomas Fleetwood will not be without interest to the
reader:—

  “By Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, bearing date
  the 19th day of March, in the first year of the reign of Queen
  Mary. After reciting that Sir Thomas Butler, Knight, was seized
  in fee of the Mannour of Layton, otherwise Great Layton, with the
  Appurtenances, in the county of Lancaster, and that his estate,
  title, and interest therein by due course of Law, came to King
  Henry the Eighth, who entered thereon and was seized in fee
  thereof, and being so seized did by his letters patents under
  the seal of his Duchy at Lancaster, bearing date the 5th day of
  April, in the thirty-fourth year of his Reign, (amongst other
  things) give, grant, and restore unto the said Sir Thomas Butler,
  his heirs, and Assigns, the said Mannour and its Appurtenances,
  by virtue whereof the said Sir Thomas Butler entered and was
  seized in fee thereof, and granted the same to John Brown,
  Citizen and Mercer of London, his heirs and assigns, and that
  Brown entered and was seized thereof in fee, and granted and sold
  the same to Thomas Fleetwood, Esq., his heirs and Assigns, and
  that the said Thomas Fleetwood entered thereon and was at that
  time seized in fee thereof. And further reciting that the said
  Sir Thomas Butler held and enjoyed the said Mannour, with its
  Appurtenances, from the time of making said Grant until he sold
  and conveyed the same to the said Brown without disturbance, and
  that the said Brown held the same until he sold and conveyed to
  the said Thomas Fleetwood without disturbance, and that the said
  Thomas Fleetwood had held and enjoyed the same for near four
  years without disturbance, and was then seized in fee thereof.
  But because it had been doubted whether the said Letters Patent
  and Grant made by King Henry the Eighth to Sir Thomas Butler
  were good and valid in the Law, because they were under the
  Seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, and not under the Great Seal,
  and because it appeared unto her said Majesty, that the said
  King Henry the Eighth, her Father, had promised that the said
  Sir Thomas Butler, should have the said Grant either under the
  Great Seal or the seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, She willing
  to perform her Father’s promise and to remove all doubts, and
  for greater security of the said Mannour, unto the said Thomas
  Fleetwood and his heirs, and in consideration of the faithful
  services done by the said Thomas Fleetwood to her said Father,
  and to her Brother King Edward the Sixth, and to her, did give,
  grant, and confirm unto the said Thomas Fleetwood, his heirs and
  assigns, the Mannour of Layton, otherwise Great Layton, with
  its rights, members, and Appurtenances, in the said county of
  Lancaster, and all and singular the Messuages, Houses, Buildings,
  Tofts, Cottages, Lands, Tenements, Meadows, Feedings, Pastures,
  &c. &c. &c., Fishing, Wrecks of the Sea, Woods, Underwoods, &c.
  &c. &c., commodities, emoluments and Hereditaments whatsoever,
  with their Appurtenances, situate, lying, and being in the Vill,
  Fields, or Hamlets of Layton, otherwise Great Layton, aforesaid,
  which were of the said Thomas Butler, and which the said John
  Brown afterwards sold to the said Thomas Fleetwood as aforesaid,
  To hold the same unto the said Thomas Fleetwood his heirs and
  assigns for ever.”

Reverting to the market and fair above-mentioned we find that in 1292 Sir
William le Botiler was called upon to show upon what right he laid claim
to free warren in Layton, and two other places. In proving his case, the
knight stated that his privileges extended to markets, fairs, and assize
of bread and beer, in addition to which he affirmed that wreck of the
sea had been the hereditary rights of his ancestors from the accession
of William the Conqueror. The jury acknowledged the title of Sir William
in each instance, ordaining that the same markets, fairs, etc., should
continue to be held or exercised as aforetime. It would appear that
the market took place each week on Wednesday, the chief merchandise
offered for sale being most likely cattle and smallware. There are now
no remnants of the market, which must at one era have been an assembly
of no mean importance, beyond the names of the market-house and the
market-field. The cross and stocks have also succumbed to the lapse of
years, the latter being a matter of tradition only, with all, even to the
oldest inhabitant.

In 1767 a petition was presented to the House of Parliament, setting
forth that within the manor of Layton and parishes of Poulton and
Bispham there was situated an extensive tract of land containing about
2,000 acres, called Layton Hawes, and begging on the part of those
concerned, for permission to enclose the whole of the common. The
document states “that Fleetwood Hesketh, Esquire, is Lord of the Manor
of Layton aforesaid; and Edmund Starkie, Esquire, is Impropriator of
the Great Tythes arising within that part of the Township of Marton
called Great Marton, within the said Manor of Layton and Parish of
Poulton, and of One Moiety of the Great Tythes arising in that part of
the Township of Bispham called Great Bispham, within the said Manor and
Parish of Bispham; and Thomas Cross, Esquire, and others, his partners,
are proprietors of the other Moiety of the Great Tythes arising within
Great Bispham aforesaid; and Ashton Werden, Clerk, present Incumbent
of the Parish Church of Bispham aforesaid, and his Successors for
the time being, of the Great Tythes, arising within the Township of
Layton-with-Warbreck, within the said Manor and Parish of Bispham. Also
that the said Fleetwood Hesketh, Thomas Clifton, and other Owners and
Proprietors of divers ancient Farms, situate within the Manor of Layton,
and the towns of Great Marton, Little Marton, Black Pool, and Bispham,
have an exclusive Right to turn and depasture their Beasts, Sheep, and
other Commovable Cattle, in and upon the said Waste or Common, called
Layton Hawes, at all Times of the Year; and the Parties interested are
willing and desirous that the said Waste or Common should be inclosed,
allotted and divided, and therefore pray that the said Waste or Common
called Layton Hawes, lying within the Manor of Layton, may be divided,
set out, and allotted by Commissioners, to be appointed for that purpose
and their Successors, in such manner, and subject to such rules, orders,
regulations, and directions, as may be thought necessary.” Leave to carry
out the object contained in the prayer was granted to the petitioners,
and within a comparatively short time the work of dividing and
apportioning the soil accomplished.

The greater part of the township of Layton-with-Warbreck being now
absorbed in the borough of Blackpool, to which the ensuing chapter will
be devoted, there is little further to notice beyond the ancient seats of
the families of Rigby and Veale. Layton Hall was probably the residence
of the Butlers, of Layton, previous to the opening of the seventeenth
century, when it was sold to Edward Rigby, of Burgh; at least that
gentleman was the first of the Rigbys whose _Inq. post mortem_ disclosed
that he held possessions in Layton. The Hall remained in the ownership
and tenancy of the Rigbys until the lifetime of Sir Alexander Rigby, who
married Alice, the daughter of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, and died about
1700.[126] The original edifice, which was taken down and a farm-house
erected on the site about one century ago, was a massive gabled building.
At the bottom of the main staircase was a gate, or grating, of iron, the
whole of the interior of the Hall being fitted with oak panels, etc., in
a very antique style.

Whinney Heys was held by the Veales from the time of Francis Veale,
living in 1570, until the death of John Veale, about two hundred years
later, when it passed to Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall, who had
married the sister and heiress of John Veale.[127] The Hall of Whinney
Heys was embosomed in trees and presented nothing of special moment to
the eye, being simply a large rough-cast country building of an early
type. It was partially taken down many years since and converted to
farming uses.

“The village affords,” says Mr. Thornber,[128] “an example of
covetousness seldom equalled. John Bailey, better known by the name of
the Layton miser, resided in a cottage near the market-house. His habits
were most frugal, enduring hunger and privation to hoard up his beloved
pelf. Once, during every summer, his store was exposed to the beams of
the sun, to undergo purification, and he might be seen, on that occasion,
with a loaded gun, seated in the midst of his treasure, guarding it with
the eyes of Argus, from the passing intruder. Notwithstanding all this
vigilance, upwards of £700 was stolen from his hoard; and this ignorant
old man journeyed to some distance to consult the wise man in order to
regain it; his manœuvre to avoid the income-tax also failed, for although
he converted his landed property into guineas, concealing them in his
house, and then pleaded that he possessed no _income_, but a _capital_
only, the law compelled him to pay his due proportion. In the midst of
his savings, death smote this wretched being, and even then his ruling
passion was strong in the very agony of departing nature. His gold watch,
the only portion of his property which remained unbequeathed, hung within
his reach; his greedy eye was riveted upon it; no he could not part with
that dear treasure—and, with an expiring effort, he snatched it from
the head of his bed, and it remained clenched in his hand and convulsed
fingers long after warmth had forsaken his frame. Alas! His hidden store,
all in gold, weighing 65lb, was discovered at the close of a tedious
search, in a walled up window, to which the miser had had access from
without, and was carried home in a malt sack, a purse not often used for
such a purpose.”

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XI.

BLACKPOOL.


Blackpool is situated in the township of Layton-with-Warbreck, and
occupies a station on the west coast, about midway between the estuaries
of the rivers Ribble and Wyre. The watering-place of to-day with its
noble promenade, elegant piers, handsome hotels, and princely terraces,
forms a wonderful and pleasing contrast to the meagre group of thatched
cabins which once reared their lowly heads near the peaty pool, whose
dark waters gave rise to the name of the town. This pool, which was
located at the south end of Blackpool, is stated to have been half a mile
in breadth, and was due to the accumulation of black, or more correctly
speaking, chocolate-coloured waters,[129] from Marton Mere and the turf
fields composing the swampy region usually designated the “Moss.” It
remained until the supplies were cut off by diverting their currents
towards other and more convenient outlets, when its contents gradually
decreased, finally leaving no trace of their former site beyond a small
streamlet, which now discharges itself with the flows of Spendike into
the sea, opposite the point where the Lytham Road branches from the
promenade. The principal portion of the town stands a little removed from
the edge of a long line of cliffs, whose altitude, trifling at first,
considerably increases as they travel northwards; and from that broad
range of frontage streets and houses in compact masses run backwards
towards the country, covering an annually extending area.

One of the oldest and most interesting relics of antiquity is still
preserved in the Fox Hall Hotel, or Vaux Hall, as it is sometimes, but we
opine, for reasons stated hereafter, incorrectly written, although its
name, site, and long cobble wall are nearly the only mementoes that time
and change have failed to remove. It was here in the reign of Charles
II. that Edward, the son of the gallant and loyal Sir Thomas Tyldesley
who was slain at the battle of Wigan-lane in 1651, having been led to
expect a grant of the lands of Layton Hawes, or Heys Side, from the king,
after the restoration, in return for his own and his father’s staunch
adherence to the royal cause, built a small sequestered residence as a
summer retreat for his family. Modest and unpretending as the dimensions
appear to have been, no doubt at that time it was regarded as a stately
mansion, and looked upon with becoming respect and admiration by the
inhabitants of the few clay-built and rush-roofed huts which were
scattered around it. The house itself was a three gabled structure with
a species of tower, affording an extensive survey over the neighbouring
country; there were four or five rooms on each story, and one wing of
the building was fitted up and used as a chapel, the officiating priest
being most probably the Rev. W. Westby, the “W. W.” of the diary kept by
Thomas Tyldesley during the years he resided there. The chapel portion
of the old house was at a later period, when the remainder, after
experiencing various fortunes, had fallen into decay, converted into a
cottage. Over the chief entrance Edward had inscribed the words—“Seris
factura Nepotibus,” the motto of an order of Knighthood, called the Royal
Oak, which Charles II. contemplated establishing when first he regained
his throne, but afterwards for certain reasons[130] altered his mind,
as he also appears to have done in regard to the Hawes property, for it
never passed into the possession of the Tyldesleys by royal favour, or
in any other way. A fox secured by a chain was allowed to ramble for
a short distance in front of the doorway, and whether the presence of
that animal, together with the use of the Hall as a hunting seat, as
well as a summer retreat, originated its name, or its first title was
Vaux, and by an easy and simple process of change became altered to
Fox, the reader must decide for himself; but after he has perused the
following extract from the Tyldesley Diary, in which the priest already
mentioned is alluded to as “W. W.”, he will, we venture to think, have
little difficulty in concluding that the cognomen Vaux is merely a modern
adaptation when applied to this Hall:—

  “May 14, 1712.—Left Lanʳ about ffive; pᵈ 3d. ffor a shooe at
  Thurnham Cocking, having lost one. Thence to Great Singleton
  to prayers, and ffrom thence to Litham to dinʳ, ffound Mr.
  Blackborne, of Orford; stayed there 11 at night. Soe to ffox
  hall. Gave W: W: 1s.”

Edward Tyldesley surrounded the Hall with a high and massive wall of
cobble stones, strongly cemented together, as a protection very needful
in those times of turmoil and persecution. A large portion of the wall
still exists in an almost perfect state of preservation, notwithstanding
the fierce gales and boisterous tides that have, at intervals, battered
against it for more than two centuries. This, with the additional
safeguards that nature had provided by means of the broad sea to the
front, a small stream running over swampy, almost impassable, ground to
the south, and a pool[131] under its east side, rendered the house a
secure asylum for those who were constrained to practise

  “The better part of valour,”

and remove themselves for a season from the eyes of the world and their
enemies. Over the high gateway at the south end of the enclosure he
placed a stone carved with the crest of the Tyldesley family—a pelican
feeding its young—encircled by the loyal and patriotic motto—“Tantum
valet amor regis et patriæ”: for long the roughly finished piece of
carving was visible in the wall of an outbuilding, from which, however,
it has recently been removed. Fox Hall was not without its plot of garden
ground, a considerable space, being devoted to the useful products, was
known as the kitchen garden, whilst another space was devoted to an
apiary, and flowers must be supposed to have been an accompanyment of
bees. It also boasted a bowling green and an ancient fig tree.

Thomas, the son of Edward Tyldesley, born in 1657, succeeded to the
family estates on the death of his father, and later married, as his
second wife, Mary, sister and co-heiress, with Elizabeth Colley, of Sir
Alexander Rigby, knt., of Layton Hall, High-sheriff of the county of
Lancashire in 1691, whose father had erected a monument to the memory of
Sir Thomas Tyldesley near the spot where he was slain.

During the year 1690, when the dethroned monarch James II. invaded
Ireland in the hope of regaining his crown, Thomas Tyldesley prepared
a secret chamber for his reception in the interior of the Hall. The
closet or hiding-place was afterwards known as the King’s Cupboard. The
Pretender, also, was reported to have been concealed for some time within
Fox Hall, and although it is certain that this aspirant to the British
throne was never within its friendly walls, still the secret recesses,
called “priests’ holes,” with which it appears to have been liberally
provided, formed excellent refuges for the clergy and other members of
the Romish Church, who on the slightest alarm were enclosed therein, and
so secluded from the prying eyes of their hostile countrymen until the
danger had passed. These latter incidents did not take place until after
the decease of Thomas Tyldesley, who died in 1715, shortly before the
outbreak of the rebellion, and was buried at Churchtown, near Garstang.
His son Edward, who succeeded him, was arrested for taking part with
the rebels, and escaped conviction and punishment only by the mercy or
sympathy of the jury, who after returning their verdict of acquittal
were severely censured by the presiding judge for their incompetency and
disaffection. Edward Tyldesley died in 1725.[132] At what date Fox Hall
passed out of the hands of the Tyldesleys, it is impossible to trace, but
it is doubtful whether the Edward here named ever resided there, as he is
always described as of Myerscough Lodge, another seat of the family. Mary
Tyldesley, the widow of his father, whom it will be remembered he married
as his second wife, was living there as owner in 1720, and from that
circumstance we must infer that the Blackpool house was bequeathed to
her by her husband Thomas Tyldesley, and that the other portion only of
the estates fell to Edward, the son of his first marriage and his heir.
Poverty seems to have overtaken the family with rapid strides; their
different lands and residences were either mortgaged or sold, and whether
Fox Hall descended to the children of Mary Tyldesley, or returned again
into the more direct line, it is certain that not many years after the
death of Thomas Tyldesley it had ceased to be one of their possessions.

Thus, the annals of the founders of this solitary mansion carry us back
to the period between 1660 and 1685, that is from the restoration to the
death of Charles II., but certain entries in the register of Bispham
church show that there must have been dwellings and a population, however
thinly scattered, on the soil anterior to that period, sometime during
the sixteenth century, and it was doubtless the descendants of these
people who inhabited the neighbourhood when Edward Tyldesley appeared
upon the scene and erected Fox Hall. The primitive structures forming the
habitations of these aborigines were built of clay, roughly plastered
on to wattles, and thatched with rushes more frequently than straw, the
whole fabric being supported on crooks driven into the ground. About the
epoch of Thomas Tyldesley drainage and cultivation began to render the
aspect of the country more inviting, and fresh families were tempted to
come down to the coast and rear their humble abodes under the wing of
the great mansion, so that after a while a small hamlet of clustering
huts was formed. It is more than probable that the morals and conduct
of the dwellers in these huts were influenced in some way or other by
the sojourners at the Hall, but whether for good or evil we are unable
to say, as the time is now so hopelessly remote and no records of their
habits and doings are extant, so that in the absence of any proof to the
contrary, it is only fair and charitable to surmise that their lives were
as simple as their surroundings.

Whether the Tyldesleys were induced to locate themselves on this spot
solely by a prospect of possessing some of the territory around, or were
actuated also by a desire to have a retreat far removed from the scenes
of disturbance with which the different factions were constantly vexing
the land, is a matter of little importance, but to their presence it was
due that the natural beauties of Blackpool were brought before the people
at an early date. There can be no doubt that the priests and others,
who had fled to the Hall as a harbour of refuge, would, on returning
to their own districts, circulate glowing and eulogistic accounts of
the place they had been visiting—of the glorious beauty of the sea, the
endless stretch of level sands, and the bracing purity of the breeze. In
such manner a desire would readily be implanted in the bosoms of their
auditory to become personally acquainted with the new land, which had
created such a deep and favourable impression on the minds of men, whose
positions and education warranted the genuineness of their statements and
enhanced the value of their opinions. There is one other circumstance
worthy to be mentioned as having in all likelihood aided considerably in
bringing the place into notice, and that is an annual race meeting, held
for long on Layton Hawes. The proximity of the site to the residences of
so many families of wealth and distinction, as the Allens of Rossall, the
Westbys of Burn Hall, the Rigbys of Layton Hall, the Veales of Whinney
Heys, the Heskeths of Mains, the Cliftons of Lytham, and the Tyldesleys
of Blackpool, must have rendered the assembly one of no mean importance,
and we may picture in our minds the gay and brilliant scene presented
each year on the outskirts of the present town, when our ancestors in
their antique and many-hued costumes congregated to witness the contests
of their favourite steeds, and the level turf echoed to the fleet hoofs
of the horses as the varied colours of their riders flashed round the
course.

Although these incidents must have greatly tended to give publicity to
Blackpool, its early advances towards popularity were dilatory, but this
is to be attributed rather to the unsettled state of the times than to
a tardy appreciation of its advantages by those who had enjoyed them or
heard them described. During the reign of George I., 1714-1727, a mere
sprinkling of visitors seems to have been attracted each summer to the
hamlet, but a few years later, about 1735, they had become sufficiently
numerous to induce one Ethart à Whiteside to prepare a cottage specially
for their reception and entertainment. Common report whispers that he was
further prompted to the venture by being the fortunate possessor of a
wife whose skill in cookery far excelled that of any of her neighbours,
but be that as it may, whether he espoused the Welsh maiden because her
culinary accomplishments were an additional recommendation to him in
the sphere in which he had embarked, or whether the lodging house was a
cherished dream only converted into a reality on their discovery after
marriage, one thing is certain, his speculation prospered, and at the end
of fifty years he retired on what at that era was considered a fortune.
The house in which he had laboured for half a century was situated in
the fields now occupied by General Street and the neighbouring houses,
on the site of what not long ago was a ladies’ school; in appearance,
it was a very ordinary cottage with the usual straw thatch, somewhat
oblong in form and possessing few attractions to tempt the stranger to
prolong his stay, but in spite of all its disadvantages, the fascination
of the sea and the novelty of the surroundings filled it with guests
summer after summer. This dwelling claims the honour of having been the
first ever fitted up and arranged as a lodging house in Blackpool. On
the retirement of Whiteside, who a few years afterwards died at Layton,
it passed into the hands of a noted aboriginal, called Tom the Cobbler,
who appears to have held more ambitious views than his predecessor, and
converted the cottage into an inn, or at least embellished its exterior
with a rude lettered sign, and procured a license to supply exciseable
commodities within. Those who had been accustomed to the scrupulous care
and cleanliness of Whiteside and his thrifty wife, must have experienced
a considerable shock from the eccentricities of the new proprietor;
each day at the dinner hour he entered in working costume amongst the
assembled guests, and with grimy fingers produced from the depths of
his well rosined apron the allotted portion of bread for each. How
this peculiarity was appreciated by his visitors there are no means of
ascertaining, but as his dwelling did not develope in the course of years
into a modern and commodious hotel like the other licensed houses which
sprang up about that time and a little later, we are inclined to fear
that some internal mismanagement caused its collapse.

In 1769 the whole hamlet comprised no more than twenty-eight houses, or
more correctly speaking hovels, for, with the exception of four that had
been raised to the dignity of slate roofs and a small inn on the site of
the present Clifton Arms Hotel, they were little if any better. These
were scattered widely apart along the beach, and one of them standing on
the ground now occupied by the Lane Ends Hotel, and adjoining a small
blacksmith’s shed, was a favourite resort of visitors in search of
refreshment. Turf stacks fronted almost every door, and the refuse of
the household was either carelessly thrown forth or else accumulated
in putrifying heaps by the sides of the huts, so that nothing but their
isolated situations and the constant currents of pure air from the sea
sweeping over and around them could possibly have prevented the outbreak
of some infectious and fatal disorder.

Bonny’s Hotel, then known as old Margery’s, and standing in the fields
to the south, some distance from the sea, sprang up a little anterior to
this time and received its share of patronage; later it was converted
into a boys’ school and during recent years has been divided into
cottages, etc. The Gynn House, erected northwards near the extremity or
apex of a deep and wide fissure in the cliffs, formed another popular
haunt during the season; the landlord at that hostel created much
amusement by his oddities, and especially by his quaint method of casting
up the reckoning on a horse-block in front of the door and speeding
the “parting guest” with—“and Sir, remember the servants.” A true and
remarkable anecdote is related about the old inn; sometime during the
summer of 1833 a sudden and terrific storm burst over the western coast
of this island, many vessels were lost and the shore off Blackpool was
strewn with the battered fragments of unfortunate ships, which had either
foundered in the deep or been dashed to pieces as they lay helplessly
stranded on the outlying sandbanks. In the night as the gale raged
with its utmost fury, a Scotch sloop was beating off the coast, vainly
endeavouring to battle with the hurricane, and driven by the force of
wind and wave nearer and nearer to the precipitous cliffs. When all hope
had been abandoned and destruction seemed inevitable, some thoughtful
person placed a lighted candle in the window of the Gynn House; guided
by this faint glimmer, the vessel passed safely up the creek, and the
exhausted sailors were rescued from a dreadful death. Next morning a sad
and harrowing scene presented itself along the coast; no less than eleven
vessels were lying within a short distance of each other, with their torn
rigging and shattered spars hanging from their sides; brigs, sloops, and
schooners, the short but fearful gale had left little of them beyond
their damaged hulls. Nor were these the only victims of the storm, for
as the tide receded to its lowest the masts of two others rose above the
surface of the water; and during the next few days three large ships
drifted past the town in an apparently waterlogged condition.

About that date, 1769, several heaps of mortar and other building
materials, lying on the road which separated the front of the village
from the edge of the cliffs, showed that more were anxious to follow in
the footsteps of Whiteside and his earlier imitators.

Some idea may be formed of the class of people who visited Blackpool at
that period from the charges made at Bonny’s Hotel and the Gynn, the two
principal inns, for board and lodging; at the latter eightpence per day
satisfied the modest demands of the host, while at the former the sum
of tenpence was exacted, with a view no doubt of upholding its superior
claims to respectability. In drawing our conclusions from these facts
we must bear in mind that a shilling in those days represented much
greater value than it does at present, so that the charges may not have
been really so inadequate as they now appear. The village contained
neither shop nor store where the necessaries or luxuries of life, if such
things were ever dreamt of by the people, could be purchased, and large
quantities of provisions had to be laid in at one time. Occasionally a
sudden and unexpected influx of visitors occurred inopportunely, when
the larder was low, and as a consequence the hungry guests were forced
to wait, temporising with their appetites as best they could, until a
journey had been made to Poulton and fresh supplies procured.

Ten years later the hamlet had grown somewhat in size, and the annually
increasing numbers who flocked to its shores showed that its popularity
was steadily gaining ground. Intercourse with the world beyond their own
limited circle seems, however, to have had anything but an elevating or
civilising effect upon the inhabitants, for we find amongst them at that
time a band of professed atheists, whose blasphemous conduct called forth
no rebuke or opposition from the rest, but was quietly tolerated, if not
indeed approved. Each fortnight during the summer fairs were held on
the Sabbath to provide refreshment and amusement for the visitors, who
came in crowds to witness the magnificence of the highest spring tides.
These gatherings usually terminated in disgraceful scenes of revelry
and debauchery. Smuggling was carried on between the coast opposite the
Star-hills and the Isle of Man, but never to a great extent or for any
lengthened period. These huge mounds of sand, much more numerous than
in our day, formed excellent store-houses for the contraband goods,
generally spirits, which were packed in hampers, and so overlaid with
fish that their presence was never even suspected. The illicit cargoes
were brought across the channel in trading vessels, from which they
were landed by means of light open boats, and at once secreted in the
manner just indicated, until a suitable opportunity occurred for their
removal to one of the neighbouring towns. The success attending these
ventures induced the smugglers to construct a sloop of their own, with
the intention of prosecuting so profitable a trade on a larger scale,
but information of their proceedings having been conveyed by some one to
official quarters, a detachment of soldiers was promptly despatched to
put an end to the nefarious practices. So thoroughly did these men effect
their purpose, that, although no capture is recorded as having taken
place, the whole band was dispersed, and from that date no more offences
of this character have been known on the coast.

In 1788 the houses of Blackpool had increased to about thirty-five, and
these were arranged in an irregular line along the edge of the cliffs;
the intervals between the habitations being with few exceptions so
wide that this small number stretched out from north to south, over a
distance of quite a mile. One group of six was especially remarkable as
presenting a more respectable and modern exterior than any of the others,
most of which still retained a great deal of their original defective
appearances, as though their owners were unwilling or unable to adapt
themselves and their abodes to the improved state of things springing up
around them. The company during the busiest part of the season amounted
to about four hundred persons, and a news-room had been established for
their use in the small cottage, before mentioned, on the site of the
Lane Ends Hotel, the smith’s shop adjoining having been converted into a
coffee-room and kitchen, at which a public dinner was prepared each day
during the summer, and served at a dining-room erected across the way.
There were now four additional inns in the village, named respectively,
Bailey’s, Forshaw’s, Hull’s, and the Yorkshire House. The first of
these had sprung up on the cliffs towards the north, and was kept by an
ancestor of its present proprietor; the second was the nucleus from
which has grown the Clifton Arms Hotel, whilst the third stood on the
site of the Royal Hotel. The roads leading to the hamlet were in such an
unfinished state that after heavy falls of rain they could be travelled
only with the greatest difficulty, and often with considerable danger
both to the vehicle and its occupants; so that under these circumstances
most people deemed it more prudent and expedient to perform the journey
on horseback, some of them in the pillion fashion usual at that era. In
an earlier part of this chapter we spoke of the troubled state of the
times and the unsettled and harassed condition of the people as being
the most probable causes why Blackpool was so long neglected by many
who must have been well cognisant of its beauties in the days of the
Tyldesleys, and with equal probability may we now conjecture that the
dilapidated and frequently unsafe state of the highways had a serious
effect in preventing numbers from visiting the place at this period.
Regarding the matter from another point of view, we are led to infer
that the four hundred composing the company of 1788, were people who,
either in search of health or recreation, had willingly undergone the
discomforts of a dreary and sometimes hazardous journey in order to
make but a brief sojourn by the shores of Blackpool. Here, then, there
is evidence of the great estimation in which the place was held at that
early date by the dwellers in the inland towns, and of the rapidity with
which its good fame was increasing and extending throughout a large
section of the county. As may be naturally supposed, the large influxes
of visitors and their turn-outs during the height of the season very much
overtaxed the accommodation provided for them by the inhabitants, but
that difficulty was easily surmounted by turning the horses loose into a
field until their services were again required, whilst the surplus health
or pleasure-seekers were lodged in barns or any outbuildings sufficiently
protected from the weather. The village possessed two bowling greens of
diminutive size, one of which occupied the land at the south-west corner
of Lytham Street, whilst the other was in connection with the Yorkshire
House, afterwards the York Hotel, and since purchased by a company of
gentlemen, who razed it to the ground in order to erect more suitable
buildings on the site. There was also a theatre, if that will bear the
name which during nine months of the year existed under the more modest
title of a barn; rows of benches were placed one behind another, and
separated into a front and back division, designated respectively pit and
gallery. This house is said to have been capable of holding six pounds,
the prices of admission being one and two shillings. At that period
bathing vans were scarce, the majority of bathers making use of boxes,
which were placed for their convenience along the shore, and as the mode
in which they secured privacy and a proper separation of the sexes during
indulgence in this pastime was both ingenious and entertaining, we will
give a brief sketch of their arrangements. At a certain hour each day,
varying according to the changes of the tide, a bell was rung when the
water had risen almost to its highest. On hearing the signal, the whole
of the gentlemen, however agreeably occupied, were compelled, under a
penalty of one bottle of wine for each offence, to vacate the shore and
betake themselves to their several hotels or apartments, whilst the
ladies, after sufficient time had elapsed for any stray member of the
sterner sex to get safely and securely housed, emerged singly or in small
groups from the different doorways, and, hurrying down to the edge of the
sea, quickly threw off their loose bathing robes, and in a moment were
sporting amid the waves like a colony of nereids or mermaids. When these
had finished their revels and duly retired to their homes, the bell rang
a second time, and the males, released from _durance vile_, made their
way to the beach, and were not long in following the example of their
fair predecessors.

Mr. Hutton, in his small pamphlet descriptive of Blackpool in 1788,
says:—“The tables here are well supplied; if I say too well for the price
I may please the innkeepers, but not their guests. Shrimps are plentiful;
five or six people make it their business to catch them at low water,
and produce several gallons a day, which satisfy all but the catchers.
They excel in cooking, nor is it surprising, for forty pounds and her
maintenance is given to a cook for the season only. Though salt water
is brought in plenty to their very doors, yet this is not the case with
fresh. The place yields only one spring for family use; and the water is
carried by some half a mile, but is well worth carrying, for I thought it
the most pleasant I ever tasted.”

The prices at the inns and boarding-houses had risen as the
accommodation they offered had improved in quality and increased in
extent, so that it was no longer possible to subsist on the daily
expenditure of a few pence as in former times. In hotels of the first
class 3s. 4d. per day, exclusive of liquors, was the charge for board and
lodging; dinner and supper being charged 1s. each to the casual visitor,
and tea or breakfast 8d. In those of the second-class and some of the
lodging-houses, 2s. 6d. per day covered everything with the exception
of tea, coffee, sugar, and liquors; whilst the smaller lodging-houses,
generally crowded with visitors who were either willing or compelled to
content themselves with the more frugal fare provided, charged only 1s.
6d. per day for each guest.

A promenade, six yards wide, carpeted with grass and separated from
the road by white wooden railings, ran along the verge of the sea
bank for a distance of two hundred yards, and was ornamented at one
end with an alcove, whilst the other terminated abruptly at a rough
clayey excavation, afterwards used as a brick croft. “Here,” says the
topographer already quoted, “is a full display of beauty and of fashion.
Here the eye faithful to its trust, conveys intelligence from the heart
of one sex to that of the other; gentle tumults rise in the breast;
intercourse opens in tender language; the softer passions are called
into action; Hymen approaches, kindles his torch, and cements that union
which continues for life. Here may be seen folly flushed with money,
shoe-strings, and a phæton and four. Keen envy sparkles in the eye at the
display of a new bonnet. The heiress of eighteen trimmed in black, and a
hundred thousand pounds, plentifully squanders her looks of disdain, or
the stale _Belle_, who has outstood her market, offers her fading charms
upon easy terms.”

This parade was extended some years later by means of a bridge thrown
from its south extremity over the road leading down to the shore, and
on to the cliffs of the opposite side. Riding or walking, for those who
were not fortunate enough to possess a horse or equipage, on the sands
or promenade, and excursions into the country as far as the “Number 3
Hotel,” where many of the company amused themselves with drinking “fine
ale,” were the favourite pastimes during the day, varied, however, with
an occasional practice at the butts for bow and arrow shooting, the
diurnal bathe, and contests on the bowling greens, to which we have
already alluded; in the evening or during unfavourable weather cards
and backgammon, or the theatre, were the means with which the visitors
beguiled the wearisomeness of the quiet hours. The “Number 3 Hotel”
above-mentioned stood behind the present building bearing that name, at
the corner of the Layton and Marton roads.

Mr. Hutton relates several somewhat startling instances of the curative
properties of the sea at Blackpool; amongst them that of a man, by trade
a shoemaker and a resident of Lancaster, who having become, through some
unexplained cause, totally blind, visited this watering-place for six
weeks, during which he drank large quantities of the marine element,
daily bathing his eyes in the same, and at the end of that time had so
far recovered his sight that he could readily distinguish objects at a
distance of two miles. Another case was that of a gentleman, who, having
been seized with a paralytic attack, which deprived him of the use of one
side, was ordered by his physician to Bath, but finding, after a fair
trial, that he derived no benefit from the combined action of its climate
and waters, he determined to travel northwards and make a short sojourn
at Blackpool. Whilst there the invalid was daily carried into and out of
the sea, and even after this process had been only twice repeated he had
lost the violent pains in his joints, recovered his sleep, and in some
considerable degree the muscular power of the affected side, but of his
further progress there is no account.

The following lines, written by a visitor a few years after the incidents
we have just narrated, also show in what great estimation the climate and
sea of the village were held as remedial and invigorating agents:—

  “Of all the gay places of public resort,
  At Chatham, or Scarbro’, at Bath, or at Court,
  There’s none like sweet Blackpool, of which I can boast,
  So charming the sands, so healthful the coast;—
  Rheumatics, scorbutics, and scrofulous kind,
  Hysterics and vapours, disorders of mind,
  By drinking and bathing you’re made quite anew,
  As thousands have proved and know to be true.”

At this time Blackpool was not only without a church, but in the
whole place there was no room where the inhabitants or visitors were
accustomed to assemble together for divine worship, and it was not until
1821 that the sacred edifice of St. John was completed and opened. In
1789 a subscription was started for the purpose of erecting a church, but
was soon closed for want of support, barely one hundred pounds having
been promised. Some years later a large room at one of the hotels was
used as a meeting house on each Sabbath, the officiating ministers being
obtained alternately from Bispham and Poulton, and occasionally from
amongst the visitors themselves.

In 1799, the poorer inhabitants of Blackpool and its neighbourhood
suffered severely, in common with others, from a failure in the grain
and potato harvests. They, like most members of the working classes
at that date, relied almost entirely upon good and plentiful crops of
these important articles of diet, to furnish them with the means of
sustenance throughout the year, so that a small yield, raising the prices
exorbitantly, became a matter of serious moment to them, and in most
instances, meant little less than ruin or starvation. After the cold and
inclement approach of winter had banished the last stranger from their
midst, the sums demanded for their accustomed provisions soon swallowed
up the little these people had saved during the summer, and such
occasional trifles as could be earned on the farm lands around whenever
extra services were required. Their condition, deplorable from the first,
gradually grew worse, until, reduced to the deepest distress, they became
dependent for the bare necessaries of existence upon the charity of
those whose positions, although seriously affected by the failure, were
not placed in such great jeopardy as their own. After this precarious
and pitiable state of things had lasted some time without any signs of
amelioration, and it seemed difficult, if not impossible, to conjecture
how the remaining months were to be provided for until the returning
season brought fresh assistance to their homes, an unexpected, and, to
them, providential occurrence relieved their sufferings. A large vessel
laden with peas was wrecked upon the coast, and the cargo, washing out
of the hold, was strewn upon the beach, supplying them with abundance of
food until better days shone upon the impoverished village once more.

Reviewing the appearance of Blackpool at the opening of the nineteenth
century we find that the whole hamlet was comprised between the Gynn
to the north, and the ruins of the once aristocratic mansion of Fox
Hall to the south. The houses with the exception of Bonny’s Hotel and
a few scattered cottages, had all been erected along the sea bank, the
great bulk lying to the south of Forshaw’s Hotel, and amounting to about
thirty, whilst the space north of that spot as far as Bailey’s Hotel was
only occupied by one or two dwellings of very humble dimensions. These
with the Gynn and a few habitations standing south of it on Fumbler’s
Hill, made up the number of houses to about forty. A detailed description
of the different erections at that epoch is impossible, but we may state
generally that those of modern origin, especially the hotels, although
unpretending externally, were so arranged and provided that the comforts
of the guests were fully insured, and in every way the accommodation
they offered was immensely superior to any that could have been obtained
thirty years before. The few old buildings that still remained had for
the most part undergone considerable alterations, and been rendered more
suitable for the purposes to which they were now devoted.

In 1801 the first official census of the inhabitants of the township
of Layton-cum-Warbreck, in which Blackpool is situated, was taken, and
furnished a total of 473 persons.

At that period many people attracted by the rising reputation of the
watering-place were anxious to invest their capital in the purchase
of land by its shores, and in the erection of houses adapted for the
reception of visitors, but the proprietors of the hotels were the owners
of a large portion of the soil, and fearing that the introduction of
substantial and commodious apartments would interfere with the patronage
of their inns, refused to dispose of any part of their lands, or at least
placed such obstacles in the way of the would-be purchasers that bargains
were seldom concluded. Had it not been for the energy and foresight
displayed by one resident, Mr. H. Banks, who built several cottages and
fitted them up with every convenience and requisite for summer dwellings,
the prosperity of the village would have received a sudden check and
doubtless a serious injury, for the provision made would have fallen
far short of the requirements of an ever-increasing throng of visitors,
and thus repeated disappointments would in the end have led to disgust
and the absence of many when the following seasons rolled round. The
probability of such a disastrous result seems at length to have been
realised by the landlords themselves, who discovered that the plan to
enlarge their own business was not to drive visitors away from the place
by limiting the accommodation, but to offer them every inducement to
come, and to have a sufficiency of houses ready to receive them when
they had arrived. Under this new and more liberal impression greater
facilities were offered both to purchasers of land and builders, so that
the early error into which they had fallen was rectified before any great
amount of harm had been done.

During the summer of 1808 the Preston volunteers were on duty at
Blackpool for two weeks, and on the 4th of June celebrated the seventieth
birthday of His Majesty George III. with many demonstrations of loyalty
and rejoicing.

The small town now boasted five good class hotels, which, in their
order from north to south, were named Dickson’s, Forshaw’s, Bank’s,
Simpson’s, and the Yorkshire House. Simpson’s, formerly Hull’s, is now
the Royal Hotel; Bank’s the Land Ends Hotel, and Dickson’s was the
one already mentioned as Bailey’s Hotel. “Adjoining Forshaw’s Hotel,”
writes a gentleman who visited Blackpool about that date; “there are
two or three houses of genteel appearance, compared with the many small
cottages leading thence to the street, which is the principal entrance
from Preston. There is a promenade with an arbour at the end of it, and
beyond it nearer to Dixon’s Hotel stands a cottage used as a warm bath.
Beyond Dixon’s there is a public road where two four-wheeled vehicles can
pass each other.” At a later period both the road and cottage alluded to
had succumbed to the unchecked power of the advancing sea; and here it
will be convenient to mention other and much more serious encroachments
made by the same element in the course of years now long gone by. We
can scarcely conceive, when gazing on the indolent deep in its placid
mood, that at any time it could have been possessed with such a demon of
fury and destruction as to swallow up broad fields, acres upon acres,
of the foreland of the Fylde, and in its blind anger sweep away whole
villages, levelling the house walls and uprooting the very foundations,
so that no trace or vestige of their former existence should remain.
History, however, points to a hamlet called Waddum Thorp, which once
stood off the coast of Lytham, fenced from the sea by a broad area of
green pasture-land, now known as the Horse-bank; and in more recent years
a long range of star-hills ran southward from opposite the Royal Hotel,
protecting a highway, fields, and four or five cottages from the waves,
whilst a little further north a boat-house afterwards a shoemaker’s shop,
stood in the centre of a grassy plot, all of which have vanished, and
their sites are now covered and obliterated by the sand and pebbles of
the beach. The several roads, which had been formed at different seasons,
leading over the cliffs to Bispham, were sapped away and destroyed so
rapidly by the incursions of the tide that one more inland and circuitous
was obliged to be made. On the sands, about three miles to the north of
Blackpool, and so far distant from the shore that it is only visible when
the water has receded to its lowest ebb, stands the famous Penny-stone.
Near the spot marked by the huge boulder, tradition affirms that in days
of yore there existed a small road-side inn, celebrated far and wide for
its strong ale, which was retailed at one penny per pot, and that whilst
the thirsty traveller was refreshing himself within, and listening to the
gossip of “mine host,” his horse was tethered to an iron ring fixed in
this stone. It is stated that documents relating to the ancient hostelry
are still preserved, but as the assertion is unsupported by any evidence
of its veracity, we are prohibited from accepting it as conclusive proof
that the inn owes its reputed existence to something more substantial
than the lively imaginations of our ancestors. There is, certainly, one
thing which gives some colouring of possibility, or perhaps, out of
veneration for the antiquity of the tradition, we may advance a step and
say, reasonable probability, to the story, and that is the historic fact,
that at no very great distance from the locality there stood a village
called Singleton Thorp until 1555, when it was submerged and annihilated
by a sudden and fearful irruption of the sea. Several other boulders
of various sizes are lying about in the neighbourhood of Penny-stone,
bearing the names of Old Mother’s Head, Bear and Staff, Carlin and its
Colts, Higher and Lower Jingle, each of which is covered in a greater or
less degree with shells, corallines, anemonies, and other treasures of
the deep.

In 1811 the census of the persons residing in the township before
specified, was again taken, and amounted to 580, showing an increase of
107 in the number of inhabitants during the preceding ten years.

The year 1816 is remarkable as being the first in which public coaches
ran regularly between Preston and Blackpool. Previously the chief
communication between the village and outlying places had been by means
of pack-horses, carts, and private vehicles, with only occasional coaches.

The following description of Blackpool about the year 1816 was furnished
by one of its oldest inhabitants, and, although unavoidably entailing
some repetition of what has been mentioned before, will, we trust, be
interesting in itself, as well as useful in confirming the earlier parts
of this history, which have necessarily been compiled from previous
writings on the subject, and not from the evidence of living witnesses.
The Gynn House formed the most northerly boundary of the village, and,
passing from that hostelry in a southerly direction, the next dwelling
arrived at was Hill-farm, which still exists, and is at present used as
a laundry for the Imperial Hotel. A few gabled cottages stood on the
eminence called Fumbler’s Hill, near the site of Carleton Terrace:—

  “Old Ned, and Old Nanny, at Fumbler’s hill,
  Will board you and lodge you e’en just as you will.”[133]

These cottages faced the south, as indeed did all the other dwellings at
that time, with the exception of two or three of the hotels and a few
of the more recent buildings. Bailey’s, or rather Dickson’s, Hotel was
built in blocks of two and three stories, and possessed one bay window.
It must be remembered that the stories of that day were much lower than
those with which modern improvements have made us familiar. The next
hotel was Forshaw’s, similar in its construction, but unadorned with even
one bay window; between these two large inns were two or three small
thatched cottages. Continuing our survey southwards were Dobson’s Row,
consisting of several slated cottages, with a circulating library and
billiard room; and the Lane Ends Hotel, containing three bay-windows,
built, like the others, in parts of two and three stories each. In
Lane Ends Street there was a general shop and lodging house combined,
tenanted by a person named Nickson. The Royal, then commonly called the
Houndhill Hotel, comes next in order, and a little distance behind it
on the rising ground was a small thatched cottage for the reception of
visitors. South Beach contained only a few thatched cottages, and on the
site of the present Wellington Hotel stood a circular pinfold, built of
cobble stone. Considerably west of the present line of frontage, and
south of the pinfold, stood two rows of cottages almost on the edge
of the shore; the last of these habitations was washed away or pulled
down in 1827. Beyond the Yorkshire House and its bowling green was the
dilapidated remains of Fox Hall, part of which had been converted into a
small farm-cottage, in the occupation of a person named Wignall. Between
Fox Hall and the Yorkshire House, but further removed from the beach,
was a thatched cottage adjoining a stable, in which Mr. Butcher, of
Raikes Hall, kept two or three racehorses, the field now occupied by the
Manchester Hotel being used as an exercise ground for them. Chapel Street
contained a small farm-house and several cottages, in addition to Bonny’s
Hotel, which was situated in a field at the lower end of this lane. In
Church Street there were only three or four cottages, two of which,
standing at the south-west corner, were slated and used as shops. A few
other cottages, whose exact sites could not be recalled with accuracy,
were scattered here and there, but the above will furnish the reader with
a fairly correct idea of the extent and appearance of Blackpool about the
year 1816.

The National Schools, at Raikes Hill, were the first provision made for
the education of the young, and were built in 1817, chiefly through
the exertions of Mr. Gisborne, then a temporary resident. They consist
of two schools, for boys and girls respectively, with a teachers’ home
between. The accommodation has since been considerably enlarged and the
institution is now under government inspection.

The parish church of St. John, in course of erection in 1820, was built
with bricks from a croft situated on the cliffs between Dickson’s Hotel
and the promenade. This place of worship, originally an episcopal chapel
under Bispham, with a perpetual curacy attached, was consecrated to St.
John on July 6th, 1821, by Doctor Law, bishop of Chester. In 1860 a
special district was assigned by order of Council to St. John’s, which
in that manner became, under Lord Blanford’s Act, the parish church
of Blackpool. The district thus cut off from the wide parochial area
of Bispham, and constituted a distinct parish for all ecclesiastical
purposes, was included between the Spen Dyke to the south and the central
line of Talbot road to the north. The cost of the sacred edifice, which
consisted, externally, of a plain brick structure, having a low embattled
tower with pinnacles at the angles, amounted to £1,072, the whole of
which was defrayed by voluntary subscriptions, the following individuals
being the principal contributors:—

  Mrs. Dickson       £100
  Mr. Robert Banks    100
   ”  H. Banks        100
   ”  John Hornby     100
  A Friend            100
  Mr. John Forshaw    100
   ”  Robert Hesketh   50
   ”  Fielding         50
   ”  Jonathan Peel    50 10s.
   ”  Bonny            50

The interior of the church, plain and neat, was lighted by small lamps
for evening service during the winter, and contained a font which had
once belonged to the old Roman Catholic chapel of Singleton; and, a few
years later, an organ built by Wren, of Manchester. In 1832 this building
was enlarged by drawing out the east end, into which a plain window was
inserted. The still increasing popularity of the watering place demanded
another enlargement, which took place in 1847; but it was not until 1851
that the present chancel, containing a handsome stained glass memorial
window to H. Banks, esq., who died in 1847, was added. The window
embraces representations of Christ, the four evangelists, and the infant
Jesus, with Joseph and his mother, etc., below which is the following
inscription, surmounted by a coat of arms and motto:—“In memoriam Henrii
Banks de Blackpool patris, et unius ex hujus Ædis patronis, tres sui
liberi hanc fenestram fieri fecerunt.” In 1862 it was thought desirable
that further improvements should be made, and an open domed roof of
pitch-pine was substituted for the old ceiling; the floors of the pews,
previously covered with asphalt, were boarded; new windows of ground
glass, and a fresh pulpit and reading desk were added to the church;
whilst a substantial iron railing was erected round the yard in place of
the cobble wall, which had stood since the opening of the edifice, and
in the same year the burial space was increased by including the plot
of land lying to the west of the church, and now abutting on the houses
of Abingdon Street. Four years later, in 1866, a new and larger tower,
furnished with a clock and a peal of eight bells, was completed on the
site of the original one, which had been pulled down for this purpose.
The interior of the church contains, in addition to the memorial window
already alluded to, mural tablets _in memoriam_ of Robert Banks, gent.,
died May 27th, 1838, aged 76 years,—“Ever mindful of the calls of general
duty, he was also a liberal promoter of the erection and endowment of
this church, and by will bequeathed the sum of £100, for the perpetual
support of the national school”; Edward, the son of Henry and Margaret
Banks, died August 8th, 1845, aged 35 years; the Rev. Thomas Banks, “who
was for thirty-five years incumbent of Singleton church, and an eminent
instructor of youth,” died 1842, aged 73 years.

  PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF ST. JOHN’S.

  ------------+-------------------+-------------+-------------------
    Date of   |     NAME.         |On whose     |Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                   |Presentation.|
  ------------+-------------------+-------------+-------------------
              |                   |             |
      1821    |James Formby, B.A. |Trustees     |
      1826    |G. L. Foxton, B.A. |Ditto        |Resignation of J.
              |                   |             |  Formby
      1829    |Wm. Thornber, B.A. |Ditto        |Resignation of G. L.
              |                   |             |  Foxton
      1846    |W. T. Preedy, B.A. |Ditto        |Resignation of W.
              |                   |             |  Thornber
      1853    |Alfred Jenour, M.A.|Ditto        |Resignation of W. T.
              |                   |             |   Preedy
      1869    |Norman S. Jeffreys,|Ditto        | Death of A. Jenour
              |  M.A.             |             |
  ------------+-------------------+-------------+---------------------

The present patrons of St. John’s church are the Rev. C. Hesketh, of
North Meols; the Vicar of Bispham; J. Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham
Hall; and the Raikes Hall Park, Gardens, and Aquarium Company.

In 1821 the census returns of the population of Layton-with-Warbreck
showed a total of 749 persons. On the 19th of July in that year the
coronation of George IV. was celebrated by the inhabitants and visitors
of Blackpool “in a manner most grateful to every benevolent heart.” A
handsome subscription, we are told by the gentleman whose words have
just been quoted and who was present on the occasion, was expended in
procuring one day’s festivity for the poor and needy, the aged and the
young. About ten in the morning, the children of the township, amounting
to one hundred and thirty-nine, assembled at the national school, erected
near the church, where they were each presented with a coronation medal.
Afterwards they paraded the beach, headed by two musicians, and sang the
national anthem at all the principal houses, followed by ringing cheers;
returning to the school-house, each child was regaled with a large bun,
and spiced ale and coppers were distributed amongst them. When these
had been dismissed to their homes, upwards of thirty old people met in
the same room, where they sat down to an ample and excellent dinner,
at the conclusion of which they each drank the king’s health in a pint
of strong ale. The same kind-hearted ladies who had superintended the
children in the procession, waited on this venerable company, and had
their generosity rewarded by witnessing the amusing spectacle of three
old women, upwards of seventy, who had probably danced at the coronation
of George III., go through a Scotch reel, which they accomplished in
excellent style.

On the 21st of March, 1825, the first stone of a small Independent
chapel, situated at the lower end of Chapel Street, and lying on the
south extremity of the village, was laid by the Rev. D. T. Carnson, and
on the 6th of the ensuing July it was opened for public worship by the
Rev. Dr. Raffles.

The summer of 1827 is remarkable as having been an exceptionally
prosperous season for Blackpool; vast numbers of carts and other vehicles
laden with their living freights arrived from Blackburn, Burnley, Colne,
Padiham, and the borders of Yorkshire, and during the month of August
so crowded was the place that many were lodged in stables and barns,
whilst others sought refuge at Poulton. The following year a fine gravel
promenade was tastefully laid out on the sea bank to a considerable
distance, occupying a large portion of the site of the old road. A
beautiful green turf walk was constructed from the beach to the church,
leading through pleasant fields, and furnished at intervals with covered
seats. The Albion Hotel was also erected at the north-west corner of Lane
Ends Street.

Mr. Whittle, in his publication descriptive, amongst other resorts, of
Blackpool in 1830, and entitled “Marina,” says:—“Blackpool is furnished
with excellent accommodation, although it is a pity but what there had
been some kind of uniformity observed, as all sea-bathing stations ought
to have their houses built upon a plan entirely unique. Four assemblies
have been known to take place in one week during the bathing season,
extending from July to October. In fact the rooms at the hotels are very
extensive. Bank’s is the most commodious. The inhabitants seem to have
no taste for ornamenting their doorways or windows with trellis work
or verandahs, or with jessamines, woodbines, or hollyhocks, similar to
those at Southport, and many of the sea-bathing situations in the south.
It is not to be wondered at that there are here frequently at the flux
of the season, from eight hundred to a thousand visitors. Blackpool has
most certainly been honoured since its commencement as a watering-place
by persons of distinction and fashion. The hotels and other houses of
reception are scattered along the beach with an aspect towards the Irish
Sea; and in the rear are the dwellings of the villagers. The cottages on
the beach have of late years considerably increased, and they serve, with
the hotels in the centre, to give the place, when viewed from the sea, a
large and imposing appearance.”

The ball and dining-room at Nickson’s Hotel, (the Clifton Arms,) was of
large dimensions, and contained a neat orchestra at one end, whilst the
following notice was suspended in a prominent position against the inner
wall:—

  “The friends of Cuthbert Nickson will please to observe that the
  senior person at the hotel is entitled to the president’s chair;
  and the junior to the vice-president’s. Also the ladies to have
  the preference of the bathing machines.”

Placards, similar in their import to this one, were to be seen in both
Dickson’s and Bank’s Hotels.

The new promenade was improved in 1830 by the addition of a wooden
hand-rail along its entire length, whilst comfortable seats were placed
opposite the hotels of Banks and Nickson. The fairs, to which we have
already alluded, continued to be held every second Sunday during the
season, but a few years later they were abolished by the action of the
more respectable portion of the residents. Letters arrived at half-past
eleven in the morning, and were despatched at noon, daily in the summer
months, but only three times a week during winter. Mr. Cook, an American,
was the originator of the post, which he commenced some time before by
having the letters carried to Kirkham three times a week during the
season. At that day the arrival of the letter-bag was made known to the
anxious public by exposing a board on which was written or painted,
“The post is arrived.” This ingenious device proclaimed, on reversing
the board, “The post is not yet arrived;” so that by a proper use of
the signal the postmaster was enabled to save himself much trouble in
answering the frequent inquiries of expectant visitors. Mr. Cook, who
is described as having been the “Beau Nash” of Blackpool, died in 1820,
and was buried at Bispham. The charges at the best hotels were 6s. per
day in private and 5s. in public, with an addition of 1s. each night for
a front, or 6d. for a back, bedroom. At Bonny’s the price was 4s. 6d.
per day; and at Nickson’s and the Yorkshire House 3s. 6d. per day at the
first table, and 2s. 6d. at the second, subject to an additional charge
for extra attendance if required.

The census returns of 1831 showed that the population of the township had
increased to 943 persons since 1821, when, the reader may be reminded,
the total amounted to 749.

In 1835, a Wesleyan chapel, calculated to hold between 250 and 300
persons, was erected and opened in Bank Hey Street. This building, having
in the course of time become inadequate for the accommodation of its
increasing congregation, was pulled down, and the corner stone of the
present edifice laid by W. Heap, esq., of Halifax, on Friday, November
1st., 1861. The chapel, which occupies a site near the old one, was
opened for service on the 4th of July, 1862, and is capable of seating
760 persons. The total expenditure for the erection and other incidental
expenses connected with it, amounted to £3,500. An organ, built by Mr. E.
Wadsworth, of Manchester, at a cost of £320, was obtained in 1872.

During 1836 great improvements were made in the appearance of the town;
shops were beautified and increased in number; many of the cottages
were rendered more ornamental, whilst others were constructed on modern
principles, and on a moderate calculation it may be estimated that two
hundred beds were added to the existing accommodation. Sir Benjamin
Heywood, bart., of Claremont, purchased an extensive plot of land, now
occupied by the Prince of Wales’s Market and Aquarium Buildings, on
which he shortly afterwards raised a handsome marine family residence,
called West Hey. Numerous and copious springs of fine fresh water were
found at a depth of fifteen yards from the surface; until which fortunate
discovery, water for drinking purposes had been collected in cisterns dug
out of the marl. Public Baths were also erected on the beach adjoining
the Lane Ends Hotel.

The following year, 1837, the Victoria Terrace and Promenade, erected
at the north-west corner of Victoria Street, were completed. This block
of buildings was formed of seven shops, above them being the Promenade,
a room thirty-two yards long, which opened through folding windows upon
a balcony six feet wide; attached to it were a news-room, library, and
billiard table. The Promenade acquired its distinctive title from being
first used on the 24th of May, 1837, when the Princess Victoria, the
present Queen, attained her legal majority; on that day the principal
inhabitants of Blackpool assembled there to celebrate the important event
with a sumptuous dinner, and from the subjoined extract, taken from an
account of the gathering in a public print, we learn the great estimation
in which the saloon was then held:—

  “ ... dinner and excellent wine provided by Mr. C. Nickson, to
  which fifty-two gentlemen sat down, in the splendid Promenade
  Room newly erected by Doctor Cocker, who was highly extolled
  for his taste in the architectural design and decorations of
  the building, which is of the chaste Doric order, and for his
  spirited liberality in providing the visitors of this celebrated
  resort with so spacious and magnificent a saloon, where, as in
  a common centre, they may meet each other and enjoy the social
  pleasures of a _conversatione_ whenever they please; thus
  evincing his wish to promote a more friendly intercourse amongst
  the strangers collected here from all quarters of the kingdom
  during the summer season—this has hitherto been a _desideratum_
  at Blackpool.”

For long afterwards balls and all public meetings were held in this
assembly room, which still exists in its original condition, although
the other parts of the block, especially the shops, have recently been
improved and beautified.

From 1837 to 1840 the progress of the place was steady, but not rapid,
as compared with more recent times. In the latter year the opening of
the Preston and Wyre Railway to Poulton, initiated a mode of travelling
until then unknown in the Fylde district, and by its means Blackpool
became nearer in point of time to Preston, Manchester, and many other
large towns already possessing railway accommodation, a great accession
of company being the immediate result. Omnibuses, coaches, and other
carriages met every train at Poulton station, and the four miles of
road were scampered over by splendid teams in less than half an hour.
Then it was that the jolting, homely vehicles, and the through coaches,
which had for long been the dashing wonders of the country roads, were
driven off, and a greatly multiplied number of visitors brought into
the town daily by the more expeditious route, at a less cost and with
greater personal convenience than had been possible in earlier days. More
accommodation was soon called for and as readily supplied by the spirited
inhabitants, who erected numerous houses at several points, which served,
at no distant period, as the nucleus for new streets and terraces. The
census of the township in 1841 had risen to 2,168. In 1844 the erection
and opening of a Market House, evinced the growing importance and
prosperity of the watering-place; this building has lately, since 1872,
been enlarged by lateral extension to quite double its original capacity,
whilst the extensive unprotected area opposite, used for similar trading
purposes and occupied by stalls, has been covered over with a transparent
roof. Talbot Road was opened out and the lower end formed into a spacious
square, (furnished with an elegant drinking fountain in 1870) by the
removal of a house from its centre. These improvements were effected at
the sole cost of John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham, the owner of the
soil. The Adelphi and Victoria Hotels, which had sprung into being, were
altered and enlarged; the former by raising it a story, and the latter by
the addition of a commodious dining room, two sitting rooms, and sundry
bedrooms. Several spacious residences were finished on South Beach, and
a handsome terrace of habitations stretching south from Dickson’s Hotel,
was also erected about that time.

In 1845, several houses on a larger scale, including the Talbot Hotel,
were built, and great improvements and additions made to many former
establishments.

The opening of the branch line from Blackpool to join the main railroad
at Poulton, on the 29th of April, 1846, gave another marked impetus to
the progress of the town; by its formation direct steam communication
was completed with the populous centres of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and
many, who had previously been deterred from visiting Blackpool by its
comparative inaccessibility, now flocked down to its shores in great
numbers; building increased, and dwellings arose, chiefly on the front,
and in Church and Victoria Streets.

During the ensuing year the first meeting of the Blackpool Agricultural
Society was held on the grounds of a recently built inn, the Manchester
Hotel, at South Shore; the attendance was both numerous and respectable,
including many of the most influential gentlemen, yeomen, and farmers of
the neighbourhood, and several from the remoter localities of the Fylde.
Cows, horses, and pigs appear to have been the only stocks to which
prizes were awarded. The first Lodge of Freemasons held their initiatory
meeting in that year at the Beach Hotel, another house of entertainment
which had risen shortly before, on the site of some furnished cottage
facing the beach.

A new Independent Chapel was commenced in Victoria Street, to supersede
the small one erected in Chapel Street in 1825; the edifice was finished
and used for divine service in 1849. Serious differences seem to have
arisen a few years later between the pastor of that date, the Rev. J.
Noall, and a limited section of his congregation, who were anxious to
deprive him of his charge, and even went so far, in 1860, as to publicly
read in the chapel, after morning service, a notice convening a meeting
for that purpose. This act, being repeated on the ensuing Sabbath, led to
retaliation on the part of the partizans of the minister, who, unknown to
that gentleman, paraded three figures, intended to represent the three
principal opponents to the continuance of his pastorate, suspended from
a gibbet, which had been erected in a cart, through the streets of the
town, and afterwards gave them up to the flames on the sands. The Rev. J.
Noall was shortly afterwards presented with a testimonial of esteem by
a number of sympathisers. Schools, in connection with the chapel, were
built in 1870.

Two years subsequently, the watering-place had grown, without the
fostering care of a public governing body, into a large and prosperous
town, boasting a resident population of over two thousand persons, but
this very increase and popularity had rendered it impossible for private
enterprise to provide the requisite comforts and conveniences for such
a mixture of classes as visited it during the summer. Acting under this
necessity and for the welfare of the resort a Local Board was formed,
composed of gentlemen elected from amongst inhabitants, into whose hands
was entrusted the government and regulation of all matters connected with
the place. An accession of power was sought in 1853, and on Tuesday, the
14th of June, the Blackpool Improvement Act received the royal assent.
The Board originally consisted of nine members, but in 1871 the number
was increased to eighteen.

One of the earliest acts of the new commissioners of 1853 was to provide
for the proper lighting of the town by the erection of Gas Works, which
they accomplished in their first year of office; for some time it had
been evident that the season was seriously curtailed by the absence of
any illumination along the promenade and thoroughfares during the autumn
evenings, but private speculation had for some reason held aloof from so
important an undertaking, although the question had been much discussed
amongst the inhabitants. Here it may be stated, in order to avoid
reverting to the subject again, that in 1863 there were 650 consumers of
gas; in 1869, 1270; and in 1875, no less than 2,000; the miles of mains
in those years being respectively 5, 7, and 12.

In 1856, the promenade, which had suffered much injury from frequent
attacks of the sea, and perhaps from some amount of negligence in not
bestowing due attention to its proper maintenance, was put in better
order and extended from its northern extremity, opposite Talbot Square,
along the front of Albert Terrace as far as Rossall’s, formerly Dickson’s
Hotel. Four years later a portion of this walk opposite Central Beach
was asphalted and sprinkled over with fine white spar. The Infant
School-house in Bank Hey Street, was opened in 1856.

The Roman Catholic Church, situated in Talbot Road, was erected in 1857,
from the design of Edwin W. Pugin, Esq., and at the sole expense of Miss
M. Tempest, sister to Sir Charles Tempest, Bart., of Broughton Hall,
Yorkshire. It is in the Gothic style, the exterior being built with
Yorkshire flag in narrow courses, hammer dressed and tuck pointed. The
church comprises a chancel, north and south transepts, two sacristies,
confessionals, nave, aisles, south porch, and central western tower. The
chancel, which is separated from the nave and transepts by a richly
decorated and moulded arch, contains four side windows in addition to a
large one at the east end. The nave is divided into five bays of fifteen
feet each, with massive arches ornamented with deeply cut mouldings.
The tower is of great solidity, and rises to a height of one hundred
and twenty-four feet. Almost the whole of the windows are filled with
richly stained glass; and the altar within the chancel is beautified
with elaborately carved groups, designed by J. H. Powell, of Birmingham,
of the “Agony in the Garden,” and the “Last Supper;” whilst that in
the lady chapel is adorned, from the pencil of the same artist, with
illustrations of the “Assumption of the Virgin,” and the “Annunciation,”
all of which are exquisitely carved by Lane. This church is dedicated
to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and was the first one ever
erected in Blackpool for members of the Roman Catholic Faith, service
having been previously celebrated in a room in Talbot Road. In 1866 an
excellent peal of cast steel bells was added to the tower; and ten years
afterwards a magnificent organ was opened in the main building. Attached
to the church, and within the same enclosure, were placed day and Sunday
schools, as well as a residence for the officiating priests. The cost
of this magnificent pile, without the internal decorations, amounted to
£5,500.

The foundation stone of the Union Baptist Chapel, in Abingdon Street,
was laid on the 9th of April, 1860, and on Good Friday in the following
year it was opened for divine worship by the Rev. Dr. Raffles. The
main building, 80 feet long by 49 feet wide, is of brick, and finished
with moulded and polished stone dressings in the Grecian style of
architecture. The principal or west front is surmounted by a bold cornice
and pediment, and contains the two chief entrances, which are approached
by a long range of steps and a spacious landing. The interior is fitted
with substantial open pews of red pine in the body, and similar seats are
placed in the two end galleries, the whole being capable of providing
accommodation for about 650 persons. The communion floor, under a portion
of which is the Baptistry, is enclosed with an ornamental balustrade.
The edifice is well supplied with light through plain circular-headed
windows. A Sunday school was added in 1874, and an organ also purchased
during that year. From 1858 to the completion of the chapel the Baptists
worshipped in the room formerly used by the Roman Catholics in Talbot
Road.

In 1861, the progress and improvement of the town was well shown by
three events which occurred at that date—the first sod of the Lytham and
Blackpool coast line was cut at Lytham Park, on the 4th of September; a
large Market Hall, raised on South Beach, by Mr. W. Read, for the sale of
useful and fancy articles was completed; and the original Christ Church
was opened on Sunday the 23rd of June, by the Rev. C. H. Wainwright,
M.A. This church, which stood until the erection of the present one,
was built of iron by Mr. Hemming, of London, at a cost of £1,000, which
was advanced by eight gentlemen, who were subsequently reimbursed by
contributions from the public and collections from the congregation at
various times.

The population of Layton-with-Warbreck in 1861 amounted to 3,907 persons,
of which number Blackpool contributed 3,506.

The passenger traffic on the Blackpool and Lytham Railway commenced
on the 6th of April, 1862, and between that date and the 30th of June
over 35,000 persons had taken advantage of the line and been conveyed
between the two watering-places. In 1862 a handsome Police Station and
Court-House sprang into being in Abingdon street, including residences,
lock-ups, offices, magistrates’ room, etc.

The streets of Blackpool no longer presented the meagre and broken lines
of earlier days, but were in most instances well filled on each side with
compact blocks of houses. In December, 1861, a few of the townpeople
assembled at the Clifton Arms Hotel to consider the advisability of
erecting a pier, to extend westward from the promenade opposite Talbot
square; and on the 22nd of January, 1862, the memorandum of association
was signed with a capital of £12,000, being immediately registered.
Plans were examined on the 10th of February, and the design of E. Birch,
esq., C.E., selected, that gentleman being also appointed engineer. In
April, the tender of Messrs. Laidlaw, of Glasgow, to construct the pier
for £11,540 was accepted; and a grant of the foreshore required for the
undertaking having been obtained from the Duchy of Lancaster for £120,
and £7 paid to the Crown for the portion beyond low-water mark, the
first pile of the North Pier was screwed into the marl on the 27th of
June, 1862, by Captain Francis Preston, the chairman of the company. A
violent storm in the ensuing October damaged the works to some extent,
and induced the company to raise the deck of the pier three feet above
the altitude originally proposed, at an expense of £2,000. On the 21st
of May, 1863, the pier was formally opened by Captain Preston, the
auspicious event being celebrated by general rejoicings throughout the
town and a procession of the different schools and friendly societies.
The dimensions of the erection at that date were:—Approach, 80 feet
long; abutment, 120 feet long and 45 feet wide; main portion, 1,070 feet
long and 28 feet wide; and the head, 135 feet long and 55 feet wide,
giving a total length of 1,405 feet available as a promenade. The entire
superstructure was placed upon clusters of iron piles, fixed vertically
into the ground by means of screws, those at the abutment and main body
being wholly of cast, and those at the head partly of cast and partly of
wrought iron. The largest of the cast-iron columns measured 12 inches
in diameter, and 1⅓ inch in thickness, each column being filled in with
concrete. The piles were arranged in clusters at intervals of 60 feet,
and firmly secured together longitudinally, transversely, and diagonally,
by rods and braces. The main girders, of the sort known as plated, were
rivetted on the clusters in lengths of 70 feet, and formed parapets,
presenting a pleasing appearance and constituting a most efficient wind
guard to the pier. The tops of the girders were turned to useful account
by converting them into a continuous line of seats. Next to the chief
girders were fixed transverse wrought iron girders, upon the top of
which the planking of the deck was laid, being arranged in longitudinal
and transverse layers, so that no open spaces were left to admit the
passage of wind or spray. The head of the pier, rectangular in form, was
raised 50 feet above low-water mark, and leading from it to ample landing
stages below, was a flight of steps 10 feet wide. The limits of the pier
shore-wards were defined by ornamental iron gates with lamps, immediately
inside which were the toll houses. Upon the main portion of the pier
were erected several ornamental shelter and refreshment houses of an
octagonal shape, and standing on side projections. Another ornamental
shelter house of much larger dimensions was placed, within a few months,
on the head. Lamps were provided along the entire length of the pier. In
1867 the directors determined to erect an iron extension or jetty, and
in less than two years the work was accomplished at a cost of £6,000.
During the month of May, 1869, a tender for the formation of the present
entrance for £2,700 was accepted, and the agreement promptly carried out
by Messrs. Laidlaw, of Glasgow. In October, 1874, the company arranged
with the same contractors to enlarge the pierhead by putting out two
wings, from the designs of E. Birch, esq., C.E., at an expenditure of
£14,000. On the north wing it is intended to build a pavilion, 130 feet
long by 90 feet wide, in an eastern style of architecture, and estimated
to hold 1,200 persons seated. The edifice, around which there will be a
promenade, is to be supplied with an orchestra, refreshment rooms, etc.,
and used as a concert room and fashionable marine lounge. The south wing,
which is about 130 feet long, contains a bandstand, capable of holding
30 performers, at the further end, and on the east and west side two
other buildings 62 feet by 27 feet each, the former being designed for
the purposes of a restaurant, and the latter for the sale of fancy goods
and other commodities. The unoccupied space, nearly 100 feet by 80 feet,
will be provided with seats in the centre, the remainder serving as a
promenade. The contract for the foregoing erections was let in 1875,
to Messrs. Robert Neill and Sons, of Manchester, for nearly £12,000.
In 1863, the capital of the company was raised to £15,000; in 1864,
to £20,000; in 1865, to £25,000; in 1874, to £40,000; and in 1875, to
£50,000.

About the period when the North Pier was constructed, and for years
previously, the visitors to Blackpool could certainly complain of no lack
of ordinary amusements during their brief residence by the sea. Horses,
donkeys, and vehicles were ever in readiness to administer to their
entertainment, either by conveying them for short drives to explore such
objects of interest as the country afforded, or translating them for the
day to the seaport of Fleetwood, or the neighbouring resort of Lytham.
Bathing machines abounded on the sands, and during suitable states of the
tide were busily engaged in affording ready access to the briny element
to numbers, who were anxious to experience the invigorating effects of
a bath in Neptune’s domain. In the evenings theatrical representations
were frequently held, since 1861, in the spacious room of Read’s Market.
The Crystal Palace, formerly the Victoria Promenade, was also devoted
to similar purposes, having long been diverted from the use for which
it was first intended. The Number 3 Hotel, under its old name, but in a
more modern building than that described by Mr. Hutton at the close of
last century, still flourished, and proved equally attractive, not so
much, however, on account of its “fine ale” as the wealth of strawberries
and floral beauties adorning its gardens. Carleton Terrace was built in
1863; and on the 10th of March in that year the marriage of the Prince
of Wales and the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, was celebrated with
many manifestations of loyalty and joy. Flags, banners, and ensigns
were suspended from the windows of almost every house, whilst sports of
various kinds were held on the sands during the morning, after which
the school children, belonging to the different denominations, and a
body of Oddfellows, amounting in all to 900 persons, assembled in Talbot
Square, and sang the national anthem, previous to forming a procession
and parading the streets of the town. Subsequently the children were
regaled with tea, buns, etc. The Preston Banking Company established a
branch at Blackpool during 1863; and in the month of January a party
of gentlemen purchased the whole of the land lying between the site
of Carleton terrace and the Gynn, for the purpose of laying it out in
building plots and promenades, the main feature to be a large central
hotel standing in its own grounds. The contracts were let by the company
in October, 1863, for embanking, sewering, and forming the necessary
roads and promenades on their estate, and shortly afterwards an agreement
was entered into for preparing the foundation of the hotel, the work in
both instances being promptly commenced. The magnitude of the scheme
far exceeded that of any undertaking which had ever yet been attempted
in Blackpool, but undisturbed by the speculative character of their
venture the proprietors carried the enterprise through its various phases
with a liberal and vigorous hand, succeeding in the course of time in
creating an acquisition of incalculable beauty and benefit to the town.
The Imperial Hotel has its station on the highest point of the land, now
called Claremont Park, and is a palatial edifice, surrounded by elegant
lawns and walks, walled off from the park outside. In 1876 an extensive
enlargement, consisting of a south wing, containing 39 bedrooms and 6
sitting-rooms, was made to the establishment. The cliffs fronting the
estate, formerly rugged and uneven, were sloped and pitched to form a
protection from the inroads of the tide, whilst a broad marine promenade
was made along the whole length of the park, about a mile, and fenced
with an iron railing on its open aspect. The main promenade of the town
was continued round the west side of the park as far as the Gynn, but on
a lower level than the walk just indicated. Shrubs were planted and toll
houses, with gates, fixed at the entrances to the estate, all of which
was enclosed with railings. The splendid residences denominated Stanley
Villas, Wilton Parade, Imperial Terrace, and Lansdowne Crescent were
not dilatory in rearing their several heads in a locality so congenial
to their aristocratic proclivities, the foundations of the last being
prepared in 1864.

In 1864 the Lane Ends Hotel was levelled to the ground, and the present
handsome structure, in the Italian style of architecture, raised on the
site, being re-opened again two years later. The foundation stone of the
United Methodist Free Church was laid in Adelaide Street on the 30th of
March, in the year specified, by James Sidebottom, esq., of Manchester,
service being held in the building in the course of a few months; whilst
the newly-arrived lifeboat was launched, and the first supply of the
Fylde Waterworks Company passed through their pipes to Blackpool on the
20th of July. The station of the lifeboat, named the “Robert William,” is
situated near the beach at South Shore, close to the Manchester Hotel;
and here we may mention that this boat, under the skilful and intrepid
management of its crew and coxswain, has been instrumental on several
occasions in affording aid in time of shipwreck. Amongst these instances
may be noted the rescue of a crew of fourteen persons belonging to the
barque “Susan L. Campbell,” wrecked on Salthouse Bank on the 11th April,
1867, assistance being rendered also to the barque “A. L. Routh”; and the
rescue of the crew of the schooner “Glyde,” stranded on the South Beach
on the same eventful morning. The annual expense incurred in the support
of this valuable institution is defrayed by voluntary contributions.

The unflagging efforts of the inhabitants to promote the comfort of
their visitors in matters of household convenience and accommodation,
and to render their sojourns by the shore productive of pleasurable, as
well as healthful, sensations, were manifestly well appreciated by those
for whose benefit they were intended. The daily crowds parading the
recently-erected pier were satisfactory evidence of the high estimation
in which that elegant addition to the attractions of the place was held,
whilst the thronged thoroughfares during the heat of summer bore witness
to the growing affection which Blackpool was gaining for itself in the
hearts of the million. Active exertions were necessary on the part of the
builders to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for more extended
residential provision, houses being scarcely completed before the eager
tenants had established themselves in their new domiciles. The greater
portion of the Clifton Arms Hotel was pulled down in the autumn of 1865,
and rebuilt on an enlarged and improved scale, being finished and ready
for occupation in the ensuing spring. On the 20th of June, 1865, the
first members of the Blackpool Volunteer Artillery Corps, amounting to
about 60 men, took the oath customary on enrolment, and at the same
meeting appointed their officers. Ten years later a commodious drill-shed
was erected for their use.

In 1866 the temporary iron church, to which allusion has been made in
a late page, was superseded by the existing substantial one in Queen
Street, bearing the name of its predecessor. The edifice was opened for
divine service on Thursday, the 3rd of May, by the Rev. E. B. Chalmers,
M.A., of Salford, but was not consecrated until 1870. The architecture
is an early and simple style of decorated Gothic, with thick walls and
prominently projecting buttresses. The east and west ends are lighted
respectively by four and five-light traceried windows and lancets. The
steeple, which is well buttressed, has in its upper stage a belfry for
six bells, and is surmounted by a vane. Until recent additions were made,
the church contained sittings for 1,000 persons. The building originally
comprised a broad nave, with a central aisle and two side passages giving
access to the seats, all of which were open benches with sloping backs;
north and south transepts with galleries, lighted by bay windows; a
spacious chancel, with north and south aisles, the former being fitted up
as a vestry, and the latter used as the organ-chamber; a spacious porch
at the west end, with a wide double door; a west gallery extending over
the porch, and approached by a staircase along the basement of the tower;
and a baptistry covered with a separate hipped roof. The alterations
just alluded to were carried out in 1874, and consisted of the erection
of north and south aisles to the nave, providing accommodation for about
300 more worshippers. The district assigned to Christ Church in 1872 was
converted into a parish in 1874, and the title of vicar given to the
incumbent. The Rev. C. H. Wainwright, M.A., to whose exertions the new
structure mainly owes its existence, was the first incumbent, and is the
present vicar. The schools connected with the church are situated in
Queen Street, and were built in 1872.

During the year 1866 the Lancaster Banking Company and the Manchester and
County Banking Company each opened a branch in Blackpool, and like the
Preston Bank, previously referred to, now transact business daily.

In July, 1867, the Prince of Wales Arcade on Central Beach was finished
and opened, comprising a block of building, with extensive market
accommodation, assembly rooms, etc., erected on the site between
the Beach and Royal Hotels in an imposing and ornamental style of
architecture; and on the 19th of December, the corner stone of the
Temperance Hall in Coronation Street was laid by the Rev. R. Crook,
and in the following July the erection was completed and opened. The
temperance movement had been commenced in Blackpool four years anterior
to that date, when a Band of Hope in connection with the United Methodist
Free Church was formed, and the number of its members increased so
rapidly in the intervening time that it was considered advisable to build
the present Hall for their meetings, and for those of others who were
interested in the same cause.

The marked success which had attended the construction of the North Pier
induced a company of gentlemen to erect a similar one, running seaward
from the margin of the promenade at the south of Blackpool. The first
pile was screwed in July, 1867, and on the 30th of May, 1868, the South
Pier and Jetty were thrown open to the public without any inaugural
ceremony. It is built of wrought iron and timber, and has the following
dimensions:—Total length 1,518 feet, the main promenade being 1,118
feet, and the lower promenade or jetty 400 feet; the entrance is on an
abutment 60 feet wide, where there are gates, toll-houses, waiting and
retiring-rooms; the pier head is rectangular in form, and composed of
strong timber, containing an area of 8,120 superficial feet. The chief
promenade is furnished with seats on each side throughout its whole
length, together with twelve recesses, on which are shops for the sale
of fancy articles and refreshments. On the head of the pier are placed
two large waiting and refreshment rooms, as well as a commodious shelter
and wind guard. At the extremity of the jetty is a beacon and light as
required by the authorities at Trinity House.

In 1868 a magnificent pile of buildings, erected in Talbot Square, and
called the Arcade and Assembly Rooms, was completed. This structure
contains a basement and arcade of very elegant shops, a restaurant,
refreshment and billiard rooms, together with a handsome and spacious
saloon, surrounded within by a gallery, and furnished with a neat stage
for theatrical representations and other entertainments. Several sleeping
apartments were added in 1874, and a certain section of the edifice
arranged as a private hotel.

The promenade had always been esteemed so much the property of the house
and land owners on the front of the beach that to them was delegated
the onerous duty of maintaining in repair such portions of the hulking
as ran before each of their possessions, the walk itself being kept
in order and supported by subscriptions amongst the visitors and
residents generally. Under this arrangement although the embankment was
ensured from being carried away by the waves, there was no certainty
that its upper surface would invariably present that neat and finished
appearance so necessary to the success of a marine promenade. Voluntary
contributions are in most instances but a precarious support on which
to rely exclusively, and at Blackpool their unfortunate characteristic
was prominently exemplified, more particularly during the earlier years
of the watering-place, when visitors, whom the summer had drawn to the
coast, too frequently discovered their favourite lounge in a state far
from attractive to the pedestrian. Recently there had been comparatively
little cause for complaint as to the condition in which each opening
season found the promenade, but it was felt on all sides that the day had
arrived when a new and much more extensive walk should be laid out, and
that the responsibility of maintaining both it and the fence in proper
order should devolve upon the town, from the funds, or rather borrowing
powers, of which it was proposed to carry out the undertaking. In 1865 a
special act of parliament had been obtained with this object by the Local
Board of Health, at a cost of £2,159, by which permission to borrow up
to £30,000 was granted, but no active steps were then taken, and three
years later a supplemental act was procured to borrow up to an amount
which, when added to the amount already in hand under the former act,
would not exceed altogether two years’ assessable value, the whole to
be repaid within a period of fifty years from the date of receiving the
loan. There were other difficulties to encounter, notwithstanding that
the Board had the power of compulsory purchased granted, in the buying of
land to prosecute the purpose of the act. These were ultimately overcome
by arbitration in cases where disputes had arisen. A supplemental act
in 1867 allowed the board to amend and curtail several clauses in the
original act, the first of which was to abridge the dimensions of the
proposed work, the second to empower the levying of rates according to
the act of 1865 on the completion of each section of the undertaking,
and the third to extend the time for the compulsory purchase of land
from three to five years. According to the act the commissioners gained
a right to collect tolls for the usage of the promenade from all persons
not assessed or liable to be assessed by any rate leviable by the Local
Board of Health, with the exception of those crossing to the piers. This
power, it may be stated, was not intended to be, and never has been, put
in force. The promenade proposed to be made would reach from Carleton
Terrace to the further end of South Shore, a distance of about two miles;
and the work was divided into three sections, the first of which, begun
in 1868, was let to Mr. Robert Carlisle, contractor, for £16,043, and
extended from South Shore to the Fox Hall Hotel. The storm which occurred
on January 31st, 1869, washed away 350 yards of the newly-constructed sea
fence and carriage-drive, with about 16,000 cubic yards of embankment,
and about 6,000 square yards of pitching. Another storm which took place
on the 28th of February, added considerably to the damage just stated,
by tearing down a length of 250 yards, which was entirely completed, so
that the total injury inflicted by the waves during the gale represented
600 lineal yards of sea fence, carriage-drive, and promenade, comprising
21,000 cubic yards of embankment, all of which had to be replaced from
the shore at a considerable expense, in addition to 9,500 square yards
of pitching, etc., connected therewith. No. 2 section, running from
the Fox Hall Hotel to the New Inn, was contracted for by a Manchester
gentleman at £3,964, but in consequence of his not being able to carry
out the work, it was re-let, and Mr. Chatburn succeeded him on the
increased terms of £4,942. No. 3 section, stretching from the New Inn
to the southern extremity of Carleton Terrace, was also constructed by
Mr. Robert Carlisle, at a cost of £10,356. The whole of the ironwork was
supplied by Mr. Clayton, of Preston, and necessitated an expenditure of
£3,275. The sea fence consists of a sloping breastwork, pitched with
stones on a thick bed of clay puddle, the interstices between the stones
having been filled in with asphalt or cement concrete. The slope is
curvilinear, and one in four on an average. Next to the breast is the
promenade and carriage-drive. The promenade is seven yards wide, and has
an even surface of asphalting, being separated from the carriage-drive
by a line of side stones. In order to obtain space between the houses
and the sea for the promenade and carriage-drive, a part of the shore
was regained by an embankment along South Shore, and along the northern
district by an iron viaduct, which projects considerably over the sea
fence, and encircles the marine aspect of Bailey’s Hotel. The floor
of the viaduct is formed with patent buckled plates, filled in with
concrete, and finished with asphalt. The plates are fixed to rolled
joists, and supported on neat cast-iron columns, screwed down into the
solid. The west front of the promenade is guarded by an iron railing, and
furnished at intervals with seats of the same material, situated on the
embankment to the south, and on projecting ledges of the viaduct along
the northern length. The carriage-drive, twelve yards wide, runs parallel
with the promenade throughout the entire extent, and is formed of
shingle, clay, and macadam. It has a footway along the frontages of the
adjoining property, the whole being well drained and lighted with gas.
The complete structure was finished and formally opened to the public on
Easter Monday, 18th of April, 1870, by Colonel Wilson-Patten, M.P., the
present Lord Winmarleigh. The town was profusely decorated with bunting
of every hue; triumphal arches of evergreens and ensigns spanned many of
the thoroughfares, notably Talbot Road and along the front; whilst an
immense procession, consisting of the Artillery Volunteers, Yeomanry in
uniform, trades with their emblems, friendly societies, schools, etc.,
headed by a band, and comprising in its ranks no less than twelve mayors
from important towns of Lancashire, conducted Colonel Wilson-Patten to
that portion of the promenade opposite Talbot Square, where the ceremony
of declaring the walk accessible for public traffic was gone through.
During the evening the watering-place was illuminated, and the eventful
day closed with a large ball, held in honour of the occasion.

The wisdom of the authorities in having Blackpool provided with a marine
promenade and a frontage unrivalled by any on the coasts of England was
soon evinced by the increase in the stream of visitors poured into the
place during the summer months. Fresh houses for their accommodation
were being rapidly erected in many parts of the town, and everywhere
there were ample evidences that prosperity was dealing liberally with the
town. The wooden railings, which heretofore had been deemed sufficiently
ornamental fences for the residences facing the sea, were removed, and
elegant iron ones substituted, apportioning to each habitation its own
plot of sward or garden. The proprietor of Bailey’s Hotel hastened to
follow the example which had been set by those who were interested in the
Clifton Arms and Lane Ends Hotels, and commenced a series of levellings
and rebuildings, under the superintendence and according to the designs
of Messrs. Speakman and Charlesworth, architects, of Manchester, which
extended over several years, and have now rendered the hotel one of
the most imposing and handsome edifices in the watering-place. Further
alterations, consisting in the erection of shops on a vacant piece
of land lying on the north side of the hotel, in the same style of
architecture, and continuous with it, were carried out in 1876.

In 1871 a project was launched for purchasing Raikes Hall with the
estate belonging thereto, situated on the east aspect of Blackpool, and
converting the latter into a park and pleasure gardens. In that year a
company was formed, entitled the Raikes Hall Park, Gardens, and Aquarium
Company, and the land obtained without delay. Vigorous operations were
at once commenced to render the grounds of the old mansion suitable for
the purposes held in view, whilst the building itself speedily underwent
sundry alterations and additions in its transformation into a refreshment
house on a large scale. A spacious terrace, walks, promenades, and flower
beds were laid out, and an extensive conservatory constructed with all
haste, and in the summer after gaining possession of the estate, the
works had so far progressed that the public were admitted at a small
charge per head. Since that date a dancing platform has been put down,
an immense pavillion erected, and many other changes effected in the
wide enclosure. Pyrotechnic displays, acrobatic performances, etc., are
held in the gardens, which comprise about 40 statute acres, during the
season, whilst agricultural shows and other meetings occasionally take
place within its boundaries. An extensive lake was formed in 1875, and
an excellent race-course marked out. Raikes Hall has a brief history of
its own, and was erected about the middle of the eighteenth century by
a Mr. Butcher, who resided there. Tradition affirms that this gentleman
sprang suddenly into an ample fortune from a station of obscurity and
poverty, giving rise to a supposition that he had appropriated to his own
uses a large mass of wealth asserted to have been lost at that time in a
vessel wrecked on the coast. It is probable, however, that the foregoing
is merely an idle tale, utterly unworthy of credence. Mr. Butcher, who
was succeeded by his son, died in 1769, at the ripe age of 80, and was
interred in Bispham churchyard, the following words being inscribed on
his tombstone:—

  “His pleasure was to give or lend,
  He always stood a poor man’s friend.”

The mansion and estate were purchased by William Hornby, esq., of
Kirkham, shortly before his death in 1824, and by him bequeathed to his
brother John Hornby, esq., of Blackburn, who married Alice Kendall, a
widow, and the daughter of Daniel Backhouse, esq., of Liverpool. Daniel
Hornby, esq., the eldest son of that union, inherited the property on the
decease of his father in 1841, and took up his abode at the Hall until
the early part of 1860, when he left the neighbourhood. Raikes Hall then
became the seat of a Roman Catholic Convent School, which continued in
possession for several years, until the new and handsome edifice standing
on a rising ground in Little Layton was erected and ready for its
reception. Shortly after the removal of the school the land and residence
were purchased by the company above named, and their aspects began to
undergo the changes already indicated. The census returns of the township
collected in 1871, furnished a total of 7,902 persons, all of whom, with
the exception of an insignificant proportion, were resident in Blackpool.

In consequence of a letter from the Secretary of State, giving notice
that the burial ground in connection with St. John’s Church must be
closed after the 31st of December, 1871, the responsibility of providing
a suitable place for interments was thrown upon the authorities, and the
members of the Local Board of Health formed themselves into a Burial
Board, their first meeting being held on the 20th of June in the year
just specified. A committee was appointed, and in the ensuing August
purchased for £1,759 an eligible site of 8½ acres, lying by the side of
the New Road, into which the entrance gates of the cemetery now open.
The plans for the requisite erections were prepared by Messrs. Garlick,
Park, and Sykes, architects, of Preston, and the work of preparing the
ground commenced in October, the contract for the chapels and lodge being
let in December. As such a brief interval had to elapse before the order
for closing the churchyard would be put in force, the Board applied,
successfully, for permission to keep it open six months longer. The
cemetery, however, progressed so tardily that it was necessary to renew
the application on two future occasions, and the churchyard continued
in use until the 31st of May, 1873. Five acres of the land were laid
out from plans supplied by Mr. Gorst, surveyor to the board, and were
divided into nine sections, four of which were apportioned to the Church
of England, three to the Nonconformists, and two to the Roman Catholics.
The cemetery was enclosed from the highway by stone palisadings and
boundary walls, having massive iron railings. The approach to the grounds
is through a spacious entrance, with a double iron gate in the centre,
and a single gate on either side, hung to stone pillars. Inside the
gate is the lodge, built of stone and comprising a residence for the
keeper, offices, etc. The mortuary chapels, which are all of stone, have
an elegant appearance, that of the Church of England being stationed in
the middle, with the Nonconformists’ and Roman Catholics’ edifices lying
respectively west and east of it. The style of the buildings is Gothic
of the first pointed period. The roofs are open-timbered, high-pitched,
and covered with Welsh slates in bands of different colours, being
also crested with tiles. Entrance to the chapels is gained by a porch,
and there is a vestry attached to each. The floors are laid with plain
tiles of various tints. Evergreens, shrubs, and forest trees have been
planted on the borders of the grounds, whilst the walks are wide and
well cared for. The Nonconformists were the first to take possession of
their portion, which was dedicated to its solemn uses by a service held
on the 7th of February, 1873, exactly one week after which an interment
took place, being the earliest not only in their land but in the whole
ground. On the 2nd of August in the same year the Right Rev. Dr. Fraser,
bishop of Manchester, consecrated the division set apart for the Church
of England, which had been licensed for burials in the previous May. The
Roman Catholics deferred their ceremonial until the month of June, 1874,
acting under license during the interval.

On the 26th of August, 1872, the Blackpool Sea Water Company was
registered under the limited liability act, with a capital of £10,000,
in shares of £10 each, for the purpose of supplying water from the deep,
together with the requisite appliances for conducting it to the houses
and elsewhere, to the inhabitants of Blackpool; and rather more than
two years later a main of pipes had been laid along the front from the
Merchants’ College in South Shore as far as their steam pumping works in
Upper Braithwaite Street.

In 1874 the watering-place had developed so rapidly during past years
that the members of the Local Board of Health felt that the powers
appertaining to a body of that description were no longer adequate to
the proper government of the town, and a public meeting to ascertain the
opinion of the ratepayers on the subject of incorporation was called
on Tuesday, the 6th of November, 1874. After considerable discussion,
it was proposed by the Rev. N. S. Jeffreys: “That a petition be drawn
up and signed by the chairman on behalf of the meeting, praying that
a Charter of Incorporation be granted for the town of Blackpool, and
that the same be forwarded to the proper authorities; and that the
necessary steps be taken to obtain such Charter.” The proposition was
adopted without a dissentient; and at the ensuing assembly of the Local
Board of Health on Tuesday, the 10th of November, a similar motion was
brought forward by W. H. Cocker, esq., J.P., with an equally successful
result. The prayers were forwarded to the appropriate official quarters
in London, and on the 26th of May, 1875, Major Donnelly, R.E., the
commissioner appointed by Her Majesty’s Privy Council, attended at
the Board-room to hold an inquiry as to whether the importance and
necessities of the place warranted a favourable answer to the request.
In the course of the examination, it was stated, amongst other things,
that the rateable value of the proposed borough was in 1863, £17,489;
1866, £35,175; 1869, £45,755; 1872, £55,653; 1874, £63,848; and in 1875,
£73,035. Also that the town contained three churches, seven chapels,
three rooms used for religious services, two markets under the Local
Board, other markets owned by private individuals, four public sea-water
baths, three banks, an aquarium, public gardens, etc. On the 16th of the
following July information was officially conveyed to W. M. Charnley,
esq., the law-clerk of the board, that the lords of the Privy Council
had determined to accede to the prayer of the town, and that the borough
should consist of six wards, with one alderman and three councillors
for each. A draft of the scheme of incorporation was prepared by the
law-clerk, and forwarded to London. On the 22nd January, 1876, the
charter, having passed through the necessary forms, obtained the royal
assent, being received by W. M. Charnley, esq., two days later. The
document, after quoting several acts of parliament, proceeds to “grant
and declare that the inhabitants of the town of Blackpool and their
successors, shall be for ever hereafter one body politic and corporate in
deed, fact, and name, and that the said body corporate shall be called
the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Borough of Blackpool, who
shall have and exercise all the acts, powers, authorities, immunities,
and privileges which are now held and exercised by the bodies corporate
of the several boroughs” similarly created. Further, the deed “grants
and declares that the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses and their
successors shall and may for ever hereafter use a common seal to serve
them in transacting their business, and also have armorial bearings
and devices, which shall be duly entered and enrolled in the Herald’s
College;” also shall they have power “to purchase, take, and acquire
such lands, tenements, and heriditaments, whatsoever, situate, lying,
and being within the borough, as shall be necessary for the site of
the buildings and premises required for the official purposes of the
corporation.” The Council was ordained to consist of “a Mayor, six
Aldermen, and eighteen Councillors, to be respectively elected at such
times and places, and in such manner” as those of other boroughs existing
under the same acts, in common with which they “shall have, exercise, and
enjoy all the powers, immunities, and privileges, and be subject to the
same duties, penalties, liabilities, and disqualifications” appertaining
to such positions. The first election of councillors was directed to
be held on the eleventh day of April, 1876, followed by another on the
1st of November, at which latter date one-third part of the councillors
should go out of office each year, and the vacant seats be refilled as
specified; the councillors to retire in the November, 1876, being those
who had obtained the smallest number of votes, and in November, 1877,
those with the next smallest number of votes. The first aldermen of the
borough “shall be elected and assigned to their respective wards on the
19th day of April, 1876, and the councillors immediately afterwards shall
appoint who shall be the aldermen to go out of office upon the 9th day
of November ensuing,” and in subsequent years those so retiring to be
aldermen who have retained their seats for the longest period without
re-election. The first mayor of the borough “shall be elected from and
out of the aldermen and councillors of the said borough, on the 19th day
of April, 1876,” the earliest appointment of auditors and assessors being
made on the 19th day of the following month. The subjoined extent and
names of the wards are also taken from the charter:—

  CLAREMONT WARD.

  “Commencing at the Sea beyond the Gynn, at the junction of the
  old existing township boundary, thence running inland along the
  same boundary across the fields, across Knowle-road, behind
  Warbrick and Mill Inn, across Poulton-road to the centre of the
  Dyke at Little Layton, thence along the Dyke to the centre of
  Little Layton Bridge, thence westward along and including the
  north side of Little Layton-road, north side of New-road, north
  side of Talbot-road, to Station-road, thence along and including
  the east side of Station-road to Queen-street, thence along and
  including the north side of Queen-street, Queen’s-square, across
  the Promenade to the sea.

  TALBOT WARD.

  “Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of Queen’s-square,
  thence along and including the south side of Queen’s-square,
  south side of Queen-street to Station-road, thence running along
  and including the west side of Station-road to Talbot-road,
  thence along and including the south side of the upper portion
  of Talbot-road, south side of New-road, the south side of Little
  Layton-road to the centre of Little Layton Bridge, thence along
  the Dyke to the old township boundary, thence south-east by the
  township boundary to the centre of Dykes-lane, thence westward
  along and including the north side of Dykes-lane, the north side
  of Layton-road, the north side of Raikes-road, the north side of
  Raikes Hill, the north side of Church-street to Abingdon-street,
  thence along and including the east side of Abingdon-street
  to Birley-street, thence along and including the north side
  of Birley-street, the north side of West-street, across the
  Promenade to the Sea.

  BANK HEY WARD.

  “Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of West-street, thence
  along and including the south side of West-street, the south side
  of Birley-street to Abingdon-street, thence along and including
  the west side of Abingdon-street to Church-street, thence
  along and including the south side of Church-street to Lower
  King-street, thence along and including the west side of Lower
  King-street to Adelaide-street, thence along and including the
  north side of Adelaide-street, the north side of Adelaide-place,
  across the Promenade to the Sea.

  BRUNSWICK WARD.

  “Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of Adelaide-place,
  thence along and including the south side of Adelaide-place,
  the south side of Adelaide-street to Lower King-street, thence
  along and including the east side of Lower King-street to
  Church-street, thence along and including the south side of
  Church-street, the south side of Raikes Hill, the south side
  of Raikes-road, the south side of Layton-road, the south side
  of Dykes-lane to the existing township boundary, thence along
  the same boundary beyond the Whinney Heys, around the Belle
  Vue Gardens, southward of Raikes Hall Gardens to the centre
  of Revoe-road, thence along and including the north side of
  Revoe-road, the north side of Chapel-street, across the Promenade
  to the Sea.

  FOXHALL WARD.

  “Commencing at the Sea opposite to the end of Chapel-street,
  thence along and including the south side of Chapel-street, the
  south side of Revoe-road to the existing township boundary,
  thence south-westerly, and thence south-easterly along the
  same boundary to the centre of Cow Gap-lane, thence west along
  and including the north side of Cow Gap-lane to Lytham-road,
  thence along and including the east side of Lytham-road to
  Alexandra-road, thence along and including the north side of
  Alexandra-road, across the Promenade to the Sea.

  WATERLOO WARD.

  “Commencing at the Sea opposite the centre of Alexandra-road,
  thence along and including the south side of Alexandra-road
  to Lytham-road, thence along and including the west side of
  Lytham-road to Cow Gap-lane, thence eastward, along and including
  the south side of Cow Gap-lane to the existing township boundary,
  thence south-easterly, along the same boundary on the easterly
  side of Hawes Side-road, the north side of Layton-lane, across
  the Blackpool and Lytham Railway to the Sea at Star Hills.”

The election of councillors took place at the date specified in the
charter, under the superintendence of Mr. William Porter, of Fleetwood
and Blackpool, who had been nominated by the authorities of the town as
returning officer. On the 19th of April the gentlemen elected assembled
in the old board-room and appointed aldermen and a mayor from amongst
themselves, the vacancies thus created being supplied by another appeal
to the burgesses of those wards whose representatives had been elevated
to the aldermanic bench. The first completed town council of Blackpool
consisted of—

  Alderman    William Henry Cocker (the mayor)    Bank Hey Ward.
      ”       Thomas McNaughtan, M.D.             Claremont ”
      ”       Thomas Lambert Masheter             Talbot    ”
      ”       John Hardman                        Foxhall   ”
      ”       Francis Parnell                     Waterloo  ”
      ”       J. E. B. Cocker                     Brunswick ”
  Councillor  John Braithwaite                  ⎫
      ”       William Bailey                    ⎬ Claremont ”
      ”       Leslie Jones, M.D.                ⎭
      ”       T. Challinor                      ⎫
      ”       R. Marshall                       ⎬ Talbot    ”
      ”       John Fisher                       ⎭
      ”       John Coulson                      ⎫
      ”       George Ormrod                     ⎬ Bank Hey  ”
      ”       Henry Fisher                      ⎭
      ”       George Bonny                      ⎫
      ”       Robert Mather                     ⎬ Brunswick ”
      ”       John William Mycock               ⎭
      ”       James Blundell Fisher             ⎫
      ”       Alfred Anderson                   ⎬ Foxhall   ”
      ”       Robert Bickerstaffe, jun.         ⎭
      ”       Francis Parnell                   ⎫
      ”       Richard Gorst                     ⎬ Waterloo  ”
      ”       Lawrence Hall                     ⎭
          William Mawdsley Charnley, esq., solicitor, town-clerk.

From the time when the subject of incorporation was first beginning to
dawn upon the inhabitants as something to which the rapid extension
and growing importance of their town was tending with no tardy pace,
up to the present year of 1876, buildings have increased at a rate
unparalleled in any former period of Blackpool’s history. No longer
solitary erections, or even small groups, but whole streets have been
added to the expanding area of the place, consisting of handsome and
spacious edifices, of, indeed, notwithstanding their being situated to
the rear, exteriors which would, not many years ago, have been deemed
highly ornamental to the beach itself. In 1874 the south section of the
noble market-hall, on Hygiene Terrace, was being arranged and fitted
up with roomy tanks to form an aquarium on a fairly large scale by W.
H. Cocker, Esq., J.P., who had recently acquired the proprietorship of
the entire pile. The open space in front of the building was fenced in,
and furnished with three tanks for seals, and other novel features to
render it attractive and pleasing. The walls of the interior were adorned
with landscapes in the spacious saloon, where the main tank, divided
into numerous compartments, each being supplied with a variety of fish
differing from its neighbours, occupies a central position. Subsidiary
tanks, filled with curious specimens of animated nature from the “vasty
deep,” stand in the entrance hall and recesses. The aquarium was opened
to the public on the 17th of May, in the ensuing year.

On the 22nd of May, 1875, the foundation stone of a Primitive Methodist
chapel was laid in Chapel Street by Mr. J. Fairhurst, of Wigan.
Heretofore the members of that sect had met for religious purposes in a
mission room located in Foxhall Road. The earliest service in the new
chapel was conducted by the resident minister, the Rev. E. Newsome, on
Sunday, the 29th of the following August. The Unitarians have a chapel
in Bank Street, which was formally opened by the Rev. J. R. Smith, of
Hyde, also in August, 1875. During the same month a number of influential
gentlemen purchased the estate of Bank Hey from W. H. Cocker, esq., J.P.,
for £23,000, with the intention of converting it into Winter Gardens.
Possession was gained, according to agreement, on the 1st of October. The
design of the company is to place on the land a concert room, promenades,
conservatories, and other accessories calculated to convert the estate
into a pleasant lounge, especially desirous during inclement days.

Although South Shore is now intimately connected and associated with
Blackpool as one town, there was a period, and not a very remote one,
when it flourished as a separate and distinct hamlet, widely divided
from its more imposing neighbour. The first house of South Shore was
erected in 1819 by Mr. Thomas Moore, who speedily added about ten more
to the solitary edifice. The growth of the village in earlier years was
not characterised by any great rapidity, and in 1830 the whole of the
buildings comprised no more than a thin row of respectable cottages
overlooking the sea, with a lawn or promenade in front. In 1836 a church
was built, partly by subscription and partly from Queen Anne’s Bounty,
and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Twenty-two years afterwards, owing to
the development of South Shore through the number of regular visitants
who preferred the quietude of its beach to the greater animation which
prevailed at Blackpool, the building was enlarged by the erection of
transepts and a new chancel, alterations which supplied further sitting
room for about 380 worshippers. The church is of brick, and contains a
handsome stained-glass east window, representing the baptism of Christ
by St. John the Baptist, another ornamental window being inserted in
the south wall. The mural tablets are in memory of William Wilkinson,
“who for twenty-five years was an indefatigable teacher in the Sunday
Schools of Marton and South Shore,—he served his country in the battles
of Talavera, Busaco, Albuera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nive, Nivelle, and
Toulouse,” died 11th September, 1853, aged 66 years; and of James
Metcalf, “curate of South Shore, who departed this life July 24th, 1875,
aged 42 years, and was interred at the Parish Church of Bolton-le-Sands.”
The font is of grey stone, massive and carved. The first organ obtained
by the congregation was purchased in 1847. In 1872 a tasteful lectern
was forwarded to the church by the Rev. J. B. Wakefield, to whom it had
been presented by his parishioners, as a token of esteem, about the close
of his ministry amongst them in 1870. The burial ground encircling the
church of Holy Trinity contains no monuments of special interest, if we
except a stone pedestal, surmounted by a broken column, erected by public
subscription to the memories of three fishermen, drowned off Cross-slack,
whilst following their avocation on the 11th of October, 1860.

  PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF HOLY TRINITY.

  ------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------
    Date of   |      NAME.       |   On whose       |Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                  |  Presentation.   |
  ------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------
     1837     |G. F. Greene, M.A.|J. Talbot Clifton,|
              |                  |  esq.            |
     1841     |John Edwards      |Ditto             |Resignation of
              |                  |                  |  G. F. Greene
     1845     |C. K. Dean        |Ditto             |Resignation of
              |                  |                  |  J. Edwards
     1848     |T. B. Banner, M.A.|Ditto             |Resignation of
              |                  |                  |  C. K. Dean
     1853     |J. B. Wakefield   |Ditto             |Resignation of
              |                  |                  |  T. B. Banner
     1870     |J. Ford Simmons,  |Ditto             |Resignation of
              |  M.A.            |                  |  J. B. Wakefield
  ------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------

There is now an ecclesiastical parochial district attached to the church,
of which the incumbent is the vicar.

On Thursday, the 24th of March, 1869, the corner stone of a Wesleyan
chapel in Rawcliffe Street, built at the sole expense of Francis Parnell,
esq., of South Shore, who subsequently added the schools, was laid by
Mrs. Parnell, wife of the donor. For four or five years the members
of this denomination had met on the Sabbath in a small room in Bolton
Street, originally designed for a coach-house, and the necessity for
more suitable and extended accommodation through growing numbers had of
late pressed urgently upon the limited and not over wealthy assembly, so
that the generous offer of their townsman was gratefully appreciated.
The structure is in the Gothic style of architecture, about fifty feet
in length and forty feet in width, with brick walls and stone facings,
and will contain upwards of three hundred persons. Service was first
held in the new place of worship, styled the Ebenezer Wesleyan Chapel,
on Thursday, the 2nd of September, 1869, the officiating minister being
the Rev. W. H. Taylor, of Manchester. The room in Bolton Street was
subsequently converted into a Temperance Hall, and remained in that
capacity until the 30th of March, 1873, when it was appropriated as a
meeting-house by the Baptist sect. The progress of South Shore has not
until the last two or three years been marked by that wonderful rapidity
which has already been noticed whilst delineating the prosperous career
of Blackpool. Nevertheless a steadily-increasing patronage was always
extended to the milder climate of the village under consideration, from
its earliest existence. Terraces of pretty and commodious residences
arose at intervals along the marine frontage, whilst elegant villas
have been erected both opposite the sea and nearer to the Lytham
Road. Building is at present (1876) being pushed forward with great
activity, houses springing up in endless succession along the sides of
thoroughfares but recently mapped out.




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XII.

THE PARISH OF KIRKHAM.


KIRKHAM. The township of Kirkham was probably the earliest inhabited
locality in the Fylde district; and although it is impossible to assert
that the very site of the present town was a spot fixed upon by the
Romans for erecting their habitations, still as the road formed by those
people passed over it, and many remnants of their domestic utensils,
funereal urns, and other relics have been discovered in the surrounding
soil, there is strong presumptive evidence that an ancient settlement
was at least close at hand. Amongst the traces of the old warriors
disinterred in this neighbourhood may be mentioned a large quantity of
stones prepared for building purposes, and numerous fragments of urns,
ploughed up about half a mile from Kirkham. The Mill Hill Field has
also disclosed frequent witnesses to the former presence of the Romans,
notably abundant specimens of their pottery and coinage, but perhaps the
greatest curiosity found in the vicinity is the boss or umbo of a shield,
wrought in brass, which was removed from a brook in the field specified
during the year 1792. In form the shield is somewhat oval, having its
central portion semi-globular, whilst the outer rim is flat. The entire
diameter is about eight inches, of which the embossment supplies five.
The horizontal and encircling part is perforated in four separate places,
apparently for the passage of thongs or rivets. The highest surface of
the boss holds the representation of a human figure seated, with an eagle
to the left, the sides being adorned with an athlete respectively.
Birds, swords, diminutive shields, etc., complete the decorations.

From the year 418, when the Romans vacated the island, up to the
compilation of the Domesday Book by William the Conqueror in 1080-86, a
period of over six and a half centuries, history preserves no record of
any matter or event directly connected with the town, as distinct from
the Hundred in which it is situated. Nevertheless it is obvious that
Kirkham must have sprung into being some time during that protracted
era, insomuch as it appears amongst the places existing in Amounderness
in the Norman survey just indicated. The name is a compound derived from
the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, and although the syllable “Kirk,” coming from
the latter, and signifying a church, could not have been in use until
those pirates first invaded the land in 787, and probably was not applied
until the mistaken policy of Alfred the Great allowed them to colonise
this and other parts of Northumbria, one hundred years later, still it
would scarcely be justifiable to conclude that there was no dwelling or
village here, as the Anglo-Saxon “ham” implies, anterior to that date.
The location of the place on the margin of an open thoroughfare, and the
former establishment of the Romans within or near to its boundaries,
incline us rather to the opinion that from the earliest arrival of
the Anglo-Saxons they had selected this site for the foundation of a
small settlement, and that the “ham” or hamlet so created bore a purely
Saxon title until the advent of the Danes, under whose influence the
orthography became altered by the substitution from their vocabulary of
the word “kirk” for the one originally bestowed upon it.

Some idea of the condition of Kirkham at the Norman Conquest may be
gleaned from the report concerning the Fylde in the Domesday Book,
in which it is stated that of the 840 statute acres comprised in the
township, only 400 (four carucates) were under cultivation, the rest
being waste, that is, untilled, but very possibly in service as forage
ground for swine. At that period the town undoubtedly possessed a church,
one of the three mentioned in the record above-named, as standing in
Amounderness, but the era of its erection is conjectural merely. The name
of Kirkham, however,—the church hamlet,—is manifestly of ecclesiastical
origin, and the Danish derivation of “kirk” implies that some religious
building existed there, very likely about the year 900, when that nation
colonised the district, but that a sacred edifice of some description
had been constructed long before may be deduced from the fact that
Christianity had been pretty generally embraced by the Anglo-Saxons
dwelling in this locality about the middle of the seventh century.

From the commencement of the Norman dominion the history of Kirkham
rises out of the mist which has obscured its earlier ages, and we are
enabled from the disclosures of ancient documents, to follow out its
career in a more satisfactory manner. The church and tithes of Kirkham
were presented amongst other possessions, as a portion of the Hundred of
Amounderness, by William the Conqueror to the baron Roger de Poictou, and
were conferred by that nobleman about the year 1100, on the priory of St.
Mary’s, Lancaster,[134]—a monastic institution founded by him from the
Abbey of Sees in Normandy. This priory retained possession of the church
for only a few years, when it reverted to its former owner, and was
bestowed by him on the convent of Shrewsbury, as shown by the charter of
William, archbishop of York, as follows:—

  “The monks of Salop in the day of my ancestors were often making
  complaints that their church was unjustly robbed of the church
  of Kirckaham, because it had been legally bestowed upon it by
  Roger, count of Poictou, and confirmed by Thomas, archbishop, by
  authority of grants under seal. At length they have come before
  us to state their complaints; and we, thus constrained and by the
  command of lord Henry, legate of the apostolical see, committed
  their cause to be laid before the synod of York.”

The archbishop Thomas here mentioned died either in 1100 or 1113, whilst
William, the writer of the charter, died in 1154. The York tribunal
decided, after seeing the writings touching the confirmation of the grant
of the church of Kirkham to the Shrewsbury convent, which the monks of
Salop had sealed with the seal of Thomas, the archbishop, that “the
aforesaid church should be restored to the church of Peter of Salop.”

In 1195 “a great controversy arose between Theobald Walter, on the one
part, and the abbot of Shrewsbury, on the other, concerning the right
of patronage of the church, which was thus settled: a certain fine was
levied in the king’s court that the abbot and his successors should
receive from the church of Kirkham a pension of twelve marks a year,
and Theobald himself should for ever remain the true Patron of the said
church.”[135]

After the death of Theobald Walter, king John, who had the guardianship
of that nobleman’s heir, gave two parts of the church to Simon
Blund,[136] and later, in 1213, he bestowed the church upon W. Gray,
chancellor, for life.[137] Edward I. conferred the advowson of the church
of Kirkham upon the abbey of Vale Royal, a monastic house founded by him
in Cheshire; but the grant was not made without strenuous opposition on
the part of Sir Theobald Walter or le Botiler,[138] a descendant of the
Theobald specified above, who maintained that the king had no legal right
to the advowson, which belonged to him as heir-at-law and descendant
of Theobald Walter, the first. A council assembled to investigate the
rival claims, and Edward, having asserted that his father, Henry III.,
had granted the advowson to his clerk by right of his crown, and not
through any temporary power he had as guardian of Theobald Walter’s heir,
a statement which Le Botiler’s attorney either could not or would not
gainsay, the advowson was adjudged to him, and Sir Theobald lay under
mercy.[139] This dispute probably occurred in the 8th year of Edward’s
sovereignty, 1280, for we find from the Rot. Chart. that at that date the
advowson was granted by the monarch to the abbey of Vale Royal.

In 1286 Sir Otto de Grandison, who was ambassador at the apostolic see,
obtained a bull from the pope, Honorius IV., by which the advowson of
Kirkham was conferred upon the abbey of Vale Royal for ever,[140] and on
the 27th of January in the ensuing year, Edward I. confirmed his former
grant.[141]

In the fifty-fourth year of the reign of Henry III., 1269, power was
granted by royal charter to the manorial lord of Kirkham to hold a
market and fair,[142] and as such privileges were allowed at that time
to only a few other towns in the whole county of Lancashire, we must
conclude that even at such an early date Kirkham possessed some special
advantages or interest to be able so successfully to press its claims
to this signal favour. That such important powers as the holding of
markets and fairs were not allowed to be exercised without due and proper
authority is proved by a warrant which was issued twenty-three years
later, in the reign of Edward I., against the abbot of Vale Royal, to
which convent the manor of Kirkham belonged, to appear before a judicial
court to show by what authority he held those periodical assemblies of
the inhabitants. He pleaded that the right had been first conceded to
his predecessors by Henry III., and that subsequently the grant had been
confirmed by the present monarch, Edward I., in the fifteenth year of his
dominion. These assertions having been verified, the abbot was exculpated
from all blame, and orders were issued to the justices itinerant in this
county to the effect that they were in no way to interfere with the
exercise of those privileges, which were to be continued exactly as they
had been heretofore.[143] From a copy of a document[144] framed four
years later, in 1296, in which the whole of these rights are embodied
amongst other interesting matters, we learn that the manor of Kirkham
was granted to the abbot and convent of Vale Royal in _frank-al-moigne_,
that is, a tenure by which a religious corporation holds lands for
themselves and their successors for ever, on condition of praying for
the soul of the donor; that power was given or confirmed to hold a fair
of five days duration at the Nativity of St. John the Baptist; that
the borough of Kirkham, which had been incorporated by the name of the
burgesses of Kirkham in the year 1282, the tenth of the reign of Edward
I., was to be a free borough; that the burgesses and their heirs were
to have a free guild, with all the liberties which belonged to a free
borough; that there was to be in the borough a pillory, a prison, and a
ducking stool, and other instruments for the punishment of evil doers;
and that there were to be assizes of bread and ale, and weights and
measures. Continuing the perusal of this document we find that the abbot
of Vale Royal consented that the burgesses should elect two bailiffs
from amongst themselves annually, and that these should be presented and
sworn; on the other hand, however, the convent reserved to itself the
perquisites arising from the courts, stallage, assizes of bread and ale,
etc., and annual rents due at the period of festival legally appointed as
above. The names of the following gentlemen are appended to the deed as
witnesses:—Radulphus de Mouroyd, William le Botyler, Robert de Holonde,
Henry de Kytheleye, John Venyal, William de Clifton, Thomas Travers, and
others.

In 1327 an edict was published by the dean of Amounderness in the church
of Kirkham on behalf of the archbishop of York, which commanded that
the abbot or some one connected with the convent of Vale Royal, should
appear before that prelate at the cathedral of his see on “the third
lawful day after the Sunday on which is sung _Quasi modo genite vira
et munimenta_,”[145] to show by what right and authority the Cheshire
convent held the church just mentioned. In answer to this summons a monk,
named Walter Wallensis, from Vale Royal, appeared before the archbishop
on the day named, in 1328, and produced in proof of the title of his
monastery to the church, the charter of Edward I., the bull of the pope,
and letters from several archdeacons, recognising the proprietorship
of the convent. In addition he brought four witnesses, viz., William
de Cotton, advocate in the court of York, who stated that for eighteen
years the abbot and convent of Vale Royal had supplied the rectors to
the church of Kirkham; John de Bradkirk, who said that he had known the
church for forty years as a parishioner, and had on many occasions seen
the charter confirming the grant of the advowson, etc., to Vale Royal,
as for fifteen years he had been in the service of that monastery, and
at the time when the present archbishop of York farmed the church of
Kirkham, twelve years ago, from the convent of Vale Royal, had been the
bearer of the money raised from this church to that dignitary at York;
Robert de Staneford, of Kirkham, who gave similar evidence, and bore
witness to the existence of the charter of Edward I., which he had seen;
and Robert de Blundeston, of Vale Royal, who gave evidence as to the
genuineness of the documents produced having been admitted by Roger de
Nasynton, public notary, etc. The result of these attestations was that
the case was dismissed against the abbot of Vale Royal, and his right to
the church of Kirkham, with all its chapels, fruits, rents, etc, allowed
to have been fully proved.[146]

In 1334 a mandamus was issued by Edward III., at York, to Robert Foucher,
the sheriff of Lancashire, stating that, contrary to a charter of Edward
I., which prohibited the sheriffs from making distraints on the rectors
of churches or on estates with which the churches had been endowed,
he had “under pretext of his office lately entered into the lands and
tenements near Kirkham, which are of the endowment of that church,
and had heavily distrained the abbot of Vale Royal, parson of that
church”; and ordering the said sheriff to abandon the claim, and to make
restitution of anything he might thus have illegally obtained, and “by no
means to attempt to make any distraint in the lands and tenements which
are of the endowment of the aforesaid church,” at any future time.[147]

Somewhere about the year 1332 a monk, named Adam de Clebury, who held the
temporalities of Shrewsbury Abbey, sued Peter, the abbot of Vale Royal,
for five hundred marks, which he declared were the accumulated arrears
of twelve marks, ordered to be paid annually by Theobald Walter, to the
former monastery, out of the funds of the church of Kirkham, according
to the issue of a trial in the king’s court, between Theobald and the
convent of Shrewsbury, respecting the advowson, etc., of that church in
1195. Peter is said, in the Harleian manuscript, from which this account
is taken, to have “redeemed that writ and many others from the sheriff
of Lancashire,” from which it may be understood that he had paid the
sum demanded, or in some conciliatory way settled the case during his
lifetime, for we hear no more of the matter until shortly after his death
in 1342, when an action to enforce a similar payment was brought against
his successor, Robert de Cheyneston. This ecclesiastic, however, is said
to “have manfully opposed the abbot of Shrewsbury,” and to have journied
up to London to hold an interview with him on the subject, at which,
after “many allegations on each side, he gave to the abbot of Shrewsbury
£100 to pay his labours and expenses,” and in that manner the dispute
was brought to a termination about the year 1343.

In 1337 Sir William de Clifton, of Westby, made an offer to the abbot of
Vale Royal to purchase certain tithes from him for twenty marks, and on
the ecclesiastic refusing to entertain this proposition, the indignant
knight became most unruly and outrageous in his conduct, as shown by the
following charge which was that year preferred against him by the abbot,
who stated:—

  “That he had thrust with a lance at a brother of the monastery
  in the presence of the abbot and convent; that he had retained
  twenty marks which he was pledged and bound to pay to the abbot,
  in order to weary him with expenses and labours; that it was the
  custom, from time immemorial, for the parishioners of Kirkham to
  convey their tithe-corn to their barns, and there keep it until
  the ministers of the rector came for it; but that he (Sir William
  Clifton), in contempt of the church, had allowed his tithes and
  those of his tenants to waste and rot in the fields, and very
  often by force and arms had driven away the tithe-collectors;
  he also had compelled a cart of the rector, laden with hay,
  to remain on his land for upwards of a month, and in derision
  had made the rector’s mare into a hunting palfrey; he also had
  neglected to keep the tithes of his calves, pigeons, orchards,
  huntings, and hawkings, and would not allow the procurator, under
  threat of death, to enter his estate, but he and his satellites
  had irreverently burst into the sanctuary of God, where they
  had assailed the priests and clerks, and impeded them in the
  discharge of their duties. Moreover the aforesaid knight would
  not permit any of his tenants who were living in flagrant sin, to
  be corrected or punished by the ordinaries.”[148]

In concluding the above list of misdemeanours, the abbot complained that
Sir William had ordered a severe flagellation “even to the effusion of
blood,” to be inflicted on Thomas, the clerk, in the town of Preston, and
that this scourging had taken place as directed, in the presence of the
under-mentioned gentlemen, who seemed to have been well pleased with the
vigorous measures adopted by the knight, and to have rendered him willing
assistance when called upon:—

  Richard de Plumpton,
  Nicholas Catford,
  William the provost,
  William Jordan, junr.,
  John Dence,
  Robert Carter,
  John Garleigh,
  Richard de Tresale,
  Henry de Tresale,
  William Sictore,
  William Sictore, junr.,
  Adam de Scales,
  Richard Walker,
  John Mydelar,
  Henry Thillon,
  William Randell,
  John de Reste,
  William de Morhouse,
  Thomas Adekoe,
  Adam del Wodes,
  William de Mydelar,
  Thomas de Wytacres,
  And several others, including Adam, the harper.

This charge was laid before the lord abbot of Westminster by the abbot
of Vale Royal, and the former, after hearing the statement of offences,
commanded that Sir William de Clifton and others enumerated therein,
should appear before him to answer for their misdeeds; but as neither
Sir William nor any of his friends and abettors took the least notice
of the summons, it was decided that an endeavour should be made to
arrange the quarrel by arbitration. To this the knight seems to have been
favourable, and nominated William Laurence, John de Crofton, and Robert
Mareys to act as his arbitrators; whilst those of the abbot were William
Baldreston, rector of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre; Robert Baldreston, his
brother, and a rector also; and Richard de Ewyas, a monk of Deulacres.
The decision of the court thus constituted was that Sir William de
Clifton should acknowledge his guilt, and ask pardon and absolution for
the same from the abbot, unto whose will and grace he should submit
himself; in addition the knight was ordered to pay a fine of twenty
marks, and make good to the abbot the tithes which he had destroyed or
refused to pay. Sir William accepted the verdict, and bound himself to
fulfil its conditions by oath; the rest were required to enter into a
promise to abstain in future from making any attempt to injure the church
of Kirkham, or anything connected with it, and to provide a large wax
candle, which was paraded round that church on the feast of palms, and
afterwards presented as a peace-offering to St. Michael.[149]

In 1357 Cardinal John Thoresby, archbishop of York, made a new ordination
of the vicarage of Kirkham, by which it was decreed that, instead of
the secular vicar appointed aforetime, the abbot and convent of Vale
Royal should select some one from their own monastery to fill the
office whenever a vacancy occurred. By this fresh regulation the abbot
and convent of Vale Royal were bound to pay to the vicar forty marks
per annum, and he on his part was pledged to keep the parsonage house
in proper repair and perform all ecclesiastical duties. Three years
afterwards a vicar of Kirkham was charged and convicted of having been
guilty of maladministration in his position as dean of Amounderness, but
subsequently he received a full pardon from King Edward III.

In the year 1401, during the reign of Henry IV., the right to hold a
market and fair was again confirmed to the abbot and convent of Vale
Royal; subjoined is a translated copy of the grant, which bore the date
of the 2nd of July:—

  “The king to all men greeting: We have inspected a charter made
  by our progenitor, Lord Edward, formerly king of England, in
  these words:—‘Edward, by the grace of God king of England, lord
  of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine, to the archbishops, bishops,
  abbots, priors, earls, barons, justices, sheriffs, provosts,
  ministers, and to all his bailiffs and subjects, health. Know
  that we have granted and by this our present charter confirm
  to our beloved in Christ the Abbot and Convent of Vale Royal,
  that they and their successors for ever shall have a market in
  each week on Thursday at their manor at Kirkham in the county
  of Lancaster, and also in each year a fair at the same town of
  five days duration, that is on the vigil, on the Day, and on the
  morrow of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and on the two
  days succeeding; unless the market and fair be found injurious to
  neighbouring markets and fairs. Therefore we desire and firmly
  enjoin, both for ourselves and our heirs, that the aforesaid
  Abbot and Convent and their successors for ever shall have the
  aforesaid market and fair at the aforesaid manor with all the
  liberties and free customs appertaining to similar institutions,
  unless such market and fair be detrimental to neighbouring
  interests as aforesaid.

  “‘These being witnesses:—The venerable fathers Robert Bath and
  Wells, John Winchester, and Anthony Durham, bishops; William
  de Valence, our uncle; Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln; master
  Henry de Newark, archdeacon of Richmond; master William de
  Luda, archdeacon of Durham; master William de Cornere, dean of
  Wymburne; John de St. John; William de Latymer; and others.

  “‘Given under our hand at Bourdeaux on the 21st of January, in
  the 15th year of our reign.’

  “Holding the aforesaid charter and all matters contained in it
  as authentic and acceptable both for ourselves and our heirs,
  as far as our power extends, we accept, approve, grant, and
  confirm to our beloved in Christ, the present Abbot and Convent
  of the aforesaid place and their successors that the aforesaid
  charter be considered just, also we affirm that the same Abbot
  and Convent and their predecessors legally had and held the said
  market and fair before this date.

  “In testimony thereof, etc. Witness the king at Westminster on
  the 2nd of July.”[150]

At the dissolution of monasteries the manor of Kirkham, together with
the advowson of the church, was transferred by Henry VIII. from the
abbot and convent of Vale Royal to the dean and chapter of Christ Church,
Oxford.

In 1560 Queen Elizabeth ratified and confirmed by letters patent all
former charters concerning Kirkham by a deed bearing the date of July
2nd; and later, in 1619, the 17th year of the reign of James I., a record
of the Duchy Court of Lancaster states that the bailiffs and burgesses
of Kirkham presented a petition praying that they might elect into their
government some men of account dwelling near the town, and that it might
be declared that the bailiffs had lawful power and authority to correct
all malefactors and offenders according to the laws and liberties of
the town, and to do and perform all other duties appertaining to their
office. They prefaced their prayer by asserting that “the town of Kirkham
had been used as an ancient market town and that the inhabitants thereof
had time out of mind been accounted a Corporation, incorporated by the
name of Bailiffs and Burgesses, and that of late owing to some of the
bailiffs being but simple and weak men, and the inhabitants but poor
and numerous, it had been found impossible to govern in a proper and
satisfactory manner the large confluences of people at fair and market
seasons,” for which reason they were desirous of gaining an extension
of their existing powers as set forth in the plea. The court decreed
that “the then Bailiffs of Kirkham and the Burgesses of the same, and
their successors, for ever, should and might from thenceforth have and
enjoy their ancient usages and liberties by the name of the Bailiffs and
Burgesses of the Town of Kirkham, and that the Bailiffs should yearly
be chosen out of the Burgesses according to the said usages, or as they
in their discretion should think meet, for the better government of the
said Town and the people thereunto resorting, also that the Bailiffs,
Burgesses, and Inhabitants should be guildable, and have in the said Town
a prison, etc., as had been heretofore, and that the Dean and Chapter and
their successors, farmers, and tenants, should and might from henceforth
have all their fairs, markets, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions,
Court Leets, Court Barons, Courts of Pleas, and the Fair Court, as
heretofore had been.” The foregoing was ordered to be read in the parish
church on the ensuing sabbath, and also in the market place.

From the following ancient and somewhat lengthy document or lease, much
interesting matter may be gleaned, and for that reason it was deemed
better to give it unabridged:—

  “To all Christian people to whom this present writing shall
  come the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Christ of
  King Henry the eighth’s foundation do send greeting in our Lord
  God everlasting: Whereas we the said Dean and Chapter by our
  Indenture of Lease, sealed with our common Seal, bearing date
  the sixteenth day of July, in the three and fortieth year of
  the reign of our sovereign lady Elizabeth (1601), late Queen of
  England, &c., did, as much as in us was, demise, grant, and to
  farm, lett unto Thomas ffleetwood, of Caldwich, in the County of
  Stafford, esquire, all our Court Leets and view of franchpledge
  within our parsonage and manor of Kirkham, in the County of
  Lancaster, or in either of them, or to, or with them, or either
  of them used, occupied, incident, or belonging appertaining,
  with all and every thing (singular) there appertaining,
  also the keeping of the Court Barons there, and all waifs,
  strays, treasure trove, deodands, felons’ and outlaws’ goods,
  forfeitures, fines, amercements, serving and executing of writs
  and processes, and all royalties, liberties, perquisites and
  profits of Court Leets, all commodities and advantages whatsoever
  to the same Court Leets incident, due, or in any wise belonging,
  or which heretofore have been, or of right ought to have been,
  had and enjoyed by us, the said Dean and Chapter, or any of our
  predecessors, or any other person or persons by or by means of
  our estate, right, or title to the same or any part thereof, in
  as large and ample manner as we, the said Dean and Chapter, or
  our successors, may or ought to have or enjoy, together also with
  the Stewardship, office of Steward, or authority for appointing
  the Steward for the keeping of the said Courts; And also the
  profits of all and each of our fairs and markets to be kept at
  or within the said manor and parsonage of Kirkham; The Courts of
  Pipowder; And all manner of Toll and Stallage—That is to say,
  Turne-toll, Traverse-Toll, and Through-Toll, and all manner of
  payments, fines, forfeitures, fees, sums of money, with all
  other kind of profits and commodities whatsoever, which do or
  may lawfully accrue, arise, come, or be due, unto us, the said
  Dean and Chapter, our successors, or assignees, by reason of
  any fair or market, or fairs or markets, which hereafter shall
  be kept within the manor or parish of Kirkham aforesaid; And
  half an Oxgang of Land, called by the name of the old Eworth,
  with so much of the late improved Common in Kirkham aforesaid as
  was allotted, used, or occupied, or ought to be used, allotted,
  or occupied to or with the said half Oxgang; One Burgage house
  with the appurtenances in Kirkham aforesaid, now in the tenure,
  holding, or occupation of one Thomas Singleton and William
  Kitchen, or the one of them; One Croft called the hemp garden,
  certain grounds, called the Vicar’s Carrs, set, lying, and being
  in Kirkham aforesaid; One house built upon the waste in Kirkham
  aforesaid, commonly called or known by the name of the moote
  hall, with all shops underneath the said moote hall, and all the
  tythes of the new improvements not formerly demised within the
  said manor or parish of Kirkham, or within the liberties thereof;
  And all encroachments within the same manor—That is to say, all
  such arable lands, meadow, pasture, woodlands, furzeland, heath,
  and marshland, and all other such vacant and waste land, as
  is or hath been heretofore by any man encroached or taken to
  his own use by the making of any hedge, pale, wall, ditch, or
  other mound, out of the lands belonging to the manor of Kirkham
  aforesaid, without the special license of the said Dean and
  Chapter, with all and every ways, booth-places, stall-places,
  liberties, easements, profits, commodities, and advantages to the
  said messuages, lands, tenements, houses, grounds, encroachments,
  tythes, hereditaments, and also the premises or any of them
  belonging or in any wise appertaining (except as in our said
  Indenture of Lease is excepted and reserved). To have and to
  hold the said Court Leets and the keeping of the Court Barons,
  profits of fairs and markets, messuages, lands, tythes, and all
  and every other the before-recited premises by that our said
  recited Indenture of Lease demised, or mentioned, or intended
  to be demised, with their and every of their appurtenances
  (except as is aforesaid) from the feast day of the Annunciation
  of the Blessed Virgin Mary last past before the date thereof,
  for and during the tenure and unto the end and term of one and
  twenty years then next following, fully to be completed and
  ended. In our said Indenture of Lease (amongst other things
  therein contained) it is provided always that it shall not be
  lawful to nor for the said Thomas ffleetwood, his executors,
  administrators, or assignees, to lett, set, or assign over to
  any person or persons the demised premises herein contained and
  specified, or any part or parcel of them without the special
  license of us, the said Dean and Chapter, or our Successors, in
  writing under our common Seal thereunto first had and obtained.
  The estate, right, tythe, interest, and term of years yet in
  being of the said Thomas ffleetwood, are now lawfully come unto
  the hands and possession of Sʳ Richard ffleetwood, of Caldwich,
  knight baronet, and baron of Newton, within the said County of
  Lancaster, son and heir, and also executor of the last will and
  testament of the said Thomas ffleetwood, lately deceased. Know
  ye now that we, the said Dean and Chapter, of our common assent
  and consent have licensed and granted, and by these presents for
  us and our Successors do license and grant that from henceforth
  it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Sʳ Richard
  ffleetwood, knight baronet, his executors, administrators, or
  assignees, or any of them, to lett, set, or assign over the said
  demised premises and every one of them and any or every part or
  parcel of them with the appurtenances unto John Clayton, James
  Parker, and John Wilding, of Kirkham, in the County of Lancaster,
  yeomen, their executors, administrators, or assignees for and
  during all the residue of the said term of years yet in being, to
  come, and unexpired, the said proviso, or anything else, in our
  recited Indenture of Lease contained to the contrary, Provided
  always that all and every other covenant, clause, article,
  exception, reservation of rent, payment, condition, and proviso,
  in that our recited Indenture of Lease comprised shall stand,
  remain, continue, and be in its, and their, full power, force,
  and effect, as if this our present license or deed in writing had
  never been, had, nor made. In Witness whereof we, the said Dean
  and Chapter, have hereunto put our common Seal. Proven in our
  Chapter house at Oxford the fourth day of December in the years
  of the reign of our sovereign lord James, by the Grace of God
  king of England, Scotland, ffrance, and Ireland, Defender of the
  Faith, &c.—That is to say, of England, ffrance, and Ireland the
  eleventh, and of Scotland the seven and fortieth.”[151]

There is an old deed in the bailiffs’ chest, bearing the date 1725, and
evidently a summary of charters, powers, etc., drawn up in order to be
submitted to the inspection of some legal authority, whose opinions
on different points are appended, from which it appears that from
the earliest incorporation of the town it had been governed by two
bailiffs and twelve burgesses in common council assembled, who were
annually chosen within the borough, and that they “usually assessed
such persons, not being free burgesses in the same borough, as had come
into and exercised trades within the borough (whether they had served
apprenticeships to such trades or not), in and with such reasonable
annual payments to the Corporation as the bailiffs and burgesses thought
fit”; persons born in the borough were treated in a similar manner. The
bailiffs inflicted penalties on all breakers of the peace, the amount of
fine imposed being regulated according to the condition of the offender,
thus an esquire was mulcted in 40s., a gentleman 10s., and anyone of an
inferior grade 5s. Profane cursing and swearing also came under their
jurisdiction. The collection of freedom money from traders commencing
business in Kirkham was a somewhat questionable act on the part of the
local rulers, and indeed they themselves were evidently troubled with
doubts as to their right to levy the tax, for the muniment chest contains
several opinions of eminent counsel as to the validity of such a course.
In 1738 a person named William Marsden started as a tanner in Kirkham,
and obstinately refused to purchase his freedom or close his premises,
but, at the end of twelve months, the assembled bailiffs and burgesses
instructed and authorised the town or borough serjeant to collect and
levy the sum of two shillings and sixpence upon the goods and chattels of
William Marsden, by distress and sale. This impost was abolished during
the latter half of the eighteenth century. The bailiffs formed part of
the Court Leet held annually in the seventeenth century and were elected
from amongst the jurors. Subjoined are a few extracts from the minute
book of the “Court leet of frank pledge of yᵉ foundation of Henry VIII.,”
as it is styled in one place:—

  “Oct. 1681.

  The court leet houlden at Kirkham yᵉ day above written by Tho.
  Hodgkinson Stuart.

  “Juriars

  James Smith, junior.
  John Hanson.
  Geffery Wood.
  James Lawson.
  Tho. Tomlinson.
  Alex. Lawder.
  John Dickson.
  Henry Smith.
  Charles Fale.
  Will. Butler.
  James Hull.
  Will. Hornby.
  James Clayton.
  George Whiteside.
  Tho. Shardley.

  “Bayliffes

  Geffrey Wood.
  Tho. Tomlinson.
  John Colly, serjeant.
  James Hull, constable.

  (Here follow the ‘Gauldlayers,’ ‘Barleymen,’ ‘Prizards,’ ‘Leather
  searchards,’ and ‘Flesh and Fish viewards’)

  “Wᵐ Hunt fined 1s. for keeping his geese in the loanes”

  “John Wilding for keeping a greyhound not being qualified”
  (Punishment?)

  1682.

  “Presented that the earl of Derby, Mr. Westby, of Mowbrick, Mr.
  Hesketh, of Mains, were constantly called at the court leet for
  the borough of Kirkham and anciently did either appear or some
  assign for them, but now of late they do not appear nor any
  assign for them.”

  “4 May. 1683.

  “Recᵈ of Richard Riley for his fredom within the borow of Kirkham
  16s.

  “May the 4th day Recᵈ of Rodger Taylor for his freedom in Kirkham
  £1.

  “Oct. 19th. Recᵈ of Thomas Sherdley for his freedom 2s.

  “Ordered that no person shall set or let any house or shop to
  Richarde Blackburne or his wife that stands within the liberties
  in Kirkham in pain of £2 0s. 0d.”

  1685.

  “Ralph Rishton paid to John Wilding and Thomas Hankinson, the
  bailiffs, for his freedom to trade in Kirkham £4.”

  12 Oct. 1686.

  “Prudence Cardwell, presented for not making her bread sufficient
  in goodness and weight, and fined in 12d.”

  Nov. 17. “It is ordered that Nicholas Wilkinson shall pay unto
  the bailiffs 13s. 4d. for one year’s trading in the town.”

  30 April 1692.

  “Ordered that if any hereafter suffer their swine to ly out in
  the night time they shall forfeit for every night 3s. 4d.”

  26 April 1699.

  “Ordered that neither Wᵐ Boone nor Rowland Roberts maltmakers nor
  any as they employ shall dry any malt or weete upon the Sabbath
  day for the time to come in the pain of 20s.”

  13 Oct. “We present these persons for want of their appearance at
  court & so fine every one of them 12d.

  “Will. George Ric. Earl of Derby.
  Tho. Westby, esq.
  Thos. Hesketh, esq.
  John Walker, esq.
  Jennet Thompson, widow,
  and Thomas Dickson.”

  22 Aprill 1707.

  “Every person that shall carry away any fire thro’ the street to
  cover the same close on penalty of 10s.

  April 1713.

  “No person to water any sort of cattle at the bucket belonging to
  the town well nor wash any skins at the trough.”

  10 May 1715.

  “We find Charles Hardy for harbouring and lodging of vagrants and
  beggars in this town in 13s. 4d.”

  22 May 1726.

  “Mem. That the town of Kirkham was summonsed from house to house
  and the inhabitants unanimously agreed to the setting up of a
  workhouse.”

  30 Nov. 1728.

  “Ordered that a lamp should be fixed up in the middle of the
  borough of Kirkham in some convenient place, and that the charge
  of it together with oyl necessary for it be paid out of the
  town’s stock.”

  “All persons refusing to clean or cow (rake) the streets opposite
  their respective houses to be fined 6d. after notice from the
  serjeant with his bell.”

The official notice concerning the last resolution is still preserved,
and ran as under:—

  “To the Inhabitants of the Burrough of Kirkham.

  “You are hereby required forthwith to cleanse the Streets over
  against your Dwelling Houses, Outhouses, and all other Buildings,
  together with all Frontsteads whatsoever, on Penalty of Sixpence
  for each default.

  “You have also hereby notice to remove all the Dung-hills out of
  the Streets in a month’s time or otherwise they will be removed
  for the use of the Burrough.

  “Likewise all the Rubbish out of the Streets on such Penalties as
  the Bayliffs and Common Council shall think fit to inflict. Given
  under our Common Seal of the Towne this first Day of December,
  1728.”

At a later period the burgesses neglected to choose and appoint bailiffs
for many years, or to use their privileges; and apprehensive at length
that such remissions were tantamount to a forfeiture of their charter
by their own act, they determined to take legal advice as to the most
expeditious way to resume their powers. It was given as follows:—

  “If any of those acting Burgesses are alive I would advise them
  to assemble at their former Gild or usual Place of meeting, and
  then and there choose other Burgesses, after which they may elect
  from among them Two Bailiffs and make an entry of such choice
  in one of the Old Books, and then proceed as formerly to act
  in their corporate capacity; and let their first Punishment be
  inflicted on some person unlikely to dispute their authority, for
  instance a woman drunkard may be set in the stocks.

  “Having done as above directed they may for the better Government
  of the town make some Byelaws, and enter them ffair into a Book
  to be kept for that purpose, but let none of these new Laws be
  put in Execution till they are confirmed by the Chancelour, and
  that will be some foundation ffor a petition to that Court.

  “But if all the Burgesses are dead I can see no Remedy whatsoever
  but by obtaining a new Charter, which will be very Difficult if
  not Impracticable.”

A statement as to manorial extent of Kirkham at the latter part of the
seventeenth century is preserved amongst the records of a court, further
reference to which will be made anon, and reads as here given:—“The lands
lying within the manor of Kirkham, belonging to the Dean and Chapter
of Christ Church, in Oxford, and to the burgesses inhabitants of the
borough of Kirkham, are bounded east by the lands of Edward Robinson and
George Brown, lying within Newton and Scales; westward by the lands of
Sir Thomas Clifton, within Westby, and the lands of Christopher Parker,
esq., lying in Ribby with Wrea; northwards by the lands of Mrs. Dorʸ.
Westby, of Mowbreck, and the lands of Mr. Edward Fleetwood, of Wesham;
and southwards by the lands of Mr. George Sharples, of Freckleton.”

It has already been shown that the manor was conveyed by the authorities
at Oxford to Thomas Fleetwood as fee-farmer in 1601, and that the lease
was subsequently renewed or confirmed to his son and heir Sir Richard
Fleetwood. Before 1700, however, probably about 1650, from the contents
of a petition presented by the inhabitants to the dean and chapter in
1705, the Cliftons, of Lytham, had the manor in a tenure similar to
that of their predecessors, and held each year, in the month of June,
a court leet, at which the two bailiffs were elected. The late Thomas
Langton Birley, esq., of Carr Hill, Kirkham, acquired the lordship by
purchase a short time previous to his death in 1874, when it descended
to his son and heir, Henry Langton Birley, esq. Bailiffs still continue
to be annually appointed, and have in their hands several charitable
bequests, the interest arising therefrom being devoted to the service of
the poor of the township, either in the form of alms, or in maintaining
some useful convenience, as the parish pump, for their benefit. The
property at present belonging to the bailiffs consists of one meadow,
situated behind the Roman Catholic church; a garden in front of the same
edifice; a plot in the field called the “Iron Latch”; and a pew in the
parish church of Kirkham. In 1676 the bishop of Chester acceded to a
petition from the minister and churchwardens that a wainscot might be
placed so as to enclose the bailiffs’ pew, “which seat, for want thereof,
was pressed into and thronged by others to the disturbance of the said
officers.”[152]

The Moot Hall, in which all business relating to the town was transacted,
stood in the Market-place until about the year 1790, when it was
accidentally burnt down. This building was erected in two stories, the
upper of which was divided into a small room, used for flax dressing
at the time the Hall was destroyed, and a larger one, devoted to court
meetings and other public matters, which was separated from the remainder
of the edifice insomuch as it could only be entered from the outside by
means of a flight of stone steps. The ground floor or lower story was
converted into shops in the occupation of tradesmen of the town. The
original borough seal, which still exists, although somewhat defective,
represents a dove bearing an olive branch in its beak. Notwithstanding
that Kirkham was made a borough, during the last years of the thirteenth
century, it never appears upon any occasion to have returned a Member
of Parliament, and it may safely be conjectured that no writ for that
purpose was ever issued to the burgesses, as the sheriffs exercised
a discretionary power in such matters, and consequently only those
boroughs, whose inhabitants seemed affluent enough to support the
expenses of an election, were selected for the honour, amongst which it
is scarcely likely Kirkham would be classed.

A market cross stood in the centre of the town, near to the ancient Moot
Hall, about the beginning of this century, but has now, like the stocks,
which originally had their place in the churchyard and afterwards were
removed to a more public site, been long numbered amongst the memories
of a past and less refined age. There is no allusion to a whipping post
in any of the old documents, but we have the authority of a gentleman
who witnessed the spectacle, that a man was publicly whipped in the
Market-place fifty years ago.

The “Thirty Sworn men of Kirkham” was the name given to a council which
took cognizance of parochial affairs, and of certain matters connected
with the church, amongst other things appointing the churchwardens. This
assembly was composed of representatives from the different sections of
the parish, two persons being elected from each of the fifteen townships
as under:—

“Thirty Sworn Men in 1570.

  Kirkham:
    James Baine.
    James Clayton.

  Clifton:
    William Porter.
    Tho. Cardwell.

  Freckleton:
    Henʳʸ Colbron.
    Rich. Browne.

  Singletons:
    James Davy.
    Wᵐ Smith

  Larbrick:
    Robt. Johnson.
    Will. Fletcher.

  Thistleton:
    Joh. Smith.
    Robt. Cornay.

  Warton:
    Wm. Platon.
    Robt. Fletcher.

  Bryning:
    Robt. Croke.
    John Croke.

  Ribby:
    ⸺ Benson.
    Henry Shaw.

  Wesham:
    Robt. Hornby.
    Henry Johnson.

  Treales:
    Wᵐ Swarbrick.
    Tho. Porter.

  Hambleton:
    Robt. Bradshaw.
    Wᵐ Bamber.”

The oath taken by the “Sworn men” was administered by the civil
authorities, and their tenure of office was for life, or until they
thought proper to resign. The origin of “Sworn men,” or at least of the
name, dates from the fourteenth century, and the institution itself seems
to have been common in this part of Lancashire; Preston, Lancaster,
Garstang, and Goosnargh, having had assemblies bearing similar titles and
performing similar duties, but consisting only of twenty-four men each.

In 1636 a serious dispute arose between the Thirty-men and the vicar,
the Rev. Edward Fleetwood, owing to the latter requiring the council to
subscribe to the following conditions:—

  “1st. They shall lay no gauld themselves without the consent of
  the vicar.

  2nd. That the vicar shall have a negative voice in all their
  proceedings, and that they shall determine nothing without the
  consent of the said vicar.

  3rd. They shall not put or elect any new 30-men without the
  vicar’s consent.

  4th. They shall not meet in the church upon any business
  whatever, unless they acquaint the vicar before.

  5th. If there be any turbulent or factious person, that the rest
  of the company shall join with the vicar and turn him out.”[153]

On the Thirty-men refusing to comply with his request, the vicar excluded
them “by violence” from their usual meeting-place in the church,
and on the 5th of November, 1638, when they were called upon by the
churchwardens to attend there in order to lay the necessary taxes for the
repair of the sacred edifice, then much decayed, Mr. Fleetwood “locked
himself in the church, as before he had many times done,” and compelled
them to conduct their business without the building.

Incensed at the persistent hostility of the vicar an appeal against his
conduct was made by the “men” to the archbishop of York, and by him
referred to the bishop of Chester, who replied:—“That the corporation or
company of 30-men, not having any warranty from the king, was nothing
in law; but if the parish or township did delegate the power to the
30-men as to church matters, then their acts relating thereunto were as
effectual and binding as if they had the king’s sanction; and wishing to
know the affection of the parishioners on this head, he issued an order
on 22 Nov. 1638, that public notice shᵈ be given in the church for all
the parishioners to meet and give their voices whether they chose that
the custom of the 30-men representing the whole parish two for every
township, should continue, or they should be dissolved.”[154]

Mr. Fleetwood having ignored this order, the churchwardens took upon
themselves the duty of calling a general conference of the parishioners;
a great multitude assembled in the churchyard, where the meeting was
held, the vicar having locked the church door, and declared in favour of
their ancient custom being continued and preserved to their posterity as
it had come down to them, freely giving “their power and strength to the
said 30-men, to confer and determine all church matters.”

To this resolution were appended the signatures of four hundred and
ninety-four persons, amongst whom were Thomas Clifton of Westby and
Clifton, John Westby of Mowbreck, Thomas Hesketh of Mains, Edward Veale
of Whinney Heys, John Parker of Bradkirk, and Edward Bradley of Bryning.

The bishop of Chester, having received an official report of the result
of the meeting, communicated with the archbishop of York, as below
stated:—

                                     “Chester palace, 14 Dec. 1638.

  “Seeing the vicar (whom I have used with all gentleness and
  lenity), continues still in his contempt, and addeth daily more
  forwardness thereunto, I must return the petitioners to my lord’s
  grace of York, to be ordered by the high commissioner according
  to his grace’s intimation signified in his.... I wish well to the
  sillie wilful man, but he makes himself incapable thereof.

                                           “John Cestriensis.”[155]

This effort to obtain redress for their grievances does not appear to
have been attended with a success equal to the expectations of the
“thirty,” for a little later they instituted a suit in the consistory
court at Chester against the vicar, “and, having proved their practice
good, had sentence against him and £20 7s. 6d. allowed towards their
expenses.”[156] The “Thirty-men” were admitted into the church on Easter
Tuesday, 1639.

During the period that Edward Fleetwood was vicar of Kirkham an event
occurred in the parish which furnishes a forcible example of the
superstitious feeling in religious matters existing amongst all ranks of
the people at that time. The whole of the details of the circumstance
are embodied in a pamphlet entitled “Strange Signs from Heaven,” and by
way of an introduction, the tract contains this certificate, “under the
hand of Mr. Edward Fleetwood, minister of Kirkham parish in Lancashire,
concerning the monster brought forth by Mrs. Haughton, a papist, living
in that parish:—

  “As we must tell no lie, so we should conceal no truth;
  especially when it tends to God’s glory: There was a great
  papist, and of great parentage, within the parish of Kirkham,
  and his wife’s mother, being of the same religion, did usually
  scoff and mock the Roundheads, and, in derision of Mr. Prinne
  and others, cut off the cat’s ears, and called it by his name:
  But behold an example of the justice and equity of God in his
  judgements; as Adonibezec was repaid in his own kind; Haman
  hanged upon the same gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai;
  and Pharoah and all his host drowned in the sea, into which he
  had thought to have driven the Israelites. And likewise one of
  the popish prelates, who said he would not dine till Ridley and
  Latimer were burnt, was burnt in his own entrails. So it fell out
  with this man’s wife, a popish creature, who being great with
  child, when the time of her delivery came, she brought forth
  a monstrous child without a head, ugly and deformed, myself
  eyewitness thereof.

                                          Edward Fleetwood, pastor.
                                          W. Greenacres, midwife.”

The tract itself informs us that in the course of a conversation with
some gentlemen, Mrs. Haughton observed with great warmth that “the
Puritans and Independents deserved all to be hanged,” and concluded her
uncharitable remarks by uttering a fervent wish that neither she nor any
one belonging to her might ever become Roundheads; upon which “answer was
made to her, that her children, if she had any, might (if God so pleased)
have their eyes opened, and see that good which she was ignorant of. Mrs.
Haughton retorted in these words: _I pray God that rather than I shall
be a Roundhead, or bear a Roundhead, I may bring forth a child without
a head._” In course of time, as we learn from the pamphlet, she was
delivered of a monster child, being attended in her confinement by “widow
Greenacres, the midwife, formerly wife to Mr. Greenacres, some time vicar
of this parish,” who, “being a godly woman, could not be eased in her
mind until she had discharged her conscience in making it known to Mr.
Fleetwood.” “For better satisfaction Mr. Fleetwood caused the grave to be
opened, and the child to be taken out and laid to view, and found there a
body without a head, as the midwife had said, only the child had a face
on the breast of it, two eyes near unto the place where the paps usually
are, and a nose upon the chest, and a mouth a little above the navel, and
two ears, upon each shoulder one.”

The certificate of the vicar relating to this discovery, together with a
manuscript account of the circumstances connected with it, were “brought
up to London by Colonel Moore (of Liverpool) a member of the House of
Commons, and shewed to divers of the House; who commanded the tract to be
printed so that all the kingdom might see the hand of God therein; to the
comfort of his people, and the terror of the wicked that deride and scorn
them.”[157]

In the context are enumerated a few records of the “Thirty men,” in
order that the reader may have a clearer conception of their duties,
and gain some information, not devoid of interest, respecting the more
common-place matters associated with the history and regulation of
parochial and church affairs in the town:—

  “1571.

  “Nov. 2. Recᵈ for burial of a child of Mr. Veale (of Whinney
  Heys) in the church XIId.

  “Paid for a scholar verifying the ch’wardens’ acct.ˢ

  “The great bell taken down this year and a new one put up.”

  “1577.

  “The churchwardens were ordered by the vicar and 30-men to
  continue in office another year, by way of punishment, because
  they had not repaired the bells or levied the gauld of xˢ per
  township.”

  “1586.

  “Charge of the churchwardens for making the vicar a seat xiiᵈ.

  “An order that each householder having a youth with a plough
  having 4 beasts shall pay ivᵈ.

  “Every one that married with another iiᵈ, and every cottage iᵈ.”

  “1595.

  “The churchwardens charged xiiᵈ for tarrying with Mr. vicar when
  he gave warning to all housekeepers not to sell ale during the
  time of service.”

  “1603.

  “Rushes to strew the church cost ixˢ viᵈ. The churchwardens went
  through the parish to warn the people to come to church.”

  “1618.

  “Pᵈ to Isabel Birley 3 weeks diet for 3 slaters at iiiˢ ivᵈ per
  week, xxxˢ.”

  “1634.

  “The church was flagged this year.”

  “1643.

  “Pᵈ for slating Mʳ Clifton’s quire £1 5s. 3d., and for organ
  pipes which had been pulled assunder by the souldiers, 3s.
  4d.[158] The churchwardens were demanded to attend the prime
  sessions at Weeton. 12 June they were ordered by the captains
  and other officers to make presentment of all recusants in the
  parish. In August they were employed several days at the parish
  cost about the covenant, and giving notice through the parish for
  them to take the covenant.”

  “1666.

  “Spent on going perambulations on Ascension day, 1s. 6d.”

  “1679.

  “The bishop ordered a bone-house to be built.”

  “1683.

  “Spent upon the ringers upon the 9th of Sept., being thanksgiving
  day for his majesty’s deliverance from the fanatick plot 2s.
  6d.[159]

  “Paid for whip to whip dogs out of church, 2s. 0½d.

  “Paid for magpies and sparrow heads £10 12s. 4d.”

  “1746.

  “28 March. Paid for hiding registers, vestments, plates, etc.,
  at the rebels coming 2s. 6d.; same day paid for ringing when the
  Duke of Cumberland came to Preston, and when he retook Carlisle,
  6s.”

  “1797.

  “Apr. 18. Ordered that the curates of Lund, Warton, Ribby,
  and Singleton shall not exceed 2 qts. of wine each day they
  administer the sacrament until further orders.”

The first church of Kirkham is commonly said to have been erected by
the Saxons on Mill Hill, and subsequently rebuilt on its present site,
but as this statement is unsupported by any more reliable evidence than
tradition, we give it simply for what it is worth. The earliest authentic
word of Kirkham church is in 1512, when the edifice was in part rebuilt;
and at that time, and doubtless for centuries before, it occupied the
same situation as to-day. After the alterations and renewals had been
completed, the building comprised a nave, chancel, and side aisles,
separated by stone pillars, on which rested pointed arches. At the west
end of the church, throughout its entire width, was erected a gallery,
another of less extent being placed at the east end for the accommodation
of the organ. The north aisle contained a small gallery belonging to the
ffrance family, the private chapel of the Westbys of Mowbreck, and a
spacious room or vestry, in which the “Thirty-men” held their meetings.
In the south aisle was located the private oratory of the Cliftons,
of Westby and Clifton. The chancel extended the width of the nave and
south aisle, and in 1780 the Clifton chapel was, with the consent of its
proprietor, enclosed within the communion rails. The reading desk stood
against the central pillar of the north side of the nave, and immediately
above it was placed the pulpit. The north wall was low, and contained
several large windows. The whole of the building, with the exception of
the chancel, which possessed a double-gabled roof, was covered in by a
single roof, which slanted from the south to the north wall, and was
pierced at each end with dormer windows. The main entrance was protected
by a massive porch.

The tower was probably erected but little later, if not, indeed, at the
time the church was rebuilding, as appears from the will here quoted,
bearing the date 29th of July, 1512:—“I, Cuthbert Clifton, Squyer, desire
to be buryed at Kirkham in the tombe where Rychard Clifton, my great
grandfather was buryed; I bequeath £6 13s. 4d. towards buyldyng of the
steple of the saide churche.”

This tower was embattled with a short pinnacle at each corner, and stood
about sixty feet high; on a stone in one of the buttresses were carved
the arms and name of Cuthbert Clifton. In the inside wall of the present
tower there is fixed a stone bearing traces of an inscription, and it is
probable, from the remnant of a name still discernible upon it, that this
is the stone here referred to.

From the records of the “Thirty-men” are learnt several things of
interest with regard to the church, and amongst them, that during the
seventeenth century the edifice was used occasionally for scholastic
purposes, thus:—

  “1653-54.

  “6 Jan. It was agreed (by the “Thirty-men”) that no scriffener
  be suffered to teach in the church, unless he procure some
  honest townsmen of Kirkham to pass their word that whatsoever
  his scholars do, either in breaking glass or in abusing men’s
  seats—and that they meddle not with the bells—he shall make good
  what they abuse.”

In 1662 a font was erected at a cost of £2 5s. 4d., and most likely is
the one now stationed in the tower entrance to the church. A bone house
was built in 1679 in the recess or corner formed by the west wall of the
north aisle and the north side of the tower, in obedience to the order of
the bishop of the diocese. In 1724 gates were placed at the entrance to
the churchyard, and in 1799 the old tithe barn which formed the westerly
boundary of this plot of ground was blown down and destroyed; the stone
for the gate pillars was obtained from Ribchester. The following lists of
persons buried in the Clifton and Westby chapels, or quyres, as they were
called, were given in an old document which was copied in 1790 by Mr. W.
Langton, who described it as “much defaced and torn:”—

  “In the Clifton Quire.

  “1597, sir Geo Cowbrone and Mr. Cuthbert Clifton; 1598, Henry
  Colbron of Frekleton; 1601, Mr. Skillicorne; 1604, ould Dorothie
  Skillicorne, Mr. Skillicorne’s daughter; 1602, Mr. Skillicorne,
  his wiff, Mr. Skillicorne, his son, and Henry Brown of Scales;
  1604, Lawrence Cowbrone, eldest son of above; 1616, Henry Porter
  of Treales; 1621, Mrs. Jane Anderton, died at Westby; 1625, Mr.
  John Sharples, of Frekleton; 1630, uxor Arthur Sharples, and
  Matthew Colbron of Frekleton.”

  “In the Westby Quyre.

  “1605, Mr. Westby and Mr. John Westby (Mr. Thos. eldest brother);
  1622, ould Mr. Hesketh; 1623, Mr. Hesketh of Maines.”

In a note we are told that when Mr. Skillicorne died in 1601, “and was
to be buried, Seth Woods of Kirkham and another with him stood at Mr.
Clifton’s quyre dore to keep them from making a grave, and William Hull
of Singleton did run at the door with wood and break it open—how it ended
is forgotten, but he was buried there.”

In 1822 the nave of the church was pulled down and rebuilt by aid of a
rate imposed on all the townships; an inscription commemorating this
event was placed over the arch of the old chancel. The tower and spire
as they now exist were erected in 1844, whilst the present chancel
was built in 1853. The spire and tower together have an altitude of
one hundred and fifty feet, and the foundation stone of the latter
was laid by Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, on the 21st of November,
1843. The tower contains a peal of eight bells, but none of them are
of ancient date, those alluded to in the records of the “Thirty-men”
having been sold and replaced by fresh ones. The modern church of
Kirkham, which, like its predecessor, is dedicated to St. Michael, is a
large and handsome structure, built of Longridge stone, and capable of
holding about eighteen hundred persons; the chancel is ornamented with
a castellated parapet and fluted cornice. A stone coffin, which may be
seen outside the church at the east, was taken out of the ground when
the chancel was rebuilt. In 1725 the sum of £500 was left in trust by
William Grimbaldson, M.D., to be expended in the purchase of land and
other property, the income from which had to be devoted to providing a
suitable person or persons to read prayers twice every day of the week
except Sunday, in the parish church of Kirkham; in the event of this
condition of the bequest not being fulfilled, it was decreed by the will
that the annual interest of the money should be distributed amongst the
poor housekeepers of Treales; so far, however, the requirement of the
trust has been conformed to, and prayers are still read twice daily in
the church.

Within the ancient church of Kirkham, doubtless in the Clifton chapel,
was a chantry founded during the fifteenth century by Richard Clifton,
of Clifton, who married Alice, the daughter of John Butler, of Rawcliffe
Hall; and called the chantry of the “Holy Crucifix,” as well as that
of “Our Blessed Laydy.” The commissioners of Henry VIII. issued the
following report concerning it:—

  “The Chauntrie in the paroche Church of Kirkeham.

  “Thomas Prymbet preyst Incumbent there of the foundation of the
  antecessors of Sʳ Thomas Clifton, knight, to celebrate there for
  their sowles and all crysten sowles.

  “The same is at the altar of our lady wᵗhin the paroche church
  of Kirkham, and the said Incumbent doth celebrate there
  accordinglie.”

  Sum totall of the rentall                                 £6 0s. 11d.

  “Whereof—

  “Payde to Sir Henry ffarington, knight, as farmour to
    the kynge, our Sovereigne lord, of Penwarden fee, for
    chief rente goynge forthe of the lands in ffryklyngton,
    by yere                                                         4d.

  “Payde to the Kinges Majestie, to the handes of the
    receyvour of his late Monasteyre of Vale Royall, goynge
    forthe of the burgages in Kirkeham, by yere, in
    Christenmes and Mydsomur,                                  7s.  6d.

  “Sum of the reprises                                         7s. 10d.

  “And so remayneth                                        £5 13s.  1d.”

This chantry was in existence in 1452, for in that year, when the abbot
and convent of Vale Royal presented Dom. Edmund Layche to the vicarage,
the archdeacon instructed John Clarke, the chaplain of the chantry, to
induct him.[160] Thomas Prymbett, the officiating priest, was sixty years
of age in 1548, and at that date the town and parish of Kirkham contained
1700 “houselinge people.” Five years later Thomas Prymbett received a
pension of £5.[161] His death occurred in 1564.

At the dissolution of monasteries, the chantry of Kirkham church was
mulcted in an annual rent of 6s. 2d., which was ordered to be paid to the
receiver of the Duchy. A lease of the lands appertaining to the chantry
was granted to Lawrence Pembroke for a term of sixteen years.

In 1291 the living of Kirkham church was estimated in the _Valor_ of
Pope Nicholas at £160 per annum, but at the dissolution aforesaid it was
valued at no more than £21 1s. 0½d. per annum.

In 1586 the advowson of the church was leased to James Smith, yeoman,
of Kirkham; and in 1591 it was granted for a period of twenty-one years
by the authorities of Christ Church, Oxford, to John Sharpies, of
Freckleton.[162]

Within the church are several inscriptions, the oldest and most curious
of which is to be seen on a stone forming part of the floor of the
vestry, and covering the grave of vicar Clegg:—

  “Rᵈ: Clegg came: V: M.: J666.
  Began pooʳ loaves: E: J670.
  Uxʳ Jennet nupᵗ E: j672.
  Mary nᵗ 9ʳ: J673: nupᵗ, FEB: 96.
  Doro nᵗ. M. j675: ob. j677.
  Abraham. nᵗ: J: j677: ob. j677.
  Doro: nᵗ: S: j678.
  Henerey nᵗ: J: j680. ob. 1683.
  Eliz: nᵗ: M: j685. nupᵗ Feb. 1713.
  Rᵈ Clegg Vʳ. ob j720. Æt. 85.
  W: Jennet ob: j7... Æt...”

Others are in memoriam of Thomas, the son of Sir Thomas Clifton, of
Lytham, died 1688, aged 20 years; the Rev. John Threlfall, B.A., for
“56 years head-master of Kirkham School,” died 1801, aged 84 years; the
Rev. Phipps Gerard Slatter, M.A., “head-master of the Free School,” died
1815, aged 25 years; the Rev. Charles Buck, M.A., for 27 years vicar of
the parish, died 1717; the Rev. Humphrey Shuttleworth, vicar of Kirkham,
died 1812, aged 76 years; Richard Bradkirk, esq., of Bryning Hall, died
1813, aged 60 years; Henry Rishton Buck, B.A., “lieutenant 33rd Regiment,
who fell in battle at Waterloo, June 18, 1815,” aged 27 years; and James
Buck, lieutenant 21st Light Dragoons, died January 7, 1815, aged 19 years.

In the church yard there are sundry inscribed stones, which, although
little interesting on the score of antiquity, are worthy of mention
as marking the burial places of persons of note in the parish at one
time; as—James Thistleton of Wrea, the founder of Wrea school, who was
interred on the 27th of February, 1693; William Harrison of Kirkham,
gent., interred January 12th, 1767, aged 60, who “left an ample fortune
to poor relations, and £140 to be vested in land, the yearly income to
be distributed in pious books to the poor of Kirkham, Little Eccleston,
and Larbrick: may the trustees dispense with integrity and effect the
sacred dole”; Edward King, esq., fourth son of the Very Rev. James King,
D.D., dean of Raphoe, “formerly bencher of the honourable society of
Gray’s inn, and for above twenty years vice-chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster”; the “Rev. Charles Buck of Kirkham, A.M., died 4 Jan. 1808.
Aged 54,” also his two sons; the Rev. Robert Loxham, vicar of Poulton,
died in 1770, aged 80 years; and John Langton of Kirkham, died in 1762,
aged 71 years; also many other members of the same family.

  VICARS OF KIRKHAM.

  IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF RICHMOND.

  ------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------------
    Date of   |       NAME.          |     On whose    | Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                      |   Presentation. |
  ------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------------
  1239        |Dn’s Will de Ebor     |Duke of Cornwall |
  Between 1272|Simon Alley           |Convent of Vale  |
  and 1307    |                      |  Royal          |
  1354        |William de Slayteburn |                 |
  1361        |William Boulton       |                 |
  1362        |Phil de Grenhal       |                 |
              |Dn’s Roger Dyryng     |                 |
  About 1377  |Robert de Horneby     |                 |
  1418        |Dn’s Will Torfet      |                 |
  1420        |Dn’s John Cotun       |                 |
  1450        |John Hardie           |                 |
  1452        |Edmund Layche         |Convent of Vale  |
              |                      |  Royal          |
  1512        |Thomas Smith          |                 |
  1558        |James Smith           |                 |
  1586        |James Smith           |James Smith      |
  1591        |James Sharples, B.A.  |Christ Church,   |
              |                      |  Oxford         |
  1594        |Nicholas Helme, M.A.  |John Sharples    |Death of J.
  1598        |Arthur Greenacres,    |Cuthbert Sharple |  Sharples
              |  M.A.                |                 |
  1627        |John Gerrard, M.A.    |Christ Church,   |
              |                      |  Oxford         |
  1629        |Edward Fleetwood,     |Exchange with    |John Gerrard
              |  M.A.                |                 |
  1650        |John Fisher           |                 |
  1660        |Richard Clegg, M.A.   |Christ Church,   |Death of J. Fisher
              |                      |  Oxford         |
  1720        |William Dickson, B.A. |  Ditto          |Death of R. Clegg
  1744        |Charles Buck, M.A.    |  Ditto          |Death of W. Dickson
  1771        |Humphrey Shuttleworth,|  Ditto          |Death of C. Buck
              |  M.A.                |                 |
  1813        |James Webber, D.D.    |  Ditto          |Death of H.
              |  M.A.                |                 | Shuttleworth
  1847        |George Lodowick       |  Ditto          |Death of J. Webber
              |Parsons, M.A.         |                 |
  1852        |Will. Law Hussey,     |  Ditto          |Death of G. L.
              |  M.A.                |                 |  Parsons
  1862        |George Rich. Brown,   |  Ditto          |Death of W. L.
              |  M.A.                |                 |  Hussey
  1875        |Hen. William Mason,   |  Ditto          |Death of G. R.
              |  M.A.                |                 |  Brown
  ------------+----------------------+-----------------+-------------------

The parish registers furnish us with the subjoined information, which has
been arranged in a tabular form:—

              1600-1601     1700-1701     1800-1801

  Baptisms     91  103       106 100       149 139
  Marriages    20   19        15  25        40  45
  Burials      69   44       103  86       157 112

Respecting Kirkham’s less antiquated days it may be stated that
Messrs. Thomas Shepherd, John Birley, and John Langton were the
earliest to commence manufacturing on any large scale there, which
they accomplished during the first half of the eighteenth century by
establishing conjointly the flax spinning mill still existing, but with
many additions, as the firm of John Birley and Sons. John Langton was
descended from John Langton, of Broughton Tower, through his fourth
son, John, who resided at Preston, and of whom Cornelius Langton, of
Kirkham, was the third son. On the 31st of March, 1696, Cornelius Langton
paid 30s. for his trade freedom in Kirkham, where he married Elizabeth,
daughter of Zachary Taylor, M.A., head-master of the Grammar School, by
whom he had issue John, Abigail, Zachary, and Roger. Abigail died in
1776; Zachary entered the church, and espoused the daughter of Alexander
Butler, of Kirkland; Roger died in 1727; and John, the eldest, opened,
in conjunction with the two gentlemen just named, a mercantile house
in Kirkham, and left issue by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas
Brown, of Ashtree Hall, Kirkham,—Anne, Sarah, Cornelius, Thomas, of
Kirkham, and five other children. The children of Thomas Langton, by
his wife Jane, the eldest daughter of William Leyland, of Blackburn,
were Elizabeth, Leyland, Cornelius, Zachary, Cicely, and William, of
Kirkham, born 1758, died 1814. John Birley was the son of John Birley of
Skippool, and the ancestor of the large families of Birley, at Kirkham,
Manchester, etc. The mills at present standing in the neighbourhood of
Kirkham are the flax mill of Messrs. John Birley and Sons, employing
about 1,600 hands; the weaving shed of Messrs. Walker and Barrett, 400
hands; the cotton mill of Messrs. Harrison and Company, 150 hands; the
cotton mill of Messrs. Richards and Parker, 180 hands; the weaving shed
of Messrs. Richards Brothers, 84 hands; and the Fylde Manufacturing
Company in Orders Lane, a newly-established concern. John Langton, who
started in business at Kirkham as a flax spinner, purchased, in company
with Ann Hankinson, in 1760, two years before his death, two closes of
land, with their appurtenances, in Freckleton, called Bannister Flatt and
Freckleton Croft, containing by estimate 1½ acres, and 12 beast-gates
upon Freckleton Marsh, all of which they conveyed by indenture in four
months to John Dannet, Thomas Langton, and William Shepherd, in trust
for the educating, teaching, and instructing, free from all charge,
of such young girls within the township of Kirkham, as they in their
discretion should make choice of, to read, knit, and sew; and that they
should for that purpose meet twice a year, on the 25th of December and
the 24th of June, at Kirkham, to make choice of proper subjects, and
keep a book, wherein should be entered the accounts of the receipts and
disbursements. During the ten years which elapsed after 1760 additional
benefactions were received amounting to £440. By indenture, dated 2nd
of March, 1772, Joseph Brockholes and Constantia, his wife, conveyed to
William Shepherd and Thomas Langton, trustees of the school, their heirs
and assigns, for the sum of £425, two cottages, with appurtenances, in
Freckleton, with a garden containing 36 perches; a parcel of ground in
a meadow in Freckleton, called Birl Brick Meadow, embracing 30 perches;
one cowgate in Freckleton Marsh; five closes in Freckleton, named the Two
Baker Meadows, the Two Lamma Leaches, and the Bank, holding six acres
of customary measurement. From 1772 to 1813 further donations (£130)
were received. The trusteeship of the school appears to have descended
in the Langton family, and was held by the late Thomas Langton Birley,
esq., whose father, Thomas Birley, had married Anne, the daughter and
co-heiress of John Langton, of Kirkham. Clothing, as well as education,
is supplied gratuitously to the scholars, who usually amount to 40, or
thereabouts. A new building for the purposes of the school was erected on
a fresh site a few years ago, in place of the former one, which had stood
since 1761.

The Roman Catholics, through the munificence of the Rev. Thomas
Sherburne, built a magnificent church at the Willows in 1844-5. The
edifice comprises a nave, side aisles, chancel, south porch, and an
elegant spire, having an altitude of 110 feet. On the south side of the
chancel is the lady chapel, and opposite to it that of the holy cross.
The high altar is beautifully sculptured in Caen stone, and the reredos
and tabernacle are covered with rich guilding. The walls contain
several noble windows of stained glass. This church superseded one which
had been erected in the same locality in 1809, anterior to which the
chapel attached to Mowbreck Hall had been used by the Romanists of the
neighbourhood for their celebrations and services. The Independents and
Wesleyans also have places of worship in the town, situated respectively
in Marsden and Freckleton Streets. The chapel of the Independents was
constructed about 1793, and rebuilt in 1818, but that of the Wesleyans is
of more recent origin. At the Willows, it should be mentioned, there is a
school, open to all denominations, but under Roman Catholic supervision,
which was established about 1828. Kirkham was first illuminated with gas
in 1839. It contains a County Court House[163] and the Workhouse of the
Fylde Union,[164] in addition to several other public buildings, as a
Police Station, Waterworks’ Office, National and Infant Schools, etc. The
town is governed by a Local Board of Health.

No papers have so far been discovered throwing any light upon the origin
of the Free Grammar School, and the earliest intimation of its existence
is in 1551, when Thomas Clifton, of Westby, bequeathed “towards the
grammar scole xxˢ.” Thirty-four years later it was arranged amongst the
“Thirty-men” that “40s. taken out of the clerk’s wages should be paid to
the schoolmaster, and that 4 of the 30-men in the name of the rest should
take possession of the school-house in right of the whole parish, to be
kept in repair by it and used as a school-house;” also that “Richard
Wilkins, now schoolmaster,” should be retained in his office for a year
or longer. In 1589 the above assembly “agreed that the 10s. a year pᵈ by
Goosnargh to the church shᵈ in future be paid to the schoolmaster, and
for every burial (except one dying in childbed) he shᵈ have such sum as
was agreed by the 30-men, and also such sum as hath heretofore been paid
for the holy loaf, which is of every house 3d., every Sunday successively
towards repairs of the schoolhouse and help of his wages.” In 1592 this
order, as far as regards the holy-loaf contributions, was rescinded, the
money as in former times going to the vicar.

The following is from the copy of an ancient manuscript account of the
school, from 1621 to 1663, formerly in the possession of Thomas Martin,
esq., of Lincoln’s Inn:—

  “Isabell Birly, wife of Thomas Birly, born in Kirkham, daughter
  of John Coulbron, an alehouse keeper all her life, and through
  that employment attayned to a good personall estait above most
  in that towne of that calling, being moved with a naturall
  compassion to pore children shee saw often in that towne, was
  heard to say dyvers tymes she would doe something for their good,
  and in the yeare 1621, having gotten a good stock of money in her
  hands, was moved to put her sayings into action. The 30-men of
  the parish being assembled at the church, she, with £30 in her
  apron, came to them, telling them she had brought that money to
  give it towards the erecting of a free schole for pore children
  to be taught gratis, whose parents were not able to lay out money
  for their teaching, wishing them to take it and consider of
  it. They were the men especially trusted by the parish for the
  common benefits of the church, and therefore were the most like
  persons to move their severall townships to contribute every one
  something towards the accomplishment of so charitable a work,
  and not doubting that their good examples in their contributions
  would be a strong motive to excite others. This gift was
  thankfully accepted, and wrought so with them that every one was
  forward to promote it, especially Mr. Jno. Parker of Bredkirk, an
  eminent man in the parish and one of that companie, being at that
  tyme one of the earl of Derbie’s gentlemen and somewhat allied
  to the said Isabell; he forwarded it very much, sparing neither
  his paynes of his bodie nor his purse; for that end he travelled
  all the parish over to every particular towne and house earnestly
  persuading them to contribute to so good an use. Sir Cuthbert
  Clifton gave £20, Maister Westby of Moulbreck £10, Mr. Parker
  £5, Mr. Langtree of Swarbreck £5, Mr. Hesketh of Maines 40s.,
  Mr. Greenacres, vicar of Kirkham, £4, and the several townships
  in the parish gave as followeth:—Kirkham near £30, but not out;
  Ribby and Wray £3 8s. 6d.; Westby and Plumpton 16s. 4d.; Weeton
  £7 2s.; Singleton £1 13s. 6d.; Little Eccleston and Larbrick 4s.
  4d.; Greenall and Thistleton £4 16s.; Roseacre £7 2s.; Wharles
  £1 13s.; Treales £8 4s.; Medlar and Wesham £1 5s.; Hambleton 4s.
  6d.; Salwick £3 5s.; Clifton £3 7s.; Newton and Scales £3 5s.;
  Freckleton £8; Warton £1 8s.; Bryning and Kellamer £4 13s.—in the
  whole £170 14s.”

When the time came for the selection of a suitable person to undertake
the charge and education of the pupils, it so happened “that at that
instant a young man, an honest, able scholar of good gifts and parts,
having a lingering sickness upon him, was come over to Kirkham to Mr.
William Armesteed (the curate of Kirkham), his cozen, for change of air,
his name being Thomas Armesteed, and he was moved by some of the towne
whether he would accept to be schole master if suit were made to the
30-men to elect him; he, in regard to the weakness of his bodie then
yielded to the motion, otherwise he was a man well qualified for the
ministery and a moving preacher.”[165]

At the meeting of the “Thirty-men” to fill up the appointment there
were two candidates, Mr. Armesteed and Mr. Sokell, but the former was
elected. About the year 1628, when this gentleman resigned, Mr. Sokell
was elected to the vacancy after a contest. Until 1628 the management of
all matters connected with the school had rested with the “Thirty-men,”
but at that date the Roman Catholic gentlemen, who had been most liberal
in their contributions, came to the conclusion that “it was not for their
reputation altogether to leave the care of it to others and they to have
no hand in it, therefore they took upon them to have a hand about it, and
upon their doing so the 30 men, being tenants most of them to some of
them, or dependant someway upon them, left it to them; only Mr. Parker
was not bound to the _gentlemen_, and he joined in with them.”[166]

Isabell Birley and others had brought out a candidate, named Dugdall, at
the recent election of schoolmaster, and were so incensed at his defeat
by Mr. Sokell, a Romanist, that they drew up a petition to the bishop of
Chester, complaining that “the gentlemen of the parish, being recusants
all saving Mr. Parker, had intruded themselves to order all things”
about the free school, and begging his lordship to issue an order how
the future election of feofees for the school should be made, which he
accordingly did, as follows:—

                                       “Apud, Wigan, 31 July, 1628.

  “At which day and place diverse of the Town and Parish of Kirkham
  appeared about the ordering of a schole master thereof for the
  time to come. At their request it is therefore ordered that the
  whole parish, or as many as shall appear at some day prefixed,
  after public notice given the Sunday before, shall elect six or
  nine lawful and honest men feofees for that purpose, whereof a
  third part to be chosen by the towne of Kirkham, and the two
  other parts by the parishioners generally, of which feofees
  Isabell Wilding’s (late Birley) husband and her heirs, because
  she gave £30 to the schole maister, shall be one.

                              “Johannes Cestrensis. Edwᵈ Russell.”

The command of the bishop to call a public meeting was carried out, and
in answer to the summons, read in church as directed, only seven persons
presented themselves in “the parlour of Mr. Brown the curate,” viz.,
Sir Cuthbert Clifton, knt., Mr. Thomas Westby, Mr. Thomas Hesketh, Mr.
Langtree, Mr. John Parker, gentleman, and of the parishioners, “not one
man saving Richard Harrison of Freckleton, and John Wilding of Kirkham;
and then and there the gentlemen elected themselves feofees, as also they
elected Mr. Edward Fleetwood, the vicar.”[167]

After the death of John Wilding in 1634, as his widow, Isabell, found
herself growing more infirm, she waited on the feofees with the intention
of supplementing her original donation of £30 with an additional one of
equal value, if she found them “favourable to her in something she willed
of them, whereas Mr. Clifton gave her harsh words and such as sent her
home with much discontent and passion.” When she died in 1637, it was
discovered, as the manuscript from which we have been quoting informs us,
that she had “left the £30 by will to buy land with, and the yearly rent
to be divided to the poor of the town and parish of Kirkham.”

During the struggles between king and parliament, the school was closed
for several years, and re-opened with fresh governors or feofees. At
that epoch the inhabitants were kept in a state of constant excitement
and alarm by visits from either the royal or parliamentary forces, but
fortunately no collision ever took place in the neighbourhood.[168]

By the will, dated 1655, of Henry Colborne, of London, a native of
Kirkham, his trustees were requested to purchase the lease of the rectory
of this town, and invest the profits, with the exception of £100 per
annum, for sixteen years, in lands for the benefit of schools; the
purchases were to be settled on the Drapers’ Company of London. In 1673,
£69 10s. was obtained for the school, being the rent of lands bought in
the metropolis by the Colborne trustees, £45 of which sum had to be paid
to the head master, who was required to be “a university man, and obliged
to preach once a month at least in the parish church or in some of the
chapels;” £16 16s. of the remainder was apportioned to the second master;
and £8 to provide an usher.[169]

In 1673 it was decreed by the Court of Chancery that the expense and
duty of preserving the school-house in proper repair should devolve upon
the township of Kirkham, whilst the election of masters should rest
exclusively with the Drapers’ Company.[170]

In that year also lands, etc., at Nether Methop in Westmoreland to the
value of £530 were purchased, according to the directions of the will of
the Rev. James Barker, rector of Thrandeston, Suffolk, which required
his executors to buy lands sufficient to yield an annual rent of £30,
and to settle such property on ten trustees, elected by the bailiffs and
principal burgesses of Kirkham; the trustees were ordered to apply the
rental to the following uses:—£10 yearly to the schoolmaster; £12 yearly
in half-yearly instalments, as an “exhibition or allowance to such poor
scholer of the towne as shall then be admitted to the university,” such
exhibition to be open to any pupil born in Kirkham and educated at the
school, and in case no scholar was ready and fitted to take advantage
of it the sum was to be used in binding out poor apprentices; £5 for
the purpose of binding apprentices; and the remainder to be expended in
defraying the cost of an annual dinner for the trustees when they met to
“enquire concerning the demeanure of the scholler at the univerty,” in
whose case it was appointed that if they should find him “to be riotously
given, or disordered and debauched, they should withdraw the exhibition.”

In 1701, the Drapers’ Company issued the following order touching the
admission of girls to the benefits of the charity:— “From henceforth no
female sex shall have any conversation, or be taught, or partake of any
manner of learning whatsoever in the free school at Kirkham, any former
custom to the contrary notwithstanding.”

In 1725 £400 was bequeathed to the trustees of the school by William
Grimbaldson, M.D., to be invested in lands, and the rental to be added
to the stipend of the head-master, if “he should be a scholar bred at
Westminster, Winchester, or Eton, and a master of arts,” but if not the
rental to be devoted to binding apprentices, for which purpose it is used
at present. In addition this physician left £50 to be similarly invested,
and the income to be spent in buying classical books for the school. The
management of the school has been in the hands of trustees from the time
of Barker’s bequest.

Since the establishment of the exhibition under Barker’s trust
twenty-eight youths have been assisted in their university careers by its
means.

  HEAD MASTERS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL SINCE 1800.

  -------------+----------------------------+------------+-----------
    Date of    |                            |            |By whom
  Appointment. |           NAME.            |            |appointed.
  -------------+----------------------------+------------+-----------
  1801 to 1806 |Rev. Thos. Stevenson        |_pro. temp._|Company of
               |                            |            |  Drapers
  In 1806      |Jas. Thos. Halloway, D.D.   |            |    ”
   ” 1808      |Rev. Henry Dannett, B.A.    |            |    ”
   ” 1814      |Rev. Phipps Gerard Slatter, |            |
               |    M.A.                    |            |    ”
   ” 1815      |Rev. Jas. Ratcliffe, M.A.   |            |    ”
  Before 1837  |Rev. Richᵈ Martindell Lamb, |            |
               |    M.A.                    |_pro. temp._|    ”
  In 1837      |Rev. Geo. Thistlethwaite,   |            |    ”
               |    M.A.                    |            |
   ” 1845      |Rev. S. E. Wentworth, M.A.  |            |    ”
   ” 1866      |Rev. Jno. Burrough, M.A.    |            |    ”
   ” 1874      |Rev. J. Young, M.A.         |            |    ”
  -------------+----------------------------+------------+-----------

From the vestry book of Kirkham, we learn that the charity known as
“Bread Money” originated from the vicar and “Thirty-men,” who, on the
5th of April, 1670, “with the consent and countenance of some of the
gentlemen and of the present churchwardens, with some neighbours of
repute in the respective townships,” held a meeting, at which it was
unanimously decided to raise £80, such sum to be laid out on good
security, and the interest to be expended in providing “a dozen penny
loaves for every Sunday in the year, Christmas and the king’s birthday,
and for every other holiday, to be given to so many of such poor as
shall use to frequent the church and to those of distant townships.”
The resolution continued:—“These loaves shall not be given to strangers
or vagabonds, nor to children that shall but play about the church till
sermon be passed, and then come in for a loaf, nor to any of the town
of Kirkham in summer, but only in winter.” In order to raise the fund
agreed upon, it was resolved that “what could be got by contribution of
the communicants at Easter should be thus employed;” vicar Richard Clegg
promised £5, and stated that if he remained at Kirkham during the rest
of his life, and had the means, he would at some future time give £15
more for the same object, an intention which appears subsequently to have
been carried out by his daughter, Mrs. Mary Nightingale, who some years
after his decease, contributed £20 towards the fund. £5 given for the
use of the poor by Jane, wife of John Clifton; arrears of rent due from
Goosnargh; and funeral doles were all devoted to this purpose. In 1867
the fund amounted to £102 2s., yielding an annual income of £5 13s. 3d.

A sum of £12 was given by vicar Clegg, the interest to be paid to the
clergyman preaching a sermon in Kirkham church on Easter Tuesday.

Richard Brown, by indenture dated 1639, conveyed for a term of 999 years
a close called New Moor Hey with appurtenances, in Kirkham, to James
Smith, upon condition that he, his heirs and executors, should pay
the yearly rent of 20s. at Martinmas. “It is witnessed, that the said
Richard Brown, in consideration of the good will he bore to the town of
Kirkham, and the inhabitants thereof, and out of his zeal to God, and the
charitable relief of the poor, needful and impotent people within the
said town, granted to William Robinson and three others, their heirs and
assigns, the said yearly rent of 20s., to hold the same upon trust, and
to dispose of it amongst so many of the people of the said town, as the
bailiffs thereof for the time being should, in their discretion, think
most needful, on St. Thomas’s day.”[171]

By indenture, dated 1734, Joseph Hankinson, of Kirkham, in consideration
of £45 released and conveyed to Robert Hankinson, and four others a close
in Kirkham, called Swarbreck’s Old Earth, containing, by estimate, 1½
acres, to hold the same to themselves and their heirs for ever; and in
the deed it was declared that the consideration money belonged to the
poor of the township, and that the grantees were only trustees of the
same, and had laid it out by direction of the inhabitants for the benefit
of the poor according to the wish of the benefactors. The indenture is
endorsed:—“Conveyance of Swarbreck’s Old Earth, for the use of the poor
of Kirkham, purchased by monies given by Mrs. Clegg, widow of the Rev.
Richard Clegg, vicar, and Mrs. Phœbe Sayle, wife of Mr. Charles Sayle, to
wit £20 by the former, and £20 by the latter.”

Thomas Brockholes, by an indenture of 1755, conveyed for £50 to John
Langton and William Shepherd, their heirs and assigns, a close called
Moor Hey, with appurtenances; and subsequently in 1768 William Shepherd
conveyed the close then denominated the Bailiffs’ Moor Hey to Henry
Lawson, yeoman, of Kirkham, who in the following year being moved by
“divers good causes and considerations” sold to the Rev. Charles Buck,
vicar of Kirkham, and twelve others, all of Kirkham, gentlemen, for
the sum of five shillings, two plots of land in Kirkham township, one
of which, called Moorcroft, contained a rood and four perches, and
the other, Swarbreck’s Old Earth, comprised an acre and an half. The
conditions were that all profits or income accruing from the lands should
be used for the relief of the poor of the aforesaid township.[172]

On the 1st of December, 1739, a legacy of £40 was bequeathed to trustees
by Elizabeth Brown, to be invested, and the interest applied to the
relief of the poor and necessitous widows of Kirkham, or the neighbouring
townships, at Michaelmas.

The sum of £140 was received under the will, dated 1767, of William
Harrison of Kirkham, to be invested, and the interest to be expended
in Common Prayer books, Bibles, etc., two-thirds of which were to be
given to the poor of this town, and the remainder to the poor of Little
Eccleston and Larbrick.[173]

In 1816 Mrs. Mary Bradkirk placed £320 in the navy, five per cents. in
her own name and that of Zachary Langton, esq., of Bedford Row, London;
and subsequently trustees of this fund were appointed, whose duty it was
to distribute the interest as follows:—

That of £100 amongst five necessitous persons in the township of Kirkham
for life, and each vacancy to be filled up immediately after the death of
the former recipient.

That of £20 to Joseph Brewer, then parish clerk of Kirkham, for life, and
after his demise to the person filling the office of sexton at the same
place.

That of £100 to five poor persons of Ribby-with-Wrea, and that of the
last £100 to five poor persons of Bryning-with-Kellamergh, the vacancies
to be treated as in those of Kirkham.

The only requirement on the part of the pensioners being that they should
be members of the Church of England. The income of this charity, which
amounts to more than £10 a year, like those of the five preceding it,
forms part of the bailiffs’ fund.




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XIII.

PARISH OF KIRKHAM.


FRECKLETON. In the Domesday Book Freckeltun is stated to contain four
carucates of arable soil. During the reign of Henry III. Richard de
Freckleton, Allan de Singleton, and Iwan de Freckleton, with three
others, held land in Freckleton from the earl of Lincoln. In 1311 the
heirs of Adam de Freckleton held Freckleton from Alice, the daughter and
heiress of the earl of Lincoln, shortly after which Ralph de Freckleton
was lord of the manor. Gilbert de Singleton had a house with 12 acres of
land and a mill there in 1325. In 1349 the manor was held under the earl
of Lancaster as follows:—Robert de Freckleton, 1 messuage and 3 bovates;
Nicholas le Botiler, 1 messuage and 11 bovates; the heirs of Robert
Sherburne, 2 bovates; the heirs of Sir Adam de Banastre, 2 bovates; and
Thomas de Singleton, 1 bovate. During the first half of the 16th century
the Botilers or Butlers retained property in Freckleton, whilst the
Sherburnes held estates there until the early part of the 17th century.
Hugh Hilton Hornby, esq., of Ribby Hall, is the largest territorial
proprietor at present, but there are several resident yeomen.

In 1834 a temporary episcopal chapel was erected, and 5 years later the
existing church was built, being a neat brick edifice, with a spire at
the west end, and containing an ancient pulpit from Kirkham church. The
Rev. G. H. Waterfall, M.A., was the earliest incumbent, and the Rev.
Walter Scott, appointed in 1861, is now in charge. In 1718 a Quakers’
burial ground was opened, but was closed in 1811. A meeting house was
also established by the same sect in 1720, and pulled down after standing
nearly a century. A Wesleyan chapel was erected in 1814; and in 1862 the
Primitive Methodists opened another. A National school was built in 1839,
and is supported mainly by subscriptions.

The village is long and irregular, but contains sundry better class
houses, and a cotton manufactory, belonging to Mr. Sowerbutts, holding
320 looms. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in making sacking,
sailcloth, ropes, etc. There is also a shipbuilding yard, of which Mr.
Rawstorne is the proprietor, where vessels, mostly for the coasting
trade, are constructed.

  POPULATION OF FRECKLETON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    561    701    875    909    995    968    879    930

The township comprises 2,659 statute acres.

Andrew Freckleton and two more gave, about 1734, certain sums of money
for the poor of Freckleton, the interest from which, together with 10s.
per annum left by Lawrence Webster for the same object, amounts to £2
5s. a year. The township shares in a bequest of £5, with Clifton and
Newton-with-Scales, from Elizabeth Clitherall, of Clifton, for the use of
the poor.

WARTON. Wartun is entered in the survey of William the Conqueror as
comprising four carucates, and later, when in the fee of the earl of
Lincoln, the township was held by the manorial lord of Wood Plumpton.
During the reign of King John, Thomas de Betham had the third of a
knight’s fee in Warton. Sir Ralph de Betham held Warton in the time of
Edward III., and in 1296 Edmund Crouchback, earl of Lancaster, had a rent
charge of 3s. 4d. there. Gilbert de Singleton was possessed of a messuage
with six bovates of land in the township about 1325. The manor was held
by Johanna Standish and Richard Singleton in 1515. John Talbot Clifton,
esq., of Lytham Hall, is now the most extensive owner of the soil.

The church of Warton, dedicated to St. Paul, was completed in 1722, but
not consecrated until 1725. Within recent years it has been apportioned a
distinct parochial district under Lord Blandford’s act.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF WARTON.

  ------------+------------------------+------------------------
    Date of   |                        |
  Institution.|        NAME.           |   Cause of Vacancy.
  ------------+------------------------+------------------------
  Before 1773 |Wilfred Burton          |
  In 1789     |Charles Buck, M.A.      |
   ” 1790     |James Fox               |Resignation of C. Buck
   ” 1823     |James Fox, B.A.         |    ”          J. Fox
   ” 1840     |George Wylie, M.A.      |    ”          J. Fox
   ” 1844     |Thos. Henry Dundas, B.A.|    ”          G. Wylie
  ------------+------------------------+------------------------

Warton school was built many years ago at the cost of the township, and
in 1810 the sum of £277 was raised by subscription as an endowment. In
1809, William Dobson, of Liverpool, bequeathed £500 to the trustees, and
another sum of £500 was also bequeathed by Mrs. Francis Hickson. In 1821
a new school-house was built.

  POPULATION OF WARTON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    376    445    468    531    522    473    446    444

The area of the township contains 3,939 statute acres.

BRYNING-WITH-KELLAMERGH. The earliest allusion to this township occurs in
1200-1, when Matilda Stockhord and others held two carucates in Briscath
Brunn and one carucate in Kelgmersberg. A few years later Robert de
Stockhord had the fourth of a knight’s fee there. In 1253 Ralph Betham
held Brininge, Kelgermsarche, etc.; and during the reign of Edward III.
Sir Ralph de Betham possessed the fourth of a knight’s fee in the same
places, at which time John de Damport also held an eighth of a carucate.
In 1311 John Baskerville had 3½ bovates, and Thurstan de Norley 4
bovates, in the hamlet of Kilgremargh.

In 1479 Sir Edward and William Betham had land in Bryning and Kellamergh;
and two years afterwards half of the manor was granted by Edward IV. to
Thomas Molyneux and his heirs. Thomas Middleton held both Bryning and
Kellamergh in 1641. The Birley, Langton, Cross, and Smith families are
now the chief landowners in the township.

Bryning Hall and Leyland House are the only places of interest amongst
the scattered habitations. The Hall, now a farm-house, was formerly the
seat of the Bradkirks, whilst Leyland House, also converted to farm
uses, was the residence of the Leylands, of Kellamergh, during the 17th
and part of the 18th centuries.[174]

  POPULATION OF BRYNING-WITH-KELLAMERGH.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    105    131    145    164    152    126    116    115

The area of the township in statute acres is 1,043.

RIBBY-WITH-WREA. In Domesday Book _Rigbi_, for Ribby, is entered as
comprising six carucates. Roger de Poictou gave the tithes of “colts,
calves, lambs, kids, pigs, wheat, cheese, and butter of Ribbi and
Singletone” to the priory of Lancaster to serve as food to the monks who
celebrated mass in that monastery. This grant was afterwards confirmed by
John, earl of Moreton.[175] In 1201 Adam and Gerard de Wra paid two marks
to King John in order to gain protection from the sheriff, who, it seems,
was in the habit of unjustly molesting them in their tenements.[176] The
manors of Preston, Riggeby, and Singleton were presented by Henry III. to
Edmund, earl of Lancaster, who in 1286 became engaged in a dispute with
the abbot of Vale Royal, which ultimately led to a mandate being issued
by Edward I., at Westminster, to the sheriff of Lancaster, commanding
him to draw a proper and just boundary line between the lands of the
disputants, because the abbot complained that the earl had taken more
territory than he was legally entitled to by his fee, thereby encroaching
on the conventual possessions in Kirkham parish.[177] In 1297 earl
Edmund’s rents from Ribby-with-Wrea amounted in all to £19 19s.[178] per
annum.

During the life of the first duke of Lancaster, Ribby contained twenty
houses, and twenty-one and three-fourths bovates of land held by bondsmen
at a rental of £19 16s. 4d.; and at that time there were the following
tenants in Ribby and Wrea:—Adam, the son of Richard the clerk, who held
five acres, and paid 4d. per annum; Adam, the son of Jordani, one acre
for 12d.; Roger Culbray, three acres for 9d.; Richard de Wra, half a
bovate for 5d.; Adam de Kelyrumshagh, half a bovate for 4d.; William de
Wogher, six acres for 2d.; John de Bredkyrke, half a bovate for 9d.;
William le Harpour, one bovate for 15d.; Giles, two acres for 10d.; John
de Bonk, one bovate and one acre for 10d.; John le Wise, eleven acres for
7d.; and Adam de Parys, two bovates, which were those of John le Harpour,
for 3s., of free farm and two marks. After the demise of a tenant it was
the recognised custom for his successor to pay double rent.[179] The rent
days were the feasts of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary and of St.
Michael. H. H. Hornby, esq., of Ribby Hall, is the present lord of the
manor.

The remains of the ancient manor house on Wrea Green are now used as
a cottage; Ribby Hall, the seat of the Hornbys, is a modern mansion,
and was erected rather more than half a century ago. The church of
Ribby-with-Wrea owes its origin to the trustees of Nicholas Sharples’s
charity, who purchased a piece of ground on Wrea Green in 1721, and,
having subscribed sufficient funds amongst themselves, erected a small
chapel upon it. The following year they obtained a license to hold
divine service in the building, and on the 20th of June, 1755, it was
consecrated by the bishop of Chester. At that date the church was endowed
with £400, half of which came from Queen Anne’s bounty, and the other in
equal portions from the charities of Thistleton and Sharples. In 1762
the whole of this fund was invested in land in Warton, and other sums
amounting to £600, including a legacy of £100 under the will of Thomas
Benson in 1761, and further donations from the Royal bounty before
mentioned, were expended in the purchase of land at Thistleton.[180]

In 1846 the township of Westby, with the exception of Great and Little
Plumptons, was joined, by order of Council, to that of Ribby-with-Wrea,
and the whole converted into an ecclesiastical district. In 1869 the
title of the incumbent was changed from that of perpetual curate to vicar.

The old church was pulled down and the foundation stone of the existing
structure laid in 1848, by the Rev. G. L. Parsons, vicar of Kirkham. On
the 23rd of September in the ensuing year, it was opened for worship,
but remained unconsecrated until the 4th of May, 1855. The church is
dedicated to St. Nicholas.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF RIBBY-WITH-WREA.

  ------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------
    Date of   |                             |
  Institution.|        NAME.                |   Cause of Vacancy.
  ------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------
  Before 1733 | Robert Willacy              |
     ”   1756 | Samuel Smith                |
     ”   1762 | James Anyon                 |
    In   1770 | ⸺ Watts                     |
     ”   1791 | John Thompson               |
  About  1823 | James Fox                   |
    In   1845 | George Thistlethwaite, M.A. | Resignation of J. Fox
     ”   1846 | Stephⁿ Exuperius Wentworth, |
              |   M.A.                      | Death of G. Thistlethwaite
     ”   1866 | Ralph Sadleir Stoney, M.A.  |   ”      S. E. Wentworth
  ------------+-----------------------------+----------------------------

The Rev. George Thistlethwaite was the son of the Rev. T. Thistlethwaite,
incumbent of St. George’s, Bolton-le-Moors, and in 1837 officiated _pro.
temp._ as head master of Kirkham Grammar School. The Rev. S. E. Wentworth
held the headmastership of the same school from 1845 to 1860, as well as
his curacy.

The free school of Ribby-with-Wrea owes its existence to the frugality
and benevolence of a tailor, named James Thistleton, of Wrea, who,
although his daily wages averaged no more than 4d. and his food, managed,
by great care and self-denial, to accumulate a sufficient fund to
establish a school at his native place, an object to which he had in a
great measure devoted his life. At his death in 1693, it was found that,
after a few small legacies, one being “10s. to Mr. Clegg, vicar, to
preach at my funeral,” and another 6s. 8d. to each of the townships of
Kirkham, Bryning, and Westby, for the use of the poor, he had bequeathed
the remainder of his property “towards the making and maintaining of a
free school in the township of Ribby-cum-Wrea for ever,” stipulating only
that his surviving sister should receive annually from the profits of his
estate a sum of money sufficient for her support during the rest of her
life. The executors appointed were Thomas Benson, Richard Shepherd, and
Cuthbert Bradkirk, whilst the money designed for the foundation of the
school amounted to £180.

The work thus commenced by Thistleton received, a few years later,
substantial assistance under the will, dated 10th September, 1716,
of Nicholas Sharples, who is described as a “citizen and innholder
of London.” The bequest in this instance amounted to £850, and the
two executors, Richard Wilson and Robert Pigot, were directed, “with
all convenient speed to apply such sum of money towards the building
or finishing of a school-house for educating of boys and girls in
Ribby-cum-Wrea,” and in the purchase of land for the benefit of such
establishment, and the remuneration of the master, “for educating such a
number of boys and girls as nine of the most substantial men, chosen and
elected out of Ribby-cum-Wrea for governors or elders, or the major part
of them, shall think fit;” also that his name should be inscribed in some
prominent place on one of the school walls.[181]

In 1780 a girls’ school was established in a building separate from
that of the boys, but in 1847 the trustees of the foundation gave the
“materials of the boys’ school” and the plot of land as a site for the
new church, and in return the ecclesiastical party erected, according to
agreement, another school-house on a piece of ground adjoining the girls’
school.[182]

  POPULATION OF RIBBY-WITH-WREA.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    307    398    500    482    442    406    444    446

The area of the township amounts to 1,366 statute acres.

WESTBY, WITH GREAT AND LITTLE PLUMPTONS. Gilbert de Clifton held the
manor about 1280, and subsequently his son William de Clifton was in
possession about 1292. During the reign of Edward III. John Fleetwood
was lord of Little Plumpton, and in 1394 his descendant, John Fleetwood,
resided there. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, whose ancestor
was the Gilbert de Clifton just mentioned, holds the manor of Westby with
Plumpton, by right of inheritance.

Bowen, the geographer, who wrote in 1717, alludes to a spa in Plumpton,
and states that it was impregnated with sulphur, vitriol, ochre, iron,
and a marine salt, united with a bitter purging salt. The site of the spa
has been lost in the lapse of time.

Westby Hall, the seat of the Cliftons, has been supplanted by a
farm-house. The old chapel connected with it was opened in 1742 to
the Romanists of the district, but closed about a century later. The
present Catholic chapel was built in 1861. In 1849 a school, free to
all denominations, was established by Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham,
but there seems to have been such an institution existing before, as Ann
Moor, of Westby, bequeathed, in 1805, £40 to Plumpton school, and the
interest of £20 to the poor of Great Plumpton.

  POPULATION OF WESTBY-WITH-PLUMPTONS.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    623    692    771    686    643    707    601    535

The area of the township is 3,426 statute acres.

WEETON-WITH-PREESE. On the arrival of the Normans Weeton contained 300
acres of arable land. In the 9th year of King John, Matilda, wife of
Theobald Walter, obtained certain inheritances in Weeton, Treales, and
Rawcliffe. Theobald le Botiler, or Butler, held Weeton in 1249; and in
1339, James, son of Edmund le Botiler, earl of Ormond, had possession of
it, together with Treales, Little Marton, and Out Rawcliffe. The manor
descended in the same family until 1673, when it passed to the 9th earl
of Derby on his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Butler, the
Lord Ossory. The present earl of Derby is now the lord of the soil, and
holds a court baron by deputy. There is a fair for cattle and small wares
on the first Tuesday after Trinity Sunday.

Preese is the Pres of Domesday Book, and comprised at that time two
carucates. Henry, duke of Lancaster, held Preese at his death in 1361. In
the reign of Henry VIII. the manor was in the hands of the Skilicornes,
who for many generations were the coroners of Amounderness. Preese Hall,
the ancient seat of this family, was much damaged by a fire in 1732,
which destroyed the private chapel. In 1864 that portion of the mansion,
which had survived the conflagration and been repaired, was pulled down.
The site is now occupied by a farm-house, belonging to T. H. Miller,
esq., of Singleton, who owns a large amount of the land.

The church of Weeton is dedicated to St. Michael, and was built in
1843 by subscription, to which the late earl of Derby contributed
generously. In 1852 the edifice was enlarged, and in 1861 the township
of Weeton-with-Preese was united with the Plumptons and Greenhalgh, to
form an ecclesiastical parish. The Rev. William Sutcliffe, when curate
at Kirkham, performed the duties at Weeton church, and was appointed
incumbent there in 1861. In 1862 he was succeeded by the present vicar,
the Rev. William Thorold. A National school was erected by subscription
and a grant from the National Society of £30, in 1845. A Wesleyan chapel
was built about 1827.

  POPULATION OF WEETON-WITH-PREESE.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    384    508    473    477    545    465    465    433

The area of the township is 2,876 statute acres.

MEDLAR-WITH-WESHAM. The abbot and brethren of Cockersand Abbey became
possessed of this township at an early date, and retained it until the
dissolution of monasteries, when the manor of Medlar passed, by gift or
purchase, to the Westbys, of Mowbreck Hall. The estates of the Westbys
were confiscated by the Commonwealth, and only redeemed on the payment
of £1,000. The estate and Hall of Mowbreck are still held by the same
family.[183] The mansion preserves many evidences of its great antiquity,
including the old chapel and priests’ room.

Bradkirk, in Medlar, belonged to Theobald Walter in 1249, but in the
reign of Edward III. it was held by a family bearing the name of
Bradkirk, a title acquired from the estate. The Bradkirks resided there
as proprietors until somewhere about the opening of the 17th century,
when the earl of Derby had obtained the soil. In 1723 Bradkirk was bought
by John Richardson, of Preston, from Thomas Stanley, of Cross Hall, in
Ormskirk parish, who held the manor by right of his wife Catherine,
sister and heiress of Christopher Parker, of Bradkirk, deceased,
unmarried, a few years before.[184] From John Richardson the manor passed
successively by will to William Richardson, Edward Hurst, of Preston, and
James Kearsley, of Over Hulton, by the last of whom it was sold in 1797
to Joseph Hornby, esq., of Ribby, and his descendant, H. H. Hornby, esq.,
of Ribby Hall, is the present holder. The original Bradkirk Hall, the
seat of the Bradkirks and Parkers, has long since disappeared, and the
edifice now bearing the name was erected or rebuilt by Edward Hurst in
1764.

In 1864 an Independent Day and Sunday school was built by Benjamin
Whitworth, esq., M.P., of London, on land given by R. C. Richards, esq.,
J.P., of Kirkham, and presented to the trustees of the chapel belonging
to that sect at Kirkham. The railway station and several weaving sheds
and cotton mills are situated in this township.

  POPULATION OF MEDLAR-WITH-WESHAM.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    216    230    215    242    209    170    563    860

GREENHALGH-WITH-THISTLETON. Greenhalgh is stated in the Domesday Book to
contain three carucates of soil. The township was held by the Butlers
of the Fylde at an early epoch, and retained until 1626 at least, when
Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe, was lord of Greenhalgh and Thistleton. During
the sovereignty of Edward I. the abbot of Cockersand had certain rights
there, including assize of bread and beer.

Henry Colbourne, of London, bequeathed, in 1655, £5 10s. to establish
a school at Esprick in this township, but his wishes were not properly
carried out before 1679, at which date his legacy was supplemented by
gifts from 41 yeomen in the neighbourhood, and a school erected to
provide free education to the children of Greenhalgh and Thistleton.
Further endowments of £60 in 1766 from John Cooper, and £80 a little
later by subscription, were given to the institution; and in 1805 Mary
Hankinson left £200, and Richard Burch, of Greenhalgh, £200, to the same
object. The original school-house, formed of clay and thatched with
straw, has been pulled down, and a fresh one built. Subsequent donations
have been received under the wills of the Misses Ellen and Hannah
Dewhirst, the former of whom left £200, in addition to a gift of £100
during her lifetime, and the latter the residue of her estate.

The interest of £20, bequeathed for that purpose by a person named
Lawrenson, is distributed annually to the poor of Greenhalgh.

  POPULATION OF GREENHALGH-WITH-THISTLETON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    378    403    409    408    371    362    383    365

The township embraces 1,821 statute acres.

GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETONS. At the Domesday Survey, Singletun contained
six carucates of arable land, the lord of the manor being Roger de
Poictou, who gave the tithes at the close of the eleventh century to the
priory of St. Mary’s, Lancaster; this grant was subsequently confirmed
by John, earl of Moreton.[185] During the reigns of kings John and Henry
III., Alan de Singleton held a carucate of land in the township by
serjeanty of the wapentake of Amounderness.[186] In 20 Edward I. (1292)
Thomas de Singleton, a descendant of Alan, proved to the satisfaction
of a jury, when his right to certain offices was called in question,
that the manor of Little Singleton had belonged to his family from time
immemorial, and that the serjeanty of Amounderness with its privileges
and duties, was annexed and appurtenant to that manor. Thomas de
Singleton admitted, however, when called upon by the king’s attorney
to show by what title he held the manors of Singleton, Thornton, and
Brughton, the same having been amongst the possessions of Richard I. at
his death, that he did not hold the whole of Singleton, as Thomas de
Clifton and Caterina his wife had one third of two bovates there; and
urged this fact as a plea why he could not be summoned to answer the
demand as made on behalf of Edward I. His objection was allowed.[187]
In 1297 Edmund, earl of Lancaster received annually £21 from Singleton
and 20s. from Singleton Grange. At the opening of the fourteenth century
Little Singleton had passed into the hands of the Banastres, for the
“hamlet of Singleton Parva” was one of the estates of William Banastre at
his death in 17 Edward II. (1323-24).[188] Towards the end of the reign
of Edward II. Thomas, the son of the notorious Sir Adam Banastre, held
little Singleton and the serjeanty of Amounderness, and by the latter
of these had a right to the services of two bailiffs and a boy to levy
executions within the wapentake.[189]

The following notice of Singleton in the time of Henry, duke of
Lancaster, who died in 1361, occurs amongst the Lansdowne manuscripts:—

  “In Syngleton there are 21 messuages and 26 bovates of land
  held by bondsmen, who pay annually at the feasts of Easter and
  St. Michael £21 9s. 3d. And there are 11 cottages with so many
  inclosures, and one croft, and one piece of land in the hands
  of tenants-at-will, paying annually 21s. 6d. All the aforesaid
  bondsmen owe talliage, and give marchet and heriot,[190] and
  on the death of her husband a widow gives one third part of
  his property to the lord of the manor, but more is claimed in
  cases where the deceased happen to be widowers. And if any one
  possesses a male fowl it is forbidden to him to sell it without a
  license. The duke of Lancaster owns the aforesaid tenements with
  right to hold a court. It is to be noted that each of the above
  mentioned bovates of land is to pay at first 2s. 7d. per annum,
  with work at the plough and harrow, mowing meadows in Ryggeby,
  and carrying elsewhere the lord’s provisions at Richmond, York,
  Doncaster, Pontefract, and Newcastle, with 12 horses in Summer
  and Winter. But afterwards the land was freed from this bondage,
  and paid per bovate 14s. 3d. ob.”

The lands of Thomas Banastre, before named, in “Syngleton Parva,
Ethelswyk, Frekulton, Hamylton, Stalmyn,” etc., were escheated to John of
Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, in 1385, after the death of Banastre.[191]

Edmund Dudley, who was attainted in 1509 and afterwards executed, held
Little Singleton, as well as lands in Elswick, Thornton, Wood Plumpton,
Freckleton, etc.;[192] and in 1521 Thomas, earl of Derby, held the manor
of Syngleton of Henry VIII.[193]

In the reign of James I. Great Singleton appears to have belonged to
the crown, for amongst a number of estates purchased from the crown by
Edward Badbie and William Weldon, of London, for the sum of £2,000, is
the “manor or lordship of Singleton, alias Singleton Magna,” the annual
rent of which is stated to have been £16 17s. 0d. Subsequently the manor
passed to the Fanshaws, and from them to the Shaws; William Cunliffe
Shaw, of Preston, esq., sold it to Joseph Hornby, of Ribby Hall, esq.,
and afterwards it was purchased by Thomas Miller, esq., of Preston, who
greatly improved the property by draining the low lying lands known as
Singleton Carrs, which in former days were frequently in a state of
partial or complete inundation. Thomas H. Miller, esq., the present owner
and eldest son of the late Thos. Miller, esq., has recently erected a
noble mansion on the estate, where he resides during most of the year.

The earliest notice to be discovered of Singleton Grange is in an old
schedule of deeds, in which the land is mentioned as having been granted
by King John in 1215. In 1297, during the reign of Edward I., Edmund
Crouchback, earl of Lancaster, received yearly the sum of 20s. from the
estate. Subsequently the Grange passed into the possession of the abbot
and convent of Cockersand;[194] and at the dissolution of monasteries
it became the property of Henry VIII., who in 1543 granted it to William
Eccleston, of Eccleston, gentleman.[195] The Grange descended to Thomas,
the son, and afterwards to Adam, the grandson, of William Eccleston.
Adam Eccleston died sometime a little later than 1597. The estate after
his decease passed through several hands in rapid succession, and in
1614 was sold by William Ireland, gent., to William Leigh, B.D., clerk
in holy orders and rector of Standish. Theophilus Leigh, the eldest
son of that gentleman, resided at Singleton Grange, and married Clare,
daughter of Thomas Brooke, of Norton, Cheshire, by whom he had one son,
named William. William Leigh succeeded to the Grange on the death of his
father in 1658, and espoused Margaret, daughter of Edward Chisenhall, of
Chisenhall, Lancashire, and had issue, Charles and Edward.

Charles Leigh, the elder of the two sons, became celebrated as a
physician and student of natural history and antiquities. He was born
at the Grange in 1662, and at the age of 21 graduated as B.A. at the
University of Oxford; afterwards he removed to Cambridge to study
medicine, and in 1690 obtained the degree of M.D. In 1685 he was elected
a Fellow of the Royal Society. He married Dorothy, daughter of Edward
Shuttleworth, of Larbrick, and practised as a physician both in London
and in the neighbourhood of his birthplace, on one occasion, according
to his own version, performing a wonderful cure on Alexander Rigby, of
Layton Hall. His published works were—_Physiologia Lancastriensis_, in
1691, and the _Natural History of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak
of Derbyshire, with an account of the British, Phœnician, Armenian,
Greek, and Roman Antiquities in those parts_, in 1700, of which latter
Dr. Whittaker remarks:—“Had this doctor filled his whole book, as he
has done nearly one-half of it, with medical cases, it might have been
of some use; but how, with all possible allowances for the blindness
and self-partiality of human nature, a man should have thought himself
qualified to write and to publish critical remarks on a subject of which
he understood not the elementary principles, it is really difficult to
conceive.”[196]

Somewhere before the commencement of the eighteenth century, the estate
of Bankfield was separated from the Grange, which, during the latter
portion, at least, of the lifetime of Dr. Leigh, who died shortly after
the publication of his “Natural History,” was held by a person named
Joseph Green. In 1701 the executors of Joseph Green sold a portion
of Singleton Grange to Richard Harrison, of Bankfield, yeoman. The
remainder of the Grange land was held by widow Green until her death,
when it passed by her will, dated 1716, to her two sons, Richard and Paul
Green.[197]

Richard Harrison, of Bankfield, obtained the whole of Singleton Grange
in 1738, and left it on his decease to his son Richard, from whom it
descended about 1836 to his only surviving child, Agnes Elizabeth, the
wife of Edwards Atkinson, of Fleetwood, justice of the peace for the
county of Lancaster. Mrs. Atkinson died childless in 1850, and bequeathed
Singleton Grange to her husband, who in his turn entailed the estate
upon his eldest son, Charles Edward Dyson Atkinson, still a minor, the
offspring of a second marriage, with Anne, daughter of Christopher
Thornton Clark, of Cross Hall, Lancashire, by whom he had issue two sons
and a daughter,—Ann Elizabeth Ynocensia, John Henry Gladstone, and the
present heir. The old Hall of Singleton Grange has been modernised and
converted into a farm-house.

It is very probable that there was a chapel in Singleton during the
earlier years of the fourteenth century, for in 1358-59, Henry, duke
of Lancaster, granted to John de Estwitton, hermit, the custody of the
chapel of St. Mary, in Singleton; and in 1440 a license was granted to
celebrate mass to the inhabitants of Singleton in the chapel at the
same place for one year. Twelve years afterwards another license was
granted by the archdeacon of Richmond for an oratory to be established
in the chapel for the use of the people of the township; and in 1456 the
license was renewed by archdeacon Laurence Bothe to John Skilicorne, of
Kirkham. The chapel, with all its appurtenances, passed to the Crown
at the Reformation; and in the report of the Commissioners of Edward
VI., it is stated that “A Stipendarye is founded in the Chapelle of
Syngleton, in Kirkeham, by vertue of a lease made out of the Duchie to
Sʳ Richarde Houghton, knight, the 26th day of Februarie, in the ffirst
yere of the raigne of our soveraign lorde the kinge, that nowe is
(1547), unto the ende of 21 yeres the next following; wherein the said
Sʳ Richarde covenanteth to pay yerely duringe the said time to a Pryest
celebrating in the said Chapelle the sum of 49s. The said Chapelle is
distant from the parishe Church of Kirkeham 4 myles; Richarde Godson,
the Incumbent, of the age of 38 yeres, hath the said yerely salarie of
49s.” Thomas Houghton, of Lea, the son of the knight, appears to have had
some difficulty in inducing sundry of the Singleton tenants to recognise
his right of proprietorship after the death of his father, for we find
him pleading in the duchy court in 1560-61 that he held the “lands of
the late kynge in Singleton, also a house called the chapell house, with
three acres of land in the tenure of Wᵐ Yede, a chapell called Singleton
chapell, in Singleton aforesaid, with the chapell yarde thereunto
belonging, one house or cottage called Corner-rawe, and a windmill; and
that the tenants thereof, Robert Carter and James Hall, had never paid
any rent, and refused to do so.”[198]

In 1562 the Charity Commissioners of Edward VI. founded a “stipendarye in
the Chapelle of Syngleton in Kyrkeham.”

At the archiepiscopal visitation of the diocese of Chester in 1578,
the following list of charges was brought against the curate of
Singleton:—“There is not servyse done in due tyme—He kepeth no hous nor
releveth the poore—He is not dyligent in visitinge the sycke—He doth
not teach the catechisme—There is no sermons—He churcheth fornycatours
without doinge any penaunce—He maketh a donge hill of the chapel yeard,
and he hath lately kepte a typlinge hous and a nowty woman in it.”[199]

From that time we hear no more of the old chapel of Singleton, but the
chapel-house, alluded to above, was at a later period flourishing as
an inn, and bearing the same name; at the Oliverian survey, in 1650,
it was stated that there was a newly erected chapel at Singleton, but
that it had no endowment or maintenance belonging to it, and that the
inhabitants prayed that it might be constituted a parish church with a
“minister and competent mayntenance allowed.”[200] It is probable that
after the decline of the Commonwealth this chapel fell into the hands
of the Catholics, for Thomas Tyldesley, of Fox Hall, a Romanist, in
his diary of 1712, 13 and 14, speaks several times of going “to Great
Singleton to prayers”; and doubtless it is the one alluded to in the
following indenture, bearing the date 29th August, 1749:—“William Shaw,
esq., lord of the manor of Shingleton in yᵉ parish of Kirkham, gave a
chapel belonging to him at Shingleton aforesaid, then used as a popish
chapel, to be used for yᵉ future as a chapel of ease to yᵉ mother church
of Kirkham, for yᵉ benefit of yᵉ inhabitants of Shingleton and of the
adjacent townships; and that the said Wᵐ. Shaw proposed to give £200, to
be added to a similar sum from Queen Anne’s bounty, for yᵉ endowment of
yᵉ said chapel, in consideration whereof Samuel, lord bishop of Chester
as ordinary, the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford, as patrons,
and Chas. Buck as incumbent, by virtue of an act of George I., grant and
decree that yᵉ said William Shaw and his heirs and assigns for ever shall
have yᵉ nomination to and patronage of yᵉ said chapel, as often as it is
vacant.”

This chapel was dedicated to St. Anne, and in 1756 it was agreed “by all
parties that the chapel of Singleton should be always considered a place
of public worship according to the liturgy of the Church of England,
and the chapel yard always appropriated to the burying of the dead and
the support of the minister”; further, the chapel living was declared
a perpetual curacy, separate and independent of the mother church of
Kirkham, “save and except that the curate must assist the vicar of the
latter place on Christmas day, Easter day, Whitsunday, Good Friday, and
each sabbath when it is customary to administer the sacrament; also the
tythes, Easter dues, funeral sermons, and all other parochial rights and
duties belonged to the vicarage of Kirkham.”[201]

The above is an authentic record of the way in which the chapel of
Singleton passed out of the hands of the Romanists into those of
the Protestants, but the Rev. W. Thornber, to whom this document
was evidently unknown, has given in his _History of Blackpool and
its neighbourhood_, a different version of the matter. He states,
with apparently no greater authority than tradition, that after the
suppression of the rebellion of 1745, the protestants of the village
celebrated the 5th of November more zealously than usual, raising
contributions of peat at every house, and amongst the rest had even
the presumption to call at that of the priest. The refusal of the
ecclesiastic to provide his share of fuel so incensed the villagers that
they ejected him both from his house and the church; and the lord of the
manor seized this opportunity to convert the chapel into a protestant
place of worship.

Singleton chapel was a low building with a thatched roof, the eaves of
which came within a short distance of the ground; the priest’s house
was attached to the chapel and communicated with it by a door into the
sacristy. In 1806 this ancient building, having become much dilapidated,
was pulled down and replaced, through the liberality of Joseph Hornby,
of Ribby, esq., by a neat gothic structure, having a square tower at one
end, in which was placed a peal of six bells; in 1859 the latter edifice
was levelled to the ground, and the present handsome and commodious
church erected on the site, chiefly through the munificence of the
late Thomas Miller, esq. The few mural monuments within the church are
not of any great antiquity, and are _in memoriam_ of the Harrisons and
Atkinsons, of Bankfield. There are no inscriptions of interest in the
churchyard, beyond those on the stones surmounting the vault belonging
to the Bankfield families just named. In 1869 a separate district or
parish was assigned to this cure, and the present incumbent of the church
acquired the title of vicar.

  THE CURATES AND VICARS OF SINGLETON.

  ------------+-----------------------+--------------------------
    Date of   |       NAME.           | Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                       |
  ------------+-----------------------+--------------------------
  About 1545  |Richard Godson         |
   ”    1562  |Thomas Fieldhouse      |
  In 1651     |Cuthbert Harrison, B.A.|
   ” 1749     |John Threlfall, B.A.   |
  About 1809  |Thomas Banks           |
  Before 1843 |William Birley, M.A.   |
  In 1843     |Leonard C. Wood, B.A.  | Resignation of W. Birley
  ------------+-----------------------+--------------------------

The Rev. Cuthbert Harrison was the son of Richard Harrison, of Newton,
in Kirkham parish, and appears to have been the progenitor of the
Harrisons, of Bankfield, being the first of the name on record as holder
of that property. It is doubtful whether this minister was ejected from
Singleton, as generally believed, or not, for in 1662, the date of the
Act of Uniformity which drove so many of the clergy from their cures, he
was in Ireland, holding the office of minister at Shankel, near Lurgan;
so that if his ejection ever did take place from Singleton it must have
been anterior to, and consequently unconnected with, the obnoxious
Act. According to a letter from his son, however, he was ejected from
Shankel, and it is probably that circumstance which has given rise to the
supposition and assertion that he was one of those who suffered in the
Fylde for conscience’s sake in 1662. After leaving Ireland he opened a
meeting-house at Elswick in 1672 by royal license, for the use “of such
as do not conform to the Church of England and are of the persuasion
commonly called Congregational.” This place of worship was closed shortly
afterwards by a decree of parliament, and Cuthbert Harrison, to escape
persecution, was compelled to hold his services “very privately in the
night” in his own house, or in one belonging to some member of his
congregation. “He practysed physic,” says his son, “with good success,
and by it supported his family and gained the favour of the neighbouring
gentry. He baptized his own children, with many others.”

Vicar Clegg, of Kirkham, seems to have grown very wrathful at what he
doubtless regarded as the presumption of Cuthbert Harrison, in taking
upon himself the right to baptize children and solemnize matrimony, and
presented him before the ecclesiastical court on a charge of “marrying
one James Benson, of Warles, and baptizing a child of his.” The inquiry
resulted in both Harrison and Benson being excommunicated; but the
former was not deterred by this ban from repairing to the church of
Kirkham, much to the indignation of Mr. Clegg, who on one occasion was
so much disturbed on seeing the irrepressible excommunicant in the
chancel, whilst he engaged with the sermon, that he lost the thread of
his discourse, and being unable to find the place amongst his notes,
“was silent for some time.” Smarting under the additional annoyance
the vicar ordered the churchwardens to eject Mr. Harrison from the
building at once, but that gentleman refused to leave unless Mr. Clegg
in person performed the duty of turning him out; incensed at his show of
obstinacy, the vicar appealed to Christopher Parker, esq., of Bradkirk
Hall, a justice of the peace, who was seated within six feet of Mr.
Harrison, to remove him, but the magistrate refused to act in the matter,
and Mr. Clegg was obliged to descend from the pulpit and undertake the
unpleasant task himself. He walked up to the offender, and, taking him
by the sleeve, desired him to go out from the church; Mr. Harrison went
peaceably with the vicar, but had no sooner passed out through the
chancel door than he exclaimed in a loud voice “It is time to go when the
devil drives.”

Shortly after this episode Mr. Clegg sued Cuthbert Harrison for the sum
of 120s., being a fine of 20s. per month extending over six months, for
non-attendance at the parish church. The defendant pleaded that when he
had attempted to attend the service at Kirkham he had been ejected from
the church by the plaintiff himself, and the judge who summed up the
evidence in favour of the defendant, remarked—“There is fiddle to be
hanged and fiddle not to be hanged.” The verdict went against Mr. Clegg,
who reaped only the payment of his own and defendant’s costs from this
piece of persecution.

Cuthbert Harrison died in 1681, and “a great entreaty,” writes his son,
“was made to Mr. Clegg to suffer his body to be buried in the church;
he-was prevailed with, and Mr. Harrison was interred a little within the
great door, which has since been the burial place of the family.” The
first epitaph below is said, by his son, to have been fixed upon “Cuth.
Harrison’s grave by Mr. Clegg”; the second one is a retaliation, reported
to have been substituted by some local rhymester, after effacing the
original one:—

  1

    “Here lies Cud,
    Who never did good,
  But always was in strife;
    Oh! let the Knave
    Lie in his grave,
  And ne’er return to life.”

  2

    “Here lies Cud,
    Who still did good,
  And never was in strife,
    But with Dick Clegg,
    Who furiously opposed
  His holy life.”

In 1768 another chapel was erected by the Romanists at Singleton by
subscription, and almost immediately the officiating priest, the Rev.
Father Watts, renounced his creed, publicly recanting at Kirkham; he died
in 1773, when minister at the episcopal chapel of Wrea-green. According
to Mr. Thornber, the priests of Singleton could seldom assign a better
reason for desiring a removal to another sphere of labour, than that
they were surfeited with wild ducks from the “carrs.” The chapel was
rebuilt subsequently, but closed when the present one at Poulton had been
completed and opened a few years.

Mains or Maynes Hall is situated in the manor of Little Singleton, and
appears on ancient maps as Monk’s Hall. The original Hall was built in
the form of a quadrangle, the chapel being on the right and the kitchen
on the left; the latter, taken down rather more than half a century ago,
was roofed with tiles, about six inches square, piled thickly upon one
another, and contained several secret recesses or hiding places, one of
which was situated near the mantel-piece, and another, entered from the
floor above by means of a ladder, showed manifest evidences of having
been occupied. The present Hall is less antique in its construction and
arrangements than its predecessor. In 1745 a party of Scotch rebels
feasted there; and George IV., when Prince of Wales, is said to have
been an occasional visitor at the mansion. The mantel-piece of the
drawing-room was formerly adorned with a family painting of the Howards,
dukes of Norfolk; and adjoining that spacious apartment is a small room,
which appears to have been an oratory, containing relics of distinguished
saints. The outside wall of the old chapel bears the date 1686, and
within are a gilded altar in a state of dilapidation, a large picture of
the ‘Virgin and Infant,’ a coat of arms, and various scraps of scriptural
texts and ordinances of the church of Rome.[202]

Cardinal Allen, of Rossall Hall, the brother-in-law of William Hesketh,
who was living at Mains Hall at the opening of the seventeenth century,
is said to have frequently secreted himself in the hiding places there,
during the time he was engaged in endeavouring to alienate the loyalty of
the catholics of this district, and induce them to assist the invasion of
Philip of Spain, whose forces were expected to land at Peel in Morecambe
Bay.

The Heskeths were the first tenants of Mains Hall of whom we have any
notice, and the above William was the first of the family to reside
there; a full account of the descent and intermarriages of the Heskeths
of Mains will be found in the chapter on ancient families of the Fylde.

The Hall and estate are now the property of Thomas Fitzherbert
Brockholes, of Claughton, esq.

  POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE SINGLETON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    325    396    501    499    391    293    338    317

The area of the township comprises 2,860 statute acres.

LITTLE ECCLESTON-WITH-LARBRICK. The _Testa de Nevill_ records that Adam
de Eccleston and William de Molines, with three others, had part of a
knight’s fee in Eccleston and Larbrick, about 1300. In 1500 Richard
Kerston had 60 acres in Little Eccleston, a portion of which passed on
his death in 1546 to John ffrance, who had married one of his daughters.
The ffrances retained their possessions until 1817, when they were
bequeathed by the last of the line to Thomas Wilson, of Preston, who
adopted their surname.[203] Larbrick was held in 1336 by William de
Coucy, of Gynes, but in 1358 it belonged to Sir William Molyneux, of
Sefton, in whose family it remained until about 1601, at which date
William Burgh, of Burgh, near Chorley, died, holding it. Subsequently
the manor passed, through the daughter of William Burgh, to Edward
Shuttleworth, of Thornton Hall, who had espoused her grand-daughter. The
last proprietor here named died in 1673, and the estate was divided,
a moiety going to Dr. Charles Leigh, who had married one of his two
daughters and co-heiresses, and the second mediety to Richard Longworth,
who was the husband of the other. Dr. Leigh mortgaged his share, which
eventually was obtained by Richard Harrison, of Bankfield; whilst that
of Richard Longworth, passed, about 1700, to the Hornbys, of Poulton,
and afterwards to the Pedders, of Preston, who held it for more than
a century. Mr. Whiteside, who purchased it from the Rev. Jno. Pedder,
is now owner. Larbrick Hall, for long a seat of the noble house of
Molyneux, is at present represented by a farm-house. Dr. Leigh mentions
an extremely cold well in Larbrick, in which fish were unable to survive
beyond a few seconds.

In 1697, William Gillow left 10s. a year, the rental of some land, to be
given to two or more poor persons of the township at Christmas, and in
1720, a further annual sum of 20s. was left for the same object by George
Gillow.

  POPULATION OF LITTLE ECCLESTON-WITH-LARBRICK.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    178    192    224    230    199    215    209    192

The area of the township is 1,198 statute acres.

CLIFTON-WITH-SALWICK. As early as 1100 William de Clifton had lands
in Clifton and Salwick, and from that date to the present time, with
one short interval, the manors have descended in the same family, of
which Jno. Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham, is the head.[204] Clifton
and Salwick Halls, the ancient residences of the Cliftons, are now
comparatively modern buildings. The church of Lund is situated in
Salwick, and possessed a chantry so far back as 1516. The first notice
of any connection between Kirkham church and Lund chapel occurs amongst
the records of the “Thirty-men” in 1701, thus:—“Matt. Hall, ch warden, of
Kirkham, in 1688, set up a scandalous trough for a font in Lund chapel;
and 4 sackfuls of moss he then carried from the church to repair the said
chapel, and so it first began to be repaired at the parish charge.” The
old chapel was pulled down in 1824, and a stone church erected. In 1852 a
chancel was added, and more recently a tower. Lund and Newton-with-Scales
were constituted an ecclesiastical parish in 1840. The church is
dedicated to St. John, and the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford,
are the patrons.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF LUND.

  ------------+-------------------+--------------------------
    Date of   |       NAME.       |    Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                   |
  ------------+-------------------+--------------------------
  Before 1648 |Joseph Harrison    |
    ”    1732 |Thomas Cockin      |
    ”    1769 |Benj. Wright       |
  In 1790     |Charles Buck, B.A. |
  Before 1818 |Thos. Stephenson   |
  In 1820     |Richard Moore, M.A.| Death of T. Stephenson
  ------------+-------------------+--------------------------

The Rev. Jos. Harrison, brother to Cuthbert Harrison, was ejected in the
year 1662, for refusing to comply with the Act of Uniformity.

Alice Hankinson, left in 1680, £5 for the use of the minister, and Alice
Clitherall a like sum for the same purpose. Thomas Smith bequeathed,
in 1685, the annual interest of £20 to Lund chapel. The sum of £10 is
received yearly under a trust of 1668, 50s. being for the vicar, and the
surplus for the poor. The school was established about 1682, by a legacy
of £60 left by John Dickson, half the interest to go to the minister of
Lund chapel, providing he belonged to the Church of England, and the
other moiety to the master of the school. The interest of £10, origin
unknown, is paid each year to the trustees of the school.

  POPULATION OF CLIFTON-WITH-SALWICK.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    552    575    608    508    538    471    447    447

The township contains 3,776 statute acres.

TREALES, ROSEACRE, AND WHARLES. The ancient manor of Treales embraced the
three estates of Treales, Roseacre, and Wharles, being computed in the
Domesday Book to contain two carucates of arable soil. In 1207 Treales
was granted to Robert de Vavassour, the father-in-law of Theobald Walter,
and subsequently it descended in the Butler family until 1673, when the
9th earl of Derby acquired it with his wife, the daughter of Thomas
Butler, the lord Ossory. The present earl of Derby is lord of the manor,
and holds a court annually.

The church, a plain stone building with nave and chancel only, was
erected in 1853, and endowed five years later by the dean and chapter of
Christ Church, Oxford. The Rev. J. Hodgkin is the incumbent.

William Grimbaldson, M.D., left £300 in 1725, the interest to be used
for binding out poor apprentices in Treales, whose parents received no
parish relief. Boulton’s and Porter’s charities are rentals amounting to
about £12 a-year, to be given to poor persons of the township. Bridgett’s
charity is the interest of £15 for the poor of Wharles.

  POPULATION OF TREALES, ROSEACRE, AND WHARLES.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    675    671    760    756    709    696    632    625

The township has an area of 4,015 statute acres.

NEWTON-WITH-SCALES. Newton appears in the Domesday Book as containing two
carucates. In 1324 William de Clifton had 60 acres in Scales; and in 1354
Adam de Bradkirk held land in Newton. John Hornby, of Newton-with-Scales,
left in 1707, the residue of his estate, after certain bequests, to six
trustees to found and endow the present Blue Coat School; and in 1809 the
funds of the institution were increased by a legacy of £800, under the
will of James Boys, of London, an old pupil. The principal soil owners
are the Rev. R. Moore, and the Westby, Swainson, Bryning, Hornby, and
Loxham families.

  POPULATION OF NEWTON-WITH-SCALES.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    269    336    380    381    324    299    286    292

The area of the township is 1,525 statute acres.

HAMBLETON. Hambleton was held during the reign of King John by Geoffrey,
the Crossbowman, or de Hackensall, from whom it descended to his
son-in-law Richard de Sherburne, and afterwards to Robert de Sherburne,
the son of the latter. The manor was held successively by different
members of the Sherburne family until 1363, when it passed to Richard
de Bailey, who had married the daughter and heiress of the last male
Sherburne, and adopted the maiden surname of his wife. Hence the title
of the manorial lords remained unchanged up to 1717, when the property
became the possession of the Duchess of Ormond, the sole child of Sir
Nicholas Sherburne, who died at that date. After the decease of the
Duchess of Ormond, without issue, Hambleton passed to Edward, the son
of William Weld, of Lulworth Castle, by his marriage with the sister
of Sir Nicholas Sherburne. The descendants of Edward Weld still retain
some portion of the soil, but a considerable proportion has been sold in
recent years.

Bishop Gastrell affirms that the episcopal chapel of Hambleton
was consecrated in 1567. In 1650 the Parliamentary Commissioners
reported:—“There is no allowance to the minister, but only £5 per an.
payd by Richard Sherburne, esq., lord of the manor, and £40 per an. by
order from the committee for plundered ministers. The inhabitants desire
it may be made a parish, and the township of Rawcliffe, lying within a
myle of it and four miles from their parish church, may be annexed to
it.”

The present church was erected in 1749, and is a plain whitewashed
building, without a tower or any attempt at architectural display.
Attached to the south wall within are three tablets inscribed thus:—

  “Beneath this marble are deposited the remains of Mary Ramsden,
  daughter and heiress of the rev. Christʳ. Westby Alderston,
  late vicar of St. Michael’s in this county, and wife of Rowland
  Ramsden of Halifax. She was born Aug. 17ᵗʰ, 1768 and died Nov.
  6ᵗʰ, 1764.”

  “Sacred to the memory of George Bickerstaffe of Hambleton,
  gent., died May 3ʳᵈ, 1766; Jenny Alderston, his granddaughter,
  died May 16ᵗʰ, 1770; and Agnes, wife of the rev. Christʳ. Westby
  Alderston, widow of Richᵈ. Harrison of Bankfield, and daughter of
  George Bickerstaffe, died March 14ᵗʰ, 1820.”

  “Sacred to the memory of the rev. Thomas Butcher, B.A., for 39
  years the respected incumbent of this chapel. Erected by the
  voluntary contributions of his parishioners.”

On the aisles of the church are three gravestones, bearing the following
inscriptions:—

  “In this aisle lie the remains of the rev. John Field, B.A. and
  minister of this place, who died 21st April, 1765; also his wife
  and children.”

  “Here lies the body of Dorothy, wife of Richard Carter of
  Hambleton, who died 14th May, 1807.”

  “William, son of James Norris of Liverpool, buried the 29th of
  June 1692—Though Boreas’ Blast and Neptune’s Waves have tost me
  to and fro, yet a spite on both by God’s decree I harbour here
  below: Here at anchor I doe ride with many of our fleet, yet once
  again I must set sail my Generall Christ to meet.”[205]

In earlier days, when the church was held by the Roman Catholics, the
burial ground was evidently of much greater extent than at present, and
surrounded by an immense moat, between six and seven yards wide, and of
a considerable depth. In a field lying to the east of the church can
now be seen the ancient limits of the ground in that direction, bounded
by a long stretch of the old moat in a very fair state of preservation,
but of course somewhat contracted by accumulations of vegetation; and in
another plot of ground to the west, may be traced by a slight depression
the course of the same trench, marking the westerly extent of the yard.
The northerly length of the moat passed behind the present churchyard,
and a portion of it, about two yards wide, is still to be seen there, the
remainder of its breadth being filled in and included in the cemetery.
The southerly stretch of this ancient ditch or fosse ran just within
the railings, protecting the burial ground in front. When the existing
walls were built round the yard great difficulty was met with in forming
a good foundation over the site of the moat at different points, as it
was found to be filled in with fragments of bricks, mortar, and general
rubbish, which seems to indicate that it was abolished when the church
itself was in course of reconstruction, and that the old building
materials and _debris_ were used for the purpose of raising it to the
common level, indicating that the work must have been accomplished
either at the rebuilding of 1749, or at some previous and unrecorded
one. The moat would be crossed by a bridge of fair dimensions, which was
probably situated on the west side, as the sexton lately discovered the
well-preserved remains of a straight footpath, paved with long tiles, and
running from the church for some distance towards the site of the moat in
that direction; the path was between two and three feet below the surface
of the ground.

The church was separated from the mother edifice of Kirkham, and had an
independent district assigned to it in 1846. The incumbent has the title
of vicar.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF HAMBLETON.

  ------------+-----------------------+-----------------------------
    Date of   |        NAME.          |    Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                       |
  ------------+-----------------------+-----------------------------
  About 1648  |Robert Cunningham      |
  Before 1662 |William Bullock        |
  About 1725  |William Whitehead, B.A.|
  In  1735    |John Field, B.A.       | Resignation of W. Whitehead
   ”  1765-86 |Mr. Parkinson          |
   ”  1796    |Thomas Butcher, B.A.   |
   ”  1835    |Mr. Howard             | Death of T. Butcher
   ”  1836    |William Hough          | Resignation of ⸺ Howard
  ------------+-----------------------+-----------------------------

An Independent chapel was erected by subscription a few years since, and
schools subsequently added.

From the report of the Charity Commissioners, we learn that long before
the commencement of the nineteenth century there was a school at
Hambleton, but no attempt to elucidate more particularly its origin or
date of erection can be hazarded. In 1797 the only endowment it can boast
of was left by Matthew Lewtas, a native of Hambleton, and consisted of
£200, the interest of which had to be given to John, the son of George
Hall, of Hambleton, until he reached the age of twenty-one; and if before
or at that time he was appointed master of the school he had to continue
to receive the whole of the income whilst he held such mastership, but
if, although he was willing to accept the post, some other person should
be selected for it, then when he came of age, half of the income passed
from him to the school, and he retained the other moiety until his death,
when it also went to increase the stipend of the master. The other
condition of the will applied to the master, and obliged him in return
for the interest or income of the £200, to teach as many poor children
of Hambleton as the money would pay for. John Hall never obtained the
appointment, so that the present master receives the full interest of the
bequest, which is invested on mortgage.

The poor of Hambleton have £2 annually distributed amongst them through
the generosity of Sir Nicholas Sherburne, of Stonyhurst, who in 1706,
when lord of the manor of Hambleton, charged his estate of Lentworth Hall
with this charity.

The yearly interest of £10 was given for the benefit of poor housekeepers
in Hambleton by Mary, the daughter of vicar Clegg, of Kirkham, and the
wife of Emanuel Nightingale, of York, gent., who was born in 1673.

  POPULATION OF HAMBLETON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    252    273    338    334    349    346    366    351

The statute acres of the township amount to 1,603.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XIV.

PARISH OF LYTHAM.


LYTHAM. At the commencement of the Norman dynasty, when William I.
instituted a survey of his newly-conquered territory, the name of the
town and parish which will occupy our attention throughout the present
chapter was written _Lidun_, and was estimated to contain two carucates
of arable land. How long this orthography continued in use is difficult
to say, but it could not have been for much more than a century, as
amongst certain legal documents in the reign of King John, the locality
is referred to under the style of _Lethum_, an appellation which seems
to have adhered to it until comparatively recent years. The derivation
of the latter title is apparently from the Anglo-Saxon word _lethe_,
signifying a barn, and points obviously to an agricultural origin,
whilst the more antique name of _Lidun_ is possibly a corruption of the
Anglo-Saxon _lade_, implying a river discharging itself into the sea,
that is, its mouth or estuary, and _tun_, a town.

Shortly before the termination of the reign of Richard I. in 1199,
Richard Fitz Roger, who is supposed to have belonged to the Banastre
family, gave all his lands in Lethum, with the church of the same vill,
and all things belonging to the church, to God, and the monks of Durham,
that they might establish a Benedictine cell there to the honour of St.
Mary and St. Cuthbert.[206] The following is a copy of the document by
which the transfer was effected:—“Richard Fitz Roger, to all men, both
French and English, who may see this letter, greeting: Let all and each
of you know, that I, with the consent and wish of my wife, Margaret, and
my heirs, for the Salvation of my lord, Earl John, and for the souls of
my Father and Mother, and mine and my heirs, have given and granted, and
with these presents confirm as a pure and perpetual offering to God and
the Blessed Mary and St. Cuthbert, and the monks of Durham, all my estate
of Lethum, with the church at the same vill, with all things appertaining
to it, in order to build a house of their own order; namely, within
these divisions—From the ditch on the western side of the cemetery of
Kilgrimol (Lytham Common) over which I have erected a Cross, and from the
same ditch and Cross eastward, going along the Curridmere (Wild Moss or
Tarns) beyond the Great Moss, and the brook, as far as Balholme (Ballam),
which brook runs towards Snincbrigg (Sluice Bridge). Likewise from
Balholme directly across the moss, which my lord John, earl of Moreton,
divided between himself and me, as far as the northern part of Estholmker
(Estham), going eastward as far as the division of the water which comes
from Birckholme (Birks), and divides Etholmker and Brimaker (Bryning),
following this division of water southward as far as the middle point
between Etholme and Coulurugh (Kellamergh), and thus returning towards
the west and going southward across the Moss as far as la Pull from the
other side of Snartsalte (Saltcoats), as it falls upon the sand of the
sea, and thus going southward across to Ribril to the waterside, and
thus following the line of the water to the sea on the west, and so to
the ditch and across aforementioned,” etc., etc. In a charter dated
1200-1, it is specified that the whole of the lands of Lytham, amounting
to two carucates, had been presented by King John when earl of Moreton,
to Richard Fitz Roger, by whom, as just shown, they were immediately
conveyed to the monks of Durham.

There are unfortunately no means of ascertaining the extent or appearance
of the Benedictine cell established at Lytham, but its site would seem to
have been that now occupied by Lytham Hall, in the walls of some of the
offices attached to which remains of the ancient monastic edifice have
been incorporated. Dr. Kuerden alludes, in a manuscript preserved in the
Chetham library, to an undated claim of feudal privileges in Lytham, by
which the prior of Durham asserted his right to have view of frankpledge
in his manor of Lytham, with waif, stray, and infangthefe[207];
emendations of the assize of bread and beer; wrecks of the sea; exemption
for himself and tenants in Lytham from suit to the county and wapentake,
and from fines and penalties; to have soc, sac, and theam;[208] and
finally, to have free warren over all his lands in Lytham, and all royal
fish taken there. During the reign of Edward I. the legality of the
ecclesiastic’s assumption of the sole right to wreckage was called in
question, ultimately ending in litigation, and at Trinity Term, York,
the verdict of the jury was given against him. In the twenty-third year
of his sovereignty, Edward I. granted the wreck, waif, and stray of
Lytham to his brother Edmund, the earl of Lancaster. Amongst the Rolls of
the Duchy is the record of an agreement, entered into in 1271, between
Ranulphus de Daker, sheriff of Lancaster, Richard le Botiler, and others,
for arranging and fixing, with the consent and approval of Stephen, the
prior of Lytham, the boundaries between the land of Lytham and Kilgrimol,
and that of Layton. The priors of Lytham were entirely dependent on the
parent house until 1443, when they solicited and induced Pope Eugenius
to issue an edict declaring the prior of that date and his successors
perpetual in their office and no longer removable at the will and
dictation of the monks of Durham. Afterwards, in the same year, letters
patent were received at the Lytham cell, pardoning the application to the
papal See and granting the request;[209] but the union between the two
houses was not absolutely dissolved, for we find that, in addition to the
various properties at Lytham and Durham continuing to be valued together,
the cell and domain of the former place were granted in 2 Mary, 1554, to
Sir Thomas Holcroft as part of the possessions of the Durham convent.
In 1606 the knight transferred his rights and lands in Lytham to Sir
Cuthbert Clifton, in exchange for certain estates on the opposite side of
the river Ribble. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, a descendant
of the latter gentleman, is the present lord of the manor. Reverting to
the Benedictine cell it is seen from an ecclesiastical valuation, taken
in the reign of Henry VIII., probably about the time of the Reformation,
that the annual income of the institution was derived from the following
sources:—

                 “Cella de Lethum in com’ Lancastr’
                     Rad’us Blaxton prior Ibd’m

                                                               £ s. d.
  Situ celle pdce cum pt’ pastur’ & terr’ arabilib 3 p annu    8  8 0

  Redd’ & firmis in divs’ villis viz—villa de Lethum,
  £21 11s. 0d.; Esthowme, £3 7s. 0d.; Medholm, £7 2s. 8d.;
  Pilhowes cum Bankehousse, 12s. 11d.; Frekkylton cum
  Ranklysse, 7s. 3d.; Bylsborrow cum Carleton, 13s. 0d.;
  Warton, Goosenargh & Kyllermargh, £1 1s. 8d.                34 15 6
                                                              -------
                                         Total               £43  3 6”

It is evident from the wording of the foundation-charter of the cell of
Lytham that a church existed there at that date, and Reginald of Durham
affirms that the grand-father of Richard Fitz Roger pulled down the
original church of Lytham, which had been built of shingle, and erected
another of stone, dedicating it to St. Cuthbert.[210] This event must
have taken place anterior to the establishment of the Benedictines in
the locality, and is possibly related by the Durham ecclesiastic as a
brief account of the stone church standing there when the grant of lands,
etc., was made to his monastery by Fitz Roger. Amongst the number of
historical fragments collected by Gregson is a notice to the effect that
Thomas de Thweng was rector of the church of Lytham in 22 Edward III.
(1349), and founded a chantry of twelve in the parish church “to pray for
the good estate of himself and Henry, Lord Perci, and for the souls of
their ancestors.” Thomas de Thweng was descended from Lucy, granddaughter
of Helewise, the eldest sister of William de Lancaster, and in 1374,
very likely the year of his death, held the manor of Garstang.[211] The
edifice existing until 1770, when another church, also dedicated to
St. Cuthbert, was erected on its site, was a low building, constructed
of cobble stones, the walls being more than a yard in thickness and
penetrated by five windows, one of which was situated at the east end,
and the others at the sides. The main entrance was protected by a porch.
From the scanty description preserved of the general features of this
antique specimen of ecclesiastical architecture, it has been conjectured
that its origin might be traced back to the time of Henry VIII. Within
the erection the seats, which were of black oak, ornamented with scrolls,
were arranged in four rows, two running down the centre and one down each
side, whilst the north side of a small chancel was set apart for the
choristers. The pulpit was fixed against the south wall; and the Cliftons
possessed an old canopied seat, the precise station of which cannot be
ascertained.

On the demolition of this church in 1770, its successor arose with a
somewhat more pretentious exterior, having a low tower abutting the west
extremity. The interior of the latter structure contained several objects
of interest, amongst which may be noticed two tables fastened to the wall
and inscribed as under:—

FIRST TABLE.

  “Charities to Lytham church.

  “1765.

  “The honourable Countess Dowager Gower, one hundred and fifty
  pounds. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, two hundred pounds.

  “1768.

  “Ryheads in Goosnargh, purchased with the above four hundred
  pounds. Thomas Clifton, Esq., added seven pounds per annum, to be
  paid of Bamber’s estate in Layton, to the old stipend of twenty
  pounds per annum. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty purchased
  six acres and three perches of land with the above two hundred
  pounds, from Barker’s estate; it adjoins Ryheads.

  “1770.

  “This church was rebuilded. John Gibson, minister. William
  Silcock and William Gaulter, churchwardens.”

SECOND TABLE.

  “1801.

  “Subscriptions in the parish, two hundred pounds. Governors of
  Queen Anne’s Bounty laid out the above two hundred pounds in the
  purchase of a rent charge of five per cent. per annum, payable
  off Bamber’s estate in Layton.

  “1814.

  “John Clifton, Esq., one hundred and thirty-one pounds. William
  Hornby, Esq., sixty-five pounds eight shillings. Joseph, Thomas,
  and John Hornby, Esqs., ten pounds each, making thirty pounds.
  Rev. Robert Lister, fifty pounds. L. Webbe, Esq., ten pounds.
  Joseph Benbow, five pounds. Captain Thomas Cookson, ten pounds.
  Richard Cookson, ten pounds. Cornelius Crookall, ten pounds. John
  Cardwell, ten pounds.

  “Smaller subscriptions in the parish, sixty-eight pounds twelve
  shillings. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, six hundred pounds.

  “Total amount, one thousand pounds.

  “Purchased five acres, one rood, and two perches of land, of
  eight yards to the perch, in Layton-cum-Warbreck, with the above
  one thousand pounds.

  “Rev. Robert Lister, B.A., minister. Thomas Cookson and John
  Cookson, churchwardens.”

On each side of the altar, at the east end of the church, were several
mural marble monuments erected in memory of certain members of the
Clifton family, whose remains had been interred within the walls of the
sacred edifice. Thomas Clifton was the first of this family buried at
Lytham, and on his tomb was inscribed:—“Here lie interred the mortal
remains of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esquire; who died on the 16th of
Dec., 1784, in the 38th year of his age. Requiescat in pace.”

Another monument, near to the former one, bore the following
inscription:—“D.O.M. Here lies dead the body of Ann Clifton, wife of
Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esq.; daughter of Sir Carnaby Haggerstone,
Baronet: but her name will live to future ages. Wonder not, reader; in
her was seen whatever is amiable in a daughter, wife, mother, friend,
and Christian. Admire her, man; a pattern to her sex. O! woman, imitate.
She died in the 37th year of her age, on the 22nd day of February, 1760.
Requiescat in pace.”

The memorial writing over a third tomb ran thus:—“Here lies the body
of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esq.; who departed this life in the 56th
year of his age, on the 11th day of May, 1783. R.I.P.;” whilst a fourth
monument had these lines upon it:—“Here lies the body of Jane Clifton,
wife of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, Esq.; daughter of the Right Hon. the
Earl of Abingdon, who departed this life in the 61st year of her age, on
the 14th day of Feb., 1791. R.I.P.”

A white marble tablet fixed against the south wall, contained the annexed
notice:—“In memory of Elizabeth Clifton, wife of John Clifton, of Lytham,
Esq.; and daughter of Thomas Horsley Widdrington Riddell, of Swinburne
Castle, in the county of Northumberland, esq.; who departed this life in
the 63rd year of her age, on the 19th day of November, 1825. Requiescat
in pace.”

Sixty-four years from the date of its erection this church was also
pulled down, having become unable to accommodate the increasing influxes
of visitors during the summer; and on the 20th of March, 1834, the
foundation stone of the existing pile was laid by the late Thomas
Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, who contributed £500 towards the cost of
the building. Mrs. Fisher, the widow of a local physician, contributed
£300, and the subscriptions for the necessary work were further augmented
by a grant from the Church Building and Extension Society. The church,
which comprises nave, side aisles, chancel, and embattled tower, contains
the monuments of the Cliftons already enumerated, and three additional
marbles, one of which, at the entrance to the chancel, records that “in
the family vault near this place lies the body of Hetty, daughter of
Pelegrine Treves, esq., and widow of the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of
Clifton and Lytham; she died on the 4th of June, 1864, aged 68 years.”
The other attached to the opposite side of the entrance is _in memoriam_
of “Thomas Clifton (eldest son of John Clifton, esq., by Elizabeth,
his wife) of Clifton and Lytham, who died 17th February, 1851, aged 63
years”; whilst the third, in the chancel itself, is to the memory of
“John Clifton, of Lytham, esq., who departed this life on the 25th of
March, 1832, aged 68 years. Requiescat in Pace.” Against the wall of
the south side aisle is a tablet surmounted by a cross and inscribed
thus:—“In memory of Richard Barton Robinson, born July 28: A: D: 1804,
died August 9: A: D: 1872, vicar of Lytham for 36 years. This cross is
gratefully erected by his parishioners, A.D. 1875.” A similar tablet
in the north aisle is erected to the “memory of Edward and Sarah Jane
Houghton, by their only surviving son. E. H. born April 23: 1807: died
December 15: 1869. S. J. H. born September 26: 1803: died April 21:
1872.” The east window, beautifully emblazoned, “is dedicated by her
friends and neighbours, to the memory of Ellen Fisher,” born 1759, died
1837. Similar windows, north and south, in the chancel, were given by
Thomas Clifton, esq., in 1845, also a second, on the south side, by
Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton, in 1871. The north side aisle contains six
handsome windows inserted respectively to the memories of Anne Shepherd
Birley, died 1872; James Fair, died 1871, by J. T. Clifton, esq.; Sarah
Agnes, wife of W. C. Dowding, clerk, M.A., died 1869, by her maternal
aunt, Agnes Newsham; her mother and sisters, by Anne Wilson, 1871;
Margaret Hornby, died 1866; William and Agnes Birdsworth and of their
father and mother, by their surviving relatives. In the south side aisle
are two memorial windows, one being to Henry Miller, died 1859, aged 46
years, and his infant son, died 1852, by his wife Caroline A. Miller; and
the other to John Stevenson, died 1872, aged 78 years; Jane Stevenson,
died 1872, aged 64 years; William Elsworth Stevenson, died 1869, aged
31 years; and Jane Stevenson, died 1872, aged 25 years. The clerestory
of the church is lighted by twelve single windows, each bearing the
representation of a saint, all of which were presented by private
individuals.

  PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF ST. CUTHBERT’S.

  ------------+------------------+----------------------+-----------------
    Date of   |      NAME.       |     On whose         |Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                  |   Presentation.      |
  ------------+------------------+----------------------+-----------------
      1379    |William de Aslaby,|Prior and Chapter of  |
              |  monk            |  Durham              |
              |                  |                      |
      1413    |William Patrick,  |      Ditto           |
              |  monk            |                      |
              |                  |                      |
      1678    |James Threlfall   |                      |
              |                  |                      |
      1701    |Josiah Birchall   |                      |
              |                  |                      |
      1717    |Timothy Pollard   |Chancellors, Masters, |Death of Josiah
              |                  |  and Scholars of     |  Birchall
              |                  |  Cambridge           |
              |                  |                      |
      1741    |Ashton Werden     |Alexander Osbaldeston,|
              |                  |  of Preston, esq.    |
              |                  |                      |
      1743    |Robert Willasey   |      Ditto           |
              |Thomas Place      |                      |
              |                  |                      |
      1760    |John Gibson       |Abigail Clayton, of   |
              |                  |  Larkhill, Blackburn,|
              |                  |  relict and executor |
              |                  |  of Thomas Clayton,  |
              |                  |  who was surviving   |
              |                  |  executor of         |
              |                  |  Alexander           |
              |                  |  Osbaldeston, of     |
              |                  |  Preston, esq.       |
              |                  |                      |
      1800    |Robert Lister,    |John Clayton, of      |Resignation of
              |  B.A.            |  Little Harwood, esq.|  John Gibson
              |                  |                      |
      1834    |Richard Barton    |Thomas Clifton, esq.  |Resignation of
              |  Robinson, M.A.  |                      |  Robt. Lister
              |                  |                      |
      1870    |Henry Beauchamp   |John T. Clifton, esq. |
              |  Hawkins, M.A.   |                      |Resignation of
              |                  |                      |  R. B. Robinson
  ------------+------------------+----------------------+-----------------

In 1872 the chancel was enlarged and a new vestry erected, whilst the
solitary gallery at the west end, formerly used for the choir, was
converted into commodious sitting accommodation for the congregation.
During the same year half an acre was added to the north of the burial
ground, and a fresh boundary wall, facing Church Road completed, the iron
work being given by the late John Stevenson, J.P., of West Beach, and
the stone work by the late John Knowles, proprietor of the Clifton Arms
Hotel. The tower contains a peal of eight bells. John Talbot Clifton,
esq., of Lytham Hall, is the patron of the living. The parish register
begins in 1679.

The churchyard, which is encircled by a thick plantation of trees,
possesses many very handsome monuments, but none of historical
importance. The oldest gravestone still legible lies in close proximity
to the ancient sun-dial, and bears the date 1672. The parish schools,
erected in 1853, stand in Church Road.

Dodsworth informs us that in the neighbourhood of Lytham there existed,
in 1601, a village called Waddum Thorp, and that eleven years previously
the Horsebank was a green pasture for cattle. Dr. Leigh affirms that the
hamlet in question was peopled by some Saxon fishermen. The locality
alluded to in the foundation document as Snartsalte is now denominated
Saltcoats, and was, like several neighbouring places, the site of a
salt manufactory in remote days. Geoffrey Gillet worked the Saltcoats
manufactory. Cambden in describing the extractive process says:—“They
pour water from time to time upon heaps of sand till it grows brackish,
and then with a turf fire they boil it into a white salt.” Bowden wrote,
in 1722, concerning the same subject:—“On many places on the coast the
inhabitants gather heaps of sand together which, having lain some time,
they put into troughs full of holes at the bottom, pour water upon them,
and boil the lees into white salt.”

About 1800 the hamlet comprised several mud and thatch cottages,
interspersed here and there with a fair number of habitations of
recent origin, built with bricks and slated. There were also two inns
in existence, the Wheat Sheaf and the Clifton Arms, besides two small
licensed houses. The Wheat Sheaf was erected in Clifton Street during the
year 1794, and almost simultaneously, but a little later, the Clifton
Arms arose on the opposite side of the thoroughfare, facing the sea.
There were several shops in the village, and in Douglas Street a house of
confinement, containing separate cells, for the detention and punishment
of any offenders against the law. The most pretentious dwellings stood
upon the northern portion of the tract known as the Marsh, and all
of them were newly constructed. One near the western extremity was a
substantial house with gardens and plantation, inhabited by the clergyman
of the parish, the Rev. Robt. Lister. In close proximity was a marine
villa with a Chinese porch, belonging to William Hornby, esq., of
Kirkham; and a row of white cottages, called Lizmahago, after a race
horse of John Clifton, esq., who had erected them for the accommodation
of visitors. A pretty white villa was placed more to the rear, and
several well-constructed lodging-houses studded the ground between those
just mentioned and the old village, where clay and straw had been the
time-honoured building materials. The beach afforded no more than three
bathing machines, but sundry improvements, both in multiplying the vans
and in the establishment of a warm sea-water bath, were in contemplation.
No elegant promenade with its expansive sward, as at present, defined the
landward margin of the beach, but the whole space, at one end of which
Mr. Cookson had erected a windmill, was covered with miniature sand-hills
and star-grass, unfolding a most uninviting and deterring aspect to the
pedestrian. The church of St. Cuthbert’s was built of rubble, rough cast
and whitened, and certainly possessed, both externally and internally, no
very extensive claims to architectural beauty. The instrumental part of
the service was accomplished by means of a clarionet and a bass fiddle.
The religious edifice stood in the midst of fields, and was approached
by a footpath, sufficiently wide to admit the passage of bathing vans,
which were occasionally had recourse to by visitors on wet Sundays, in
order to attend the service with dry garments, being then, and for some
time afterwards, the only covered vehicles in the place. Lytham Hall,
embosomed in lofty trees and plantations, formed an imposing object,
being situated half a mile inland, between the village and the church.
This noble mansion, comprising three fronts, of which the east is the
principal, was commenced in 1757 and completed in 1764, by Thomas
Clifton, esq., and superseded the original Hall, erected about 1606, by
Sir Cuthbert Clifton. At the date now under examination, its possessor,
John Clifton, esq., had laid out a race-course for training purposes,
of three miles and a quarter in circumference, in the fields to the
north-west of the church; and close at hand were excellent paddocks
and stables, filled with a considerable stud of fine blood horses.
The residence of the trainer was an elegant villa near the stables,
surrounded with a shrubbery. Two steamers plied daily in the season
between Preston and Lytham, but the larger share of the company arrived
by the road, the journey having a few years previously been rendered more
direct by the opening of a route across the marshes, past Freckleton,
instead of the former circuitous one through Kirkham. In 1801 the
population amounted to 920 persons.

During the ensuing twenty years Lytham made steady, if not rapid,
progress. Buildings of modern and pretty designs sprang up along the
beach, whilst others of substantial workmanship were visible in the lines
of various thoroughfares, especially in Clifton Street. The two hotels
already specified, underwent enlargements, owing to the growing pressure
on their accommodation, and a fresh inn, the Commercial, was erected on
the land behind the present Market Hotel, the front and main entrance
of the house having an easterly aspect, overshadowed by several lofty
trees. A little beyond the north gable end of the inn, in a westerly
direction, were the old gates of the park attached to Lytham Hall, near
to which, on the road side, was stationed the pinfold, constructed of
cobble stones, in a quadrangular form, with an embattled tower rising
about eight feet above the height of the walls. A small Baptist chapel,
having a school-room connected with it, also existed, standing on part
of the ground now occupied by the premises of Mr. Edmondson, draper,
the remaining portion being covered by the residence and shop of that
gentleman’s father, who owned the chapel, and acted as its minister. The
chapel would hold about thirty worshippers, and contained three or four
rows of forms and a pulpit; whilst the school-room, of equal dimensions,
was let to a person for a private day seminary.

During the summer months, hundreds of day visitors, in addition to
the more permanent ones who constituted the company, found their way
in carts, waggons, or lighter vehicles, to the coast at Lytham, from
Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, and other inland towns, for the pleasure
of enjoying once, at least, a year, an invigorating bath in the sea.
The fortnightly spring tides were the signals which foretold the advent
of these huge pic-nic parties, for such it seems appropriate to style
them, who flocked down to the shore, generally bringing their own
provisions with them, and after disporting themselves amidst the waves,
and procuring amusement in various ways during the day, returned quietly
or hilariously home to their several destinations, in the evening or
following morning, in the manner they had arrived. Some from the more
remote places prolonged their sojourn for three days. Races for the
better class of farmers’ horses were held annually on Wit-Monday, over
the sward which runs from the windmill to the site of an old lime kiln
about one mile distant, in the direction of Saltcoats, the course being
round that spot to the starting point. These races, which are described
as having been very fair contests, were kept up for many years. The
prizes competed for were saddles, bridles, whips, etc. The bowling greens
of Lytham amounted to two, which were attached to the Clifton Arms and
Commercial Hotels, and were well patronised.

The following description of the attractions of Lytham, published in
1821, furnishes a pretty correct idea of the recreations afforded by the
watering-place about that date:—“Lytham is a very salubrious place; its
walks are pleasant and diversified. You may walk for miles on the sand
westward. You may trip to the Hey-houses and get bad ale. Common-side
offers a journey, which, if you please, ends at Blackpool. The walks are
many and various for those who love exercise; the lazy will soon tire
here, but the active will never be at a loss. The sands are fine—the sea
breeze pleasant—the air is impregnated with health. Sailing may be had
at tide time; boats are occasionally going to Preston and over the water
to Southport. There are baths, shower, cold, and warm for invalides. Old
Hugh Holmes, the shaver, doctor, and shopkeeper, is an old man, thin and
meagre, conceited to a tittle, and remarkably fond of chit-chat. The
people here bathe not at all, whilst those from a distance think it a
blessing. Holmes, the barber, said he had never bathed in his life, nor
could I persuade him to do so. He said that he was sound in body, and if
so, why dip in the briny sea at all.”

In 1821 the population of Lytham amounted to 1,292 persons, consisting
of 258 families; and in 1825 the parish contained 258 houses, the
occupants of 75 of which were employed chiefly in agriculture, and of
55 in trade, fishing, or handicraft, those of the remaining 128 being
unclassified. Three years later the Wheat Sheaf Inn and a wide range
of thatched buildings adjoining were demolished, and after leaving the
spacious opening, called Dicconson Terrace, leading down to the beach,
several improved dwellings and a billiard-room were placed on the
remainder of the ground. The greater part of the marine frontage had
been levelled, and efforts commenced to lay out a species of walk or
promenade. The houses standing along the shore line were usually hired
furnished by families for varying periods, at prices from one and a half
to three guineas per week, their value being estimated by the number of
bed-rooms, each of which represented ten shillings and sixpence a week.
Other villas in the watering-place were similarly let, but lodgings could
be procured amongst the humble cottages on a weekly payment of four
shillings and sixpence by each individual. The prices at the hotels for
board and lodging, exclusive of wine and liquors, were—at the Clifton
Arms, seven shillings a day in private, and six shillings in public; the
Commercial, five shillings and sixpence; and the Ship, a new inn erected
since 1820, three shillings and sixpence. Of trades and professions in
the village there were three milliners, six drapers, three boot and shoe
makers, five joiners and cabinet makers, one druggist, two blacksmiths,
one ship carpenter, one custom-house officer, one tide-waiter, one corn
miller, three butchers, five grocers, two coal dealers, one confectioner,
one surgeon, one attorney, and one clergyman. In addition it should be
mentioned that a solitary ladies’ seminary had been established within
the previous twelve months. “I recollect,” says Mr. Whittle, in his
_Marina_, “visiting Lytham during July, 1824, when Mr. Lardner’s troop of
comedians were performing in what was termed the ‘New Theatre, Lytham,’
Cibber’s admired comedy of a ‘Journey to London, or a Bold Push for a
Fortune,’ and the laughable farce of the ‘Irish Tutor, or New Lights.’
The chief of the stage business was done by the Lardners, consisting
of father, mother, son, and daughter. Likenesses were also taken in
miniature by Mr. Lardner, senior, at from two to five guineas each! and
the polite art of dancing taught by Lardner, junior. We saw in succession
performed Morton’s comedy of ‘Speed the Plough, or the Farmer’s Glory;’
‘Lovers’ Vows, or the Child of Love’; and Coleman’s admired and excellent
comedy of the ‘Poor Gentleman’; all of which were tolerably got up, but
the scenery was not of that kind which befitted a place of dramatic
exhibition.” During the season three coaches ran regularly from Preston
to Lytham and returned, their times of departure being—from Preston, at
12 noon, 5 in the evening, and 7 in the evening; and from Lytham, at
6 in the morning, 9 in the morning, and half-past 4 in the afternoon.
In addition to these coaches, occasional public conveyances and many
private vehicles brought their loads of pleasure-seekers to the village,
especially during Easter and Whit-tides. Letters arrived at half-past
9 in the morning and were despatched at 4 in the afternoon. In 1828
the buildings situated in the vicinity of the beach were, commencing
at the eastern extremity of the line and travelling westward, a house,
occupied by Miss Dennett, Rimmer’s and Butcher’s cottages, the Baths
with a house adjoining, two newly erected dwellings, Cookson’s cottages,
Rawstorne’s Marine Cottage, Craven’s and Hampson’s cottages, Clifton
Place, Buck’s cottages, Silcock’s and Miller’s cottages, Townend’s and
Captain Cookson’s residences, Mr. Barton’s house, Captain Fell’s and Mrs.
Birdworth’s residences, Mr. Fisher’s house, Lizmahago houses, Hornby’s
Chinese villa, the Parsonage, in the occupation of the Rev. Robert
Lister; the Parish Church, situated more inland, and Church-house, a
rural place. Mr. Corry, in his History of Lancashire, published about
that time, states:—“That the increase of Lytham has not been so rapid
as in many villages, where the people are engaged in manufacture; but a
considerable part of the visitors and settlers within the last twenty
years have been opulent individuals, who were induced by the beauty of
the spot and the benefit derived from bathing in the sea water, to resort
to this pleasing village.” The houses were unnumbered and recognised
by the titles bestowed upon them, or the names of their owners. Lamps
for the autumn and winter evenings were unknown in the streets, whilst
libraries, news-rooms, and livery stables were things of the future.
The Clifton Arms Hotel had recently been overlaid with a thick coating
of cement resembling stone, and the Commercial Inn had undergone sundry
enlargements. An ornamental enclosure or garden had been formed on the
land of the present Market-house, surrounded by a palisading and planted
with flowers and shrubs. A carriage road also had been lately made from
the village to the church of St. Cuthbert.

In 1831 the census of Lytham showed a total of 1,523 residents, being an
increase of 231 over the population ten years before; and three years
subsequently the ancient church of the parish was levelled to the ground
and the erection of the present edifice commenced. The early growth of
the summer resort was much retarded by the exceedingly short terms upon
which building leases were granted. Previous to 1820 all land reverted to
the lord of the manor forty years after its provisional purchase had been
effected, so that there was little inducement for either the speculative
or private individual to upraise habitations where the tenure was so
unsatisfactory. About that date the duration of leases was extended to
sixty years, and even this slight advance in a more liberal direction was
not without influence in promoting the development of the place, but no
great rapidity characterised the multiplication of houses until a later
epoch, when periods of 99 and 999 years were offered to purchasers. In
1839 the Roman Catholics erected a chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, at
the east corner of Clifton Street. Previously the members of this sect
had worshipped in a small chapel belonging to Lytham Hall, which had
superseded the domestic oratory of the Cliftons, in the days when they
professed the Romish creed. The edifice in Clifton Street is of brick and
has a priests’ residence and schools attached, the whole being prettily
encircled by willow trees and a low wall.

The returning seasons brought increasing streams of visitors to the
shores of Lytham, and practically proved that the delightful and
invigorating influences of the climate and sea were well and widely
appreciated by the populace of the large inland towns. The marine
esplanade and the firm sands left by the receding tide were ever
alive with crowds of people, who either for health or pleasure, or a
combination of the two, had arrived in the watering-place. The bathing
vans were still unequal to the demands on their accommodation, and many
were compelled to dispense with their decorous shelter, and unrobe
themselves on the more secluded parts of the beach. To have returned
home again without immersing their body in the buoyant sea would to
most of them have been to omit the chief object of their journey,
many, indeed, having such an exalted idea of the remedial and hygienic
properties of the water that they imbibed huge draughts, and even filled
bottles with it, for future use, or for friends who had been unable to
come themselves. There were few amusements for the visitors beyond those
enumerated earlier, but had there been none other, the exhilarating
breeze and bath, coupled with the novel surroundings, would have
possessed sufficient charm to insure a thronged season year after year.

In 1841 the population numbered 2,047 persons, being a rise of no less
than 524 in the inhabitants during the preceding ten years, more than
double the excess observed in the census of 1831 over its antecessor.
During the previous twelve months the Clifton Arms Hotel, in Clifton
Street, had been abolished and a stately building, bearing the same name,
erected on the front, where it now stands, very considerable enlarged
and beautified under the proprietorship of the late Mr. John Knowles,
who purchased it on lease from the lord of the manor, and by whose
representatives the Hotel and appurtenances were sold to a company of
gentlemen in 1875.

The 16th of February, 1846, initiated a new era in the history and
progress of Lytham, for on that day the branch line connecting this
popular resort with the Preston and Wyre Railway was formally opened.
At an early hour the town evinced manifest signs that the inhabitants
were bent on doing full honour to the introduction of their invaluable
ally; flags and banners floated from the church and the residences of
many of the inhabitants, and later in the day the streets were thronged
with processions and spectators of all grades. The directors and a large
party of the neighbouring gentry assembled by invitation at Lytham Hall,
and after partaking of luncheon proceeded to the newly erected station,
where the “opening train,” consisting of an engine, gaily decorated,
and fourteen carriages, awaited their arrival. Amongst the gentlemen
who accompanied Thomas Clifton, esq., and Mrs. Clifton, on the formal
trip to Kirkham and back, were John Laidlay, W. Taylor, J. Dewhurst,
T. W. Nelson, Frederick Kemp, C. Swainson, James Fair, E. Houghton, W.
H. Hornby, T. R. W. ffrance, P. Rycroft, W. Royds, and William Birley,
esquires, the Revs. R. Moore and W. Birley, and Colonel Rawstorne.
The train departed amid a volley of cheers and discharge of cannon,
and proceeded to Kirkham; the return journey was performed in fifteen
minutes. The carriage station was 140 feet long by 53 feet wide, and
covered by a somewhat unique roof of twelve wooden arches, put together
in segments and secured by nuts and screws, all the timber ends butting
upon each other like the stones of an arch, but as solid, from their
peculiar construction, as if the whole had been cut out of a single block
of timber. The Lytham line diverged from the main railway at a point
about a mile to the north-west of Kirkham, and was nearly five miles in
length. It passed within a short distance of the village of Wrea, where a
station was built, and terminated in the immediate vicinity of the Roman
Catholic chapel in this town.

The impetus given to the building trade of Lytham by the opening of the
railway and the almost simultaneous extension of ground leases was soon
visible in the erection of numerous houses. A Wesleyan chapel, capable
of holding 200 hearers, was built, before the close of the year, in Bath
Street; but this structure having, as time progressed, become inadequate
to the wants of the congregation, the foundation stone of a new one was
laid on the 12th of September, 1867, by T. C. Hincksman, esq., of Lytham,
at the corner of Park and Westby Streets, service being first conducted
there on the 23rd of September in the ensuing year, by the Rev. John
Bedford, of Manchester. The chapel is faced with Longridge stone and
white brick. In front are stone columns and pilasters nearly thirty feet
high, surmounted by Corinthian caps, massive cornice, parapet, pediment,
etc. It contains seats for about 500 persons. The old Wesleyan chapel is
now used as a literary and social Institute, established in 1872. In 1847
the growth and prosperity of Lytham rendered it necessary that some form
of local government should be adopted, and the inhabitants applied for
and obtained an Improvement Act, by which the regulation of all public
matters was placed in the hands of a board of commissioners elected from
amongst the ratepayers. On the 13th of May in that year, the corner stone
of a substantial lighthouse was laid on the “Double Stanner” bank, by
Peter Haydock, esq., chairman of the Ribble Navigation Company, at whose
expense the work was accomplished; but on the 20th of January, 1863, a
heavy storm swept over the coast, and amongst other damages effected
by its fury was the overthrow of this pile, which was subsequently
re-erected on the Star Hills, far removed from the destructive influence
of the waves, and perhaps more efficacious, from its greater elevation,
as a beacon. During the year 1848 a Market Hall was built on an open
space, formerly the ornamental garden referred to in a late page. In
the month of June the edifice was completed and ready for use, being
constructed of brick and supplied with stalls for various articles, such
as fish, vegetables, toys, etc. The tower was elevated in 1872 to receive
a large clock, the gift of Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton, and during the
following twelve months additional dials and illuminative power were
added. The Hall is prettily situated in an enclosure of elm trees.

Another church, dedicated to St. John, was erected on the east beach in
1848-9, and consecrated on the 11th September, 1850. The site was granted
by John Talbot Clifton, esq., who retains the patronage of the living,
and the expense of construction defrayed by subscription. The edifice is
of stone, and includes a nave, side aisles, transepts, chancel, porch,
and tower, surmounted by a lofty spire. The side aisles are separated
from the nave by pointed arches on circular columns. The chancel has
since been enlarged. Within the church are several memorial windows, one
of which, in the west end, is in memory of “James and Elizabeth Fair, who
died August 16, 1871, and July 27, 1867,” inserted by their children.
By the side of this is a smaller stained window to Mr. Bannerman by his
widow. The east window of the chancel is magnificently illuminated, and
another, lighting the scholars’ chapel on the south of that part, was
placed by the Rev. W. H. Self “to his wife, Mary, ob. 1859.” The windows
in the north and south transepts are, respectively, to “Thomas Miller,
ob. 1865,” and “Thomas Clifton, ob. 1851.” There are no mural tablets.
The organ was presented by William Bradshaw Swainson, esq., of Cooper
Hill, near Preston, “as a tribute of affection, in memory of his mother,
Catherine Swainson, who died at Lytham on the 1st of February, 1848.” The
instrument was enlarged by the aid of public contributions in 1874. The
lectern was presented by Margaret Ellen Clifford, the second wife of the
Rev. W. H. Self, _in memoriam_ of her mother, Mrs. Hannah Biddell, in
1867. The tower contains a peal of six bells. An ecclesiastical parish
was apportioned to the church of St. John in 1870. The Rev. William Henry
Self, M.A., was the earliest incumbent and subsequently became the first
vicar. The Rev. Gregory Smart, M.A., is the present vicar. The graveyard
is a spacious area defined by a neat stone wall, and contains numerous
elegant monuments. The vicarage house stands a very little distance to
the east side of the church, and is a handsome villa residence. To the
rear of the burial ground, and separated therefrom by a narrow street,
are the parish schools erected in 1851 by subscription, and grants from
the Council of Education and the National Society.

The want of proper illumination along the thoroughfares of Lytham during
the long evenings of the autumn months, was a source of considerable
inconvenience to the visitors, and induced many to vacate the place
earlier than otherwise they would have done, so that the commissioners
determined to erect gas works by loans on the security of the rates,
and remedy the evil as soon as possible. On the 28th of October, 1850,
the streets were lighted for the first time with gas. In 1851 the
residents of Lytham amounted to 2,695, showing an increase of 648 persons
since 1841. It was about this time that a lifeboat was stationed at
Lytham, purchased by subscription, and named the “Eleanor Cecily,” out
of compliment to the lady of the manor. The boat-house stands on the
promenade to the east, in close proximity to the old windmill, and is now
occupied by a new and larger craft, presented by Thomas Clayton, esq., of
Wakefield, in 1863.

Throughout the succeeding ten years the area of the town continued to
expand with fair rapidity. Many graceful villas were added to those
already existing on the front, whilst fresh shops and lodging houses
arose along the different thoroughfares, plainly evincing a determination
on the part of the inhabitants to keep pace with the spreading popularity
of the place by creating ample accommodation for the crowds of visitors.
A corps of Volunteer Riflemen was enrolled under Captain Lennox in 1860,
during the month of January. The census of 1861 furnished a total of
3,189 residents.

The advisability of connecting the two watering-places of Blackpool and
Lytham by a coast railway was now freely discussed, and the scheme
having been favourably entertained by a number of affluent gentlemen,
the requisite powers were sought from Parliament for its formation. In
May, 1861, the desired act received the royal assent, and on the ensuing
4th of September the first sod of the new line was cut by T. H. Clifton,
esq., M.P., the son and heir of the lord of the manor, in Lytham Park.
The directors of the company were E. C. Milne, esq., (chairman), of
Warton Lodge; John Talbot Clifton, T. Langton Birley, Charles Birley,
James Fair, Robert Rawcliffe, and Thomas Fair, esqrs. The distance,
about 7½ miles, was spanned by a single line, stations being placed at
the two termini and at South Shore, in addition to which there was a
gate-house at Andsell’s road, near the town, where it was proposed to
have a booking office. The railway was virtually finished in the autumn
of 1862, but the formal opening was postponed until the 4th of April,
1863. At that date, which occurred on Saturday, flags and banners floated
from many of the windows, whilst the bells of St. Cuthbert’s church rang
out merry peals at intervals throughout the day. No further ceremony,
however, was observed on the occasion, than the running of a train to
Blackpool and back with a select party of invited guests. Regular public
traffic commenced on Monday. During 1871 this line was amalgamated with
the Preston and Wyre, of which the Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the
London and North Western Railway Companies are the lessees. The track was
doubled in 1874, by laying down another length of metals, and connected
with the Kirkham and Lytham branch. In the same year on the 1st of
July, a spacious and handsome station which had been erected according
to the design of C. Axon, esq., of Poulton, was brought into service,
and the use of the original one belonging to the branch just specified
discontinued for passenger traffic, the whole of which, both from Kirkham
and Blackpool, is now directed to the recently built central edifice. It
is expected that in course of time the coast line thus established from
Preston through Kirkham, Lytham, St. Anne’s, South Shore, to Blackpool
will supersede the old route through Poulton to the last named resort
for the conveyance of passengers. Important alterations, it should be
noted, were effected in the course of the branch from Kirkham to Lytham
immediately preceding its junction with the Blackpool and Lytham line,
by which the corner lying north of and between Kirkham and Wrea was cut
off. The rails were also doubled.

Reverting to the town itself, we find that the day which gave the small
coast communication between Blackpool and Lytham to the public use, also
witnessed another event—the opening of the Baths and Assembly Rooms,
situated on the beach, about midway between the Clifton Arms and the
Neptune Hotels. The building is of brick, with stone dressings, and
presents an elegant and rather imposing appearance. It comprises private
and swimming baths for both sexes; dressing-rooms, retiring-rooms, news
and general reading-room, and a capacious saloon, able to contain 350
persons, used for concerts, balls, and other entertainments. Early in
the same year a Congregational Church was completed in Bannister Street,
the corner stone of which had been laid on the 17th of October, 1861,
by Sir James Watts, of Manchester. The edifice is formed of Longridge
stone, in the ornamental Gothic style of architecture, with a spire, and
will hold about 500 worshippers. Within the enclosure wall surrounding
the church are the Sunday schools connected with it. The first pile
of the marine pier, extending into the estuary of the Ribble from the
promenade, was screwed into the ground on the 8th of June, 1864. The
structure was designed by E. Birch, esq., C.E., and is supported on
hollow cylindrical columns, arranged in clusters. The length of the deck
is 914 feet, the whole of which is encircled by a continuous line of
side seats, whilst a lounging or waiting-room is stationed on the head.
The entrance is protected by gates and toll-houses. Easter Monday, the
17th of April, 1865, was the day set apart for the ceremonious opening
of the new erection. The town was gaily decorated with the bunting,
and no efforts were spared to do full justice to the importance of so
auspicious an event. Immense confluences of people arrived in excursion
trains, running at greatly reduced fares, from the business centres of
Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the streets and esplanade were literally
inundated with spectators from all grades of society. To Lady Eleanor
Cecily Clifton was delegated the honourable duty of declaring the
pier accessible to promenaders, and at the selected time, that lady,
accompanied by her son, T. H. Clifton, esq., proceeded to the spot, where
the necessary form was gone through; a large procession, headed by a
marshall, and consisting of the mayor and corporation of Preston, the
directors of the Ribble Navigation Company, naval and military officers,
clergy, the several directors of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway,
the Lytham and Blackpool Railway, the Blackpool and the Southport Pier
Companies, and numerous gentry. Unabated prosperity continued to shine
on the watering-place, whose limits were annually extended by additional
buildings, and in all parts there was to be observed that aspect of
recent improvements and embellishments which is ever indicative of a
propitious fortune.

The population in 1871 had reached the high figure of 7,902, having more
than doubled during the previous ten years, and if further evidence
were required of the development of Lytham, none more irrefutable and
convincing could be given than this wonderful multiplication of the
inhabitants. On the 3rd of August, 1871, a neat Gothic cottage hospital,
erected at the east end of the resort, in Preston Road, at the sole
expense of the lord of the manor, was pronounced open for the reception
of patients, and transferred to a committee of management. The building
stands in three acres of land tastefully laid out, and comprises a
central portion of two stories, with a wing on either side, containing
two large wards (each with four beds), two sitting-rooms, surgery,
bath-rooms, and laundry, on the ground floor; upstairs are four beds
for invalids and a sleeping apartment for the matron. The hospital is
intended for the poor labouring under disease or accidents. Luke Fisher,
esq., M.D., is the physician in charge. From 1871 up to the present
date (1876), there is nothing calling for separate comment beyond those
matters in connection with the railway and station already noticed,
with the exception of the beautiful park-garden, occupying the land
formerly known as Hungry Moor, and instituted through the liberality of
J. T. Clifton, esq., who bestowed the name of the Lowther Gardens on
the enclosure so gracefully designed and planted, and gave free access
to the public on its completion, about three years ago. The progress of
the town within the short interval at present under consideration, has
been marked by even greater rapidity than that which shed such a halo of
prosperity around the period more immediately preceding; and there is no
apparent prospect that the powerful impetus which has thus far exerted
its beneficial influence on the place is likely to experience any
diminution. Indeed it may with reason be anticipated that when passenger
traffic is more thoroughly established along the coast line from Preston
to Blackpool, the demand for residential accommodation will be still
greater than that which supplies abundant occupation to the builders
to-day.

The original endowment of Lytham Free School was derived from the
following sources:—In 1702, the Rev. James Threlfall, of St. Cuthbert’s
church, gave £5; and somewhere about the same time, William Elston,
who died in 1704, presented £3 3s. 0d., for the use of the parish.
Subsequently these sums of money were supplemented by a grant of £10 from
John Shepherd, of Mythorp, and the whole invested, the interest being
applied to local charitable purposes. The benefaction of John Shepherd
was bestowed in trust upon Thomas Shepherd and his heirs, to the intent
that the interest should be applied to the “use of such poor children’s
schooling, as they, with two or three of the most substantial men of
the parish, whom they chose to consult, should think fit;”[212] but it
is doubtful how it was disposed of until 1720, when the three separate
sums mentioned were incorporated, for a motive stated directly, with a
collection made in aid of those who had suffered damage from a serious
inundation in that year. The inhabitants were unable to agree upon an
equable distribution of the collection specified, and decided, by way
of settling the affair, to “make a free school,”[213] with it and the
other sums. The total capital thus acquired amounted to more than £100.
In 1728 £60 was derived from the residue of John Harrison’s estate, by
the direction of his will. William Gaulter gave to Lytham school in 1745
several securities for money, amounting in all to £99, and three years
later bequeathed the residue of his personal estate, except 20s., to
the same object, making a total benefaction of £335. The whole of the
endowment fund has been invested in land, and the school has always been
in the hands of trustees, who have control over the teachers and all
matters affecting its interest and government.

Cookson’s Charity is the interest of £10 bequeathed by Thomas Cookson at
an unknown date before 1776, to purchase books for the poor children of
the parish.

Leyland’s Charity represents the sum of £60 left by Elizabeth Leyland to
trustees, in 1734, in order that it might be laid out, and the annual
revenue therefrom devoted to the assistance of the poor, either in
relieving the elderly, or providing instruction for the young.

ST. ANNES-ON-THE-SEA. The locality in which the new watering-place is
rapidly developing was indicated in the foundation charter of the Lytham
Benedictine Cell as Kilgrimol. It has been suggested that the peculiar
orthography of the word Kilgrimol points to there having been at some
era a religious settlement, presided over by Culdees, the priests of
Columba,[214] but it is more probable that the name is derived from the
two British words _kilgury_, a corner, and _mul_ or _meol_, a sand-hill.
At a later epoch the district was known as Cross or Churchyard Slack,
and tradition records that an oratory existed there until such time as
it was swallowed up by an earthquake, long years ago. Mr. Thornber, in
discussing the statement, advances the following fact as some evidence in
favour of its veracity:—“Churchyard Slack is situated in a hollow, having
on the north side a rising ground called Stony-hill, and at the distance
of three-quarters of a mile a similar elevation, though not so marked. On
these ridges are found innumerable small boulders of grey granite, having
apparently been acted upon by fire; but it is particularly remarkable
that not one can be found amongst them entirely whole. Similar stones in
less quantities are discovered in the intervening space, all more or less
broken.”

On the immediate outskirts of the embryo town is the small hamlet of
Heyhouses, at which a school was established in 1821, and enlarged in
1853; and it was there that Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton erected a church,
in memory of the late James Fair, esq., of Lytham, on a site presented
by her husband, the lord of the manor. The foundation stone of the
edifice was laid in June, 1872, and on Wednesday, the 6th of August, in
the ensuing year, the church and burial ground, occupying jointly 2½
acres, were consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The interior
contains accommodation for 300 persons, 145 seats being appropriated,
and 155 free. The roof is of red tiles instead of slates. The building
is at present a chapel of ease to St. Cuthbert’s, Lytham, but will, when
occasion requires, have a separate ecclesiastical parish of its own.

The whole of the land of St. Annes-on-the-Sea was leased to a company of
gentlemen for a term of 1,100 years by John Talbot Clifton, esq., and on
the 31st of March, 1875, the formality of laying the first stone of the
future watering-place was gone through by Master John T. Clifton, the
eldest son of T. H. Clifton, esq., M.P. The ceremony was accomplished
amidst a large concourse of people, and was in fact the commencement of
the handsome and commodious hotel near to the railway station, which has
since been completed. The estate has been judiciously and tastefully
arranged by Messrs. Maxwell and Tuke, architects, of Bury, and is
intersected by broad streets with gentle curves. The houses are intended
to be built either singly or in pairs with few exceptions, but in no
case will any group comprise more than six; gardens in each instance
are to front the dwellings. A promenade, 3,000 feet in length and 180
feet in width, has been formed with asphalt along the marine aspect, and
already between twenty and thirty villas have been raised on the sides
of the recently made thoroughfares. A public garden with conservatories
is also in course of formation, as well as efficient gas-works and other
requisites.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XV.

PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL’S-ON-WYRE.


UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. In the Domesday Book no less than three
Rawcliffes are mentioned, and have been identified, respectively, with
Upper, Middle, and Out Rawcliffes, the last being stated to contain
three carucates, and the others two carucates each. In the _Testa de
Nevill_ it is entered that the grandfather of Theobald Walter gave four
carucates of land in (Upper) Rawcliffe, Thistleton, and Greenhalgh,
to his daughter Alice, on her marriage with Orm Magnus. William de
Lancaster held Upper Rawcliffe at the time of his death in 1240; and
in 1248 Theobald Walter, or le Botiler, had lands in Upper Rawcliffe
and Mid Rawcliffe, as well as the manor of Out Rawcliffe, the principal
portion of which had doubtless descended to him from his ancestor
alluded to above.[215] An inquiry was instituted in 1322, during the
reign of Edward II., concerning the possessions in land and mills of
John de Rigmayden in Upper Rawcliffe, Wyresdale, and Garstang; and a
similar inquisition, with the exception of Garstang, was made, three
years later, in the case of widow Christiana de Coucy de Guynes.[216]
In the succeeding few years Joan, the daughter and heiress of John de
Rigmayden, and John de Coupland held Upper Rawcliffe between them. John
de Coupland had married the widow of Sir William de Goucy, and was the
gallant soldier who captured David II., king of Scotland, on the battle
field at Durham, and was rewarded for his bravery by Edward III., with
the rank of knight-banneret and a grant of land. Joan de Rigmayden, the
heiress, probably married William Southworth, as he is described as lord
of Upper Rawcliffe a little later; Ellen, the sole child and heiress of
William Southworth, became the wife of Robert Urswick, of Urswick, and
their second son, Thomas, who succeeded to the estates of Rawcliffe,
etc., and was knighted, left at his decease a daughter, who espoused,
about 1430, John, the third son of Sir Richard Kirkby, of Kirkby. John
Kirkby resided at Upper Rawcliffe Hall,[217] or White Hall, as it was
subsequently designated, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William,
who in his turn left the lands and mansion to his heir and offspring
John Kirkby. The eldest son of the last gentleman, by his wife, the
daughter of—Broughton, was William Kirkby; and he, in course of time,
inherited the property, and married, in 1507, Elizabeth, the daughter of
William Thornborough, of Hampsfield, by whom he had issue John, George,
William, Richard, Henry, Anne, Elizabeth, and Jane. John Kirkby, the
heir, was living in 1567, but died without offspring, as also did his
brother George, so that Upper Rawcliffe Hall and estate passed to the
third son, William Kirkby, who married Isabell, the daughter of John
Butler, of Kirkland.[218] The Kirkbys continued in sole possession of
the township until 1631, when Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck, purchased from
them Upper Rawcliffe Hall and the estate attached, both of which he
settled upon Major George Westby, the eldest son of his second marriage
with Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Preston, of Holkar, and widow of
Thomas Lathom, of Parbold. George Westby resided at White Hall, as the
manor house was now called, and was twice married, being succeeded by
John, the only child by his first wife, Margaret, the daughter of Thomas
Hesketh, of Mains. Both George Westby and his third brother, Bernard,
were royalist officers. John Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe, espoused, in
1684, Jane, the daughter of Thomas Bleasdale, of Alston, and had issue
John, Joseph, James, and Alice, who became the wife of Thomas Gilibrand,
of Dunken Hall, near Chorley. John Westby the eldest son, inherited the
mansion and land on the death of his father in 1708, and married, in the
following year, Mary, the daughter of Thomas Hawett, of Ormskirk, by whom
he had Thomas; George, who died in 1776, leaving several children by his
wife Mary, the daughter of ⸺ Field; John, died unmarried; Cuthbert, died
childless; and Jane. Thomas Westby came into the estate in 1745, when
his father was accidentally killed, and espoused Margaret, the daughter
and heiress of William Shuttleworth, of Turnover Hall, and Bridget,
his wife, who was one of four daughters, the sole offspring of John
Westby, of Mowbreck. The children of Thomas Westby, of White Hall, and,
ultimately, of one fourth of Mowbreck, were John, who died unmarried in
1811; William, died unmarried in 1811, just before his brother; Joseph,
died young; Robert, died childless in 1800; Thomas; Bridget, an abbess
at Liege; and two Marys, one of whom died in infancy. Thomas, the fifth
son, held Mowbreck, White, and Turnover Halls and estates, on the decease
of his eldest brother, and at his own death in 1829, without issue,
was succeeded, in Turnover, by Thomas the only surviving son of his
uncle, George Westby, whose death occurred in 1776; whilst he bequeathed
Mowbreck and White Hall to George, the eldest son of this Thomas Westby,
by his wife Anne, the daughter of John Ashley, of London. The Westbys,
of White Hall and Mowbreck, sold their property at the former place in
recent years to the late John Stevenson, esq., of Preston and Lytham.
Reverting to the earlier Westbys, we find that the active parts played by
George and Bernard Westby in the Civil Wars resulted in the confiscation
of the White Hall estate by Parliament; and in 1653 it was sold by the
Commissioners of State, being purchased for the Westbys again by, and in
the names of, some of their Protestant friends.

Upper Rawcliffe Hall was rebuilt about the time of its purchase by the
Westbys, who conferred upon it the new title of White Hall. This mansion
stood by the side of the river Wyre, and was approached through a noble
gateway. The windows were mullioned, and two bays projected from the
north-west front; within were secret chambers and a private chapel.
The Hall is now a farm house. Turnover Hall, the ancient seat of the
Shuttleworths, and afterwards one of the mansions of the Westbys, as
already shown, presents nothing of special interest to our notice.
St. Michael’s Hall, the residence of the Longworths[219] during the
seventeenth century, and probably of the Kirkbys before them, has since
been rebuilt in an antique style, and converted into a farm house.

Tarnacre was claimed, amongst other places, by the abbot of Cockersand in
1292, during the reign of Edward I., and was, with Upper Rawcliffe, in
early days, a feudal appendage of Garstang.

The township of Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre contains the ancient
parish church of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, which occupies a prominent and
picturesque station on the banks of the narrowed Bleasdale stream, in
the midst of the rural village, to which its title has been extended.
St. Michael’s church, or _Michelescherche_, as it appears in the Survey
of William the Conqueror, was obviously standing on the arrival of that
warrior in 1066, being, with the exception of a similar structure at
Kirkham, the only edifice of its kind existing in the Fylde at that time.
There are no records amongst the meagre annals of Amounderness during the
Saxon era, to assist us in establishing beyond question the antiquity
of this church, but it may reasonably be supposed that its erection
took place at no long interval after the year 627, when Paulinus was
appointed bishop of the province of Northumbria, in which St. Michael’s
was situated. The zeal and piety displayed by Paulinus are said to have
exercised an important influence in overcoming the pagan tendencies of
the inhabitants of Lancashire, and although it is far from probable
that the whole of the people of the Fylde at once became converts to
Christianity, and renounced their heathenish and superstitious ritual,
still it would be idle to deny that the ministrations of so earnest
a prelate as Paulinus were fruitful to a considerable degree in our
district, more especially when history proclaims the success of his
efforts in other portions of his diocese. The small band of professed
Christians would gradually extend their circle, and at no remote date a
building would become necessary where divine worship could be conducted
in a decent and orderly manner, according to the direction of the
newly-adopted creed; and it was, we opine, at such an epoch that the
church of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre was first called into being. After the
Norman Conquest the church formed an item of the princely estate of Roger
de Poictou, acquired through the partial munificence of William I.; and
possibly in 1094, or thereabouts, was conferred by him upon the priory
of St. Mary’s, at Lancaster, in like manner to similar ecclesiastical
possessions which he held in Kirkham and Poulton. However that may be,
it is learnt from the _Testa de Nevill_ that rather more than a century
after the foundation of the monastic house in the year just named, the
advowson of St. Michael’s was vested in King John, who presented Master
Macy to the living,[220] then valued at £66 13s. 4d. per annum. In 1326,
William de Walderston, rector of the church of St. Michael’s, and the
prior of Lancaster, were engaged in a controversy before the authorities
of Richmond, respecting the forest and other tithes of Myerscough, and
those of a place called Migchalgh, the suit being decided at Lancaster on
the 13th of October against the rector.[221] Nineteen years later, Henry,
earl of Lancaster, was patron of the living, and in 1411 Henry IV., duke
of Lancaster, who had claimed and obtained the crown resigned by Richard
II., conveyed St. Michael’s church to the Master and Brethren of the
College or Chantry of the Blessed Mary Magdalen, at Battlefield, near
Shrewsbury, nominally established by himself.[222] The letters-patent by
which the transfer was effected, bore the Duchy seal, and stipulated that
Roger Yve, of Leeton, Keeper and Master of the College concerned (really
its founder), and his successors, should, in return for the grant, make
the following provision for the maintenance of a vicar at the church of
St. Michael’s:—

  “The Vicar and his Successors to receive, have, and possess,
  the offerings and revenues which are and belong to the church
  of Michaelskirk, together with the fruits and offerings arising
  from Hay and Revenues; the Tenth of Gardens dug with the foot,
  of Lambs, Calves, Young Foals, Poultry, Young Pigs, Geese, Eggs,
  Milk, Wool, Flax, Hemp, Mills, Apples, Garlick, Onions, Fishes,
  and Pigeons; the first fruits of the Dead, otherwise called
  Mortuaries, whether they consist of Animals, Clothes, or any
  other thing whatsoever, together with our Pool and Mill, and also
  the Pool upon Wyre near the Rectory of Michaelskirk; and further,
  the same Vicar and his Successors to have for their Dwelling the
  straw-thatched Porch below the Rectory, and the Door and House
  adjoining, with the Dovecote and Orchard near the Porch, and the
  Fishponds and Moats.”

The vicar on his part was required to pledge himself to pay all ordinary
taxes and expenses incumbent upon the church, excepting “the covering
of the chancel of the church, the payment of 40s. to the Archdeacon of
Richmond, and the Tenths payable to the King for ever,” for which the
Master of the College agreed on behalf of himself and his successors to
be answerable.[223] The foregoing grant and regulations were confirmed
in 1425 and 1485 by Henry VI. and Henry VII. respectively. After the
Dissolution the right of presentation was exercised by King Charles
in 1629, who appointed Nicholas Bray to the vicarage. Subsequently
the patronage of the living has descended through several private
individuals, and is now centred in the present vicar, the Venerable
Archdeacon Hornby.

The parish church of St. Michael’s contained two chantries, one of which,
dedicated to St. Katherine, occupied the chapel still existing in the
north aisle. This chantry was founded some time about the middle of the
fifteenth century by John Botiler, or Butler, lord of the manor of Out
Rawcliffe. Canon Raines says that a portion of the body armour either of
him or one of his immediate descendants remained suspended in the chapel
until long after 1700.

Alice Butler, the daughter of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, and widow of Nicholas
Butler, the eldest son of the founder, bequeathed by will, dated the
20th of November, 1504, “her sowll to God and hys Blessyd Mother and
all the holye Cumpanie of heven, and her bodye to be beryd in Christian
wyse in Saynt Katrine’s chapel, where her husband laye;” also “to the
lyght brenning there 20d; to Thomas Walton, or some wel dysposed priest
to synge for my sowll for one yeare £1 13s. 4d., solemn mass of requiem,
and other obsequies to be done as becometh one of my degree, but not too
moche expendsive so that my executors let not (hinder not) my dowters
advancement in marryage; and to Sʳ John Butler, Clerk, 40s. a yeare
togider with meate and drynke whiles he is on lyfe.”[224] In the reign
of Henry VIII., William Harrison was the officiating priest of this
chantry, and at that time its tenants, possessions, and annual rentals
were, one tenement lying in Esprick, held by Thomas Dawson at 20s. per
annum; another tenement in the same place held by William Hall at 19s.; a
windmill in Stainall at 26s. 8d., and several parcels of ground amounting
to about an acre at 2s., held by Ralph Hull; one tenement in Stainall
with appurtenances held by Ralph Hodgeson at 12s.; an acre of ground
lying in a field at Stainall held by William Hull at 2s. 8d.; two roods
of land in Stainall held by the wife of Christopher Hull at 12d.; divers
plots of ground estimated to comprise four acres in the same township
held by William Hull, the elder, at 19s.; one tenement with appurtenances
in Great Eccleston held by the wife of William Stiholme at 13s. 4d.; and
one tenement in Little Eccleston held by Henry Wilkinson, at 20s. Hence
it seems that the gross rentals amounted to £5 15s. 8d., out of which
5s. per annum was paid to the wife of Robert Stannall for her jointure,
leaving £5 10s. 8d. the actual yearly revenue of the chantry from its
endowment.[225] At the accession of Edward VI., Henry Harrison was the
“Priest Incumbent at St. Katherine’s Altar, being 54 years old, and he
taught a Grammar School according to his foundation.” When chantries
were suppressed the educational institution here alluded to was probably
abandoned for want of funds and a master; in any case it ceased to exist
about that time. On the 29th of November, 1606, James I. granted to Henry
Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, “all that Late Chantrie of the ffoundation of
John Butler, at the Aulter of the Blessed Katherine within the Parishe
Churche of St. Michaell-upon-Wyre, in the Countye of Lancaster, lately
dissolved, and all the lands appertaining thereto.”

The second chantry in St. Michael’s church was founded sometime during
the fifteenth century by one of the earlier Kirkbys, of Upper Rawcliffe,
and in the reign of Edward VI. its annual income from endowment property
was £4 13s. 10d., Thomas Crosse, of the age of 40 years, being the priest
who celebrated there and “assisted the Curate.” Nothing more precise
concerning the origin of this chantry can be ascertained, and even the
situation it occupied in the church is unknown. In 1553 Thomas Crosse
received a pension of £4 13s. 10d. a year.[226]

  VICARS OF ST. MICHAEL’S-ON-WYRE.

  IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER.

  ------------+--------------------+--------------------+-----------------
    Date of   |    NAME.           | By whom Presented. |Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                    |                    |
  ------------+--------------------+--------------------+-----------------
   About 1200 |Master Macy         |King John           |
     ”   1377 |William de Horneby  |Duke of Lancaster(?)|
    In   1411 |Johannes de Daleby  |College of          |
              |                    |  Battlefield       |
  Before 1549 |Michael Thorneborrow|                    |
    In   1549 |Thomas Crosse       |G. Kirkby and Nich. |
              |                    |  Lawrenson, gents.,|
              |                    |  patrons on this   |
              |                    |  occasion only, by |
              |                    |  consent of John   |
              |                    |  Hussey, master,   |
              |                    |  and the Fellows   |
              |                    |  of Battlefield    |
              |                    |  College           |Death of M.
              |                    |                    |  Thorneborrow
    In   1628 |Robert Carr         |                    |
     ”   1629 |Nicholas Bray       |King Charles I.     |Resignation of
              |                    |                    |  R. Carr
  Before 1650 |William Bray        |King Charles I.     |
   About 1653 |Nathaniel Baxter    |                    |
  Before 1715 |Thomas Robinson     |                    |
    In   1715 |Richard Crombleholme|Thomas Clitherall   |Death of T.
              |                    |                    |  Robinson
     ”   1729 |William Crombleholme|Edward Crombleholme |Death of R.
              |                    |                    |  Crombleholme
     ”   1765 |Robert Oliver       |Richard Whitehead   |Death of W.
              |                    |                    |  Crombleholme
     ”   1768 |Anthony Swainson,   |Richard Whitehead   |Cession of R.
              | M.A.               |                    |  Oliver
     ”   1784 |Charles Buck, M.A.  |John Swainson       |Death of A.
              |                    |                    |  Swainson
     ”   1789 |Hugh Hornby, M.A.   |Joseph Hornby       |Resignation of
              |                    |                    |  C. Buck
     ”   1847 |William Hornby, M.A.|Himself             |Death of H.
              |                    |                    |  Hornby
  ------------+--------------------+--------------------+-----------------

The Rev. Hugh de Horneby was the brother of Robert de Horneby, vicar of
Kirkham, and it may fairly be inferred that they belonged to the family
of Hornbys, whose descendants are now settled at St. Michael’s, Ribby,
and Winwick, but lapse of time has obliterated the connecting links.
The Rev. Nathaniel Baxter was ejected in 1662, for refusing to take the
oath required by the Act of Uniformity. Little only can be ascertained
concerning the Crombleholmes, but it is conjectured that they were
associated with the branch of that name seated at Goosnargh. The Rev.
Richard Crombleholme had two sons—Edward and William, by the latter of
whom he was succeeded in the vicarage, whilst to the former seems to
have descended the patronage, acquired by purchase. The Rev. William
Crombleholme married the daughter of Alexander Butler, of Kirkland, and
possibly had no offspring beyond the Elizabeth Crombleholme, to whose
memory the mural monument shortly to be noticed, was erected. The Rev.
Anthony Swainson was the son of the Rev. Christopher Swainson, B.A.,
incumbent of Copp, and Elizabeth, his wife; he was a Fellow of Worcester
College, Oxford. The Rev. Charles Buck was the son of the Rev. Charles
Buck, M.A., vicar of Kirkham; he was afterwards curate of Warton and
Lund. The Rev. Hugh Hornby was the sixth son of Hugh Hornby, esq., of
Kirkham, whose eldest son was Joseph Hornby, esq., D.L., of Ribby Hall.
He married Ann, daughter and co-heiress of Joseph Starky, M.D., of
Redvales, and had issue, one son, William, now the Venerable Archdeacon
Hornby, who succeeded him in the living, and is the present vicar and
patron. The Ven. Archdeacon Hornby is an honorary canon of Manchester,
and has been twice married, but further information respecting the family
will be found in the pedigree of “Hornby of Ribby Hall.”

The present church is a broad low building of rough stone, with a tower
of similar character at the west end. Both the tower and church are
surmounted and surrounded by a castellated stone parapet and ornamental
pinnacles of the same material. The porch and the tower bear the date
1611 and initial letters H:B. upon their exteriors, but it is evident
that much of the edifice can boast a considerably greater antiquity than
that indicated by the corresponding inscriptions. It is also obvious
from the varieties displayed in the architecture of different portions,
more especially the windows, that the rebuilding of the church has not
been accomplished all at once, but carried on at pretty long intervals,
extending back certainly to the time of Henry VIII., and perhaps further.
Within, the south side aisle is separated from the nave by a succession
of stone arches running from east to west, whilst the north side aisle
contains the chapel in which was placed the altar of St. Katherine, and
where now is the following inscription:—“This Oratory, known before
the Dissolution to have been a Chantry dedicated to Saint Katherine,
and competently endowed with lands in the neighbouring townships, was
repaired by John ffrance, esq., of Rawcliffe Hall, A.D. 1797, being an
appendage to that ancient manor house.” The tower opens directly into
the nave without even the semblance of a partition, and on one wall is
fixed a brass plate intimating that the large clock, whose huge pendulum
vibrates opposite, and whose dials are visible without, was presented,
in 1850, to the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby by his parishioners, as a mark of
esteem. The mural tables occupying stations within the aisles and nave
are erected to the memories of Edward Greenhalgh, of Myerscough Hall,
died in 1823, aged 53, and Margaret, his widow, died in 1853, aged 92,
also Mary, died in infancy, and Charlotte, died in 1823, aged 29, their
daughters; Thomas Westby, of White Hall, died in 1762, aged 47, and
Margaret, his widow, died in 1802, aged 82, also their children—Mary,
died in infancy, Joseph, in 1769, aged 16, Bridget, in 1786, aged 37,
Robert, in 1800, aged 45, Mary, in 1805, aged 45, William, in 1811,
aged 60, and John, in 1811, aged 65—Thomas, the only surviving child
being the erector of the monument in 1812; Hugh Hornby, M.A., 56 years
vicar of the parish, died in 1847, aged 81, and Anne, his widow, died in
1850, aged 81 years, also Joseph Starkey Hornby, born in 1839, died in
1858, and William Hornby, born in 1845, died in 1858—“They were lovely
and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided”;
Henry Hornby, late Captain in the East India Service, died in 1794, aged
54, “also near this place were interred the remains of his late father,
Thomas Hornby, of St. Michael’s, who died Mar. 8, 1785, aged 76, likewise
Elizabeth, wife and mother to the above, who died May 14th, 1798, aged
84”; Elizabeth Crombleholme, daughter of the Rev. William Crombleholme,
formerly vicar of the parish, “whose mortal remains were deposited in the
graveyard of this church near those of her beloved parents on the 21st
of May, 1817—Erected as a tribute of esteem by her affectionate relative
Thomas Butler Cole, of Kirkland Hall.” The Baptistry was restored in 1852
by the surviving children of John and Susannah Swainson, of Preston,
and contains several tablets affixed to the north wall in memory of
numerous members of that family, amongst whom may be mentioned the Revs.
Christopher Swainson, B.A., incumbent of Copp, died in 1775; Anthony
Swainson, M.A., vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, died 1784, aged 42; and
Christopher Swainson, M.A., prebendary of Hereford, and vicar of Clun,
Salop, died in 1854. The burial ground surrounding the church presents
nothing of much interest to the antiquarian beyond an old sun-dial, and
the Crombleholme grave lying under the shadow of the east wall. The
living is a discharged vicarage.

The following extracts from the ancient vestry books will doubtless be
interesting to our readers, although not of much importance as parish
records:—

  “April, 1683: To Ann Raby for washing surplice, 4s.; to John
  Fisher for work for clock and bells, 8s. 6d.

  “Ordered this 21st of June, 1683, that no person or persons for
  the future be admitted to bury any dead corpse in the church
  unless he or they, at whose instance such corpse shall be buried,
  do in hand pay to the sexton of the parish for the same, being 12
  pence for the use of the parish, or sufficiently secure the same
  to him, the corpses of women dying in childbed only excepted,
  which are hereby intended to be free, as is usual in other
  parishes.—Thos. Robinson, vicar; Rich. Longworth, Thos. White,
  gents.; Jas. Raby, Rich. B. Hornby, Rich. Wilding, George Bennet,
  churchwardens.”

  “May 18, 1688: It is ordered that the two former orders made, the
  one ffor destroying Magpie and Sparrow heads, and the other for
  allowing the churchwardens to pay ... out of the parish money, be
  for the future suspended.”

  “July 4, 1729: To ring one Bell at 7.0; to ring 2 Bells at 8.0;
  to ring and chime for Service in summer from half an hour past 10
  o’clock, and in winter from Ten till half an hour after.”

  “Aug. 25, 1736: It was ordered by ye Vicar and gentlemen of ye
  parish that another church lay after ye rate of 12d. in £1,
  besides ye 3 church lays before mentioned, be forthwith collected
  and gathered for repairing ye church. N.B.: This church lay is
  collected for laying a new beam and erecting a new pair of
  principals between ye church and ye chancel at the joint charges
  of ye parish and Allen Johnson, esq., owner of ye chancel.”

  May 5, 1745: Be it known that John Lewtas has cleared up ye
  difficulties about ye quakers’ taxes for Rawcliffe.

  “1746: Ringers’ salary, 15s.; for 5th of November, 6s.; for
  sanding churchyard, 1s.

  “November 6, 1780: Agreed by the Vicar and gentlemen of the
  Vestry of St. Michael’s, that each Ringer attending the church
  shall be allowed two tankards of ale, and each singer one
  tankard, together with each one their dinner.”

  “November 6, 1792: It was determined by a majority of the
  gentlemen of the Vestry to raise the dues for opening a grave in
  the inside of the church to 6s. 8d.

  “1796: At a meeting of the Vestry of this church it was
  unanimously resolved that the remainder of the profits arising
  from the estate called Terleways and the garden in Upper
  Rawcliffe, after defraying the expenses of a dinner and a quart
  of ale to each vestryman, churchwarden, the curate of Copp, and
  clerk of St. Michael’s, at the respective days of Easter Tuesday
  and the 5th of November for 7 years ensuing, commencing with the
  present day (March 29, 1796), shall be suffered to accumulate
  during the above period towards purchasing an Organ for the
  Church of St. Michael’s; and that every Stranger introduced on
  the forementioned days at dinner, except it be on business of the
  parish, shall be paid for by the person introducing him.”

  “July 15, 1799: To a Finger and Barrel Organ with the following
  stops—Open, Diapason, Stop do., Principal, Twelfth, Fifteenth,
  Sesqualtra, and Mixture,—£183 15s. 0d.”

In 1708 Richard Cornall gave £40 to be invested, and the interest
applied towards the maintenance of a schoolmaster for Upper
Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre, and in 1808 Joseph Fielding, of Catterall,
was the sole remaining trustee of a sum of money, amounting to £60,
of which the £40 doubtless formed part, for educational purposes. At
that date Joseph Fielding induced the Rev. Hugh Hornby, vicar of St.
Michael’s-on-Wyre, and William Harrison, of Upper Rawcliffe, to undertake
the trust with him on a fresh deed, the old one having been lost. A new
schoolhouse was shortly erected on the site of the former building, and
is now governed by the representatives of the trustees named. In 1813
Mrs. Elizabeth Crombleholme left £200 in trust to be invested, and the
annual income therefrom paid to the master of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre
school for teaching three poor children of the parish to read, write, and
cast accounts.

Bread-money was probably established during the lifetime of John ffrance,
of Rawcliffe Hall, and arises from “two-sevenths of the clear rent of a
close of ground lying in Kirkham, purchased with £20, to be distributed
to the poor attending divine service in the parish church of St.
Michael’s, at the direction of John ffrance, esq., and his heirs; Thomas
Langton, gent., and his heirs; and the vicar of St. Michael’s for the
time being.”[227]

Ralph Longworth, esq., of St. Michael’s Hall, left £5 per annum to the
vicar, and £2 10s. to the poor of Upper Rawcliffe.

Thomas Knowles, gent., left £2 10s., and John Hudson, gent., £2 a-year to
the poor of the same township.

The Terleway’s Lands were given by some one unknown at a very early
date “for the use of the parish, as the vicar and vestry shall
direct,” and consist of lands in Claughton and a garden in Upper
Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre.[228]

  POPULATION OF UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    494    617    643    665    671    697    682    700

The area of the township embraces 3,743 statute acres.

GREAT ECCLESTON. Great Eccleston was anciently held by William de
Lancaster as an appendage of the fee of Wyresdale. William de Lancaster
died without issue, and Wyresdale, with its dependency Great Eccleston,
passed to Walter de Lindsay, the eldest son of his second sister, Alice.
The Lindsay line terminated in the heiress Christiana de Lindsay, living
in 1300, who married Ingelram de Guynes, Lord of Coucy, in France,
whose eldest son was created earl of Bedford in 1336, and whose second
and third sons, Sir William de Coucy and Robert de Coucy, held Great
Eccleston as part of Wyresdale, their inheritance, in 1346. The widow of
Sir William de Coucy conveyed her portion of Great Eccleston in marriage
to Sir John de Coupland, and the remainder was then held by Baldwin de
Guynes and Joan, the heiress of John de Rigmayden. The whole of the
township, with the exception of certain lands rented by the convent of
Deulacres,[229] descended in the manner above described from William
de Lancaster, through the Lindsays and Guynes or Coucys, to Coupland,
Baldwin de Guynes, and Joan Rigmayden, and subsequently to their
heirs. Amongst the _Familiæ Lancastrienses_ there are two families of
Ecclestons, one of which is described as of Eccleston, near Preston, and
the other of Eccleston simply, the latter doubtless being the Ecclestons
who were seated at Great Eccleston Hall anterior to the Stanleys, the
occupants in the seventeenth century, whose pedigree will be found, with
others, in a former chapter of this volume. The Ecclestons, of Eccleston,
near Preston, would belong to the place of that name in the Hundred of
Leyland. Thomas Stanley, an illegitimate son of the fourth earl of Derby,
settled, about 1600, at Great Eccleston Hall, which, together with the
estate, was probably purchased; his descendants remained there until
the death of Richard Stanley, in 1714, when Thomas Westby, of Upper
Rawcliffe, obtained possession of the land and mansion, both of which
have since descended in his line.

An Episcopal chapel was erected, in 1723, on the summit of a hill at
Copp, almost a mile from the village of Great Eccleston, and near to
Elswick chapel, “which,” says Bishop Gastrell, “being never consecrated
and in the possession of the Dissenters, it was thought more proper to
build a new one there than to seize upon that.” Subjoined is a letter
from John ffrance, of Little Eccleston Hall, to William Stafford,
Commissary of Richmond, and Secretary to Bishop Gastrell, called forth by
sundry matters in connection with the newly completed place of worship:—

                                     “Eccleston parva, Aug. 3, 1724.

  “Upon some discourse with Mr. Dixon (vicar of Kirkham) about Cop
  Chapell I will give you the trouble of this. When Subscriptions
  were desired towards building the said Chapell it was proposed
  and intended to be not only for the use of the Inhabitants of
  St. Michael’s, but likewise for the use of several townships,
  which lye in the Parish of Kirkham, remote from their
  Parish Church; and the Inhabitants of this township (Little
  Eccleston-with-Larbrick) have contributed more towards the
  Building than those of St. Michael’s, and would have erected it
  within Kirkham Parish, if the situation had been thought equally
  convenient. And likewise the person, who promised to pay the
  hundred pounds towards the Queen’s Bounty, gave a note touching
  the same, with conditions in favour of Kirkham Parish.

  “Before the Chapell was erected the two Vicars of the Parishes
  aforesaid were together, seemed to encourage our proceedings,
  and talked amicably and agreeably about Nomination, etc.; but
  since the Chapell was built several proposals have been made
  to which the Vicar of Kirkham has consented, but the Vicar of
  St. Michael’s seems to dislike them. One of the proposals was
  that the determination of the affair might be referred to the
  Bishop of Chester, whose generous offer to procure £100 towards
  the Endowment of this Chapell gave great encouragement to our
  undertaking the building thereof. Some people have refused
  to pay their Subscriptions on pretence that the Vicar of St.
  Michael’s has departed from former proposals; but we hope (if
  these differences could be amicably settled to the satisfaction
  of the neighbourhood) that not only the old, but likewise several
  new Subscriptions might be procured, especially if our grateful
  behaviour for by-past favours may continue his Lordship’s
  Countenance and Encouragement; and we desire you to represent the
  matter to him as favourably as you think it will bear.”

                                             (Signed)  John ffrance.

The chapel was a small plain brick building, dedicated to St. Anne, but
in 1841 a tower was added, and at the same time a burial ground was
enclosed and licensed in connection with it. Great Eccleston, Elswick,
and Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick townships were, in 1849, constituted a
separate ecclesiastical district, known as the parish of Copp, of which
this chapel is the parochial church. There is a vicarage house.

  CURATES AND VICARS OF COPP.

  ------------+-----------------------+---------------------
    Date of   |       NAME.           | Cause of Vacancy.
  Institution.|                       |
  ------------+-----------------------+---------------------
  Before 1775 |Christopher Swainson,  |
              |  B.A.                 |
              |                       |
     ”   1841 |Reginald Sharpe        |
              |                       |
     In  1841 |Thomas Hathornthwaite, | Resignation of
              |  L.L.D.               |   R. Sharpe
              |                       |
     ”   1864 |William C. Dowding,    | Resignation of
              |  M.A.                 |   T. Hathornthwaite
              |                       |
     ”   1870 |William Bateson, M.A.  | Resignation of
              |                       |   William C. Dowding
  ------------+-----------------------+----------------------

A new Catholic chapel was completed in 1835, and superseded one of
considerable age. Three fairs are held each year on March 14th, April
14th, and November 4th, for cattle.

The origin of the free school at Copp has not been discovered, but the
earliest endowment to be found dates from 1719, when William Fyld,
yeoman, of Great Eccleston, left the remainder of his personal estate,
amounting to about £250, to be invested in trustees, and the interest
to be paid yearly “for a Master to teach Poor Children here, or in some
other part of the township.” By his will, dated 1st of April, 1748,
William Gaulter bequeathed £242 14s. to certain trustees to augment the
stipend of the master of this school, and directed that in case the
educational establishment should ever be abandoned, or the terms of
the will not be observed, the annual income derived from his bequest
should be distributed amongst the poor inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
In 1866 the school was temporarily closed, whilst the charity was
under the revision of the Charity Commissioners; and in 1871 a new and
more commodious building was erected. There is also another school in
this township, called Lane Head school, held in a building erected by
subscription on the site of the original one, which had collapsed through
age. The only endowment is a rent charge of £5 supposed to have been left
by Thomas Clitherall.

William Fyld, of Great Eccleston, bequeathed £2 annually to the poor of
that township.

Ellen Longworth left the interest of £20 to be distributed in bread to
the poor people attending divine service at Copp church.

  POPULATION OF GREAT ECCLESTON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    455    540    648    624    661    631    641    565

The area of the township in statute acres is 1,412

OUT RAWCLIFFE. The manor of Out Rawcliffe was presented to Theobald
Walter by Richard I., and from that time to 1715 remained in the hands of
the same family. Theobald Walter, the son of the above-named gentleman,
and _Butler_ of Ireland, a title which, as elsewhere stated, he adopted
as a surname, gave the whole of Out Rawcliffe, and one carucate of land
in Stainall, to his relative, perhaps son, Sir Richard Butler, and from
him sprang the long line of Butlers of Rawcliffe.[230] In 1627 the
inquisition _post mortem_ of Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, revealed
that his possessions consisted of the two manors of Out and Middle
Rawcliffes, and of lands in Upper Rawcliffe.[231] Henry and Richard
Butler of Rawcliffe, father and eldest son, joined the ranks of the
insurgents in 1715, and after the suppression of the rebellion, their
estates were confiscated; Henry escaped, but Richard was seized, and died
in prison at London in 1716, before the day appointed for his execution.
The sale of Out Rawcliffe by Government was enrolled on the 19th of
September, 1723, the purchasers being the Rev. Richard Crombleholme,
(vicar of St. Michael’s), John Leyland, Cornelius Fox, and James Poole;
and in the diary of the Rev. Thos. Parkinson, curate of Garstang,
reference is made to the completion and terms of the transfer as follows:—

  “April 1723.— ... At night I preached for T. Raby, of Tarnacre,
  at St. Michael’s. His son paid me 10s. Mr. Crombleholm, the vicar
  there, came from London, whilst I was there, who, in conjunction
  with three more, had bought Rawcliffe demain and tenants, paying
  to the board £11,260. It cost them near £1,000 more in hush
  money, as they call it.”

In 1729 the Rev. Richard Crombleholme, who seems to have bought up the
shares of his co-investors, died, and five years later his heir, Edward
Crombleholme, disposed of the lordship of Out Rawcliffe, with its
courts, fishing in the Wyre, rents, etc., to Thomas Roe, whose only child
and heiress married John ffrance, of Little Eccleston Hall. The only son
and heir of John ffrance, of Rawcliffe and Little Eccleston, also called
John, became lord of the manor on the decease of his father in 1774. He
espoused Margaret, the daughter and heiress of ⸺ Rigg, of Lancaster,
and, dying without issue, devised his property, after the death of his
widow, to Thomas Wilson, of Preston, whose wife, the daughter of ⸺ Cross,
of Shaw Hall, Chorley, was his nearest relative. Thomas Wilson assumed
the surname of ffrance in addition to his own, and was succeeded, under
the will of John ffrance, by his son, Thomas Robert Wilson-ffrance, who
effected great improvements on the land by draining and re-covering the
mosses, thereby increasing the value of the estate considerably. T. R.
Wilson-ffrance died in 1853, and Rawcliffe descended to his only son,
Robert Wilson-ffrance, who lived but six years afterwards, and bequeathed
his estates to his sole offspring, Robert John Barton Wilson-ffrance,
esq., at that time an infant, and now in possession. Rawcliffe Hall
lies on the south of the township, in a park-like enclosure, leading to
the banks of the river Wyre. The present mansion was built in the 17th
century, but during more recent years has undergone material alterations.
The remains of the Catholic chapel attached to it are situated at the
rear.

The church of Out Rawcliffe was consecrated in 1837, and was erected by
subscription and a donation from the late T. R. Wilson-ffrance, esq., who
also gave the site, and retained the patronage. The style of architecture
is said to resemble some portions of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey,
with a fine Norman arch over the west end. There are 250 sittings, of
which 150 are free. The first incumbent was the Rev. W. Chadwick, who was
succeeded by the Rev. Joshua Waltham. The Rev. James C. Home, M.A., is
the third and present holder of the living.

There is a good day-school supported out of the Rawcliffe estate.

  POPULATION OF OUT RAWCLIFFE.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    413    484    598    575    728    791    771    832

The area in statute acres of Out Rawcliffe is 4,340.

ELSWICK. From the _Testa de Nevill_ it appears that about 1400 Warin
de Wytingham and Alin de Singilton held respectively the eighth and
sixteenth parts of a knight’s fee in Elswick from the Earl of Lincoln.
Edmund Dudley had the manor until his attainder at the beginning of the
reign of Henry VIII.; and in 1521, Thomas, earl of Derby, held it of that
monarch. The soil is now in the possession of several landowners.

In 1650 the Parliamentary Commissioners of the Commonwealth reported
that the inhabitants, “being fifty families, and five miles from their
parish church, had lately, with the voluntary and free assistance of
some neighbouring towns, erected a chapel.” The Rev. Cuthbert Harrison,
who had been ejected from his benefice in Ireland for refusing the oath
of Uniformity, procured a license from Charles II. in 1672 for the same
chapel, “for the use of such as did not conform to the Church of England,
commonly called Congregational.” Parliament, however, decreed that the
King’s authority was insufficient, and forbade divine service to be held
there a short time later. In 1702 the chapel seems to have been again
opened, and continued in use amongst the Independents until 1753, when
it was superseded by a new one, enlarged in 1838. The memorial stone
of the present chapel, erected to commemorate the persecutions under
the Five Mile Act of two centuries ago, was laid by Sir James Watts, of
Manchester, on the 30th of July, 1873, and the building completed with
all expedition. The chapel stands on a plot of ground presented by Mrs.
Harrison, of Bankfield, adjoining the site of the former edifice, and is
a handsome stone Gothic structure. The mortuary, with tower and spire,
was given by R. C. Richards, esq., J.P., of Clifton Lodge, in memory of
certain members of his family.

Elizabeth Hoole, by will dated 26th of April, 1727, charged a meadow in
Elswick, which she gave to the Roman Catholic chapel of Great Eccleston,
with the annual payment of £3 to the poor of Elswick.

  POPULATION OF ELSWICK.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    232    256    290    327    303    307    290    254

The area of the township includes 1,009 statute acres.

WOOD PLUMPTON. In the Domesday Book Pluntun is entered as comprising
two carucates of arable land. Robert de Stokeport died possessed of
the manor in 1248, and his daughter and heiress married Nicholas de
Eton as her first husband, and John de Arderne as her second. Robert
de Eton, a descendant of her first marriage, obtained Wood Plumpton in
1340. Cecily de Stokeport, heiress of the Etons, conveyed the manor
to Sir Edward Warren, of Poynton, in which family it remained until
transferred, in 1777, to Viscount Thomas James Bulkeley on his marriage
with Elizabeth Harriet, only child of Sir George Warren. The Bulkeley
property ultimately passed to the Fleming-Leycesters, whence Lord de
Tabley obtained the lordship. Charles Birley, esq., of Bartle Hall, is
the present possessor of the manor. Wood Plumpton Hall was anciently the
seat of the Warrens, whilst Ambrose Hall was occupied by a family of the
same name, from which descended the Rev. Isaac Ambrose, who was ejected
from Garstang by the Act of Uniformity. Richard Ambrose, of Ambrose Hall,
left a son and heir, William, who married the daughter of ⸺ Curwen of
Lancaster, and had issue a son, Nicholas. Nicholas Ambrose espoused Jane,
daughter of John Singleton, of Gingle Hall, Lancashire, and left six sons
and a daughter, the eldest of whom, William, resided at Ambrose Hall in
1567, and was twice married, first to Anne, widow of Lawrence Cotham, of
St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, and after her decease to Margaret, widow of Sir
Richard Houghton. Flower’s heraldic visitation, from which the foregoing
is extracted, was made in 1567, and consequently the pedigree cannot be
traced further.

The church of Wood Plumpton is very ancient, being probably in existence
during the earlier years of the 14th century. It was rebuilt in 1630, and
has subsequently undergone numerous alterations, consisting now of nave,
chancel, and two aisles. The communion table has the date and initials
“W. A. 1635” upon it, and a beam in the roof is carved with the year
“1639.” An organ was obtained in 1849. The principal window, the gift of
R. Waterworth, esq., of Preston, is beautifully emblazoned, in addition
to which there are several other richly stained windows. A handsome
monument of marble, representing a sailor mourning, is situated in the
north aisle, and was erected in memory of Henry Foster, R.N., F.R.S., son
of a former incumbent who was drowned in 1831, in the river Chagres,
Gulf of Mexico. The church is dedicated to St. Anne, and the Rev. Isaac
Mossop is the present vicar.

There is a Roman Catholic chapel at Cottam, erected in 1793. The date
of the original one is unknown, but in 1768 it was almost completely
destroyed by an election mob. A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1815, and
another for the Primitive Methodists about 1819.

The township contains an auxiliary workhouse, connected with the Preston
Union, which was erected in 1823. Annual courts are held for the manor of
Wood Plumpton, which includes the hamlets of Catforth, Eaves, Bartle, and
Wood Plumpton.

The school at Catforth was established by Alice Nicholson, of Bartle,
who gave in 1661 the sum of £100 in trust for the maintenance of a free
school within the manor of Wood Plumpton. Subsequent benefactions have
been received as follows:—The same Alice Nicholson £10 by will, in 1664;
John Hudson, of Lea, £20 by will, in 1676; John Hall, of Catforth, £20
by deed, in 1732; James Hall, of Catforth, £10 by will, in 1741; Richard
Eccles, £100 by will, in 1762; Elizabeth Bell, £100 by deed, in 1813;
Richard Threlfall, £20 by deed in 1813; and Ann Robinson, £90 by will in
1817. The total endowment up to 1813, amounting to £380, was invested on
the 21st of April in that year, in the navy five per cents., in the name
of the trustees. The further bequest of £90 was placed out at interest.

In 1817, Ann Robinson, the benefactress just mentioned, also left £90 in
trust, the interest to be given to the master teaching the Sunday school
at Wood Plumpton church.

Thomas Houghton gave, in 1649, the fourth part of the rental of an estate
in Wood Plumpton to the poor of that township.

It is recited in an indenture, dated 9th January, 1709, that George
Nicholson bequeathed the rents of several closes of land, which he stood
possessed of for a certain term of years, in trust, for the poor of Wood
Plumpton, and also left for the same charitable object, the sum of £200,
to be retained by his executors, and the interest only distributed,
until the expiration of the above term, when the sum should be paid to
the churchwardens and overseers, and used as heretofore. The indenture
further recites that on the death of George Nicholson in 1672, a Chancery
suit arose out of the will, the result being that the poor were awarded
£210 as a settlement of their legal claims upon the property of the
deceased. The money was ordered to be invested, and the annual income
bestowed as directed by the testator.

  POPULATION OF WOOD PLUMPTON.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
  1,197  1,397  1,635  1,719  1,688  1,574  1,462  1,290

The township comprises 4,722 statute acres.

INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY. In the Domesday volume this township appears as
containing three carucates of arable soil. Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe
Hall, obtained the manor of Inskip in 1281 as the dowry of his bride
Alicia, daughter of William de Carleton. Inskip was held by Cuthbert
Clifton, of Clifton, in 1512, from whom it descended to Sir W. Molyneux,
of Larbrick and Sefton, who had espoused his sole child and heiress.
In 1554-68 it was in the possession of Henry Kighley, and afterwards
passed to William Cavendish, earl of Devonshire, on his marriage with the
daughter and co-heiress of that gentleman.

The fishery of “Saureby Mere” belonged to William Hoghton in 1519, at
which epoch Thomas Rigmayden and the earl of Derby had lands in Sowerby.
The Stanleys have for long been lords of Sowerby and continue to hold a
court-baron there. In Inskip also a court-baron takes place each year in
June.

A church, dedicated to St. Peter, was erected in 1848 at the joint
expense of the earl of Derby and the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby, vicar of
St. Michael’s-on-Wyre. The living, now a vicarage, is endowed with £100
per annum out of the corn rents. The Rev. A. Sharples, B.A., appointed
shortly after the church was built, is the present vicar.

One-fourth of the rentals from certain lands in Goosnargh and Chipping
was given by Thomas Knowles in 1686 to the poor of Inskip.

In 1750 John Jolly bequeathed the residue of his estate in trust, for
the use of such poor housekeepers of Inskip-with-Sowerby as received no
parochial relief.

  POPULATION OF INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY.

   1801.  1811.  1821.  1831.  1841.  1851.  1861.  1871.
    635    647    739    798    735    680    663    593

The area of the township in statute acres amounts to 2,888.




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XVI.

PAUPERISM AND THE FYLDE UNION.


In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was not customary to
recognise the pauper as a person whose misfortunes, however brought
about, called for charitable aid, but all legislature was directed
against his class under the common title of vagabonds. A statute of
1384 decreed that all vagrants should be arrested and either placed in
the stocks, or imprisoned until the visit of the justices, who would do
with them whatever seemed best by law; and in 1496 the punishment of
incarceration was abolished, but the stocks were retained. The sixteenth
century initiated a little more considerate state of things, and justices
of the peace were authorised in 1531 to grant begging licenses to any
necessitous persons in their districts unable to work for a livelihood.
An act of 1547 ordained that any vagabond, not incapacitated by old age
or illness, loitering and not seeking work for three days should be
brought before a magistrate, who was directed to adjudge such vagrant
to be, for two years, the slave of the person by whom he had been
apprehended, in addition to which he had to be branded with the letter
V on the breast. In case he ran away the law ordered that a further
branding of the sign S should be inflicted, this time on his forehead
or the ball of his cheek, and that slavery should be his perpetual
portion. A third escape entailed death when re-captured. This enactment
was never really enforced as popular indignation at its extreme severity
was aroused at once, and after lingering two years it was repealed in
favour of the stocks-legislature. In 1551 it was decreed that a register
of destitute persons should be kept in each parish, and that alms should
be collected in Whit-week, whilst on the Sunday following, during divine
service at church, “the collectors should gently ask and demand of every
man and woman what they of their charity would give weekly towards
the relief of the poor.” The funds so obtained were to be distributed
amongst the poor “after such sort that the more impotent might have the
more help, and such as could get part of their living the less.” Eleven
years later a statute ordained that if any person refused to contribute
alms when called upon he should be summoned before a justice, who would
determine the amount he had to pay, and commit him to gaol in case of
further refusal. The legislative body of Queen Elizabeth passed “An Act
for the punishment of vagabonds and the relief of the poor and impotent,”
by which justices of the peace were instructed to register the names of
all the impotent poor who had been born within their several districts,
or been existing there on alms within the three preceding years; to
assign to them convenient places for dwellings or lodgings, in case the
parish had not already undertaken that duty of its own free will; to
assess the inhabitants to a weekly charge; and to appoint overseers of
the poor, having authority to exact a certain amount of work from those
candidates for relief who were not entirely disabled from labour by age,
sickness, or deformity. In 1575-6 it was ordered that a stock of wool
or hemp should be provided in the different parishes for the purpose
of “setting the poor at work,” and that “Houses of Correction” should
be established, in which vagrants or tramps were to be detained, the
able-bodied being furnished with employment until a service was found for
them, and the infirm transferred to an alms-house as soon as practicable.
The “Houses of Correction,” the origin of our workhouses, were directed
to be built in large cities, or in the central towns of wide districts,
thus the one for the Fylde was situated at Preston, an old college of
Grey Friars lying to the south of Marsh Lane being converted to that
use. Dr. Kuerden described this building more than two centuries ago
as the “old Friary, now only reserved for the reforming of vagabonds,
sturdy beggars, and petty larcenary thieves, and other people wanting
good behaviour; it is the country prison to entertain such persons
with hard work, spare diet, and whipping, and it is called the House of
Correction.” The present gaol of Preston was not completed until 1789,
and by force of habit the expressive title of its predecessor has clung
to it.

In 39 Elizabeth, 1597, an act came into force by which all previous
legislation on the subject under consideration was repealed, and which
decreed that overseers of the poor should be appointed in every parish,
whose duty it should be to levy a rate upon the inhabitants for the
support of the indigent, under the direction and with the approval of the
local magistrates; in addition there were special regulations for the
treatment of rogues, vagrants, and able beggars, for whom whipping and
the stocks were ordered, after undergoing which punishments these idlers
were to be returned at once to their native parishes and placed under the
guardianship of the local authorities there.

Four years later certain modifications were made in the early part of the
last statute, but the main principle of individual taxation by overseers,
under the superintendence of justices of the peace, was retained
unaltered. The chief objects of the law as it stood at the end of 1601
were—to relieve the lame, sick, aged, impotent, and blind; to compel
others of the poor to work, and to put out their children as apprentices.

At that time any one leaving his employment and wandering beyond the
boundaries of his parish without any ostensible means of gaining a
livelihood was liable to be arrested and punished as a vagabond, in
addition he was compelled to return to his own district in disgrace;
so that whether a law confining labourers to their own neighbourhoods
existed then or not, it is certain that they had little inducement to
venture forth amongst strangers.

In 1662, during the reign of Charles II., the Law of Settlement was
passed, by which all members of such classes as were likely to become
at some period or other chargeable to the parish rates, were compelled
to settle themselves on the parochial district to which they were
connected by birth, marriage, apprenticeship, or similar ties; and upon
which parish alone they would subsequently have any claim. In this way
the unfortunate peasantry and labouring population were more securely
than ever imprisoned within their parishes, for if they escaped the
fate of the rogue and vagabond, and obtained work in another part of
the country, they were generally hunted out and driven home for fear
they should become burdens on rates to which they had no title. Such a
condition of things went on with little change for nearly two centuries,
but the causes which finally brought about a material alteration in the
arrangement of pauper relief will be noticed in the context. The erection
of workhouses for the different parishes of the kingdom was sanctioned
in 1723 by the legislature, and three years later, as learnt from the
following extract out of the minute book of the bailiffs of Kirkham, the
inhabitants of that town determined to establish one:—

  “22 May, 1726:—Mem. That the town of Kirkham was summonsed from
  house to house, and the inhabitants unanimously agreed to the
  setting up of a workhouse.”

The act which decreed the building of workhouses for the employment
of the poor, stated that if any one refused to enter those houses, or
objected to perform his share of labour, no relief should be apportioned
to him. There can be little doubt that workhouses sprang up at Poulton
and in the other parishes of the Fylde about that date, as well as at
Kirkham, but in their cases there are no bailiffs’ registers, or similar
records, to fall back upon for proof as to the accuracy of the surmise,
and consequently we are unable to speak with absolute certainty. In the
twenty-second year of the reign of George III. (1782), it was enacted
that the guardians of the poor should employ the paupers of their
separate parishes in labour on the land at small remuneration, and that
the poor rate should be used only to increase the payment to a sum
large enough for the subsistence of each pauper thus employed. Country
justices, desirous of standing well in the opinion of the peasantry, were
not over scrupulous in the discharge of their supervisionary functions,
and granted or sanctioned the granting of relief orders without any
minute inquiry into the merits of the cases. Immorality was encouraged
by an allowance from the poor-rate to the mother for each illegitimate
child. Practical responsibility for the proper administration of the
fund rested on no one, and about 1830 “the poor-rate had become public
spoil, the ignorant believed it an inexhaustible source of wealth, which
belonged to them; the brutal bullied the administrators to obtain their
share; the profligate exhibited their bastards, which must be fed; the
idle folded their arms and waited till they got it; ignorant boys and
girls married upon it; country justices lavished it for popularity, and
guardians for convenience.”[232]

In 1832 a Royal Commission was appointed to visit the different parishes,
and investigate the abuses which were being universally carried on; and
in 1834 a bill was brought in to amend the laws relative to the Relief
of the Poor in England and Wales, and passed that year, some of the main
clauses being—an acknowledgment of the claims to the relief of the really
necessitous, the abolition of settlement by hiring and service, and of
all out-door relief to the able-bodied. The enactment provided for the
union of small and neighbouring parishes, the rating and expenditure of
the rates remaining a distinct and separate matter; each union was to
have a common workhouse for all its parishes, in which the men, women,
children, able-bodied, and infirm must be separated, and where the
able-bodied inmates should do a certain amount of work for each meal. The
distribution of relief was left to the guardians and select vestries,
and to the overseers in their absence. The whole system of unions and
parish relief was placed under the control of a Central Board, by whom
everything was arranged and settled, and to whom any appeals were to be
directed.

Shortly after the passing of this act, the following twenty-three
townships of the Fylde were banded together for parochial
purposes, and denominated the Fylde Union:—Bispham-with-Norbreck,
Bryning-with-Kellamergh, Carleton, Clifton-with-Salwick, Little
Eccleston-with-Larbrick, Elswick, Freckleton, Greenhalgh-with-Thistleton,
Hardhorn-with-Newton, Kirkham, Layton-with-Warbreck, Lytham, Marton,
Medlam-with-Wesham, Newton-with-Scales, Poulton, Ribby-with-Wrea,
Singleton, Thornton, Treales, Roseacre, Wharles, Warton,
Weeton-with-Preese, and Westby-with-Plumptons. In 1844 the guardians
erected the Union Workhouse at Kirkham, at a cost of about £5,400, and
in 1864 the building was enlarged so as to be able to accommodate 250
paupers. All small, local workhouses in the districts comprised in the
union were of course closed on the opening of the central one. The
guardians of the different townships constitute a board, in whose hands
rests the regulation of all matters concerning the union.

By a subsequent act, the original Central Board of Poor Law Commissioners
was superseded by a controlling board composed of four members of the
government, _ex officio_, and certain other commissioners appointed
by Her Majesty in council, the inspectors, whom, it should have been
mentioned, were provided under the previous act, were now invested with
more extended powers; workhouse visitors were appointed; annual reports
were ordered to be issued; and a clause forbidding the cohabitation of
man and wife in the workhouses was dispensed with after the parties had
arrived at sixty years of age.

[Illustration]




FOOTNOTES


[1] William Camden was born in London in 1551. His most celebrated
publication is entitled “Britannia,” and consists of a survey of the
British isles, written in elegant Latin. He died in 1623, at Chiselhurst,
in Kent.

[2] The reader must not confound these canoes with some others found in
Martin Meer, North Meols.

[3] Cæsar’s Bell. Gall., v. 14.

[4] Ptolemy was a native of Egypt, and lived at Alexandria during the
first half of the second century. He was an astronomer, chronologer, and
geographer. His geographical work was in use in all schools until the
15th century, when it was supplanted by another treatise containing the
more recent discoveries of Venetian and other navigators.

[5] Mr. Thornber mentions this path in his History of Blackpool.

[6] “In the memory of man large portions of Kate’s Pad existed with
various, but irregular interruptions: these, however, the moss cutter
yearly removes, and shortly no remains of it will be found.”—Rev. W.
Thornber, Blackpool, 1837.

[7] Gildas, the wise, as he was styled, was the son of Caw, Prince of
Strathclyde, and was born at Dumbarton.

[8] Bede died in A.D. 734. His chief work was an Ecclesiastical History.

[9] History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood.

[10] Alfred’s Preface, p. 33.

[11] History of the Anglo-Saxons.

[12] Saxon Chronicle.

[13] Ptolemy gives the longitude as ten minutes, but at such a height a
minute would scarcely represent a mile.

[14] The Welsh language is the oldest of all living languages, and is of
Celtic origin, being in fact the tongue spoken by the ancient Britons but
little altered by modern innovations.

[15] An Honor has a castle or mansion, and consists of demesnes and
services, to which a number of manors and lordships, with all their
appurtenances and other regalities, are annexed. In an Honor an
Honourable Court is held once every year at least.

[16] A Manor is composed of demesne and services, to which belong a
three weeks Court, where the freeholders, being tenants of the manor,
sit covered, and give judgement in all suits that are pleading. To every
manor a Court Baron is attached.

[17] A _carucate_ was generally about one hundred acres of arable soil,
or land in cultivation; this word superseded the Saxon _hyde_, which
signified the same thing.

[18] The whole of the _vills_ of Amounderness, here signified, amounted
to sixty-one.

[19] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.

[20] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.

[21] Held in the reign of Henry I., 1100-1135.

[22] Held in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II., 1135-1189.

[23] Duchy Rolls, Rot. f. 12.

[24] To rise at five, to dine at nine, to sup at five, to bed at nine,
makes a man live to ninety-nine.

[25] Although England had been divided into counties the different
districts were for long classified under the names of the old provinces
or petty kingdoms of the Heptarchy.

[26] Vale Royal, Cheshire, obtained a grant of the manor, etc., of
Kirkham in 1296.

[27] £13 6s. 3d.

[28] £20 0s. 0d.

[29] £53 6s. 8d.

[30] Knights banneret were so called from a privilege they possessed
of carrying a small banner. This privilege and the title of “Sir” were
conferred as a reward for distinguished military service, and were
usually accompanied by a pecuniary provision.

[31] Harl. MSS. cod. 1926, fol. 4 b.

[32] Alexander Rigby was related to the branch of that family residing at
Layton Hall.

[33] Harl. MSS. cod. 1926, fol. 80.

[34] See “Allen of Rossall,” in Chapter VI.

[35] Table forks were introduced into England from Italy at the close of
the Tudor dynasty; previously the people of all ranks used their fingers
for the purposes to which we now apply a fork. A kind of fork was used as
far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, but only to serve articles from the
dish.

[36] Harl. MSS.

[37] This Alex. Rigby must not be confounded with the gentleman of that
name mentioned in the former chapter, and who in the civil contests was a
parliamentary general. A. Rigby here denoted, was a royalist officer.

[38] A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont
(Cheetham Society.)

[39] A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont.

[40] A discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont.

[41] Hist. Collect. P. 4, vol. I, p. 22.

[42] Tour, p. 20.

[43] From a M.S. of Peter Le Neve., Norroy, among the collection of
Mr. Joseph Ames. The knights of this order were to wear a silver medal
ornamented with a device of the King in the Oak, suspended by a ribbon
from their necks. The following is a list of persons in the county of
Lancashire who were considered fit and qualified to be made Knights of
this Order with the value of their estates:—

  Thomas Holt               per annum £1000
  Thomas Greenhalgh              ”     1000
  Colonel Kirkby                 ”     1500
  Robert Holt                    ”     1000
  Edmund Asheton                 ”     1000
  Christopher Banister           ”     1000
  Francis Anderton               ”     1000
  Col. James Anderton            ”     1500
  Robert Nowell                  ”     1000
  Henry Norris                   ”     1200
  John Girlington                ”     1000
  Thomas Preston                 ”     2000
  Thomas Farrington of Worden    ”     1000
  Thomas Fleetwood of Penwortham ”     1000
  William Stanley                ”     1000
  Edward Tyldesley               ”     1000
  Thomas Stanley                 ”     1000
  Richard Boteler (Butler)       ”     1000
  John Ingleton, senior          ”     1000
  ⸺ Walmsley of Dunkenhalgh      ”     2000

[44] “This year (1715) provisions were plentiful and cheap, as also corn
and hay”—the Journal of W. Stout of Lancaster.

[45] A tract in the library of the British Museum, entitled “Catholic
Chapels, Chaplains.” etc., and bearing the date 1819.

[46] A kind of Ducking Stool.

[47] A bear was baited at Weeton fair less than a century ago.

[48] 25 Henry VIII. c. 13, and 31 Elizabeth, c. 7.

[49] 39 Elizabeth, c. 1.

[50] Gay.

[51] Gay. The Spell.

[52] Hist. of Blackpool and Neighbourhood, by W. Thornber, B.A.

[53] Gay.

[54] This high price was owing to an almost complete failure in the
potatoe crops.

[55] Obtained by striking an average of the weekly market quotations in
the local periodicals, published weekly during the respective years.

[56] Faerie Land, Song, edit. A.D. 1622.

[57] This is incorrect, as the Ribble and not the Darwent separates the
Hundreds of Leyland and Amounderness.

[58] Record Office, 28 Henry VIII., V. S., c. 6.

[59] This Sir William de Clifton was accused in the year 1337 of having
taken possession of twenty marks belonging to the Abbot of Vale Royal,
and of having forcibly obstructed the rector in the collecting of tithes
within the manors of Clifton and Westby; also with having inflicted
certain injuries upon the hunting palfrey of the latter gentleman.

[60] Sir Cuthbert Clifton espoused as his second wife, Dorothy, daughter
of Sir Thomas Smyth, of Wotton Walwyns, in Warwickshire, and had three
sons, Lawrence, Francis, and John, captains in the royal army, and slain
in the civil war, besides seven other children. Sir Cuthbert purchased
Little Marton and the monastic portion of Lytham from Sir John Holcroft
in 1606. He was knighted by James I. at Lathom House.

[61] See Out Rawcliffe in the chapter on St. Michaels’ parish for the
Wilson-ffrance descent.

[62] See page 72.

[63] Dugdale’s Visitation.

[64] Richard Longworth, of St. Michael’s Hall, a justice of the peace.

[65] The small Lᵈ of Roshall was Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall, who
at this time was thirty years of age.

[66] John Westby, of Mowbreck, was probably the builder or purchaser of
Burn Hall about the middle of the sixteenth century. See pedigree above
at that date.

[67] Pawnage, or Pannage, signified the food of swine to be found in
woods, such as acorns and beech-mast, etc.

[68] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. MS. fol. 1.

[69] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. fol. 77.

[70] Regist. of Cockersand Abbey, and S. Mariæ de Lanc.

[71] Baines’s Hist. of Lanc.

[72] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.

[73] John Hull, M.D., F.L.S., commenced his professional education at
Blackburn in 1777; and in 1791, after graduating in medicine, settled
at Manchester, where he attained to considerable eminence both as a
physician and writer on botanical and medical subjects. He retired from
practice to his native town of Poulton in 1836, and remained there until
his demise.

[74] “Enter and pray, if you have raised to heaven your open palms you
will have performed sacred duties, and will fly from evil things.”

[75] Mr. Rudhall, as we learn from the following entry in the registers
of the 30 men of Kirkham, was in business at Gloucester:—“1749, April
14. Paid old Mr. Rudhall for coming from Gloucester to take notes of the
bells when the 2nd. was recast, £3 3s. 0d.”

[76] The Pancake Bell is usually rung by an apprentice of the town as a
signal for his _confreres_ to discontinue work for that day, but strange
to say on a late occasion not one apprentice could be found in the whole
of Poulton, and consequently the duty was performed by the ordinary
bell-ringer.

[77] In all previously issued lists of vicars, Richard Fleetwood has
erroneously been named as patron in this instance. There was no Rich.
Fleetwood of Rossall at that time, and Edward, who had been patron at the
former institution, was probably still alive as he had no son and but one
daughter, who married Roger Hesketh, the next patron in right of his wife.

[78] In 1876 a brass plate was found in Poulton church, near the site of
the old communion table, inscribed:—“Here lies the body of Anne, wife of
Richard Harrison, vicar of Poolton, who dyed the 24th of December, 1679,
aged 55 years.”

[79] From these entries it would seem that the regulation of 1782 soon
became a dead letter, if indeed it were ever carried into practice.

[80] The Battle and Victory of the Nile.

[81] Visitation of St. George.

[82] For a full description of the direction taken by this road, see page
7.

[83] The Rev. G. Y. Osborne resigned the living of Fleetwood on being
appointed vicar of St. Thomas’s, Dudley, which cure he held up to the
date of his decease.

[84] A second line was laid on this length in 1875 for the first time.

[85] Coastguards were first located at Fleetwood in 1858, and consisted
of six men and an officer. Their present station in Abbot’s Walk was
erected in 1864, and comprises cottage accommodation for six men, and
another residence for the officer in command.

[86] Newly-built vessels registered for the first time, the other
vessels belonging to the harbour being transferred from other parts and
re-registered here.

[87] Rot. Lit. Claus. 16 John, m. 7.

[88] Rot. Finium 5 Henry III. m. 8.

[89] Escaet. 42 Henry III. m. 11.

[90] Survey of Lancashire ending in 1346.

[91] Visitation of St. George.

[92] Placit de Quo Warr. 20 Edw. I. Lanc. Rot. 13d.

[93] An oxgang is as much land as an ox can plough in a year, something
considerably less than a carucate, which is estimated at one hundred
acres.

[94] Chethem Soc. Series, No. lxxiv. p. 57.

[95] For “Westby of Burn Hall” see Chapter VI.

[96] “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell
in the tents of wickedness.”

[97] Charity Commissioners’ Report.

[98] Rot. Lit. Clause 5 Henry III., p. 474.

[99] Rot. Chart. 12 Henry III., m. 3.

[100] Placit de Quo. Warr. 20 Edward I.

[101] See “Allen of Rossall” in Chapter VI.

[102] See “Fleetwood of Rossall” in ditto.

[103] Placit. coram Consil. in Octab. S. Hyll. 38 Hen. III. Lanc. Ror. 5,
in dorso.

[104] Duc. Lanc. vol. iii. n. 49.

[105] Dr. Kuerden’s MSS. vol. iv. c. 1 b.

[106] Duc. Lanc. vol. iv. n. 71.

[107] Harl. MSS. cod 607, fol. 101 b.

[108] Dr. Kuerden’s MSS. ibid.

[109] Dr. Kuerden’s MSS.

[110] Whittaker’s History of Whalley.

[111] Testa de Nevill, fol. 403.

[112] Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey.

[113] Rot. Lit. Clause 9 John, m. 16.

[114] Escaet. 33 Henry III., n. 49.

[115] Escaet. 16 Edward II., n. 59.

[116] Escaet. 4 Edward III., n. 100.

[117] Lansd. MSS. 559, fol. 36.

[118] Dodsworth’s MSS., c. xiii., p. 161. These traces which were fairly
evident forty years ago, have been in a great measure obliterated in more
recent days.

[119] Parl. Ing. Lamb. Libr. vol. ii.

[120] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. MSS. fol. 77.

[121] Dugd. Monast. vol. v. p. 630.

[122] Monast. Anglic. vol. v. p. 530.

[123] Duc. Lanc. vol. xii., Inq. n. 2.

[124] Charity Commissioners’ Report.

[125] Charity Commissioners’ Report.

[126] See ‘Rigby of Layton Hall,’ in Chapter VI.

[127] See ‘Veale of Whinney Heys,’ in Chapter VI.

[128] History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood.

[129] The following is extracted from a paper, written by Mr. Henry Moon,
of Kirkham, about 1783, and refers to this pool:—“The liquid is of a
chocolate or liver colour, as all water must be which passes through a
peaty soil, so that the place might, with as much propriety, bear the
name of Liver-pool, as Black-pool.”

[130] For a list of the Knights of the Royal Oak, and other matters
concerning that Order see page 72.

[131] Black-pool.

[132] See ‘Tyldesley of Fox Hall’ in Chapter VI.

[133] A couplet extracted from some lines descriptive of Blackpool and
its accommodation, etc., in 1790, written by a visitor about that date.

[134] Regist. S. Mariæ Lanc. MS.

[135] Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 27.

[136] Testa de Nevill, fol. 371.

[137] Rot. Chart. 15 John. m. 3, n. 15.

[138] Theobald Walter, the 2nd, adopted the surname of Botiler, or
Butler, on being appointed chief Butler of Ireland; this titular surname
was retained by his descendants.

[139] This account occurs in the Register of Vale Royal, and is
endorsed—“Of the church of Kyrkham, how the king had conferred it upon
this monasterie,” etc.

[140] Monast. Anglic. vol. II. p. 925. Ellis’ edit. Harl. MSS. No. 2064.
f. 27.

[141] Rot. Chart., 15 Edw. I., No. 8, m. 3.

[142] Placito de Quo Warranto, Lane. Rot., 10d.

[143] Ibid.

[144] Discovered in the old chest at Kirkham amongst the archives of the
bailiffs.

[145] That is, the Sunday after Easter.

[146] Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 25 and 25b.

[147] Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 27.

[148] Fishwick’s History of Kirkham—from the Harl. MSS.

[149] Vale Royal ledger.

[150] Pat. Rolls. 2. Hen. iv., p. 3, m. 5 n. (Duchy Office.)

[151] Original lease in Bailiffs’ Chest.

[152] Paper in Bailiffs’ Chest, dated 23rd October, 1676, and signed John
Cestriens.

[153] Records of the “Thirty-Men.”

[154] Records of the “Thirty-Men.”

[155] Records of the Thirty-Men.

[156] Ibid.

[157] According to the _Parliamentarie Chronicle_, “Mistress Haughton was
the wife of Master William Haughton of Prickmarsh in Kirkham, the Fylde,”
and the child was born on the 20th of June, 1643.

[158] During the war between King and Parliament.

[159] The Rye-house Plot.

[160] Canon Raine’s Hist. of Lanc. Chantries.

[161] Willis’s Hist. Mitr. Abb. vol. ii., p. 108.

[162] Records of the Dean and Chapter, Christ Church, Oxford.

[163] See Court of Requests page 209.

[164] See Chapter XVI.

[165] Ancient Manuscript.

[166] Ancient Manuscript.

[167] Ancient Manuscript.

[168] See pages 61, 63, and 66.

[169] Charity Commissioners’ Report.

[170] Ibid.

[171] Indenture in Bailiffs’ Chest.

[172] Deed in Bailiff’s Chest.

[173] Report of Charity Commissioners, 1824.

[174] For “Leyland of Leyland House” see Chapter VI.

[175] Regist. S. Mariæ Lanc. MS. fol. 1 and 4.

[176] Rot. Cancell. 3 John. m. 5.

[177] Harl. MSS. No. 2064.

[178] Escaet. 25 Edw. I. n. 51.

[179] Lansd. MSS. No. 539. f. 15.

[180] MS. Church Records.

[181] Vestry Book.

[182] Ibid.

[183] For “Westby of Mowbreck” see Chapter VI.

[184] For “Parker of Bradkirk” see Chapter VI.

[185] Regist. S. Mariæ, Lanc. MS. fol. 1-4.

[186] Testa de Nevill. fol. 372.

[187] Placita de Quo Warr. 20 Edw. I. Lanc. Rot., 13a.

[188] Escaet. 17 Edw. II. n. 45.

[189] The Birch Feodary.

[190] Ancient feudal taxes.

[191] Duchy Rolls.

[192] Duc. Lanc. vol. iv. Inq. n. 13.

[193] Ibid, vol. v. n. 68.

[194] Baines’s Hist. of Lancashire.

[195] Duchy Records.

[196] History of Whalley.

[197] Title Deeds.

[198] Record Office. Pleadings, 3 Eliz.

[199] Church Presentments at York.

[200] MSS. Lamb library.

[201] Records of the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford.

[202] This description is of Mains Hall forty years ago, as seen by Mr.
Thornber.

[203] For “ffrance of Little Eccleston” see Chapter VI.

[204] For “Clifton of Lytham” see Chapter VI.

[205] This stone was in the yard until the rebuilding of the church, when
it was enclosed within the new and more extensive edifice; it is supposed
to mark the grave of a sailor washed up on the banks of the river Wyre.

[206] Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 440.

[207] Infangthefe.—The power of judging of theft committed within the
manor of Lytham.

[208] Soccum.—The power and authority of administering justice.

Saccum.—The power of imposing fines upon tenants and vassals within the
lordship.

Theam.—A royalty granted for trying bondmen and villeins, with a
sovereign power over their villein tenants, their wives, children and
goods, to dispose of them at pleasure. This badge of feudal slavery was
abolished in England during the reign of Charles II.

[209] Rot. Lit. Pat. 22 Hen. vi. p 1, m. 6.

[210] Chet. Soc. Series, No. xxx. Penwortham.

[211] Escaet. 49 Edw. III. n. 28.

[212] Charity Commissioners Report.

[213] Ibid.

[214] See pages 15 and 16.

[215] Escaet. 33 Hen. III. n. 49.

[216] Inq. ad Quod. Damnum, 16 & 19 Edward II.

[217] St. Michael’s Hall also belonged to the Kirkbys, and it is probable
that one of the junior branches resided there before the Longworths of
St. Michael’s.

[218] Flower’s Visitation.

[219] See “Longworth of St. Michael’s Hall” in Chapter VI.

[220] Fol. 401.

[221] Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. M.S. fol. 68.

[222] Rot. Pat. 4 Hen. VI. m. 10 per Inspec. Linc. Hen. IV.

[223] A copy of “The appropriation of the Vicarage of Michaelskirk,”
dated 1411, and now in the possession of the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby.

[224] E. Reg. Richmond.

[225] Commissioners’ Report before the Dissolution of Monasteries.

[226] Willis’s Hist. Mitr. Abb. vol. ii p. 108.

[227] List of Benefactions within the Church of St. Michael’s.

[228] List of Benefactions within the Church of St. Michael’s.

[229] Dugdale’s Monasticon, vol. v., p. 630.

[230] For “Butlers of Rawcliffe” see Chapter VI.

[231] Duc. Lanc. vol. xxvi. n. 36.

[232] History of England, by H. Martineau.




[Illustration]




INDEX.


  Agricola, 5, 9

  Agriculture, 89

  Allen, cardinal, 50, 152

  “Allen of Rossall Hall,” 151

  Alfred the Great, 18

  All-Hallows’ Eve, 107

  All-Souls’ Day, 107

  Ambroses, of Ambrose Hall, 472

  Ambrose, Rev. Isaac, 71

  Ambrose, John, 62

  Amounderness, derivation, 1;
    forests, 2, 10;
    Ripon grant, 15;
    See of York, 16, 21;
    Wapentake, 16;
    Earl Tosti, 21;
    Roger de Poictou, 30;
    Theobald Walter, 33;
    Edmund Crouchback, 36;
    John of Gaunt, 38;
    military musters, 45, 46, 47;
    tax of provisions, 48;
    Cambden’s description, 53

  Anglo-Saxons, 12, 90

  Anlaf, 19

  Armada, Spanish, 50

  Ashton, Col., 62

  Athelstan, 16, 19


  Bankfield, 415

  Baxter, Rev. Nathaniel, 72

  Bailiffs of Kirkham, 376

  Banastre, Sir Adam, 37, 189

  Bede, the venerable, 14

  Belisama Æstuarium, 6, 25

  Bispham-with-Norbreck, 297

  Bispham church, 33, 299

  Birds, 127

  Blackpool, 80, 311

  Blackburne, family of, 141

  Bolton, siege of, 64

  Botany, 131

  Brunandune, battle of, 19

  Brigantes, 3, 13

  Bradkirk, 410

  Brank or Scolds’ Bridle, 104

  Bryning-with-Kellamergh, 404

  Bryning Hall, 404

  Bullock, Rev. W., 72

  Bull and Bear-baiting, 95

  Burn, 19, 270

  Burn Hall, 183, 270

  “Butler of Rawcliffe Hall,” 153


  Camden, 3, 14, 40, 53

  Cairn near Weeton, 8

  Catholic chapels, 81

  Carling Sunday, 106

  Cart-Ford, 137

  Carleton, Great and Little, 280

  Carleton Hall, 281

  Carletons, family of, 280

  Campion, Father Edm., 47

  Christianity introduced, 15

  Charles II., 70

  Christmas customs, 96

  Chantries, closure of, 45

  Civil wars, 42, 58

  “Clifton of Clifton, Lytham, etc.,” 155

  Clifton, Sir Willm. de, 37, 370

  Clifton, Sir Thomas, 75

  Clifton, Capt., 64

  Clifton-with-Salwick, 423

  Classis, Presbyterian, 68

  Cock-fighting, 103

  Columba, 15

  Commissions of Inquiry, 49, 69

  Coins, near Rossall, 10

  Condition, customs, etc., 87

  Copp church, 467

  Costumes, 115

  Country of the Fylde, 124

  Court of Requests, 209

  County Court, 212

  Coupland, Sir Jno. de, 39

  Cromwell, Oliver, 65, 71

  Crouchback, Edmund, 36

  Crustaceæ, 150

  Culdees, 15

  Cuck-stool, 104


  Danish settlements, 27

  Danish invasions, 17

  Danish insurrections, 18

  Danes, massacre of, 21

  Danes’ Pad, 7, 20

  David II. of Scotland, 39

  Derby, earl of, 58, 60, 70

  Dock, Lytham, 144

  Dock, Fleetwood, 248

  Domesday Book, 31

  Drayton, the poet, 138, 144

  Druids, 4, 87

  Druids’-eggs, 5, 8

  Ducking-stool, 104

  Dudley, Edmund, 44


  Eccleston, Great, 466

  Eccleston, Little, 422

  Elswick, 471

  Estates, compounders for, 68

  Esprick school, 411

  Ethelwerd’s Chronicle, 10, 19


  Fairies, 110

  Fast, a general, 84

  Fenny-farm, 25

  “ffrance of Little Eccleston Hall,” 161

  Fleetwood, town of, 7, 81, 84, 218

  Fleetwood, church of, 222

  Fleetwood, harbour of, 251

  “Fleetwood of Rossall Hall,” 158

  Fleetwood, Sir P. H., 82, 161

  Fleetwoods, of Little Plumpton, 158

  Flodden Field, 42

  Fox Hall, 312

  Freckleton marsh, 66, 67

  Freckleton, 402

  Free-tenants, 51, 57

  Fylde, present extent, 1;
    original extent, 23;
    definition, 2, 3;
    aborigines, 3;
    Celtic relics, 3;
    Roman road or Dane’s Pad, 7;
    Roman relics, 8, 10, 22;
    Kate’s Pad, 9;
    Christianity, 15;
    churches built, 16;
    the Danes, 17;
    Roman station, 6, 22;
    Anglo-Saxon towns, 13, 27;
    dialect, 28, 35;
    wild animals, 29;
    Domesday survey, 31;
    churches in A.D. 1080, 32;
    members of parliament, 39;
    extracts from Duchy Rolls, 41;
    High-sheriffs, 43;
    poverty, 40;
    complaints and petitions, 49, 56;
    plague, 57;
    recruiting, 61, 63, 64

  Fylde Union, 475


  Gaunt, John of, 38

  Gentry, list of, 74

  Geoffrey, the crossbowman, 34, 139

  Greenhalgh-with-Thistleton, 411

  Greenhalgh Castle, 67

  Gregory the Great, 15

  Gynn-house, 318


  Hackensall Hall, 138

  Hambleton, 425

  Hardhorn-with-Newton, 292

  Harleian Collection, extracts from, 48

  Harrison, the topographer, 52, 138, 144

  Harrison, Rev. Cuthbert, 419

  Harrison, Rev. Joseph, 72

  Heptarchy, 17

  Heskeths of Little Poulton Hall, 213

  “Hesketh of Mains Hall,” 162

  High Sheriffs, 43

  Holinshed, 10, 53

  “Hornby of Poulton,” 164

  “Hornby of Ribby Hall,” 164

  Horse-bridge, 113

  Hundreds, 18


  Incorporation of Kirkham, 367

  Incorporation of Blackpool, 354

  Inskip-with-Sowerby, 474


  Jacobite plot, 74

  James I., 55

  James II., 74

  John, King, 34


  Kate’s Pad, 9

  King John, 34

  Kirkham, 37, 57, 61, 63, 66, 363

  Kirkham church, 16, 32, 39, 386

  Kirkham grammar school, 394

  Knots, Great and Little, 17, 219


  Lambert Simnel, 42

  Lancashire, inhabitants, 52;
    houses and inns, 53;
    regiment, 58

  Lancaster, honor, 30, 34, 36;
    bay, 24;
    earl, 36;
    duke, 38;
    town, 59, 62

  Landowners, Catholic, 77, 78

  Larbrick Hall, 422

  Layton-with-Warbreck, 306

  Layton Hall, 308

  Layton Hawes, 60, 64, 308, 316

  Layton miser, 309

  Leigh, Dr. Charles, 414

  “Leckonby of Leckonby House,” 166

  “Leyland of Leyland House,” 168

  Leyland, the antiquary, 2, 37, 52

  Leyland House, 404

  Lifting at Easter, 106

  Linen burial act, 73

  Little Poulton Hall, 213

  “Longworth of St. Michael’s Hall,” 168

  Lune, river, 26

  “Lune Deep,” 23

  Lund, 27

  Lund church, 423

  Lytham, 81, 429

  Lytham churches, 432, 446

  Lytham Dock, 144

  Lytham Hall, 60, 438


  Mains Hall, 79, 421

  May Day, 96, 101

  Marton, Great and Little, 285

  Marton church, 288

  Marton Mere, 127, 287

  Marton Moss, 124

  Medlar-with-Wesham, 410

  Military musters, 45, 46, 47

  Midsummer’s Eve, 112

  Ministers ejected, 72

  Molluscs, 150

  Monasteries, suppression of, 45

  Moot Hall of Kirkham, 380

  Moot Hall of Poulton, 204

  Morecambe Bay, 3, 24, 59

  Moricambe Æstuarium, 6, 25

  Moreton, earl of, 34

  Mowbreck Hall, 410

  Myerscough Lodge, 56


  National language, 35

  Newton-with-Scales, 425

  Newton, Hardhorn-with, 292

  New Year’s Day, 97

  Norman Conquest, 30

  Northumbria, 13, 18, 19, 30


  Out-Rawcliffe, 469


  Pace-egg mummers, 106

  “Parker of Bradkirk Hall,” 169

  Parrox Hall, 139

  Parliament, members of, 39

  Parliamentary army, 58

  Pastimes, 95

  Paulinus, 13, 15

  Peel, hamlet of, 287

  Peel, in Morecambe Bay, 42, 50

  Pedigrees of ancient families, 151

  Penny Stone, 328

  Petitions and prayers, 11, 40, 49, 56

  Picts and Scots, 11

  Plague at Kirkham, 57

  Plough Monday, 96

  Plunderings, 61, 63, 66

  Portus Setantiorum, 7, 25

  Poulton, town of, 60, 66, 185

  Poulton church, 32, 188, 192

  Poulton free school, 215

  Poulton, assault near, 37, 190

  Poulton, port of, 208

  Preese Hall, 409

  Preston, 36, 62, 76

  Priests, dress of, 52

  Pretender, the first, 76

  Pretender, the young, 78

  Provisions, prices of, 88, 93, 94, 100, 113

  Ptolemy, 6


  Raikes Hall, 351

  Railway, Preston and Wyre, 82, 226

  Railway, Lytham and Blackpool, 448

  Rawcliffe, Out, 469

  Rawcliffe, Upper, 454

  Rawcliffe Hall, 470

  Recruiting, 61, 63, 64

  Rebellion of 1715, 76

  Rebellion of 1745, 78

  Relics and traces, Celtic, 3, 8, 26;
    Roman, 8, 10, 22, 27;
    Danish, 17, 27;
    Anglo-Saxon, 27

  Reformation, 45

  Ribble, river, 7, 15, 143

  Ribby-with-Wrea, 405

  Ribby Hall, 406

  Rigodunum or Ribchester, 26

  “Rigby of Layton Hall,” 170

  Ripon, monastery of, 15

  Roger de Poictou, 30, 32

  Royal Army, 58

  Royal Oak, order of the, 72

  Romans, 5, 10

  Roman stations, 6, 22

  Roman roads, 7

  Roseacre, 424

  Rossall, 51, 273

  Rossall Hall, 61, 274

  Rossall School, 276


  Salmon fishery act, 41

  Salt manufactories, 53, 437

  Saxon Chronicle, 10, 15, 19

  Saxon deities, 14

  Saxons, arrival of, 12

  Seaweeds, 148

  Sea, the Irish, 146

  Sea, encroachments of, 24, 327

  Seteia Æstuarium, 6, 25

  Setantii, 3, 87

  Severus, 9

  Shard, 60, 137

  Shrove Tuesday, 97

  Singleton Thorp, 25, 328

  Singletons, Great and Little, 411

  Singleton church, 415

  Singleton grange, 413

  “Singleton of Staining Hall,” 172

  Simnel, Lambert, 42

  Skippool, 141, 208

  South Shore, 360

  Staining, 292

  Staining Hall, 34, 295

  “Stanley of Great Eccleston Hall,” 173

  Stang, riding, 105

  St. Annes-on-the-Sea, 452

  St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, 63, 457

  St. Michael’s-on-Wyre church, 16, 32, 39, 42, 457

  St. Mary’s of Lancaster, 32

  St. Wilfred, 16

  St. Valentine’s Day, 97

  Superstitions, 94, 107


  Tarnacre, 457

  Taxes, 40, 48, 55

  Testa de Nevill, extracts from, 38

  Thurland Castle, 63

  Thornton, 268

  Thornton Church, 271

  Thornton Hall, 269

  Theobald Walter, 33

  Thirty-men of Kirkham, 380, 384

  Tithings, 18

  Tosti, earl, 21

  Treales, Roseacre, and Wharles, 424

  “Tyldesley of Fox Hall,” 175

  Tyldesley, Sir Thos., 62, 65, 70, 176

  Tyldesley, Edward, 76, 312, 314

  Tyldesley, James, 79

  Tyldesley, Thomas, 179, 313


  Uniformity, act of, 71

  Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre, 454


  “Veale of Whinney Heys,” 181

  Victoria, Queen, 84, 235


  Waddum Thorp, 327, 437

  Wages, 95, 99, 102

  Walter, Theobald, 33

  Wapentake, 16

  Warbreck, Layton-with, 306

  Wardleys, 141, 208

  Wars, civil, 42, 58

  Warton, 403

  Water and wind-mills, 92

  Waterworks, the Fylde, 85

  Weeton-with-Preese, 409

  Westby-with-Plumptons, 408

  “Westby of Mowbreck Hall,” 183

  “Westby of Burn Hall,” 183

  Westbys, of White Hall, 455

  Wharles, 424

  Whinney Heys, 309

  Wigan-lane, 70

  Wild animals, 29

  Wood Plumpton, 472

  Wyre, river, 3, 24, 60, 70, 136


[Illustration]

FLEETWOOD AND BLACKPOOL; PRINTED BY W. PORTER AND SONS.




[Illustration]

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

[Illustration]


  Abbott, Christopher                        Blackpool
  Abbott, John                                  ”
  Abbott, Chris., jun.                       South Shore
  Ackroyd, Miss Annie                        Blackpool
  Adams, John                                   ”
  Adamson, William                           Liverpool
  Adcock, John                               Blackpool
  Addey, Jacob                               Chorlton-cum-Hardy
  Akroyd, James                              Preston
  Allmark,                                   Blackpool
  Anderson, Councillor                       South Shore
  Anderton, Robert                           Kirkham
  Anderton, William                          South Shore
  Andrews, John                              Blackpool
  Archer, Henry                                 ”
  Archer, William                            Bispham
  Armstrong, John                            Claughton
  Armytage, Rev. J.                          Elswick
  Arthur, Christopher                        Kirkham
  Ascroft, Alfred                            Preston
  Ashforth, George                           South Shore
  Ashworth, John J.                          Pendleton
  Ashworth, J. W.                               ”
  Ashworth, William                          Blackpool
  Ashton, J. F.                                 ”
  Ashurst, William                              ”
  Aspden, Henry                                 ”
  Aspden, Thomas                                ”
  Atherton, Charles                             ”
  Atherton, Daniel                              ”
  Atkinson, James                            Preesall
  Atkinson, John                                ”
  Atkinson, Thomas                           Blackpool
  Atkinson, William                          Lytham
  Axon, Charles H.                           Blackburn

  Bailey, Councillor                         Blackpool
  Balderson, J.                              Poulton
  Ball, James                                Blackpool
  Ball, John                                 Fleetwood
  Ball, William                              Westby
  Bamber, William                            Blackpool
  Bamber, William                               ”
  Bamber, George                             Kirkham
  Bamber, James A.                           Layton
  Bamber, Joseph                             Thistleton
  Bamber, Nicholas                           Greenhalgh
  Bamber, Lawrence                           Lytham
  Bamber, W. F.                              Stoke-u-Trent
  Bainbridge, John                           Preesall
  Banks, Henry                               Little Carleton
  Banks, John                                Blackpool
  Banks, W. B.                               Thornton
  Bannerman, Charles A.                      Lytham
  Barber, Thomas                             Blackpool
  Baron, Henry                               South Shore
  Baron, J.                                  Lytham
  Baron, Robert                              Blackpool
  Baron, Mrs. E.                                ”
  Barrow, William                               ”
  Barrett, G. C.                                ”
  Barton, Grimshaw                              ”
  Barton, Henry                                 ”
  Barton, Thomas                                ”
  Barton, Henry T.                           Stalmine
  Barton, Benjamin G.                        Skippool
  Bates, William                             Lytham
  Bates, William                             Blackpool
  Bees, Enock                                   ”
  Bell, John                                    ”
  Bell, Matthew                                 ”
  Bennett, James                             Fleetwood
  Bennett, Miss B.                           Rock Ferry
  Bennett, Miss E.                              ”
  Bennett, William                           Treales
  Bennett, James                             Kirkham
  Benson, William                            Catterall
  Berry, Charles J.                          Blackpool
  Best, Thomas                                  ”
  Bickerstaffe, Thomas                          ”
  Bickerstaffe, John                            ”
  Bickerstaffe, Robert                          ”
  Bickerstaffe, Councillor                      ”
  Billington, William                        Lytham
  Billington, Thomas                         Wrea Green
  Bilsbury, Miss                             Poulton
  Birch, Miss                                Blackpool
  Birch, Henry                                  ”
  Bird, Henry                                Fleetwood
  Bird, P. H., F.R.C.S., F.L.S.              Lytham
  Birley, A. Leyland                         Kirkham
  Blackurst, William                            ”
  Blackburn, Agnes                           Blackpool
  Blackburn, Edward                          Out Rawcliffe
  Blackburn, Mrs.                               ”
  Bleasdell, Rev. Canon W. M.A.              Kingston, Ontario
  Blundell, W. B.                            Out Rawcliffe
  Boardman, George                           Blackpool
  Boardman, James                               ”
  Boardman, William                          Great Marton
  Bolton, George                             Blackpool
  Bond, Miss A.                              Fleetwood
  Bond, John                                    ”
  Bond, Charles                              Preston
  Bond, Whittaker                            Blackpool
  Bone, John W. Crombleholme, B.A., F.S.A.   London
  Bonny, James                               Fleetwood
  Bonny, Councillor                          Blackpool
  Bonny, John                                   ”
  Bonny, Thomas                                 ”
  Bottomley, Wm. H.                             ”
  Bourne, Col. James M.P., J.P., D.L.        Heathfield (3)
  Bourne, Capt. J. Dyson 5th Dragoon Guards  London
  Bourne, Lady Marion                           ”
  Bourne, Thomas R.                          Bristol
  Butler-Bowden, Lieut.-Col.                 Pleasington Hall
  Bowers, Thomas                             Blackpool
  Bowdler, Wm. H.                            Kirkham
  Bowker, George                             Blackpool
  Bowman, James                                 ”
  Bowman, Richard                            Hambleton
  Bowness, R. H., M.D.                       Poulton
  Boys, William                              Catterall
  Brade, John                                Thornton
  Bradley, Robert                            Pilling
  Bradley, James                             Weeton
  Bradley, John                              Kirkham
  Bradley, Miss                              Out Rawcliffe
  Bradshaw, William                          Blackpool
  Bradshaw, Alice                               ”
  Bradshaw, Matthew                          Elswick
  Braithwaite, Councillor                    Blackpool
  Braithwaite, Ralph W.                         ”
  Brandon, Edward J.                         Fleetwood
  Brearley, Martha Ann                       Blackpool
  Breckell, Edmund                              ”
  Brenerd, James                             Fleetwood
  Brewer, Miss                               Lytham
  Brewster, Charles                             ”
  Bridge, James                              Cheetham Hill
  Brooks, A. Mrs.                            Bournemouth
  Brooks, John                               Blackpool
  Brook, John                                   ”
  Brown, William J.                             ”
  Brown, Jonathan                               ”
  Bryne, John                                   ”
  Bryning, John                              Wesham
  Bryning, Edward                            Bispham
  Bryning, John, J.P.                        Newton
  Burdekin, Elizabeth                        Lytham
  Burns, Rev. William                        South Shore
  Burridge, Stephen                          Ardwick
  Burton, Edward                             Norbreck
  Butcher, Paul                              Blackpool
  Butcher, R.                                   ”
  Butcher, James                                ”
  Butcher, Thomas                               ”
  Butcher, Robert                               ”
  Butcher, William                           South Shore
  Butcher, Thomas                            Great Marton
  Butler, William                            Fleetwood
  Butler, James                              Thistleton
  Butler, James S.                           Poulton (2)
  Butler, Richard                            St. Michael’s

  Callund, Alfred, J.                        Fleetwood
  Camotta, Josephine                         Blackpool
  Cannon, Joseph Lee                         Lytham
  Cardwell, Edward                           Singleton
  Cardwell, Gilbert                          Blackpool
  Cardwell, Thomas                              ”
  Cardwell, W. and Bros.,                       ”
  Cardwell, E.                               Lytham
  Cardwell, William                          Revoe
  Cardwell, Robert                           Little Marton
  Carr, Thomas H.                            Fleetwood
  Carson, Alexander                             ”
  Carson, Samuel                                ”
  Carter, John                                  ”
  Carter, John                               Wesham
  Carter, T.                                 South Shore
  Carter, Thomas                             Larbrick
  Carter, Miss A.                            Blackpool
  Carter, Mrs. E.                            Lytham
  Carter, Miss                                  ”
  Cartmell, N.                               Westby
  Cartmell, Richard                          Little Carleton
  Cartmell, George                           Fleetwood
  Cartmell, James                            Freckleton
  Cardwell, Elizabeth                        Blackpool
  Catlow, Mrs. Sarah A.                      Lytham
  Caton, Richard                             Blackpool
  Catterall, James                           Larbrick
  Catterall, Sarah A.                        Kirkham
  Catterall, Robert                             ”
  Catterall, James                              ”
  Catterall, William                         Poulton
  Causton, H. K.                             Brigton
  Charlton, Robert                           Kirkham
  Charnley, William M.                       Blackpool
  Chew, John                                    ”
  Clarke, John                               Little Eccleston
  Clarke, D.                                 Singleton
  Clarke, Robert                             Lytham
  Clarke, Thomas R.                          Blackpool
  Clarkson, John                             Kirkham
  Clarkson, Thomas                           Blackpool
  Clarkson, James                            Carleton
  Clarkson, Mrs. Mary                           ”
  Clarkson, Robert                           Out Rawcliffe
  Clarkson, Henry                            Wesham
  Clegg, Matthew                             Kirkham
  Clegg, Miss                                Blackpool
  Clifton, John Talbot                       Lytham Hall (3)
  Cook, George                               Blackpool
  Cookson, Richard                           Wrea Green
  Cookson, Mrs. R.                           Lytham
  Cookson, Thomas                            South Shore
  Cookson, Helen                             Blackpool
  Cookson, Miss                                 ”
  Cookson, William                           Freckleton
  Cooksley, Mrs.                             South Shore
  Crabtree, John                             Blackpool
  Cragg, William                                ”
  Crestadoro, A., P.H.D.                     Manchester
  Crippin, William                           Old Trafford
  Critchley, P.                              Singleton
  Crombleholme, R. A.                        Halifax
  Cross, James                               Fleetwood
  Crossley, Thomas                           Blackpool
  Crossfield, W. P.                          Freckleton
  Croxall, Joseph                            Blackpool
  Crozier, Robert                            Lytham
  Crookall, Elizabeth                        Fleetwood
  Crookall, John                             Springfield
  Coop, William                              Blackpool
  Coop, John                                    ”
  Cooper, Henry                                 ”
  Cooper, Jane Miss                          Kirkham
  Cocker, Ald. Wm. H., J.P., Mayor of        Blackpool
  Cockhill, Tom                                 ”
  Collins, George                            Fleetwood
  Collinson, Joseph                          Lytham
  Collinson, Elizabeth                       Barrow
  Cornall, Cuthbert                          Blackpool
  Cornall, Richard                              ”
  Cornall, Robert                            South Shore
  Corless, Thomas                            Pilling
  Coulston, William                          Blackpool
  Coulston, Councillor                          ”
  Cowl, George                                  ”
  Cowell, Joshua                             Thornton
  Cowell, David                              Fleetwood
  Crompton, Robert                           Blackpool
  Croft, John                                Fleetwood
  Croft, Thomas                              Blackpool
  Croft, Mary Ann                               ”
  Crook, George                                 ”
  Crook, Robert A.                              ”
  Crook, H. M.                                  ”
  Crook, H.                                  Newton
  Crook, Thomas                              Out Rawcliffe
  Crook, Thomas                              Inskip
  Crookshank, Joseph                         Blackpool
  Cumming, W. C.                             South Shore
  Cunningham, J., J.P.,                      Lytham
  Cunliffe, Ellis, J.P.                         ”
  Cunliffe, Mary                             Blackpool
  Curtiss, Lawrence                             ”
  Currie, Thomas                                ”
  Curwen, John                                  ”
  Curwen, John                                  ”
  Curwen, Ann Miss                           Lytham
  Curwen, Robert                             Birkenhead
  Curwen, Henry                              Liverpool

  Dagger, William                            Lytham
  Dagger, William                            Blackpool
  Dagger, Richard                               ”
  Dakin, John                                   ”
  Dalby, George B.                           Preston
  Daniels, John                              Blackpool
  Darlow, Henry                                 ”
  Davenport, Mrs                                ”
  Davies, T. R.                              Kirkham
  Davies, Alexander                          Fleetwood
  Davies, James N.                           Poulton
  Davies, William                            Out Rawcliffe
  Danson, William                               ”
  Deakin, William                            Blackpool
  Dean, C.A.                                 Glasgow
  Derby, the Right Hon. Earl of              Knowsley Hall
  Desquesnes, B.                             Blackpool
  Devonshire, His Grace the Duke of          London
  Dewhurst, Edward                           Blackpool
  Dewhurst, William                             ”
  Dewhurst, John                                ”
  Dewhurst, William                          Great Marton
  Dickinson, Mrs                             Rock Ferry
  Dickinson, Robert                          Blackpool
  Dickson, W. J.                             Kirkham
  Dickson, William                           Preston
  Dickson, J.B.                                 ”
  Dickson, William                           Bryning
  Dixon, Mrs                                 Wesham
  Dixon, Thomas                              Blackpool
  Dixon, William                                ”
  Dobson, John                               Preesall
  Dobson, Miss                               Poulton
  Dodgson, William                           Westby
  Dodgson, Brian                             Catterall
  Douglas, Robert                            Fleetwood
  Drewry, William                               ”
  Drewry, Thomas                                ”
  Drummond, Thomas A.                           ”
  Dudley, Mrs E.                             Kingswinford
  Dugdale, Richard                           Blackpool
  Dunderdale, R., J.P.                       Poulton
  Dunkerley, John W.                         South Shore

  Eastham, Henry                             Blackpool
  Eaton, Ellen                                  ”
  Eaves, Robert                                 ”
  Eaves, William                             Blackpool
  Eaves, Edward                              South Shore
  Eaves, Henry                               Poulton
  Eaves, Thomas                              Hambleton
  Edmondson, Oswald R.                       Lytham
  Edmondson, Thomas                             ”
  Edmondson, Margaret                        Blackpool
  Edmondson, James                              ”
  Entwistle, James                           South Shore

  Fagg, L.                                   Davyhulme
  Fair, Thomas                               Blackpool
  Fair, Thomas, J.P.                         Lytham
  Fairclough, William                        Fleetwood
  Fairclough, Richard                        Blackpool
  Fairclough, James                          Out Rawcliffe
  Fairhurst, Thomas                          Blackpool
  Fairhurst, John                               ”
  Fairweather, Wm.                           Ardwick
  Fallows, Margaret                          Blackpool
  Farrar, William                            Withington
  Farrington, James                          Fleetwood
  Faulkner, Elizabeth                        Blackpool
  Featherstonhaugh, H.                          ”
  Featherstonhaugh, Mrs.                     Poulton
  Fenton, Mrs.                               Warton
  Fenton, Richard                            Out Rawcliffe
  Field, William                             Fleetwood
  Fielden, Joseph                            Blackpool
  Fish, John                                 Fleetwood
  Fish, B.                                   Barrow
  Fish, Joseph                               Blackpool
  Fish, Edward                                  ”
  Fish, Jane                                    ”
  Fish, John                                    ”
  Fisher, Councillor J. B.                      ”
  Fisher, H. Mus. B., Can.                      ”
  Fisher, Councillor J.                      Layton Hall
  Fisher, Mrs.                               Layton Lodge
  Fisher, Edward                                ”
  Fisher, Joseph                             Lytham
  Fisher, Luke, M.D.                            ”
  Fisher, S.                                 Kirkham
  Fitton, John                                  ”
  Fleetwood, Baron Axel                      Sweden
  Fleming, Hugh                              Blackpool
  Fletcher, M.                                  ”
  Fletcher, James                            Southport
  Ford, Isaac                                Blackpool
  Foster, George                             Fleetwood
  Fox, Henry                                 Kirkham
  Fox, Miss Janet                            Upper Rawcliffe
  Fox, J. S.                                 Rawcliffe
  Fox, Matthew                               Westby
  Fox, Thomas                                Avenham Hall
  Freeman, William                           Blackpool
  Furness, John                              Fulwood

  Garlick, Edward, J.P.                      Greenhalgh
  Garlick, Ambrose                              ”
  Garlick, Robert                               ”
  Garlick, George                            Bispham
  Garnett, James                             Lytham
  Gardner, C.                                Kirkham
  Gardner, Thomas                               ”
  Gardner, R. C., J.P.                       Lune Bank
  Gardner, Henry                             Blackpool
  Gardner, John                              Layton
  Gartside, Edward                           Blackpool
  Gartside, J. S.                               ”
  Garstang, James                            Lytham
  Gaskell, T. J.                             Stalmine
  Gaskell, Mrs.                              Blackpool
  Gaskell, David                                ”
  Gaskell, George                            Stockport
  Gaulter, John                              South Shore
  Gaulter, Cuthbert                          Fleetwood
  Gill, John                                 Blackpool
  Gillett, Agnes                                ”
  Gibson, John                               Fleetwood
  Gibson, Anne                               Kirkham
  Gleave, Mary                               Blackpool
  Gorst, Richard                             Blackpool
  Gore, John                                 Weeton
  Gornall, Thomas                            Blackpool
  Gornall, James                             Kirkham
  Gornall, James                             Barrow
  Green, Henry J.                            Blackpool
  Green, James                                  ”
  Green, James                               Barrow
  Gratrix, Samuel                            Manchester
  Greenwood, J. B.                           Lytham
  Greenwood, John                            Eccles
  Greenwood, Edward                          Blackpool
  Gregson, W.                                   ”
  Gregson, E.                                   ”
  Gregson, John                              Out Rawcliffe
  Gregson, Thomas                            Thornton
  Gregson, Richard                              ”
  Gregson, Mrs.                              Hambleton
  Greenhalgh, John                           Blackpool
  Greenhalgh, Richard                        Lytham
  Gregory, William                           Blackpool
  Gregory, I., F.R.G.S.                      South Shore

  Harper, Elizabeth                          Blackpool
  Haigh, George                                 ”
  Harcourt and Foden                            ”
  Hall, James                                South Shore
  Hall, Henry                                   ”
  Hall, Richard                              Freckleton
  Hall, Councillor L.                        South Shore
  Hall, Lawrence                             Great Eccleston
  Hall, Thomas                               Fleetwood
  Hargreaves, Josiah                         Blackpool
  Hargreaves, Robert                         Lytham
  Hargreaves, Edward H.                      Kirkham
  Hargreaves, John                           Warton
  Hargreaves, William                           ”
  Hammond, Mr.                               Poulton
  Hardhern, Mrs.                                ”
  Hardman, James                             Thornton
  Hardman, Ald., J.P.                        South Shore (2)
  Hardman, William                           Blackpool
  Hardman, John                              Little Marton
  Harrison, J.                               St. Michaels
  Harrison, Thomas                           Blackpool
  Harrison, Robert                              ”
  Harrison, John                                ”
  Harrison, Ainsworth                        Fleetwood
  Harrison, Edward                           Norbreck
  Harrison, William F.S.A., D.L., J.P.       Preston
  Harrison, R. B.                            South Shore
  Harrison, Matthew                          Catterall
  Harrison, William                          Freckleton
  Harrop, Miss A.                            Manchester
  Halstead, Robert                           Lytham
  Hanby, Richard                             Manchester
  Hawkins, Rev. H. B.                        Lytham
  Harris, Henry                              Blackpool
  Handley, Joseph                            Bury
  Handley, Richard                           Blackpool
  Hayhurst, John                             Preston
  Hayhurst, Thomas                           Pilling
  Haslem, D.                                 Singleton
  Hatton, G. jun.                            Blackpool
  Hankinson, John                            Lytham
  Hayworth, L.                               Blackpool
  Hayes, Mr.                                    ”
  Heap, Thomas H.                               ”
  Heath, Edward                              South Shore
  Hemmingway, Edward                            ”
  Hesketh, William                           Fleetwood
  Hesketh, R.                                Treales
  Hesketh, James                             Lytham
  Hedges, David                              Lytham
  Heaton, T. W.                              Blackpool
  Hermon, Edward, M.P.                       Preston
  Higginson, John                            Out Rawcliffe
  Higginson, Thomas                             ”
  Hill, Henry                                Blackpool
  Hill, Samuel                                  ”
  Hines, William                                ”
  Hines, Rev. Frederick                      Kirkham
  Hopwood, W. B.                             Blackpool
  Holt, Alfred                                  ”
  Hooton, William A.                            ”
  Holmes, George                                ”
  Hogarth, Thomas                            Revoe
  Hogarth, James                             South Shore
  Holgate, William                           Blackpool
  Holmes, John                                  ”
  Home, Rev. J. C.                           Out Rawcliffe
  Hodgson, James                             South Shore
  Hodgson, W. S.                             Freckleton
  Hodgkinson, T.                             Great Eccleston
  Hodgkinson Thomas                          Out Rawcliffe
  Hough, Rev. William                        Hambleton
  Holden, James                              Manchester
  Holden, George                                ”
  Holden, John                                  ”
  Holden, Thomas                             Pilling
  Hosker, William                            Lytham
  Horsfall, John                             Lytham
  Holt, Richard                              Roa Island
  Holt, James                                Fleetwood
  Holt, John W.                              Blackpool
  Howson, William                            Blackpool
  Howson, Thomas                                ”
  Howson, Thomas                                ”
  Hornby, Archdeacon                         St. Michael’s
  Hornby, Mr.                                Kirkham
  Hornby, William                            St. Michael’s
  Hornby, John                               Thornton
  Hope, Rev. S.                              Southport
  Hope, Miss                                 Blackpool
  Houghton, William                          Kirkham
  Houghton, Thomas                           Stalmine
  Houghton, Adam                             Pilling
  Hoyles, Thomas                             Blackpool
  Howard, Thomas                             Fleetwood
  Hutchinson, William                        Great Eccleston
  Hull, William                              Blackpool
  Hull, Richard                              Thornton
  Hull, Thomas                               Poulton
  Hull, Mrs.                                 Higher Lickow
  Hull, John                                 Blackpool
  Hull, Rev. John, hon. canon of Manchester  Yarm
  Hull, Henry                                Blackpool
  Humphrys, G. M.                            Fleetwood
  Hunt, John                                 Cleveleys
  Hughes, Rev. R. J.                         Rossall
  Hughes, W. H.                              Blackpool

  Ibbison, Edward                            Blackpool
  Ingham, Robert                                ”
  Ireland, Thomas                            Westby

  Jackson, John                              Preston
  Jackson, William                           Singleton
  Jackson, Joseph                            Garstang
  Jackson, Thomas                            Kirkham
  Jackson, Mrs.                              Blackpool
  Jackson, Robert                            Hambleton
  Jackson, James                             Stalmine
  Jackson, Joseph                            Blackpool
  Jackson, Richard                           Newton
  Jackson, James                             Out Rawcliffe
  Jackson, Richard                              ”
  Jackson, Jonathan                             ”
  Jackson, James                             Garstang
  Jacson, C. R., J.P.                        Barton Hall
  Jameson, J. M.                             Fleetwood
  Jenkinson, William                         Pilling
  Jenkinson, Miss                            Blackpool
  Jenson, Evan                               Pilling
  Jeffrey, Rev. N. S.                        Blackpool
  Jeffery, Ann                                  ”
  Johnson, Richard                           Fleetwood
  Johnson, John                              Out Rawcliffe
  Johnstone, Margaret                        Fleetwood
  Johns, Henry                               Blackpool
  Jolly, John                                Wrea Green
  Jolly, John                                Singleton
  Jolly, Miss                                Poulton
  Jolly, George                                 ”
  Jolly, John                                South Shore
  Jolly, Thomas                              Blackpool
  Jolly, Elizabeth                              ”
  Jolly, Margaret E.                            ”
  Jolly, Edward G.                              ”
  Jolly, William                             Elswick
  Jolly, James                               Staining

  Kay, Henry                                 Thornton
  Kay, Joseph                                Blackpool (3)
  Kay, William                               South Shore
  Kay, Andrew                                Pilling
  Kenworthy, E. E.                           Great Eccleston
  Kenyon, Betsy                              Blackpool
  Keighley, Benjamin                         South Shore
  Kettlewell, William                        Blackpool
  Kemp, Frederick, J.P.                      Bispham Lodge
  Kemp, B.                                   Working
  Kendal. Rev. James                         Warton
  Kerr, J.                                   Lytham
  King, Elizabeth                            Elswick
  King, James                                Rochdale
  Kirkham, Robert                            Great Eccleston
  Kirkham, Thomas                            Clifton
  Kirkham, Edward                            Blackpool
  Kirtland, James                            Lytham
  Knight, Robert                             Fleetwood
  Knowles, John                              Heaton Grange
  Knowles, James                             Blackpool
  Knowles, Mrs. Richard                      Lytham
  Knowles, Mrs.                                 ”
  Knipe, Miss                                Kirkham

  Lane, Edwin                                Fleetwood
  Lazonby, R. E.                             Didsbury
  Lawrenson, Wm.                             Preesall
  Lawrenson, John                            Bispham
  Lawrenson, Peter                           Out Rawcliffe
  Lawson, John                               Little Singleton
  Lennard, James                             Blackpool
  Lewtas, Robert                                ”
  Lewtas, Thomas C.                             ”
  Lewtas, Henry                                 ”
  Lewtas, Misses J. & C.                     Out Rawcliffe
  Lee, Thomas                                Packington
  Lees, Joseph                               Oldham
  Leech, William                             Fleetwood
  Leadbetter, Robert                            ”
  Leadbetter, Richard                           ”
  Leadbetter, Thomas                            ”
  Leake, Robert                              Whitefield
  Lindley, Joseph                            Blackpool
  Lister, William                            Blackpool
  Livesey, Howard                            Lancaster
  Linaker, Peter                             Blackpool
  Longworth, David                           Preston
  Loxham, J. Walton                          Lytham
  Lord, Mrs. Catherine                       Hgr Broughton
  Lodge, Matthew                             Prestwich
  Lowe, George                               Blackpool
  Lund, Richard                              Kirkham
  Lund, Mary                                    ”

  Mather, R. B.                              Blackpool
  Mather, Councillor                            ”
  Maybury, John                                 ”
  Masheter, Alderman                            ”
  Markland, James                               ”
  Macfadin, F. H. Surgeon-Major              47th Regiment
  Marquiss, John                             Wesham
  Marquiss, Thomas                              ”
  Marquiss, James                            Kirkham
  Marsden, James                             Lytham
  Martin, Jonathan                           Lytham
  Mason, Thomas                              Fleetwood
  Mason, Richard                             Freckleton
  Mason, Thomas                              Blackpool
  Mason, John                                Layton Hawes
  Mayor, Charles                             Freckleton
  McNaughtan, Ald., M.D.                     Blackpool
  McNeal, Miss                                  ”
  McMurtrie, William                         Lwr Broughton
  Melling, Mrs.                              Preesall
  Memory, William                            Blackpool
  Meredith, Charles                             ”
  Meadows, Rev. T.                           Thornton
  Miller, Mr.                                Great Eccleston
  Miller, William P.                         Singleton
  Miller, John                               Blackpool
  Miller, Mary                               South Shore
  Miller, T. H.                              Singleton Park
  Miller, Mrs.                               Fleetwood
  Milner, Thomas                             Inskip
  Milner, James                              Blackpool
  Mitchell, Rev. W. W.                          ”
  Mitchell, Mrs. S.                             ”
  Moss, Thomas                                  ”
  Moore, Thomas                                 ”
  Moore, Alfred                                 ”
  Moore, Alexander                              ”
  Moore, C. E.                                  ”
  Moore, Robert                                 ”
  Morris, Miss Louisa                           ”
  Morris, C. H., M.D.                           ”
  Morris, Edward                                ”
  Morris, Joshua                                ”
  Monk, Josiah                               Padiham
  Monk, Esau C.                              Fleetwood
  Moon, Robert                               Freckleton
  Moon, Robert                               South Shore
  Moon, Thomas                               Blackpool
  Morrison, William                             ”
  Morgan, A. F.                                 ”
  Mossop, Rev. Isaac                         Woodplumpton
  Munn, John                                 Blackpool
  Murdock, James D.                             ”
  Mycock, Councillor                            ”
  Myres, J. J. junr.                         Preston
  Myres, J. J.                               Freckleton

  Newsham, Joseph F.                         Great Eccleston
  Newby, James                               Blackpool
  Newall, J. H.                                 ”
  Nickson, Mary                              Salwick
  Nickson, Joseph                            Ballam
  Nickson, Squires                           Blackpool
  Nickson, William                              ”
  Nickson, James                                ”
  Nickson, John                                 ”
  Nickson, Richard                              ”
  Nicholson, Thomas                          Pilling
  Nicholl, William                           Blackpool
  Noblett, Miss Dorothy                         ”
  Noblett, John                              Thornton
  Nutter, Mrs. Elizabeth                     Accrington
  Nutter, Wm. H.                             St. Annes-on-the-Sea
  Nuttall, Ann                               Blackpool
  Nuttall, John                              Lees
  Nuttall, Richard                           Warton

  O’Donnell, Michael                         Blackpool
  Ormerod, Councillor                        Newton Hall
  Orr, J. A., M.D.                           Fleetwood
  Oswin, Miss                                Blackpool

  Pakes, Rev. C.                             Blackpool
  Parsons, Mrs.                              Nantwich
  Parnell, Alderman                          South Shore
  Parker, William                            Lytham
  Parker, William                            Blackpool
  Parker, Peter                                 ”
  Parker, John                                  ”
  Parker, Thomas                                ”
  Parker, Adam                                  ”
  Parker, Michael                               ”
  Parkinson, John                               ”
  Parkinson, Thomas                             ”
  Parkinson, James                              ”
  Parkinson, Nicholas                        Fleetwood
  Parkinson, Robert                          Poulton
  Parkinson, Robert                             ”
  Parkinson, Robert                             ”
  Parkinson, Richard                            ”
  Parkinson, William                            ”
  Parkinson, Richard                         Wesham
  Parkinson, James                           Marton
  Parkinson, James                           Lytham
  Parkinson, James                           Layton
  Parkinson, Robert                          Hambleton
  Parkinson, Miss                            Preesall
  Parr, Thomas E.                            Thornton
  Pearson, Rev. James                        Fleetwood
  Pearson, J. E. H.                          Blackpool
  Pearson, John                              St. Michael’s
  Phipps, Emma M.                            Great Eccleston (2)
  Phillips, Charles                          Blackpool
  Phillips, Rev. S. J.                       Rossall
  Pickup, Miss E.                            Fleetwood
  Pickup, John                               Blackpool
  Pickup, Henry                                 ”
  Pickop, John                                  ”
  Pilling, Rev. W.                           Lytham
  Pilling, Thomas                            Blackpool (2)
  Poole, W. H.                               Fleetwood
  Poole, John                                Bispham
  Poole A. M.                                Out Rawcliffe
  Porter, Robert                             Blackpool
  Porter, J. E.                                 ”
  Porter, John                                  ”
  Porter, William                            St. Michael’s
  Porter, Edward                             Kirkham
  Porter, Ralph                              Dowbridge
  Porter, James                              Wigton
  Porter, Edmund                             Fleetwood
  Porter, Robert                                ”
  Porter, Miss                                  ”
  Porter, William                            Rossall
  Pollitt, J. B.                             Blackpool
  Pountney, W. E., M.B.M.C.                  Lytham
  Pollard, Miss                              Poulton
  Pratt, James                               Fleetwood
  Preston, Emma                              Blackpool
  Preston, Richard                              ”
  Preston, George                               ”
  Preston, Daniel                               ”
  Preston, Mrs                                  ”
  Prince, Daniel                                ”
  Price, John                                   ”
  Preston, George                            Out Rawcliffe
  Preston, Joseph                            Fleetwood
  Preston, Henry                             Thornton
  Preston, James                             Elswick
  Proctor, Miss                              Blackpool
  Pye, Edward                                Out Rawcliffe

  Rawcliffe, Alexander                       Fleetwood
  Ray, John                                  Bispham
  Ramsbottom, James                          Castle Hill
  Raby, Benjamin                             Freckleton
  Radford, William                           Blackpool
  Redman, John                               Fleetwood
  Reynolds, Thomas                              ”
  Reynolds, W. H.                            Grappenhall
  Read, William                              Blackpool
  Read, John                                    ”
  Read, William                                 ”
  Rennison, Sarah                               ”
  Reason, William                               ”
  Ripus, D.                                     ”
  Rigby, James                                  ”
  Rigby, John                                Freckleton
  Ridgway, Squire                            Blackpool
  Riley, Thomas                              Singleton
  Riley, P. D.                               Blackpool
  Riley, Mr.                                    ”
  Riley, John, J.P.                          Oldham
  Rimmer, John, jun.                         Blackpool
  Rimmer, William                               ”
  Rimmer, Samuel                             Blackpool
  Richards, R. C., J. P.                     Clifton Lodge
  Richardson. Rev. W.                        Poulton
  Richardson, John                           Warton
  Richardson, Edward                            ”
  Richardson, Robert                         Freckleton
  Richmond, Edward                           Blackpool
  Roskell, Robert                            Hambleton
  Roskell, Robert                            Out Rawcliffe
  Roskell, John                                 ”
  Rossall, Richard                           Fleetwood
  Rossall, Robert                            St. Michael’s
  Rossall, William                           Little Bispham
  Rossall, Thomas                            Blackpool
  Robinson, Roger                               ”
  Robinson, J. H.                               ”
  Robinson, T. G.                            South Shore
  Rowley, William                            Blackpool
  Rowcroft, William                          Kirkham
  Royles. Thomas                                ”
  Roe, Miss                                  Hambleton
  Ross, Thomas                               Out Rawcliffe
  Rossall, Richard                           Little Marton
  Rushton, Theodica                          Blackpool
  Rushton, R.                                   ”
  Rymer, Thomas                                 ”
  Rymer, Thomas                              Lytham

  Sanderson, William                         Carleton
  Sanderson, William                         Bispham
  Sanderson, Peter                           Carleton
  Sanderson, Robert                             ”
  Salthouse, Thomas                          Lytham
  Salthouse, Ezekiel                         Blackpool
  Sandham, William                           Fleetwood
  Scott, Thomas                              Lytham
  Scott, John                                Clifton
  Scott, Rev. Walter                         Freckleton
  Seed, Mrs. James                           Lytham
  Seed, James                                Freckleton
  Seed, G. L.                                Poulton
  Seed, William                              Fleetwood
  Seed, Thomas                               Liverpool
  Seddon, Mrs                                Lytham
  Sedgwick, Elizabeth                        Blackpool
  Shepherd, William                          Singleton
  Shepherd, James                            Blackpool
  Sharples, George                              ”
  Sharples, John                             Lytham
  Sharples, Councillor                       South Shore
  Shaw, William                              Blackpool
  Sharp, Henry                                  ”
  Shee, Michael                                 ”
  Shaw, Robert, J. P.                        Colne Hall
  Sharp, John                                Lancaster
  Shorrocks, James                           Out Rawcliffe
  Shawcross, James                              ”
  Shorrocks, Miss E. S.                      St. Michael’s
  Sheffington, Edward                           ”
  Singleton, William                         Kirkham
  Singleton, Richard                         Out Rawcliffe
  Singleton, George                          St. Michaels
  Singleton, Joseph                          Layton
  Singleton, James                           Poulton
  Singleton, Richard                         Wardleys
  Singleton, John                            Lytham
  Singleton, John                            Lytham
  Singleton, John                            Heyhouses
  Singleton, John                            Stalmine
  Singleton, Richard L.                      Poulton Hall
  Simpson, John                              Blackpool
  Simpson, W. E.                                ”
  Simpson, John                              Fleetwood
  Silcock, Richard                           Thornton Hall
  Simmons, Rev. J. F.                        South Shore
  Silverwood, Thomas                         Blackpool
  Skelton, James                                ”
  Slater, John                                  ”
  Slater, James                              Kirkham
  Smith, Mrs.                                Lytham
  Smith, Robert                              Blackpool
  Smith, T. H.                                  ”
  Smith, Christopher                         Bispham
  Smith, Robert                                 ”
  Smith, John L                                 ”
  Smelt, Thomas                              Old Trafford
  Snalam, George                             Thistleton
  Sowerbutts, H. E.                          Preston
  Southward, Ambrose                         Rawcliffe
  Southward, John                            Preesall
  Speakman, Thomas                           Higher Broughton
  Speak, W.                                  Blackpool
  Speak, William                             Lytham
  Spencer, James                             Freckleton
  Stanton, Thomas                            Blackpool
  Stanley, Isaac                             Fleetwood
  Stephenson, Mrs                            Lytham
  Stead, Edward George                       Blackpool
  Stirzaker, Matthew                         Little Eccleston
  Strickland, Thomas                            ”
  Strickland, Henry                          Blackpool
  Strickland, John                           Marton
  St Clair, J., M. B., C. M.                 Blackpool
  Stott, Samuel                              Lytham
  Standish, Mrs                              Kirkham
  Standish, John                             Lytham
  Stoba, William                             Fleetwood
  Stafford, Thomas                           Out Rawcliffe
  Stewart, Thomas                            St Michael’s
  Sumner, John                               Poulton
  Sumner, Joseph                             Preston
  Sunderland. T.                             Blackpool
  Sutcliffe, Gill                               ”
  Swarbrick, George                          South Shore
  Swarbrick, James                           Blackpool
  Swarbrick, Edward                          Great Eccleston
  Swarbrick, John                            Poulton
  Swarbrick, James G.                        Out Rawcliffe
  Swallow, George                            Cheetham
  Swann, Robert                              Wesham
  Swan, John                                 Kirkham
  Swain, James                               Fleetwood
  Swift, James                               Warbreck
  Sykes, James, jun.                         Liverpool
  Sykes, Isaac                               Blackpool
  Sykes, Robert                              South Shore
  Sykes, B. Corless                          Seaforth
  Sykes, James Albert                        Liverpool
  Sykes, Thomas B.                              ”
  Sykes, James                               Breck House
  Sykes, Benjamin                            Preston

  Taylor, Miss N.                            Out Rawcliffe
  Taylor, Mr                                 Southport (2)
  Taylor, William                            Poulton
  Taylor, Rev. Roger                         Lytham
  Taylor, Miss E.                            Fleetwood
  Taylor, Robert                                ”
  Taylor, A.                                 Blackpool
  Taylor, Richard                               ”
  Taylor, James                                 ”
  Talbot, William                               ”
  Terry, W. H.                                  ”
  Thompson, William                          Kirkham
  Thompson, Joseph                           Elswick
  Thompson, Christopher                      Blackpool
  Thompson, Wm. C.                           Fleetwood
  Thompson, James                            Kirkham
  Thompson, James                            Hambleton
  Thompson, Stephen                          Out Rawcliffe
  Thornton, Mrs                              Preesall
  Thornber, P. Harrison                      Poulton
  Threlfall, Thomas                          Blackpool
  Threlfall, Richard                         South Shore
  Threlfall, George                             ”
  Threlfall, Richard                         Rossall
  Topping, Edward                            Blackpool
  Townson, Richard                              ”
  Todd, Eave                                    ”
  Towers, John                               Fleetwood
  Topham, John                               Kirkham
  Tomlinson, Richard                         Warton
  Turner, Philip                             Fleetwood
  Turner, James                                 ”
  Turner, Mrs.                               Poulton
  Turner, Capt. Henry                        Stockport
  Turnbull, Joseph                           Blackpool
  Tunstall, James                            St. Michael’s
  Twigg, J. B.                               Blackpool
  Tyler, Robert                              Thornton

  Ulyeat, William                            Blackpool
  Underwood, Thomas H.                          ”
  Upton, Joseph                              Blackpool

  Valiant, Robert                            Fleetwood
  Valiant, James                             Skippool

  Ward, Robert                               Blackpool
  Ward, John                                 Kirkham
  Ward, William                              Fleetwood
  Ward, John                                 Fleetwood
  Walsh, Richard                             Wardleys
  Walsh, John                                Upper Rawcliffe
  Wade, Mrs. I.                              Hambleton
  Wade, Elizabeth M.                         Blackpool
  Wade, Thomas                                  ”
  Wade, Thomas                                  ”
  Waring, Thomas                                ”
  Waring, Robert                             Lytham
  Ware, Titus Nibbert                        Bowden
  Watts, Edward                              Longsight
  Warbrick, Richard                          Fleetwood
  Warbrick, John                             Lytham
  Warbrick, Richard                             ”
  Walmsley, Fred                                ”
  Walmsley, Thomas                              ”
  Walmsley, Joseph                           Carleton
  Walmsley, Joseph                           Fleetwood
  Waddington, Miss M                         Kirkham
  Walker, Dr. J. D.                             ”
  Walker, Thomas                             Blackpool
  Walker, William                            Arbroath
  Walker, Joseph                             Eccles
  Walker, Miss Alice                            ”
  Wainwright, Rev. C. H.                     Blackpool
  Waite, John                                   ”
  Wayman, Rev. James                            ”
  Whatmough and Wilkinson                       ”
  Weston, D.                                    ”
  Wartenberg, Siegfried                      Lytham
  Westhead, Mrs.                             Lytham
  Whiteside, John                            Bispham
  Whiteside, John, jun.                         ”
  Whiteside, John                            Larbreck
  Whiteside, John                            Freckleton
  Whiteside, Robert                          Kirkham
  Whiteside, George                          Lytham
  Whiteside, Jane                            Blackpool
  Whiteside, Ann                                ”
  Whiteside, Charlotte                          ”
  Whiteside, Robert                             ”
  Whiteside, Robert                             ”
  Whiteside, Robert                          Ballam
  Whiteside, Robert                          Marton
  Whiteside, Thomas                          South Shore
  Whiteside, William                         Westby
  Whiteside, Thomas                          Ballam
  Whiteside, George                          Larbrick
  Whiteside, Thomas                          Little Eccleston
  Whiteside, John                            Fleetwood
  Whiteside, John J.                            ”
  White, Ann                                 Blackpool
  White, Evan                                   ”
  Whittington, Mr.                              ”
  Whittaker, James                              ”
  Whittaker, John                               ”
  Whittaker, John                               ”
  Whittaker, Henry                           Lytham
  Whitworth, John                            Alderley Edge
  Whitworth, Robert                          Manchester
  Whitworth, Alfred                          Rusholme
  Whitworth, B., M.P.                        London (3)
  Whitworth, Thomas                          Withington (3)
  Whalley, John                              Blackpool
  Whalley, Henry                             South Shore
  Whalley, Charles                           Kirkham
  Whitehead, Edward                          Bolton
  Wild, James                                Blackpool
  Wilson, Henry T.                           Blackpool
  Wilson, William R.                         Lytham
  Wilson, George                             Blackpool
  Wilson, Thomas                                ”
  Wilson, Thomas                             Fleetwood
  Wilson, Edward                             Norbreck
  Wilton, John                               Freckleton
  Wiggins, W.                                Blackpool
  Williamson, Robert                         Out Rawcliffe
  Williamson, Thomas                            ”
  Williamson, Thomas                            ”
  Wilkinson, Miss Ellen                         ”
  Wilkinson, Thomas                             ”
  Wilkinson, Joseph                          Blackpool
  Wilkinson, Robert                             ”
  Wildman, William                              ”
  Wilde, Isaac                                  ”
  Wilding, Richard                              ”
  Wilkinson, George                          Bispham
  Wilkinson, John                            Blackpool
  Wilks, Christopher                         Lytham
  Winterbottam, Dr.                          Manchester
  Wignall, John, J.P.                        Fleetwood
  Worthington, George                        Lytham
  Worthington, John                          Blackpool
  Worthington, William                          ”
  Worthington, W. H.                         South Shore
  Worthington, Thomas                        Poulton
  Worthington, John                          Warton
  Worthington, Thomas                        Trenton, Ontario
  Worthington, James                         Stockport
  Worthington, Henry                         South Shore
  Wood, Rev. L. C.                           Singleton
  Woods, Richard                             Kirkham
  Woods, George Butler                       Fleetwood
  Wood, Robert                                  ”
  Woodcock, Miss                             Blackpool
  Woodcock, Elizabeth                           ”
  Woodcock, J. & M.                             ”
  Wolstenholme Bros.                            ”
  Woodley, Mrs. Jane                            ”
  Woodhead, Miss M. A.                          ”
  Woodhall, John                                ”
  Woodhouse, John                            Stalmine
  Woodhouse, Charles                            ”
  Wright, John                               Thornton
  Wright, Joseph                             Blackpool
  Wright, William                            Fleetwood
  Wright, Sarah                                 ”
  Wright, G.                                    ”
  Wright, Rev. Adam                          Gilsland
  Wright, Miss Jane                          Kirkham
  Wray, John                                 Blackpool
  Wray, John                                    ”
  Wylie, Robert                                 ”
  Wylie, Jonathan                               ”

  Young, John                                Kirkham



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