CHAPTER XII

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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]

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