CHAPTER III

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JAMES THE FIRST TO QUEEN VICTORIA.

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

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

“_Archid. Decanatus_ Cestrie _in Com._ Lancastrie

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

Amounderness Decanatus Archid. Richm.

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

George Cestriensis.”[36]

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

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

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

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

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

DRAGOONERS.

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

FOOT.

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

HORSE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LAYMEN.

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

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

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

(Here follow the signatures.)

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

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

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

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

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

“Geo. Cestriens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Signatures of two witnesses.)

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

(Signature.)”

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

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

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

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

Annual Value.

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

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

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

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

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

“And had their claims allow’d.”

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

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

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

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

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR PRESTON.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Monday, September 20th, 1847.

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

“Tuesday, September 21st, 1847.

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

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

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