Chapter XVI Pauperism and the Fylde Union
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was not customary to recognise the pauper as a person whose misfortunes, however brought about, called for charitable aid, but all legislature was directed against his class under the common title of vagabonds. A statute of 1384 decreed that all vagrants should be arrested and either placed in the stocks, or imprisoned until the visit of the justices, who would do with them whatever seemed best by law; and in 1496 the punishment of incarceration was abolished, but the stocks were retained. The sixteenth century initiated a little more considerate state of things, and justices of the peace were authorised in 1531 to grant begging licenses to any necessitous persons in their districts unable to work for a livelihood. An act of 1547 ordained that any vagabond, not incapacitated by old age or illness, loitering and not seeking work for three days should be brought before a magistrate, who was directed to adjudge such vagrant to be, for two years, the slave of the person by whom he had been apprehended, in addition to which he had to be branded with the letter V on the breast. In case he ran away the law ordered that a further branding of the sign S should be inflicted, this time on his forehead or the ball of his cheek, and that slavery should be his perpetual portion. A third escape entailed death when re-captured. This enactment was never really enforced as popular indignation at its extreme severity was aroused at once, and after lingering two years it was repealed in favour of the stocks-legislature. In 1551 it was decreed that a register of destitute persons should be kept in each parish, and that alms should be collected in Whit-week, whilst on the Sunday following, during divine service at church, “the collectors should gently ask and demand of every man and woman what they of their charity would give weekly towards the relief of the poor.” The funds so obtained were to be distributed amongst the poor “after such sort that the more impotent might have the more help, and such as could get part of their living the less.” Eleven years later a statute ordained that if any person refused to contribute alms when called upon he should be summoned before a justice, who would determine the amount he had to pay, and commit him to gaol in case of further refusal. The legislative body of Queen Elizabeth passed “An Act for the punishment of vagabonds and the relief of the poor and impotent,” by which justices of the peace were instructed to register the names of all the impotent poor who had been born within their several districts, or been existing there on alms within the three preceding years; to assign to them convenient places for dwellings or lodgings, in case the parish had not already undertaken that duty of its own free will; to assess the inhabitants to a weekly charge; and to appoint overseers of the poor, having authority to exact a certain amount of work from those candidates for relief who were not entirely disabled from labour by age, sickness, or deformity. In 1575-6 it was ordered that a stock of wool or hemp should be provided in the different parishes for the purpose of “setting the poor at work,” and that “Houses of Correction” should be established, in which vagrants or tramps were to be detained, the able-bodied being furnished with employment until a service was found for them, and the infirm transferred to an alms-house as soon as practicable. The “Houses of Correction,” the origin of our workhouses, were directed to be built in large cities, or in the central towns of wide districts, thus the one for the Fylde was situated at Preston, an old college of Grey Friars lying to the south of Marsh Lane being converted to that use. Dr. Kuerden described this building more than two centuries ago as the “old Friary, now only reserved for the reforming of vagabonds, sturdy beggars, and petty larcenary thieves, and other people wanting good behaviour; it is the country prison to entertain such persons with hard work, spare diet, and whipping, and it is called the House of Correction.” The present gaol of Preston was not completed until 1789, and by force of habit the expressive title of its predecessor has clung to it.
In 39 Elizabeth, 1597, an act came into force by which all previous legislation on the subject under consideration was repealed, and which decreed that overseers of the poor should be appointed in every parish, whose duty it should be to levy a rate upon the inhabitants for the support of the indigent, under the direction and with the approval of the local magistrates; in addition there were special regulations for the treatment of rogues, vagrants, and able beggars, for whom whipping and the stocks were ordered, after undergoing which punishments these idlers were to be returned at once to their native parishes and placed under the guardianship of the local authorities there.
Four years later certain modifications were made in the early part of the last statute, but the main principle of individual taxation by overseers, under the superintendence of justices of the peace, was retained unaltered. The chief objects of the law as it stood at the end of 1601 were—to relieve the lame, sick, aged, impotent, and blind; to compel others of the poor to work, and to put out their children as apprentices.
At that time any one leaving his employment and wandering beyond the boundaries of his parish without any ostensible means of gaining a livelihood was liable to be arrested and punished as a vagabond, in addition he was compelled to return to his own district in disgrace; so that whether a law confining labourers to their own neighbourhoods existed then or not, it is certain that they had little inducement to venture forth amongst strangers.
In 1662, during the reign of Charles II., the Law of Settlement was passed, by which all members of such classes as were likely to become at some period or other chargeable to the parish rates, were compelled to settle themselves on the parochial district to which they were connected by birth, marriage, apprenticeship, or similar ties; and upon which parish alone they would subsequently have any claim. In this way the unfortunate peasantry and labouring population were more securely than ever imprisoned within their parishes, for if they escaped the fate of the rogue and vagabond, and obtained work in another part of the country, they were generally hunted out and driven home for fear they should become burdens on rates to which they had no title. Such a condition of things went on with little change for nearly two centuries, but the causes which finally brought about a material alteration in the arrangement of pauper relief will be noticed in the context. The erection of workhouses for the different parishes of the kingdom was sanctioned in 1723 by the legislature, and three years later, as learnt from the following extract out of the minute book of the bailiffs of Kirkham, the inhabitants of that town determined to establish one:—
“22 May, 1726:—Mem. That the town of Kirkham was summonsed from house to house, and the inhabitants unanimously agreed to the setting up of a workhouse.”
The act which decreed the building of workhouses for the employment of the poor, stated that if any one refused to enter those houses, or objected to perform his share of labour, no relief should be apportioned to him. There can be little doubt that workhouses sprang up at Poulton and in the other parishes of the Fylde about that date, as well as at Kirkham, but in their cases there are no bailiffs’ registers, or similar records, to fall back upon for proof as to the accuracy of the surmise, and consequently we are unable to speak with absolute certainty. In the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. (1782), it was enacted that the guardians of the poor should employ the paupers of their separate parishes in labour on the land at small remuneration, and that the poor rate should be used only to increase the payment to a sum large enough for the subsistence of each pauper thus employed. Country justices, desirous of standing well in the opinion of the peasantry, were not over scrupulous in the discharge of their supervisionary functions, and granted or sanctioned the granting of relief orders without any minute inquiry into the merits of the cases. Immorality was encouraged by an allowance from the poor-rate to the mother for each illegitimate child. Practical responsibility for the proper administration of the fund rested on no one, and about 1830 “the poor-rate had become public spoil, the ignorant believed it an inexhaustible source of wealth, which belonged to them; the brutal bullied the administrators to obtain their share; the profligate exhibited their bastards, which must be fed; the idle folded their arms and waited till they got it; ignorant boys and girls married upon it; country justices lavished it for popularity, and guardians for convenience.”232
In 1832 a Royal Commission was appointed to visit the different parishes, and investigate the abuses which were being universally carried on; and in 1834 a bill was brought in to amend the laws relative to the Relief of the Poor in England and Wales, and passed that year, some of the main clauses being—an acknowledgment of the claims to the relief of the really necessitous, the abolition of settlement by hiring and service, and of all out-door relief to the able-bodied. The enactment provided for the union of small and neighbouring parishes, the rating and expenditure of the rates remaining a distinct and separate matter; each union was to have a common workhouse for all its parishes, in which the men, women, children, able-bodied, and infirm must be separated, and where the able-bodied inmates should do a certain amount of work for each meal. The distribution of relief was left to the guardians and select vestries, and to the overseers in their absence. The whole system of unions and parish relief was placed under the control of a Central Board, by whom everything was arranged and settled, and to whom any appeals were to be directed.
Shortly after the passing of this act, the following twenty-three townships of the Fylde were banded together for parochial purposes, and denominated the Fylde Union:—Bispham-with-Norbreck, Bryning-with-Kellamergh, Carleton, Clifton-with-Salwick, Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick, Elswick, Freckleton, Greenhalgh-with-Thistleton, Hardhorn-with-Newton, Kirkham, Layton-with-Warbreck, Lytham, Marton, Medlam-with-Wesham, Newton-with-Scales, Poulton, Ribby-with-Wrea, Singleton, Thornton, Treales, Roseacre, Wharles, Warton, Weeton-with-Preese, and Westby-with-Plumptons. In 1844 the guardians erected the Union Workhouse at Kirkham, at a cost of about £5,400, and in 1864 the building was enlarged so as to be able to accommodate 250 paupers. All small, local workhouses in the districts comprised in the union were of course closed on the opening of the central one. The guardians of the different townships constitute a board, in whose hands rests the regulation of all matters concerning the union.
By a subsequent act, the original Central Board of Poor Law Commissioners was superseded by a controlling board composed of four members of the government, ex officio, and certain other commissioners appointed by Her Majesty in council, the inspectors, whom, it should have been mentioned, were provided under the previous act, were now invested with more extended powers; workhouse visitors were appointed; annual reports were ordered to be issued; and a clause forbidding the cohabitation of man and wife in the workhouses was dispensed with after the parties had arrived at sixty years of age.
Footnotes
1 William Camden was born in London in 1551. His most celebrated publication is entitled “Britannia,” and consists of a survey of the British isles, written in elegant Latin. He died in 1623, at Chiselhurst, in Kent.
2 The reader must not confound these canoes with some others found in Martin Meer, North Meols.
3 Cæsar’s Bell. Gall., v. 14.
4 Ptolemy was a native of Egypt, and lived at Alexandria during the first half of the second century. He was an astronomer, chronologer, and geographer. His geographical work was in use in all schools until the 15th century, when it was supplanted by another treatise containing the more recent discoveries of Venetian and other navigators.
5 Mr. Thornber mentions this path in his History of Blackpool.
6 “In the memory of man large portions of Kate’s Pad existed with various, but irregular interruptions: these, however, the moss cutter yearly removes, and shortly no remains of it will be found.”—Rev. W. Thornber, Blackpool, 1837.
7 Gildas, the wise, as he was styled, was the son of Caw, Prince of Strathclyde, and was born at Dumbarton.
8 Bede died in A.D. 734. His chief work was an Ecclesiastical History.
9 History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood.
10 Alfred’s Preface, p. 33.
11 History of the Anglo-Saxons.
12 Saxon Chronicle.
13 Ptolemy gives the longitude as ten minutes, but at such a height a minute would scarcely represent a mile.
14 The Welsh language is the oldest of all living languages, and is of Celtic origin, being in fact the tongue spoken by the ancient Britons but little altered by modern innovations.
15 An Honor has a castle or mansion, and consists of demesnes and services, to which a number of manors and lordships, with all their appurtenances and other regalities, are annexed. In an Honor an Honourable Court is held once every year at least.
16 A Manor is composed of demesne and services, to which belong a three weeks Court, where the freeholders, being tenants of the manor, sit covered, and give judgement in all suits that are pleading. To every manor a Court Baron is attached.
17 A carucate was generally about one hundred acres of arable soil, or land in cultivation; this word superseded the Saxon hyde, which signified the same thing.
18 The whole of the vills of Amounderness, here signified, amounted to sixty-one.
19 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.
20 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.
21 Held in the reign of Henry I., 1100-1135.
22 Held in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II., 1135-1189.
23 Duchy Rolls, Rot. f. 12.
24 To rise at five, to dine at nine, to sup at five, to bed at nine, makes a man live to ninety-nine.
25 Although England had been divided into counties the different districts were for long classified under the names of the old provinces or petty kingdoms of the Heptarchy.
26 Vale Royal, Cheshire, obtained a grant of the manor, etc., of Kirkham in 1296.
27 £13 6s. 3d.
28 £20 0s. 0d.
29 £53 6s. 8d.
30 Knights banneret were so called from a privilege they possessed of carrying a small banner. This privilege and the title of “Sir” were conferred as a reward for distinguished military service, and were usually accompanied by a pecuniary provision.
31 Harl. MSS. cod. 1926, fol. 4 b.
32 Alexander Rigby was related to the branch of that family residing at Layton Hall.
33 Harl. MSS. cod. 1926, fol. 80.
34 See “Allen of Rossall,” in Chapter VI.
35 Table forks were introduced into England from Italy at the close of the Tudor dynasty; previously the people of all ranks used their fingers for the purposes to which we now apply a fork. A kind of fork was used as far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, but only to serve articles from the dish.
36 Harl. MSS.
37 This Alex. Rigby must not be confounded with the gentleman of that name mentioned in the former chapter, and who in the civil contests was a parliamentary general. A. Rigby here denoted, was a royalist officer.
38 A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont (Cheetham Society.)
39 A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont.
40 A discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, edited by William Beamont.
41 Hist. Collect. P. 4, vol. I, p. 22.
42 Tour, p. 20.
43 From a M.S. of Peter Le Neve., Norroy, among the collection of Mr. Joseph Ames. The knights of this order were to wear a silver medal ornamented with a device of the King in the Oak, suspended by a ribbon from their necks. The following is a list of persons in the county of Lancashire who were considered fit and qualified to be made Knights of this Order with the value of their estates:—
| Thomas Holt | per annum | £1000 |
| Thomas Greenhalgh | ″ | 1000 |
| Colonel Kirkby | ″ | 1500 |
| Robert Holt | ″ | 1000 |
| Edmund Asheton | ″ | 1000 |
| Christopher Banister | ″ | 1000 |
| Francis Anderton | ″ | 1000 |
| Col. James Anderton | ″ | 1500 |
| Robert Nowell | ″ | 1000 |
| Henry Norris | ″ | 1200 |
| John Girlington | ″ | 1000 |
| Thomas Preston | ″ | 2000 |
| Thomas Farrington of Worden | ″ | 1000 |
| Thomas Fleetwood of Penwortham | ″ | 1000 |
| William Stanley | ″ | 1000 |
| Edward Tyldesley | ″ | 1000 |
| Thomas Stanley | ″ | 1000 |
| Richard Boteler (Butler) | ″ | 1000 |
| John Ingleton, senior | ″ | 1000 |
| — Walmsley of Dunkenhalgh | ″ | 2000 |
44 “This year (1715) provisions were plentiful and cheap, as also corn and hay”—the Journal of W. Stout of Lancaster.
45 A tract in the library of the British Museum, entitled “Catholic Chapels, Chaplains.” etc., and bearing the date 1819.
46 A kind of Ducking Stool.
47 A bear was baited at Weeton fair less than a century ago.
48 25 Henry VIII. c. 13, and 31 Elizabeth, c. 7.
49 39 Elizabeth, c. 1.
50 Gay.
51 Gay. The Spell.
52 Hist. of Blackpool and Neighbourhood, by W. Thornber, B.A.
53 Gay.
54 This high price was owing to an almost complete failure in the potatoe crops.
55 Obtained by striking an average of the weekly market quotations in the local periodicals, published weekly during the respective years.
56 Faerie Land, Song, edit. A.D. 1622.
57 This is incorrect, as the Ribble and not the Darwent separates the Hundreds of Leyland and Amounderness.
58 Record Office, 28 Henry VIII., V. S., c. 6.
59 This Sir William de Clifton was accused in the year 1337 of having taken possession of twenty marks belonging to the Abbot of Vale Royal, and of having forcibly obstructed the rector in the collecting of tithes within the manors of Clifton and Westby; also with having inflicted certain injuries upon the hunting palfrey of the latter gentleman.
60 Sir Cuthbert Clifton espoused as his second wife, Dorothy, daughter of Sir Thomas Smyth, of Wotton Walwyns, in Warwickshire, and had three sons, Lawrence, Francis, and John, captains in the royal army, and slain in the civil war, besides seven other children. Sir Cuthbert purchased Little Marton and the monastic portion of Lytham from Sir John Holcroft in 1606. He was knighted by James I. at Lathom House.
61 See Out Rawcliffe in the chapter on St. Michaels’ parish for the Wilson-ffrance descent.
62 See page 72.
63 Dugdale’s Visitation.
64 Richard Longworth, of St. Michael’s Hall, a justice of the peace.
65 The small Lᵈ of Roshall was Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall, who at this time was thirty years of age.
66 John Westby, of Mowbreck, was probably the builder or purchaser of Burn Hall about the middle of the sixteenth century. See pedigree above at that date.
67 Pawnage, or Pannage, signified the food of swine to be found in woods, such as acorns and beech-mast, etc.
68 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. MS. fol. 1.
69 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. fol. 77.
70 Regist. of Cockersand Abbey, and S. Mariæ de Lanc.
71 Baines’s Hist. of Lanc.
72 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc.
73 John Hull, M.D., F.L.S., commenced his professional education at Blackburn in 1777; and in 1791, after graduating in medicine, settled at Manchester, where he attained to considerable eminence both as a physician and writer on botanical and medical subjects. He retired from practice to his native town of Poulton in 1836, and remained there until his demise.
74 “Enter and pray, if you have raised to heaven your open palms you will have performed sacred duties, and will fly from evil things.”
75 Mr. Rudhall, as we learn from the following entry in the registers of the 30 men of Kirkham, was in business at Gloucester:—“1749, April 14. Paid old Mr. Rudhall for coming from Gloucester to take notes of the bells when the 2nd. was recast, £3 3s. 0d.”
76 The Pancake Bell is usually rung by an apprentice of the town as a signal for his confreres to discontinue work for that day, but strange to say on a late occasion not one apprentice could be found in the whole of Poulton, and consequently the duty was performed by the ordinary bell-ringer.
77 In all previously issued lists of vicars, Richard Fleetwood has erroneously been named as patron in this instance. There was no Rich. Fleetwood of Rossall at that time, and Edward, who had been patron at the former institution, was probably still alive as he had no son and but one daughter, who married Roger Hesketh, the next patron in right of his wife.
78 In 1876 a brass plate was found in Poulton church, near the site of the old communion table, inscribed:—“Here lies the body of Anne, wife of Richard Harrison, vicar of Poolton, who dyed the 24th of December, 1679, aged 55 years.”
79 From these entries it would seem that the regulation of 1782 soon became a dead letter, if indeed it were ever carried into practice.
80 The Battle and Victory of the Nile.
81 Visitation of St. George.
82 For a full description of the direction taken by this road, see page 7.
83 The Rev. G. Y. Osborne resigned the living of Fleetwood on being appointed vicar of St. Thomas’s, Dudley, which cure he held up to the date of his decease.
84 A second line was laid on this length in 1875 for the first time.
85 Coastguards were first located at Fleetwood in 1858, and consisted of six men and an officer. Their present station in Abbot’s Walk was erected in 1864, and comprises cottage accommodation for six men, and another residence for the officer in command.
86 Newly-built vessels registered for the first time, the other vessels belonging to the harbour being transferred from other parts and re-registered here.
87 Rot. Lit. Claus. 16 John, m. 7.
88 Rot. Finium 5 Henry III. m. 8.
89 Escaet. 42 Henry III. m. 11.
90 Survey of Lancashire ending in 1346.
91 Visitation of St. George.
92 Placit de Quo Warr. 20 Edw. I. Lanc. Rot. 13d.
93 An oxgang is as much land as an ox can plough in a year, something considerably less than a carucate, which is estimated at one hundred acres.
94 Chethem Soc. Series, No. lxxiv. p. 57.
95 For “Westby of Burn Hall” see Chapter VI.
96 “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
97 Charity Commissioners’ Report.
98 Rot. Lit. Clause 5 Henry III., p. 474.
99 Rot. Chart. 12 Henry III., m. 3.
100 Placit de Quo. Warr. 20 Edward I.
101 See “Allen of Rossall” in Chapter VI.
102 See “Fleetwood of Rossall” in ditto.
103 Placit. coram Consil. in Octab. S. Hyll. 38 Hen. III. Lanc. Ror. 5, in dorso.
104 Duc. Lanc. vol. iii. n. 49.
105 Dr. Kuerden’s MSS. vol. iv. c. 1 b.
106 Duc. Lanc. vol. iv. n. 71.
107 Harl. MSS. cod 607, fol. 101 b.
108 Dr. Kuerden’s MSS. ibid.
109 Dr. Kuerden’s MSS.
110 Whittaker’s History of Whalley.
111 Testa de Nevill, fol. 403.
112 Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey.
113 Rot. Lit. Clause 9 John, m. 16.
114 Escaet. 33 Henry III., n. 49.
115 Escaet. 16 Edward II., n. 59.
116 Escaet. 4 Edward III., n. 100.
117 Lansd. MSS. 559, fol. 36.
118 Dodsworth’s MSS., c. xiii., p. 161. These traces which were fairly evident forty years ago, have been in a great measure obliterated in more recent days.
119 Parl. Ing. Lamb. Libr. vol. ii.
120 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. MSS. fol. 77.
121 Dugd. Monast. vol. v. p. 630.
122 Monast. Anglic. vol. v. p. 530.
123 Duc. Lanc. vol. xii., Inq. n. 2.
124 Charity Commissioners’ Report.
125 Charity Commissioners’ Report.
126 See ‘Rigby of Layton Hall,’ in Chapter VI.
127 See ‘Veale of Whinney Heys,’ in Chapter VI.
128 History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood.
129 The following is extracted from a paper, written by Mr. Henry Moon, of Kirkham, about 1783, and refers to this pool:—“The liquid is of a chocolate or liver colour, as all water must be which passes through a peaty soil, so that the place might, with as much propriety, bear the name of Liver-pool, as Black-pool.”
130 For a list of the Knights of the Royal Oak, and other matters concerning that Order see page 72.
131 Black-pool.
132 See ‘Tyldesley of Fox Hall’ in Chapter VI.
133 A couplet extracted from some lines descriptive of Blackpool and its accommodation, etc., in 1790, written by a visitor about that date.
134 Regist. S. Mariæ Lanc. MS.
135 Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 27.
136 Testa de Nevill, fol. 371.
137 Rot. Chart. 15 John. m. 3, n. 15.
138 Theobald Walter, the 2nd, adopted the surname of Botiler, or Butler, on being appointed chief Butler of Ireland; this titular surname was retained by his descendants.
139 This account occurs in the Register of Vale Royal, and is endorsed—“Of the church of Kyrkham, how the king had conferred it upon this monasterie,” etc.
140 Monast. Anglic. vol. II. p. 925. Ellis’ edit. Harl. MSS. No. 2064. f. 27.
141 Rot. Chart., 15 Edw. I., No. 8, m. 3.
142 Placito de Quo Warranto, Lane. Rot., 10d.
143 Ibid.
144 Discovered in the old chest at Kirkham amongst the archives of the bailiffs.
145 That is, the Sunday after Easter.
146 Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 25 and 25b.
147 Harl. MSS., No. 2064, f. 27.
148 Fishwick’s History of Kirkham—from the Harl. MSS.
149 Vale Royal ledger.
150 Pat. Rolls. 2. Hen. iv., p. 3, m. 5 n. (Duchy Office.)
151 Original lease in Bailiffs’ Chest.
152 Paper in Bailiffs’ Chest, dated 23rd October, 1676, and signed John Cestriens.
153 Records of the “Thirty-Men.”
154 Records of the “Thirty-Men.”
155 Records of the Thirty-Men.
156 Ibid.
157 According to the Parliamentarie Chronicle, “Mistress Haughton was the wife of Master William Haughton of Prickmarsh in Kirkham, the Fylde,” and the child was born on the 20th of June, 1643.
158 During the war between King and Parliament.
159 The Rye-house Plot.
160 Canon Raine’s Hist. of Lanc. Chantries.
161 Willis’s Hist. Mitr. Abb. vol. ii., p. 108.
162 Records of the Dean and Chapter, Christ Church, Oxford.
163 See Court of Requests page 209.
164 See Chapter XVI.
165 Ancient Manuscript.
166 Ancient Manuscript.
167 Ancient Manuscript.
168 See pages 61, 63, and 66.
169 Charity Commissioners’ Report.
170 Ibid.
171 Indenture in Bailiffs’ Chest.
172 Deed in Bailiff’s Chest.
173 Report of Charity Commissioners, 1824.
174 For “Leyland of Leyland House” see Chapter VI.
175 Regist. S. Mariæ Lanc. MS. fol. 1 and 4.
176 Rot. Cancell. 3 John. m. 5.
177 Harl. MSS. No. 2064.
178 Escaet. 25 Edw. I. n. 51.
179 Lansd. MSS. No. 539. f. 15.
180 MS. Church Records.
181 Vestry Book.
182 Ibid.
183 For “Westby of Mowbreck” see Chapter VI.
184 For “Parker of Bradkirk” see Chapter VI.
185 Regist. S. Mariæ, Lanc. MS. fol. 1-4.
186 Testa de Nevill. fol. 372.
187 Placita de Quo Warr. 20 Edw. I. Lanc. Rot., 13a.
188 Escaet. 17 Edw. II. n. 45.
189 The Birch Feodary.
190 Ancient feudal taxes.
191 Duchy Rolls.
192 Duc. Lanc. vol. iv. Inq. n. 13.
193 Ibid, vol. v. n. 68.
194 Baines’s Hist. of Lancashire.
195 Duchy Records.
196 History of Whalley.
197 Title Deeds.
198 Record Office. Pleadings, 3 Eliz.
199 Church Presentments at York.
200 MSS. Lamb library.
201 Records of the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford.
202 This description is of Mains Hall forty years ago, as seen by Mr. Thornber.
203 For “ffrance of Little Eccleston” see Chapter VI.
204 For “Clifton of Lytham” see Chapter VI.
205 This stone was in the yard until the rebuilding of the church, when it was enclosed within the new and more extensive edifice; it is supposed to mark the grave of a sailor washed up on the banks of the river Wyre.
206 Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 440.
207 Infangthefe.—The power of judging of theft committed within the manor of Lytham.
208 Soccum.—The power and authority of administering justice.
Saccum.—The power of imposing fines upon tenants and vassals within the lordship.
Theam.—A royalty granted for trying bondmen and villeins, with a sovereign power over their villein tenants, their wives, children and goods, to dispose of them at pleasure. This badge of feudal slavery was abolished in England during the reign of Charles II.
209 Rot. Lit. Pat. 22 Hen. vi. p 1, m. 6.
210 Chet. Soc. Series, No. xxx. Penwortham.
211 Escaet. 49 Edw. III. n. 28.
212 Charity Commissioners Report.
213 Ibid.
214 See pages 15 and 16.
215 Escaet. 33 Hen. III. n. 49.
216 Inq. ad Quod. Damnum, 16 & 19 Edward II.
217 St. Michael’s Hall also belonged to the Kirkbys, and it is probable that one of the junior branches resided there before the Longworths of St. Michael’s.
218 Flower’s Visitation.
219 See “Longworth of St. Michael’s Hall” in Chapter VI.
220 Fol. 401.
221 Regist. S. Mariæ de Lanc. M.S. fol. 68.
222 Rot. Pat. 4 Hen. VI. m. 10 per Inspec. Linc. Hen. IV.
223 A copy of “The appropriation of the Vicarage of Michaelskirk,” dated 1411, and now in the possession of the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby.
224 E. Reg. Richmond.
225 Commissioners’ Report before the Dissolution of Monasteries.
226 Willis’s Hist. Mitr. Abb. vol. ii p. 108.
227 List of Benefactions within the Church of St. Michael’s.
228 List of Benefactions within the Church of St. Michael’s.
229 Dugdale’s Monasticon, vol. v., p. 630.
230 For “Butlers of Rawcliffe” see Chapter VI.
231 Duc. Lanc. vol. xxvi. n. 36.
232 History of England, by H. Martineau.