WIGAN
Wigan, 1199; Wygayn, 1240; Wygan, common.
Pronounced Wiggin (g hard).
The River Douglas, in its unrestricted days, flowed
down from the north and turned to the west round
the hill upon which Wigan Church stands, thence
running north-westward and northward to the
Ribble. The township of Wigan consists of the triangular area inclosed by the river and a line drawn
across in a north-easterly direction from one part of the
river's course to the other; in addition there are the
district called Scholes on the eastern side, inclosed
between the Douglas and a brook once called the
Lorington, and now the Clarington, (fn. 1) which formerly
joined it near the southernmost point of its course;
and a small area to the south of the river. It is
curious that Wigan is cut off by the river from the
rest of the parish and hundred, and has on the north
no marked physical separation from Standish, in a
different parish and hundred. The area is 2,188
acres, including 47 of inland water. The population
in 1901 numbered 60,764.
The church stands on the crest of the hill, which
slopes away rapidly to the south and more gently to
the north. To the north-west is the hall or rectory,
with Hallgate leading to it, and beyond this again the
Mesnes—part of it now a public park—or rectory
demesne lands. Further away in the same direction
lie the districts known as Gidlow and Brimelow, (fn. 2) the
latter on the Standish boundary; while to the west is
Woodhouses, near the river.
On the eastern side of the church is a street
representing the ancient Roman road to the north,
opening out just at that point into the irregular area
in which the market was formerly held, and from
which Market Street goes off to the north-west. As
the main road goes northward it is called in succession
Standishgate and Wigan Lane, with Mab's Cross as
dividing mark, and has Swinley and Whitley on the
west and Coppull on the east. The ground once
again rises as the northern limit is neared, attaining
about 250 ft.
The same road, descending south from the church
and turning to the west through the more level
ground running nearly parallel to the Douglas, is there
called Wallgate. The border district to the south of
Wallgate is called Poolstock.
Another road, called Millgate, begins at the old
Market-place, and proceeding south-east, crosses the
Douglas by a bridge, (fn. 3) near which was formerly the
principal corn-mill of the town, and then goes northeast through the Scholes and Whelley. There is an
easterly branch called Hardy Butts, starting near the
river and proceeding through Hindley towards Manchester, probably on the line of another ancient
Roman road.
Around the church and along the main roads mentioned the town of Wigan grew up. As the head of
a great coal-mining district, the Douglas navigation
scheme of 1720, (fn. 4) and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal,
opened in 1774, have been of great service; the Lancaster Canal followed in 1794, and a branch to Leigh
connected the town with the Worsley Canal. The
railway companies have also contributed to the progress of the place; the London & North Western
Company's main line from London to Scotland passes
through the place, (fn. 5) having a station in Wallgate, to
the south of the church. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's Liverpool and Bury line, opened in
1848, has a station (1860) in Wallgate, near to the
church; the company's Wigan and Southport branch
(1855) turns off here. More recently the Great
Central Railway has found access to the town, having
a station near Millgate, opened in 1892.
Wigan is identified with the Coccium of the Antonine Itinerary; it stands at the point where the
Roman road, north and south, was joined by another
important road from Manchester. Its position on a
hilltop, surrounded on two sides of its triangular area
by a rapid stream, suggests that it had been a British
fort. Various Roman remains have been found. (fn. 6)
The town continued to grow and prosper throughout the mediaeval period, and Leland thus describes
its appearance about 1536: 'Wigan paved; as big as
Warrington and better builded. There is one parish
church amid the town. Some merchants, some artificers, some farmers.' (fn. 7)
Apart from its internal growth, the history of Wigan
is interesting on account of the part taken in the Civil
War. The townspeople were Royalist, (fn. 8) and the Earl
of Derby appeared to make it his head quarters, its
central position rendering it very fit for the purpose.
He placed a garrison there, (fn. 9) but on 1 April 1643, the
town was captured by the Parliamentary forces under
Colonel Holland, after only two hours' resistance.
Many prisoners were taken, and the soldiers were
allowed to plunder and carry away what they could. (fn. 10)
The Earl of Derby, who was 12 miles away, marched
to its relief, but hearing that the town had surrendered, and that the Parliamentary forces had retired
after breaking down some of the defensive works, he
desisted and went to Lathom. (fn. 11) A second assault and
capture took place three weeks later. (fn. 12) In 1648 Duke
Hamilton's forces occupied Wigan after their defeat
by Cromwell near Preston, but after plundering the
people 'almost to their skins,' retired to Warrington,
pursued by Cromwell. (fn. 13) A pestilence followed. (fn. 14)
When, in August 1651, the Earl of Derby was
raising a force for Charles II, he again tried to secure
Wigan. On 26 August a hot fight took place in
Wigan Lane between his forces and those of Colonel
Lilburne. At first the former were victorious, but a
reserve of horse coming to Lilburne's assistance, put
the Royalists to flight. Lord Derby took refuge in
Wigan for a brief time, and after his wounds had been
dressed, he went south to join Charles at Worcester.
Sir Thomas Tyldesley and other notable Royalists
were killed in the battle. (fn. 15)
The Restoration and Revolution do not appear to
have affected Wigan much. (fn. 16) Some of those condemned for participation in the rising of 1715 were
executed here. (fn. 17) The Young Pretender with his
Highland army passed through the town on 28 No
vember 1745, on his way to Manchester, and again
on 10–11 December on his retreat northward. The
inhabitants were not molested, but no recruits joined
the force. (fn. 18)
At present the whole of the district is thickly populated, the industrial town of Wigan occupying the
greater part of the township, whilst its collieries, factories, &c., fill the atmosphere with smoke. There is,
however, a fringe of open country beyond the town
itself, on the north, and here are arable and pasture
lands, the crops raised being chiefly potatoes and oats.
The soil is clayey and sandy. The woodlands of
Haigh in the adjoining township make an agreeable
background. The Douglas, turning many a factory
wheel on its way, winds erratically across the district.
The south-westerly part of the township lies very low,
and is almost always flooded, the result of frequent
subsidences of the ground.
The worthies of the town include Ralph Brooke or
Brooksmouth, York Herald in the time of Elizabeth; (fn. 19)
Henry Mason, divine and benefactor, 1573 to 1647; (fn. 20)
John Leland, nonconformist divine and apologist for
Christianity, who died 1766; (fn. 21) Anthony Wilson,
alias Henry Bromley, publisher of catalogues of Engraved British Portraits, 1793; (fn. 22) John Fairclough, a
minor Jesuit writer, 1787 to 1832; (fn. 23) John Roby,
author of the romances entitled Traditions of Lancashire,
1795 to 1850; (fn. 24) John Howard Marsden, antiquary,
1803 to 1891; (fn. 25) John C. Prince, minor poet, 1808
to 1866; (fn. 26) and John Fitchett Marsh, antiquary, 1818
to 1880. (fn. 27)
A number of tokens were issued by local tradesmen
in the 17th century. (fn. 28)
The printing press is said to have been introduced
into Wigan about 1760; books dated in 1780 and
later years are known. (fn. 29) There are three newspapers,
two published three times a week and the other
weekly. (fn. 30)
Coal-mining is the characteristic trade of the place,
but there are large cotton mills also; ginghams, &c.,
are made. Forges, iron and brass foundries, wagon,
screw and nail, oil and grease works, and breweries
are also in operation. The ancient walk-mills show
that cloth was made here from early times. A goldsmith was killed at Wigan in 1341. (fn. 31) The potters'
right to dig clay on the wastes was vindicated in
1619. (fn. 32) 'Digging and delving mines for coals' was
common in 1595. (fn. 33) Bell-founding is a lost trade; it
was formerly in the hands of the Scott and Ashton
families. (fn. 34)
In 1624 Bishop Bridgeman notified his objection to
the 'barbarous and beastly game of bear baiting' at
the wakes; but on the mayor's request he allowed
the baiting to take place on the market hill after the
market was over and the people had packed up their
wares. (fn. 35)
An old Wigan nursery rhyme is printed in Harland and Wilkinson's Legends. (fn. 36)
The stocks were formerly near the main entrance
to the churchyard from Wallgate. There was a cross
in the market place, where proclamations were made,
and the base of Mab's Cross, already mentioned, is in
Standishgate. (fn. 37)
There was formerly a spa in Scholes. (fn. 38)
The curfew bell, anciently rung at eight o'clock,
was in 1881 rung at half-past ten. (fn. 39)
A body of volunteers, called the Wigan Rifles, was
raised in 1804. (fn. 40) The present volunteer force consists of five companies of the 6th battalion of the
Manchester Regiment.
MANOR
In Domesday Book WIGAN is not
named; it was only 'the church of the
manor' of Newton, (fn. 41) and a century later
it is the church that brings it forward once more,
a resident vicar being appointed. (fn. 42) The rectors were
thus from before the Conquest until recently lords of
the manor of Wigan under the lords of Newton, and
the rectory was the hall. From the account of them
already given it will be seen that a large number were
non-resident, and exercised their authority by deputies.
Among the rights which gave most trouble to the
rectors were those over the mills. Rector Fleetwood
in the first year of his incumbency (1571) had instituted a suit against Hugh, Gilbert, and James Langshaw to recover seisin of two ancient water-mills,
described as walk mills. (fn. 43) The dispute went on
for many years. (fn. 44) Bishop Bridgeman, thirty years
later, complained that William Langshaw was endeavouring to deprive the rector of his ownership
of the mill. (fn. 45) The mills were situated at Coppull
and a little lower down the river by the school; in
1627 they paid a rent of £4 a year to the rector. (fn. 46)
The corn mills, of which in the year just named
there were five, also caused trouble. The principal
was that on the Douglas in Millgate, of which Miles
Leatherbarrow was the tenant in 1617. (fn. 47) In Rector
Fleetwood's time a new water corn-mill was erected
by Miles Gerard of Ince upon Lorington or Clarington
Brook, the boundary of the manors of Wigan and
Ince, and the water-course was diverted to feed it.
The rectors complained of the injustice done to them,
but Dr. Bridgeman allowed the mill to stand on condition that 20s. a year should be paid for tithe. (fn. 48)
BOROUGH
In his first year Dr. Bridgeman received £16 13s. 2d.
as manor rents, (fn. 49) and 10s. each for seven mortuaries. (fn. 50)
It is an indication that there was a
strong community existing around the
church to find one of the absentee
rectors, the busy official John Maunsel, procuring
from the king a charter creating a borough. This
was granted on 26 August 1246 to John Maunsel;
the town of Wigan was to be a borough and a free
borough for ever; the burgesses should have a gild
merchant, with a hanse and all the liberties and free
customs pertaining to such a gild; and no one but a
member of the gild should do any business in the
borough except by consent of the burgesses. Further,
to the burgesses and their heirs the king conceded
that they should have soke, sac, toll, theam, and
attachment within the borough, infangenthef, utfangenthef; that they should throughout the country
and sea ports be free of toll, lastage, pontage, passage,
and stallage; that they should do no suit to county
or wapentake for tenements within the borough;
also that traders, even foreigners, provided they
entered England peaceably and with the king's leave,
should be allowed to pass in safety to and from the
borough with their merchandise upon paying the
usual dues. (fn. 51)
The rector's concomitant charter grants that the
burgesses of Wigan and their heirs and assigns should
have their free town, with all rights, customs, and
liberties as stated in the king's charter; that each
burgess should have to his burgage 5 roods of land;
that they should grind at the rector's mill to the
twentieth measure without payment, should have
from his wood sufficient for building and burning,
quittance of pannage and other easements; and that
they should have their pleas in portmote once in
three weeks, with verdict of twelve men and amercements by the same; paying annually to the rector
12d. a year for each burgage for all services. Robert
Banastre, lord of Makerfield and patron of the church,
added his confirmation; as did also Roger, Bishop of
Lichfield. (fn. 52)
The burgesses, (fn. 53) regarded as equals, thus became
the free tenants of the rector, as lord of the manor,
with the usual liberties, and the special privilege of a
portmote. The royal charter looks on the place as
a trading centre and gives internal and external
privileges accordingly; these last, which the rector
could not give, were doubtless the reason for invoking
the king's help. A later charter, 1257–8, granted
that the rectors should have a market at their borough
of Wigan on Monday in every week, and two fairs
there of three days each, viz., on the vigil, day and
morrow of the Ascension and of All Saints. (fn. 54)
In 1292 Adam de Walton, then rector, was called
upon to show by what warrant he claimed certain
liberties; it was asserted that Master Adam and his
bailiffs had exceeded the terms of the charters by
trying persons accused of felonies beyond their jurisdiction, when those persons had placed themselves
on a jury of their country. In reply to particular
charges the community of the vill appeared by twelve
men of the vill. As to the court and liberty of the
vill they said that these belonged to the rector, and
they were suitors there. The jury decided that soke
and sac and other liberties had been granted to the
burgesses, who did not claim them, and not to the
rector, who did; let them therefore be taken into
the king's hands. As to the taking of emends of the
assize of bread and beer on the market and fair days
the rector's claim was allowed; but as he had
punished some frequent transgressors at his discretion
and not judicially, he was at the king's mercy. (fn. 55) The
liberties claimed by the rectors were afterwards restored, on the application of the guardian of Robert
Banastre's heiress. (fn. 56)
The commonalty of Wigan were sued for a debt
in 1304. (fn. 57)
In 1314 Robert de Clitheroe obtained from the
king a confirmation of the charter of 1246. (fn. 58)
About 1328 the rector complained that the burgesses,
his tenants, every day held a market among themselves,
and with strangers, in divers goods, although these be
ill-gotten or stolen; taking toll for such merchandise
and appropriating it to themselves. They also made
assay of bread and tasting of beer every day except
Monday, taking amercements and profits by force and
power; all to the prejudice of the rector's market. (fn. 59)
Possibly it was on this account that the charter was
confirmed in 1329. (fn. 60)
A further confirmation was granted in 1350; (fn. 61)
with a special indemnity to the rector and the burgesses for any abuse or non-claim of the liberties and
acquittances of former charters. The king also
granted a view of frankpledge, freedom from the
sheriff's tourn, cognizance by the bailiffs of the rector
of all pleas concerning lands, tenures, contracts, &c.,
within the borough; with many similar and complementary liberties. 'Moreover, whereas there has
been a frequent concourse at the said borough, as well
of merchants and others, for the sake of trading and
otherwise,' the rectors, as lords of the borough, might
for ever 'have a certain seal, by us to be ordained, of
two pieces, as is of custom to be used, for recognisances
of debts there according to the form of the statutes
published for merchants; and that the greater part of
the seal aforesaid may remain in the custody of the
mayor or keeper of the borough aforesaid for the time
being, or other private person of the greater or more
discreet men of the borough to be chosen for this
purpose (with the assent of the rector) if there shall
not be a mayor or keeper there.' (fn. 62)
As a result of this charter suits by Wigan people
were frequently stopped in the assize court by the
bailiffs of the rector appearing to claim the case as one
for the local court. (fn. 63) Another result was probably the regular election of a mayor, the language of
the charter implying that the burgesses had not
hitherto had such a generally recognized head. There
are numerous instances of 'statutes merchant' before
the mayor of Wigan commencing about 1370. (fn. 64)
From a petition of Rector Wyot (1506–19) it
appears that, 'for a long time past,' the custom had
been that on a vacancy in the mayoralty the burgesses elected three of their number and presented
them to the rector, who chose one to act for the
ensuing year. (fn. 65)
The rectors in the time of Henry VIII, and
probably much earlier, exercised their authority as
lords of the borough through a steward and a
bailiff, with an under-steward who was clerk of the
court. (fn. 66)
About 1560 Bishop Stanley began to assert his
rights as lord of the manor, and he challenged the
claim to hold markets, (fn. 67) fairs, and courts leet put forward and exercised by the mayor and burgesses. Those
accused of withdrawing 'did not know' whether suit
was due to the rector's law-day or leet, or to his three
weeks court, though 'most of them had done so,
until now of late'; and they endeavoured to draw
attention from this aspect of the question by an
allegation of outrage upon the mayor by one of the
bishop's servants. Nothing seems to have been done,
except that the bishop confirmed Maunsel's charter
to the burgesses. (fn. 68) He yielded 'upon fear and for a
fine of money received,' according to Dr. Bridgeman. (fn. 69)
Under Rector Fleetwood the struggle was more
determined. The corporation about 1583 laid claim
to the lordship of the manor, as lords improving the
wastes and commons, and letting the houses built
thereupon; also digging for coal within the demesnes
of the manor, and in many other ways usurping the
rector's rights. They stated that a mayor, two
bailiffs, and sundry burgesses were annually elected for
the town and borough of Wigan, which had also five
aldermen, the Earl of Derby being one; that
Maunsel's charter gave the burgesses all the liberties
in dispute; and that the moot-hall was their inheritance. They had kept courts, taken waifs and
strays, &c., in accordance with their right. The
rector's reply traversed all this, alleging in particular
that the burgesses had no grant enabling them to
elect a mayor to be head of the corporation, though
they had done so 'for divers years' by usurpation,
and that the appointment of aldermen was a recent
usage, 'without due rite.' (fn. 70) A charter was granted
about this time, viz. in 1585. (fn. 71)
A decree in the nature of a compromise was made
in 1596 by the Chancellor of the Duchy. It was
ordered that the corporation should keep such courts
as they had usually kept, except the leets, and take
the profits to their own uses; that, as to the leets,
the rector should appoint a steward to sit with the
mayor and burgesses or their steward and take half
the profits. Clay and stone might be dug as customary, but the ways must be mended as quickly as
possible, and any damage done to the moat round the
rectory must be repaired. As to the fairs and markets
and the profits arising from them, the corporation
should have them as before, but the rector's tenants
must not be required to pay any increase upon the
customary tolls. The rents claimed by the rector
must be paid, with arrears. The question as to the
improvement of the wastes does not seem to have
been decided. (fn. 72)
The corporation were then left at peace for twenty
years. Dr. Massie seems to have been very yielding. (fn. 73)
Bishop Bridgeman, however, an able man and strong
in the royal favour, upon being appointed to the
rectory made a vigorous and fairly successful effort to
recover certain of his manorial rights as against the
corporation. (fn. 74) The ownership of the markets and
fairs, with the tolls belonging to them, had been held
by the town for upwards of fifty years. On 17 October 1617, being the eve of the fair, the rector sent
his man to the mayor, entreating him not to deal or
meddle with the fair until the controversy as to all
these matters had been decided, and inviting the
mayor and aldermen, &c., to meet him at the pentice
chamber next morning. At this conference the rector
desired them to allow him the rights his predecessors
had enjoyed, without any lawsuits; they answered
that he had what his predecessors had, and ought not
to ask more. The mayor was bold enough to
challenge the rector's right to the manor, but met no
support from the burgesses, who acknowledged their
obligation to pay 12d. for each burgage plot. On
matters of land-ownership no opposition was made;
but when the rector claimed the fairs, markets, courts
leet, courts of pleas, and courts baron and other
privileges, the burgesses' reply seems to have been
firm and unanimous: 'They had a right to them and
hoped so to prove in law.' No compromise was
possible, the answer being that they were 'all sworn
to maintain the privileges of the town.' (fn. 75)
A special tribunal was appointed, and at the beginning of 1619 a decision was given: the rector was
lord of the manor, with a right to the wastes and
court baron and suit and service of the freeholders
and inhabitants; the moot-hall to be common to the
rector and corporation for the keeping of their courts,
of which the pentice plea and court of pleas should
be the corporation's, the leets at Easter and Michaelmas being adjudged, the former to the rector and the
latter to the corporation; the Ascension-day fair and
the Monday market to be the rector's, but St. Luke's
fair and the Friday market to be the corporation's. (fn. 76)
In October 1620 the mayor of Wigan appeared
in the moot-hall where the justices were sitting at
quarter-sessions, and, 'putting on his hat before
them,' claimed the ordering of the alehouses in Wigan,
as belonging to his leet. The justices objected to his
manners, and as he refused to find sureties for good
behaviour sent him to prison; but their action was
annulled, though the mayor's action for false imprisonment also failed. (fn. 77)
Bishop Bridgeman in 1622 claimed the pentice
chamber in the moot-hall as built upon his waste
within living memory, and appears to have succeeded. (fn. 78)
His next correction of the assumptions of the corporation was provoked by the latter; they refused liberty
to one William Brown to sell his goods, on the ground
that he was not a burgess. The bishop pointed out
that they had no right to elect burgesses; the true
burgesses were those who paid the lord of the manor
12d. rent for a burgage, and he had made William
Brown a burgess by selling to him a burgage house
recently bought of Thomas Gerard of Ince. The
mayor and burgesses were by this time convinced that
it was useless to contend with their lord; they made
no demur, and asked him to appoint his son Orlando
as one of their aldermen; he, however, did not judge
it well to do so. (fn. 79)
From this time, 1624, till after the Restoration
there appears to be no record of any dispute between
rector and corporation. It can scarcely be doubted
that the Commonwealth period would be favourable
to the latter, and when in 1662 Sir Orlando Bridgeman was selected as arbitrator in a fresh misunderstanding, he ruled that though the rector was lord of
the manor and must keep a court baron, yet in view
of the municipal court of pleas it was of little importance except for inquiring into the chief rents due
to the rector, and preventing encroachments on the
waste. Hence the court baron was to be held once
in two years only, in the moot-hall; no pleas were to
be held between party and party; and the mayor and
such aldermen as had been mayors should be exempt
from attending. The streets and wastes were to be
regulated as to encroachments by the rector and
mayor. Sir Orlando's father had, by his advice,
leased the rector's Ascensiontide fair and weekly
market to the corporation; and the arbitrator recommended the continuance of this system as 'a great
means to continue peace and goodwill' between the
parties, a lease, renewable, for 21 years being granted
at a rent of five marks a year. The lease included
the yearly fair, weekly market, and court leet, and all
tolls, courts, piccage, stallages, profits, commodities,
and emoluments belonging to them. (fn. 80)
Forty years ago the corporation purchased the
manorial rights, an agreement being made 9 July
1860 between the rector and patron on the one side,
and the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses on the other.
The rights transferred were the summer fair, the
Monday market, and various tolls; quit rents and
manorial rights in slips of waste lying uninclosed
adjoining streets in the borough and in mines under
these slips; rights in Bottling Wood and the wastes;
and the ancient quit rents amounting to £45 3s. 4d.
The price paid was £2,800. The conveyance was
signed by the rector on 2 September 1861. (fn. 81)
The charter of 1662, under which the borough was
governed down to the Municipal Corporations Act of
1835, confirmed to the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses
of Wigan all their ancient liberties, and ordained that
the corporation should consist of a mayor and eleven
other aldermen, a recorder, two bailiffs, and a common
clerk. The mayor was to be not only a magistrate
for the borough, but also for the county, but this privilege was not maintained. (fn. 82) A supplementary charter
was granted by James II in 1685, (fn. 83) providing in particular that eighteen burgesses might be chosen to act
as 'assistants,' so that there should be a common
council of thirty-two in all. The mayor was to be
chosen yearly 'on the Sabbath day next after the
feast of St. Michael.' The corporation, like others of
the time, was a close or self-electing one, the townsmen being able to make their wishes known only
through the jury and court leet. The mayor was
coroner ex officio. (fn. 84)
The election of burgesses was in the jury and court
leet. The corporation had the power of admitting
non-resident and honorary burgesses to vote at elections without limitation; in 1802 they made a hundred burgesses in order to rid themselves of the Duke
of Portland's 'patronage.' (fn. 85)
Under the Act of 1835 Wigan was classed with
other boroughs having a commission of the peace; it
was divided into five wards, to each of which were assigned two aldermen and six councillors. (fn. 86) In 1888 it
became a county borough, and in the following year
a rearrangement of the wards was authorized; the
borough was divided into ten wards, each with one
alderman and three councillors, the membership of
the council being thus unchanged in number. (fn. 87) The
inclusion of Pemberton in 1904 has caused the increase of the council to fifty-six members, chosen from
fourteen wards.
The old town hall, rebuilt in 1720 at the expense
of the members for the borough, stood at the western
side of the market-place. It was pulled down and
rebuilt in the first half of last century. It stood on
pillars, the space underneath being subsequently filled
with shops. The moot-hall, a stone building in
Wallgate, with meeting-room above and shops below,
was demolished in 1869, and 'the new town hall' in
1882, the present town hall and borough courts
having been finished in 1867. A new council chamber was opened in 1890. The county police courts
date from 1888. The Fish-stones, which were at the
northern side of the market place, were removed in
1866. The new market hall was opened in 1877;
there is a separate fish market. The ancient cloth
hall was superseded by a commercial hall in the
market-place, erected in 1816.
The Public Libraries Act was adopted in 1876,
and two years later there was opened the new free
library building, presented to the town by Thomas
Taylor, who died in 1892. A Powell Boys' Readingroom, presented by the member for the borough, was
added in 1895. A school board was created in 1872.
The mining college was founded in 1858; in 1903
the present mining and technical building was opened.
The corporation have acquired or inaugurated a
number of works and institutions for the health and
convenience of the people. The first Wigan Water
Act was passed in 1764; the waterworks were purchased by the corporation in 1855; the gasworks,
established in 1822, were acquired in 1875; and the
tramways, opened in 1880, in 1902. An electricpower station was erected in 1900, and the following
year the corporation electric tramways started running. The Mesnes Park was opened in 1878, the
sewerage works in 1881, public baths in 1882, and a
sanatorium in 1889. Victoria Hall was built in
1902. The cemetery was established in 1856.
A dispensary was started in 1798, and a building
in King Street provided in 1801, now the Savings
Bank. The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary was
opened by the King, then Prince of Wales, in 1873.
A court of quarter-sessions was granted to the
borough in 1886.
Impressions of the borough seal of the 15th century
are known. (fn. 88) The device upon it—the moot-hall—
is used as a coat of arms for the borough.
As a borough Wigan sent two burgesses to the
Parliaments of 1295 and 1306, but not again until
1547. From this year the borough regularly returned
two members until 1885, except during the Commonwealth, when owing to its royalist tendencies it was
disfranchised by Cromwell. (fn. 89) In the 17th century
the burgesses were of two classes—in and out; the
latter were principally neighbouring gentry, and do
not seem to have availed themselves to any great extent
of the privilege of voting. On the other hand a large
number of the townsmen made strenuous efforts to
obtain a vote, and in 1639 the mayor, bailiffs, and
burgesses prepared a memorial to Parliament on the
subject. This stated that they were 'an ancient corporation by prescription, and that all such persons as
are or have been burgesses of that corporation have
always been received into that corporation by election
made by the burgesses for the time present of that
corporation, and have been afterwards sworn and enrolled as burgesses in the burgess roll,' and that from
time immemorial only such enrolled burgesses had
voted for the burgesses who served in the Parliament;
but at the recent election, after the choice had been
made—but apparently before a formal declaration—
'divers inferior persons, labourers, and handicraftsmen, being free only to trade within the said town
and not enrolled burgesses,' demanded voices. The
mayor and bailiffs had replied asking them 'to make
it to appear that they or any others of their condition
had any time formerly any voices in election of the
burgesses for the Parliament'; they could not prove
anything of the sort, and so their votes were not
allowed; but the mayor and bailiffs, at the instance of
the elected burgesses, judged it right to inform the
Parliament concerning the matter. (fn. 90) By the Redistribution Act of 1885 Wigan was allowed but one
member instead of two as previously.
A number of families come into prominence from
time to time in the records. One of the early ones
took a surname from Wigan itself, (fn. 91) another from
Scholes. (fn. 92) Other surnames were Jew, (fn. 93) Botling, (fn. 94)
Birkhead, (fn. 95) Duxbury, (fn. 96) Preston, (fn. 97) Ford, (fn. 98) and Scott. (fn. 99) The
Crosse family, afterwards of
Liverpool and Chorley, were
long closely connected with
Wigan: Adam del Crosse (fn. 100) appears in 1277, his son
John in the first half of the 14th century. (fn. 101) John's
son Thurstan (fn. 102) was followed by Hugh del Crosse his
son, (fn. 103) after whose death the property went to Richard
del Crosse of Wigan and Liverpool. He may have
been a descendant of Aymory the Walker, who appears
to have been a Crosse also. (fn. 104) The Marklands were
prominent up to the beginning of the 18th century. (fn. 105)
A number of deeds concerning the Marsh family have
been preserved by Kuerden. (fn. 106) Other surnames were
derived from various trades carried on here. (fn. 107) In
few cases can any connected account be given of
them.
Crosse. Quarterly gules and or a cross potent argent in the first and fourth quarters.
By an inquisition taken in 1323 it was found that
one William de Marclan had held two messuages and
two acres of land and half an acre of meadow in
Wigan of the rector by the service of 12d. yearly, and
other lands in Shevington of Margaret Banastre. He
granted them to feoffees, who in turn granted a moiety
to Robert de Holand. The last-named at Christmas
1317 assigned an annual rent of 29s. 6d. out of his
share to Aline the recluse of Wigan for her maintenance. This payment ceased when Sir Robert's lands
were forfeited; whereupon the recluse petitioned for
its restoration, and inquiry was made. (fn. 108)
William Ford and the widows of James Houghton
and Nicholas Standish contributed to a subsidy of
Mary's reign as landowners. (fn. 109) The following were
returned as freeholders in 1600: Gilbert Barrow,
Peter Marsh, Oliver Markland, William Foster, Hamlet Green, Charles Leigh, William Burgess, Edward
Challenor, John Tarleton, Gilbert Bank, Ralph Markland of Meadows; Thomas Molyneux and Edward
Laithwaite of Wigan Woodhouses; Alexander Ford
of Swinley, William and Hugh Langshaw, and
William Bankes of Scholes. (fn. 110) William Ford contributed to the subsidy of 1628 as a landowner. (fn. 111)
Wigan people generally were royalists, but William
Pilkington was in 1650 singled out as a 'grand
delinquent'; he escaped with a fine of £29 5s. (fn. 112)
Minor offenders against the Parliament were Robert
Baron, William Brown, and William Tempest. (fn. 113)
The following 'papists' registered estates at Wigan
in 1717: Nicholas Mather of Abram, Richard
Tootell, Thomas Naylor of Orrell, Gilbert Thornton,
Thomas Scott, gent., John Thornton, Dr. Thomas
Worthington, and Anne Laithwaite of Borwick. (fn. 114)
The parish church has been described above. The
first additional church in the township in connexion
with the Establishment was St. George's, between
Standishgate and the Douglas, consecrated in 1781.
A district was assigned to it in 1843, and this became
a parish in 1864, on the resignation of Sir Henry
Gunning, rector, as did the two following: (fn. 115) St.
Catherine's, Scholes, consecrated in 1841, had a
separate district assigned in 1843. (fn. 116) There is a small
graveyard attached. St. Thomas's, consecrated in
1851, had in the following year a district assigned
to it. (fn. 117) The rector of Wigan is patron of the above
churches. St. James's, Poolstock, was consecrated in
1866, for a district formed in 1863. The patronage
is vested in Mr. J. C. Eckersley. (fn. 118) St. Andrew's,
Woodhouse Lane, consecrated in 1882, had a district
assigned to it in 1871. (fn. 119) The church of St. Michael
and All Angels, Swinley, was consecrated in 1878
as a chapel of ease to the parish church, and became
parochial in 1881. (fn. 120) The patronage of these two
churches is vested in the rector of Wigan.
The various bodies of Methodists have in all eight
churches and mission-rooms, the Wesleyans having
two, the Primitive Methodists three, the Independents two, and the United Free Church one. The
Wesleyans have also built the Queen's Hall, a large
structure opened in 1908.
A Particular or Calvinistic Baptist congregation
was formed in 1795 by seceders from the Countess of
Huntingdon's Connexion (St. Paul's); (fn. 121) the chapel
in King Street was opened in 1854. There is
another chapel in Platt Lane.
What provision was made by those who became
Nonconformists by the Act of 1662 does not appear.
In 1689 William Laithwaite's barn was certified as a
meeting-place of the Wigan Dissenters, (fn. 122) and two
years later Roger Kenyon knew of two meeting-places,
one held by Mr. Green, the supporter of Presbyterianism in Hindley, and the other by 'dissenters who
do furiously dissent from each other.' (fn. 123) An 'old
English Presbyterian congregation' is mentioned in
1773, and a little later William Davenport, also
minister at Hindley, was in charge. He was probably a Unitarian, but after his death the chapel was
about 1797 secured for the Scottish Presbyterians, who
have retained possession to the present time. Trinity
Presbyterian Church was built upon the old site in
1877. (fn. 124)
The Congregationalists formed a church about
1777, probably as a protest against the Unitarianism
taught at the existing chapel; in 1785 they opened
a chapel, now St. Paul's Congregational Church.
For some time it belonged to the Countess of
Huntingdon's Connexion. Becoming 'unhealthy'
in 1839, it was dissolved and reformed. (fn. 125) A new
Gothic church replaced the old building in 1902.
A new minister coming to Wigan in 1812 drew a
congregation from dissatisfied Nonconformists, and a
chapel was opened in 1818. Hope Congregational
Church, opened in 1889, is a short distance from this
older chapel, and continues its work. (fn. 126) Silverwell
Congregational chapel originated in a secession from
St. Paul's in 1867 and continued till 1888, when it
was bought by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. (fn. 127) There is a chapel in
Gidlow Lane.
The Welsh Presbyterians have a place of worship;
the Christian Brethren have two; and the Catholic
Apostolic Church has a meeting-room. There are
two unsectarian mission-rooms.
The Swedenborgians have a meeting-place called
New Jerusalem.
Something has already been recorded of the loyalty
of a large number of the people of Wigan to the
ancient faith at the Reformation. (fn. 128) In 1681 there
were ninety-one 'convicted recusants' in Wigan, and
an attempt to levy a fine for recusancy—a result of
the Protestant agitation of the time—led to a riot. (fn. 129)
The Jesuits were in charge of the mission. In the
time of James II they had a flourishing school and
well-frequented chapel, but at the Revolution the
excited mob destroyed the buildings and the work
was stopped for a short time. (fn. 130) The Society of
Jesus, however, still possesses the ancient property.
Fr. James Canell is known to have been there in
1696, and died at Wigan 1722. (fn. 131) Fr. Charles
Brockholes built a house about 1740, the upper room
being designed as a chapel. (fn. 132) Near this a chapel
was built in 1785, and enlargement being necessary
it was replaced by the present church of St. John
in 1819. It is still served by the Jesuits. (fn. 133) The
other churches, served by secular clergy, are St. Mary's,
Standishgate, built in 1818; (fn. 134) St. Patrick's, Scholes,
founded in 1847 and rebuilt in 1880; St. Joseph's,
1870; and the Sacred Heart, Springfield, 1903. A
convent of Sisters of Notre Dame is served from
St. John's. (fn. 135)
The grammar school was founded before 1596.