| 1 |
1,390 acres, including 7 of inland
water; Census Rep. 1901. |
| 2 |
V.C.H. Lancs. i, 288a. From the
later records it would appear that there
were three plough-lands in Ribby, one in
Wrea, two in Bryning and one in Kellamergh, or seven in all. |
| 3 |
Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 290. This
will account for the 26s. 8d. paid to the
Prior of Lancaster, as recorded in the
account of Kirkham Church. |
| 4 |
Ibid. 12. It contributed in conjunction with Preston, &c. |
| 5 |
The king's demesne of Ribby (three
plough-lands) was in 1235 granted to
Master John le Blund, king's clerk, for
life; Cal. Pat. 1232–47, p. 93. In 1226
Ribby paid half a mark tallage and 9s. to
the farm of the wapentake; Lancs. Inq.
and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.),
i, 135, 139. In the compotus of the
demesne in 1246–8 Ribby appears with
£8 8s. 11½d.; ibid. 170. In 1248–9 in
a tallage Ribby paid 1 mark; ibid. 176.
The 'manor' of Ribby is recorded in
1256–8; ibid. 221. For other notices
see ibid. 230, 287. The accounts of
the halmotes of Ribby and Wrea in 1325
are printed in Lancs. Ct. R. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs, and Ches.), 94–5. |
| 6 |
For a time Wrea was held by the lord
of Clifton (q.v.) in exchange for Salwick,
but was exchanged back in 1200. |
| 7 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 51. Adam
de Wrea and Gerard his brother in 1200–1
gave the king 2 marks for confirmation
of their tenements; Rot. de Oblatis (Rec.
Com.), 124. Wrea paid 6s. in 1226 and
5s. tallage; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 139,
135. In 1246–8 one plough-land and three
drengages in Wrea contributed 19s. 6d.
to the demesne rents, and the drengs of
Wrea in 1248–9 paid tallage 20s.; ibid.
170, 176. In 1256–8 the three drengages paid 39s. in all, and a new rent of
21¼d. was accounted for; ibid. 221–2.
Ribby and Wrea each contributed 2 marks
tallage in 1261; ibid. 228.
In 1297 the vill of Ribby and the
free tenants of Wrea paid in all £19 11s.
yearly to the Earl of Lancaster; ibid. 289. |
| 8 |
The above-named Gerard de Wrea,
also Richard de Wrea and William his
son were benefactors of Cockersand
Abbey; Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), i, 228–9.
In 1324 John son of Jordan del Wrea
claimed a messuage, ½ oxgang of land,
&c., in Wrea against Adam son of John
Sharples; De Banco R. 253, m. 98.
Adam and John sons of John son of
Jordan del Wrea were in 1329 defendants to a claim for a messuage and
2 oxgangs of land put forward by the
representatives of three sisters, of whom
Agnes wife of Robert del Boot had a
son Richard; Margery was wife of John
son of William son of Simon de Medlar,
and Margaret was the other; Assize
R. 427, m. 3; De Banco R. 278, m.
117 d. For the Boot family see also
De Banco R. 309, m. 13; 316, m. 459;
328, m. 324.
William del Bank unsuccessfully claimed
two messuages, &c., in Wrea and Newton
against Adam del Bank and others in
1351; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m.
viii d. In the following year Thomas
Tauntaler of the Grenes did not prosecute
his suit against John son of Richard de
Newton, who seems also to have been
called John del Wrea; ibid. R, 2, m. j;
Assize R. 435, m. 4.
It was recorded in 1618 that John
Nickson of Kellamergh held a cottage
and land in Wrea of the heirs or assigns
of William de Wrea by 1½d. rent;
Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and
Ches.), ii, 88. |
| 9 |
In 1311 there was a dispute between
William son of Anabil de Preesall and
Thomas son of Robert de Rigby regarding
waste in Ribby; De Banco R. 184, m. 3. |
| 10 |
As in Little Hulton, Duxbury,
Wrightington and Goosnargh. |
| 11 |
In 1517 inquiry was made, when it
was found that the free tenants of Wrea
had always had right of pasture on Ribby
Moor; Towneley MS. OO (Singleton
rental). |
| 12 |
Duchy of Lanc. Dep. 1 Mary, Ixvi,
R 5. John Benson and James Davy,
queen's farmers of part of Ribby, Cuthbert Clifton of Westby and the lords of
the manor of Kirkham were the parties
to the dispute. It was alleged that,
large parts of the wastes of Westby and
Kirkham having been wrongfully inclosed
within the preceding twenty years, the
tenants of those manors, being short of
common, had pastured on all the waste
or moor of Ribby. The bounds of this
last began at the east end of a close
adjoining Richard Crook's house, followed
an old ditch called Raa Ditch to the east
end of Tarnbreck, thence west to Tarnbreck Cross, then along a running water
to the east end of a close by Henry
Hall's house, and thence along a running
water westward. |
| 13 |
William Skillicorne, farmer of the
king's lordships of Ribby, Wrea and
Much Singleton, not having paid the rent
due, was in 1483 ordered to be removed;
Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xix, 123.
He seems to have been excused for the
time, but was again dismissed in 1485,
being indebted to the king in great sums
of money; ibid, xx, 70 d.
Sir Richard Hoghton was steward of
the three lordships about 1550; Ducatus
Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 304. |
| 14 |
Add. MS. 32103, fol. 149. |
| 15 |
The names of the tenants are given.
Adam Adamson de Singleton held ½ oxgang
for which he paid 6s. 8d., and in lieu of
ploughing, reaping, &c., he paid 1s. 8d.—
8s. 4d. in all. He was also to give
merchet for his son or daughter and leyrwit for his son. At death all his goods
escheated to the lord, who was to discharge
debts, mortuaries, &c., and after reserving
the best beast was to give two-thirds to
the widow and children. There were
thirty-six other tenants in Ribby. |
| 16 |
Ibid. The first entry shows that a
tenement comprising a messuage, 18 acres
of land and 4 acres of pasture had lately
come into the lord's hands by default of
heir to one David of Scotland, and that
it had been divided into two moieties, held
by William son of Nicholas and Robert
son of Jordan, who paid the old rent of
3s. 1½d. and 1 mark each in addition. |
| 17 |
An extent made some time earlier
is printed in Baines' Lancs, (ed. 1870), ii,
692–3. It shows the land divided into
6 oxgangs and 30½ acres, with a total
rental of 37s. 1d., including 2 marks from
Adam de Paris for 2 oxgangs of land
formerly John le Harper's. |
| 18 |
Towneley MSS. OO. This shows
that of the king's tenants in Ribby James
Bradley paid £1 16s., Henry Newsham
18s., James Bradkirk £1 3s. 4d., a close
called Racarr 10s., James Cowper 22s.,
Richard Cronkshaw 13s. 4d., nine other
tenants 18s. each. In Wrea were free
rents of the Abbot of Vale Royal for a
barn 3s. 4d., the Earl of Derby 1s. and 2d.
in addition for Beetham lands, the heirs
of John Pearson 1s. 2d., John Culban 9d.,
William Sharples 8d., and others; the
total being 11s. 6½d. |
| 19 |
Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxiv, 1 d.;
Pat. 20 Jas. I, pt. iii. |
| 20 |
In 1670 Alexander Rigby was paying
a rent of £14 1s. 11½d. for the manor of
Ribby and Wrea; Pat. 22 Chas. II, pt. ii,
R 1. |
| 21 |
Agnes Adlington, widow, in 1537
complained that William Singleton and
others had interrupted her right of way at
Counton in Ribby, Warton Lees and Brown
Moss; Ducatus Lanc. i, 154. About
twenty years later the tenants of Ribby
had a dispute with Robert Shaw and
others respecting title to lands in the
manor; ibid, i, 303. In 1559 Robert
Shaw, Alexander Shaw and Mary his
wife, administrators of Nicholas Beconsaw, were plaintiffs in respect of a messuage called Counton; ibid, ii, 218.
From another pleading it appears that
Nicholas had been a lunatic; ibid, i, 292.
From the pedigree of Parker of Bradkirk
it appears that William Parker married
Margaret daughter of Robert Shaw of
Compton in Ribby in 1561; Fishwick,
op. cit. 180. William Parker in 1596
purchased messuages and lands in Ribby
and Wrea from Hugh Jollybrand, Isabel
his wife, Edward Dicconson, Margery his
wife, Peter Wrooe, Cecily his wife and
Margaret Rigby; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of
F. bdle. 59, m. 274. In 1598 William
Parker and Margery his wife sold a
messuage and land in Wrea to Richard
Pateson; ibid. bdle. 60, m. 111. |
| 22 |
In 1688 John Parker of Preston
gave to Christopher Parker of Bradkirk
the capital messuage of Compton in
Ribby, and by Christopher's will (1693)
Compton was to be sold; Piccope MSS.
(Chet. Lib.), iii, 112 (from the deeds of
Hugh Hornby of Ribby). In 1709 and
1719 releases of various interests in
Compton were made to Alexander Parker,
executor, and in 1720 the sale seems to
have been effected; ibid. 116, 118. |
| 23 |
Townley Rigby (the purchaser of
Bradkirk) and Grace his wife were in
1742 in possession of the manor of Ribby
alias Ribby-cum-Wrea, with messuages,
lands, &c., in Ribby; Pal. of Lanc. Feet
of F. bdle. 326, m. 100. Robert and
John Porter were the plaintiffs in this fine. |
| 24 |
The will of Lieut.-Col. Alexander
Rigby shows that he had lands in Ribby
in 1792 (Piccope, loc. cit.); but a fine of
1753 shows that the manor of Ribby was
then in the possession of Robert Hornby,
Jane his wife; Hugh Hornby, Margaret
his wife; Richard Hornby and Alice his
wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 348,
m. 240. The plaintiff in this case was
James Whalley.
From the Hornby of Ribby pedigree,
in Burke's Landed Gentry, it appears that
Robert was the father of Hughand Richard. |
| 25 |
Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1836), iv, 398.
Joseph Hornby was son of Hugh. |
| 26 |
Burke, as above: Joseph Hornby,
d. 1832; -s. Hugh, d. 1849; -s. Hugh
Hilton, d. 1877—sisters, Margaret Anne
and Mary Alice. |
| 27 |
The tenement in Wrea of Cuthbert
Clifton of Clifton was in 1512 held of the
king as of his duchy in socage; Duchy
of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 12. That in
Ribby of William Clifton of Kidsnape in
1517 was held similarly by a rent of
20d.; ibid, iv, no. 11. |
| 28 |
Robert de Newsham had land in
Ribby and Wrea in 1380; Final Conc. iii,
7. John Newsham of Newsham died in
1515 holding messuages, &c., in Wrea of
the king as duke in drengage, doing suit
at the halmote, and rendering 7d. a year;
Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 75.
George Newsham in 1585 held a messuage, &c., in socage by a rent of 4½d.;
ibid, xiv, no. 88. His son Robert sold
to John Bradley in 1591; Pal. of Lanc.
Feet of F. bdle. 53, m. 166. James
Bradley's lands in Wrea in 1617 were
held of the king partly of his honour
of Pontefract and partly of his manor of
East Greenwich; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec.
Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 80.
George Hesketh's lands in Wrea in
1571 were held of the queen as of her
duchy by the rent of 5d.; Duchy of Lanc.
Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 15.
James Sharples died in 1593 holding
a capital messuage, cottages, &c., in Wrea
of the queen by a rent of 8d. Henry his
son and heir was twelve years old; ibid,
xvi, no. 13.
Nickson was a common surname. John
son of William Nickson in 1411 gave
lands in the hamlet of Wrea in the vill
of Ribby which he had inherited from his
mother Amery to John Fleetwood;
Kuerden MSS. iii, R 12. |
| 29 |
Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc.
Lancs, and Ches.), 156. |
| 30 |
Bishop Gastrell in 1724 notes that
it had been built at the expense of the
inhabitants and that it was intended
that the schoolmaster should officiate till
some endowment could be obtained;
Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 426. The
chapel was then part of the school building. It was consecrated in 1755; Chester
Dioc. Reg. |
| 31 |
By order in Council 21 Jan. 1846. |
| 32 |
Fishwick, Kirkham, 63–5; a list of
the incumbents ii given. |
| 33 |
Notitia Cestr. loc. cit.; End. Char.
Rep. |