The parish of Bispham

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1912.

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'The parish of Bispham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp242-246 [accessed 6 October 2024].

'The parish of Bispham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online, accessed October 6, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp242-246.

"The parish of Bispham". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1912), , British History Online. Web. 6 October 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp242-246.

In this section

BISPHAM

Bispham With Norbreck; Layton With Warbreck

This small parish, definitely separated from Poulton in the 17th century, has become distinguished by the growth of Blackpool into a leading place among seaside pleasure resorts. The area is 3,983 acres, and the population in 1901 numbered 40,674, of whom all but a thousand were within the borough of Blackpool.

The Pool or the Blackpool in Layton often occurs in 17th-century documents (fn. 1); it was a peaty-coloured pool of water, discharging by a little stream which ran into the sea south of Fox Hall, (fn. 2) a mansion of the Tyldesleys of Myerscough erected about 1660 (fn. 3) and still standing in part. (fn. 4) About 1730 the place began to be a local sea-bathing resort in the summer time, (fn. 5) but William Hutton's description of his visit to it in 1788 made it known through a much larger part of the country. (fn. 6) At that time about fifty houses were scattered along a mile of the sea bank from Fox Hall northward, and the visitors numbered about 400 in the height of the season. They were largely from Manchester. The attractions were then as now the beach, the breeze and the bathing. Amusements were provided by strolling players who gave performances in a barn. (fn. 7) The development of the place was hindered by the selfish policy of house-owners who objected to the building of new dwellings lest their existing houses should suffer for lack of visitors, (fn. 8) and by defective communication, the only approach being from Preston by roads unfit for vehicles. (fn. 9)

A 'commodious public room,' furnished with books, magazines and papers, was erected about 1800. (fn. 10) A free school was built in 1817 (fn. 11) and a chapel of ease to Bispham in 1821. (fn. 12) About 1825 there were three coaches to Preston daily and a daily postal delivery. (fn. 13) An outbreak of cholera in 1832 raised the reputation of Blackpool, which was quite free from the plague. (fn. 14) The Preston and Wyre railway brought passengers to Poulton in 1840, and six years later a branch line was formed to Blackpool itself; a second and more direct line through Lytham was opened in 1861, and a third, through Marton, in 1903 for the summer traffic.

These facilities have brought a continuously increasing number of visitors, and improvements in the town itself have kept pace with the requirements of the times. In 1847 water was supplied by the Fylde Waterworks Company—since 1898 taken over by a public board—and in 1853 gas was introduced by the local board. The electric light is now used in the principal streets. An electric tramway was opened in 1885. The Parade or Promenade along the sea front, one of the original features of the place, was extended and improved in 1870, when a formal opening took place. More recently it has been further extended and greatly increased in width, and now has a length of over 3 miles. The North Pier was opened in 1863, the Central Pier in 1868 and Victoria Pier, South Shore, in 1893. (fn. 15) The tower, which was formed in 1891 and rises about 500 ft. from the ground, and the great wheel, about 200 ft. in diameter, 1896, are other popular attractions. Raikes Hall, first built about 1760, (fn. 16) and the residence of the Hornbys from 1834 to 1860, was for that time the principal mansion. It was afterwards used in various ways, the grounds becoming pleasure gardens. Claremont Park was formed in 1862. There are theatres and opera houses, winter gardens and other places of amusement; also markets, hospitals, technical school and free libraries. The cemetery, north-east of the town, was opened in 1873.

South Shore, formerly a separate village to the south of Blackpool, (fn. 17) has shared in the growth of the latter, and now forms one town with it.

The Territorial force is represented by part of a battery of the 2nd West Lancashire Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery.

Blackpool gives a name to one of the parliamentary divisions of the county.

The agricultural land remaining in the parish is thus occupied (fn. 18) :—

Arable land ac. Permanent grass ac. Woods and plantations ac.
Bispham and Norbreck 200½ 946 1
Blackpool 315 1,465
515½ 2,411

The county lay fixed in 1624 provided that Bispham and Norbreck should pay £2 3s. 4d. and Layton with Warbreck £2 6s. 6½d. when £100 was levied upon Amounderness. (fn. 19) The more ancient fifteenth required £1 5s. 4d. and £1 7s. 2½d. respectively, showing the same relative valuation. (fn. 20)

Church

The early history of the church or ALL HALLOWS (fn. 21) is obscure. It appears to have been a parish church reduced to the condition of a chapel after its grant to Lancaster Priory. (fn. 22) A chapelry it remained until the 17th century, being so described in the Church Survey of 1650. (fn. 23) Both before and afterwards Bispham is found more or less clearly recognized as an independent parish, (fn. 24) and one Richard Higginson, citizen of London, 'out of a pious sense of the great blindness of the parishioners,' having rebuilt the church, offered in 1658 to provide a free school and to settle £40 a year 'towards the maintenance of such godly and painful preacher of the Gospel as shall be from time to time settled there.' (fn. 25) The church appears to have been but irregularly served, either then or after the Restoration, when it again became a chapel under Poulton, being so described at the bishop's visitation in 1677. Ten years later, however, it was called 'the parish church of Bispham.' (fn. 26) No Act of Parliament seems to have been obtained.

That the patron of Poulton concurred in, or more probably obtained the separation which gave him an additional piece of patronage, is shown by the gifts of Richard Fleetwood, which in 1717 constituted the greater part of the endowment. The certified income at that time was only £8 a year. (fn. 27) The present income is said to be £200 a year. (fn. 28) Mr. C. H. Fleetwood-Hesketh is the patron.

The church stands at the north end of the village, and is a stone building erected in 1883 on the foundations (fn. 29) of an older structure. It consists of chancel, with organ chamber on the north and vestry on the south side, wide aisleless nave, south porch and west tower. The building is of a rather plain Gothic style with rough stone facings and blue slated roof, and the tower, which is 61 ft. high, has angle pinnacles. No authentic record has been preserved of the old church, but that a structure of some importance stood here in the 12 th century is evident from the Norman doorway which still remains within the south porch. The church as rebuilt by Richard Higginson is said to have consisted of a chancel, (fn. 30) nave, south porch and a low but strong west tower and to have been constructed of red sandstone from Furness It had a double gabled roof supported at the junction of the gables by a row of black oak croob, or piers down the centre, (fn. 31) and the east window was of three narrow lights. The pews were of black oak, and there was a gallery at the west end. This building, however, was unroofed and gutted in 1773, practically only the tower and the Norman arch being left untouched, and a new wide aisleless nave erected. The chancel seems at the same time to have been either curtailed or pulled down altogether. The 18th-century church finally gave place in 1883 to the present building. No sufficient evidence exists to enable us to trace the development of the old plan, but the position of the tower, which is considerably to the south of the centre line of the nave, suggests that the mediaeval building was a narrow aisleless church, occupying approximately the south half of the present nave, its south wall being in the same position. The position of the Norman door further suggests that the mediaeval church was largely a rebuilding of the 12th-century one, a tower being added on the west end, and in later times the structure being enlarged northward by a widening of the nave. During the demolition of 1883 the head of a three-light window, apparently belonging to the 17th-century building, was found in one of the walls, and it is now built into the north wall of the porch. The Norman arch appears to have stood untouched till 1883, when it was pulled down, the stones numbered, and rebuilt again in its original position. It had been long covered with whitewash, and when this was removed it was discovered that the stones forming the middle order had carved upon them the signs of the Zodiac. (fn. 32) The crab, the bull, the virgin could be easily recognized, the scales and the scorpion were less distinct, and the rest were almost defaced. The arch consists of three orders, the inner one being quite plain and the outer carved with the cheveron ornament. The two outer orders spring from circular shafts with cushion capitals and moulded bases. Unfortunately in the rebuilding the whole of the stonework was rechiselled and the Zodiacal carving was entirely recut. (fn. 33)

An ancient stoup of roughly hewn stone, which for many yean lay in the churchyard, has been built into the north wall of the tower in the interior, and on the north wall of the nave are four 18th-century brasses to members of the Veale family of Whinney Heys, and a chest in the vestry has the initials of the four churchwardens, together with the figure 12, probably for 1712. (fn. 34)

There is one bell cast from two older ones by Mears & Stainbank in 1883.

The plate consists of a chalice of 1608, inscribed 'The gift of Ann, daughter to John Bamber, to ye churche of All Hallows in Bispham. Delivered by John Corrit 1704'; a silver-gilt chalice of Sheffield make, 1908, and a plated paten and flagon.

The register of baptisms begins in 1599, but after 1603 nearly thirty years are missing, after which the entries continue till 1652, and are then wanting till 1661. They are also missing between October 1670 and June 1672. There is no register of marriages till 1632, and between 1645 and 1697 only one marriage is recorded. The burials begin in 1632, but are missing between 1651 and 1678. (fn. 35) The first five volumes (1599–1754) have been printed. (fn. 36)

The churchyard has been twice enlarged, on the north-west in 1888 and on the south-west in 1902. On the south side is a sundial on a stone shaft, which is probably a portion of the old churchyard cross. It stands on two steps, the lower one of which is circular and the second octagonal on plan. The plate bears the date 1704, together with the motto 'Die dies Truditur,' and the name of John Hull and that of the maker, Jon Heblethwaite. John Hull was probably the donor of the dial, the initials I.H. being carved on the north side of the stone shaft. On the west side, nearer the bottom, are the initials R.B. roughly cut in an upright position. (fn. 37)

The following have been curates (fn. 38) and vicars or rectors:—

oc. 1598 Michael Rigmaiden (fn. 39)
oc. 1610 — Walkden (fn. 40)
oc. 1614 Robert Brodbelt (fn. 41)
oc. 1634–44 Robert Freckleton (fn. 42)
oc. 1646 John Sumpner (fn. 43)
oc. 1648 John Fisher (fn. 44)
oc. 1651–4 John Berkeley (fn. 45)
? 1674 Robert Wayte (fn. 46)
1690 Thomas Riley (fn. 47)
1692 Thomas Sollom (fn. 48)
1693 Jonathan Hayton (fn. 49)
? 1725 Christopher Albin, B.A. (fn. 50) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1753 Roger Freckleton, M.A. (fn. 51) (Emmanuel Coll., Camb.)
1760 Ashton Werden, LL.B. (fn. 52) (T.C.D.)
1767 John Armetriding, B.A. (Trinity Coll., Camb.)
1791 William Elston, B.A. (fn. 53) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1831 Charles Hesketh, M.A. (fn. 54) (Trinity Coll., Oxf.)
1837 Bennett Williams, B.A. (fn. 55) (Queen's Coll., Oxf.)
1850 Henry Powell (fn. 56)
1857 William Abraham Mocatta, M.A. (fn. 57) (T.C.D.)
1861 James Leighton (fn. 58)
1874 Charles Stead Hope, M.A. (fn. 59) (Sidney Sussex Coll., Camb.)
1876 Francis John Dickson, M.A. (fn. 60) (Trinity Coll., Camb.)
1885 George Leighton, M.A. (Dur.)

The school above named, which was not the first, (fn. 61) was founded in 1659. (fn. 62) Provided by a Puritan, it is noteworthy that it was in 1689 licensed as a meeting-place for Presbyterians. (fn. 63) They probably obtained another building, the existence of which was remembered in 1837. (fn. 64)

The Wesleyans and the Congregationalists (fn. 65) now have churches within the township of Bispham.

Charities

Apart from educational and religious benefactions the only charities (fn. 66) endowed are the Foxton Dispensary and the Victoria Hospital, both of recent foundation in Blackpool. The former is due to a bequest of £6,000 in 1878 by Mrs. Catherine Dauntesey Foxton of Agecroft Hall; the dispensary in Clifton Street, Blackpool, is for the benefit of the poor of the borough and of the parish of Poulton. The endowment fund of the hospital amounted to £5,422 in 1898.

Footnotes

  • 1. It seems to be the Pool named in Cockersand charters c. 1250, and among the possessions of Sir William Boteler in 1415; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 113. If so, it was called a 'manor' in 1539 and later; see the account of Layton. In the Bispham registers of 1602 are entries of Bamber of Pool and Cowban of Blackpool. Richard Bamber of Carleton about 1630 had a tenement 'in le Pool commonly called Blackpool'; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 122. An account by Mr. C. Roeder is printed in Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xviii, 1, with map and views.
  • 2. It now forms the main sewer. The Pool proper was on the east side of the hall, about half a mile from the sea. It was gradually reclaimed, and had been turned into meadow land by 1788. 'Pool,' however, is often used for the mouth of a stream. The map of 1751 (by E. Bowen) in Mr. Roeder's essay shows Marton Mere drained by the Pool, which is impossible.
  • 3. For an account of it see Fishwick, Bispham (Chet. Soc), 105–14. After the Revolution it is said to have been used by its owners and other Jacobites as a rendezvous, being then in a lonely spot on the coast. There are many references to it in the Tyldesley Diary, with a view. Agatha Tyldesley of Blackpool, widow of Thomas Tyldesley, registered her estate as a 'Papist' in 1717. She had an annuity of £20 out of the estate of her son Edward and a freehold house called Fox Hall; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 109.
  • 4. Hutton thought it 'in ruins' in 1788. There is a description of its condition about 1837 in Thornber, op. cit. 71–2. It was then divided into two dwellings, and part was used for a beershop. The surviving part is used as a public-house.
  • 5. The old cottages in Blackpool 'were formed of clay, plastered upon wattles, the roof and the whole fabric being supported by crooks, and the interior open to the thatch, which was generally of rush in the place of straw; and they contained a large capacious chimney, above which was erected what was termed a soot loft, the depository of lumber, forming a canopy over the family hearth. Near the door, to keep out the cold air, was a "speere," better known by the name of "God speed stoop," perforated with a small light, to guard the door. These buildings fronted the south, a position so usual that, whatever views another aspect might command, this general custom was never broken'; ibid. 196. The turf stack and the dunghill stood before the door; ibid. 201. The same writer (p. 199) states that the first habitation fitted up for visitors was a long thatched building owned by Ethart a Whiteside, c. 1750. Having married a Welsh woman who proved to be 'the only cook in the place,' he ventured to cater for the public and prospered for half a century. Everything had then to be brought from Poulton, there being no market or shop at Blackpool. In 1754 Pococke noted: 'At Blackpool, near the sea, are accommodations for people who come to bathe'; Travels through England (Camd. Soc), ii, 6. An early inn sign is printed in Lancs. and Ches. Hist, and Gen. Notes, ii, 183.
  • 6. There were three editions: London, 1804; Kirkham, c. 1805; Preston, 1817; Fishwick, Lancs. Lib. It was a small pamphlet of some fifty pages. He says: 'When I intended to visit it, with my family, I neither knew, nor could learn, any particulars respecting its appearance or accommodations,' and desired to make its merits better known. He states that there was 'neither hedge nor tree in the whole neighbourhood.'
  • 7. These particulars are from Hutton. He 'frequently visited the adjacent farmers for intelligence and found the people extremely civil and very communicative.' He was not impressed by the 'Lancashire Witches.'
  • 8. Thornber, op. cit. 216.
  • 9. Hutton considered the roads good, 'safe and easy for the traveller,' but they lacked milestones, so that owners of post chaises were able to overcharge. Thornber, on the other hand, referring to a little earlier time, says: 'The highway to Preston was unpaved—in winter and in a rainy summer it was next to impassable; in fact, about sixty years ago [from 1837] the pack horse was the only mode of conveyance for grain or passengers from this quarter, and "Darby and Joan" trotted to market and church beguiling the way in family chat on a sociable pillion'; op. cit. 208. In another place (p. 293) he states that on account of the bad roads 'carriages were not then in use; in fact, carts in winter were laid aside about home. Miss Bold, on her way to Rossall Hall after her nuptials with Fleetwood Hesketh, esq. [1759], travelled attended by her bridesmaids on a palfrey covered with silver net trappings, a coach even at that period being too cumbersome for the soft nature of the highways, which were neither paved nor coated on the surface with gravel.' A Manchester and Blackpool coach was advertised in 1783; Roeder.
  • 10. Preface to Hutton, Descr. of Blackpool (ed. 2); Baines, Lancs. Dir. ii, 528.
  • 11. Thornber, op. cit. 230.
  • 12. Ibid. 231–3. An attempt had been made as early as 1789 to provide a church building, but had failed; ibid. 209. The morals of the people were low; ibid. 203–4. Some illustrative anecdotes are given, ibid. 74, 77–9. Smuggling was carried on; pp. 205–6.
  • 13. Baines, Dir. ii, 528; in winter the post came every other day. 'Mr. Cooke, an American loyalist who was driven from his home during the revolutionary wars to labour for a livelihood at Blackpool, was the originator of this post, which commenced by travelling to Kirkham three times each week during the season. . . . Mr. Cooke was for many years the Beau Nash of Blackpool; he died in 1820 and was buried at Bispham'; Thornber, op. cit. 237.
  • 14. Ibid. 225. A description of the place about 1830 is given in Whittle's Marina, with a view.
  • 15. Steamers sail in the season not only for short pleasure trips but for the Isle of Man, Barrow and other places.
  • 16. Tradition relates how a Mr. Butcher of Blackpool suddenly sprang into consequence from comparative poverty and commenced the building of Raikes Hall to the astonishment of his neighbours, who, ignorant whence the necessary funds were obtained, conceived with some probability that his constant visits to the sea shore had been rewarded by the discovery of the wealth of three sisters lost in a vessel which was wrecked about the time upon the coast. . . . His son, a wretched hypochondriac, as if conscious that he had no title to the wealth he inherited, shunned the light of day and was tormented with the horrible fancy that an industrious cordwainer had taken up his abode and laboured at his daily task within his body, which (in his depraved imagination) he supposed to be of glass'; Thornber, op. cit. 259.
  • 17. The first house was built there in 1819; Thornber, op. cit. 344.
  • 18. a Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
  • 19. Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 23.
  • 20. Ibid. 19.
  • 21. This dedication is witnessed in 1530 by the will of George Allen of Rossall; Fishwick, Poulton (Chet. Soc), 126.
  • 22. In the charters it is sometimes called the 'church' and sometimes the 'chapel' of Bispham; e.g. Lanc. Ch. i, 117, 124. It was the former in 1196; Final Conc, i, 6. In a grant by William Ie Boteler apparently early in the reign of Henry III. Bispham is distinctly called the mother church of Layton; Lanc. Ch. ii, 436.
  • 23. Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 151. It was then considered to have been a parish church in former times, with two townships, and the inhabitants desired that they might again be made a parish and have a competent maintenance allowed, the minister at that time having only the Easter dues, worth about £5.
  • 24. For example, in 1646 'the rectory of All Hallows in the Chapelry of Bispham'; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 28.
  • 25. Ibid, ii, 221.
  • 26. In the record of the gift of £10 a year by Richard Fleetwood; Ch. Papers at Chester. In 1686 a return of the minister and churchwardens of the parish of Bispham' to the bishop's articles of inquiry gives some interesting particulars. The fabric of the church was 'in good repair and decency'; there were a stone font, with cover, a communion table, with carpet and linen cloth, two cups and a flagon, and a fair surplice. There was neither vicarage house nor glebe land. The minister resided and was of sober life, bidding and observing holy days and fasts. The schoolmaster instructed his scholars in the catechism of the Church of England. The parish clerk was 'chosen by the minister and approved by the parish.' Similar replies were made in later years. In 1725 Mr. Albin administered the sacrament five times a year.
  • 27. Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 398; land given by Richard Fleetwood was worth £5 a year, Easter dues £3, and in 1687 a rent-charge of £10 had been given by the patron. There were four churchwardens, two chosen by the minister and two by the parish. It is noteworthy that Gastrell says nothing as to the former dependence of Bispham on Poulton or as to the patronage.
  • 28. Manch. Dioc. Dir. Augmentations were granted by private benefactors and Queen Anne's Bounty, invested in the purchase of Layton tithes; Fishwick, Bispham, 27.
  • 29. With an extension eastward.
  • 30. 'Mr. Fleetwood's own chancel' is mentioned in 1705.
  • 31. Fishwick, Hist, of Bispham, 28. Thornber, however, in his Hist, of Blackpool, 320, states that 'a row of semicircular arches supported on three plain round pillars ran from the chancel to the font,' and says his description of the church is based on the authority of two parishioners who had worshipped in the old building. But there may be some confusion here with Whitaker's account of Poulton Church (Richmondshire, ii, 441–2). Thornber further states, however, that the new roof in 1773 was formed 'by raising the walls with the materials of the displaced pillars.'
  • 32. There are fourteen stones, the two springers being carved with a cheveron ornament.
  • 33. The carvings are very good specimens of modern sculpture, but the loss of the original 12th-century work is greatly to be deplored.
  • 34. The inscription reads; RB | TB | IB | AG | CW. 12. The chest appears to be of 18th-century date.
  • 35. Fishwick, op. cit. 71.
  • 36. Lancs. Parish Reg. Soc. Publ. xxxiii (1908). Transcribed by W. E. Robinson.
  • 37. These are said to be the initials of Robert Brodbelt, parish clerk 1678–1715, cut by him in hours of leisure while resting on the steps. He was what is known as a 'character.'
  • 38. Some of the earlier names are taken from Fishwick, op. cit. 37–66, where biographical notices will be found. He also gives William Silcock, curate in 1530, and William Corwyn, 1552, attesting the scanty list of church goods (ibid. 25). From the visitation lists at Chester — Souters appears to have been there in 1554 and Thomas Hankinson in 1562.
  • 39. Visit. List at Chester Dioc. Reg.
  • 40. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 9; he was 'no preacher.' In 1604 there was communion only once a year—at Eaiter; Visit Papers at Chester. In 1605 the curate was presented to the bishop for nonconformity, but he said that he observed the Book of Common Prayer and would do so; ibid.
  • 41. He served Lytham also at one time; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 124. He died in 1674, being described as 'minister of Bispham.' The ministers recorded down to 1674 may have been acting for him.
  • 42. See the account of Poulton Church.
  • 43. In the Commonwealth period an income of £50 a year was given to the minister of Bispham out of the sequestered estates of Royalists, Sumpner being there in 1646; Plund. Mini. Accts. i, 13.
  • 44. He signed the Agreement of the People as pastor, but had gone before 1650.
  • 45. Appointed in 1651; Plund. Mins. Accts. i, 104, 142.
  • 46. In the visitation list of 1674 he is called Robert Wayte alias Ward, curate; and in 1677 he showed letters of orders— deacon 1668 and priest 1674—but no licence. He died in 1689.
  • 47. No curate occurs in the lists of 1689 and 1691, so that Riley's tenure was very brief.
  • 48. From this time the nominations of the curates have been preserved in the diocesan registry at Chester, Richard Fleetwood and hissuccessors beingpatrons.
  • 49. He was resident and held no other benefice, according to replies to articles of inquiry 1703–12. He died in 1728.
  • 50. Pedigree in Fishwick, op. cit. 55. This incumbent, who was acting (perhaps as curate) in 1723 and as 'minister' in 1725, is commemorated by a brass plate in Bispham Church and a tombstone in Poulton Church. He died in 1753.
  • 51. He had been curate of Maghull.
  • 52. In 1762 he resided at Poulton: he had no other brnefice.
  • 53. Nominated by his father, Thomas Elston of Blackpool. For an anecdote of him see Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. i, 125.
  • 54. Also vicar of Poulton; afterwards rector of North Meols.
  • 55. Had licence of non-residence in 1847. Became rector of Bramshall.
  • 56. He had been a missionary in India, and in 1857 became vicar of Bolton-leMoors, &c.
  • 57. Afterwards vicar of St. Thomas', St. Helens.
  • 58. Formerly a missionary in India; rector of Harpurhey 1884.
  • 59. Vicar of Holy Trinity, Southport, 1876–1909.
  • 60. Vicar of Ribchester 1885.
  • 61. Fishwick, op. cit. 67.
  • 62. End. Char. Rep. for Bispham. The founder charged £30 for maintenance on lands, &c, which had belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, so that the endowment failed at the Restoration. His widow Elizabeth (who married John Amherst) gave £200 for the school, so that all might not be lost, and land was purchased in Layton. This became very valuable owing to the growth of Blackpool, and the £200 is represented by nearly £10,000 in consols, yielding £250 a year.
  • 63. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 232.
  • 64. Thornber, Blackpool, 322. Some account of the congregation, which seems to have died out about the end of the 18th century, will be found in Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. i, 116. The chapel is noted by Gastrell, Notitia, ii, 398. About 1730 the 'teacher' was Thomas Cooper. There were 126 families in the parish in 1755, viz. 122 Protestants, 3 Presbyterians, and 1 Papist; Return to the Bishop of Chester.
  • 65. The chapel, called Bethel, was built in 1834, after some years' preaching. See Nightingale, op. cit. i, 119–21. There is a small endowment; End. Char. Rep. 1899, p. 7.
  • 66. An official inquiry was made in 1898. The report, including a reprint of that of 1824, was published in 1899.