Newton-le-Willows

WINWICK : ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
By WILLIAM BEAMONT. Second Edition, 1878

CONTENTS.

Part 1. Etymology of Winwick.
Part 2. Oswald, King of Northumbria.
Part 3. The Domesday Survey.
Part 4. The Church.
Part 5a. The Rectors of Winwick. 1192 - 1520
Part 5b. The Rectors of Winwick. 1520 - 1610
Part 5c. The Rectors of Winwick. 1610 - 1659
Part 5d. The Rectors of Winwick. 1659 - 1764
Part 5e. The Rectors of Winwick. 1764 - 1866
Part 6. The Winwick Chantries.
Part 7. The Grammar School.
Part 8. Some Winwick Antiquities.
Part 9. Some Winwick Names and Notabilities.
Part 10. Some Funeral Inscriptions in the Church and Churchyard.
Part 11. Bibliography

SOME WINWICK NAMES AND NOTABILITIES.

The whole of Winwick having from very early times been the patrimony of the Church, had not, as was the case in most of our other Lancashire towns, any great landowner who took his name from the place ; still from time to time there have been a few persons for the most part connected with the Church who have borne the local name, and such of these as appear the. most remarkable have been extracted from old charters and documents, and will be found in the following list.

I.—Richard de Winwick. When Roger of Poictou gave the Church of Winwick to the canons of St. Oswald, Richard, the parson of Winwick, is said to have held two parts, and Robert de Waleton the third part, and the same Richard is said also to have held a carucate of land by knight's service de antiquitate.(160)

II.—William de Winwick, during the reign of Rich. I., between 1193 and 1199, was a witness to the foundation charter of Cockersand Priory;(161) and in 3 John, 1202, he accounted for x. marks and ii. palfreys, which he was to give for xxx. acres of land.(162) He also held v. carucates of the King in thanage, for which he paid xxs. a year.(163) The historian of Lancashire thinks that this William, who is mentioned also in the Testa de Nevil, was the son of Robert de Waleton.(164)

III.—Sir Richad de Winwick, about the beginning of Hen. III.'s reign, was witness to a charter of the third William de Lancaster; and Thomas de Elburg, the name next following his, was probably Thomas de Herbury or Arbury, the township which adjoins Winwick.(165)

IV.—Alicia de Winwick, filia Willielmi de Winwick, in viduitate sua, about the year 1245, released to the Abbot of Dieulacresse her vilein Richard FitzAlen, with all his issue.(166) Although she had been married Alicia resumed her maiden name after her husband's death.ft

V.—Margaret de Winwick, probably another daughter of the above William, married Michael de Carleton, without licence, for which in 5 Hen. III. (1221) he paid a fine to the King. In 42 Hen. III. (1257) she died seized of ii. carucates of land in Thornton in Amounderness. In the same year Richard de Thornton, then of full age, was found to be her heir;(167) she is also called by her maiden name after her husband's death. (168)

VI.—Alice, daughter of Hugh de Winwick, married William, son of Adam de Lowton, towards the end of the reign of Hen. III- (169)

VII.—Robert Fitz Gilbert de Wynewyk, about I259 gave Richd. le Boteler half an acre of land in Eccleston.(170)

VIII.—Sir Peter de Winwick, who is mentioned in a charter of 1305 was admitted chaplain of the Haydoc chantry, 3 Kal. June 1330.(171) In 1293 he was styled Dominus Petrus capellanus parochialis de Winwick.(172) In 1299 he occurs as a witness to several charters(173) and in 6 Ed. III., 1333, Sir Gilbert de Hadyoc styles him Sir Piers de Winwick. (174)

IX.—Walter de Winwick, who occurs as witness to a charter of Adam de Bredkirk, in or about the year 1311(175) is also witness to a deed of Henry de Lancaster.(176)

X.—Richard and William de Winwick, were appointed by the sheriff of Lancashire his bailiffs to levy the wages of the knights of the shire in 15 Ed. Ill.(177)

XI.—John, son of Robert le Taillour de Wyne-quik, was one of the men said to have been sent by Gilbert de Sutheworthe to the aid of Thomas Earl of Lancaster against the King in 15 Ed. II., 1322, for which offence Gilbert was indicted. (178) Fighting men, it seems, were to be found at Winwick in early times, and those Winwick men, who at a later time joined the Duke of Hamilton, were therefore only following an old example. In 9 Ed. II. (1315) this John Fitz Robert Cissor is a witness to one of the Lyme deeds, and a cast of his seal is in the Warrington Museum.

XII.—Robert de Winwick was master of Peter House in Cambridge in 1330, but he was probably not of our Lancashire family, though a Robert Fitz Robert, calling himself in a deed of Sir Gilbert de Haydoc in 1340 Robert Fritz Robert de Wenike, certainly was so.(179)

XIII.—Richard, son of Hugh and Alice de Winwick, occurs among the Boteler tenants in 1332.

XIV.—John de Winwick was witness to a composition between the monks of Kirkby and the house of Burton Lazars.(180) But this John may have been of the other Winwick near to Burton Lazars.

XV.—John de Winwick, who in 16 Ed. III. (1342) was instituted to St. Michael's chapel, in Shrewsbury, in 1345 had letters of protection on going beyond sea on the King's service.(181) In 1352 he became rector and dominus burgi de Wigan, when he set out and established a claim to all the borough liberties.(182) A long account of this John and several of his family, who was certainly a Lancashire man, will be found in the Lancashire Chantries and the corrigenda of that work.

XVI.—Monsieur Richard de Winwick, who in 1362 was trustee for William Boteler of the advowson of Warrington, (183) was summoned as Richard de Winwick clericus, as a witness in the Scrope and Grosvenor controversy. He was afterwards canon of Lincoln, and he founded a chantry at Huyton for the repose of the soul of his brother, treasurer of St. Peter's at York, who was buried at Huyton.(184) When canon of Lichfield he was sent by the Abbot of Vale Royal to Rome to obtain the consent of Pope Urban V. to the appropriation of a Welsh living.(185)" The John to whom he was heir was the John last before mentioned. On Wednesday before Holy Rood day, 15 Ric. II., Richard was a feoffee of the Molineux estates,(186) and in 7 Hen. IV. he was named by Mathew de Haydoc chaplain of the Winwick chantry to be his attorney.

XVII.—Thomas Stanley, afterwards Sir Thomas Stanley, knight, the second son of Edward, third Earl of Derby, following a then common but most reprehensible practice, in 3 Elizabeth, 1563, took from the rector, with the bishop's and patron's consent, a lease of the rectory, glebe and tithes of Winwick, (187) for the term of ninety- nine years, at the yearly rent of £200. The lessee and not the rector seems then to have taken up his residence in the rectory, and he is mentioned in the Proceedings of the Lancashire Lieutenancy as still living there.(188) Sir Thomas, who married Margaret, the daughter of Sir George Vernon (the King of the Peak), was probably the same person who from 1562 to 1566 was governor of the Isle of Man, and who died on 18 Deer., 1576, at Walthamstow, and was buried there.

XVIII.—Sir Edward Stanley, knight of the Bath, of Tonge Castle, in Shropshire, and of Eynsham, son and heir of Sir Thomas, seems like him to have made the rectory at Winwick his occasional residence.(189) Sir Edward married Lucy, daughter of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who for engaging in the northern insurrection, was attainted of high treason, and executed on 22 August, 1572. Sir Edward was made a knight of the Bath by James I. at Greenwich on Sunday, 24 July, 1603(190) He died 16 June, 1632, and was buried at Eynsham. His wife died before him, and was buried at Walthamstow. Their only son Thomas, who had died an infant before them, was buried at Winwick, and their four daughters became the heirs. On the 29 June, 1586, another Sir Edward Stanley, uncle of the former, wrote a letter from his nephew's house at Win-wick, asking his brother, the Earl of Derby, to use his good offices with the Archbishop of Canterbury, to appoint his friend John Kine one of the proctors of the Court of Arches.(191) Over the grave of the first Sir Edward is the following inscription :-—

Hie jacet corpus Edvardi Stanley, equitis balnei (filii Thomse, comitis Derby filii), obiit 18 June, 1632, aetatis sua? 69. Petronilla Stanley, filia posuit.(192)

XIX.—Sir John Fortescue, who had married Sir Edward's daughter Harriet, was living at Winwick Hall in April, 1643.

XX.—Thomas Brotherton, M.P. for Newton, son of Thomas Brotherton of the Inner Temple, in 1627 was living at the Hey in 1695. He adhered to the cause of the exiled monarch James II., and spoke frequently on his behalf in the House.(193) An ancestor of his of the same name, who was living at the Hey in the time of James I., had in his possession a MS. by Mr. Urmston on the state of religion in Lancashire in the time of Jas. I.(194) In consequence of some quarrel with Sir Peter Legh, one of Mr. Brotherton's ancestors is called in the Legh MS. of 1465, "Jak of the Hey' (195)

Another of the Brothertons, probably the member's son Thomas, became a doctor of divinity.

XXI.—Sir Phipps Hornby, the third son of the Reverend Geoffrey Hornby, a former rector of Winwick, entered the royal navy, and rose to distinction in the service. On the 13th March, 1811, he was in command of the frigate Volage in the squadron which encountered the combined fleets of France and Italy off the Island of Lissa, when the English, with an inferior force, obtained a great victory, and Captain Hornby secured the flag of the French ship, which struck to the Volage, and it was hung up in Winwick Church, where it still hangs. On his return home to Winwick, his neighbours, proud of the share their village hero had taken in the fight, welcomed him at a public dinner given under the Winwick broad oak, a remarkable tree, with a .round wide spreading top, where on the 26 Aug., 1811, a numerous party sat down to congratulate their friend and commemorate the occasion. Loyal toasts were drunk, and the following songs written for the occasion were sung:-

Winwick (written by Mr. Fitchett.)
Tune, " Death of Abercrombie."

1-
Tow'rd the fair Isle of Lissa, her rocks to defend,
Their fleet o'er the main France and Italy send ;
In confident pride their flags beam on the day,
When England's small squadron encounters their way :
Thrice in number, the foe easy victory boast,
"But tho' few dare the combat, they'll fight with a Hoste.
2-
See the signal of glory streams lofty in air,
" Think on Nelson "—enough—England's heroes prepare.
Hark! the loud British thunder receives the first van,
And the spirit of Nelson inspires every man ;
" To the mast nail the colours," brave Hornby did cry,
" England's flag never strikes: we will conquer or die."
3-
Thro' sulphurous darkness, where throng'd cannons roar,
To enclose the few English they press to the shore,
Death flies wing'd on lightnings, o'er every deck,
And soon the proud foe sees his ships but a wreck,
They dash on the rocks, blaze in flames to the sky,
Or o'er the red ocean in terror they fly.
4-
Firm as England's own cliffs, her invincible tar,
Now has brav'd all the fury of desperate war,
The death-shroud of smoke passes o'er the low sun,
When victory smiles, and the battle is done—
The wounded, the dead, first their piety share,
Then to heaven the survivors yield gratitude's prayer.
5-
Oh! sad were the captives, and silent each crew,
They lament their fall'n hero, the brave Dubourdieu,
Their hopes and their glory lost, humbled they see,
And that Britons must ever reign lords of the sea,
Nor does England refuse her own generous tear,
For the conqueror mourns o'er his enemy's bier.
6-
Now home to old England, her shield and her boast,
Sons of Nelson she welcomes—each hero a host;
Her joy needs no language, her eloquent tear
Speaks a parent's affection, how sacred, how dear!
Spread the song and the shout, give their names to renown,
And adorn her spared warriors with victory's crown.
7-
Beneath their own oak, England's favourite tree,
Hung with wreaths of true blue, shall the festival be,
For them the bright circle, in hall and in bower,
With the feast and the dance shall prolong the gay hour.,
Health, honour, and fortune shall smile o'er their days,
And the dear lips of beauty shall carol their praise. ,
8-
Hush'd too be the sorrow, and soothed be the sigh,
That mourns for the brave in the ocean who lie,
For their country they fell, oh ! serene be their sleep,
Nor are they o'erlook'd in the far rolling deep,
Heaven mark'd them with favour, when low they were laid,
And exalts them to glory that never shall fade.

Winwick. (written by mr. green.),
Tune: " Aristippus's Rules."

When fame for Great Britain had blown a long blast,
As one naval action another surpass'd ;
The nations around were as silent as death,
And hoped Nelson's fall had exhausted her breath,
She reclined on the urn of her hero awhile.
And then rising up with a confident smile,
She snatch'd up her trumpet and gave such a sound,
As made all the shores Adriatic resound.
2-
This sea, though long famous in classical lore,
Such a glorious action ne'er witness'd before;
For but four small frigates of true British make
Made the best naval heroes of Bonaparte quake.
Of three times the number of guns they thought light,
For victory follows where'er Britons fight,
A line was soon form'd by Britannia's brave sons,
In which was the Volage of twenty-two guns.
3-
A tight little ship as e'er dashed through the flood,
And the captain and crew of the right sort of blood,
The crew were all Britons, and that's a proud thing,
And the Captain's great ancestor died for his King,
Oh! what rebel Frenchman, the Corsican's slave,
Could contend with a hero so loyal and brave?
AThe Imperial Ensign and Eagle gave way,
And Derby's proud Eagle soar'd high on that day.
4-
The British in 'every sea are alike;
Like Bingham, though riddled, they never will strike,
But what will mankind to such perfidy say?
The French strike their colours, and then run away.
Sure Fame shall continue Great Britain to greet,
While so many Nelsons are found in her fleet,
And defy all the world, when united, to boast
A Gordon, a Whitby, a Hornby, a Hoste.

The occasion was also celebrated in some Latin verses, by a local bard, of which the following is a translation:—

The oak speaks.
Renowned for generous shade,
behold in me a monarch oak of thrice a century;
Ye kindred trees, let memory cease to dwell,
On those sad days, when struck by fate ye fell,
And turn to when, beneath my verdant shade,
a social throng the votive banquet made ;

And hail'd him safe who war's dire perils o'er,
The laurels earned in fight at Lissa wore, Vain !
Aif they hoped by union with my name,
To add more lasting honours to his fame,
Since I must yield to time's relentless sway,
Resign my bark and cast my leaves away,
While Hornby's name unhurt by chance or fate,
Unchanging still, shall be for ever great.

On the 4th February, 1850, while Captain Hornby was living and had been knighted and made an admiral, the broad oak, a beautiful and time-honoured ornament of Winwick, was blown down by the wind, to the great grief of the neighbourhood; and the Latin bard's prophecy that the hero's name should survive it was thus in part fulfilled.(196)

In our own day Winwick has had the honour of having given the bench two bishops, Dr. Claughton, Bishop of St. Alban's, and Dr. Piers Claughton, ex-Bishop of Colombo.

(160) Hist. Lanc. I. 241.
(161) Testa de Nevil, 405, 6.
(162) Hist. Richmondshire, II. 329, and Hist. Lanc I. 280 ;
(163) Hist. Lanc. III. 620.
(164) Ibid.
(165) Ibid. I., 282. 1" Burn's Hist. Westmoreland, 123, 33.
(166) Dodsworth's mss. ft Excerpta Rot. Fin. p. 60.
(167) Hist. Lanc IV., 436, and Inq. P.M., 42 Hen. III., p. 17.
(168) Calendar Genealog. p. 78.
(169) Hist. Lanc III. 634.
(170) Dodsworth's MSS.
(171) Visitation of Lancashire by St. George in 1613, p. 117,
(172) Lichf. Reg,
(173) Legh Deeds. ,
(174) Culcheth Deeds.
(175) Whalley Coucher b. Chet. So. 459.
(176) Cockersand Rental, Chet. So. Miscellanies iii., 34.
(177) Warrington in 1465 Chet. So. pref. xl.
(178) Hist. Lanc i., 277.
(179) Culcheth and Legh Deeds.
(180) Madox. Form, Anglic. 28.
(181) Foedera, II., 648.
(182) Hist. Lanc. I., 341, III., 524-534.
(183) Chet. So. 93-94
(184) Boteler Deeds.
(185) Grosvenor Controversy and Inq. P.M. 15 Ric. II. .
(186) Hist. Ches. II. 72.
(187) Lancs. Inqs. Chet. So. p. 71.
(188) Chet. So. I., 36.
(189) Hist. Lanc Hi., 540. .
(190) Ibid 622.
(191) Brit. Lib. May, 1737. .
(192) Collins' Peerage, iii., 78.
(193) Trials of the Jacobites in 1694, Chet. So., pp. 67-8.
(194) Camden's Britannia. .
(195) Warrington in 1465, Chet. So. pref. xxv.
(196) An interesting account of the oak and the banquet referred to will be found in the Transactions of the Lan. and Ches. Hist. So. Proceedings, 3 series, vol. v. P- 33-