Chapter X Ecclesiastical History Milnrow Chapel

"1 MILNROW CHAPEL IN 1772, FROM A SKETCH BY "TIM BOBBIN.

CHAPTER X .

iSccfcaiagticaf J5iaforp+-tjrihfnro5 t pet. 'I ETWEEN the oratory or private chapel at the Hall in Butterworth [see Chap. XVIL] and the chapel of Milnrow there is no connection . The one was a not uncommon addition to the hall of a gentleman of position, whilst the other was erected for the use 'of the inhabitants of the township. Milnrow Chapel could not have been built before 1496 as on the loth March, 12 Henry VII . [1496], Edward Butterworth the elder, of Butterworth, conveyed to Robert Butterworth his son, Edward son of Ewan Butterworth and John Clegg, chaplain, to the uses of his will, a plot of land called "Goseholme," part of

' From the "Parson's Book" at the Milnrow vicarage . The house adjoining the chapel is known as the "Court House ." Tradition says that during the Commonwealth Manor Courts were held here [see p . 271 .

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.-MILNROw CHURCH . 203

Belgrene in Butterworth, , then in the tenure of Bernard Belfield and Alr others. On this site the first chapel was shortly afterwards built. By grant dated viii calends, July 5th, Henry VIII . [1514], Edward Butter- worth, gentleman, gave to his relative John Clegg, chaplain, a house and croft in Butterworth, situate near the chapel of St. James the apostle, which land he had received from Edward Butterworth his late father. The chaplain was to hold the same for his life and was to perform mass in the said chapel for the souls of the donor and of his father and mother .2 The meadow behind the site of the old chapel is still called "The Holme ." In 1552, when Edward VI . issued com- missions to take inventories of the goods, plate, &c., belonging to churches and chapels, Milnrow was found possessed only of a parcel gilt chalice containing six ounces of silver (which they took away and a vestment.3 The deposition of the vicar of Rochdale in the case of "Archbishop Parker versus Sir John Byron, knight"4 shows that in 1561 the priest of Butterworth was paid by the contributions of the parishioners. Two cases were heard in the Duchy Court in 7th Elizabeth [A.D. 1564-5] which throws much light on the early history of this chapel . In one case Edmund Ashton and Laurence Buckley, the Queen's lessees for a term of years, appear versus Sir John Byron, Thomas Greve, Adam Bryerley, constable, and other inhabitants of Butterworth . The plaintiffs claimed the land on which the chapel was built as having belonged to the late dissolved chantry, and it was stated that the three roodes of land called Goseholme, on which the chapel stood, was given 01 to find maintenance for a priest, and that it had been let to the plaintiffs for a term of years, and as the chapel had been used " tyme out of mind " for mass it belonged to the Queen . On the other hand it was asserted that the inhabitants had, shortly after the dissolution of the chantries, compounded with the commissioners and duly paid the sum required.5 This is confirmed by the Chantry Commissioners' report. The price paid was xiii. s. iii]. d.b In the other case Sir John Byron, on behalf of himself and his tenants and farmers, the inhabitants of Butterworth, appears against

I Original deed amongst the church documents at Milnrow . ' Lanc. Chantries.-Chet. Soc ., Ix ., 269. 3 Church Goods.-Chet. Sec ., evii., 49. 4 Chet. Soc., i., 41, new series . 5 Duchy Pleadings, 7 Eliz ., xxii., A. 5 . ' Lanc. Chant.-Chet. Soc ., Ix ., 277.

204 HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ROCHDALE .

Cuthbert and Reynard Heyley, who claimed a right of a lease from the Queen to Edmund Ashton and Laurence Buckley of the land called " Goseholme " and right of way through the lands leading to the chapel, the same being a chapel-of-ease to the parish church of Rochdale .' Sir John Byron pleads, on behalf of his "poore tenants and farmors, the inhabitants of his lordship and manor of Butterworth," that they are four or five miles from their parish church and that he and his ancestors have been " tyme out of man's rememberance the verie true and perfecte lordes of Butterworth and of the waste ground there ;" this being so the inhabitants of Butterworth, "for their own ease have lyke tyme [out of man's rememberance] erected a chappell called Milnrow Chappell within the said manor by the lycence and per- mission" of the plaintiff and it then stood "on a waste ground belonging to him," and thereunto "the inhabitants on Sondaies and other Hollydaies have continually repayred for the hearing of common prayer, and for the most parte have from tyme to tyme maintained a priest, or minister att their own cost, the archbishop of Canterbury allowing towards the wages of the minister xl . s. a year ." Byron then gives a very graphic description of the state of the roads in those days . He says that the " waies to the parish church are so verie fowle and rough and over so many great rivers dangerous to be passed ." If this statement was true Slannybrook and the Beal water must have been very different to what they are now. All this however is only a preamble, and the plaintiff continues "but so it is one Cuthbert Scolfeld, being a very evill disposed person and little regarding the honor of God or the dewe administration of his services, hath now about 7th September last past, under colour of a certain demise, made out of this honorable court, of certain channtrey lands whereof the said chappell is not nor never was anie parcell, hath in a verie riotous and forceable manor entered into the said chappell to the disturbance and nuisance of the poore inhabitants, and with strong locks and bars hath shut up the same so that no man can enter, so that when the inhabitants, on the feast of St . Matthew the apostle, repayred to the said chappell think- ing there to have common prayer and other services found there several disordered persons with drawn swords in their hands, who did make assault and affray upon divers persons and lyke to have slain divers of

'Duchy Pleadings, 7 Eliz ., xxii ., B. 12, B. 12A.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY .-MILNROW CHURCH . 205

them, especially one Adam Brereley, then constable of the said town, and Thomas Greaue ;" and in consequence of these proceedings the inhabitants "have on Sondaies to stay in their own houses without any • common prayer, and so are not unlyke within shorte space to dyffer lyttle from brute beastes ." Cuthbert Scofeld denied the riot and pleaded that the chapel stood on chantry land which had been leased by the Duchy to Edward Ashton and Laurence Buckley for a term of years and that the chapel had been used for mass " tyme out of mind." Adam Brereley bore testimony to the chapel having been used by the inhabitants so long that "the memory of man is not to the con- trary," also to Scofeld having locked up the chapel, and one Reynard Heyley, his servant, committing an assault. The result of this litigation was that the chapel was restored to the use of the inhabitants. For nearly a century there is nothing to record about this chapel except its succession of curates . When the church survey' was taken in 1650 the chapel is said only to be two miles and thirty roods from the parish church and it is recommended that it should have a parish assigned to it which should include " Coldgreave and the Blackyate, the Wynhiehills, theise beinge three myles from the said chappell ; Schole- field and the great Clegg and Belfield, the Diggle Yate haughe and Oggden ." In an inquisition taken at Rochdale in 1658 2 the chapel is said to be well built and in good repair. In 1715 it was enlarged and a new gallery erected, for which £1 8s. 4d. a year was paid to the minister ; this, with £13 13s. 6d. paid out • of the tithes and £8 18s. 6d. for seats, formed the minister's salary .3 When Bishop Gastrell made his return (in 1717) he asked if there was V III . in • a deed of the time of Henry the hands of Mr. Hallowes, upon which the inhabitants founded a right to nominate the curate . This does not seem to have been forthcoming, as since then the vicars of Rochdale have always nominated . In 1717 the living was augmented by £200, given by Samuel Cheetham of Castleton Hall . In 1798 the old chapel was found to be in a ruinous condition, and it was abandoned and another was built on a new site . The old chapel was sold by auction, 26th August, 1802, when it was described as nine-

MSS., Lambeth Palace. 2 Manor Records . 3 Gast. Not . Cest.,-Chet. Soc., xix., 139.

2 06 HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ROCHDALE . teen yards by ten and a half yards, and " could easily be converted into a factory to be worked by the steam engine ." The western wall of the chapel is still [1889] standing on the edge of the river, the rest of the building has been pulled down and converted into dwelling-houses, in the pillars of the porch of one of which may be recognised parts of the original building. The new chapel was opened in 1799 ; the work was, however, of such an unsatisfactory character that in 1815 the building had nearly all to be taken down and re-erected, when a gallery was added . , The con- secration deed of the new chapel (in 1797) refers to the ruinous state of the old building, its inadequate size, and to the fact that it was "so near a certain mill wear upon the river Beale, and the noise of the water, particularly in the winter season, prevented persons in the west end from hearing" the service . The land for the new chapel was given by Robert Entwisle of Foxholes ; the then vicar of Rochdale (Dr . Hay) described it as "a very neat pretty chapel ." It was taken down when the present church was built ; this church (which was consecrated in 1869 2) was erected about thirty yards to the north west of the old chapel . The bell which belonged to the old chapel has been re-cast and removed to the school at Hollingworth . It has inscribed upon it, " 16 54. W. I . S. I . 0. ;" and on the opposite side " R. B."3 The bell now in the church tower has on it, " F. R. R. W . E . M . R. A . 1864. The Registers may be said to begin here in 1715, as there is a kind of memorandum book (which was carefully copied and bound by Canon Raines) in which are entered irregularly baptisms which took place at Milnrow between that date and 1747 . At this time the originals or tran- scripts were supposed to be sent to Rochdale . The next volume is also of baptisms only ; and extends from 1751 to 1783, and is partly in the handwriting of "Tim Bobbin ." In 1799 (3rd September) the register of burials begins, and in 1838 (23rd September) that of the weddings . In the churchyard is a handsome monument to the memory of the Rev. Francis Robert Raines, M.A ., F.S.A., which was erected by his parishioners and friends in 1879 . A flat stone marks the burial place of Robert Brearley, who died 21st June, 1842, aged 85 years ; he "was alto singer at Milnrow chapel upwards of 70 years ."

-Vicar Hay's MSS . Built at the expense of the late Mr. James Scholfield, in accordance with the wish of his father . 3 Query, " R. R " = Rudhall .

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.-MILNROW CHURCH. 207

In the garden of the vicarage is the sun dial which formerly stood in the original chapel yard ; upon it are engraved the date 1664, and the following names :-Alexander Butterworth, Esq ., Gabriell Gartside, gent ., Samuel Hill, constable, and Abr . Wolfenden.

CURATES AND VICARS OF MILNROW.

JOHN CLEGG, chaplain, appears as a witness to a deed bearing the date 20th November, 15 Henry VIII . [1499]' and as one of the trustees of the new site for the chapel in 1496. [See p. 202 .] He may be put down as the first priest of Milnrow Chapel . SIR HENRY rERRER.-This name first occurs in 1535 in an account of the tenths and subsidies paid by the livings in the diocese of Chester. He was then at Milnrow and he was present at the visi- tat;c:,s for 1547, 1552, 1557 and 1563.2 He was also named as a legatee in the will of Arthur Scolfeld of Scolfeld on 23rd August, 1 557 . 3 Patrick Prescott of Butterworth, in 1539, is described as chaplain, but he was not the curate of Milnrow, neither was Thomas Worsley, clerk of Milnrow, who attested a will 20th June, 1547, but one or both of them may have acted for a time for Sir Henry fferrer . JOHN ASSHETON, clerk of Milnrow, occurs in 1565 when he sub- scribed the articles with the vicar of Rochdale .4 [The Parish Church Registers, 6th September, 1584, record the christening of "Rebecca filia Thome Syckes ." Canon Raines thought he was curate of Milnrow but there is no evidence to prove this . He is named in the will of Richard Lomax of Pitworth but . only as "Mr . Sykes."] LAURENCE HEY was curate in February, 1589-9o, when he was named in the will of Jane Butterworth of Belfield, and in the Rochdale Registers, 26th August, 1593, Abel the son of " Laurence Heye, clark," was christened. He married, 3oth April, 1593, Judith the daughter of Robert Butterworth of Birchenley. [See Chap. XVII.] In I6o8 he

Raines' MSS., xxxvii . Canon Raines says he was the twelfth son of Ralph, the son of Geoffrey de Clegg of Storehouse, but I have failed to find proof of this.-H. F . - Bishop Birde's visitation. 3 The will of Ellen £Carer of Butterworth, widow, was proved at Chester in 1584 [dated 30th August, 1580] ; she had a son Henry, and daughters Elizabeth and Anne, and she names Arthur ffarer . 4 Raines' MSS., xiv ., 334.

208 HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ROCHDALE.

was vicar of Walesby in Nottinghamshire as appears from the will of Robert Butterworth of Birchenley . His son was also curate of Milnrow . JOHN ASHwoitTH was the son of the Rev. John Ashworth, vicar of Bolton-le-Sands and rector of Warrington . He was curate of Rochdale in 16o2 and afterwards of Littleborough, and on the resignation of the previous curate went to Milnrow . One of his children (Jonathan) was christened at Rochdale, 22nd August, 1602 ; he was then described as clerk. He was twice married ; to his second wife, Grace Chadwick (by license) at Milnrow, 27th September, 1607 . She was buried at Rochdale, 26th July, 1616, where he was also buried 1st July, 1617 . The christening of two of his daughters, Jane (16o5) and Mary (16io), are entered in the Rochdale Registers. He resigned Milnrow before 161 i . He was for a short time master of the Grammar School . [See Chap. XIV .] SAMUEL ASHTON was cited as Curate of Milnrow to appear before the bishop of Chester, 15th October, 1611, for not observing saints' days, but following his ordinary occupation thereon . Canon Raines says he was afterwards vicar of Aslackby near Folkingham ; the registers however of that church contain no reference to him. ABEL HEY, the son of the Rev. Laurence Hey [see above] was B.A. of Magdalen College, Oxford, and was ordained priest, 18th December, 1614 (when only twenty-one years of age) . He was here in 1615 as a will in that year was proved before him and he is styled "curate of Milnrow ." He died before he was twenty-five years old and was buried at Rochdale, 13th February, 16i7-i8 . ALEXANDER SPENCER, , B .A ., was licensed to Milnrow 21st December, 16i9. He did not get on well with his parishioners, as appears from the following letter, and left before 1621 .?

"Loving cousin, Master Spencer and Gerrard Schofield have been here w"' my father, who bath besought me to write to you, as it is but too manifest that your nominee Shep'rd and some of his rotten sheep at Mildra doe sorely disagree . Wherein the faulte downrighte may be it behoveth not me to say, but certes there be moche sawcines and grete affronts somewhere,

' Raines MSS., xxxvii ., 312 . 2 Raines says that he married Jane, the slaughter of Edward Asheton of Chadderton (to whom the above was written) . Dugdale in his Vis . 1664-5 makes the husband of Jane Asheton to be Devereux Spencer, vicar of Cheadle in Staffordshire, but the rector (not vicar) of that place was Spencer Devereux (not Dev- ereux Spencer).

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY .-MILNROW CHURCH. 209

and my father's infirmitie leads him to think it speciall desirable that y° or John Chadwick sen' shd eyther mediate or arbitrate wt"all as to y amount of the old wage, &c As y mynister cannot live without provender, and my father's tenants are forw° of themselves to paye his wages."' This is addressed to " Edward Asheton, Esq., Chaderton ." EDWARD PARCEVAL was curate in 1621 . From the following inventory of his effects it may be seen that he was not rich in this world's goods, as his clothes and arrears of "chapel wages" are all that he possessed .

" Inventory of the goods of Edward Parceval, clark, curate of Milnrow chapell, within the p'ish of Rachdall, late deceassed, p'sed by Laurence Hopwood, Robert Mylnes, Tho. Mylnes and Edmund Ogden, as followeth Imprimis his app'ell xxvi. s. viii. d. Item, deptes owing to the partie deceassed Mr. Garrard Scolfeild xxii . s. Robert Cramwell xx. S . Raphe Healey ii. li. xiii. s. iv. d. Grace Butterworth vi. s. viii. d. John Smetherst v. S. Roger Chadwick ii. s. vi. d. Marsh ii. s. Abraham Brearley x. S . James Mylnes vi. s. viii. d." °

He was buried at Rochdale 12th October, 1621, and Edward his son, was baptized there 24th February, 1621-2 . FERELYE TONGE. He was here in 1622, when he officiated at a marriage, and in the same year (in October) a will was proved before him .3 THEOPHILUS CHADWICK, the fourth son of the Rev . John Chadwick of Chadwick, was curate here in January 1623-4 .4 He died unmarried and was buried at Rochdale 21st November, 1640, having sometime before resigned the curacy of Milnrow. ROBERT HILL, clerk, was suspended for not appearing at a citation, 18th September, 1627 ; he never renewed his duties .5 MASSTED VIOLETT was curate here 24th October, 1627,6 but only remained a few months. THOMAS CROMPTON was licensed to Milnrow loth August, 1628 ; 7 in 1629 he was at Littleborough [see p . 197] .

' Raines' MSS., ---vii., 311 . 'Chester Probate Office . s Raines' MSS., xxxvii., 312. 1 Piccope's MSS., iv ., xviii . s 2nd November, 1628, christened at Rochdale, James, son of Robert Hill, clerk, and Jane Tailer, illegitimate. s Bishop of Chester's Register. 7 Piccope's MSS., iv., 240. 27

'2 1 0 HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ROCIIDALE.

ROBERT FRECKLETON . His name occurs as curate i ith Septem- ber, 1628, in 163o he is called "schoolmaster," and in 1631 "reader," he left about 1634.1 This is probably the Robert Freckleton who was loth November, 1634, described as minister of Bispham in Poulton-le- Fylde ; on that day he married Sarah, daughter of the Rev . Peter White, vicar of that parish ; for a short time in 1645-6 he was vicar of Poulton ; he was afterwards rector of Backford in Cheshire.2 RICHARD WILD, B.A ., was curate here 15th January, 1634 .3 He had a son, Richard, christened at the parish church 21st June, 1635, and he was still curate of Milnrow in February, 1641-2 .4 JOHN POLLETT was minister of Milnrow in I65o, when he was reported to be "godly, orthodox and well qualified ."S Before coming to Milnrow he was at Prestwich, where in 1640 he had a son and in 1647 a daughter christened . It is not unlikely that he was the "Mr . Pollett," minister of Chorlton chapel (near Manchester), who about 1648 was dismissed by the clasis because he maintained the episcopacy, defended the use of the surplice, was at an ale feast on the day when the parliamentary forces fought at Warrington (in August, 1648), and was present at a horse race on Barton Moss.6 In those days it was not surprising to find an episco- palian of one year a parliamentary "orthodox" in the next . PETER BRADSHAW was minister of Cockey Moor Chapel in the parish of Middleton in 1648 when he signed the "Harmonious Consent," and he was still there in 1650 when the Parliamentary Commissioners reported that he was "an orthodox, able minister, well approved of."7 According to an inquisition taken at Rochdale in 1658 Peter Bradshaw was then at Milnrow . 8 TIMOTHY ELLISON was born at Prescot (his brother Thomas was rector of Ashton-under-Lyne) . He was curate of Milnrow in 1668 and on 23rd July, 1682, became curate of Coley in Yorkshire . The Rev. Oliver Heywood says of him-"that he prayed well and preached zealously." He was also master of the school at Coley, and the same authority 9 states that in 1697 he had "let it go to naught," when in consequence of a dispute between himself and Ellison, the latter resigned his office in the school. He died at Coley in 1703 . ' Raines' MSS., xxxvii. 2 History of Bispham .-Chet . Soc., x ., 49. r Protestation Oath .-See Appendix . s Church Survey . ° Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, pp . 40, 421. 7 Church Survey.-Record Soc ., I ., pp. 22 and 27. " Manor Records . 'Oliver Heywood's Diary, Vol iii ., 275 ; Vol . iv ., 15 .

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JAMES HOLME .-Before 1662 he was at Denton as curate to the Rev. John Angier. , In 1671 he was curate of Milnrow where he remained until at least 1673 . According to Calamy, afterwards he was at several places. He died at Kendal and was there buried 17th Novem- ber, 1688, aged fifty-eight years, being described in the registers as a "nonconformist minister ." He had a son who was for a time a minister at Uxbridge .2 RICHARD KIPPAX was probably the son of the Rev . John Kippax, incumbent of Haslingden . He was curate of Rochdale from 1668 to certainly 1679 and was afterwards appointed to Milnrow, and in 169o he was instituted incumbent of Burnley where he died in 1723, aged eighty-five . He had a son John Kippax who was master of the Grammar School. [See Chap. XIV.] ROBERT SMETHURST was the son of the Rev . Robert Smethurst, curate of Whitworth [see p . 172], he was B .A . of Emanuel College, Cambridge, 1675,3 and was appointed to Milnrow on the resignation of the last curate . He died at Balderstone Hall and was buried at Rochdale 2nd April, 1691, aged 36 years . [See Chap. XVI .] JAMES LAWTON is said to have been a native of Saddleworth . He married Jennet, daughter of John Butterworth of Low House, gentleman, and Jane his wife, daughter of James Schofield of Goose Lane, Rochdale. He was appointed to Milnrow in 1693 . His brother-in-law, Ralph Butterworth, by will dated Ilth June, 1667, left him five pounds and describes him as "of Glodwick." Raines says that he afterwards was a schoolmaster at Oldham, but gives no authority for the statement . JOHN HALLIWELL, eldest son of Robert Halliwell . He was of Brase- nose College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A., 1691, and M.A . 9th June, 1694 . He was at Milnrow before 1698 and resigned the year following. He was afterwards incumbent of Oldham where he died and was buried 21st July, 1730. THOMAS MILNE was the only son of Charles Milne of Coldwall, Rochdale ; he was educated at the Grammar School and graduated at Brasenose College, Oxford, B .A. 1697, M .A. 17oo. He was appointed to Milnrow 14th September, 1699,4 but did not remain there very long .

'History of Denton.-Chet. Soc., xxxvli ., 77 . ' Calamy Noncon. Mem., ii ., 91 . 3 Admitted as a "Sizay° the college books only state "of Lancashire ." 4 Bish. Reg., Chest.

212 HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ROCHDALE.

PETER ASHETO1t was the son of the Rev. Peter Asheton, curate of Eland in the parish of Halifax, and grandson of Peter Asheton a dish maker of Newton Heath, near Manchester . , He was baptized at Eland 17th April, 1676, and took his B.A. degree at Peter House, Cambridge, in 1696. The exact time of his institution to Milnrow is unknown, but as one of his children was baptized at Rochdale 19th May, 1703, it was probably before this date. He remained until his death. A gravestone in the chancel of Eland Church records-" Reliquix hic repositx Petri Asheton, curati de Mildraw in com . Lancastri (filii Petri Asheton proping : tumulati) qui animam Dio resignavit 5th die Aug., 1718. '€tatis 42 ." This curate of Milnrow for some years lived at Sparth in Rochdale where he had a day school . ROBERT PEARSON, the son of Thomas Pearson, husbandman, was born at Bankhouse in Lancashire . He was educated at Kellett (in the parish of Bolton-le-Sands) and proceeded to St . John's College, Cam- bridge, where he took a B .A. degree in 1710 .2 In 1714 he was curate of Liverpool, and was afterwards for a short time at Leigh . He came to Milnrow in 1718 . He lodged in Rochdale with Ralph Shuttleworth, and after his death a bill was sent to his executors for nine years' lodgings at six pounds a year, exclusive of "punch, ale, tobacco, and oats for the gray mare." Altogether he owed his land- lord /140, and a sum of /4 log. od. for wages to his servant man, Standring.3 In 1726 he was the master of the Milnrow School . [See Chap. XIV.] He died at the house of Mrs . Schofield the bookseller, in Rochdale, 29th March, 1739, and was buried in the parish churchyard . He was unmarried and sixty years of age . JOSHUA TILLOTSON, the second son of Joshua Tillotson of Sowerby, co. York, grandson of Isaac Tillotson the younger, brother of Archbishop Tillotson . He graduated from Emanuel College, Cambridge, B .A. 1735, M.A. 1745, and was appointed to Milnrow in 1739 ; he was also master of the Rochdale Grammar School . [See Chap. XIV.] In 1745 he resigned both offices on receiving the sub-mastership of St . Paul's School, London, where he died in 1763 . ' Oliver Heywood's Diary . Heywood writes of the curate of Eland that he had helped him to the University, but afterwards he "was wild and mad against them" and had turned his father (the dish maker) to the same "prelatical way ." ° College Books. There are many Bankhouses in Lancashire ; this was probably in the north, where 1'earson is a common name. 3 Reines' MSS ., xxxvii .

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.-MILNROW CHURCH . 213

JOSEPH SUTCLIFFE was the son of Jonathan Sutcliffe, a clothier, and was born at Stansfield near Halifax, in Yorkshire. He 1 matriculated at St. John's, Cambridge, 12th January, 1722 (aged eighteen), and in 1725 took his B .A. degree. He came to Milnrow from Littleborough . [See Chap. IX.] In 1745 he married Margaret, one of the daughters of John Travers of Inchfield, gentleman. For some years before his death he suffered from paralysis, and was wheeled into the chapel and preached from his chair .2 He died in May, 1759, and was buried at Rochdale (21st May) ; his will was proved at Chester, 8th February, 1737 . JOSEPH HAicH, the son of Henry Haigh of Overden in Halifax, was born there in 1710 ; he was a B .A. of Magdalen College, Cambridge, but did not take his degree until 1741 . In 1945 (December) he was curate of Rochdale, and his vicar (Dr . Dunster) in his will left him his MS. sermons, , blackgown, beaver and bands, neckcloths, and his Virgil and Horace with MS . notes . He was instituted to Milnrow in 1759 he married at Rochdale, 13th September, 1762, Matilda, the daughter of Laurence Ashworth of Wild House (who was some thirty years his junior) ; he had a large family, all of whom died before him except one son. A characteristic anecdote is preserved :-One Sunday when in the pulpit he heard the shouts of a party of otter hunters, and seeing that his congregation began to leave the chapel he whispered to his clerk, " I say, James, they have caught her-she vents-let us go . Now to God the Father," &c.3 This curate of Milnrow appears to have been of a practical turn of mind, and on one occasion when asked to pray for rain he replied, "Go away, I say, go away ; we shall have rain when the wind changes and not before ." He died at Low House (where he had resided for some years) 22nd August, 1795, aged eighty-five years, and was buried at Rochdale ; his widow died loth December, 1813 .4 JOHN H UTCHINSON was the son of Joseph Hutchinson of Richmond in Yorkshire, attorney-at-law . From the Richmond Grammar School he went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A., 1793. In 1794 he was curate of Rochdale, and was nominated to Milnrow the year following, but he never appears to have been licensed to the incumbency ; the duties of the cure were performed by Mr . Hodgson,

` College Books. ' Raines' MSS ., xxxvii . 3 Do. A gravestone in Rochdale churchyard gives burials of his children :-Laurence, Martha, Joseph, died infancy ; Elizabeth, died 1785 ; Richard, 1786, aged twenty-eight. 214 HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF ROCHDALE . who ultimately succeeded him . He died at Water Millock in Westmore- land, in 1846 . 1 WILLIAM HODGSON, the son of Richard Hodgson of Arkholme, in the parish of Melling, yeoman, was baptized there 19th March, 1769 . After leaving Sedbergh Grammar School (in Yorkshire) he came to Rochdale as assistant master to the Rev . John Shaw [see Grammar School]. In 1793 he was curate of Rochdale, and on 12th October, f 8oo, he was appointed to the curacy of Milnrow ; he was at the same time head master of the Grammar School . He married 25th December, 1797, Mary, the daughter of Mr. Hey of Whitworth, sister and heiress of James Hey of Woodside, Cheshire. Mr. Hodgson died at Church Cottage, Rochdale, 26th June, 1832, and was buried at Milnrow ; his wife died 25th January, 1822. They had issue William Hey Hodgson, M.D., who was drowned, and being unmarried his estate went to his sisters ; Emma, married Thomas fferrand Dearden of The Elms, coroner for South Lancashire, she died in 1870 ; Margaret, died unmarried ; Ellen, married the Rev . Edward John Raines, B .D., rector of Trinity Church in Goodrangle, and fourth son of Isaac Raines of Pudsea, co . York ; Elizabeth, married the Rev. William Wilson, M .A., vicar of Desborough in Northamptonshire . FRANCIS ROBERT RAINES, M .A ., F.S .A ., was the third son of Isaac Raines, M.D., of Burton Pudsea in Holderness, in the county of York, and Ann his wife, the oldest daughter of the Rev. Joseph Robertson, M .A., vicar of Aislaby near Whitby in the same county. He was born at Whitby, 22nd February, i8o5. He received his early education at Burton Pudsea, but in . 1817 one of his elder brothers having been articled to William Coultate of Clitheroe, surgeon, and been sent home on account of ill-health, he was sent to replace him, his father describ- ing him as "a fine stout lad of thirteen years of age." His indenture of apprenticeship for seven years was dated 3oth March, 1818. Mr. Coultate shortly afterwards removed to Burnley and his apprentice was sent to the Grammar School where he remained until 1823 or 24 when, having conceived a distaste for the medical profession, he obtained his release and went to St. Bees' College . In 1828 he was ordained and had an M .A. degree conferred upon him by the archbishop of Canter- bury. His first appointment was to Saddleworth but he only remained

. 1Ie left two sons :--the Rev. John Robinson Hutchinson of Ilorroclc wood, near Ulleswater ; and James Hutchinson, who settled in America . ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.-MILNROW CHURCH. 215 there a short time, having accepted the offer of a curacy at the Rochdale Parish Church from the Rev. W. R. Hay, M .A., the vicar, who in 1832 conferred upon him the incumbency of Milnrow which he held until his death . In 1841 he was domestic chaplain to the earl of Dunmore ; on 3oth March, 1843 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries ; on 15th July, 1845, he was made a justice of the peace for the county ; in September, 1849, he was appointed honorary canon of Manchester, and for many years held the office of rural dean. Canon Raines was one of the founders of the Chetham Society, of which he was elected vice-president in 1858. During his long incumbency great reforms were effected in the parish of Milnrow ; something like £30,000 having been spent in the erection of new churches and schools . As an antiquary, genealogist and local historian, Canon Raines held the highest rank . He edited twenty-three volumes of the Chetham Society's series and left a monument of his untiring energy and zeal in the pages of forty-four folio volumes of MS . which he bequeathed to the Chetham Library. , Mr. Raines married on 21st November, 1836, Honora Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Major John Beswicke of Pike House Littleborough ; he died at Scarborough 17th October, J878, aged seventy-three years, and was buried at Milnrow, where there is a monument to his memory erected "by his sorrowing parishioners and friends :" he had issue, Susan Ann Robertson, who died in infancy ; Honora Bella, married George Twycross of Horstead House near Brighton, Sussex, Esq . ; and Florence Addison. 2 HOWARD AUGUSTUS CROSSIE, succeeded Canon Raines and resigned in 1885 on his appointment to the vicarage of Trumpington in Cam= bridgeshire . The Rev. F. P. WRIGHT is the present vicar.

' Amongst these were "Notitia Cestriensis," "The Stanley Papers," "The Lancashire Chantries," "The Visitation of Lancashire," "The Journal of Nicholas Assheton," &c ., &c . of will A more extended memoir Canon Raines be found in "Old Yorkshire," London, 1883, P . Y51 (also a portrait), and in "The Reliquary," xis ., p . 219 .