The Story of Freckleton through 2000 Years. The village of Freckleton is situated in an area of Lancashire known as The Fylde, on the north shore at the mouth of the River Ribble. The Rivers Dow and Douglas also join the Ribble nearby. Freckleton was used by the Romans as a port serving their fort at irkham, a few miles inland. The name Freckleton, however, is an !nglo"#a$on name and was given to the Township of Freckleton. %Freck& doubtless alluded to the temperament of the inhabitants as they were known to the people of the surrounding districts and, while it can mean %lusty&, it can also mean %eager to be 'uarrelsome& or %defend a dispute&. (aybe it continues from their Roman period when they would make forays to rescue young men being taken away from their port as conscripts. %Ton& is the #a$on word for %an enclosed place&. From the medieval period the place has certainly belied the latter meaning as history has shown it to be a peaceful oasis away from the turmoil of the times – just away from the *orth Road and surrounded by marshes. +efore the *orman ,onquest by -illiam in 1066 the land formed part of the 1arl Tosig2s Lordship of 3reston and %was held by a family assuming the name of Freckleton&. !fter the ,onquest, -illiam had an inventory made of his newly conquered land. This was done in 1086 and known as the 5reat *ational +ook of -inchester but generally known as The Doomsday +ook. Freckleton is recorded there though the name is spelled %FR1,61LT7*& and is written as %Frechelton (anors”. 8t consisted of four caracates of land. These would normally be ploughed or %worked& land. Four caracates would e'uate to four hundred acres. 7n the scale of the times that would constitute a very thriving place. 1arly records show the spelling as FR19:1LT7N ;1212), FR1 1LT7N (1242) and FR1 8LT7N (1244). Roger de Freckleton is the first recorded member of the family in 1199. 8n .</., the second year of ing @ohn2s reign, an entry occurs in the Lancaster Records – a personal property of the monarch – that one R de Frekelton made a payment of five (arks, ;appro$imately Three 3ounds, Thirty 3ence) for the use of the pasture %+rechemor& ;+reckmoor=. This is 'uite a large sum for that period, and the land must have been e$tensive and of value. This R de Frekelton may have been either Ralph or Richard since both names often occur in the family at this time. *ot until the thirteenth century do we find an extended list of local landowners, again the family name %Freckelton& appearing with first names of Richard, @ohn, Ralph, 8van, etc. 8t should be understood that, in medieval 1ngland, the only %Landowner& was the ing. Aarious parcels of 1ngland were then passed down, or leased, for services or %enfoeffed& as it was called. A whole county or two may be leased to an 1arl and payment may be in men for the ing2s army or in cash, raised as ta$es. The 1arl would then continue to subdivide the county and receive the promise of men, goods or money for it. Records show that the heirs of !dam de Freckleton held their lands from !lice, daughter of the 1arl of Lincoln, owner of the manor. !nother de Freckleton, Robert, also had extensive land holdings, while the family also held -ittingham 6all from the same !lice Lacey, ;daughter of the 1arl of Lincoln). 8n 1199 a water mill was in e$istence owned by #ir Richard Freckleton, son of Roger. +y 1242 he held more than half of the land in Freckleton. The 6all was, no doubt, passed on to the various Richards, !dams, Ralphs, @ohns, 6enrys and Roberts until about .><B, when @oan, daughter of Ralph de Freckleton, carried it to her husband, -illiam (uddleston. This seems to be the last direct Freckleton connection with the (anor. The (anor did pass to various families and the last recorded occupier appears to be the #harples family in .618. 8t then disappears from records. 6owever, records show that in this period a Thomas Freckleton married !lice #harples and his sister, 1liCabeth Freckleton, married !lice2s brother, 5eorge #harples. #o, undoubtedly, the Freckletons remained connected to the 6all. 8n .6 15 a new mill and house were built and, in 1699, were sold to the 1arl of Derby. 8t later passed on to the ,lifton family in .4D0. Farmers from all over the Fylde brought corn to be ground at the mill and it was still in full working order until 1915. 8ncidentally, in hard winters villagers would skate on the mill pond to violin and melodeon music. This musical tradition has continued through the years and Freckleton has had a priCe"winning brass band for over a hundred years. The current band is in the ,hampionship +rass +and category and has recorded a ,D. They also have a 6ome 3age on the internet. #ailcloth was made in the village for many years for the early boating industry. ,argoes of wood, grain and slate arrived, mainly from ,onnah2s 9uay on the River Dee and sometimes from 8reland. ,oal was unloaded daily, coming from -igan, up the River Douglas to Freckleton. 8n .414 a shipyard was established and the first ocean-going vessel was built in 1871. #i$ schooners, ten sharking boats, a sailing yacht and river barges were built. 8n later years the shipyard serviced all the lifeboats in the *orth"-est of 1ngland. The Freckleton2s last recorded connection with the village seems to be a Ralph de Freckleton who held, what was termed, a %meessuage& or dwelling house with outbuildings and lands. 6e died in .612 but did leave an heir, 6enry. A #ir Ferdinando Freckleton was knighted in Dublin ,astle on @ames2 I ; @ames AI of #cotland= coronation day, @uly .603. Ferdinando also received a +A from 7$ford :niversity in .573. 6ow he came by the very #panish name of Ferdinando would be an interesting story. Ferdinando probably accompanied the 1arl of 1sse$, 9ueen 1liCabeth2s favourite, to 8reland in 1599. 1sse$ was a magnet for young men of the time wanting adventure and looking forward to the day when the old 'ueen would be no more. Ferdinando was, in some ways, fortunate not to have been knighted by the 1arl of 1sse$. The earl knighted some fifty young gentlemen during his 8rish campaign. This was contrary to the 9ueen2s orders and it was one of the reasons that 1ssex was e$ecuted in .601. The men who had been knighted by 1ssex were always referred to in a derogatory fashion as %8rish nights&. Ferdinando avoided this and was the recipient of a ,oronation Day honour given by @ames 8. 3erhaps, Ferdinando remained in 8reland and began the 8rish branch of the family. The family seems to have been originally established around eady, ,ounty !rmagh or close by in ,ounty (onahan. 8n .900 they were still there and some of the family had lived in the same home for over a hundred years. +y the .B00s this branch was firmly established in ,ounty !rmagh, ,ounty Down and ,ounty !ntrim. Due, no doubt, to their accents the name began to be spelled %Frickleton& by some of the family. 8n the early and mid".4/0s, as famine swept over 8reland the family began to spread its wings again. Aarious members emigrated to 1ngland, #cotland, *ew Fealand, !ustralia and one branch of the family, through a @ohn 7rr Freckleton established itself in :tah, :#A while still others moved to Rhode 8sland, *G, (enard ,ounty, 8llinois and (ontana Territory. A #usan Frackleton, from one of the :#A families, took to the art of pottery in the late nineteenth century. #ome of her work is currently valued ;.?40) at H0//0. 8n .901 @ohn 7rr Freckleton returned to ,ounty !rmagh for a visit and his diary records that he visited a @oshua Freckleton in eady. 6e 'uotes, %the house on the hill, the home of the Freckletons for over a hundred years”. 6e writes in his diary, “in plain sight on an eminence a mile distant I see the ancient homestead of Samuel Freckleton, father of this family. The place is called “Tallnagar” and it is in the county Monahan”. The diary also records a meeting with (rs (argaret M Freckleton, the wife of !ndy Freckleton. “Her husband !as killed in a pit in Scotland. Some man s"uee#ed him against the top of the mine !here it !as lo! and he died”. 8t appears that he and the other man were 'uarrelling about a car or trolley and the result was !ndy2s murder. Today there are still Frackletons living in +elfast, *orthern 8reland. During the 1400s the Freckletons show up in the (idlands of 1ngland where a Thomas Freckleton is shown in the 5uild +ook of #tratford on !von and an 1dmund Freckelton was admitted to the same guild in .506. This line lists a 5eorge Freckleton as Aicar of +udworth in the ,ounty of -arwick and a @ohn Freckleton of the 3riory -arwick. 6owever, they seem to have become centred in the little town of #pandon in Derbyshire from the early 1600s until about .813. This branch is still located in the (idlands in and around Leicestershire. 8n the middle of the nineteenth century this branch was using Freckelton as the spelling of the name. A 6enry Freckleton, born in ,ounty !rmagh, married a (argaret (c,reary in #tirlingshire, #cotland and the #cottish branch of the family was founded. !gain, though the spelling of the name was changed, possibly by accents or semi"literate clerks.