Page:The History of the Church & Manor of Wigan part 2.djvu/32

According to the former agreement, on Thursday the eighth of October, 1619, Mr. Thomas Gerard, Sedon, and Fayrbrother aforesaid all mett at the said close in the Scoles, and there delivered up the possession of all that they had claymed therein unto William Brown and my brother Edward Bridgeman, whom I had authorized and sent purposely to take the same into my possession in the right of my church of Wigan.

p me Will : Browne."

As I meet with only one more mention of Fayrbrother s toft, it may be well to give it here before passing to other subjects, though it rather forestalls some of our history: "30 November, 1619: This day I bestowed upon my servant Alexander Buckley, having maryed his wife a servant out of my house, that piece of ground in Scoles w^ch John Fayrbrother occupyed lying behind the said Fayrbrother's house, about the measure of which ground so much contention hath been between me and Mr. Thomas Gerard of Ince & John Fayrbrother & Francis Sedon. But now that all of it is acknowledged to be the parson's I doe freely bestow it on my said servant Buckly to be holden by him and his during the pleasures of the parsons of Wigan for the tyme being, whom I entreat to use him well, remembring that for my successors' sake I have spent, in repayring and adorning my parsonage house and in sueing and recovering the rights and libertyes of the town and mannor of Wigan, above four hundred pounds. This piece of ground I take to be about half an acre, and value it at 20^s the year at most: I reserve on it to me and my successors yearly rent the sum of ten groates, w^ch is above three tymes more rent then I have heretofore received. I make this request to my successors for these my servants, and so for the other tenants at will no otherwise then w^ch respect to my churche's good, for if they shall att any tyme goe about hereafter to defraud the church of her inheritance, as the rest of my tenants at will formerly did to me, then I entreat, nay I require and adjure my successors to prefer the rights of their church before any man, remembring that they have but a short tyme