The History of the Church and Manor of Wigan/Introduction
INTRODUCTION.
THE History of the Church and Manor of Wigan possesses an interest of its own, not only from the close connection of the one with the other, but also from the fact of its being the only instance, as far as I know, in which a secular priest held, in right of his church, such plenary powers as were conferred upon John de Winwick and his successors by King Edward III. There were others who became lords of the manor as parsons of their churches, as for instance the rectors of the neighbouring parish of Winwick, but I am not aware of any, beside the rectors of Wigan, who enjoyed a view of frankpledge, acquittance for themselves and their tenants from attendance at the Sheriffs' tourns, cognizance of all pleas as well concerning lands, tenements and rents as concerning transgressions, covenants and complaints, together with issues, forfeitures, amercements, fines and redemptions in cases of this sort arising within their town, manor or lordship, and also pleas of assizes, concerning tenants within their manor, who should happen to be arraigned before the King's justices appointed to hold assizes within the county, so that the said justices, when called upon by the parson or his bailiff, should give them up to him to be tried in his own court. The parsons, moreover, were empowered to enquire into all felonies perpetrated within their town or liberty, and to keep the felons in their own prison until the next gaol delivery. These, with other privileges, were conferred upon the parsons of Wigan for ever by a charter of Edward III., and were exercised by them for a long time.
In compiling these records I have endeavoured to search out the individual history of these parson-lords from as early a period as I could meet with them. The succession is nearly complete from the time of Richard I. to the present day; and I trust the result of my researches may not be altogether devoid of interest, at all events to the local antiquary.
During this period of many centuries the benefice has been held by several men of mark, who have played no unimportant part in the occurrences of their times. Their characters, accomplishments and lines of thought have been as varied as the events of the days in which they lived. Among these, the most conspicuous, perhaps, were, (1) parson Maunsell, the military churchman of the time of Henry III., who personally engaged in the King's wars in France, and in one engagement with his own hands took prisoner a person of some distinction; who acted for many years as the King's chief councillor, at one time presided over his finances as the first English Chancellor of the Exchequer, and afterwards became Keeper of the Great Seal; and who was a person of considerable importance to Wigan, inasmuch as it was through him that the town acquired its first charter of freedom :— (2) John de Winwick, who stood high in the favour of Edward III., from whom he received a confirmatory charter extending the privileges formerly granted to Maunsell with respect to the town of Wigan, and who likewise appears to have held the great seal as keeper at the time of his death :— (3) the learned and accomplished Thomas Linacre, M.D., in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., who may almost be said to have introduced into the English Universities the study of Latin and Greek, who was largely instrumental in creating in them a taste for polite literature, and who is said to have rescued the art of medicine from the low position to which it had then fallen : — and (4) John Pearson, bishop of Chester in the reign of Charles II., the eminent divine whose great work on the Creed is the principal text-book of all our theological students even to this day.
The lives of such men cast an historical interest over the church of Wigan with which they were connected, though its spiritual interests were probably better cared for by rectors of less celebrity.
In early times the whole township of Wigan belonged entirely to the parson, and probably a large part of it was forest. In the course of time, however, the lands were gradually let to tenants in fee, who reclaimed them, and paid what was then a fair proportion of rent to the lord of the soil, to whom also they owed suit and service. But these perpetual fee farm rents, being fixed sums, became at length comparatively worthless, as the value of money decreased, and they have long since been given up. Each burgess was also bound to pay for his burgage and garden a rent of one shilling. The rest of the land was held in demesne, or by tenants at will; and even so late as Queen Elizabeth's time the fee farm rents and those received from the tenants at will formed a considerable portion of the parson's income.
As the feudal system declined — having done its work in making Englishmen the best soldiers in the world — and as the wealth and power of the burgesses and people increased, the rights and perquisites of the lords of the manor became gradually less and less, until the last figment of secular authority was done away with by the late rector, who, with the patron's consent, made over to the Mayor and Corporation the tolls of the markets and fairs shortly before his resignation of the benefice.
In studying the materials for the compilation of these parochial annals, I find that the ancient manorial rights and privileges of the rectors have ever been a fruitful source of litigation between them and their people, insomuch that the inhabitants of Wigan from time to time seem to have inherited a traditionary feeling that it was their duty as citizens to resist and curtail these rights to the best of their power, in which indeed they generally succeeded, as will be shewn in the following pages.
From the general kindness and courtesy which I have received, as rector, from all classes of the community, I have every reason to hope that this old feeling of conflicting interests has entirely passed away, and been replaced by a better one. That this good feeling between parson and people may be perpetuated to all future generations, so that the good seed of God's word may be freely sown among them and bring forth abundant fruit unto life eternal, is the earnest wish and prayer of the writer.
Rector of Wigan.
Wigan Hall,
- Christmas, 1887.