repealed. In the registers of old churches, such as Bispham, Poulton, Kirkham, and St. Michael's-on-Wyre, where they have been preserved, notices of burials according to this regulation during the two years it was in operation, may be seen; and amongst the records of the Thirty-men, or governing body of Kirkham, is an entry of expenses incurred when they went "to justice Stanley" to obtain his authority to "demand 50s. for Tomlinson's wife buried in linen," contrary to the law.
Three years from the accession of James II., his repeated attempts to curtail the civil and religious liberties of his subjects had so far incensed them against him that William, Prince of Orange, was invited over to free them from his rule. In 1688 James abdicated the throne, and the following year William and Mary were crowned at Westminster. Annexed is a list of the gentry residing in the Fylde from the reign of Henry VIII, to their accession, as prepared from original records and private manuscripts:—
Allen of Rossall Hall.
Ambrose of Ambrose Hall.
Bradley of Bryning.
Bradshaw of Preese and Scales.
Butler of Rawcliffe Hall.
Butler of Layton and Hackensall.
Clifton of Westby.
Eccleston of Great Eccleston Hall.
Fleetwood of Plumpton.
Fleetwood of Rossall Hall.
Hesketh of Mains Hall.
Kirkby of Upper Rawcliffe.
Kirkby of Mowbreck.
Leigh of Singleton.
Longworth of St. Michael's Hall.
Lowde of Kirkham.
Massey of Carleton.
Molyneux of Larbrick Hall.
Parker of Bradkirk Hall.
Rigby of Layton Hall.
Sharples of Freckleton.
Shuttleworth of Larbrick.
Singleton of singleton.
Singleton of Staining Hall.
Stanley of Great Eccleston Hall.
Tyldesley of Fox Hall, Blackpool.
Veale of Whinney Heys.
Westby of Rawcliffe.
Westby of Mowbreack and Burn Halls.
James II., when force of circumstances had driven him into exile, left a considerable number of supporters behind him, chiefly amongst the Roman Catholics, who were not dilatory in devising schemes for his re-establishment. On the 16th of May, 1690, Robert Dodsworth deposed upon oath, before Lord Chief Justice Holt, that the following Popish gentry of the Fylde, amongst others, had entered into a conspiracy to restore James, and that they had received commissions as indicated for the purpose of raising troops to carry out the enterprise:—Colonel Thomas
