Chapter VII: Parish of Poulton-Le-Fylde (2)

In 1770, during the reign of George III., an act of parliament was obtained by means of which a court was established in this town “for,” according to the wording of the deed, “the more easy and speedy recovery of small debts within the parishes of Poulton, Lytham, Kirkham, and Bispham, and the townships of Preesall and Stalmine.” A number of gentlemen engaged in commercial pursuits and residing in these several districts were appointed commissioners, any three or more of whom constituted a court of justice, by the name and style of The Court of Requests; they were empowered to hear and determine all such matters of debt as were under forty shillings, further they were authorised and required, “to meet, assemble, and hold the said Court in each of the said Parishes of Poulton and Kirkham, once in every week at least, to wit, on every Monday at Poulton, and on every Thursday at Kirkham, and oftener if there should be occasion, in a Court-house, or some convenient place appointed in each of the said Parishes.” Each commissioner on being elected took the following oath:—

“I ... do swear That I will faithfully, impartially, and
honestly, according to the best of my Judgement, hear and
determine all such Matters and Causes as shall be brought before
me, by virtue of an Act of Parliament, for the more easy and
speedy Recovery of small Debts, within the Parishes etc.; without
Favour or Affection, Prejudice or Malice, to either Party. So
help me God.”

Edward Whiteside and Simon Russell were elected, respectively, clerk and sergeant of this court, and James Standen, of Poulton, in consideration of having advanced money to pay the expenses of obtaining the act and providing suitable accommodation for its administration, had authority given to him and his heirs to appoint a person to be clerk or sergeant as often as either of those offices should become vacant, until the sum so advanced with lawful interest had been repaid; after which the appointments were to be filled up by a majority of votes at a special meeting of the commissioners, not less than eleven being present. For the better regulation of the proceedings it was enacted that a majority, amounting to five, of the commissioners assembled in court should have full power and authority to make, as often as occasion required, such rules and orders for the better management of the court as might seem necessary and conducive to the purposes of the act, provided always such rules or orders did not abridge or alter the scale of fees as at first arranged, and were consistent with equity and the true intent of the act. In the event of anyone neglecting to comply with an order from this court for the payment of money owing an execution was awarded against the body or goods of the debtor, if the former, the sergeant was, by a precept under the hand and seal of the clerk, “empowered and required to take and apprehend, or cause to be taken and apprehended, such party or parties, being within any of the parishes or townships aforesaid, and convey him, her, or them, to some common gaol, or house of correction, within the county palatine of Lancaster, there to remain until he, she, or they, had performed and obeyed such order, decree, or judgment, so as no person should remain in confinement upon any such execution, for any longer space of time than three months.” In the case of goods the sergeant was similarly empowered “to levy by distress and sale of goods, of such party, being within the parishes or townships aforesaid, such sum and sums of money and costs as should be so ordered and decreed.”

One clause of the act stated that if any person or persons affronted, insulted, or abused, all or any of the commissioners, the clerk, or officers of the court, either during the sitting or in going to or returning from the same, or interrupted the proceedings, or obstructed the clerk or sergeant in the lawful execution of their different offices, he, she, or they should be brought before a justice of the peace, who was hereby empowered to inflict on conviction a fine of not more than 40s., and not less than 5s. The jurisdiction of the court did not extend to any debt or rent upon any lease or contract, where the title of any lands, tenements, or hereditaments came in question; nor to any debt arising from any last will or testament, or matrimony, or anything properly belonging to the ecclesiastical courts; nor to any debt from any horse-race, cock-match, wager, or any kind of gaming or play; nor from any forfeiture upon any penal statute or bye-law; nor did it extend to any debt whatsoever whereof there had not been contract, acknowledgment, undertaking, or promise to pay within six years from the date of the summons, although any of the above mentioned debts should not amount to forty shillings. No attorney or solicitor was allowed to appear before the commissioners as attorney or advocate on behalf of either plaintiff or defendant, or to speak on any cause or matter before the court in which he was not himself a party or witness, under a penalty of five pounds for each offence. It was further enacted “that no action or suit for any debt not amounting to the sum of forty shillings, and recoverable by virtue of this act in the said Court of Requests, should be brought against any person or persons, residing or inhabiting within the jurisdiction thereof, in any of the king’s courts at Westminster, or any other court whatsoever, or elsewhere, out of the said Court of Requests, and no suit which had been commenced in the said Court of Requests in pursuance of this act, nor any proceedings therein, should or might be removed to any superior court, but the judgments, decrees, and proceedings of the said court should be final and conclusive to all intents and purposes; provided always, that nothing in this act should extend, or be construed to extend, to prevent any person from suing for small debts in any other court, where such suit might have been instituted before the passing of this act.” The various fees to be paid to the clerk of the court were—for entering every case, 6d.; for issuing every summons, 6d.; for every subpœna, 6d.; for calling every plaintiff or defendant before the court, 3d.; for every hearing or trial, 6d.; for swearing every witness, plaintiff or defendant, 3d.; for every order, judgment or decree, 6d.; for a non-suit, 6d.; for every search in the books, 3d.; for paying money into court, 6d., if by instalments, 6d. in the pound more; for every execution, 6d.; for every warrant of commitment for misconduct in court, 1s. The fees to the sergeant were—for every summons, order, or subpœna, and attending court with the return thereof, 6d.; for calling every plaintiff or defendant before the court, 1d.; for executing every attachment, execution, or warrant, against the body or goods, 1s.; for carrying every plaintiff, defendant, or delinquent to prison, 6d. more for every mile. Although this was purely a lay-court the commissioners possessed and exercised the power of placing the witnesses on oath previous to receiving their evidence. In 1847 the Court of Requests was superseded by a new court, for the recovery of debts not amounting to twenty pounds, which held its first sitting on Monday, the 23rd of April in that year, under the presidency of John Addison, esq., a barrister and the appointed judge, in the room belonging to the Sunday school. This gentleman wore a silk gown, as prescribed to the judges of these courts, and Mr. Elletson, solicitor, the clerk, was also robed. At the first assemblage the Rev. John Hull, M.A., the vicar, and Giles Thornber, esq., J.P., were seated on each side of the judge. The cases for trial or arbitration only numbered seventeen, and were of little interest, so that the initiative sitting of the court was but of short duration. The circuits apportioned to the judges had an average population ranging from 202,713 to 312,220 persons, and the salary paid to each of these officials was £1,200 per annum. In the schedule of fees it was stated that for the recovery of debts not exceeding 20s. the cost should be 3s.; under 40s., 5s.; under £5, 9s.; under £10, £1; under £20, £1 10s.; and in jury cases 5s. would be charged for the jurymen, while the other court charges would be a little increased. The powers of this court, now designated the County Court, have been considerably enlarged since its first establishment; the following gentlemen are the officers at present connected with it:—

Judge William A. Hulton, esq.
Registrar Mr. E. J. Patteson.
High Bailiff Mr. J. Whiteside.

Little Poulton is the name given to a district and hamlet lying on the east of Poulton township, and in it is situated the ancient manorial residence called Little Poulton Hall, and now used as a farm-house. The original mansion stood on the land immediately at the rear of the existing edifice, which was erected about one hundred and ten or twenty years ago. Until the occupation of the present tenant, Mr. Singleton, the foundations of the old Hall remained in the ground, but the indications afforded by them of its dimensions and appearance were not of any great utility. In 1570 Little Poulton Hall was occupied by George, the son of Bartholomew Hesketh, of Aughton, a grandson of Thomas Hesketh, of Rufford, but only in one of the junior lines. George Hesketh married Dorothy, the daughter of William Westby, of Mowbreck, and had issue one son, William, who inherited the estate and resided at the Hall. William Hesketh was living in 1613, about forty years after the decease of his father, and had two children, William and Wilfrid, by his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of John Allen, of Rossall Hall. William, the eldest son, seems to have removed to Maynes, or Mains, Hall, and settled there during the lifetime of his father; it is probable that his younger brother would remain at Little Poulton Hall, but of this we have no positive proof, and consequently can advance it merely as a conjecture. Little Poulton descended in the Heskeths, of Mains, until about 1750, but the name of that family was changed, after the marriage of William Hesketh, of Mains Hall, (living in 1714), with Mary, the daughter of John Brockholes, of Claughton, by Thomas Hesketh, the eldest son of that union, who inherited the estates of his maternal uncle, and assumed the name of Brockholes. Thomas Hesketh-Brockholes died without offspring, and the property passed, successively, to his younger and only surviving brothers, Joseph and James, both of whom adopted the name and arms of Brockholes, and died childless; but by the will of Joseph, Little Poulton and the other estates descended to William Fitzherbert, the brother of his widow Constantia, the daughter of Bazil Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton. William Fitzherbert also assumed the title of Brockholes, and his descendant is the present proprietor.

A family of the name of Barban preceded the Heskeths at the manor house, and Gyles Curwen, a descendant of the Curwens, of Workington, in Cumberland, espoused, about 1550, the daughter and co-heiress of—Barban, of Little Poulton Hall, having issue—Thomas, Elizabeth, Grace, and Winefrid. Thomas Curwen died unmarried; Elizabeth became the wife of—Camden, by whom she had William Camden, Clarenceux king-at-arms; Winefrid married and settled in London; and Grace espoused Gilbert Nicholson, of Poulton, by whom she had issue—Francis, Grace, and Giles. Francis Nicholson had six children—Humphrey, Grace, Bridget, Thomas, Isabell, and Dorothy. Grace Nicholson married Thomas Braithwaite, of Beaumont, and was the mother of nine children in 1613, the eldest, Geoffrey, being fifteen years of age.[81]

On the south side of the Hall is a wood, covering about two acres of land, and freshly planted within the last half century. Until recent years, numerous decaying tree stocks were turned up out of the soil, and their size plainly evidenced the massive nature of the timber formerly growing there. There is a rookery in the modern wood, and it is surmised that there was one also amongst the branches of the ancient trees, and that a large quantity of bullets discovered in a field on its outskirts record the periodical onslaughts on the unfortunate rooks in days when marksmen were not so unerring as long practice and improved firearms have rendered them now. In the hamlet of Little Poulton there are, in addition to the Hall, three antique houses of considerable pretensions, which were erected and occupied by persons of good social standing. One of them, on the opposite side of the road, and a little removed from the old mansion, was built by a gentleman named Fayle, and on an oaken beam over a doorway, now bricked up, in an extensive barn, is the inscription, EF: IF: 1675, the initials of the erector and his wife, with the date when the edifice was completed. This E. Fayle was probably a relative, perhaps grandfather, of Edward Fayle, of the Holmes, Thornton, and afterwards of Bridge House, Bispham, who married, about 1728, Susannah, the younger daughter of Edward Veale, of Whinney Heys, and co-heiress, with her sister, of the Rev. John Veale, of the same place, her only brother. Another respectable dwelling, but like the few other buildings around, becoming dilapidated through age, bears the initials of Henry Porter, and the date 1723, over the entrance. From sundry documents which have come to light, it seems that Henry Porter was a gentleman of influence and position in the neighbourhood, but beyond that no information can be gained concerning him or his descendants. The tenement he held was purchased by the Brockholes, of Claughton, in 1846. Close by the side of Porter’s residence is another of the same model and size, apparently erected by A. Worswick in 1741, but of this person nothing is known. The remainder of the hamlet is made up of a few old thatched cottages.

A free school was established by James Baines, draper, of Poulton, in 1717, shortly before his death; and by his will, dated that year, he bequeathed to Richard Wilson, Richard Whitehead, sen., Richard Johnson, and Richard Thornton, of Hardhorn-with-Newton, yeomen, to Richard Dickson, woollen draper, and Samuel Bird, yeoman, of Poulton, to Robert Salthouse, of Staining, yeoman, and to their heirs “all that Schoolhouse by me lately erected in Hardhorn-in-Newton, and the parcel of land whereon the same is erected, which is enjoyed therewith, and which by me was lately purchased from Thomas Ords, to remain, continue, and be a Free School for ever for the persons and purposes hereinafter mentioned. Item: I give and devise unto the seven said Trustees and their Heirs, all that messuage and tenement, called Puddle House, with the lands enjoyed therewith, about twenty-two acres, to the special end, intent, and purpose, that the rents and profits over ten shillings a year, (allowed for a dinner to the trustees, and their successors, on their meeting about the affairs of this School on the second of February, on which day they shall yearly meet for that purpose), and after all costs for repairs at the said Schoolhouse and ground it stands on be paid, the balance be given to such person as shall yearly and every year be named, chosen, and appointed, by the said seven Trustees, and their successors, or the major part of them, to act as Schoolmaster, to teach and instruct in writing, reading, and other school learning, according to the best of his capacity, all such children of the inhabitants of the townships of Poulton and Hardhorn-in-Newton as shall be sent to the said School, and behave themselves with care and good manners, without any other payment or reward, except what the said children or their parents shall voluntarily give.” The testament then proceeds to direct that when any two of the seven trustees died, the five surviving should at the cost of the estate appoint two other of the “most able, discreet, and sufficient inhabitants in Poulton and Hardhorn within three months,” and that such a practice should be observed as occasion required “to the end that the said charity may continue for ever according to the true intent and meaning of this Will.” The Trustees were invested with power to dismiss any schoolmaster and appoint a successor, regarding whom there was the following clause:—“All Schoolmasters on appointment shall give bond with one or more sureties for good conduct, and be at duty from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., except from the 1st November to 1st February, in which quarter alone shall they attend on all school days from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; the afternoons of Thursday and Saturday to be holiday.”

The schoolhouse is a whitewashed building, a single story high, and has four windows in front, with one at each end. It stands in the township of Hardhorn-with-Newton, about half a mile from the town of Poulton, and has the annexed inscription fixed on the wall facing the main road:—“This Charity School was Founded and Endowed by Mr. James Baines, of Poolton, who died the 9th January, 1717. Rebuilt 1818.” The lands bequeathed by Mr. Baines have been exchanged for others of greater value across the river Wyre. The attendance at present is small.

Mr. Baines also left £800 to six trustees to be laid out in land, half the annual income or interest from which he directed to be devoted to the “maintenance, use, and best advantage of the poorest sort of inhabitants of the township of Poulton, which receive no relief by the Poor-rate,” and “for putting out poor children of the said township apprentices yearly though their parents receive relief by the Poor-rate.” The other moiety he directed to be devoted to similar purposes in the townships of Marton, Hardhorn-with-Newton, Carleton, and Thornton.

Jenkinson’s Gift or Charity consists of the rents of a small cottage with garden behind, and two detached crofts at Forton, in Cockerham parish, and amounts to about £5 10s. per annum, which is expended in the purchase of books for the scholars of Baines’s school.

Nicholas Nickson, of Compley, in Poulton, by will dated the 12th of April, 1720, charged his estate with the payment, after the decease of his widow, Alice Nickson, of £100 to the churchwardens and overseers of Poulton, in trust, to invest the sum and give half the interest to the vicar for the time being, distributing the remainder amongst the poor house-keepers of the township not in receipt of parish relief. Until the bequest was paid, the heirs of Nickson, after the death of the widow, were ordered to disburse five per cent. interest on the money each year. In 1754 the trustees of this charity released the estate from all charges in consideration of £100, the legacy, paid to them; and on the 18th of July, 1783, Joseph Harrison and the four other churchwardens of Poulton, together with William Brown and Paul Harrison, the overseers, purchased from James Standen, for £120, a close in Poulton, called Durham’s Croft, to hold the same in trust and divide the rents into twelve parts, whereof five were to be given to the vicar, five to indigent inhabitants not receiving relief, and two in aid of the poor’s rates.