Hoghton, Lancashire Genealogy

England Lancashire  Lancashire Parishes

Chapelry History
HOGHTON, a chapelry, in the parish and hundred of Leyland, union of Chorley, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 5½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Preston; containing 1706 inhabitants. This place is of considerable antiquity. In the reign of William Rufus, the manor was given by Warin Bussel with a daughter in marriage to Hamo Pincerna, after whose death his wife gave it to their second son, "Ricardus, filius Hamonis Pincernæ." The son of Richard Fitz-Hamo was Adam, who, in the reign of Henry II., styled himself Adam de "Hocton," or Adam dominus de "Hocton." From him descended Richard de "Hocton," to whom was granted free warren in Hoghton and Whitenhull, with liberty to inclose a park; and John of Gaunt, in the 9th of Richard II., gave Sir Richard Hoghton license to enlarge his park with seven score acres. Hoghton Tower was erected by Thomas Hoghton in the reign of Elizabeth, from the stone of a quarry contained within the park: this Tower, in its ruins, shows its original strength and grandeur. Rising in isolated pre-eminence above the rocky banks of the Darwen, the situation of the stately pile is extremely picturesque. The western front is formed by three towers, of which the centre is ornamented by battlements, capitals, and indented windows, and the buildings on each side by mouldings, fillets, and balls, with mullion windows: there are an inner and an outer court, and over the entrance-gateway formed in the middle tower, are the family arms carved in stone, with the initials of the founder. The domestic chapel on the north side of the inner court, which continued to be used as a place of worship long after the mansion was abandoned as a residence, and until about forty years ago, is fast falling to decay; and the whole of the interior of this once splendid seat exhibits, like the exterior, the ravages of time. Sir Richard Hoghton entertained James I. within these walls, with princely hospitality, in August, 1617. In the civil war of the 17th century, a garrison being placed here, part of the massive pile was accidentally blown up by gunpowder, and Captain Starky and 200 soldiers were killed in the explosion. The township comprises 2113a. 1r. 20p., whereof 1596 acres are meadow and pasture, 259 arable, 122 woodland, and the remainder roads and waste. The soil is generally fertile, and the substratum sandstone and coal; the surface is richly diversified with hill and dale, and the lower grounds are watered by a brook that flows into the Darwen. Here is a station of the Blackborn and Preston railway, five miles distant from Blackburn. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron, the Vicar of Leyland. The chapel, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and now a district church, is a neat edifice in the pointed style, erected by a grant of the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1828. A national school was built in 1838, by Sir Henry Bold Hoghton, who allows £40 per annum towards its support: there is a residence for the teachers. An old school is also aided by Sir Henry, with £10 per annum, and the use of a house.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 524-527. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51036 Date accessed: 01 July 2010.

Civil Registration
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Church records
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Lancashire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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