The History of the Church and Manor of Wigan/Ranulf

by George Thomas Orlando Bridgeman

The first indubitable Parson, or Rector, of Wigan^[1] that I meet with is

Ranulf, Treasurer of Salisbury, who, as a non-resident, appears to have nominated a vicar or perpetual curate to serve the church in his place. On 12th June, 1199 (1 John), a grant was made to Adam, clerk, de Frekelton, of the perpetual vicarage of the church of Wigan, at the request of Ranulf, Treasurer of Salisbury, Parson of Wigan.^[2] Ranulf resigned the benefice in the 6th year of John (1205), when the right of patronage, for that turn, fell to the Crown, because the land of Makerfield was in the King's hands by reason of the death of Guarin Banastre; and on the 23rd April, 1205. the King presented his beloved clerk,

1. In a plea of 31 Edw. I. (which will be quoted in its place) a claim was made to the patronage by the Lord of Standish; who asserted that in the time of King Richard, one Ulf had been presented, and instituted, to the chapel of Wigan by a certain Ralph de Standish, and received the great tithes, &c., but the assertion was not proved, and his claim to the advowson was rejected.
2. Charters of the Duchy of Lancaster (Appendix to 21st Report of Deputy Keeper of Records, p. 5). I have no means of ascertaining when Ranulf was presented to the church of Wigan, but Canon Jones, Fasti Sarum, 343, gives 1192 as the date of his appointment to the Treasurership of Salisbury, and 1210 as the date of his successor's appointment.