For background information about the diaries and their transcribers see Introduction
January 1
Bellingham entry
Januar. ye 1st [1688-89]. A very hard frost. A noble entertainment att Penwortham [Priory]. I receiv’d bad newes from Ireland, of great preparations by Tirconnell, and that T. White was afraid of possession being taken. T. White return’d from Liverpoole, but I sent him again wth more letters, etc.
Rawstorne entry
i at Penwortham & at prayers Mr Mayor of Preston & all the cheife of the towne dyned there
Comment
Tyrconnel, the lord deputy of Ireland, was building up his army to support James II and was besieging Londonderry. His army’s strength was estimated at 30,000 at this time. [1] Tom White, who was possibly Bellingham’s agent in Ireland (see 22 December 1688 entry), would have been afraid for Bellingham’s Gernonstown estate, near Dundalk (see Bellingham biography).
[1] Steve Pincus, 1688: The First Modern Revolution (Yale University, 2009), 269–7.
January 2
Bellingham entry
Ye 2d. A very hard frost. I saw Mr. Sympson, of Kendall, and treated him. We sup’t att cousen Johnson’s wth Mr. Rigby and his Lady, etc.
Rawstorne entry
2 at Penwortham & at Robins [hostelry, location unknown] wth. my Brother & a blacksmith & a butcher ’till ten. Much snow fell the while
January 3
Bellingham entry
Ye 3rd. Much snow. I had my cousens [probably the Johnsons] and Mr. Sympson and wife to supper. We were very merry, and made ye discovery of cous Johnson‘s love letter-writing to 2 Ladyes. I saw R P and O.
Rawstorne entry
3 at Penwortham & at Rich: fforrest his house in Hutton & return’d
Comment
Hewitson suggests that R, P and O were Rigby, Patten and Osbaldeston. [1] Rigby could be Alexander, but more likely Edward, Patten could be Thomas or William, and Osbaldeston is likely to have been Edward Osbaldeston or his son, Alexander. Richard Forest was possibly one of Rawstorne’s Hutton tenants.
[1] Thomas Bellingham and Anthony Hewitson, Diary of Thomas Bellingham, an Officer under William III (Preston: Toulmin & Sons, 1908), 40, http://archive.org/details/diaryofthomasbel00belluoft.
January 4
Bellingham entry
Ye 4th. A frost continues. I walk’t to Walton. Poast came in late. I reproachd. Was wth ye mayor att widdow Clifton’s [hostelry, not identified], eating of oysters which came from London.
Rawstorne entry
4 at Penwortham & Townend
January 5
Bellingham entry
Ye 5th. A hard frost. We din’d att Mr. Hodgkinsons. I treated Cous Johnson, D. [Dick/Richard] Langton, and Mr. Franks, att Turlagh’s. An unhappy accident fell out between M [possibly mistranscription for N, meaning Bellingham’s wife Nabby, see next entry] and me.
Rawstorne entry
5 at Penwortham & Boathouse
January 6
Bellingham entry
Ye 6th. Frost continues. Nabby was very ill all last night, by means of ye late accident. All is well again. We had newes that Tirconnell had resign’d and fled into France, and that most of the considerable places in ye Kingdome had declar’d for ye P of O [Prince of Orange]. A stranger preach’d this afternoon.
Rawstorne entry
6 at Penwortham Church heard Mr Gregorie
Comment
The news about Tyrconnell and Ireland was wrong.
January 7
Bellingham entry
Ye 7th. Frost continues. R. Piggott, Johnson, and I walk’t to Penwortham, where we mett severall gentlemen, and walk’t to Boat house, and came home wth Coll. [Rawstorne]
Rawstorne entry
7 came from Penwortham called at Boathouse & return’d to Preston
January 8
Bellingham entry
Ye 8th. Some haile and sleet which froze as it fell. I was wth Mr. Mayor, who is in great perplexity about the choosing men to goe to Convention. He this day receiv’d the circular letter. Ld Derby recomends his brother.
Rawstorne entry
8 at Preston
Comment
The circular letter was a call for a Parliament (known as the Convention Parliament) with elections to take place on 15 January. The mayor faced the difficult task of organising the election in Preston, where electors were far from unanimous in the course they wanted the revolution to take: hence his ‘perplexity’. The Earl of Derby‘s recommendation of his brother, James Stanley, for one of the Preston seats was accepted and he was unopposed in the contest. [1]
[1] ‘Preston | History of Parliament Online (1660-90)’, accessed 2 January 2016, http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/preston.
January 9
Bellingham entry
Ye 9th. A thaw. In ye evening I was wth ye Rigbye Capt and his brother [members of the local Rigby family], and others, att Rigby’s, very merry.
Rawstorne entry
9 at Preston
January 10
Bellingham entry
Ye 10th. A great thaw. I saw Walton copp overflowen. I was wth ye mayor and Coll. All night Nabby was ill, but proves a false alarm. I rode out wth cousen Johnson. Patten and Rigby make great interest for election. Mr. Stanly is sure to be one.
Rawstorne entry
i0 at Preston & at Maryes [probably Rigby’s hostelry] wth Mr Mayor
Comment
Walton Copp was the Ribble flood defence at Walton-le-Dale, along which the main highway into Preston ran. Thomas Patten and Edward Rigby were both seeking election for one of the two Preston seats, with Patten representing the Whig interest of Lord Brandon, the Earl of Derby‘s rival for power in the county. [1] Bellingham suggests that Derby’s brother, James Stanley, was assured of the other seat.
[1] Ibid.
January 11
Bellingham entry
Ye 11th. A fresh frost. Ill newes from Ireland. I was wth one of Bellfast, att Rattliffs. I gott some Guinnyes. Monsieur Bryan [proprietor of a Preston hostelry] gott a scare hurt on his nose. I visited him, etc.
Rawstorne entry
ii at Preston
January 12
Bellingham entry
Ye 12th. Frost in ye morning; thaw’d in ye afternoon. This is call’d ye great Saturday, but a very slender markett; no goods goe off. I was att Rigby’s wth Capt W. Clifton and his brother James and one Mr. Westby, all R [Catholics], who seeme very high upon ye newes of Tirconnell [leading James II’s forces in Ireland] houlding out.
Rawstorne entry
i2 at Preston
Comment
The market Bellingham mentions would be ‘the great horse fair, in the week ending on the first Saturday after Epiphany, which is called “Great Saturday” ‘. [1] The Cliftons would be brothers of Sir Thomas Clifton and Mr Westby was probably his brother-in-law Thomas Westby, members of the principal Catholic gentry families in the Fylde, shortly to be implicated in a ‘Jacobite plot’. Bellingham seems already to be identifying them as Jacobites.
[1] E. Baines, History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, vol. 4 (Fisher, son & Company, 1836), 361, https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_History_of_the_County_Palatine_and_D.html?id=G904AQAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y.
January 13
Bellingham entry
Ye 13th. A frost and thaw. About 2 this morning Naby fell into labour, and so continu’d in much paine till past nine att night, att wch time she was deliver’d of a lusty daughter.
Rawstorne entry
i3 went to Penwortham & recevid the Sacraemt. at Mr Walmsley of Layland & return’s i’th evening
January 14
Bellingham entry
Ye 14th. A frost and thaw. I was wth ye mayor and above 18 more of ye best of the town, and payd beverage for my daughter. Rigby and Patten will not stand to theyr agreement about election. I was desir’d to personate ye E of Derby’s brother [James Stanley].
Rawstorne entry
i4 ‘ith’ evening a G: Ratliffs wth Mr Mayor Capt Bellingham & severall Aldermen & others to the number of 20, if not above the Capt paid beverage for ‘s daughter it cost him 3s-6d & us 2d a peice. X
Comment
Bellingham’s entry perhaps suggests that Rigby and Patten had agreed which of them would stand in the election, but had both decided to contest the seat. However, Rigby was generally reckoned a Tory and Patten was a Whig (see their biographies). Bellingham ‘was desir’d to personate’ the absent Stanley, who it seems was absent serving with William of Orange.
January 15
Bellingham entry
Ye 15. A frost and thaw. This day was ye election of members to serve in the Convention. Mr. Stanly, whom I personated, was unanimously chosen. Ye competition between Rigby and Patten was carried by 2 votes for Patten: he had 208, ‘tother 206. I was carry’d on mens shoulders from barrs to barrs, and was handsomely treated till very late.
Rawstorne entry
i5 at Preston, ’twas the Court day for election of Burgesses to sit in the next convention (to wit) the 22th instant. James Standley Esq brother to the Erle of Derby was chose without opposition, & Mr Edw: Rigby & Mr Patten polled for’t
[new page?] i5 Mr Rigby had 206 votes & Mr Patten 208 it continued 5 hours or more, & when ended: Capt Bellingham was carried for Mr. Standley out o’th’ [town] hall & from bars to Bares, & so was Mr Patten & then went all together, Mr Mayor & all to the Ancor, to Serjeant Walles’s to the Monsieurs [hostelry, location unknown], & to Tirlers.
January 16
Bellingham entry
Ye 16th. A great thaw, but without much raine. I was to take leave of Mr. Patten in order to his journy to London. I sent 7 Guineas by him. I was wth W. Patten Capt. Pigot, and others, and came home in good time.
Rawstorne entry
i6 at Preston & at Mr. Standley’s [?] Coll Newell came to my house
Comment
Colonel Nowell was colonel of a militia regiment based on the Salford and Blackburn Hundreds. [1] He was possibly Alexander Nowell of Read. [2]
[1] D. P. Carter, ‘The Lancashire Militia, 1660-1688’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire 132 (1983): 158, https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-132-1982/attachment/132-9-carter/
[2] T.D. Whitaker, An History of the Original Parish of Whalley, and Honor of Clitheroe (Nichols, Son, and Bentley, 1818), 264 pedigree, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EO1EAQAAMAAJ.
January 17
Bellingham entry
Ye 17th. A thaw. This afternoon abigail [Bellingham’s daughter] was baptised in the Church. Cousen W. Patten godfather, and Cousens Johnson [wife of Alexander Johnson] and Betty Bickerton [daughter of Bellingham’s sister Anne Bickerton] godmothers. I had ye mayor and some of ye best of ye town. I was att night wth Capt Longworth and some other Justices who kept sessions here this day and receiv’d certificates of all dputy Lewts and magistrates of this side of ye country.
Rawstorne entry
i7 at Preston & ‘ith’ Court o’ Sess tooke the Oathes of Obedience & Supremacie and the Test [strategies devised to disbar non-Anglicans from public office] dyned at Serjeant Walle’s Sr. Rich: Standish, the old Coll, Bro: ffleet Mr Mayor & the diverse others i3 in number
Comment
Harrison identifies the ‘old Coll’ as Col Alexander Rigby, but gives no evidence. [1]
[1] Richard D. Harrison, ‘The Rawstorne Diary, 1687-89’ (typescript, nd), 117, Search Room, Lancashire Archives.
January 18
Bellingham entry
Ye 18th. A great mist. I receiv’d severall letters from Ireland, but all speak of great preparations there, and yt T [Tyrconnell] will not surrender. I saw Richmond from lerpoole [Liverpool], who confirms ye [transcriber adds: report of] men being drown’d in Dublin Bay, and [transcriber adds: that] Coll Sarsfeild [not identified] was among them. I was wth severall others att cards, at alderman Sudalls, till ’twas late.
Rawstorne entry
i8 at Preston, dyned wth Mr Kenion at Ancor & Mr Mayor & Mr Parker [of Browsholme or Bradkirk] was after at one [Wid.] Tomlinsons an Alehouse wth them & at Serjeant Wall’s & Ancor
January 19
Bellingham entry
Ye 19th. A fayr day. I was wth Mr. Fleetwood and his cousen Dick [Richard Fleetwood] who sayes he heard by a vessell come from Ireland last Sunday yt ye Protestants there were in good posture of defence. I was after wth severall women att ye coffee house, and so att Mittons, and came home very late, etc.
Rawstorne entry
i9 at Preston & at Ancor wth Mr Kenion, hee & I, & Mr W: Patten agreed to joyn together to look after forfeitures of the Papist officers my brother & Mr lemon dyned wth mee, was after wth theim at Mary Rigbyes & the Mitre.
Comment
With the flight of James II, the Catholics he had appointed as officers in his army appear to have been facing stiff penalties. Their appointment had dismayed Anglicans, carried through on what they saw as bogus legal grounds. Harrison writes, ‘ The sums involved could be considerable, and it is known that Roger Kenyon profited in no small way from the penal law fines levied in Wigan.’ But supplies no reference. [1]
[1] Ibid.
January 20
Bellingham entry
Ye 20th. A misty day. Mr. Franks came from Liverpoole, and brought an account yt ye Protestants in Ireland were in a good posture to defend themselves. I was wth Mr. Chaddock and others at Mittons.
Rawstorne entry
20 at Preston Church heard the Vicar twice
January 21
Bellingham entry
Ye 21th. A misty day. Cousen Johnson and R. Piggott and I went to see Bramhalls fine horse. He asks 100 for him: he is a comely, large horse, chesnutt collour’d, but has no gate. We cross’d ye foord by lower path. ‘Tis a pleasant situation, and much orcharding about it. There are 20 acres inclos’d wth a stone wall [Bramhall and the property visited not identified]. From thence we came to Cuerdale, Mr. Ashton’s, and din’d there, where I saw ye largest child of 3 years and a halfe old. He is 3 foot and a half tall and near an inch. We came to Preston about 2 a clock. We were treat’d with canns by R. Piggott, this being his birth day. Att night we play’d att cards at Dr Lees. Sr John Coghill was for some time in this town to-day, and Seem’d very desirous to see me. He has brought his family out of Ireland, and plac’d them att Lancaster: himselfe is gone for some time to London; so I was disappointed.
Rawstorne entry
2i went to penwortham [Priory] & my wife with mee, came thence ‘ith’ evening
January 22
Bellingham entry
Ye 22th. A fayr day. I had letters from Ireland, and ye Sligoe declaration. Att night James Charlton [not identified] came hither, who had been att Gernonstoune [Gernonstowne, Bellingham’s estate in Ireland] a weeke agoe. He gives a dismall account of Ireland, especially of our county, from whence most of ye Protestants are fled. We saw ye German [magician] shew his tricks. I saw Sr J. Coghills sonne.
Rawstorne entry
22 at Preston & at Margret Wilidngs [hostelry, not identified].
Comment
Dolan:
I cannot find what was the ‘Sligoe declaration’. It may probably have been the manifesto of the Williamite party in Ulster, who had formed an association about December 1688 under the leadership of Lord Blaney of Castleblaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, and Sir Anthony Skeffington, ‘for the maintenance of the Protestant religion and the dependancy of Ireland upon England,’ and who had taken Coleraine, Culmore (at Derry) and Sligo in the name of King William.
‘Dismal account of Ireland’.? – An absurd rumour of a conspiracy by the Irish to massacre the new colonists on the previous 9th December, and the more reasonable fear that Tyrconnell would repeal the Act of Settlement and restore the land to its pre-Cromwellian owners, impelled great numbers of the Protestants (‘thousands’, Macaulay? ‘five hundred’ Col. Bellingham) to fly to England in these months.
Two days before, the diary records the information from two distinct sources: ‘the Protestants of Ireland were in a good position of defence’. The account given here of most of the Protestants having quitted Louth cannot be accurate, for if so, they would not have returned to it during the next eight months, whilst their party had no military support there; yet Storey tells of the following September that the people of Ardee were mostly Protestant, and had provided great quantities of ale, bread, and other provisions for the soldiers of Schomberg’s army, which they expected to come to their town. [1]
[1] Joseph T. Dolan, ‘Colonel Thomas Bellingham’s Diary’, Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society 1, no. 2 (1905): 48.
January 23
Bellingham entry
Ye 23th. A misty, moyst day. Mr. Chaddock had newes of ye arrivall of his vessell at Liverpoole from Burdeaux [Chaddock was a wine merchant]. I was att night wth the master, one Lucas, who sayes that ye french inveighed mightily against ye English and Dutch. He confirm’d ye account of ye french seizing a dutch ship att Plymouth and murdering all ye men. Mr. [H]arrington of Kendall [not identified] was here, who gave me an account of his knowing Sr J. Coghill.
Rawstorne entry
23 at Preston & at Whitehorse & at George Ratcliffs.
January 24
Bellingham entry
Ye 24th. A moyst day. Here came soldiers and officers from Carlisle, going to Warrington, from whence they expect to be sent into Ireland; yt there was one Tranbar Etheridge and one Cornwall whose parents are in Ireland. I had ye German to shew [transcriber adds: his tricks] before my wife and some other gentlewomen att my lodgings. I was wth ye officers att ye mitre and Mittons.
Rawstorne entry
24 at Preston & at James Coops & at Mr Gregsons
January 25
Bellingham entry
Ye 25th. A moyst day. Ye soldiers march’t out early. Post came in late. Ye Lords and Commons address’d ye P of O [Prince of Orange] wth thanks and desir’d his continuance of ye Regency. I was att night wth Hodgkinson, Chaddock, Hornby, and others at ye Dogg, and after att cousen Patten’s.
Rawstorne entry
25 went to Penwortham & to Hutton Grange [the demense property on Rawstorne’s estate] a Coursing, was at Rubins [Robins, hostelry, location unknown] in our returne.
January 26
Bellingham entry
Ye 26th. A fayr day. Nabby sweat. I saw young Clayton, who sayes that severall passengers came to Liverpoole from Ireland, that Tirconnell had taken severall protestant soldiers who were deserting, and bound and imprison’d them, yt ye Protestants there are in great consternation and endeavouring all they can to escape for England or ye North, yt Tir. threatens if any forces land from here he will turn his army loose to doe what they please.
Rawstorne entry
26 at Preston & ‘ith afternoone wth: Brother ffleetwood at Tom Bostocks and Margret Wildings wth Mr Clayton & ‘s sonne & Capt Bellingham & others
Comment
The ‘young Clayton’ was probably William Clayton, the son of Robert Clayton of Fulwood. He would have been in his thirties at this time and had established himself in Liverpool where he was shortly to become mayor.
January 27
Bellingham entry
Ye 27th. A fayr day. I walk’t wth Mr. Croston to Walton, where we heard one Coulton [not identified] preach and read prayers very well. I was wth Dr Lee and others att Rattliffe’s.
Rawstorne entry
27 at Preston Church heard the vicar twice.
January 28
Bellingham entry
Ye 28th. A wett day. I tooke Physick which wrought very well. Dr Lee and severall freindes came to visitt me. This afternoon came in some men who are design’d for Ireland in ye meane time to quarter here. They are very promising men.
Rawstorne entry
28 at Preston & went to Penwortha
January 29
Bellingham entry
Ye 29th. A moyst day. Little newes but what is bad from Ireland. Att night I was wth Mr Richmond, Chaddock, Mr Mayor, and others att Ratcliffe’s, etc.
Rawstorne entry
29 at Preston & to visit Mr Roberts & ‘s wife at Mr Walmsley’s, was after at Margret Wildings wth Mr Roberts & others Mr Kellet Coz: Cockshoot & 2 yong ministers
January 30
Bellingham entry
Ye 30th. A fayr day. Having no prayers this morning, ye Collonell [Rawstorne], Mr. Croston, and I walked to Walton. From thence a a large Circuite, by Cann bridge [across the Darwen at Higher Walton]. I sup’t and din’d. About 5 a clock Mr. Langton came and sate with us till 10.
Rawstorne entry
30 at Preston
January 31
Bellingham entry
Ye 31th. A moyst day. I went with ye Coll [Rawstorne] and his Lady to Penwortham. From thence Coll and I went to Hutton and grange, and somewhere ye water had made a great breach on a curious marsh. We din’d att Penwortham [Priory], and came home early. R. Piggott and Mr. Syl Richmond have had a quarrell.
Rawstorne entry
3i went to Hutton to Rich: fforrests’s [probably one of his tenants] house, and after to Hutton Grange to view the [loss] of ground there by the water, Capt Bellingham wth mee, wee return’d to Penwortham to Dinner was after at Town end & came home
preston history 