For background information about the diaries and their transcribers see Introduction
March 1
Bellingham entry
March ye 1st. A dry day. We had a report of K Ja [James II] landing in Ireland. Betty fell very ill of fitts. I was wth Capt Wescomb and his Lady att night.
Rawstorne entry
i at Preston & at prayers dyned at Ancor wth Capt Staughton [not identified] & Capt. Westcome & other officers was after at Mitre.
March 2
Bellingham entry
Ye 2d. A fayr day. Betty recovers and tooke Physick. I was wth Capt Wescomb and his Lady, and treated them att ye mitre, and after went wth ye mayor and Mr. Fleetwood and others to Margarett Mittons, and stayd late and dranke too much.
Rawstorne entry
2 at Preston & at prayers & at Tirlers & at Margret Wildings wth. Mr Mayor & my brother & Capt. Bellinham & Capt Clayton & others
March 3
Bellingham entry
Ye 3d. A fayr day. Mr. Bland preach’d a sharp sermon against ye Papists. Mr. Gregory preach’d in ye afternoone against anger and revenge. Sarah Clifton was bury’d.
Rawstorne entry
3 at Preston & heard Mr Bland was at Widow Cliftons at the funerall of ‘r daughter Sarah, heard Mr Gregorry of Penwortham.
Comment
Two sermons, one provocative the other peace-making. Widow Clifton kept a hostelry [location unknown] which the diarists frequently visited.
March 4
Bellingham entry
Ye 4th. Some raine. I was in company wth Mr. Withers, Captain of ye Grenadiers. I chang’d for severall Guineas. Dean Pullein came to this town from Liverpoole. He was att Chester and Rixam [Wrexham?]. He brings a sad account from Ireland yt Mr. Downs and severall of ye Colledge came from thence last Friday. Christ’s and St. Pattricks Churches and ye round Church are made into garrisons. Tirconnell has disarm’d all Protestants att Dublin, ransack’d ye colledge for armes, sends 20,000 men speedily into ye North, and dayly expects ye late King.
Rawstorne entry
4 at Preston & at prayers
March 5
Bellingham entry
Ye 5th. A fayr day. Dr Pullein went hence for Lancaster. I went to dine att Penwortham wth ye Captaines, and, hear yt a vessell arriv’d att Stanner end wch came from Ireland and brought newes of ye Dutch being landed there, I posted away thither, but found it a lye. I came backe and found ym [them] att ye Boat house, where I stay’d for some time, and came home in the darke.
Rawstorne entry
5 went to Penwortham wih Capt Bellingham, met there wth Capt Westcome & Sr. Buckley [not identified] dyned at Pen= [Penwortham Priory] was after at Boathouse & brother ffl: wth us
Comment
Stanner End could be the location known as Stanner Bank, on the north bank of the River Ribble at Granny’s bay, Lytham St Annes.
March 6
Bellingham entry
Ye 6th. A fayr day. Mr. Newcomen and Lanty Dowdall [neither identified] were here. I din’d with them, and after dinner was most of ye afternoon till 12 att night wth Coll. St. Johns [not identified]. Some little words happened from D. Langton, wch he heartily asked Pardon for. I went home wth ye Mayor. Nabby and Betty tooke Physick this day.
Rawstorne entry
6 went to Mowden=water to meet Joshua Nuttall & James Hey about Mills in Rosondale [Rossendale] & return’d [Rawstorne’s Rossendale references not traced].
March 7
Bellingham entry
Ye 7th. A fayr day. Coll St Johns [not identified] went hence. Mrs. Fleetwood [wife of Edward Fleetwood] came to town and payd us a visitt.
Rawstorne entry
7 at Preston & at prayers, & my Sister ffleetwood came & dyned wth us at Aunt Oldfield [not identified] cousin Brookes & Coz: Betty Asheton, was at George Ratcliffs for 4 onely wth Capt Clayton
Comment
Cousin Betty Asheton was possibly related to Rawstorne by his brother Edward’s marriage into the Assheton family of Cuerdale.
March 8
Bellingham entry
Ye 8th. A fayr day. I walk’d this morning. Little newes. I was with ye officers att shooting, and after came to Ned Cravens, where we had stinking oysters; so to ye mitre, to punch, where Coll [Rawstorne] and I left them.
Rawstorne entry
8 at Preston & at prayers & at Edw: Cravens to eat Oysters & at Tirlers wth Capt. Bellin: [Harrison inserts ‘Sr Jo’ in brackets indicating he is unsure of transcription; unclear who he is] with
March 9
Bellingham entry
Ye 9th. A fayr day. I din’d att ye anchor wth ye officers. Went and shott wth them att butts and after play’d at tables.
Rawstorne entry
9 at Preston & at prayers & at George Ratcliffs & Mar: Wildings this day Nicolas came from bringing Coz: Boswells to Haslingden [these latter references have not been traced]
March 10
Bellingham entry
Ye 10th. A fayr day. Mr Croston preach’d a learned sermon on ye doctrine of meritt, and Mr Bland in ye afternoon.
Rawstorne entry
i0 at Preston & at Church heard Mr. Croston & Mr Bland.
March 11
Bellingham entry
Ye 11th. A fayr day. Lewt Webster [not identified] came to town, and brought newes of ye late K [ing] being taken, but it gains no creditt. I sup’t wth ye officers att ye mitre.
Rawstorne entry
ii at Preston & went to Penwortham ii went a Coursing toth’ [Hutton] Grange and to [Dic’s] Moss all night at Pen: [Priory]
March 11
Bellingham entry
Ye 12th. A fayr day. I saw Capt Withers exercise his company of Grenadeers. Coll. Rawstorne receiv’d severall lers of ye Papists Caballing.
Rawstorne entryi2 at Penwortham [Priory] my wife wth mee came thence i’th’ evening, writ to Coz: Bancks [not identified] &c
March 13
Bellingham entry
Ye 13th. A fayr day. Johnny Shepheard came here and brings a most prodigall account of Ireland. He gave me money to keep, and I treated him and ye officers att ye Dogg, where we stayd late.
Rawstorne entry
i3 at Preston & at prayers & i’th’ evening at Will Atkinsons [Talbot/Dog] wth. Capt Bellingham Capt. Staughton [not identified] Capt. Withers and an Irish Gent. [this would be the Shepheard above] newly come thence
Comment
A possible candidate for Bellingham’s Johnny Shepheard is an Anglican clergyman in Ireland. [1] Hewitson states in a note to the entry for 27 September 1689 that ‘… he was apparently the son of Thomas Shepheard whose name appears in the list of in-burgesses of Preston for 1662, and it is very probable he was related to the Sheooards of Broughton, near Preston, who qualified as out-burgesses of the borough in1682.’ As usual, he offers no further evidence.
[1] ‘John Shepherd (Priest)’, in Wikipedia, 2 May 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Shepherd_(priest)&oldid=954434956.
March 14
Bellingham entry
Ye 14th. Some snow this morning. I went to Garstang and mett wth Sr J Coghill, Dr Pullein, Capt Longworth, Mr. Robinson, etc. We were very merry. Parted about 5, and gott home in very good time.
Rawstorne entry
i4 at Preston & at prayers
Comment
Mr Robinson was quite likely Thomas Robinson, the newly installed vicar of St Michael’s-on-Wyre. Later references in the diaries refer to a Mr Robinson of St Michaels preaching at the parish church.
March 15
Bellingham entry
Ye 15th. A dry frost. Ye fayr proclaim’d. I was wth ye Mayor and officers, and after treated J. Shepheard att ye anchor.
Rawstorne entry
i5 at Preston & at prayers & at 2 afternoone waited on Mr Mayor to pclaime the faire for 3 dayes, was after wth him & many others at fort [mistranscription for Sgt?] walls & at Will AdKinsons wth the Officers for 3d onely.
March 16
Bellingham entry
Ye 16th. Much snow and very dirty. I was wth Capt Bury [not identified], who is quartered at Crossan [?Crossens, Croston]. My cousen Patten payd his way.
Rawstorne entry
i6 at Preston & at prayers & at Hugh Tootells wth my brother & at Peg Swanseys & Tirlers wth ‘m Mr Mayor.
March 17
Bellingham entry
Ye 17th. Rain in ye morning. Mr. Walmsley, of Lealand, preached 2 excellent sermons on Contentment. I was with an ensigne, Price [not identified], and ye officers att ye Mitre, and sup’t att my cousen Pattens.
Rawstorne entry
i7 at Preston Church heard Mr Walmsley of Layland twice.
March 18
Bellingham entry
Ye 18th. A fayr day. My cousens Patten [William and wife?] went hence for London. I went wth them as far as Whittalls [Hewitson suggests Rose Whittles, near Leyland, but possibly Whittle-le-Woods]. J. Shepheard [see 13 March] went to Liverpoole. I was att night wth Mr. Atherton, minister, of Liverpoole.
Rawstorne entry
i8 at Preston & at prayers
Comment
The Mr Atherton who was a minister at Liverpool at this time would be William Atherton, who became rector of Liverpool at the end of the century. [1]
[1] ‘CCEd Person ID: 66693’, Clergy of the Church of England Database, accessed 30 April 2016, http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/DisplayPerson.jsp?PersonID=66693.
March 19
Bellingham entry
Ye 19th. Much raine. We heard of ye revolt of Dumbarton’s regiment att Ipswich. Capt Bubb, of Carlisle, was here, wth whom I dranke att ye mitre. 7 Irishmen were sent hither, by Sr Richd Standish, suspected to designe for the North to meete Oglethorp.
Rawstorne entry
i9 at Preston & at prayers
Comment
Dumbarton’s was a Scottish regiment that was being sent abroad to support the Dutch against the French. At Ipswich they revolted. This caused consternation in London, where it was feared that other disaffected regiments would also rebel. It was old Col Birch, the brother of Preston’s vicar, who urged, ‘if you let this evil spread, you will have an army upon you in a few days. Address the King to send horse and foot instantly, his own men, men whom he can trust, and to put these people down at once.’ The revolt was suppressed and the regiment dispatched to the continent. One direct consequence of the revolt was the passing of the first Mutiny Bill, a move that gave recognition to the fact that England now had a standing army. [1] Capt Jeremiah Bubb was MP for Carlisle from 1689 until his death in 1692. He was appointed governor of Carlisle at the end of the year, and was then kept busy monitoring the activities of the Cumberland Jacobites. [2] Oglethorp would be Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe (1650–1702), who, according to his DNB entry was ‘a rake and a thug’, who, having been deprived of his commission as brigadier-general in December 1689, retired to his estate at Westbroke, near Godalming, Surrey, ‘to dabble in Jacobite intrigue’. [3]
[1] Thomas Macaulay, History of England, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: J. P Lippincott, 1879), 30–36.
[2] Richard Harrison, ‘Bubb, Jeremiah, (d. 1692), of Foy, Herefs. and Carlisle, Cumb. | History of Parliament Online’, n.d., http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/bubb-jeremiah-1692.
[3] John Childs, ‘Oglethorpe, Sir Theophilus (1650–1702)’, in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. David Cannadine, online, 2004, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20618.
March 20
Bellingham entry
Ye 20th. A very wett day. I went to ye house of Correction, and spoke to Nicholas Collier, one of ye Irish men, who confess’d yt he heard yt K Ja was in Scotland, that Newcastle had declar’d for him, and yt ye Lancashire men would rise to his assistance. I saw Tho Whitehead, lately escap’d from Ireland. He goes to Kirkham. I saw Mr. Greenfeild [Christopher or Thomas].
Rawstorne entry
20 at Preston & at prayers & at Margret Wildings wth Exfer Newell and other townsmen
Comment
The Irish men mentioned in the previous entry would seem to be being detained in the House of Correction. Nicholas Collier’s confession indicates the extent to which wild rumours about Jacobite activity were circulating. The description of Thomas Whitehead, who was possibly the person soon to become the town’s schoolmaster, ‘escaping’ from Ireland, rather than ‘fleeing’, the description applied to earlier arrivals from Ireland, could indicate that the threat to Protestants from Tyrconnel’s forces had increased.
March 21
Bellingham entry
Ye 21th. Very much raine. We had an account that there was a great engagement in Ireland, that the Protestants lost 4,000 and the Papists 6,000 men, but yt ye Prots kept ye field; but ye master of ye vessell affirms that he saw severall officers brought into Drogheda desperately wounded. Capt Longworth wrote a letter to Coll Rawstorne intimating ye great feares the country was in of the Papists who were very insolent. Ye Captaine came to town. I was wth him.
Rawstorne entry
2i at Preston & at prayers
Comment
The position of the Protestants in Ireland was getting more desperate by the day. James II had landed in Ireland earlier in the month and Tyrconnel had sent troops against the Protestants, causing them to flee the country or seek safety behind the walls of Londonderry, praying for relief from England. The reported engagement did not take place, as Bellingham’s next entry makes clear.
March 22
Bellingham entry
Ye 22th. A very fayr day. I saw Dean Ward, who sayes ye newes of an engagement in Ireland is wholy false, that Sr William Franklin is in Liverpoole and brings an account that all the Northern forces were joyn’d and resolv’d to maintaine their ground. The copp att Walton has a a [mistake in transcription?] great breach made att one end of it. I rode out in ye afternoon to view it. I secur’d three Irish soldiers.
Rawstorne entry
22 at Preston, & went afternoone wth Mr Mayor to Walton to vew the Cop, taken away by the water
Comment
Sir William Franklin was one of the leaders of the Protestant resistance to Tyrconnel. Walton Copp was the Ribble flood defence at Walton-le-Dale, along which the main highway into Preston ran.
March 23
Bellingham entry
Ye 23th. Much raine. Mr Peatson and Mr Hornby were here from Poulton. They gave me an account of Mr. Barton being there. We have endeavour’d to engage him to be here to administer the Sacrament att Easter. Sr John Mullineaux came here. Ye officers return’d from Wiggan.
Rawstorne entry
23 at Preston & at prayers
Comment
In a note on an entry for 6 February 1689 Hewitson asserts that Peatson was James Patteson of Poulton-le-Fylde, but supplies no evidence.
March 24
Bellingham entry
Ye 24th. A fayr day. Mr. Bland preach’d twice very well. We have a certaine account of K Ja being landed in Ireland and the deserters laying down theyr armes. I walk’d wth ye officers att evening to see Walton Copp, which is so much damag’d by the flood that it is thought £400 will not repayr it.
Rawstorne entry
24 at Preston Church heard Mr Bland 2 was to visit Sr. Jo: Mollineux who came the day before, & hee & ‘s sonnes came in after prayers to see us writ to Coz: Kenion, the Newes of K James being in Ireland came this day
March 25
Bellingham entry
March 25th, 1689. Some snow and sleet in ye morning. I walk’d to Enam [Avenham] Garden. Capt Wescomb and his wife came to town. I was with them att ye mitre. A soldier was buyred. Severall of them are very ill wth drinking. Nabby walk’t to Walton Copp, but came home very weary.
Rawstorne entry
25 went to Penwortham & was at Church at prayers dyned there & was at Boathouse in my returne wth Bro: ffleetwood & Coz: ffleetwood o’th’ banck [Bank Hall].
March 26
Bellingham entry
Ye 26th. Snow and raine. I receiv’d ye dismall account from Lancaster of ye Protestants’ defeat in ye North of Ireland, and that severall made theyr escapes to England, Scotland, and Londonderry. This Dr Lee brought wth a letter from Dean Pullein.
Rawstorne entry
26 at Preston & at prayers, much Sno ‘ith evening at Ancor wth Capt Belling: Capt. Staughton [not identified] & Capt. Withers. sno still
March 27
Bellingham entry
Ye 27th. Much snow. We had severall of ye defeated of ye North come to this town. They confirme ye newes and that the Irish are now in possession of all but Londonderry. I walk’t wth R. Piggott and D. Langton to Walton.
Rawstorne entry
27 at Preston & at prayers, sno still
March 28
Bellingham entry
Ye 28th. Much snow in the morning; afternoon very fayr. I walk’t a great while wth Capt Withers at Enam [Avenham].
Rawstorne entry
28 at Preston & at prayers more sno
March 29
Bellingham entry
Ye 29th. Much raine. One Gillibrand preach’d. Mr. Barton administred ye Sacrament. I was wth him in the afternoon. Alderman Sudell’s child was bury’d.
Rawstorne entry
29 at Preston, heard on Mr Gilliband a yonge man; & received the Sacraemt. from an Irish preacher one Mr Barton and Mr Bland our Curate.
Comment
Hewitson suggests, but supplies no evidence, that Gillibrand could be Jonathan, the son of the Rev Jonathan Gillibrand, vicar of Leigh and a burgess on the 1622 Preston Guild rolls
March 30
Bellingham entry
Ye 30th. Very much raine last night and this morning. Mrs. Threlfall brought me a brace of large carps. I invited Mr. Barton and Mr Bland to dinner. After dinner I was wth Mr. Fleetwood, who receiv’d a letter that there was a person seiz’d att Whitehaven wth letters to ye Convention of Scotland and to some papists of this county.
Rawstorne entry
30 at Preston & at prayers
March 31
Bellingham entry
Ye 31st. A wett day. The Sacrament was administred. I received. Mr. Barton gave it, and preach’d 2 incomparable sermons. Sr Henry Ponsonby came hither from London. He gives a dismall account of his escape. I was wth him and others att the anchor.
Rawstorne entry
3i at Preston Church heard Mr Barton and received the Sacraemt from him & Mr. Bland, heard Mr Barton againe, an excellent Sermon, is a fellow of Dublin Colledge in Ireland.
Comment
Sir Henry Ponsonby, of Bessborough in Ireland, would be one of the many Protestants fleeing the country. He was succeeded by his brother, William, one of the principal defenders of Londonderry. [1] Bellingham’s entry for the next day contains a premature report of William’s death, anticipating his demise by some 35 years.
[1] A. Collins, A Supplement to the Four Volumes of The Peerage of England (W. Innys, J. and P. Knapton, S. Birt, T. Wotton, R. Manby and H. S. Cox, and E. Withers, 1750), 627–28, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4DUVAAAAQAAJ.
preston history 