Articles, records and resources relating to the history of the Lancashire town of Preston
May 1690
For background information about the diaries and their transcribers see Introduction
May ye 1st. Some showers. Ye Quarter sessions was held here. Mr. Stanly is continued on his Recognizance. I was att play wth Mr. King, and att evening was wth ye Justices att Rattliffes. Threllford [possibly Edmund Threlfall of the Ashes at Goosnargh] escap’d .
Ye 2d. Very fayr. I saw Mr. Suddell who is return’d from London. I was att play most of ye evening wth Mr. King, who is fallen very ill, and was late wth Coll Matthewes and others att Rattliffes.
Ye 3d. Very good growing weather. A. soldier who came late from Ireland tould us of some action att Charlemont, where 30 of ye enemy were killed and 25 taken prisoners, wth ye loss only of 7 of our side, and that Tirconnell was in disgrace with K J [James II]. Coll Matt:[hews] gave us a noble treat att ye anchor. Capt Poultny [not identified] came in just as we were at supper. Comment Macaulay attributes the success to Count Schomberg who was commanding the Williamite troops in Ireland, ‘Schomberg had opened the campaign auspiciously. He had with little difficulty taken Charlemont, the last important fastness which the Irish occupied in Ulster. But the great work of reconquering the three southern provinces of the island he deferred till William should arrive.’ [1]
[1] Thomas Macaulay, History of England, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: J. P Lippincott, 1879), 464.
Ye 4th. A fayr day. Coll Matthewes and Capt Poultney went hence. I receiv’d a large mapp wth some verses from Greenfeild. Ye mapp is of Ireland, and ye verses an anniversary song, made by Durfy, on ye Q birthday, being ye 30th of apr. Comment Durfy would be Thomas D’Urfey:
… the revolution ousted the tory patrons on whom D’Urfey had depended for his livelihood. He turned briefly to education, spending the summer of 1689 as a singing-teacher at Josias Priest’s boarding-school for girls in Chelsea, ‘a position’, his twentieth-century editor notes darkly, ‘for which he must have been morally very unfit’ … As soon as he was assured of the success of William’s coup d’état, however, D’Urfey pledged himself to the whigs, producing birthday odes and songs for William and Mary, and satirizing those opposed to the new dispensation (nonconformists, nonjurors, and Jacobites among them) in a series of anonymous poems. [1]
Ye 5th. Some raine. I walk’t and din’d wth Mr. King, att Penwortham,, and was on att night wth Tom Ashton [Hewitson identifies him as Thomas Ashton of Croston, but supplies no evidence], who payd his way att ye dogg.
Ye 6th. Much raine. We have newes of recruits being gotten into Charlemont. I saw one Buchanan [not identified] who was a minister att Clogher in Ireland.
Ye 7th. A very fayr day. Severall of us din’d att ye marsh. I bowl’d most of ye day, and when I came home I went wth Mr. Mollineaux [possibly Thomas Molyneux] to Rattliffs. Sr Edw Chisnall came to us.
Ye 8th. Very fayr. I was handsomely treated by Sr Ed Chisnell att ye anchor. Here was Capt Pash [probably Capt Samuel Pash [1] ]and Corpr Berry of Sr George St. George Regiment. They are sent wth private orders relating to Papists. I was late wth them and wth Sr Ed Chis.
Ye 9th. Very fayr. Sr Edw Chisnall treated ye Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Councell, att ye anchor. Coll Rawstorne and his Lady came to visitt us. I heard of H. Bickertons [probably Henry, the son of Bellingham’s sister] misfortune, and was att night wth Sr Ed Chisnall. Comment Chisenhall was treating the corporation as part of his electioneering for the forthcoming election (see 29 April 1690)
Ye 10th. Very fayr. Dr Wroe came hither. I was wth him. I bought some wheat to send for Ireland. Sr Edw Chisnall went hence.
Ye 11th. Very fayr. Ye Vicar preach’d. In ye afternoone I walk’d to Penwortham wth Mr King, Winkly, and Frankes.
Ye 12th. Very fayr. This day we remov’d into ye Friargate, to Evan Hewson’s house. I putt 2 sacks of wheat on board ye may flower to send to Ireland. Comment Bellingham’s new landlord Hewson would be the Evan Hughson who makes frequent apperances in the Preston Court Leet records and had a house on Friargate. The reference to the Mayflower shows that preston was serving as a port for the Irish trade.
Ye 13th. Very fayr. Cousen W. B. [William Bellingham] went wth me to ye vessell.
Ye 14th. Very fayr. I putt some brandy and biskett, etc., on board, and bowl’d att ye marsh in ye afternoon.
Ye 15th. Very fayr. We were treated att Gradells [hostelry, not identified]
Ye 16th. Still fayr. I went and tooke leave att Penwortham. At Mr. Fleetwood’s, &c.
Ye 18th. Still fayr. We had an account from Lerpoole of Lewt King’s deserting K James and coming over wth a list of ye Irish army. He sayes that Charlemont [see above] has capitulated to surrender. I bought my gray horse from Jean [possibly Boat House landlord], at boat house, for £7 10s.
Ye 21th. Much raine. Ye fast day. Mr. Bland preach’d a very good sermon, but fell very ill of his legg. I was wth Coll Rawstorne and others att Rattliffes.
Ye 22th. A fayr day. I came to Leverpoole wth cousen W. B. [William Bellingham] and Mr. King. We had ye assurance of ye surrender of Charlemont and Woolselye’s action att Ballingargy. Ye Pinnace of ye monk was lost wth ye Lewt and 12 men. I saw Winkworth who made escape from Dublin in apr.
Ye 23th. Very windy. We bowl’d. Martyn ye Attourny came in a Gabbard from Dublin. He gave an acct: of my freindes, but was very reserv’d to ye Mayor [the Liverpool mayor at this time was the son of Captain Clayyon of Fulwood].
Ye 24th. Much wind and raine. Giles had his legg broken. Dr Richmond and severall freindes were wth us.
Ye 25th. Much raine. A funerall sermon over Hughes of Dublin, a goldsmith. Dr. Guithers was wth us.
Ye 26th. Some raine. We went to Highlake [Hoylake]. Went to Capt Greenhill for an order for our horses. Was on board ye Ruby, and returned to Leverpoole.
Ye 27th. Much raine. Mr. King and I came to Hyle lake. We din’d wth Mr. Vickars. Came to Wallesy, to John in ye Gutters, where we mett Cremer, Foster, Person, and Allcock. My man came to us att 12 att night wth an order to shipp our horses.
The rest of the diary, which continues to 12 September 1690, deals with Bellingham’s time serving with the Williamite forces in Ireland and is beyond the scope of this website. For editorial notes for this period see Dolan[1].
[1] Joseph T. Dolan, ‘Colonel Thomas Bellingham’s Diary’, Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society 1, no. 2 (1905): 45–60 http://www.jstor.org/stable/27727784.
Ye 28th. Raine in ye morning. We went to Hyle lake, and shipt our horses early, and sayld about 3 in ye afternoon. We came att night in sight of Isle of Man. Our ship ye Betty of Biddiford; Tho: Marshall mr
Ye 29th. A fayr day. Gale in ye morning, but calm about nine. We lay most of ye day near ye Mull of Galloway, and att evening came to an Anchor near ye Copeland Islands.
Ye 30th. Some showers. About 3 this morning we came to an anchor att ye Whitehouse. I went wth Mr. King to Carrigfergus. Saw Dean Ward, and Mr. King heard yt Kirke was displeased att him. About 12 I came by boat to Belfast. Din’d att Mr. Carbuy’s, sup’t wth Mr. Twigg, and lay that night wth him. I wrote to Nabby.
Ye 31th. Some raine. I came to Lisburn: waited on Ma. Gen. Kirk. Was wth ye Duke, who was very obleiging. I din’d wth ye Earl of Meath, and came to Jo. Whites.
preston history 