207. [1705] Pleas at Lancaster on Thursday March 22nd in the 4th year of Queen Anne before John Blencow knight Justice of Queens Bench and Robert Price esquire baron Secretary of said Lady the Queen and Justice

Henry Tyrer and Richard Houghton gentlemen personally plead against Robert Scarisbrick knight 2 messuages 6 acres of land 4 of meadow 6 of pasture 4 of thicket together with common of pasture and easements of the said vill as his right and inheritance that the said Robert had no entrance thereto until after the unlawful seizure thereof by Hugh Hunt within the last 30 years The said Robert by his attorney William Shaw called Elizabeth Lewis Ellen Lund Thomas Hale and his wife Anne and John Balshaw to his help Deferred till Friday On that day Elizabeth Ellen Thomas Anne and John_were represented by John Heys attorney and they called Henry Williams in defence During the same session Henry Williams though subponed mace default and did not appear in contempt of court Hence it was decided that Henry and Richard recover possession of the said holdings and they ask for a brief from the Viceroy of the Queen for full possession Granted by Richard Spencer esquire the Viceroy or Sheriff.

REPORT FOR 1897.

During the year 1897 eighteen members, including the Public Libraries of New York, Lancaster, and Southport, have joined the Society; while twenty have died, resigned, or had their names amoved from the books.

Among the deaths has been that of Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, K.C.B., President of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a life member of this Society, a man of vast learning and singular munificence, whose loss will be keenly felt by archeologists all over the world.

The heads of two old Lancashire houses, members of our Society, have passed away during the year: the Right Hon. William Philip, (4th) Earl of Sefton, K.G., Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, died at Sefton House, Belgrave Square, on the 27th of June; and Thomas Richard Crosse, of Shaw Hill, Chorley, for many years Colonel of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment of Militia, and representative of one of the two principal burgher families resident in Liverpool during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries (the Mores being the other), died suddenly at Euston Station, November 27th, 1897, while on his way from Shaw Hill to his London home for the winter. He was a thorough "Lancashire lad," never so happy as when walking over his estate, or talking with his tenants and dependents, among whom he was deservedly popular. Though essentially an "out of doors" man, he was a great book buyer, and took a keen interest in everything connected with Lancashire history and archæology.

At the meetings of the Society during the year ten papers were read, several of which are printed in this volume.

In the autumn two Excursions were made: one to Winwick, under the able guidance of Mr. James Worsley, F.S.A., whose extensive local knowledge made him an excellent cicerone; the other to Birkenhead Priory, where Mr. Edward W. Cox pointed out and dilated upon the many objects of interest and plans of buildings recovered during the excavations carried out in the

Priory under his direction, at the cost of the Corporation of Birkenhead, acting on the suggestion of this Society.

Volume XLIX (New Series, Volume XIII) of the Society's Transactions, for the year 1897, was issued in December, 1898.

Feb. 25.

Lt. Col. Fishwick, F.S.A.

28. "Storeton Hall and its surroundings "-- E. W. Cox. "Ancient Channels of the Rivers Dee and Mersey Charles Potter. "Regalia and Plate of the Preston Corporation"

Mar. 11.

T. Stanley Ball.

25. "The Fortified Sites of Lancashire" - Henry Taylor. "Lancashire and the Benedictines"

Apr. 8.

Dom Gilbert Dolan, O.S.B.

Nov. 4. "Architectural History of Bebington Church"

E. W. Cox.

18. "Notes on Trade, Finance, and Shipping in Ancient Geo. Grazebrook, F.S.A.

England"

Dec. 2. "Some account of the Liverpool Corporation Records"

T. N. Morton.

16. "Liverpool in the reign of Charles II"

W. Fergusson Irvine.

INDEX.

I. GENERAL.