Stalmine

This unusual title lies in the township of Stalmine within the extensive parish of Lancaster. Although it is called a Bailiwick it was, in effect, a lordship of the manor and descended as such a property would. The Bailiwick is sometimes described as a sub-manor of the extensive Lordship of Furness and was under the control of a bailiff appointed by the Lords of Furness, the monks of Furness Abbey. Stalmine lies in the part of west Lancashire known as Fylde. It derives its name from the Old English and Norse for a pool or stream at the mouth of the river, steall mynni. It is situated a few miles north of Blackpool, on the banks of the river Wyre.

The monks of Furness Abbey held land in Stamine since the 12th century. Founded in 1127 by Stephen, count of Boulogne (later King Stephen ) and Mortain, lord of Lancaster, the monks of Furness were granted lands by a number of large landowners including land in Stalmine.

In around 1200 Robert de Stalmine granted the monks a carucate land called Corocola, from his estate and this formed the basis of the subsequent Bailiwick. In 1240 William’s son John, granted more of the family estate in the township to the abbey, as did his brother, Henry. Over the next 200 years they expanded their lands in the township and according to the antiquarian Francis Gastrell, In the course of time the Abbey of Furness obtained the whole manor, which fell to the King at the Dissolution.

A survey of the manor of Furness, made in 1649, notes that;

There is a rent due from divers tenements in the Bailiwick of Stalmyne, which is right due and belonging to manor of Furness, as part of the said manor and payable to the receiver-general of the county of Lancaster and is per annum £10 2s 10d. Memorandum - the Bailiwick of Stalmyne is about ten miles from Lancaster and about thirty miles from the Manor of Furness.

Grants were made throughout the 13th century and the monks became primary landlords. In 1318 for instance, an agreement was made between the abbey and Nicholas de Oxley who was seeking to improve five acres of waste. The monks insisted that they be allowed to continue to drive their cattle over his land to the common. At the same time de Oxley released his claim to a water mill which they had constructed near to their demesne farm, known as The Grange.

The abbey of Furness was dissolved in 1536 and its lands and estates were seized by the Crown. This meant that the succeeding kings and queens of England, from Henry VIII to Charles II were Lords of the Bailiwick. In 1666, as a reward for his help in restoring the Stuart dynasty to the throne, the Lordship of Furness and the abbey estates, including Stalmine, were granted to the Duke of Albermarle. Born the second son of a Devon gentleman, Monck was consequently required to seek employment and chose a military career. He sailed in the English fleet which attacked Cadiz as a sixteen year old in 1625. In 1627 he was forced to flee England after accidentally killing an under-sheriff, who had arrested his father for debt, during a fight. He joined the navy and was part of the failed attempt to relieve La Rochelle in the following year. Throughout the 1630s Monck remained a military man, slowly working his way up the ranks and gaining a reputation as a brave and efficient soldier. By the time of Charles I’s campaign against the Scottish Covenanters in 1639 he had been raised to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. When the Civil War broke out in 1642 Monck was serving under the Earl of Leicester trying to suppress a rebellion in Ireland. Monck urged Leicester not to take an oath to support either Parliament or the king but after an agreement was reached with the rebels in September 1643 the Irish army returned to England to bolster the royal forces. A few weeks later Monck was captured by Parliamentarians at the siege of Nantwich on January 1644 and he spent the next few months as a prisoner in the Tower. He was eventually freed after promising not to fight against Parliament but to help suppress the continuing rebellion in Ireland. In September 1647 he was appointed as major-general of the Parliamentary forces in eastern Ulster and he remained here until and after the king’s execution in 1649.

In 1650 the Commonwealth launched a war against the royalist rump in Scotland and its leaders appointed Cromwell to lead it. Cromwell had been impressed with Monck and gave him a command and his subsequent successes in capturing a number of key posts led to his appointment as governor of Edinburgh in 1651. When Charles II made a dash for England Cromwell followed and left Monck in charge to mop up any resistance, which he accomplished with remarkable speed. His talents. especially in his use of artillery, were now considered precious by the Commonwealth and Monck was deployed at sea to fight the Dutch in 1652 and 1653.

The general professed to be a soldier, not a politician and that his loyalty was to his men. This served him well after Cromwell abolished the Regicide Parliament in April 1653. Monck issued a statement to the effect that he was too busy fighting the Dutch to be able to intervene in the domestic situation. The powers granted to him enabled him to become the virtual dictator north of the border for a time. When Cromwell died in 1568 Monck immediately offered his support to his successor, Richard but felt ill at ease with the new regime and in turn it looked upon him with some suspicion. At this point representatives of Charles II began to make overtures towards the general to garner his possible support for a restoration of the monarchy. As the Parliamentary regime collapsed into disarray at the beginning of 1660 Monck marched his army south. He was instructed to protect Parliament but he could see that the tide had turned against the republic and when he was contacted by representatives of Charles once more Monck assured him of his loyalty. His military control of London ensured that the the throne could be restored peacefully and when Charles landed at Dover in May 1660, Monck was the first to embrace him. Within weeks his loyalty was rewarded with his elevation to the dukedom of Albermarle. The lands and estates of Furness Abbey were granted to him in 1666.

The duke remained a loyal officer of the kings army and navy until his death in 1670 when his title and estates passed to his son Christopher who died childless in 1687. Stalmine passed, with the rest of his possessions to his wife who survived to the age of 95, dying in 1734. From her it passed to her second husband, Ralph, 1st duke of Montagu. He was succeeded by his son, John, 2nd duke of Montagu who had no sons and passed his estates to his daughters Isabella, wife of Edward Hussey, earl of Beaulieu and Mary who married George Brudenell, 4th earl of Cardigan (great-grandfather of Cardigan of the Charge of the Light Brigade). In 1801 an inquiry was made into the estate of Edward, earl of Beulieu, who was declared a lunatic. The Bailiwick is listed as one of his possessions.

Stalmine consequently passed to Mary’s daughter, Lady Elizabeth Montagu who was married to the 3rd duke of Buccleuch. The Bailiwick then remained in the hands of the Dukes of Buccleuch until the death of the 5th duke in 1827. In 1835, Francis, Duke of Buccleuch sold a huge part of his Lancashire Estate to Peregrine Towneley for £99,000, an astonishing amount at the time. This conveyance included the Bailiwick of Stalmine and the various rents which issued from it, which totalled £10 10s 1d per year. Rents were collected in Stalmine for Towneley in 1846.

The Towneley Estates eventually passed to the Lords O’Hagan and the Bailiwick was sold the present owner at the beginning of the century.

Rights, customs and incidents

There is a rent due from divers tenements in the Bailiwick of Stalmyne, which is right due and belonging to manor of Furness, as part of the said manor and payable to the receiver-general of the county of Lancaster and is per annum £10 2s 10d.

Historical holder / succession information

1. Duke of Albermarle
   1666 · granted_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: In 1666, as a reward for his help in restoring the Stuart dynasty to the throne, the Lordship of Furness and the abbey estates, including Stalmine, were granted to the Duke of Albermarle.