Tarleton was one of the last parishes separated from Croston, and is amongst the most valuable of the number. It is bounded on the north by Hesketh-cum-Becconsall, on the west by North Meols, on the south by Rufford, and on the east by Croston, being separated from the latter parish by the Douglas, (rendered navigable A.D. 1727,) which river here answers the legitimate end of the formation of rivers, as defined by Mr. Brindley, namely, "to supply the canal with water."

The parish of Tarleton comprises 5,380 acres of land, exclusive of about 600 acres of moss. Roger de Montebegon granted to the Cluniac priory of Thetford, in the county of Norfolk, an "island" near the more of Croxton, the land called Tarleton, and Littlehole, with the men and all that pertained to them. About the same time, John Malherbe, said to be brother of Roger de Montebegon, gave to the abbey of Cockersand all the holms, or marsh lands, near the more of Tarleton in Lailonde-schire, upon which the prior of Thetford quitclaimed to the abbot all his right in the holms.

Tarleton either gave or received its name, like so many other Lancashire townships, from an ancient family seated at this place.

In 10 Richard II. Richard de Kandelau and Adam de Tarleton, of Bretherton, apparently trustees of the estates of Banastre, gave to Alexander, the son of Richard Banastre, "bastard," and Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Banastre of Bonk, "bastard," and their lawful heirs, all the messuages, lands, and tenements, which they had the feoffament of W. Banastre and W. Thornton, in the towns of Croston, Bretherton, Tarleton, and Ulneswalton, which were Richard's the son of William Banastre of More. The entail of this property directs, that if Alexander and Elizabeth die without issue, the estate shall pass to Thomas, the son of Thomas Banastre del Banc, and his heirs; then to John, another son, "bastard," and so on, naming in succession four or five illegitimate sons of Thomas Banastre of Bank.

In 20 Richard II. Thomas Banastre del Bank gives to Thomas Banastre, his "bastard," all his messuages, lands, and tenements in the town of Tarleton which were formerly John's, the son of John de Tarleton, To have and hold of the chief lords. The succession of this estate is also limited to a number of illegitimate children, and, on failure of their issue, is to revert to Thomas Banastre and his heirs. To the original deed was appended a seal, which has been slightly tricked, or rather traced, by Dr Kuerden. Within the legend SIGILLVM THOME BANASTRE is a shield on the dexter, bearing a cross patee, surmounted by a bend, and on the sinister a lion's jamb, armed, erased, erect.

It would appear, that originally a family of the name Tarleton held the property to which these deeds ralate, and that they were succeeded by the Banastres, of Bank-Hall, in Bretherton. Thomas Hesketh, according to lord Suffield's pedigree of Hesketh, married Margaret, daughter and coheir of Thomas Banastre, of Bank; but of Newton, according to sir T.D. Hesketh's family pedigree. However this may be, the Heskeths have for centuries been joint lords of Tarleton, and their present coparcener is George Anthony Leigh Keck, of Bank-hall, esq., the successor of the Fleetwoods.

A court leet is held here annually by the joint lords in October, at the Ram's Head and at the Cock-and-Bottle alternately. There is in the parish only one land-owner exclusive of the lords of the manor.

The church, which, like all the other churches in the hundred of Leyland, is in the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Leyland, is a plain brick building, cased with rough plaster, and dedicated to St. John. The interior is neat, and contains a gallery on the south and west. The living, since the separation from Croston in 1821, is a vicarage in the patronage of the rev. Streynsham Masters, rector of Croston, and in the incumbency of the rev. Edward Masters, the rector of Rufford. The Fleetwoods, of Bank-hall, joint lords of the manor, erected Tarleton chapel, now Tarleton church, in 1717, and, on the 24th of July, 1719, the edifice was consecrated. The first entry in the parish register here is on the day of consecration; and a comparison of the numbers in the annual bills of mortality serves to show that the inhabitants have quadrupled themselves in little more than a century --

The only place of worship, in addition to the church, in this parish is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, rebuilt by subscription in 1832, and which superseded another chapel.

The increase of population, during the present century, is considerable, the number of inhabitants having been augmented, from 1116 to 1886, between the years 1801 and 1831. This is partly attributable to the introduction of the weaving branch of the cotton manufacture, and to the trade in coal and merchandise along the Douglas navigation.

The charities in this parish, as stated by the parliamentary commissioners in their XVth Report, consist of -

There is no weekly market in this place, but a fair is held annually on the 23d and 24th of April, for pedlary, under a charter granted by king William III. to Thomas Fleetwood esq. of Bank-hall, of the date of the 22d of March, 1700, and appointed to be held upon the site of Martin Meer with Tarleton, before the prospect of effectually draining the "Martineusian Marsh" had been blighted. A further charter for two other fairs, to be held on the 23rd of Septemeber and the 23d of October, yearly, was granted by the same monarch to the same public-spirited experimenter, but they have fallen into disuse.
stolen from hubmaker
Although separated into three divisions, namely, Tarleton, Solom, and Holmes, for parochial purposes, the parish has only one local government, of which the constable is the principal, if not the only public officer. The land is flat, and tolerably fertile, except to the west, where the parish is deformed by 300 acres of unreclaimed bog, under which is found oak, elder and various other kinds of timber. About the middle of Tarleton Moss there are two excavations, called "The Bottomest," or "The Bottomless Holes," which, on the surface, resemble exhausted coal-pits, but there is no record of coals having ever been got in this parish; though under some of the mosses of Lancashire, efforts are now making to obtain this invaluable mineral. Two-thirds of the land in Tarleton parish is arable, or in potato cultivation, which is here very successfully pursued for the never-failing markets of Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. The rent of this land is from 30s. to 40s. the statute acre, and, contrary to the general downward tendency in rents, the farmers say that farms are here on the advance.

About 30 years ago, Mr John Iddon, then a labourer in husbandry, while employed in digging in a copse in Mr. Robert Howard's garden, in this parish, turned up a small leaden box without a lid, in which were contained about a hundred small silver coins, all struck by the same die, and which probably had been secreted by some thrifty housewife, when the rebels were scouring the country, in one of the Scottish rebellions of the last century.

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