13 February 2012 Mr John Quirk, Nicholas Blundell – Reluctant Churchwarden

Mr Quirk has transcribed the parish registers from 1600 and studied the gravestones in Sefton Parish Church. He detailed the family tree of the Blundell family of Little Crosby who became Lords Sefton in 1800. In particular he told of Nicholas Blundell who was elected Churchwarden in 1714 and was reluctant to take office as he was a Catholic of Roman tradition serving in the Church of England. Duties of a Churchwarden included tax collection for the administration of relief for the poor, upkeep of roads, law and order, collecting pew rents for the seating of the congregation and conducting services if the clergy were unavailable. Nicolas kept a diary of his activities detailing his meetings to discuss parish affairs at Hisnop’s, the local tavern, now The Punchbowl. His main achievement was the provision of a parish hearse or corps carriage to convey bodies to Sefton Church which was the graveyard for a wide area. Wayside crosses still mark the routes to Sefton Church. After the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 he lived in Belgium returning in 1718.  His memorial is in the Blundell Chapel in the Church.