PARKER OF BRADKIRK HALL.
The Parkers, who inhabited Bradkirk Hall for over a hundred years, were relatives of the Derby family, and came originally from Breightmet Hall, near Bolton, where they had lived for many centuries. William Parker, of Bradkirk Hall, who died in 1609, and was buried at Kirkham, is the first of whom we have any authentic account, and he is stated to have married Margaret, the daughter of Robert Shaw, of Crompton. The children springing from that union were—John, who inherited Bradkirk Hall; Thomas, of Bidstone, in the county of Chester; and Henry, who espoused, in 1609, Alice Threlfall, and became the founder of the family of Parkers of Whittingham. John Parker, of Bradkirk Hall, married Margaret, the daughter and co-heiress of Anthony Parker, of Radham Park, Yorkshire; and after her decease he espoused Alice, the daughter of Richard Mason, of Up-Holland, near Wigan, by whom he had three sons and one daughter—William, Richard, John, and Margaret. The offspring of his first marriage were Anthony, Elizabeth, Jennet, Anne, Alice, and Christopher. Anthony died unmarried, and Christopher, the second son, born in 1625, succeeded to Bradkirk Hall on the demise of his father. He was a justice of the peace for the county of Lancaster, and married Katherine, sister to James Lowde, of Kirkham, and daughter of Ralph Lowde, of Norfolk. His children were Anthony; Alexander, who married Dorothy, the daughter of Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck; John, William, Gerrard, Christopher, Margaret, Mary, and Jane, the last married John Westby, of Mowbreck, at Poulton church, in 1688. Anthony Parker, the eldest son, born in 1657, lived at Bradkirk Hall, and espoused Mary, the daughter of Sir Thomas Stringer, sergeant-at-law, by whom he had issue—Christopher, Catherine, and Rebecca, who died young. Christopher Parker inherited Bradkirk Hall, and was Member of Parliament for Clitheroe in 1708. He died unmarried about 1713, and the Hall and estates passed by will to his sister Catherine, the wife of Thomas Stanley, of Cross Hall, in Ormskirk Parish, conjointly with her uncle Alexander Parker. In 1723 the possessions of the deceased Christopher Parker in Lancashire and Yorkshire were sold by Catherine Stanley and Alexander Parker. The latter, however, resided at Bradkirk Hall for some time after that date with his wife Dorothy, the daughter, as before stated, of Thomas Westby of Mowbreck, by whom he had nine sons and two daughters. The sons appear to have died without issue, and one of the daughters, Dorothy, married ⸺ Cowburn, whilst the other Katherine, became the wife of William Jump, of Hesketh Bank.