| 1801. | 1811. | 1821. | 1831. | 1841. | 1851. | 1861. | 1871. |
| 105 | 131 | 145 | 164 | 152 | 126 | 116 | 115 |
The area of the township in statute acres is 1,043.
Ribby-with-Wrea. In Domesday Book Rigbi, for Ribby, is entered as comprising six carucates. Roger de Poictou gave the tithes of “colts, calves, lambs, kids, pigs, wheat, cheese, and butter of Ribbi and Singletone” to the priory of Lancaster to serve as food to the monks who celebrated mass in that monastery. This grant was afterwards confirmed by John, earl of Moreton.[175] In 1201 Adam and Gerard de Wra paid two marks to King John in order to gain protection from the sheriff, who, it seems, was in the habit of unjustly molesting them in their tenements.[176] The manors of Preston, Riggeby, and Singleton were presented by Henry III. to Edmund, earl of Lancaster, who in 1286 became engaged in a dispute with the abbot of Vale Royal, which ultimately led to a mandate being issued by Edward I., at Westminster, to the sheriff of Lancaster, commanding him to draw a proper and just boundary line between the lands of the disputants, because the abbot complained that the earl had taken more territory than he was legally entitled to by his fee, thereby encroaching on the conventual possessions in Kirkham parish.[177] In 1297 earl Edmund’s rents from Ribby-with-Wrea amounted in all to £19 19s.[178] per annum.
During the life of the first duke of Lancaster, Ribby contained twenty houses, and twenty-one and three-fourths bovates of land held by bondsmen at a rental of £19 16s. 4d.; and at that time there were the following tenants in Ribby and Wrea:—Adam, the son of Richard the clerk, who held five acres, and paid 4d. per annum; Adam, the son of Jordani, one acre for 12d.; Roger Culbray, three acres for 9d.; Richard de Wra, half a bovate for 5d.; Adam de Kelyrumshagh, half a bovate for 4d.; William de Wogher, six acres for 2d.; John de Bredkyrke, half a bovate for 9d.; William le Harpour, one bovate for 15d.; Giles, two acres for 10d.; John de Bonk, one bovate and one acre for 10d.; John le Wise, eleven acres for 7d.; and Adam de Parys, two bovates, which were those of John le Harpour, for 3s., of free farm and two marks. After the demise of a tenant it was the recognised custom for his successor to pay double rent.[179] The rent days were the feasts of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary and of St. Michael. H. H. Hornby, esq., of Ribby Hall, is the present lord of the manor.
The remains of the ancient manor house on Wrea Green are now used as a cottage; Ribby Hall, the seat of the Hornbys, is a modern mansion, and was erected rather more than half a century ago. The church of Ribby-with-Wrea owes its origin to the trustees of Nicholas Sharples’s charity, who purchased a piece of ground on Wrea Green in 1721, and, having subscribed sufficient funds amongst themselves, erected a small chapel upon it. The following year they obtained a license to hold divine service in the building, and on the 20th of June, 1755, it was consecrated by the bishop of Chester. At that date the church was endowed with £400, half of which came from Queen Anne’s bounty, and the other in equal portions from the charities of Thistleton and Sharples. In 1762 the whole of this fund was invested in land in Warton, and other sums amounting to £600, including a legacy of £100 under the will of Thomas Benson in 1761, and further donations from the Royal bounty before mentioned, were expended in the purchase of land at Thistleton.[180]
In 1846 the township of Westby, with the exception of Great and Little Plumptons, was joined, by order of Council, to that of Ribby-with-Wrea, and the whole converted into an ecclesiastical district. In 1869 the title of the incumbent was changed from that of perpetual curate to vicar.
The old church was pulled down and the foundation stone of the existing structure laid in 1848, by the Rev. G. L. Parsons, vicar of Kirkham. On the 23rd of September in the ensuing year, it was opened for worship, but remained unconsecrated until the 4th of May, 1855. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas.
| CURATES AND VICARS OF RIBBY-WITH-WREA. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Institution. | Name. | Cause of Vacancy. |
| Before 1733 | Robert Willacy | |
| ” 1756 | Samuel Smith | |
| ” 1762 | James Anyon | |
| In 1770 | ⸺ Watts | |
| ” 1791 | John Thompson | |
| About 1823 | James Fox | |
| In 1845 | George Thistlethwaite, M.A. | Resignation of J. Fox |
| ” 1846 | Stephⁿ Exuperius Wentworth, M.A. | Death of G. Thistlethwaite |
| ” 1866 | Ralph Sadleir Stoney, M.A. | ” S. E. Wentworth |
The Rev. George Thistlethwaite was the son of the Rev. T. Thistlethwaite, incumbent of St. George’s, Bolton-le-Moors, and in 1837 officiated pro. temp. as head master of Kirkham Grammar School. The Rev. S. E. Wentworth held the headmastership of the same school from 1845 to 1860, as well as his curacy.