THE RESTORATION
After the reinstatement of the charter and the election
of the mayor and sheriffs there was only one recorded
meeting of the Assembly, on 30 March 1660, before the
Restoration. (fn. 8) Amid modest jubilation the corporation
sent a loyal address to the king in early May. (fn. 9) Soon
afterwards the aldermen began to dismiss some of the
main supporters of the previous regime, principally the
Cromwellian alderman and city counsel Jonathan
Ridge. (fn. 10) Between then and the autumn three aldermen
resigned, including the leading puritan Calvin Bruen,
three royalists purged in 1646 were restored, and
Charles Stanley, earl of Derby, was newly appointed. (fn. 11)
The new Assembly sought to improve routine
administration by exhorting its members to attend
regularly, organizing the flow of petitions in a more
orderly way, publishing a tariff of court fees, and
undertaking a thorough audit. (fn. 12) In March 1661 it
resolved to revive the Midsummer show, but continuing anxieties were manifest in concern for the city's
defences and in the election as M.P.s in 1661 of a
former royalist along with a Presbyterian parliamentarian. (fn. 13)
The provisions of the Corporation Act evidently
caused uncertainty, and the Assembly did not meet
between December 1661 and June 1662. (fn. 14) In 1662
seven aldermen J.P.s and four aldermen were displaced,
all but one elected since 1646. Nine sheriff-peers and
12 councilmen, including the serving treasurers, coroners, and leavelookers, were removed. Civic officials
who lost their places were headed by the clerk of the
Pentice, Ralph Davenport. Those permitted to remain
included 10 aldermen J.P.s and one alderman, to
whom were added two more restored aldermen. Five
of that number had been elected since 1646; two,
Robert Harvey and William Ince, had served continuously from pre-war days; and six had been among
those purged in 1646. The two serving sheriffs, with a
sheriff-peer and eight councilmen, continued in office;
one sheriff-peer and a councillor were restored. The
deputy town clerk, the eight serjeants, the crier, and the
yeoman of the Pentice all held their places. Vacancies
were filled by the commissioners. They promoted to
aldermanic rank nine of the sheriff-peers, named 28
new councilmen, and appointed new treasurers, coroners, and leavelookers. Richard Levinge became the
recorder and an alderman, and Daniel Bavand clerk of
the Pentice. (fn. 1)
No further changes were imposed from outside. At
the next aldermanic vacancy the place was filled in the
usual way by the election of a former sheriff; at the
same time the displaced recorder, John Ratcliffe, was
permitted to re-enter civic service as a fee'd counsel. (fn. 2)
The sheriff-peers were not restored as a distinct group:
councilmen who were elected sheriff were replaced in
the ranks of the Forty only when they became aldermen, left the Assembly, or died; otherwise, after the
shrievalty they reverted to the position of councilman,
holding the title of sheriff-peer only as a courtesy. (fn. 3) To
allay any remaining uncertainties about the city's rights
and privileges, however, the corporation began the
quest for a charter of confirmation. (fn. 4)
Anglican worship was resumed at the cathedral after
Henry Bridgeman, a son of the late bishop, became
dean in June 1660. Four of the surviving pre-war
prebendaries resumed their duties, and were joined in
July 1660 by Thomas Mallory, a son of the late dean.
Their puritan colleague John Ley had moved away and
died in 1662. Only three of the petty canons returned
to their posts, leaving the prebendaries with heavier
duties. (fn. 5) The first two Restoration bishops, Brian
Walton and Henry Ferne, died within a few months
of each other before spring 1662. (fn. 6) By January 1661 a
new diocesan chancellor had been appointed and the
bishop's consistory court revived. (fn. 7)
During his short tenure Walton put pressure on
clergy to use the Prayer Book. (fn. 8) Nevertheless, only one
Presbyterian lost his living, Thomas Upton at Holy
Trinity, where the pre-war vicar was restored. (fn. 9) For
several months various ministers who later fell foul of
the law continued to conduct worship in the forms
accepted during the 1640s and 1650s, apparently without opposition. They included the incumbents of St.
Michael's, St. Peter's, and St. Oswald's, and the Friday
lecturer at St. Peter's; as late as June 1662 the best
known of Lancashire's Presbyterians, Henry Newcome,
preached at St. Peter's and Holy Trinity. (fn. 10) At first, use
of the Prayer Book was resumed only at the cathedral,
Holy Trinity, and St. Mary's, and perhaps St. Martin's
and St. Bridget's, where one of the restored petty
canons returned to his cure; in the other churches
Prayer Books were purchased during the spring and
summer of 1662. (fn. 11) Complete restoration of Anglican
worship was made possible only by the 'Great Ejection'
under the Act of Uniformity of 1662. None of the
cathedral clergy was displaced, but four of the leading
ministers in the city were deprived: the incumbents of
St. Michael's, St. Peter's, St. Oswald's, and St. John's.
At St. Peter's the Friday lecturer also resigned. (fn. 12)