The first Rishton craftsmen is mentioned in a list of
debts owed by Henry Rissheton on Saint Giles the Abbots day 13 Richard II.
(1st September 1389). The craftsman as one would expect is Richard le
Smyth. In a similar list on the feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle , I. Henry
VI (21st September 1422), we find Thomas Hyndley (or le Hind), John le
Cooker, John le Smyth, John le Carter, and Emma le Smyth. 1
Many craftsmen whose names are not included in de
Rishtons list of debtors, would have been busy in the village. There was
sure to be a village sawyer, a wheelwright, a tiler to burn tiles from
clay, and the ale house wife who brewed ale and beer and sold it in her
own home.1
On the 1st of June 1939, A letter was received from the
Hon. Secretary of the Accrington & District Industrial Development
Committee suggesting steps should be taken by the authorities in
East Lancashire to obtain additional powers in connection with Industrial
development. The letter was referred by Rishton Urban District Council to
a later date.2
The letter proved at the time that the local boards
were no longer getting the opportunity to say if business or business
development could occur in the area. The power was being transferred to
Lancashire County Council inch by inch.......
References
2Council minutes.
1Rishton Parish
Church Jubilee 1927 by Carlton Noble.