James Anderton

Who was James Anderton?

James Anderton was an English Catholic aristocrat.

He belonged to the well-known Catholic Anderton family who lived at Lostock Hall, Lostock, Bolton, in Lancashire, and inherited a large estate from his parents, Christopher and Dorothy Anderton. In 1582 he married Margaret Tyldesley.

Like his father he became a lawyer, and in 1592 succeeded his father as Prothonotary of the Duchy Court at Lancaster. Both his mother and his wife were faithful Catholics, but like his father, he temporized. In 1603 he signed a loyal address from all the gentry of Lancaster welcoming James I on his progress to London.

He was credited with the Catholic work "The Protestant's Apologie", "The Lyturgie of the Masse", "The Reformed Protestant" and "Luther's Life". It has been claimed that the real author of these works was his nephew, the Jesuit Lawrence Anderton although this assertion has been proved to be spurious in recent years.

Anderton was responsible for setting up a Catholic press at his brother's home of Birchley Hall, approximately 13 miles from Lostock. Around 20 works were published from this clandestine press between 1615 and 1621, although it is thought that the press was established as early as 1613.