Rev. Joseph Blackburn was born around 1704, probably in Yorkshire. He had at least 2 brothers; John, an Excise Officer in Blackburn, and Robert.
He became the incumbent of Daresbury in 1735, and would go on to remain here for the next 52 years.
He, like his predecessors, had no home in Daresbury, living first in Moore and later in Warrington, and he proposed the construction of a parsonage house in the village. Although the main proposal for a parsonage didn’t come until the late 1770s, he appears to have had an eye on improving Daresbury from the very beginning, donating £200 to the Queen Annes Bounty Scheme for improvement of poor clerical livings.
He allegedly saved money from the cow tithes for the purpose of building a parsonage, but there was still nothing on his death in 1787 and he left money in his will to the project.
During his tenure he oversaw many changes to the church, including box pews, a new floor, a mounting block, and a vestry and charnel house.
As he grew older he appears to have withdrawn somewhat from active parish life, leaving some services from 1776 in the hands of curates and George Heron, the manorial proprietor.
He died in Warrington on the 20th June 1787 and was buried in All Saints’ churchyard 3 days later.
