Whalley Abbey
Born James Travis Clegg at Moorfield House, High Crompton in 1874, Sir James Travis-Clegg was the son of the cotton mill owner John Travis Clegg. On his father’s death in 1895, James Clegg changed his name by deed poll to Travis Clegg. On 1st October the following year, his wife Ada Roy (Lady Travis Clegg) gave birth to their only child Godfrey Roy Travis-Clegg.
James Clegg became a member of Crompton Urban District Council where he was the Chairman from 1902-1904. He also bought Whalley Abbey in 1900. At about the same time (1898) he was elected as the Crompton representative to Lancashire County Council where he served for many years eventually becoming the Chairman of Lancashire County Council. In 1923 he sold Whalley Abbey to the church and moved to Bailrigg House, which is now Lancaster University Health Centre. As Chairman of the County Council he oversaw numerous large projects including the expansion of Edge Hill College in Ormskirk where he laid the foundation stone of the main building in 1931. In 1933 he was knighted, becoming Sir James Travis-Clegg and he went on to serve as Constable of Lancaster Castle 1930-1942. He eventually retired in 1937 and died in 1942. His picture still hangs in the Lancashire County Council Hall.
