Paget's first post was probably at Blackley chapel, which was part of the parish of St Mary's Church, Manchester. This had been a collegiate church in the late Middle Ages, established in 1421 at the instance of Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, who became its first warden,Farrer and Brownbill (1908), Colleges: Manchester. by Henry V and Pope Martin V. Blackley chapel already existed at this time, and had been licensed for use by Roger de la Warr, Thomas's father, in 1360.Farrer and Brownbill (1911), Townships: Blackley, footnote 45. There were a number of chapels in the parish, generally established initially to provide for the needs of local landowners and their dependents: the Byron family, who held Blackley of the de la WarrsBooker, p. 49. and lived locally, had applied for licences for chapels across their Lancashire estates from the early 15th century.Booker, p. 2-3. The college was dissolved at the beginning of Edward VI's reign,Halley, p. 36. along with almost all other colleges and chantries in England, but, unlike most of the others, was refounded by Mary I. Whatever its institutional character, St Mary's church continued to hold the advowson of Blackley chapel. Blackley became associated with radical Protestantism in this period. The Marian martyr John Bradford was probably a Blackley manFarrer and Brownbill (1911), Townships: Blackley, Manor. He was certainly strongly influenced by Father Traves or Travis, the minister of Blackley in the mid-16th century.Halley, p. 37.
