Part 16

_Paul Clarke_, April 15th, 1606, bequeathed £20 to be lent out, in sums of £10, to persons of his name and kindred only for the space of two years, and then to be returned to the bailiffs of the town, to be again put forth by the said bailiffs, from time to time, on sufficient security being given for the repayment of the same.

_Sir Samuel Jones_, by will, dated 10th March, 1670, gave to the town of Shrewsbury £500, to be employed for the setting poor people on work there, which sum he directed should he paid to the mayor and corporation of the said town, and should be by them, from time to time, lent on good security, without interest, to young tradesmen who should set up there.

_Rev. John Hilton_, in 1697, bequeathed £50 in trust to the mayor and corporation, to be lent out to five young tradesmen of the town, £10 to each, for the term of five years, interest free.

The foregoing abstracts are taken from the recitals in a decree of the Court of Chancery, made in the year 1772, in a cause between the attorney-general and the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses, of the town of Shrewsbury. By this decree it was ordered that the sum of £2,404. 14s. 6d., found to be in the hands of the corporation, should be apportioned to the preceding charities, in a ratio proportionate to their several bequests. It appears that shortly after these proceedings in Chancery, the whole of the funds of these charities were lost; that a sum exceeding £3,000 was raised by subscription to replace the money so lost, which was subsequently repaid to the subscribers by the corporation. In addition to the above sum found to be in the hands of the corporation, two sums of £100 each have been since received from Sir Thomas White’s charity, leaving £2,596. 5s. 3d. in the hands of the corporation to be accounted for. In lending out the different sums of money, particular attention is paid to the directions of the several donors. No applications for loans are refused, provided the parties are properly qualified, and sufficient securities are proposed.

_David Lloyd ap Rogers_, by will, bearing date May 1st, 1623, devised certain premises at Frankwell, in trust to the bailiffs and burgesses of the town of Shrewsbury, and directed out of the yearly income thereof, 10s. to be paid to the minister of St. Chad, 10s. to be employed in repairing the bridges in Shrewsbury, 10s. to be expended in repairing Buttington bridge, in the county of Montgomery, and the residue thereof to be distributed to the poor of the parish of St. Chad. The premises now consist of two tenements, the estimated value of which is upwards of £30 per annum.

_Henry Smith’s Charity_.—The corporation are in possession of an estate in Chelmick, purchased with part of the personal property given by Henry Smith for charitable uses. It consists of a farm house, outbuildings, and 129A. 2R. 15P. of land. In 1805, upon the enclosure of the waste lands, an allotment was set out to the corporation; but the situation was remote from the remainder of the farm, and it was accordingly sold for £201. 10s.; £100 of which was subsequently laid out in improving the farm, and the residue put out at interest. The income arising from the above sources amounts to £85. 1s. 6d., which is carried to the Burlton estate account.

In an old book of accounts, belonging to the corporation of Shrewsbury, there is an entry stating that gifts and legacies had been given to the poor of the town of Shrewsbury previously to the year 1663, amounting in the whole to £1,301. 11s. 11d. The principal legacy is one of £300, left by William Spurstow. Six other donors left legacies of £100 each, and the remainder is made up of smaller items. In the whole there are names given of twenty-four several donors. The sum of £1,200 was laid out in the purchase of an estate at Burlton. In 1796 a sum of £925, which arose from the sale of timber on the estate, was laid out in the purchase of the tithes of corn, grain, and hay, in the said parish. In 1829, the sum of £264. 12s. was received for timber cut on the estate; and in the same year £266. 9s. was expended in rebuilding and improving the farm premises, £50 of which had been advanced by the tenant. The income derived from the Burlton estate and the farm at Chelmick, belonging to the charity of Henry Smith, amounts to £297. 7s. 6d. per annum. The principal part of this income is applied in putting out apprentices, with a premium of £10 each, and in distributing coals among the necessitous poor.

_James Phillips_, _Esq._, of London, in 1661, devised certain tenements in the borough of Southwark, in trust to the corporation of Shrewsbury, out of the rents and profits thereof, to maintain a lecture on the Thursday in every week in the year, in the parish churches of Ellesmere, Oswestry, Whitchurch, and Shrewsbury; such lectures to be delivered by able and orthodox divines. The residue of the said rents to be expended in gowns or clothes for the poor people of the said parishes. In 1825, the corporation sold two tenements, situated in the parish of St. Saviour, left by the same donor, for the sum of £1,685, which was laid out in the purchase of £2,146. 10s. three per cent. consols. Out of the income, amounting to £232. 7s. 10d. per annum, there has been appropriated for many years £10 per annum to the officiating ministers of Ellesmere, Oswestry, Whitchurch, and Shrewsbury; and the residue is expended in flannel, and distributed among the poor of the above-mentioned parishes.

_Edward Donne_, in 1668, bequeathed £200, and directed his executors to dispose of the same in the purchase of lands, and lay out the yearly proceeds in apprentice fees, upon poor children born in the parishes of St. Chad, St. Mary, St. Alkmund, and St. Julian. It appears the amount was invested in a rent charge of £10 per annum, arising from certain lands situated at Bulchey, Bryn-y-Koppall, and Wollaston. Dr. Gardiner took possession of this property under the will of his father, in 1801, and considerable arrears were allowed to accumulate in his hands. He, however, in March, 1801, offered to discharge the arrears by paying £60 a-year till the whole were liquidated, and to pay the amount of the rent charge in future to the corporation.

_William Jones_.—From an entry in one of the books of the Company of Drapers, in the town of Shrewsbury, under the date of March, 1653, we learn that William Jones conveyed the manor of Wigmore, in the parish of Westbury, upon trust, that there should yearly be paid out of the said premises £11. 6s. 8d. to the master warden and assistants; £10 thereof to be yearly distributed among the most necessitous poor of the town of Salop, more especially those dwelling in the parishes of St. Mary and St. Alkmund. The residue, £1. 6s. 8d., to be paid to the Vicar of St. Alkmund, for reading morning prayers.

_Widow Baugh_ bequeathed twenty marks per annum; one-third thereof for the better maintenance of the minister of St. Chad, and the other two parts to the relief of the poor of Shrewsbury. Certain lands in Preston Montford are charged with the payment of the twenty marks, or £13. 6s. 8d., one-third of which has been paid to the minister of St. Chad, and two-thirds thereof to the directors of the House of Industry for the united parishes of the town of Shrewsbury. [We conceive that the two-thirds of the annuity which has usually been paid to the directors of the House of Industry, in aid of the parish rates, ought to be discontinued; and the amount distributed among proper objects of charity in the town of Shrewsbury, according to the intentions of the donor.]

_John Allatt_, by will, bearing date 7th April, 1792, after bequeathing certain legacies directed all his personal estate, not specifically disposed of, to be held in trust, to apply such sums as the trustees should think proper in the erection of a school house and residences for the teachers; and the residue to be invested in government stock, to be applied in support of the school. By a codicil to his will, dated October 31st, 1796, he directed £1,600 to be invested in the three per cent. consols, the dividends thereof to be expended in the purchase of gowns for poor widows, poor single women not less than the age of 40 years, and coats for poor men of the age of 50 years and upwards. The testator died in 1796, and the school buildings were erected in 1800, at an expense of upwards of £1,500. In addition to the sum laid out in erecting the school premises, £4,497. 4s. was laid out in the purchase of three per cent. consols, and also the sum of £1,600 left for the purpose of providing clothing for the poor. With the former, £8,743 stock was purchased; and with the latter, £3,257. Subsequent purchases have been made with the surplus of the income; and a legacy of £45 left for the same use, by the will of _Sarah Mason_, in 1809. There is, therefore, now a capital of £14,000, of which the dividends of £10,800 are appropriated as the educational fund, and £3,400 as the clothing fund.

_Sarah Darley_, by will, 29th January, 1821, bequeathed £100 upon trust, and directed the yearly produce should be applied in the purchase of four tons of coals, for the use and benefit of all the prisoners who might be confined in the county gaol of Shrewsbury; and that the residue should be applied in aid of the prison charity. And she further bequeathed £500, to be placed out at interest by her executors, and the interest applied in releasing one or more debtor or debtors who should be confined in the gaol of Shrewsbury, but who, through misfortune, is forced into confinement; and that particular regard should he paid to those whose families should be suffering from their confinement.

_Esther Jones_, by will, dated 2nd July, 1823, bequeathed to the treasurer for the time being of the county of Salop, £300 three per cent. consols, upon trust, to apply the dividends towards the relief of the industrious poor prisoners, who should, from time to time, be confined in Salop gaol.

Upon a table, containing the benefactions to poor prisoners, it is stated that _Isaac Hawkins_, _Esq._, bequeathed £100, in 1803; _Rowland Hunt_, _Esq._, in 1810, gave £25; and that _Mrs. Knight_ gave £25. In respect of Hawkins’ gift, there is a sum of £189. 11s. 6d. three per cent. consols, the dividends of which amount to £5. 13s. 8d.; and in respect of the two latter benefactions, the sum of £75. 3s. 9d., three per cent. consols, producing £2. 5s. yearly. The amount of these subscriptions is paid over to the treasurer of the prison charities, and is added to subscriptions raised for the purpose of enabling debtors to gain a livelihood while in confinement, to reward them for good behaviour, and to furnish them with implements on quitting prison to support themselves and their families; and also to encourage industry and good behaviour in criminal prisoners, and to furnish them with the means of returning home. The subscriptions usually amount to upwards of £70 per annum, and the whole is applied under the direction of the visiting magistrates.

_Samuel Shuker_, by will, 18th June, 1821, gave to John Edwards, Esq., £1,200, upon trust, to purchase therewith a government annuity, determinable on the death of Mary Watkins; and if she should marry, or dispose of the said annuity, the proceeds should thenceforth be applied for the benefit of the Infirmary of Shrewsbury. The testator also devised to another person a copyhold messuage and premises in Twickenham for her life. And upon her marrying, or disposing of her life interest, he directed his trustees to sell the same, and stand possessed of the monies arising from the sale thereof, for the benefit of the said Infirmary.

PARISH OF ST. ALKMUND.

CHARITIES.—_Robert Owen_, by will, bearing date 14th March, 1603, gave £40, and directed the interest to be distributed to the poor; _William Williams_, and _Sarah Street_, each gave £5 for the same purpose; _George Lyndon_, in 1706, bequeathed £50 for the benefit of the poor; _Esther Hill_ gave £5; _Honour Dryden_, in 1715, gave £20; _Edward Donne_ directed the interest of £20 to be given among poor housekeepers receiving no alms; _Elizabeth Hanmer_ gave £20, the yearly proceeds to be expended in bread for the poor; _Lucy Minors_, in 1692, gave £10, the interest to be distributed in bread among the poor of the parish, on St. Luke’s day, yearly; _Thomas Jones_, _Esq._, gave to the parish of St. Alkmund £50, out of the yearly proceeds the clerk of the parish to have 10s. yearly for his care in looking after the testator’s tomb in the church, and the residue to be distributed among the poor parishioners; _Thomas Lloyd_, in 1721, bequeathed £20 to the minister and churchwardens of St. Alkmund, on trust, to place the same out at interest, and to pay 10s. yearly to the minister for preaching a sermon in the parish church on the 1st of November, yearly; 9d. to the sexton and clerk for officiating on that day, and the remainder to be distributed in twopenny loaves immediately after the sermon on the 1st of November. Of the several legacies above-mentioned amounting to £245, it appears that certain lands were purchased in Meole Brace and Coton, with part of the money, and the residue invested in the purchase of £175 three per cent. consols. The stock was subsequently sold, and there is now a sum of £200 secured on bond, the interest of which £10 per annum, and the yearly sum of £5. 5s., to which is added £2 10s., arising from the charity of Jane Brooks; with these sums bread is purchased, and sixty-three penny loaves are given away on the Sunday after St. Thomas’s day, and on every succeeding Sunday till the whole is exhausted. The rents of the land above-mentioned, amounting to £35 per annum, are given away every St. Thomas’s day, among the most necessitous poor of the parish, in sums varying from 3s. to 12s., a preference being given to those not receiving parish relief.

_Sarah Brook_, in 1760, left a rent charge of £5 per annum, issuing out of certain lands in Uffington, the amount to be paid to the churchwardens and overseers of the parish of St. Alkmund, and St. Julian, in Shrewsbury, to each parish 50s., to be by them respectively laid out in twopenny loaves, and given among poor, old, and decayed people of honest life.

_Ann Parry_ gave to the churchwardens and overseers of the parish of St. Alkmund £20 to be placed out at interest, and the proceeds to be paid to four widows of the said parish yearly at Christmas. _Francis Wingfield_, in 1813 bequeathed £20, the interest to be distributed to poor persons of the parish on St. Thomas’s day yearly. These two legacies are held by the churchwardens, for which £2 yearly is paid as interest; the churchwardens and overseers distribute the interest according to the donors’ intentions.

_Josina Pemberton_, by a codicil to her will, bearing date 17th September, 1817, desired that her sister would pay yearly, during her life, the sum of two guineas, to the churchwardens for the time being of each of the parishes of St. Mary, St. Julian, and St. Alkmund, to be by them respectively laid out in coals, and distributed among the poor of the respective parishes, and she requested that her nephew, Robert N. Pemberton, would continue the annual payment during his life. The amount is laid out in coal, and distributed among thirty poor housekeepers on new year’s day.

PARISH OF ST. CHAD.

CHARITIES.—MILLINGTON’S HOSPITAL.—_James Millington_, by his will, bearing date 8th February, 1734, devised the greater part of his ample fortune for the erection and endowment of an hospital and free school. The hospital is pleasantly situated upon elevated ground in Frankwell, and consists of a handsome pedimented front with a stone portico; the central portion comprises the chapel and school room, and the houses of the master and mistress, and in the wings on each side are the apartments of the hospitallers. The property purchased by the trustees in 1753 and 1794 is wholly situated in the parish of Llanvair Waterdine, in the county of Salop, and in the parish of Beguildy, in the county of Radnor, except an estate of 15A. 0R. 9P., situate in the parish of Kinnerley. The entire property comprises 2,429A. 2R. 9P. of land, and produces a yearly income of £1227. The hospital consists of twelve in-hospitallers and ten out-hospitallers. These persons are appointed by the trustees as vacancies occur. They are required to be parishioners of St. Chad, and inhabitants of that part of the parish called Frankwell. No persons are selected except poor decayed housekeepers, and the preference has usually been given to females. Each of the in-hospitallers has a dwelling house in the hospital, consisting of a room above and another below, with a small garden, and other conveniences. The four senior of the out-hospitallers are allowed to occupy four sets of apartments over the schools, and they generally succeed as vacancies occur to the situation of in-hospitallers. Each of the inmates receives £10 10s. a year by quarterly payments, and three tons of coals, and a sixpenny loaf every Wednesday and Saturday. They are also supplied with a certain quantity of clothing. The out-hospitallers receive £4 per annum, and each has a like allowance of bread and clothing. A clergyman of the church of England is paid a salary of £50 a year as chaplain. He attends at the hospital every school day and reads prayers to the scholars and in-hospitallers, and the first Thursday in every month catechises the children. The minister in addition to his yearly stipend receives one guinea for preaching a sermon on the 12th of August. In the schools twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls are instructed. The schoolmaster receives £50 a year, and the mistress of the girls’ school £42 per annum, and each of them has an allowance of coal. The scholars are the children of parishioners of St. Chad’s, living in Frankwell, and are appointed by the trustees. They are admitted between six and nine years of age, and are allowed to remain till they are fourteen. During their stay in the school they are completely clothed and supplied with books and stationery; and when they are of sufficient age, the boys are bound out to trades, and the girls placed out in service. A premium of £10 is allowed with each apprentice, and £5 is paid to them when they have completed their time. The girls are allowed £3 when going out to service, and a like sum as a reward for good behaviour afterwards. There is a good garden for the schoolmaster and mistress, and a plot of garden ground for each of the twelve hospitallers, which they generally let for their own benefit, being worth about £2 per annum.

_St. Chad’s Almshouses_, situated on the east side of old St. Chad’s church yard, consist of eleven miserable tenements, containing one room each. They are extremely dilapidated, there being no fund for keeping them in repair. It is stated that they were founded in 1409, by one Bennet Tupton, a common brewer, and that there were formerly thirteen tenements, but that two fell down. They were endowed in 1640, by David Ireland, with a rent charge of £4 per annum, issuing out of land in Lythwood, and a further rent charge of £3. 18s., the gift of the widow of Mr. Ireland, which is also payable out of land in the same place. There is also a yearly sum of £1 6s., payable out of a piece of land in Sutton Lane, left by Robert Owen, and a small payment of 2s. 2d. yearly, made by the Mercers’ company. These several sums amounting in the whole to £9. 6s. 2d. are distributed in equal proportions among the inmates. The Rev. Richard Scott, B.D., bequeathed £150 in 1848, and directed the interest to be expended in coals for the poor of St. Chad’s almshouses.

_Richard Lleweylln_, who was bailiff of Shrewsbury in 1637, devised certain lands in the township of Shelton, and directed the yearly income to be employed in binding out poor children apprentices born in the parish of St. Chad; the children of his kindred to be preferred. The property left by the testator produces an income of about £12. 12s. per annum.

_Thomas Owen_, one of the justices of the court of common pleas in 1598, devised to the bailiffs and commonalty of the town of Salop the yearly rent of his farm at Calcott, and directed that they should employ the profits thereof in giving assistance to poor decayed householders of the parish of St. Chad. This gift in after times merged into a rent charge of £20 per annum. The amount is now received by the chamberlain of the corporation, and distributed with the produce of the following charity.

_Edward Owen_, by will, dated 25th November, 1612, gave to the bailiff and burgesses of the town of Salop a rent charge of £10 per annum, issuing out of his lands in Kilgurgan, in the county of Montgomery, the same to be distributed among 200 of the poorest holders in the parish of St. Chad, wherein he was born. This sum of £10 is carried to one account with that of £20 derived from Thomas Owen’s charity, and £1 10s. from the gift of David Lloyd ap Rogers, and distributed on the first Thursday in the year to poor persons in the parish of St. Chad.

_Thomas Edwards_, in 1641, charged certain lands in the parish of Middle, with the payment of £12 per annum, 20s. thereof annually to be given to poor maidens at their marriage, £10 to be distributed among the poor of the town, and £2 to be paid to the curate of St. Chad.

_Richard Winne_, in 1679, gave £100 to the Haberdashery Company, London, on their giving a covenant to pay £5 yearly to the minister and churchwarden of the parish of St. Chad, for the benefit of the poor. This gift is distributed by the churchwardens among twenty poor widows.

_Hester Farmer_, by will, 1691, devised a parcel of land in Castle Foregate, and directed the rents to be paid successively to the several parishes of St. Chad, Guilsfield, Kinnerley, and Great Ness. The land produces £23 per annum, and once in four years the amount is distributed in small sums among the poor of St. Chad’s parish.

_Elizabeth Williams_, in 1712, charged certain lands at Llansianfraid, in the county of Montgomery, with the payment of 40s, yearly, to the minister of St. Chad, upon trust, to dispose of 20s. thereof yearly, for clothing two of the poorest boys in the parish of St. Chad, and the remaining 20s. in buying coats or gowns for three poor women.