Part 17

_Francis Swift_, in 1717, bequeathed £100 to the churchwardens and overseers of the parish. This gift was laid out in the purchase of three tenements, in Shrewsbury, for a workhouse; together with £100 arising from the charity of Gabriel Rogers; £10 the charity of John Lloyd; £10 given for a distribution of bread, and £100 given to the parish officers for the general benefit of the inhabitants. This workhouse was sold about the year 1799, and out of the sale £220, the amount of the several sums given for charitable uses, with the further sum of £40, the gift of John Lloyd, was lent on the security of the Shrewsbury House of Industry, bearing interest at five per cent. In respect of Swift’s gift, £5 is given among poor persons in sums varying from 2s. 6d. to 5s. each.

_Martha and Mary Harwood’s Charities_.—There is an annual sum of upwards of £80 arising from an estate, at Faxley, and a dwelling house situated in Belmont, Shrewsbury, which is distributed among poor decayed housekeepers and aged widows, chiefly parishioners of St. Chad, excepting £5 per annum which is used as a clothing fund for poor widows. There were two houses in Belmont, devised by Mary Harwood in 1734; but they were subsequently converted into one.

_Josena Pemberton_, by a codicil to her will, dated 10th December, 1817, desired that her sister would pay yearly during her life the sum of five guineas, to be laid out in coals for the poor; and she further desired that her nephew, Rev. Robert N. Pemberton, would, within one month of her sister’s decease, lay out the sum of £100 in the names of the trustees, or some other safe security, and apply the annual income in purchasing coals for poor needy persons of the parish of St. Chad. When the Charity Commissioners published their report, Miss Pemberton and her nephew were both living, and the annual sum of £5. 5s. was paid to the churchwardens.

_Easter Jones_, in 1823, bequeathed to the minister and churchwardens of the parish of St. Chad £400 three per cent consols, in trust, to distribute the yearly dividends every Easter Monday, in proportions of 10s. each, to twenty-four poor women of the said parish.

_Mary Jukes_, by will, in 1700, devised certain premises on Claremont Hill, and directed the yearly income to be appropriated to charitable uses. The property consists of four houses, producing a yearly rental of £46; out of which 10s. is paid to the vicar for an annual sermon, one moiety paid in apprentice fees, and the residue distributed among the poor.

_Edward Tomkis_, by will bearing date 24th January, 1771, bequeathed £400 upon trust, that the interest should be annually spent in buying twelve blue coats for men, and twelve gowns and petticoats of the same colour for an equal number of women. In respect of this Charity, there is a sum of £717. 10s. three per cent. consols, the dividends of which amount to £21. 10s. 6d. The amount is expended in coats and gowns, except a yearly sum of £5 which has been given to the Vicar of Meole Brace for clothing poor boys, belonging to St. Chad’s, but resident in Meole Brace.

_Hopton Estate Charity_.—The following legacies were noticed on a table of benefactions put up in the Church in 1640, viz.:—Sarah Giles, £50; John Hill, £50; Henry Swinnerton, £50; Stephen Rogers, £50; Thomas Phillips, £10; John Cotton, £50; Hester Lloyd, £100; Thomas Cotton, £10; John Hall, £20; Richard Lloyd, £10. These several sums may have formed the purchase money of the Hopton estate, as it is stated it was purchased with the proper money of the poor of the parish of St. Chad; but it does not state the source from whence the money was obtained. The estate consists of 83A. 1R. 37P. of land, with farm house and out-buildings, the whole of which was let on lease in 1748, for 99 years, at a yearly rental of £15. The farm is valued at upwards of £100 a-year. Of the rent one moiety has been paid in aid of the National Schools, and the other to the general fund of the poor.

_Astley Estate Charities_.—The estate at Astley consists of a farm house with outbuildings and lands, containing together 120A. 3R. 27P., let at a yearly rental of £100. The following legacies are mentioned in a book containing an account of the Charities of the parish, as having been laid out on the estate. Benjamin Muckleston gave £40, the interest to be expended in coats for poor boys; Susanah Loxon £200, for a weekly distribution of bread; Elias Evans, £20; William Peers, £20; and Elizabeth Hamer, £20, also for a distribution of bread. Thomas Bright, in 1730, gave £20 per annum, payable to the minister of Astley, for preaching every Lord’s day throughout the year. There is a sum of £260, the produce of the sale of timber cut on the Astley estate in 1804, which is secured on the Shrewsbury House of Industry, and for which interest is paid at the rate of five per cent. Out of the rents and interest above mentioned, being £113 per annum, there is paid £20 to the chapelwardens of Astley; £3 for the repairs of the chapel; £3. 9s. 5d. for land tax and chief rent; £2 for purchasing four coats for poor boys, and the remainder is carried to the general charity account for a distribution of bread.

_William Spurtson_ bequeathed £100 which was expended in the purchase of a rent charge of £6 per annum, issuing out of certain messuages in Burleton. The amount is carried to the general charity account hereafter mentioned. Rowland Newett bequeathed £10; John Lloyd, £10; Richard Mather, £20; John Dodd, £20, for a distribution of bread—and a further sum of £10, given by an unknown donor, with the above is carried to the general charity account. There is also a sum of £200 secured on the Church of St. Chad, which was lent from an accumulation of charity money. The surplus of the produce of the several charities before mentioned, not specifically applied, is carried to one general account, and disposed of chiefly in bread. There is also, occasionally, a sum of money distributed by the churchwardens.

_Nathaniel Tench_, in 1674, conveyed the lands and tithes of the farm and grange of Crow Meole, in trust, to pay the yearly proceeds to the minister of St. Chad’s, on condition that he preached an anniversary sermon on the 6th of June, yearly, being the birth-day of the said N. Tench; and in case the minister should refuse or neglect to preach the said sermon, or should not reside, or not personally officiate in the said parish, then the rents and profits thereof should be distributed among the poor of St. Chad’s parish. The value is about £160 per annum.

_Lost Charities_.—Eleanor Griffith gave £40; John Atkins, £20; Thomas Clemson, £10; Elizabeth Forster, £30; Mary Bowdewin, £20; and Mrs. Pigott, £20. Up to the year 1747, the interest of the several benefactions above mentioned was paid out of the churchwardens’ account. Subsequent to the year 1747, a considerable sum was for many years disposed of annually in bread, but it does not appear from what benefactions such bread was provided; and from this period there is no distinct trace of the several gifts above mentioned. Mary Pelton left £2. 10s., yearly, and Hester Lloyd bequeathed £100; it appears that formerly apprentice fees were paid from the interest of this money, the last was in the year 1755. There is now no evidence to shew how the capital has been appropriated.

_John Evans_, in 1844, bequeathed £150, in trust, to the minister and churchwardens of St. Chad’s, and directed the interest to be distributed among poor persons, not receiving parochial relief.

_The Rev. Richard Scott_, _B.D._, in 1848, bequeathed £300, in trust, to the minister of St. Chad’s, to apply the interest yearly, in purchasing coals for the necessitous poor of the parish.

PARISH OF HOLY CROSS.

CHARITIES.—ST. GILES’ HOSPITAL, situated near St. Giles’ Church, was originally established for the reception of persons afflicted with leprosy. Henry II., for the support of the hospitallers, granted 30s. yearly out of the rent of the county of Salop, and a handful of two hands of every sack of corn, and a handful of one hand of every sack of flour exposed for sale in Shrewsbury market. Henry III., in 1232, gave a horse load of wood, daily, from his wood of Lythwood. The right of nominating the inmates of the hospital is exercised by the Earl of Tankerville, and the following payments are made to them by one of his lordship’s agents:—To each of the four inmates, 1s. 6d. per week; 3s. at midsummer for coals; and 12s. 6d. at Christmas for a garment

_Peter Langley_, in 1650, gave £200 for charitable uses, and _John_ and _Jonathan Langley_ bequeathed £100 for the same purpose. These gifts were laid out in the purchase of lands and premises in Castle Foregate, which produced an income of £82 per annum at the time the Charity Commissioners published their report. The amount is distributed in sums, varying from 2s. to 10s., among the most aged and needy parishioners.

_Mathusalem Jones_ charged an estate at Underdale with the payment of so much money, as should furnish five coats for men and five garments for women, to be given to ten paupers every 5th of November.

_Elizabeth Prynce_, in 1711, bequeathed £100, and directed the same to be laid out in lands or hereditaments, the yearly produce thereof to be distributed among the poorest inhabitants of the parish. There are no deeds in the parish relating to the laying out of this bequest; but the property supposed to have been purchased therewith consists of four cottages in the Abbey Foregate, producing a yearly rental of £4. 10s. each.

_Thomas Doughty_ bequeathed £50, the interest thereof to be laid out in bread. This bequest, and five others, amounting in the whole to £85, were probably carried to the church account, as the interest, £3. 18s., has been considered as a charge upon the estate held by the parish. The amount is expended in bread, which is given away every Sunday.

_Thomas Jenkins_, _Esq._, in 1730, directed that six poor people, parishioners of Holy Cross, should be clothed once in every year. Three poor men and three poor women are supplied with coats and gowns at the expense of R. Jenkins, Esq., of Bicton.

_Thomas Talbot Gorsuch_, by a codicil to his will, bearing date 4th June, 1819, gave to the vicar and churchwardens of the parish of Holy Cross and St. Giles, £300 three per cent. reduced annuities, upon trust, to distribute the interest to such poor persons of the said parish as should be most regular in attendance at divine service in the parish there, and be the most deserving objects of charity. Not less than ten shillings to be given to each poor person.

There is an entry in the old churchwardens’ book, under the date of 1634, reciting that divers lands and messuages had been formerly given to the repair of the churches of Holy Cross and St. Giles, and so decreed by commission of charitable uses, James II. The amount of these rents, £127. 4s. 10d., with such payments as are received for opening graves and for pew rents, the two latter amounting to about £20 per annum, supply the place of a church rate, and are sufficient for the repairs and ornaments of the two churches in this parish.

ST. MARY’S PARISH.

CHARITIES.—ST. MARY’S ALMSHOUSES were founded by the Company of Drapers, at a very early period, and are usually called the Drapers’ Almshouses. They appear to have been remodelled in 1461, during the wardenship of Degory Watur, a draper of Shrewsbury, who devoted a portion of his substance towards their endowment. This beneficent man is said to have “dwellyd in the almeshouse hall amongst the poor,” and when deprived of sight, and bowed with the weight of ninety-six years, he daily accompanied the participators of his bounty to the “church of our lady,” where he “wold kneele amongst them in a fayre longe pewe made for them and hym selfe.” In his will, dated 28th July, 1477, he devised certain lands to the wardens of the Drapers’ Company, to “sufficientlie susteyne poore people in St. Mary Allmeshouse.” Other charitable individuals have made subsequent additions to the endowment, which are under the management of the Drapers’ Company. The old almshouses stood on the west side of St. Mary’s church-yard, and having become much dilapidated, were taken down in 1825, when the stun of £476. 16s. was awarded to the Company of Drapers, as a compensation for the site and materials for the purpose of improving the town. The company then purchased a piece of ground on the opposite side of the street, for £750, and they have since built sixteen tenements, at an expense of about £2,000. The inmates receive about £6 per annum, and are appointed by the Drapers’ Company from amongst the poor parishioners of St. Mary’s.

_Elizabeth Lord_, in 1696, bequeathed £100, and directed the profits to be employed in clothing ten poor persons. This sum is in the hands of the corporation, and £5 annually is paid as the interest thereof, which is laid out in warm clothing for poor women.

_Sarah Bolles_, in 1747, bequeathed £100, the yearly income to be given to eight poor housekeepers. On account of this charity there is £132. 0s. 2d. new four per cents. standing in the names of certain trustees, who receive the dividends, amounting to £5. 5s. 6d.

_Ann Parry_, in 1755, gave £60, being a benefaction intended by her sister, Mary Tench, deceased, the interest to be given to eight poor housekeepers, not burthensome to the parish; and in 1776 bequeathed £20, the interest to be given annually to four poor widows. These two sums were laid out in the year 1790 in pewing the church, and since that period £4 has been annually paid out of the church rate.

_Elizabeth Price_, in 1780, bequeathed £50, the interest to be given in bread to the poor of the parish. This money is lent to the guardians of the house of industry.

_Edward Lloyd_, in 1789, left £190, the interest to be given to ten poor housekeepers. This sum is secured by a bond given in pursuance of an act of parliament passed for the rebuilding of the church of St. Chads, and £4 10s. is paid annually as the interest thereof.

_Richard Lister_, in 1793, bequeathed £100, and directed the interest to be laid out in bread and given to the poor after divine service every Sunday morning. In respect of this gift there is the sum of £154 14s. 10d. three per cent consols, producing annually dividends to the amount of £4. 12s. 8d.

_Pemberton’s Charity_. The particulars of this charity will be found amongst those for the parish of St. Alkmund. The sum of £2. 2s. is expended annually in coal, and distributed amongst poor housekeepers.

_Lost Charities_. In the parliamentary returns of 1786 there is mentioned a legacy left by Madam Honor Dryden, and several others, amounting in the whole to £180. This sum was in the hands of a person who became insolvent, and only £19 9s. was received from his estate. Nothing is now known even of this sum.

PARISH OF ST. JULIAN.

CHARITIES.—_Thomas Bowdler_, in 1733, bequeathed £100, to be placed out at interest, the profit to be given away in twopenny loaves every Lord’s day. He also gave his executors the sum of £1000 upon trust, to lay out such part thereof as they should think fit, in purchasing or building a school-house and residence for the teachers, and the residue to be invested in land, the yearly profits thereof to be applied in maintaining a master and mistress to teach poor children born in the parish of St. Julian, and in clothing them and putting some of them out apprentices, or such useful occupation as the trustees should think proper. The property now vested in the trustees consists of an estate at Treffnant and Llanercrockwell, in the parish of Guilsfield, consisting of 168A. 3R. 22P. of land, with suitable house and outbuildings, producing a rental of £150 per annum. On the enclosure of commons in 1788 an allotment was made to the trustees, which was conveyed to Thomas Loxdale, Esq., for a term of 500 years, in consideration of which Mr. Loxdale paid the sum of £200 to the trustees; this amount was subsequently employed in the reparations of farm buildings, and other improvements on the school estate. The school is situated in Beeche’s lane, and twenty-five boys and an equal number of girls are clothed and educated from the funds of the charity.

_Catherine Smith_, in 1621, left a rent charge of £4 per annum, to be distributed among four poor widows of this parish. The amount is paid from the property of the corporation, and they appoint the poor widows.

_Thomas Davies_, in 1668, directed his trustees to raise the sum of £300, and dispose of the same in the purchase of a rent charge, to be disposed of as follows:—40s. to the minister of the parish for preaching four sermons, one on the 3rd September and the other three sermons quarterly; 20s. yearly among poor housekeepers; £4 to eight poor widows; £4 for maintaining two scholars at the university, and £4 to be paid in apprentice fees. In 1689 a rent charge of £12. 5s. was purchased with £250, but it does not appear how the remaining £50 was disposed of. The estate is situate at Sutton, from which the rent charge issues, and was the property of the late John Hiles.

_Richard Williams_, in 1576, left £50, and directed the interest to be distributed among poor householders of this parish on Christmas day. He also bequeathed the residue of his personal estate, after payment of his debts and legacies to the executors, to be held in trust, and to dispose of the yearly income in clothing poor men or women or in putting out apprentices. It appears that the produce of the testator’s residuary estate amounted to £266. 18s., and that £6. 18s. was distributed to the poor, and £260 was placed out at interest secured on bond given by the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses.

GENERAL CHARITIES.—The sum of £308 17s. was expended in the purchase of an estate at Ellesmere, in 1726, which consists of 19A. 3R. 22P., producing a yearly rental of £45. Of the said purchase money £200 was the gift of Thomas Baker, in 1685; £30 the gift of Thomas Cotton, in 1683; £50 the bequest of Stephen Rogers; and £20 the gift of Richard Presland. The rent is received by the churchwardens, and carried to one account with the produce of several other charities, and disposed of in bread, and small sums of money, to deserving objects of charity.

The sum of £1. 6s. is received every alternate year from a farm in Willstone, which was bought subject to this payment, about forty years ago. This is known by the name of _Diana Robert’s Charity_, the like payment being made every alternate year to the parish of Cardington.

_Brook’s Charity_. The particulars of this charity will he found noticed with those of St. Alkmund. The yearly sum of £2. 10s. is received on account of this parish, and carried to the general charity account noticed above.

_The Rev. Samuel Presland_, by will, in 1750, as appears from an entry in the book of charities, gave £10 to be placed out by the overseers, and the interest to be distributed to the poor. In the same book it is stated that _Thomas Presland_ gave £20, and directed the interest to be given among poor housekeepers. These two sums, with £50, the legacy of Richard Williams, are placed out on the security of the house of industry, and the interest carried to the general charity account.

_Mary Griffith_, in 1781, left £50 to the churchwardens and overseers, the interest to be distributed every Sunday in twopenny loaves. This sum is placed out on the security of the tolls of the Leighton turnpike road, and £2. 10s. annually received as the interest thereof.

_The Rev. Philemon Hayes_ left to the minister of the parish 10s. for a lecture on Candlemas day, and the same sum to be distributed to poor people by the churchwardens. John Bryan by his will made an addition to Mr. Hayes’s gift of 10s. for the said sermon and 10s. to the poor. In respect of these charities the sum of £2 is charged upon land called the Tenter Field, near the Quarry, Shrewsbury.

_Elizabeth Hanmer_, in 1755, left £20, the interest to be distributed in bread; she also left a house on the stone bridge, the rent to be paid to the clerk of the parish. The stone bridge above-mentioned with the house thereon has since been taken down, and a sum of money was awarded to the clerk as compensation for it, with which sum, and the £20 left to be distributed in bread, another house was bought for him. The house is now let by the clerk, and he receives the rent and pays thereout 20s. yearly, as the interest of the legacy of £20.

_Richard Breathen_ gave to the churchwardens and overseers the sum of £20, the interest to be given to the poor. This money was placed in the hands of a person who died insolvent, and after a lapse of some years his son repaid the principal, and in 1820 it was carried to the general charity account.

_Josina Pemberton_. The particulars of this charity will be found noticed with the charities of St. Alkmund parish. The yearly sum of £2. 2s. is divided among thirty poor housekeepers.

The average annual income of the Charities of Shrewsbury amounts to about £2,000, exclusive of the Loan Charities, which produce no income, being gifts of sums of money to be lent out for limited periods to young tradesmen and others, free of interest. The Loan Charities amount to £840. 8s. 4d. In 1837 the High Court of Chancery appointed certain trustees to administer the charities of which the Corporations of Shrewsbury were previously the trustees. The following is a list of the trustees:—The Right Hon. Lord Berwick, Sir F. Brian Hill, John Bather, Esq., Mr. R. Beacall, Peter Beck, Esq., Robert Burton, Esq., W. J. Clement, Esq., T. G. Gwyn, Esq., J. Hazledine, Esq., Rev. C. Leicester, Rev. W. G. Rowland, A. Spearman, Esq., W. R. Ward, Esq., R.N., John Wingfield, Esq., Mr. John Woodward, William Butler Lloyd, Esq., John Whitehurst, Esq., Mr. Thomas Woodward, Mr. Richard Jeffreys Muckleston, and Mr. J. G. Brayne. Treasurer and Solicitor, William Cooper, Esq. Clerk and Secretary, Mr. William Poole, Scoltock-offices, Guild-hall and Corn-market Chambers.

The liberties of Shrewsbury were abolished by the municipal boundary act, and now form part of the county of Salop. The several parishes which they comprised are now returned in the Albrighton Division, in the Wem Division of North Bradford Hundred in the Condover Division, Condover Hundred, and in the Ford and Pontesbury Divisions, of Ford Hundred. The following are places included within the liberties of the borough, the residents of which are included in the Shrewsbury Directory:—

ALKMUND ST.—A parish partly returned in the Albrighton Division, and

## partly in Ford Division of the Ford Hundred. The parish, in 1841,

contained 303 houses and 1641 inhabitants, of whom 1396 were included within the parliamentary borough. The rateable value of the parish is £9,041. 11s.