Part 67
THE MARSH TRUST.—By an Act of Parliament passed in the 4th of George III., intituled “An act for dividing and inclosing a waste ground called the Marsh, in the township of Newport, in the county of Salop, and for applying the produce thereof to the several purposes therein mentioned;” after reciting that there was within the said township a common waste ground called the Marsh, containing 117 acres, or thereabouts, wherein each householder in the said town had from time immemorial a right of turning a milch cow, which privilege had proved of very little advantage to the town, but rather an inconvenience, by increasing the poor thereof; and that it was apprehended that the enclosing and improving the said Marsh, and applying the profits thereof from time to time, after making satisfaction to the lords of the manor for their respective rights therein, in paving and keeping in repair the streets of the town of Newport, and in keeping in repair the Market Hall and Cross there; and also in establishing and encouraging some manufacture, and in apprenticing the children of the poor parishioners of Newport, would be of great advantage to the town in general, and might be a means of extending a manufactory throughout the neighbourhood; it was enacted, that certain persons therein named, and their heirs and successors respectively should be trustees, for enclosing, improving, and dividing the said Marsh, and for putting the said act into execution: and it was further enacted, that from and immediately after passing that act, all right of common or pasturage in or upon the said Marsh should cease and be extinguished; and the trustees were authorized to set out to the Earl of Shrewsbury such portion of the Marsh as two indifferent persons should appoint, as a recompense and satisfaction for the said earl’s four beast-gates upon the Marsh: and it was further enacted, that the residue of the said Marsh, after the allotment so made, should be vested in the said trustees and their successors, and be freed from all right, title, and interest whatsoever, of the householders of the township.
A survey being made in pursuance of the directions of the act, the Marsh was found to contain 111A. 3R. 31P., of which four acres being allotted to the Earl of Shrewsbury for beast-gates, there remained 107A. 3R. 31P. to be employed for the beneficial objects of the trust. This remainder, the trustees then proceeded to inclose and subdivide; and as an effective mode of providing for the fencing-in and improvement of the different parcels, they granted leases for 99 years, determinable on three lives, binding the lessees by covenants to plant and set the fences, within a limited time, with good hawthorn sets; to make ditches of certain dimensions; and otherwise to improve and properly manage the respective parcels demised to them. The leases originally granted produced a yearly income of £91. 7s.; but a considerable income may reasonably be looked for on the falling of leases, determinable on three lives, the lands being valued at upwards of £3 per acre, which would produce an annual rental of about £350. The income is subject to a charge for land-tax of £6. 2s.; chief rent, £1; and £5. 5s. to the collector of rents. In the application of their annual rents, the trustees were in the first instance called upon to defray the expenses attending the Act of Parliament and the preliminary arrangements in execution of their trust, which amounted to £663. 0s. 8d. These expenses being discharged, the income was next applied, for several years, to the purpose of repairing the streets and public buildings specified in the act; and having appropriated to those uses, from time to time, the sum of £808. 3s. 5½d., the trustees had in hand, on the balancing of their accounts in April, 1785, the sum of £93. 8s. 7½d. In the year 1787 the benefits of the trust were extended to the establishment of a Sunday school, and in 1790 to that of a stocking manufactory. This undertaking being found not to prosper, was superseded in 1796 by the erection of a wind-mill for grinding corn. This measure appears to have been loudly called for by the inhabitants of Newport, as a means of protecting themselves against what were deemed the extortionate demands of the millers of the neighbourhood. The speculation, however, proved exceedingly ruinous, and was finally abandoned in the year 1801; since which time the rents of the premises have been applied, as before, to the repairs of the streets and public buildings, as far as there has remained a surplus, after keeping down the annual interest of the debts which these abortive schemes have entailed upon the trust. It appears that £460 was expended in the attempt to establish the manufacture of stockings, and the corn-mill cost £2,000. The latter, however, was subsequently sold for £900. Previously to the year 1799 debts had been contracted to carry on these schemes, amounting to £2,300. This sum had been reduced to £1,100, when the Charity Commissioners published their report, which had been secured by mortgage of the Marsh, at five per cent. interest; so that there remained an annual charge of £55 in respect of the debts which remained unpaid. In addition to the debts contracted for the purposes above mentioned, £192. 4s. 3d. was borrowed from the treasurer in 1811, for the benefit of the public repairs, for which it was agreed to allow him five per cent. interest until he should reimburse himself from the rents.
THE BRIDGE TRUST.—By an indenture, dated 5th May, 1749, purporting to be made between the Earl of Shrewsbury and Earl Gower, lords of the manor of Newport, and Robert Pigot, Esq., steward of the borough of Newport, and the burgesses of the said borough, of the first part, and Robert Barber, Esq., and others, of the second part, it was witnessed that the said earls, steward, and burgesses, granted to the said Robert Barber, and others, all those parcels of lands lying waste, but formerly covered with water, called the Strine, or Newport Pool, and the Flags, with the appurtenances, in trust, that, with the rent, issues, and profits thereof, the Pool Dam, at the lower end of the town, should be repaired and kept in good order; and if any surplus should remain, the same should be appropriated to keeping in good order the pavement of the streets, or in the reparation of the Market House or Town Hall. A subsequent indenture was made, dated 17th October, 1750, granting the waste lands called the Flags, and also a small parcel of land lying near the entrance to the same, rendering the annual rent of 5s. The premises conveyed in these indentures were found by a survey, made in 1804, to contain 2A. 2R. 21P. of land, which produced an annual rental of £18. The rent, after deducting the 5s. reserved to the burgesses, and certain incidental expenses, appears to have hitherto been confined to the repair of the Bridge and Bridge-street; which not having exhausted the whole, the surplus has been deposited, from time to time, in the Newport Bank.
CHARITIES.—_The Rev. Thomas Perkes_, by will, dated 26th March, 1734, gave (after the death of his wife, Hannah) to the minister and churchwardens of the parish of Newport, and their successors, the sum of £200, to be laid out in lands, and the profits thereof (except the sum of 20s. to be paid to the minister, as a recompense for disposing of the charity) to be expended in purchasing Holy Bibles, Books of Common Prayer, and books intitled The Whole Duty of Man, to be yearly distributed among the poorer sort of inhabitants of Newport; and when such poor people should, in the judgment of the minister, be sufficiently supplied with such books, then the yearly rent should be laid out in clothing old people residing in and being parishioners of the town of Newport. A preference to be given to those that should be of the most religious and orderly life.
_Hannah Perkes_, wife of the above Mr. Perkes, who appears to have died in 1766, bequeathed £600, to be put upon land or other good security, to the intent that the interest should be duly applied towards the setting out three poor boys, of the parish of Newport, apprentices in some place of manufacture, to be elected annually by the minister, church-wardens, head-schoolmaster, together with five men nominated by the parish yearly,—especial regard being had that the boys so chosen should be able to read the English tongue well. She likewise left £100, to be laid out in land, or some other good security, the interest to be distributed amongst the poorest inhabitants of the parish, upon St. Thomas’s day. These several legacies, amounting together to the sum of £900, were laid out in the purchase of £996. 1s. 9d. three per cent. reduced annuities, producing annual dividends amounting to £29. 17s.; two-ninths of which are annually paid to the minister on account of Mr. Perkes’s charity, and on account of Mrs. Perkes’s charity six-ninths are annually applied on apprentice fees, and one-ninth is expended in bread for the poor.
_Mrs. Mary Scott_ bequeathed £100, and desired the minister and two masters of the free-school, whom she constituted trustees, to dispose of the yearly produce in the relief of poor housekeepers of this parish, except that every fourth year they should lay out the income in Bibles, Common Prayer Books, and The Whole Duty of Man, which should be distributed among poor children whose parents should not be able to provide them. This gift, and a further legacy of £20, the gift of _Mrs. Felicia Vyse_, was laid out on the 8th of March, 1786, in the purchase of a plot of land, situated at Chetwynd End, called the Four-day Math, and containing 3A. 0R. 36P., which land was conveyed to the then minister and two masters of the grammar school, on trust, to apply five-sixths of the rents to the charitable uses appointed by Mrs. Scott, and to pay the remaining sixth among the poor of the parish. The land produces an annual rental of £13. 17s. The rent is received by the minister, as one of the trustees; but in the application of it the trusts do not appear to have been duly kept in view, the rent having been paid to the churchwardens for general distribution among the poor, without reserving any portion for the purchase of books, as directed by the will of Mrs. Scott.
DOLE CHARITIES.—By an indenture, dated the 23rd of March, 1675, certain lands, situated at Little Aston, called the Foxhall lands, were conveyed for the sum of £220 to William Harding, one of the churchwardens of the parish, for charitable uses, subject to a yearly rent of 3s. 6d. to Thomas Talbot, the lord of the manor. It does not appear from what source the consideration money of this purchase was derived, but it is probable that it arose from a stock of £161, recorded in an inquisition as having been given by several donors, and the additional sum might be the subsequent accumulations of interest upon it. The premises consist of a cottage and garden, and three closes; containing in the whole about 13 acres of land. They were let under a lease of 14 years at Lady-day, 1814, at the annual rent of £82. It appears Mr. Leek was induced by
## particular circumstances to offer the above mentioned rent, though far
exceeding the fair value of the premises.
_Robert Hawkins_, on the 15th December, 1660, charged a certain house in Newport, with the payment of 13s. 4d. per annum, and directed the same to be distributed to the poor.
_William Adams_; who died in 1690, gave a rent charge of 26s. per annum, payable out of his lands and tenements in Newport, and directed the same to be expended in bread, and given to the aged poor in sixpenny loaves for ever, according to the discretion of the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the town. This charity is understood to be comprised in a weekly supply of twelve penny loaves which has been for many years made for the use of the poor, by the late Richard Marsh, Esq., as owner of certain lands, at Norbroom. There does not, however, appear any mention of such a charge in the title deeds, nor was Mr. Marsh able to give any information as to the origin of the weekly supply, which, having been made before his time, he had felt it proper to continue. There is no charity to which the residue of this weekly supply might with any likelihood be ascribed, except that of _Thomas Sprig_, who is recorded on the benefaction table to have left six penny loaves, to be given to the poor every Lord’s-day, and twelve every Sacrament-day.
_Richard Haynes_, in 1713, left to the poor of this parish six penny loaves to be given every Lord’s-day. This benefaction appears to have been charged upon a parcel of land which became the property of Mrs. Humpherson some time ago, by whom a weekly supply of six penny loaves was duly made. In 1713 Stephen Denston left £100 to the poor; and we also learn from the churchwarden’s book of donations that Richard Fletcher, in 1721, left £30 to the poor, and that Mrs. Moreton by her will bequeathed £20, the interest to be distributed in bread. These several sums, amounting together to £150, were invested on the 2nd April, 1770, on a mortgage of the tolls of the Forton and Lilleshall turnpike, producing at five per cent. interest the annual sum of £7. 10s. It is also stated in the churchwarden’s book that Felicia Vyse, who died in 1747, gave by her will £20, the interest to be given yearly to the poor of the parish. We have already shown that this legacy, in conjunction with Mrs. Mary Scott’s, was applied in the purchase of the Four Math Meadow. The whole rents having been paid over to the churchwardens for the same common purpose, no severance has taken place in the application.
_Abraham Hadderton_, by will, dated 9th September, 1770, gave to the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor, and their successors, £1,000 in trust, to keep the same at interest, and apply the proceeds thereof for the benefit of the poor. This legacy was invested in the purchase of £1,141. 8s. 6d. three per cent. reduced annuities, producing the annual dividends of £34. 5s. 6d.
_William Brown_ gave a rent charge of 10s. yearly, payable out of a certain house in Newport, which became the property of William Crump in 1820. The Dole charities above specified produce an annual sum of £156. 6s. 2d., and are administered by the churchwardens. £15. 7s. 8d. is expended in bread, and distributed at different periods, and the residue, £140. 12s. 5d., is given in money.
_Elizabeth Symonds_ gave a certain croft, the yearly rent thereof to be applied to the benefit of the poor of Newport for ever. The croft thus given contains about an acre and a quarter, which produces a yearly rental of £7. 10s. The amount is distributed in small sums among the poor not receiving parish relief.
_William Hawkins_, by will, 1724, gave to the poor of this parish £5 per annum, charged on certain premises, the property of Mr. Collier. The amount is expended in warm clothing, and given to the poor about Christmas.
_John Hayley_ charged a certain house with the payment of 4s. yearly, to be distributed in bread. It appears that Eleanor Richards, in 1758, paid the sum of £4 into the hands of the then minister and certain other persons, trustees for repairing the bridge, in order to exempt the house from the annual payment of the said 4s. It seems reasonable to presume that the sum thus paid to the trustees of the bridge was applied by them to the purposes of their trust, which would create, we apprehend, a liability on their part to pay the annuity of 4s. We do not, however, find any instance of such a payment.
A rent charge of £5 per annum, left by John Staunton, payable out of a tenement in Newport, has not been paid for many years; the premises having passed to several successive owners without any mention of the rent charge in the title deeds. A yearly sum of 6s. 8d., left by Roger Simonds, has long been lost. The gift of £20 by Francis Wells, in 1680; £20 by Mr. Edwards, and £30 by Mrs. Brayne, in 1713, recorded on the table of benefactions, have also been lost.
POST OFFICE.—_High street_. _Miss Maria Justice Sillitoe_, _postmistress_. Letters to London, Birmingham, Stafford, &c., are dispatched at 6 40 A.M., and 10 40 P.M. Letters to Shrewsbury, Wellington, South Wales, &c., are dispatched at 1 50 A.M., and 2 20 P.M.
_See also the Directories of Chetwynd_, _Chetwynd Aston_, _and Church Aston_.
Adams Joseph Harrison, gentleman, High st
Adderley Thomas William, hair dresser, High street
Allen Harry, wine & spirit merchant, High street; residence, Chetwynd End
Allkins Lewis, turnery, bendware, and hair sieve manufacturer, Mill Works
Appleby Cowton, solicitor’s clerk, Beaumaris lane
Aston George, grocer, tea dealer, ironmonger, and chemist and druggist, Lower Bar
Atkinson Frances, boarding school, High st
Baddeley Thomas Bernard, solicitor, St. Mary’s street; residence, High street
Baddeley William Edward, surgeon, High st
Ballard John, cattle dealer, Beaumaris lane
Barber Charles, maltster & butcher, High st
Barber The Misses, High street
Barlow George, maltster and vict., Feathers Inn, High street
Barlow Mary Ann, vict., Bull’s Head, St. Mary’s street
Barlow Mary Ann, infant school teacher, Wellington road
Barlow Samuel, contractor and vict., White Horse Inn, High street
Beeston John, boot & shoemaker, Lower Bar
Bennett William, gentleman, High street
Blest Richard, shoemaker, Workhouse lane
Bolas Wm., boot & shoemaker, St. Mary’s st
Booth Richard, vict., White Lion, High st
Boughey Thomas, turnery, bendware, and hair sieve manufacturer, Mill Works
Bowring Thomas, fishmonger and game dealer, St. Mary’s street
Bradbury Charles, soda water manufacturer, cigar & wine & spirit agent, High street
Bradbury Charles, tailor and draper, High st
Bradbury Helen, school teacher, Upper Bar
Bradbury Samuel, ale, porter, and wine and spirit agent, High street
Breese John, tailor, High street
Breese Thomas, tailor, High street
Brittain Miss, milliner, High street
Brittain William, grocer, tea dealer, and agent to Salop Fire Office, High street
Brookes Ambrose, solicitor, Upper Bar
Brown William, plumber, glazier, & painter, High street
Bryan Robt., inland revenue officer, Upper Bar
Chalmers Henry, chemist & druggist, High st
Chettar John, rope maker, Upper Bar
Clift Roger, hosier, Lower Bar
Cobb Samuel, cabinet maker & upholsterer, High street
Collier Mary Ann, milliner, High street
Cooke Joseph, blacksmith, Salthouse lane
Cooper Mrs. Mary Ann, Old Hall
Crowther Richard, third master, Grammar School, High street
Darley Matthew, vict., Old Star, High street
Davies Mr. David, Brown’s Cottage, Beaumaris lane
Davies Mr. David, St. Mary’s street
Davies Samuel, plumber & glazier, High st
Davies Thomas, brazier & tin plate worker, High street
Davieson Thomas, cabinet maker, High st
Dawes James, blacksmith, Stafford street
Dawson John, basket maker and vict., Plough Inn, High street
Dodd George, saddler and harness maker, Lower Bar
Doody John, solicitor’s clerk, High street
Doody Joseph, auctioneer, maltster, and ale and porter agent, High street
Duncalfe George, surgeon, St. Mary’s street
Duncalfe Thomas, chemist and druggist and veterinary surgeon, St. Mary’s street
Eardley Thomas, saddler & harness maker, High street
Eccleshall John, cooper, Upper Bar
Edwards David, linen and woollen draper, High street
Edwards Joseph, beerhouse keeper, High st
Eldershaw Mrs. Jane, Upper Bar
Evanson Ann, bonnet maker, St. Mary’s st
Felton John, seedsman, St. Mary’s street
Fieldhouse Ann, milliner, High street
Fieldhouse Thomas, auctioneer & maltster, High street
Fieldhouse William, grocer, tea dealer, and tallow chandler, High street
Fisher Robert, jun., Esq., solicitor, and auditor of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire audit district, High street
Fisher and Washbourne, solicitors, High st
Fishwick Mary Ann and Alice, dressmakers, High street
Fishwick William, saddler and harness maker, High street
Fletcher Mrs. Helen, High street
Ford and Co., woolstaplers, Stafford street
Fowler Alexander, bank manager, High st
Fox William, beerhouse keeper, Upper Bar
Gater Charles, tailor, High street
Glover Alfred, beerhouse keeper, St. Mary’s street
Godby Augustus Hardy, surgeon, High st
Goodall John, vict., Fox & Grapes, St. Mary’s street
Gosnell John, butcher and shopkeeper, Lower Bar
Griffiths John, confectioner, & glass, china, and earthenware dealer, High street
Guy Ann, schoolmistress, High street
Hall George, bookkeeper to Shropshire Union Canal Company, Canal Wharf
Harker Francis, shopkeeper, High street
Harrison Jas., vict., New Inn, Stafford road
Harvey Robert, hair dresser, High street
Haycock Thomas, vict., Bridge Tavern, Lower Bar
Heane Henry, Esq., solicitor, clerk to commissioners of property and assessed taxes, clerk to poor law guardians, and superintendent registrar, High street
Higgins Mr. Robert George, High street
Hickin Miss Catherine, St. Mary’s street
Holland John, auctioneer, St. Mary’s street
Hollins John, shopkeeper, High street
Horton Miss Mary Ann, High street
Hughes Robert, Esq., High street
Humphreys Miss Elizabeth, Stafford street
Hutchinson James, currier and leather cutter, High street
Hutchinson Mary Ann, milliner, High street
Huxley John, grocer, tea dealer, and general provision warehouse, Lower Bar
Icke James Joseph, corn & guano merchant, Vauxhall
Icke and Yates, grocer, tea dealers, and chemists and druggists, High street
James John, cooper, St. Mary’s street
James Lewis and Josiah, linen and woollen drapers, High street
Jenkins William, cabinet maker, St. Mary’s st
Jervis William, tailor, High street
Johnstone Moses, tailor, Lower Bar
Jones Edward, grocer, tea dealer, ironmonger, chemists and druggists, Lower Bar
Jones John, inland revenue officer, High st
Jones and Aston, grocers, tea dealers, ironmongers, chemists and druggists, and iron-hurdle makers, Lower Bar
Keeling John, tailor and draper, High street
Keeling Mrs. Sarah, High street
Keeling William, solicitor, High street
Kyffin Mrs. Margaret, High street
Lamonby George, vict., Swan Inn, High st
Leach George, boot & shoemaker, Upper Bar
Leach Samuel, farrier, Upper Bar
Leach Rev. William Berckeley (Independent), Upper Bar, Aston
Leech Ann and Elizabeth, dressmakers, Upper Bar
Leech and Humphreys, wood turners, Upper Bar
Lees John, schoolmaster, High street
Leigh Mary, vict., Pheasant Inn, High street
Liddle William, Esq., solicitor, and clerk to magistrates and county court, High street
Lindop William, surgeon, St. Mary’s street
Littleton William, winnowing machine maker, Beaumaris lane
Lockley James, grocer, tea dealer, cheese factor, maltster, corn miller, and vict., King’s Arms Inn, High street
Lockley George, vict., Old Bell Inn, High st
Lowe Edwin, painter, High street
Lowe Emma, bonnet maker, High street
Lowe Richard, clothes dealer and agent to Birmingham Fire Office, High street
Macefield John, banker’s clerk, High street
Macklin Frederick, hair dresser, High street
Mansell Thomas, timber merchant and wheelwright, Stafford road
Massey William and George, engineers, millwrights, and iron and brass founders, Lower Bar
May Edward, county police officer, Stafford road
Morgan Miss Elizabeth, High street
Morris John, Esq., High street
Morris Samuel, butcher, Stafford street
National Provincial Bank of England, High street; Alexander Fowler, manager
Northwood James, watch and clock maker, High street
Oastler William, chemist and druggist, and agent to clerical and medical assurance office, High street
Owen Ann, beerhouse keeper, Summer House
Owen William, shoemaker, Watery lane
Parsons Joseph, vict., George and Dragon, High street
Pearse John, supervisor of inland revenue, High street
Pember John, boot and shoemaker, High st
Pickin Peter, vict., Pig Fould Inn, High st
Plant Caroline, dressmaker, St. Mary’s street
Plant Stephen, boot and shoemaker, and leather cutter, St. Mary’s street
Plant Thomas, saddler and harness maker and beerhouse keeper, Lower Bar
Pooler Thos., boot & shoemaker, Upper Bar
Pritchard Edward, law stationer and agent to district fire and industrial and general life offices, High street
Rees Benjamin, relieving officer and registrar of births and deaths for Newport district, High street