£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.
_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.