1842. This very valuable and highly acceptable institution, to the
distressed poor especially, was established by a number of benevolent
ladies and gentlemen in the town, during one of those cycles of _hard
times_ and _bad trade_ to which this town and district is periodically
subject. Messrs. Thomas and Isaac Badger, Mr. Wm. Barrows, Mr.
Cornelius Cartwright, Messrs. Bourne and Wainwright, the Rev. W. H.
Cartwright, M.A., Vicar, &c., Miss Banks, Mrs. H. M. Wainwright, Mrs.
Wm. Barrows, Mrs. Dr. Roberts, and other ladies and townsmen, lent a
most willing hand to this work of charity. From that period, until
now, this deserving institution yearly distributes its weekly bounty
to thousands of distressed families, in our bleak and dreary winter
months. Its income is about £300 a year.