By Joan Clarke

In 1939 a small book appeared with this title. It contained the collected poems of G.Basil Sleigh who had died two year before. He was the son of the then vicar of Silverdale. The poems are mostly optimistic and dwell on pleasant things, but the story behind them is a sad one. In the introduction to the book, written by a friend, F. A. Woodward, there is a brief account of the poet’s life There may be those who remember Basil Sleigh and could fill out the story, but from this introduction we learn that Basil Sleigh was:-

Born in 1889, he was a scholar of Rossall and Queens’ College, Cambridge where he took a Second Class in the Classical Tripos He had embarked on a scholarly career, and had become a Captain in the O.T.C., when, in the full bloom of manhood, he responded without hesitation to his country’s call, and served as an officer, not without honour, in the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, throughout the war, in France and Flanders.

Wounded once, gassed, buried alive, the effects of his war experiences told on his fine physique, and were undoubtedly the cause of his enforced retirement from the scholastic work which was his real vocation, some ten years after the war, and also of his early death in 1937.

No name is put to the illness that killed him, but it is spoken of as ‘wasting’ and his father, in an explanatory note, speaks of ‘increasing weakness’ before his death. Some of the poems date back to the post-war period (his first book of poems appeared in 1929). Quite apart from any merit in the poems (and readers must judge for themselves) they are of some historical interest as the words of a poet who remembered the horrors, but in a more accepting and hopeful way than we are accustomed to from other war poets. Readers must judge for themselves whether his poems still speak to a later generation, but they do speak of courage in one so damaged by the war. His friend, in the introduction, speaks of the “.courage and unselfish patience with which he endured a long and wasting illness.”

The poems printed here are a very small selection from his large output and, since this is a local magazine, have mostly been selected from those that speak of Silverdale, his loved home.

Silverdale

Silverdale, Home of Saint and Peasant! 
Fairies sing in every simple Tree! 
Children's Laughter makes the Past the Present, 
Gives my happiest Boyhood back to me! 
Would that Words, 
My weak Words, 
Could express the love I owe to Thee 

The Vicarage

Ivy green. Honeysuckle, Rose Red and White,
Big Bay Windows, and Jessamine bright, 
Creeper sweet, little Porch, Periwinkle blue. 
Flycatcher’s nest, and a Jenny Wren’s too. 

The vicarage that Basil Sleigh is writing about is, of course, the Old Vicarage in Cove Road, and not the present vicarage close to the church.

Voices

I’ve seen the fields of Flanders, 
The Somme’s grey chalk ravines, 
The glow of burning Ypres, 
The mines of red Messines; 
I’ve heard the cannon thunder 
And the sniper’s bullet wail; 
But now it’s all a dream to me, 
I’m home at Silverdale. 

It’s fine to live in Peace time, 
And most of all in Spring 
When thrushes whistle love songs 
And plover’s on the wing; 
But still 1 hear the Voices 
Of friends in brave ‘Fourteen”, 
Remember us; we still live on 
“The Spirits of ‘Fourteen’”. 

Thoughts at Silverdale Garden Club’s Prize Giving.

“First Prize for Onions!” Simple Words! 
Yet every eye lights up! 
“What do they mean? - A voice replies 
“They mean he wins the Cup! 

But Friend Imagination speaks, 
A Cup? - Just that? - No more? 
To me they tell of years of thought, 
Of sweat, of back-ache sore! 

You see the smile of Triumph won; 
I see a toiling man! 
You see the Cup, so light to hold;
I see the watering can! 

I see a Hear! that loves, a Mind 
Pursuing truth through Strife, 
An Artist of the Soil, a whole 
Philosophy of Life. 

I think of those who’ve not won yet, 
And wish them good luck; 
For many a man who wins no prize 
Deserves First Prize for Pluck. 

Published in Mourholme Magazine Issue 32 1998

By Neil Stobbs

During the seventeenth century the life of the ordinary citizen was controlled, to a much greater extent than we can imagine today, by rules and regulations, both from the Church and the secular authorities.

During researches for the Seventeenth Century Group the following restrictions controlling the life of the people of Kendal have come to light.

Abstract of Fines of Leet Court October 20 1612

Every uflrme (6 8d) or hubb!eshowe(3/4d) on the market date or faire(40 -) date is 20. ‘-.
On a sabbath day 10 -an affraye. On the week daie every one is 3/4d or 6 8d.
Every putting of fillthe vessels or unclenness in any well is pained 4d or 6d.
Unwholesome cheese 12d.
Every stinking skine laid in Kente 12d.
Every butcher gashinge any skin 6d.
Every one drinking after 10 of the clock nocauier J 2d. Housekeeper 2/-.
Stinking fishe sold 12d. cockles 6d.
Reviling or calling the Constable a rogue 12d.
Drunkenness to be put in the stocks 6 hours or fine 5/-.

As far as possible the spelling which occurs in the original has been retained. On the whole the majority of the variations from modem standard spelling is obvious and the translation of the words is possible if they are read as phonetic The addition of an ‘e’ to the end of words seems to have been very common. The same word is spelt differently in two places on the same page.

The word Hubbleshowe used in the first entry apparently means to cause an affray or disturbance.

There is also a mixture of Latin or pseudo Latin phrases mixed in the text presumably used in the legal sense they are today.

It should also be remembered that the usual wage for a working man was not much more than 6p per day. The following abstract is taken from the records of a different court in Kendal of the same period.

Abstract of Fines for the Bilarres Court December 12 1612,

[Control of the services appertaining to a wedding]
No general drinking at weddinges for monies shall continue after 10 of the clock in the night of the wedding daie (service time expected) 10s.
Offeringes and bridlehowes allowed by Mr Aiderman (Mayor) and 4 Burgessess and the Vicar then being.

[Churching after childbirth]
No churching dinner above 12 wives viz for monie taking, nor drinkinges at churchings subpoena 10s.

[Control of holding dinners for profit]
No bidden dinner at all of townefolk above 12 persons for monie. nor nutcastes, merie nightes etc. sub poena every bidder to lose 10/-, every goer to loose 12d.
No dinners and drinkinges out of the towne, every bidder to forfeite 6 8d., every goer to forfeit I2p. toties quoties.

Ale sellers after 10 of the clocke tn the night, or in time of devine service. Io any inhabitant 2/-.
Every burger there or drinker to forfiet 12d.

These few extracts show how much the actions of the common people were circumscribed by a multitude of regulations They are taken from the Historical Manuscripts Commission Volume 13. MSS of the Earl of Westmorland MSS of the Corporation of Kendal.

A fertile source of information on the many regulations which affected the everyday life of the parishioners such as those in Warton is

“Seventeenth Century Life in a Country Parish With Special Reference to Local Government” by E. Trotter

The information is based upon life in the North Riding of Yorkshire, but many of the rules and regulations must have applied equally to the northern areas of Lancashire.

One of the most unpopular regulations was the Act which imposed the “Poor Law” on parishioners. Every householder in the parish had to pay sums of money for the maintenance of the poor.

One of the main complaints was that the amount levied varied every year, seemed to increase, and it was an open ended tax which was always increasing.

There are many tales of how the parish officials did everything in their power to prevent the various classes of the poor from becoming permanently resident in their parish. If any did so, they became a charge on the parish for their maintenance. Thus the overseer had to ask his fellow parishioners to pay out more money. Not a very pleasant task to say the least.

The government of the parish during the middle ages was the prerogative of the Church, but during the sixteenth and seventeenth century the government of the parish became a civil matter.

The churchwardens represented the people for all those undertakings of which the church took cognisance. The constable in the townships was the King’s Officer and was therefore responsible for good order. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the churchwardens and the constable of each parish were associated in the execution of the statutes which became law during that period. Two new officials came into being due to the various legislation enacted during this period. They were the Surveyor, responsible for the repair of the highways and the Overseer, who was responsible for poor relief.

All were elected yearly by the parishioners, were unpaid, and were obliged to serve unless they could claim privilege.

Thus the Parish became the “unit of local obligation” All the officials were under the direct supervision of the Justices of the Peace.

Other officials existed, the duties were performed by individual parishioners, all of them amateurs, who received payment from fees or a yearly salary. They were as follows:

Wellmaster. Who had to ensure that the water supply was forthcoming and the Well kept in repair. He was under the supervision of the Court Leet, and if there were no Court Leet appeal could be made direct to the Court of Quarter Sessions.

Aleconner/Aletaster. He had the task of trying to ensure that the community drank good beer and ate wholesome bread of full weight and measure.

Alnager/Searcher. His task was to examine all woollen material to make sure that it was woven the correct length and stamped with the town seal. If such an office existed in Warton is doubtful, as it was not a town in the full sense.

The Clerk of the Market. In small towns he attended fairs and markets from l0 O’clock until sunset. There was to be no buying nor selling take place before he rang his bell. (Still seen in some markets to this day). He inspected weights and measures to prove that they were of standard size and he was authorised to take “due and lawful toll” for every horse and other animal brought for sale.This office presumably existed in the years when Warton had a market.

Hogringer His was a yearly appointment made by the Court Leet, he was to see that all hogs were rung that ran on the Common. If they were unrung they were to be put in the village pound and he was allowed to charge Id. for each animal impounded (one may assume that this was the origin of the word) and 6d for putting a ring in the nose of the hog He doubtless superintended the work of the Swineherd whose job was to stop swine straying off the Common.

Neatherd Minded the cattle on the common and prevented them straying on to the highway

Scavenger He had to, at the bidding of the surveyor, remove refuse. (The term is still used today in some areas for the “refuse operative”).

If there were so many “offices” to be held by people in the township or parish, you must have had some kind of office quite frequently if you were a householder in the smaller townships.

As well as the civil officers there were the Parish Servants, namely the

Clerk, Beadle, and Sexton. They were on yearly salaries, paid out of church funds, augmented by fees and monies or kind. They were elected by the Gentlemen and the “Four and Twenty”, the name usually given the Select Vestry, if one existed. In Warton there were two Church wardens and two Sidesmen, in the other townships, one Church Warden and one Sidesman each. The Church Wardens were returned by House-row or as the people called it Neighbour-row.

Clerk. The parish priest had considerable influence in the election of the Clerk, who could not be dismissed without cause being shown. The clerk rang the bell for service, set in order the Bible and Prayer-book for the Clergy, and made the necessary provisions for Christenings and Communions. He had to wear a surplice and was leader of the congregation in the responses of the public prayers. In country villages the parish clerk also performed the office of Vestry Clerk and at times also that of sexton.

Sexton Had the main function of digging graves. For a grave in the church yard he was due 2d., in the church 4d. and in the quire 6d., and for every cottage in the parish he was allowed “ an ob” which was equivalent of a farthing.

He was also responsible for cleaning the church, lighting the fires, the opening of pews, and the general charge of the building. He was allowed certain dues at Christmas and Easter. 2d for buns at Christmas and eggs at Easter.

Beadle His main work was of a punitive nature He was expected to help the Constable in apprehending and punishing rogues He wore a special dress and carried a whip or a wand in his hand to enable him to drive dogs out of the church. The beadle was also in some cases equivalent to the Common Driver, in that he impounded stray cattle found on the road side or intruding on the Common. He was also sometimes called to be the Hayward who inspected the hedges and fences around the open fields, to see if they needed mending. The name beadle is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Beddam = to bid, or invite. Thus the Beadle bid people to the parish meeting. The beadle may have been called on to be the Town Crier.

As well as the various taxes put on them by the civil parish the residents of the parish also had to find the monies to provide various charges appertaining to the parish church.

In the thirteenth century the English Clergy succeeded in throwing upon their parishioners certain charges hitherto borne by themselves. Such were The repair of the nave of the church, and the provision of surplices, books and furniture etc. used in the services. The people who were called on to pay were the Landowners. Thus it was not such a burden on the “lesser sort”.

As was said earlier, one of the most onerous demands on the parishioners was the demands for “poor relief’.

As an additional means of raising funds for Poor Relief fines were levied for various offences.

Sources of Income to Meet the Expenses of Poor Relief

To meet expenses of applying the law there were three sources of income:

Land or money left by charitable people for use of the poor.

1. Fines for breaking certain laws, assigned definitely by statutes, to be given for the relief of the poor. Some of these are listed below,
   (a) For the infraction of the game laws
   (b) Fines on alehouse keepers 20/-for allowing people to sit tippling in their houses or for selling for 1d., less than 1 quart of best beer, or 2 quarts of small.
   (c) 5/- fine for drunkenness
   (d) For sitting drinking in an alehouse in the offenders’ parish. 3/4d
   (e) Fine of 1/- for absence from church.
   (f) Fine of 1/- for profane swearing.
   (g) For breaking regulations for cloth making.
   (h) Fine for meeting for games outside the parish on Sundays.
   (i) Fine for meeting for unlawful games in the parish on Sundays
   (j) Fine of 20/- for carriers working on a Sunday.
   (k) Fine of 6s8d for butchers killing meat on a Sunday
   (l)All penalties for default in carrying out the Provision of the Act for Poor Relief
2. Fine £5 on JP failing to nominate overseers
3. Fine £3 at least for persons refusing to be Treasurers
4. Fine 20/- on Church Wardens and overseers

Some of them may be familiar to us in some form today but they were often much more severe in their penalties than those equivalents today. Of course, the monies raised by fines in court today are not applied to the relief of the poor, where do fines go?

The poor rate which overseers with the consent of 2 or more Justices of the Peace were authorised to levy on all inhabitants of the Parish When the Puritans reigned supreme many fines were Estreated for profane swearing [(f) above], and for not keeping the Lord’s Day. Rich and poor had to pay the Poor rate.

All could be presented for not paying. This meant they could be brought before the Justices of the Peace in a Court to answer for their transgressions. Every inhabitant and every occupier of lands in the parish had to pay the Poor rate. The rate was assessed by the parishioners themselves, or in default by the Church Warden & Constable. If however the parishioners. Church Warden & Constable could not agree, then the nearest Justices ordered the rate. After the assessment had been made it could not be altered except by the same authority. Occasionally the overseers had to obtain an order from the Court before they could induce people to render an account of their incomes. If anyone refused to pay, an order or warrant was obtained from any two JP’s. They could then levy the rate by distress and sale of goods. This procedure was not submitted to willingly and there are many records of assaults.

As well as their normal “home” life, and that of their existence with their neighbours, they found that their “Trade” was controlled strictly by both national, county, and more local regulations. There were also Guilds of Craftsmen and associated workmen, which set their own rules for the control of their own trade or profession.

Many of the trades and professions are familiar to us today but some of them have long ago disappeared. Some of the trades or professions grouped together may also seem odd to the modem mind. It is interesting to try and arrive at a logical reason for the particular groupings.

In Kendal during the sixteenth century there were Twelve Guilds as listed below:-
1578, Twelye Companies.

1. Chapmen, Merchants & Salters.
2. Mercers & Drapers linen and woolen.
3. Shearmen, Fullers, Dyers and Websters.
4. Tailors, Embroiderers, and Whilters.
5. Cordwainers, Cobblers and Curriers.
6. Tanners, Saddlers and Girdlers.
7. Inn holders, Alehouse Keepers and Tipplers.
8. Butchers and Fishers
9. Card makers and Wire drawers
10. Surgeons, Saweners, Barbers. Glovers, Skinners, Parchment & Point Makers.
11. Smiths, Iron & Hardware-men, Armourers. Cutlers, Bowyers, Fletchers, Spurriers, Potters, Panters, Plummers, Tinkers, Pewterers deMetalled
12. Carpenters, Joiners, Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Thatchers, Glaciers, Painters, Plasterers, Daubers. Parers, Millers and coopers.

It is assumed that all the companies had their own rules governing apprenticeships, journey men and masters, which would be strictly enforced, just another layer of control which was imposed upon the majority of population trying to make a living in, what we must accept by today’s standards to be a hard world.

Published in Mourholme Magazine Issue 32 1998

By John Findlater

“England has the richest tradition of philanthropy in the world. It reached its peak in the last part of the nineteenth century. The vast network of charitable societies which had been formed to supply every imaginable need represented a sort of private-sector welfare state “¹

“The Church provided welfare services for the Catholic middle ages, the wealthy merchants of Tudor and Stuart England took on the responsibility from the Church, and the period following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 took from the economic life of the country the principle which was to become the pattern for charitable work down to our own day, the joint stock venture”²

One historian’s³ thesis was that the wealthy merchants and gentry had a more long-term view of eliminating poverty permanently by making the poor, self-supporting, through education (so this idea is not new’); donations for education accounted for over one quarter of all charitable giving.

Protestants, generous in supporting good causes, did not seem to regard building or beautifying churches as a good cause. Perhaps the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (founded 1699 by Rev. Thomas Bray) was the first large scale example of the ‘joint stock company’ type of charity which gave a big boost to charity schools, which peaked in mid-eighteenth century.

There was a tradition of charitable giving in Warton Parish which had grown, higgledy-piggledy over time, as in many other parishes. In an attempt to sort things out, following an Order in the House of Commons in 1898 the Charity Commissioners after Inquiry [30 May 1899], held in every Parish wholly or partly within the Administrative County of Lancaster into Endowments subject to the provisions of the Charitable Trusts Acts 1853 to 1894. It was published in 1900.

This Inquiry drew on a Report made 23 January 1826 and contained in a General Digest of 1865-8 an attempt to summarize the document, beginning with Warton township, follows.

The Free Grammar School and Hospital of Jesus had been founded by the Archbishop of York, Mathew Hutton, (licensed 15 November in the 37th Year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign). Stipulations were made about administration, salaries, and subventions.

The report said that the 1826 inquiry had shown:

..There is in Warton a building called an almshouse, consisting of three tenements under one roof and a room in the centre ..formerly used as a chapel, these buildings are now in good repair…By [Inclosure award 17 April 1817] an allotment was set out containing 2rIIp sm part of Warton Cragg to John Hutton of Maske Hall ..let by the late Vicar to Robert Jennings at a nominal rent upon condition he inclose it .he has put up a good fence and brought it into cultivation and it is supposed has already been re-imbursed his expenses. …There is also a schoolhouse upon which there is an inscription .1594. This house consists of a schoolroom on the ground floor four apartments above of which three are occupied by Robert Gibson the usher, and the other is used as a Sunday school. This building is now in bad repair. ..A part of Warton Cragg was also set out upon inclosure 4, containing 3rl9p to the trustees. This has not been inclosed and is used as a playground. Warton schoolhouse Considerable uncertainty seems to have surrounded the finance.“ since 1815 Mr Hutton has made no payment in respect of the charity.”

These disquieting matters were set out⁴:

“The last schoolmaster died in 1808 and the vacancy was not filled but the late vicar who died in 1823 insolvent, retained for his own use the yearly sum of £20 which ought to have been paid to a schoolmaster. From 1808 to the present time, the school has been kept by an usher, who, for a small payment which he receives from another charity, hereafter mentioned, leaches the poor children of the parish reading, writing, and accounts …the usher has received no allowance from this charity since 1815.

The hospital was, about 30 years ago, put into good repair and an additional room was then erected over each tenement the expenses of which., were defrayed by a subscription. It appears that two almsmen were formerly appointed for each tenement by the vicar, with the consent of the Huttons of Maske Hall and each received the annual allowance of £23-6-8 but, for many years past, the almsmen had ceased to reside in the hospital and let their respective tenements at the best rent they could obtain; since 1815 no almsmen had been appointed and the hospital is now occupied by persons who have been placed there by the overseers of the township., and partly by persons who were originally tenants to the almsmen.

It does not appear that since 1637 any person has been appointed to supply the places of the [original] warden or governors …and it may be a question whether the present vicar has any authority to fill up these vacancies or to act himself as warden or governor.

In 1818 an information was filed in the Court of Chancery by the Attorney General at the relation of Charles Clowes Esq. the owner of a considerable estate at Warton against the said Mr Hutton and the Rev. Mr Washington, vicar of Warton. and praying for an account of what Mr Hutton had received in respect of the yearly rent charge of £24 and in respect of the fourth part of rents and profits of the Manor of Woodham and, also, an account of his payments in respect of the charity. On 5th August 1818 the answer was put in by Mr Hutton; but on the decease of the relator. Charles Clowes, no further proceedings took place.

Under the circumstance, the interference of a court of equity seems necessary as well as the re- establishment of this charity and the recovery of the property belonging to it, as for the appointment of new governors or trustees ”

On 6 May 1830, after a Court decree a scheme was to be set up to re-establish, manage and regulate the charity. The Rev James Barns, Vicar of Warton and 24 other trustees were appointed. A charge against the defendant John Hutton, was allowed, with further accretions. £ 1289-13-7d consols had been purchased. All this had been confirmed by the court and decree nisi made absolute 4 July 1833.

The scheme established, directed that the schoolhouse and hospital be repaired and reopened; the cost defrayed; there should be 16 trustees, at least of whom the vicar should be one; when reduced to six, the number was to be made up again. When repaired the school should be re-opened.

The income to be applied as follows: £20 to the master, yearly by half-yearly payments, for the usher £6-13-4d, for each almsman £3-6-8d and £5 reserve for extra repairs after ordinary repairs. The remainder to be paid to the schoolmaster, or, if neglectful to the usher. In the case no usher be necessary, or a vacancy or discontinuance occur, the stipend should be paid to the schoolmaster. If through want of accommodation less than six almsmen be appointed, the trustees might give each almsman extra.

It was under this scheme that the school and hospital were being conducted, when Mr Bryce inspected in 1865 on behalf of the schools Inquiry Commissioners. The master placed his income at £70. There were 11 children, including one or two girls under 12 whose attainments were moderate. No classics had been taught for some while. There was no usher. The headmaster was required to be a member of the Church of England, though this had not been imposed, originally.

The attention of the Endowed Schools Commissioners had been drawn to the school in 1872 when 24 children attended, including three girls paying fees of 2d and 3d a week. Inspectors had pronounced the teaching inefficient, accommodation unsuitable, and the township was likely to be called on to supply deficiencies.

Upon application, by the vicar, an order was made to appoint 10 new commissioners in addition to the surviving six including the vicar and vesting real estate in the Official Trustees of the Charity Lands. By Order, the transfer of £971-16-5d residue had been directed and there was a conference between Mr Fearon an assistant Commissioner, and the trustees.

By the approved scheme, set up in 1875, repairs were to be conducted and £25 further provided yearly. The remainder of the endowment was to be applied to the education of children.

A new governing body of 11 was constituted, seven to be representative, three by the ratepayers of Warton, Silverdale, Yealand Conyers, Yealand Redmayne and two by Carnforth, Borwick, Priest Hutton and two by the subscribers to the school (under a complicated tenure), as well as four co-optative governors. The previous corporation was expressly dissolved.

The school was, thenceforth, to be conducted as a public elementary school, with weekly fees not exceeding 9d a week. Mr William Scott the existing master would retire, with a pension of £20. An upper department would be open to scholars who had passed appropriate examination for 11-12 year olds, with tuition fees between 30s and £4 a year, fixed. The tuition would be given by the principal teacher of the elementary school at an additional payment for each scholar, to include English grammar, composition, literature, geography, history, elements of geometry and algebra, natural science, latin or some foreign language, drawing, vocal music. Provision was made for funds to be available for exhibitions, if extra resources were available when Mr Scott’s pension ceased.

This situation had continued until 1884 when, lacking suitable accommodation, the upper department, was discontinued. Mr Scott had not died until 1894, so there had been no exhibitions. Between 1882 and 1884 there were 12 to 14 scholars, of whom half were girls and the fee charged was the minimum, 30s yearly.

Following an official inspection in 1889, a new scheme was approved in 1892. The 1875 scheme as regards the provision for the almshouses was confirmed, except that the number of the governing body was reduced to seven, of whom four were to be representative and elected, three by the ratepayers of Warton-with-Lindeth, Silverdale, Yealand Conyers and Yealand Redmayne, one by the Governors of the Grammar School at Lancaster, being the headmaster or assistant or some other fit person for five years: and three co-optative for seven years.

The present governors were William Oliver Roper, Beechfield, Yealand Conyers, solicitor, re-elected in 1899, The Rev William Sleigh vicar of Silverdale and Edmund Whinnerah, land agent of Cross Bank Warton, both elected in 1895; of the governors of Lancaster Grammar School, George William Barrow tailor, of Lancaster: the co-optative members were Edward Bousfield Dawson, Aldcliffe Hall, barrister and Henry James Jenkinson, Holmere Hall, Yealand Conyers, gentleman, both re-appointed. Edward Barton of Warton Grange, ironmaster, was appointed 16 March 1898.

The endowment was set out, which was producing a gross income £74-ls + £3-15s from the Warton charity annually. £25 was being applied to the almshouses, £20 between the three occupants and £5 for repairs. The house stands on the site of the ancient hospital but there is no evidence to show when it was built. It was occupied by three old men, aged 79, 76, 78 belonging to Warton, and Carnforth, they were appointed 6 January 1896, 28 March 1899, and 10 May 1899. None was in receipt of relief. There was little competition for vacancies.

The school average attendance the previous year had been 55. Fees were 1d a week for 4th and higher standards. The master was Arthur Francis Perfect appointed November 1876 at £80 per year, besides half school pence, use of the master’s house which formed part of the school building His wife taught sewing and received £10 yearly. There was one pupil teacher.

Since Mr Scott’s death in 1894 an exhibition of £20 had been offered, tenable for three years at the Lancaster Grammar School One had been awarded in 1895 and another in 1898. The governors were currently in debt to the bank for £44.

Charities in Other Townships

Sherlock’s Charity – Dr. Sherlock gave £30 to the poor – stated in the Parliamentary Returns 1786. According to the 1826 report it was in the hands of Mr Thomas Harris a landowner; it paid £1.5s yearly. This was distributed to the poor, along with produce from the two following;

Kilner’s Gift and Poor’s Land. Killner’s Gift Thomas Kilner gave a rent charge of 8s 4d on a close in Borwick called Chapel Field (held by Thomas Harris in 1826), paid annually to the poor.

Poor’s Land A piece of land was supposed to have been taken off a common in the dim past, producing 11s annually for the poor. This was presumed to be the piece, three roods (customary measure) possessed by the township, not known how. Upon enclosure of Borwick Moor, an allotment was set out in respect of this land containing 1 rood. The whole was then held by Richard Morland upon a parol(?) agreement for 3 years from Candlemas 1825 at a rent of £3.19s. This letting, in the same manner as long as could be remembered, took place at a public meeting. It been let previous to 1805 at a rent of £2.2s but the tenant had become insolvent when he quitted with £5.1s arrears due. This sum was advanced by the then overseer Thomas Jackson, who agreed he retain the increased rent beyond £2.2s until the debt to him discharged. An additional allotment in Over Kellet was sold for £6. This money was in the hands of James Hodgson who paid 5s interest yearly. These two sums £2.2s and 5s were passed to the overseer.

Out of this total, received by the overseer, sums varying from 4s to £2 were distributed at Easter to such poor as do not receive weekly relief. However, as stated by the assistant overseers of Borwick in 1863 to the Charity Commissioners, Thomas Harris who held £30 in 1826 had died in receipt of poor law relief himself, and possessed no property so that the Sherlock Charity was lost. Killner’s Gift had continued: the rent-charge of 8s 4d from Chapel Field (6 1/2 statute acres) owned by Thomas Jackson of Hall Gowan, Carnforth was passed to the two overseers and the churchwarden representing the township at Warton Church by whom it was distributed with the Poor’s Land Charity. This latter charity, received the yearly tenancy rent of £3 for Bull Close, (2 acres 1 root statute measure) let by the overseers to Col Marton of Capernwray Hall (presumably the Poor’s Land described in 1826). Of the additional allotment nothing was known and James Hodgson mentioned before had no known representative.

Until 1896 this combined income was for 12 years, through misapprehension, paid into the funds of the Lancaster Union in relief of the poor rates. At Christmas of that year it was divided between the two former recipients and since then it had been distributed about Easter when the payments were received equally among five poor persons, of whom the churchwarden above mentioned (one of the acting trustees) was one.

Carnforth

Poor’s Land Charity – In 1862 the overseers of Carnforth obtained a deed of feoffment, dated 25 January 1737 (no. trace of this was found by the Inquiry), whereby Henry Hadwin granted to James Lucas, Jonathan Peel and Francis Bainbridge … to permit and suffer the churchwarden and overseers …… to lease to best advantage for the benefit of the poor, the land called Hollowgate (1 acre 2 roots) and a parcel called Myers (1/2 acre statute measure). In 1826 it had been reported that the land which had previously been vested in Thomas Lawrence, John Peel and Francis Bainbridge, producing annually £1.17s, had been under the management of John Peel, supposed to have been the survivor of the trustees. Since his death the land had been let by the churchwarden and overseer to the highest bidder at a meeting of the township. It was in the occupation of John Whormby for seven years from 14 February 1825, at rent of £3.17s paid yearly on the 24th December to poor persons not in receipt of constant relief. In 1861 Hollowgate had been let to James Stockdale Harrison for 999 years, yearly rent £4.4s and with permission sold to him 19 June 1868 for £167 invested in £178.5s Consols in the name of the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds. The annual dividends £4.18s had been remitted through the Lancaster Banking Company to the churchwardens and overseers who after consultation divided the money among the recipients, taking it to their homes on Christmas Eve. The previous Christmas there were 29 then on the list, some in receipt of poor law relief. The sums to each from 5s to 2s 6d.

Greenbank’s Charity According to the 1826 findings, a gift to the poor from the will of William Greenbank, produced £2.10s yearly from land then vested in James Ainslie. This sum had formerly been paid by Mrs Ainslie and Miss Elizabeth Wilson, then distributed under their direction. Since the death of Miss Wilson in 1818 nothing had been paid. There appeared to be no legal foundation for the charity which had lapsed.

The School Early in the nineteenth century the Presbyterian Chapel, the congregation of which had been dissolved, was converted into a township school and used until 1849. There was no evidence to show under whose management it had been nor in whom the site was vested. Then by indenture, 30 August 1849 and enrolled in Chancery 9 February 1850, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester and the Lord of the Manor of Carnforth granted to Rev. Thomas Dean, Vicar of the parish of Warton, and to John Thompson Kew and Joseph Caley yeomen, churchwardens, and their successors, a school for the education of children and adults or children only of the labouring manufacturing or poorer classes in Carnforth, in union with the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church.

On the site a school and a master’s house were erected by subscriptions of £273.10s raised by the vicar, and a grant of £60 from the National Society. The old schoolroom then converted into a cottage, was appropriated by the trustees of the new school and annexed to the latter as an endowment. In 1861 a bazaar realised £650. The promoters proposed to hand over £564 to the school trustees to be used at their discretion and application was made in1862 to appoint additional trustees. The Charity Commissioners established an order 4 July 1862 vesting management in a committee consisting of the principal minister. curate or curates, if appointed by the former; the churchwardens of Carnforth; and 15 contributors to the school. This scheme had been ignored after 1875 (there was a new church in Carnforth in 1873) but the anomalous position was settled after the report on the Inquiry by the Vicar of Warton formally surrendering claim to fees arising from church offices at Carnforth.

In 1871 the Trustees had purchased (from money handed over in 1861) a £500 bond of Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, interest at 4%. redeemable in 1907 and transferred in 1892 to the Finance Board of Diocese of Manchester in trust for the Carnforth School Endowment therefore, consisted of the above bond producing £20 annually and £2 rent from the cottage, let as a builder’s store to Thomas Pool. The £22 was paid to the master of the National School conducted as a public elementary school.

Priest Hutton

Sherlock’s Charity In the 1826 report it was said that Dr Sherlock had given £9 for the poor of the township, yearly. However, £10 (whether from this or not) had been placed by the late William Dawson of Priest Hutton in the Bank of Worswick & Co in Lancaster. The bank had failed in 1822 and though a small dividend had been declared no application had been made by August 1825. This charity appeared to have been lost. It was also stated that there was a house and garden which had been given to the poor which had produced a rent of £1.5s per annum. There was a house occupied by paupers, who were placed by overseers, but it does not appear from whom the house derived or that any rent was ever distributed in charity to the poor in respect of these premises. The Vicar stated to the Inquiry that he knew of no house in the township answering to the description of the paupers’ house mentioned in the 1826 report.

Notes

1. Whelan Robert, “The Corrosion of Charity”, Institute of Economic Affairs, Health and Welfare Unit (1996), ↩︎
2. Ibid. p3 ↩︎
3. W.K.Jordan, “Philanthropy in England; 1480-1660” George Allen and Udwin, 1959 ↩︎
4. This was reported in The Times ↩︎

Published in Mourholme Magazine Issues 32, 33, 34 and 351998, 1999