Burton-upon-Trent: Charities for the poor

Charities for the poor

The majority of endowed charities for the poor in Burton were founded between the late 16th and early 18th centuries and included two almshouses for women. Unendowed irregular or annual charity also became a significant source of welfare in the 18th century. The Paget family probably made annual gifts to the poor of Burton at Christmas: in 1639 and 1641 Lord Paget gave £5 but by the 1770s the sum had risen to £90 or £100 which was distributed in cash, beef, and bread to the poor of the town and the outlying villages. Blankets and clothes distributed to the poor in 1815 may have been given to celebrate the end of the Peninsular War. (fn. 13)

When Burton's open fields were inclosed in the early 19th century, the poor were compensated for their loss of common rights by an allotment of land, which was sold and the capital invested in stock; however, the income was not distributed equally among the former commoners but was used to defray the costs of poor relief funded from rates and other public welfare schemes. In 1981 it was transferred to the Consolidated Charity of Burton-on-Trent. (fn. 14)

Collective schemes to relieve the poor flourished in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A soup kitchen was set up in Station Street in 1856 with money from the Burton town lands and from Mrs. Almond's charity. (fn. 15) In 1881 town lands money was used to build a soup kitchen and borough relief office at the corner of Duke Street and Mosley Street. (fn. 16) It was closed in 1915 but reopened, possibly for the last time, in 1922. (fn. 17) A branch of the Charity Organization Society was established in 1881 for the borough (excluding Stapenhill), (fn. 1) but by 1895 the apathy of the members was blamed for it being no more than a relief committee. (fn. 2) In 1912 it was replaced by the Burton-upon-Trent Voluntary Aid Association, still running in 2000. (fn. 3)

The Burton Association for the Rescue and Protection of Young Girls, intended to assist young women arriving in the town in search of work, opened a shelter called the Shaftesbury Institute in Station Street in 1883; the shelter was moved to Shaftesbury House at the corner of Orchard Street and New Street in 1893. (fn. 4) The charity, which by 1922 had become affiliated to a Lichfield diocesan association and benefited unmarried mothers during and after pregnancy, had been moved to Union Street by 1923. (fn. 5) The home supported between 20 and 30 women each year during the 1960s but was closed in 1969. (fn. 6)

MONASTIC AND COLLEGIATE

BENEFACTIONS

Alms given by Abbot William Melburne (1200-14) to the poor and to pilgrims visiting St. Modwen's shrine were continued by Abbot Nicholas of Wallingford (1216-22), who in addition ordained a distribution of loaves, herrings, and ale in commemoration of the abbey's founder, Wulfric Spot, and his wife. (fn. 7) For receiving the poor, Abbot Laurence (1229-60) gave the monastic almoner a stone house next to the abbey church, presumably opening on to the market place. (fn. 8) In 1535 the abbey spent £12 a year on a daily distribution of food and drink to the poor, together with £4 on 24 cloaks. Two doles each of 34s. were then made on Maundy Thursday and on 22 October (the supposed date of Wulfric Spot's death), and a further five doles each of 14s. 7d. on the obit days of different abbots. (fn. 9)

Burton college was required by the terms of its 1541 foundation to spend £20 a year on alms and to support four bedesmen. There was no bedehouse in Burton but the bedesmen received stipends. (fn. 10)

ALMSHOUSES AND ALMSHOUSE CHARITIES

Paulet's Almshouses

By an indenture of 1593 Elizabeth Paulet, a native of Burton, gave an annuity from property in Clerkenwell (Mdx.) and income from land in Fenny Bentley (Derb.) to support almswomen. (fn. 11) The property was vested in trustees for the relief of five elderly, unmarried women from the town. Each woman was to be given 26s. 8d. and a gown, smock, and apron annually; any remaining money was to be spent on repairing the almshouse, which was built on the west side of the market place. (fn. 12)

The charity had acquired lands in Chelmorton (Derb.) from an unknown source by the 1690s. (fn. 13a) Although the Clerkenwell annuity had been lost by 1764, the charity's income rose from £20 15s. in 1709 to £42 5s. in the 1780s. (fn. 14a) The almswomen's annual stipends were £10 10s. in 1807, when they were raised to £12 10s. In 1821 the payments increased to £15. (fn. 15a) The income of the charity had risen to £81 17s. in 1823 and to £91 16s. in 1861. (fn. 16a)

The almswomen were generally widows who, by 1789, received coals from the town lands charity in addition to their stipend. By 1791 the women were chosen by the feoffees of the town lands but separate trustees were still appointed for the charity until at least 1789. (fn. 1a)

The almshouse comprised five ground-floor rooms and one large room on the first floor. It required 'complete reparation' in 1823 when the first-floor room was let as a granary. (fn. 2a) In 1871 or 1872 the women were transferred to new almshouses in Wellington Street. (fn. 3a) The original almshouse was still standing in 1914, but little remained in 1974 when its stone doorway was installed in the east wall of the Burton shopping centre. (fn. 4a)

Parker's Almshouses

By her will of 1638 Ellen Parker bequeathed £800 for the relief of six poor women in an almshouse. The women were to be 'honest, elderly widows or old maids', either from the town or from Stretton where Parker was born. The income was to provide a gown, apron, and kerchief for each woman annually; the remainder was to be paid to the women quarterly and used for repairs to the house, (fn. 5a) which was built on the east side of High Street in 1639 or 1640. The charity funds had been invested in land in Burton and Rolleston by 1642, when two feoffees (appointed under the will of Parker's executor) were required within six months to vest the charity in six trustees. (fn. 6a) The trustees were appointed for the last time in 1795, when all but one of them were town lands feoffees, and by 1820 the charity's property was managed with the town lands. (fn. 7a)

Disputes arose over the number of women appointed to the almshouse from Stretton until an agreement of 1711 stipulated that two of the six women should come from the township. (fn. 8a) In the mid 18th century, however, it was alleged that Stretton had put in more women than was its right, and the division of places between Burton and Stretton was still contested in 1823. By this date, a seventh poor woman, not technically an almswoman, occupied two rooms on the first floor of the almshouse. (fn. 9a)

In addition to their stipends and clothes, the almswomen received coals purchased from town lands income by 1790. (fn. 10a) In the 1820s and 1830s annual stipends of £10 were paid to the almswomen, but the payments exceeded the income of the charity (£54 a year in 1834) so the £6 shortfall was supplied from the town lands. (fn. 11a) By 1869 stipends had increased to £15 and each woman received a silk bonnet and woollen cloak at the Christmas after her appointment, in addition to the gown and apron. (fn. 12a)

By will of 1797 Elizabeth Wilkins (d. 1798) bequeathed £400 to the almshouse trustees, the interest to be divided equally among the almswomen; however, it was payable only after the death of Alice Alsop (d. 1829). (fn. 13b) The legacy had not been received by 1834 but it produced £12 a year by 1861. (fn. 14b)

The almshouse, which was refronted in 1778, comprised six ground-floor rooms and two first-floor rooms in the early 19th century. (fn. 15b) In 1871 or 1872 the women were transferred to new almshouses in Wellington Street, the High Street almshouse was demolished, and a post office built on the site. (fn. 16b)

Mucklestone's Almshouses

In the early 19th century Joseph Mucklestone surrendered the lease of four houses on the south side of Cat (later Station) Street to the feoffees of the town lands for use as rent-free housing for the poor. (fn. 17a) In 1835 the houses were occupied by four elderly men, who by 1861 were supplied with coals and a stipend from the town lands income. (fn. 18) In 1875 the charity came under the management of the Almshouse Branch of the Consolidated Charities of Burton-upon-Trent. (fn. 19)

At some time between 1880 and 1884 the houses were sold to the brewing firm Worthington & Co., and four new almshouses designed by Reginald Churchill were built in York Street. A Charity Commission scheme of 1981 stipulated that the four almshouses should continue to be reserved for men. (fn. 20)

Johnson's Almshouses

By will proved 1863 Elizabeth Johnson gave the feoffees of the town lands six cottages on the south side of Hawkins Lane as almshouses. She also gave £2,550 in investments to maintain the houses and their inhabitants. Johnson appointed the first six women; subsequent vacancies were to be filled by the feoffees, choosing unmarried women over 55 who had lived in the parish of Burton for 12 years or more and who were not in receipt of parish relief. They were to be paid 4s. per week. (fn. 1b) By 1870 the property in Hawkins Lane had been bought by the London and North Western Railway Co., and in 1871 or 1872 the almswomen were moved to new almshouses in Wellington Street. (fn. 2b) The original almshouses, however, were apparently still standing in 1938. (fn. 3b)

Wellington Street Almshouses

In the late 1860s the feoffees of the Burton town lands sought approval from the Charity Commission for the provision of new almshouses for all the almswomen in the town. (fn. 4b) Permission was presumably granted because in 1871 or 1872 almshouses were built in Wellington Street for 21 women: 5 from Paulet's almshouses, 6 from Parker's almshouses, and 6 from Johnson's almshouses, together with 4 women to be supported by the town lands charity. (fn. 5b) In deference to Ellen Parker's will, three of the houses were allocated to women from Stretton. The stipends payable were standardized, each woman receiving £18 annually. (fn. 6b)

Designed in a Gothic style by a London architect named Mitchell, (fn. 7b) the building is of red brick with stone dressings and is arranged in three blocks forming a Ushape, with a grass forecourt. Each house has a twolight mullioned window with a pointed arched head, and the two-storeyed centre of the middle block has a canted oriel window and an offset pinnacled tower.

Hawkins's Almshouse

Although not stipulating the establishment of an almshouse, the lawyer Isaac Hawkins, by will proved 1713, bequeathed £100 to be invested for the maintenance of one poor old man in Burton. The beneficiary was to receive £5 a year; the first man was chosen by Hawkins, but subsequent candidates were to be chosen by the feoffees of the town lands. (fn. 8b) In 1732 the funds were used to buy land in Barton-under-Needwood, in Tatenhill. (fn. 9b)

In the 1780s the charity was worth only £4 a year but by 1823, when it was reserved for the oldest man of the town, it was worth 7 guineas. (fn. 10b) The charity came under the management of the Almshouse Branch of the Consolidated Charities of Burton-upon-Trent in 1875. (fn. 11b)

APPRENTICE CHARITIES

Birchenhead's Charity By will proved 1642 John Birchenhead, Ellen Parker's nephew, bequeathed the income from £100 to set out poor apprentices. The executor at first refused to pay the bequest, but it was evidently later secured: the feoffees of the town lands sealed what was possibly the first apprenticeship indenture in 1658. (fn. 12b) By the early 18th century the capital had increased to £200, producing an annual income of £10. At some time later in the century £100 was loaned out by the feoffees and by the 1780s any income which remained was no longer applied to its original purpose. (fn. 13c)

Finney's Charity By will proved 1689 William Finney, a London tradesman, bequeathed £110 to provide an income to pay for apprenticing one poor boy of the town annually. (fn. 14c) The money had been invested in land in Anderstaff Lane by 1710, when the feoffees of the town lands were managing the charity; the income was £5 a year in 1727. (fn. 15c) The sum had risen to £6 by the 1780s and to £11 by 1823, when the income was no longer separately accounted for and had become a part of the general town lands charity. (fn. 1c)

LOAN CHARITIES

Caldwall's Charity On the death in 1582 of William Caldwall, a Burton clothier, his brother Richard, a London physician, established a loan charity intended to assist William's son, also William, and to relieve clothworkers in Burton. (fn. 2c) Richard assigned £160 to the bailiffs of Lichfield as trustees, and they were in the first instance to give the younger William Caldwall £40 for successive periods of 5 years as long as he continued to live in Burton as a clothworker. After his death, the money was to go to his heirs. If neither William nor his heirs were clothworkers in Burton, the money was to go to any other Burton clothworker, preference being given to anyone named Caldwall or to Richard's kin. The remaining £120 was to be lent to other clothworkers in Burton for 5-year periods, the number of beneficiaries to be 4 in the first period of 5 years, 20 in the succeeding period, and so on alternately. Richard was to choose the beneficiaries during his life-time, and the first 4 were named as Henry, John, and Nicholas Clarke, and Mudwyn Wyghtman (daughter of William Caldwall). (fn. 3c) In an amendment made later in 1582 Richard substituted William Clarke for Nicholas, on the grounds that the latter had falsely claimed to be a kinsman. Richard also named those who were to select the beneficiaries after his death: his nephew William Caldwall, Richard Caldwall, Thomas Caldwall of Rolleston, John Clark, and the two bailiffs of Burton, John Turner and Richard Knight.

By the earlier 17th century not all loans were made to clothworkers, although 14 out of 16 loans made in 1662 were so given. (fn. 4c) In the 1820s the charity continued to loan £160 to Burton tradesmen for five-year periods, in one sum of £40 and the remaining £120, in alternate periods, as four sums of £30 and twenty sums of £6. The bailiffs of Lichfield travelled to Burton to collect securities and receive applications for loans, and were paid 20s. by the Burton town masters for their trouble. The charity had been lost by 1866. (fn. 5c)

Ward's Charity By will of 1614 William Ward of London gave £40 to be loaned to six Burton tradesmen for terms of five years free of interest. (fn. 6c) The charity was effective by 1640 and apparently continued in 1702 but had been lost by the 1780s. (fn. 7c)

Goodinch's Charity By will of 1647 Thomas Goodinch of Yoxall bequeathed £25 to be loaned to five young tradesmen in Burton and Abbots Bromley for terms of three years at 5 per cent interest. The capital was apparently vested in the churchwardens of Burton, and the interest payments were to be paid to the poor. (fn. 8c) In 1731 £10 was appropriated by the churchwardens, and thereafter the interest was distributed together with the income from Morris's charity. (fn. 9c) The residual £15 had been lost by the 1780s. (fn. 10c)

In 1665 the feoffees of the town lands assigned £80 for loans of periods up to three years. (fn. 11c)

OTHER CHARITIES

Paulet's Charity Elizabeth Paulet, in addition to founding an almshouse, may also have bequeathed property to provide a weekly distribution of bread for 12 poor people of Burton. The charity was administered by Solomon Clarke, a clothier, and his son-in-law John Orme in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when the funds were invested in land and produced £13 a year. Nothing further is known about the charity, which had been lost by the 1780s. (fn. 12c)

Steele's Charity At some time between 1653 and 1676 Richard Steele of London bequeathed a rent charge of £1 1s. a year from a property in London to the poor of Burton, Branston, and Stretton. The money was not at first paid by Steele's executors, but by 1676 they had given £21 to the feoffees of the town lands in lieu of the arrears. The feoffees invested the money in a cottage in Anslow, in Rolleston, in order to produce the income. (fn. 13d) The charity was still worth £1 1s. in 1861. (fn. 14d)

Almond's Charity At some time before 1683 Mrs. Alice Almond, possibly the wife of Richard Almond, gave money or land to provide annual disbursements of bread and cash. (fn. 15d) The income of the charity, derived mostly from a 30-a. farm at Aston (Derb.), was used to supply twopenny loaves to nine poor people at Burton church each week, and £1 10s. annually to each of the townships of Branston, Horninglow, and Stretton; any remaining money was given to the poor of Burton and Burton Extra. The annual income was £39 10s. by the 1780s, when the benefits were increased to supply threepenny loaves and £2 2s. to each township; the residue of £27 7s. went to the poor of Burton and Burton Extra. (fn. 1d) The income had increased to £71 18s. 8d. by 1823, when the charity had surplus funds of £208, reserved for distribution in times of particular hardship. (fn. 2d) The income had risen to £129 in 1861 when the amount paid to the townships was said to be only £1 10s., although this may have been a repetition of the original terms of the charity rather than a description of contemporary practice. The money then allocated to the poor of Burton and Burton Extra was used to support a soup kitchen. (fn. 3d)

Daniel Watson's Charity By will proved 1703 Daniel Watson gave two tenements in Cat Street to the feoffees of the town lands; the annual rent of £2 5s. was to be paid to the poor on Whitsun eve. (fn. 4d) By 1771 the income had risen to £2 10s. and the feoffees had augmented the charity with a further £1 10s., from the rent of a stable in New Street. The total of £4 was distributed in doles of 1s. or 6d. to the poor of Burton and Burton Extra. (fn. 5d) By 1861 the income had risen to £7 a year. (fn. 6d)

Robert Watson's Charity At some time before 1711 Robert Watson gave a house in New Street to provide an annual income of £1 6s. 8d., divided among the poor in doles of 6d. on Christmas eve. The charity had been lost by the 1780s. (fn. 7d)

Hogg's Charity At some time before 1711 Richard Hogg gave £20, the interest be used to buy shoes for eight poor people of the town. The charity produced £1 a year in the early 18th century but had been lost by the 1780s. (fn. 8d)

Morris's Charity At some time before 1711 a widow called Morris gave £10, the interest to be used for the benefit of the poor; the charity then produced 10s. a year. (fn. 9d) By 1731 the charity was known as the 'Widow's Groats', when the churchwardens borrowed the capital, together with £10 from Goodinch's loan charity, to defray the expense of putting up a fence in front of St. Modwen's church. Thereafter, the churchwardens paid £1 a year as the interest from both Morris's and Goodinch's charity, to the poor in doles of 4d. The 'Widow's Groats' were still being distributed in 1904. (fn. 10d) Hawkins's Charity By will of 1724 William Hawkins gave a £5 rent-charge on a house in Newport (Salop.) to buy bread for the poor of Burton. By the 1780s, however, the money was being used to buy gowns for 12 poor women, (fn. 11d) and in 1823 the gowns were distributed annually, each woman being eligible once every three years. (fn. 12d) The income and disposal of the charity apparently remained unchanged in 1869. (fn. 13e)

Robinson's Charity By will proved 1769 Joseph Robinson of Lichfield assigned to his brother William the responsibility for distributing six coats to six poor men of Burton and 20s. to 20 poor widows; the coat charity had been left by Robinson's 'uncle Wakefield' and the money charity by Mrs. Sarah Wakefield. (fn. 14e) The charities were evidently charged on land on the west side of Anderstaff Lane, part of which was sold in 1803 or 1804 and the remainder given to the feoffees of the town lands; thereafter, the land was let to the overseers of the poor for £5 8s. a year and became known as the workhouse garden. (fn. 15e) The income was absorbed into that coming from other town lands rents. (fn. 16c)

William Phillips's Charity By will proved 1864 William Phillips of Uttoxeter gave £400 to the parish of Burton to provide an annual income for fuel, clothes, meat, or bread for the poor. The charity produced £12 a year in 1866. In 1978 £11 was distributed in soup and sandwiches by the vicar of St. Modwen's and the charity was still distributed in the same way in the 1990s. (fn. 17b)

Queen Victoria Jubilee Fund In 1887 a fund was established by subscription to provide an annual income to support the sick poor and particularly their convalescence. Governed by Charity Commission schemes of 1911 and 1954, in 1963 the charity disbursed £65 to support local convalescent homes. (fn. 18a)

Thomas and Mary Jenkins's Charity By will proved 1961 Mary Jenkins bequeathed property to provide a residential home for the elderly. The residue of the estate was insufficient for the intended purpose and in 2000 the funds were still accumulating. Occasional grants have been made to maintain homes for the elderly in Burton. (fn. 19a)

CONSOLIDATED CHARITY OF BURTON-UPON-TRENT

The endowments of the town lands (fn. 1e) and of certain other charities were vested in the Official Trustee in 1861, when their income totalled £622 15s. 6d. (fn. 2e) A Charity Commission Scheme of 1875 reconstituted the charities as the Consolidated Charities of Burtonupon-Trent. The new charity was to be managed by 17 trustees: three ex officio trustees, four elected by the town improvement commissioners, and ten non-official trustees who, in practice, were the feoffees of the town lands. The Consolidated Charities comprised three branches: the Almshouse Branch, the Poor's Branch, and the Town Lands Branch. (fn. 3e) The composition of trustees was altered by Schemes of 1909 and 1939 to replace the non-official with co-optive trustees and to include representatives of other bodies. In 1981 the charity was renamed the Consolidated Charity of Burton-on-Trent, with 19 trustees who were to include 9 co-optive members serving terms of 5 years, and 10 trustees nominated by East Staffordshire district council, the Voluntary Aid Association, and local magistrates. (fn. 4e)

The Almshouse Branch Paulet's, Parker's, Mucklestone's, and Johnson's almshouses, together with Wilkins's and Hawkins's charities, were designated the Almshouse Branch of the Consolidated Charities. Cash allowances for all of the almspeople were set between 7s. and 12s. per week. The Scheme of 1875 also allowed for the appointment of a medical officer to treat the almspeople. Surplus income from the Almshouse Branch was to be used to provide pensions of not more than £20 a year to additional indigent people. (fn. 5e) Schemes of 1909 and 1954 added two Winshill almshouse charities, (fn. 6e) and the 1981 Scheme added an unfulfilled Stapenhill almshouse charity. (fn. 7e)

The Poor's Branch Almond's, Daniel Watson's, Hawkins's, Steele's, and the workhouse garden charities were reconstituted as the Poor's Branch of the Consolidated Charities. The trustees were to pay £4 a year to the churchwardens of Burton to provide bread for the deserving poor of the parish, and £1 10s. to each of the townships of Branston, Stretton, and Horninglow to be distributed to the poor in gifts of fuel, clothing, or money. The surplus income was to benefit the deserving poor of the parish in gifts of clothes, bedding, fuel, medical aid, and food; to assist people to emigrate; or to support the funds of other welfare schemes such as a soup kitchen or lying-in fund. (fn. 8e) A Schemes of 1905 added to the Branch the Winshill charity established by Joseph Wilson. (fn. 9e)

The Town Branch The Town Branch of the Consolidated Charities was established to dispose of income from the general town lands funds principally for municipal buildings and projects, but small sums were also to be allocated to charities for the poor. The trustees were to pay £120 a year to the Almshouse Branch for the maintenance of Mucklestone's almshouses, £150 a year to the Burton infirmary, £100 a year to support poor deserving people in convalescent homes, and £50 a year to relieve cases of urgent distress among the poor of Burton parish. (fn. 10e)

Under a Scheme of 1982 the Town Branch was separated from the Consolidated Charity to become the Town Branch Charities, leaving only 2/5 of the total income for application through the remaining two branches. (fn. 11e)

BURTON BREWERIES CHARITABLE TRUST

In the 1950s and 1960s the Burton-on-Trent Artisans' Dwelling Co., an early building society, began to sell off its houses and completed the process in 1995. (fn. 12e) From 1982 the income from the capital accummulated from the house sales was applied to charitable purposes through the Burton Breweries Charitable Trust, so called because the company's shareholders were almost entirely brewery firms. Under a Scheme of 1998 the Trust became an independent charity, the principal breweries appointing 5 of the 9 trustees. The income is spent mostly on helping young people (aged 11 to 25 years) in the East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire districts.