Westbury-on-Severn: Charities

CHARITIES.

A number of houses were given to the parish before 1737 when the donors had been forgotten: some which adjoined the churchyard were then used for the poor, as mentioned above, but two others could not later be identified. (fn. 1) Cornelius Draper (d. 1720) gave land in Huntley for bread for the poor; (fn. 2) it was bringing in a rent of £2 2s. 6d. in 1737. A gift of £10 by Joseph Bayse for bread for the poor of Elton tithing was used as parish stock in 1737. (fn. 3) John Mayo of Stantway (? d. 1729) gave land to provide coal for the poor in November, (fn. 4) and later in the 18th century Elizabeth Evans gave £20 for bread. (fn. 5) The proceeds of all four charities were being distributed as directed in 1828, (fn. 6) but by the late 19th century the Bayse and Evans charities had been lost. The proceeds of the Draper and Mayo charities were distributed through a clothing club after 1863; they produced £10 in 1894. (fn. 7) The Revd. William Boughton by will proved 1831 (fn. 8) left £200 the profits of which, excepting what was needed to keep his family's monuments in the church in repair, were to be given to the poor; in 1894 the proceeds, c. £5, were being used for the National school. (fn. 9) Thomas Wintle by will proved 1868 gave c. £20 annually for 12-20 elderly women; (fn. 10) at the end of the century it was usually distributed in sums of £1 to poor widows over 60. (fn. 11) Two cottages and an orchard left for the poor by Walter Trigg by will proved 1915 were sold and the proceeds invested. (fn. 12) In 1969 c. £21 produced by the charities of William Boughton and Thomas Wintle were being distributed in cash, and c. £39 from the Draper, Mayo, and Trigg charities were used to buy coal. (fn. 13)