SCHOOLS 



of the value of j6 a year were given by Mr. 

 Haughton, 71 rector there ' sixteen years ago,' i.e. 

 1684, of which 4 was paid to the master and 

 2 to the usher, Samuel Jackson, making his 

 salary jio a year. The witness seems to have 

 been in error as to the date of Haughton's gift, as 

 his will is dated 23 June 1673, though perhaps 

 he may not have died till later. The head 

 master before Bower was named Pinchbeck, and 

 he had been paid only 19 and the usher ^8 

 a year. 



The corporation witnesses, particularly William 

 Jessopp of Mattersey, probably a solicitor, who 

 had acted as collector to the corporation, seem to 

 have urged that Mr. Bower ought to have con- 

 sidered himself uncommonly lucky to get ^30 a 

 year from the corporation ' over and above what 

 he makes by teaching boys that live out of towne, 

 he takeing of some boys soe taught 2os. per 

 annum, and other some more money.' As usual 

 the local people thought they were entitled to rob 

 the school as the master could make it up on 

 boarders. None of the witnesses unfortunately 

 say how many boarders or day boys there were. 

 Jessopp also said that the schoolhouse was built 

 at the expense of the corporation, and cost 300, 

 and that the repairs ran to 'some years 5 and 

 some years less,' while a bricklayer, John 

 Walker, said that he had repaired it at a cost of 

 ^30 in one year. One witness alleged that the 

 direction of the commissioners ' or some of 

 them ' to the jury was that though the rental 

 included corporation lands ' they might find the 

 said lands or the greatest part as belonging to 

 the school.' But no evidence whatever was pro- 

 duced to show in fact that there were any lands 

 belonging to the corporation other than the 

 school lands, or what was not school land. On 

 the other hand, it was stated that the corporation 

 had appeared before the commissioners by coun- 

 sel, John Tooker, esq., and that the rental and 

 other documents were ' debated and considered.' 

 Evidence was also given by Mr. Timothy Ellis 

 to show that the corporation had let the Tiled 

 House Farm and another by the churchyard at 

 Bleasby, admittedly part of the chantry lands 

 given to the school, at 301. and lOf. a year, 

 which were worth 18 and^io a year, and had 

 taken 200 fine for the lease. He said that the 

 lands were called sometimes school lands, some- 

 times 'Colledg lands,' sometimes corporation 

 lands. A Mr. Dunstan had 3 or 4 acres in 

 Clareburgh (Clarborough) for which he paid 50 

 fine for a lease for twenty-one years at 2Os. but 

 which were worth jTg a year ; while another 

 witness was under-tenant of some school land 

 worth 4 a year, which was let for 13*. a year, 

 j22 fine being paid ; and another tenant said 

 that ' when the collectors come to receive his 

 rents they tell him that the schoolmaster wants 



his money.' Further lands called the Millers and 

 the Royalty had been purchased by the corpora- 

 tion, but out of the fines they received on the 

 leases. 



After various postponements, on 7 February 

 1701 this case was ordered to be put in the 

 paper 8 for hearing on the second cause day after 

 that term. But the actual result does not appear. 

 There can be no doubt on the evidence that the 

 corporation had no answer to the charge ; but 

 the Commissioners of Inquiry in 1820 9 thought 

 possibly there was a doubt whether the Statute of 

 Charitable Uses applied to a grant from the Crown 

 before the first year of Elizabeth. This was 

 certainly not the law as acted on in other cases. 

 It seems more probable that some compromise 

 was reached and Mr. Bower satisfied, though 

 probably not to the full extent of the decree. 

 The school must have been of good standing 

 under Bower, who may be identified with the 

 Henry Bower from Melton Mowbray School, 

 admitted to St. John's College, Cambridge, 

 25 June 1662. Savile Wharton of Gainsborough, 

 who had been educated in the school ' under 

 Mr. Bower,' was admitted a sizar on 20 Feb- 

 ruary 1678-9, and next year a pensioner, and on 

 12 May 1597 Christopher Coe of Ordsall, who 

 is also said to have been under Bower, was 

 admitted a pensioner at the same college. 



Whatever may have been the result of the 

 suit for Mr. Bower, it does not seem to have 

 done much good for his successors, as it is stated 

 by Mr. Piercy 10 that the salary remained at ^29 

 a year until ' the present master was appointed,' 

 in 1801, when it was raised to 53, and in 1813 

 to j8o a year, while the usher received 21 a 

 year until i8oi,then ^30, and from 1813^40 

 a year. In 1805, 1806, and 1816 the corpora- 

 tion sold school lands and applied the proceeds 

 to their own purposes. The schoolhouse, on 

 the north side of Chapelgate, was rebuilt in 

 1779 at a cost of ^290. In 1797 the master's 

 house was rebuilt at a cost of 360, and in 1810 

 the usher's at a cost of ^556. 



The master who received this augmented 

 salary was the Rev. William Mould. The usher 

 who was still there in 1820, though then de- 

 crepit 11 and unfit for the duties of his office, had 

 been appointed in 1780. 



Carlisle, in 1818, says that the school was 

 free to boys of East Retford a restriction for 

 which there was no warrant whatever in the 

 charter. Neither the master nor the usher had 

 any private pupils in their houses ; and he signi- 

 ficantly adds : ' Many of the families send their 

 sons to distant boarding schools for education.' 



The master did not benefit so much as he 

 might have done by the augmentation in 1813, 



Haughton's will is dated 23 June 1673. 



* Char. Com. Rep. iv, 197. 



10 Hist. ofRetford, 126. 



11 Char. Com. Rep. iv, 196. 



Ibid. 



243 



