A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



impropriators in 1 84.9 were John Stephenson and 

 others." 



A chapel at Oughton is mentioned in the 13th 

 century .'- 



The chapel of Seaton is first mentioned in the year 

 1200, when a chantry here was granted to Walter de 

 Carew.'^ In a confirmation charter to Guisborough 

 dated 131 I it is stated that Bishop Philip de Poitou 

 (l 197-1208) confirmed the chapel of Seaton to the 

 monastery.'^ Another confirmation of about the same 

 date implies that this chapel was among the appur- 

 tenances of the church of Stranton granted by Robert 

 de Brus to the priory.'^ It is said to have been under 

 the invocation of St. Thomas of Canterbury. ^^ In I 3 i 5 

 there was a dispute between the Prior of Guisborough 

 and thevic.ir of Stranton as to whether the 2 oxgangs 

 granted by Bishop Philip and Walter de Carew were 

 a separate endowment for the chapel of Seaton or a 

 general gift to the monastery, the vicar being respon- 

 sible for the maintenance of the chapel. The Bishop 

 of Durham, appointed as arbitrator, decided that the 

 gift was made to the monastery, but that the monks 

 must allow the vicar 10/. a year for the maintenance 

 of the chapel. '^ Seaton chapel is mentioned with the 

 vicarage of Stranton in 153;,'' and in 1577-88 it 

 was a chapel served by a stipendiary priest.'^ It 

 was in ruins in 1622,'" and no trace of it now 

 remains. 



William Smith, by his will and a 

 CHARITIES codicil thereto proved at Durham on 

 30 November 1874, bequeathed his 

 residuary personal estate to his trustees upon trust 

 that out of the income thereof two life annuities of 

 £1^ and £^0 should be paid to the persons therein 

 mentioned, and that after the determination of such 

 life interests the income thereof should be applied in 

 supplying food and raiment, clothing and bedding for 

 the poor. It is understood that the income of the 

 residuary estate was insufficient to pay the said 

 annuities without recourse to the capital. 



This parish is possessed of a parish room conveyed 

 by a deed of 10 September 1900 to be used primarily 

 for the purpose of a Sunday school. 



West Hartlepool. — John Farmer, by his will 

 proved at Durham on 3 January 1879, bequeathed 

 j(^loo, the income to be applied for the benefit of 

 seamen's widows in the parish of West Hartlepool. 

 The legacy with accumulations is represented by 

 £lS^ H'- i'^- ^i P^' cent consols, with the official 

 trustees, producing j^3 1 8/. 4a'. yearly. The charity 

 is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners 

 of 6 September 1895. 



The West Hartlepool Diamond Jubilee Almshouses, 

 erected by public subscription as a memorial of Queen 

 Victoria upon a site belonging to the corporation, 

 consist of fourteen tenements occupied by aged men 

 and women who have been resident in the borough 

 for not less than twenty years The almshouses are 

 endowed with ^(^2,165 li. ()d. New South Wales 

 3 per cent, stock ; £i^ West Hartlepool 4I percent. 



Housing Bonds ; ^46 1 ()s.zd. \\ per cent. Converiion 

 Stock (representing a bequest by Joseph Forster 

 Wilson), and j^2,635 15;. id. 3^ per cent. Conversion 

 Stock (representing a bequest by Sir William Cresswell 

 Gray, bart.), with the official trustees, the annual 

 dividends of which, amounting to X'79 i'-t '"''^ 

 applied in the upkeep of the almshouses. 



The West Hartlepool Literary and Mechanics' 

 Institution, comprised in a deed of 2 August 1852, 

 was founded by voluntary contributions. 



The chapel premises of the United Methodist Free 

 Church in Lynn Street, comprised in deeds of 1853, 

 I 86 1 and 1878, are endowed with premises known 

 as the caretaker's house, let at £2\ a year, and a 

 dwelling-house known as No. 23 Farndale Terrace, 

 occupied by the minister of the chapel at a rent of 

 j^2 5 a year. The rents are applied for chapel pur- 

 poses. 



The West Hartlepool County Borough Schools 

 have been already dealt with.^' 



Eliza Jane Gray, by her will proved 26 October 

 •9'7> 8*^^ ;C.3.°°o> 'he interest to be applied by the 

 vicar and churchwardens towards the stipends of the 

 organist, choir, etc., and others employed in services 

 at St. Oswald Church or for purposes of divine 

 services and cost of heating, lighting and cleaning the 

 church, any surplus for the improvement or decora- 

 tion of the church. The endowment now consists 

 of ^^4,167 14/. id. 3 J per cent. Conversion Stock, 

 with the official trustees, producing £\\') \'Js. ^d. 

 yearly. 



Isaac BundreJ, by his will proved 12 April 1923, 

 gave the residue of his estate to the Mayor of West 

 Hartlepool, the income to be applied in assisting 

 crippled children. The residuary estate is represented 

 bv £^93 '9'- ^i^- 5 pcf cent. War Stock, with the 

 official trustees, producing £n 13/. lod. jearly. 



Helen Belk, by her will proved at Durham 26 Sep- 

 tember 1 90 1, directed that her personal estate be sold 

 and gave the residue to the vicar and churchwardens of 

 St. Paul'?, West Hartlepool, the income to be applied 

 for the benefit of sick or destitute women. The 

 endowment consists of ^^3, 023 "Ji. 44'. invested with 

 the West Hartlepool Corporation at 5 per cent. In 

 1925 the sum of ;(^g2 was distributed in grants to 3* 

 women and girls. Donations are also made to 

 hospitals and institutions of like character. 



Thomas Tiplady Brown, by his will proved at 

 Wakefield 7 June igi6, gave £ioo to the trustees of 

 Burbank Street Chapel for the trust fund. The 

 money is on mortgage with West Hartlepool Corpo- 

 ration at 5 per cent., and the income is applied to 

 the general purposes of the chapel. 



The Parish Hall of Christ Church, West 

 Hartlepool, comprised in deeds of 30 June I 894 and 

 25 April 1903, is regulated by a scheme of the 

 Charity Commissioners dated 6 March 191 7. The 

 property consists of a piece of land in Brunswick 

 Street, together with the building thereon. The 

 vicar and churchwardens are the trustees. 



" Lewis, Topog. Diet. '- See above. 



^ See above under Seaton Carew. 

 " Reg. PaUl. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 

 1131. 



^•' Gutihro' Chartttl. (Surt. Soc), i, 3 ; 



'i. 339- 



^' Surtees, op. cit. iii, 132. 



^' Rig. Palai. Dunclm. (Rolls Ser.), i, 



325- 



3» ralor Eecl. (Rcc. Com.), v, 3 1 9. 



™ Hist. Dimelm. Script. Tres (Surt. 

 Soc.), 5. 



"• Exch. Dep. Spec. Com. no. 3773 

 (Inst. Bks. [P.R.O.]). It is mentioned a« 

 late as 1646, but by that time it can have 

 been only a name. 



<' See r.C.H. Dur. i, 402. 



376 



