ONGAR HUNDRED stapleford tawney 



1831 a meeting of the vestry recommended that the 

 rector should 'allow £\ per annum to Samuel Parish 

 schoolmaster being the rent for the house which he now 

 lives in on condition that he continues to educate the 

 poor children on the Sundays'.** In 1835 it was stated 

 that the schoolhouse built at Mrs. Luther's expense 

 was occupied rent-free by a schoolmaster who had 

 been placed there by the rector and who had 30 fee- 

 paying pupils.*' At this date the master probably still 

 taught the poor children of the parish on Sundays in 

 return for his rent-free house. The schoolhouse was 

 still occupied rent-free by a master in 1 848 and possibly 

 in 1 861 but probably not as late as 1863 and almost 

 certainly not as late as 1871.'° 



By 1839 the poor children of the parish were attend- 

 ing a day school in Theydon Mount (q.v.)." In 1 871 

 an inspector proposed that 30 Stapleford Tawney 

 children should be accommodated at Theydon Mount 

 and that the remaining 16 in need of elementary school- 

 ing should be found places at Stapleford Abbots. 

 Churchmen in Stapleford Tawney, however, decided 

 to found their own school on land given by the lord of 

 the manor of Stapleford Tawney (q.v.).72 A deed of 

 1873 appointed the rector and churchwardens as 

 trustees of the school and declared that the religious 

 teaching should be according to Anglican principles. '^ 

 The new school, with accommodation for 60, was built 

 in 1873-4, next to the church. A teacher's house was 

 attached. The school was opened in 1874 under a 

 certificated mistress''' but, despite the receipt of annual 

 grants from 1875 and an average attendance of 32 in 

 that year, the falling population of the parish caused 

 average attendance to fall to 15 in 1893.^5 In 1904 

 there were 30 pupils on the roll under two mistresses, 

 one of them certificated, and the average attendance 

 was 25.'* By the Education Act of 1902 the school 

 passed under the administration of the Essex Education 

 Committee as a non-provided Church school. Average 

 attendance continued to be low; in igio it was 19'' 

 and in 191 1 the possibility of closure was discussed.'' 

 Average attendance rose, however, to 23 in 1920 

 and to 32 in 1936. After the reorganization of the 

 school for mixed juniors and infants in 1936 the 

 average attendance again fell, reaching 15 in 1938. 

 In 1939, in view of the low number of pupils, the 

 school was closed." The building is now used for 

 village activities. It is a gabled building of red brick 

 with bands of blue. The gables have pierced barge- 

 boards. 



<■» E.R.O., D/P 14.1/8/2. 



M Rep. Com. Char. (Eisex), H.C. 216, 

 p. 245 (1835), xxi (i). 



■"> White tDir. Ellex (1848), p. 438; 

 ibid. (1863), p. 746; CoUer, PeofU't Hill. 

 Essex, 490. 



" E.R.O., D/P 30/28/19. 



'* Min. of Educ. File 13/367. 



'3 Min. of Educ. File 1 3/347. 



'* Chelmsford Chronicle, 9 Jan. 1874. 



'5 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, /S75 

 [C. 1513-1], p. 534. H.C. {1876), xxiii; 

 Retn. of Schs. iggj [C. 7529], p. 716, 

 H.C. (1894), Ixv. 



1904, 



216, 



•" Essex 

 p. 187. 



" Min. of Educ. File 13/347. 



" Essex County Chronicle, i Dec. 191 1 



" Min. of Educ. File 13/347. 



"> Rep. Com. Char. {Essex), H.C 

 pp. 244-5 (1835), xxi (i). 



8' E.R.O., D/P 141/8/1. 



" Char. Com. files. 



83 E.R.O., D/P 141/8/1. 



8* E.R.O., D/P 141/1/3. 



8s Char. Com. files. 



8' See Manor of Suttons above. 



8' E.R.O., D/P 141/8/ii Rep. 



There is no record of the origin of the Church lands, 

 which comprised 4 acres of arable near 

 CHARITIES Colliers Hatch.so Their rent rose 

 from £2 I OS. in the l8th century to 

 £6 los. in 1834.8' The property was sold in 1869 for 

 ;^495 which was invested in stock. ** Before 1750 the 

 income was spent chiefly on church repairs and, from 

 then until 1783 at least, it was used to educate the poor 

 children of the parish. '^ It was apparently applied to 

 the poor rates until 1820 and was from then on 

 generally used to give clothing to the poor.** In 1949 

 the income of j£i3 6s. SJ. was spent with that of the 

 other charities for the poor, on the distribution of coal, 

 bread, and clothes. '5 



Thomas Luther of Suttons, '* by will proved 1722, 

 left j^5 a year issuing from land in the parish to the 

 poor.*' In 1726 the vestry decided to use it to pay the 

 parish schoolteacher.*' This practice was discontinued 

 by 1750,*' and the money was apparently applied to 

 the rates until 1820 when it was given to the poor with 

 the Church lands income.'" About 1 861 there was 

 difficulty in securing payment as the land was in 

 Chancery and in 1 869 half the charge was redeemed 

 for stock. The other half was apparently paid until 

 1949 when only £2 is. SJ. income from the stock was 

 received. It was spent with the other charities." 



Jane Luther of Buttons,'^ by will proved 1745, ^^f' 

 ^6 a year, issuing out of an estate at Little Warley.'^ 

 Of this sum £2 1 is. 6d. was to go to Kelvedon Hatch 

 (q.v.) ; of the remainder, 5/. was to be paid to the parish 

 clerk for weeding the gravel walk from the road to the 

 church and the remaining £2 ijs. 6ii. was to be given 

 to the poor in bread. In 1834 both sums were paid by 

 the owner of Suttons, as by this time the lands actually 

 charged were unknown.'* Both rent-charges were 

 redeemed in 1950 for ;^i 1 5 stock for the poor and ^10 

 for the clerk.'s 



The charities of Sir John Smijth, 9th Bt., and the 

 Revd. Sir Edward BoviT^er Smijth, loth Bt., called 

 the Hill Hall Charity, were founded by an indenture 

 of 1840. There were in 1953 separate endowments 

 of ;£i09 and £\ 19 stock for Stapleford Tawney and 

 Theydon Mount respectively. That for Theydon 

 Mount is said to represent legacies of £(,0 made 

 under each of the two benefactors' wills together with 

 ;^io accumulation of interest: presumably the Staple- 

 ford Tawney stock represents similar legacies. Both 

 charities are to be distributed in kind and were used 

 with the other charities for the poor in 1949.'* 



Char. {Essex), pp. 244-5. 



88 E.R.O., D/P 141/8/1. 



8« Ibid. 



»o Rep. Com. Char. {Essex), pp. 244-5. 



•' Char. Com. files. 



*^ See Manor of Suttons. 



" Rep. Com. Char. {Essex), pp. 244-5. 

 It has been suggested that Little Warley 

 is a mistake for Little Warlow, alleged to 

 have been an estate absorbed in Suttons 

 by the 19th cent. 



»♦ Rep. Com. Char. {Essex), pp. 244-5. 



»5 Char. Com. files. 



»' Ibid. 



EJuc. Cttee. Handhk. 



Com. 



239 



