A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



distinct from the vicar of Bolton, to preach in the 

 parish church upon every Lord's Day and Monday.' 

 Notwithstanding the proviso quoted, the vicar of 

 Bolton has several times been lecturer also. An in- 

 crease of stipend was secured by a bequest of 8 acres 

 of land by William Hulme, ' the benefactor,' in 1 69 1 . 

 The lecturers, who appear to have been usually nomi- 

 nated by the vicar, often acted as curates of Walmsley 

 Chapel. In the last century the value of the 8 acres 

 of the Hulme bequest very greatly increased, and in 

 1858 the Master of the Rolls sanctioned a scheme 

 by which the salary of the lecturer was limited to 

 150 a year, the remainder being used for other 

 ecclesiastical purposes. The lecturer is appointed by 

 the vicar and the trustees of the Lectureship Estate. Ka 

 The endowed charities of Bolton 

 CHARITIES are numerous and important. 86 For 

 churches and chapels over 2,100 a 

 year is distributed, the principal charity being the 

 lectureship already mentioned. For schools 7,400 

 is available, including the grammar schools at Bolton 



and Rivington and Farn worth High Style School, 

 Dr. and Mrs. Chadwick's Infant Orphan Asylum, 

 founded 1868, with an income of 2,266,** and 

 Eden's Orphanage, founded 1872, with 1,75s- 88 

 Medical relief and nursing charities have 1,450 a 

 year, the greater part of which b the endowment of 

 the Blair Hospital in Turton. 69 In addition about 

 550 a year is given to the poor in money or in kind. 

 In nearly every case 90 the endowments are applicable 

 to particular townships or parts of the parish. For 

 Great and Little Bolton the principal charities are 

 those of Thomas Greenhalgh, 91 Stephen Blair, 9 * and 

 John Popplewell. 93 Mrs Lum's almshouses are for 

 widows and spinsters. 94 For Great Bolton there are 

 endowments for cloth for the poor and for money 

 doles, 95 and the same is the case in Little Bolton, 96 

 while for Breightmet there is a coal charity. 97 For 

 the poor of Tonge, Haulgh, and Darcy Lever is the 

 charity of Lawrence Brownlow, founded to secure a 

 supply of corn during scarcity, but distributed in 

 blankets and cloth. 98 For Rivington's poor Alice Lowe 



8sa The new scheme for utilizing the 

 lecturer's endowment is printed in Scholes 

 and Pimblett's work, and the End. Char. 

 Ref. for Bolton County Borough, 1904, 

 pp. 65-70. About 1,000 a year is dis- 

 tributed from the fund ; the gross income 

 is much more. 



86 For the older charities see Gastrell, 

 Notitia, ii, 15, 17, 22, 25. The summary 

 and notes here given are from the End. 

 Char. Rep. for Bolton County Borough, 

 1904, and for the rest of the parish, also 

 1904 ; in these reports is reprinted the 

 report made by the Charity Commis- 

 sioners in 1828. 



87 The buildings are situated in Haulgh. 

 The orphanage is primarily for girls, fifty 

 being maintained at once ; the religious 

 instruction usually was to be ' upon Pro- 

 testant principles in conformity with the 

 Church of England '; each girl on leaving 

 receives an outfit costing about 10. 



88 Founded by James Eden of Lytham, 

 who died in 1874. The building is in 

 Little Bolton, and provides for fifty boys 

 and about thirty girls ; the religious in- 

 struction was to be upon Protestant prin- 

 ciples. 



89 This hospital was founded by Stephen 

 Blair in 1870, but the building was not 

 erected till 1882 ; it accommodates thirty 

 patients. 



Bolton Infirmary hassome endowments; 

 and 12 a year to it is paid from the 

 Marsden and Popplewell Educational 

 Charity on account of the old dispensary, 

 now merged in the infirmary. From 

 Greenhalgh' s Charity 2 2s. is paid yearly 

 to Manchester Infirmary. 



Out of the Shaw Charities for Rivington 

 25 is paid for medical assistance, and, in 

 addition, subscriptions are given to various 

 hospitals. 



90 For the parish in general are the 

 benefactions of James Lomax, including 

 i among forty poor housekeepers at- 

 tending the Whit Sunday sermon, but 

 now distributed among the poor of 

 Breightmet and Harwood ; and of Na- 

 thaniel Hulton, 1691, for the benefit of 

 Protestant Dissenters, and for teaching 

 children the Assembly's catechism, or the 

 like ; the greater part of the income of 

 524 is now given to the grammar school 

 and girls' scholarships. The Charity of 

 John Guest seems to have failed, so far as 

 Bolton is concerned. James Gosnell, in 

 .endowing the lectureship in 1622, directed 



that one-sixth of the gross income was to 

 be given to the poor, half to Bolton and 

 the other half to Little Lever 5 the poor's 

 share is now 11 131. lod. The Poor 

 Protection and Benevolent Society has 

 10 a year, left by Thomas Glaister in 

 1896. 



Jane Astley in 1734 left 60 for 

 clothing for the poor attending some 

 Protestant place of worship ; 3 is now 

 given in doles of flannel, &c., to persons 

 attending the Unitarian Chapel, Bank 

 Street. 



Mrs, Mary Ann Briggs in 1883 left 

 part of her estate to the same chapel, and 

 from it 2 121. 2d. is given to the poor. 



91 This benefactor by his will of 1894 

 left endowments for All Souls' Church 

 and Sunday Schools, and 1,350 for the 

 poor of the district, irrespective of re- 

 ligious denomination, to be distributed in 

 wearing apparel by the vicar and church- 

 wardens. 



He made similar provision for the 

 poor of the ecclesiastical district of the 

 Saviour. 



92 Founded in 1868 for the benefit of 

 St. John's Church, Little Bolton ; part of 

 the endowment is to provide winter cloth- 

 ing for poor persons attending the church. 



98 John Popplewell in 1820 gave 4,200 

 stock to provide for the care of his grave, 

 an annual service and sermon in the parish 

 church, and clothing and bread for the 

 poor. The recipients are selected by the 

 Church of England clergy of Great and 

 Little Bolton, and number about ninety 

 men and 205 women ; they receive bread 

 to the value of 15, and clothing worth 

 about 140. 



94 Mrs. Elizabeth Lum built six cottages 

 in Anchor Street, Little Bolton, and en- 

 dowed them with a small estate ; they 

 were opened in 1839, and were transferred 

 to the present site at Astley Bridge in 

 1886. The trustees are the ministers and 

 certain members of three Nonconformist 

 chapels in Bolton, and the beneficiaries 

 are to be sixty years of age, preference 

 being given to those who are ' decidedly 

 pious and regularly (if able) attend places 

 of worship where the gospel is preached." 

 The gross income is 48, and there are 

 twelve occupants, two in each house, 

 receiving is. a week, and coal, gas, and 

 water free. 



95 Some of the greater benefactions have 

 been mentioned already. Hannah Cromp- 



242 



ton in 1784 left money for linen for the 

 poor of Great Bolton; the annual dividends 

 now amount to 4 8*. q.d. Thomas 

 Cocker in 1774 made a similar gift ; the 

 income is now 4 i6s. a year. Richara 

 Aspindell in 1800 left 100 for a like 

 purpose ; the trustees of the Wesleyan 

 chapel in Ridgway Gate receive a rent- 

 charge of 5 15*. ^d. representing this 

 charity, and it is spent in doles of drabbet. 

 The benefactions of Adam Mort, 1630, 

 and Thomas Mort, 1732, of Astley, now 

 produce about 7 51. a year for the poor 

 of Bolton township ; it is distributed in 

 money doles. 



Sums of 5 and 2 were annually re- 

 ceived in 1828 in respect of gifts by Ann 

 Parker and an unknown donor ; but both 

 ceased on the death of John Albinson, 

 who then paid them. 



96 Mary Stones in 1764 left money for 

 an annual sermon, a dole of linen cloth, 

 and a gift of 6d. each to poor widows and 

 others. Down to 1898 at least 3 was 

 paid to the vicar of Bolton from the Har- 

 wood Lodge estate, and added to the poor 

 fund for food and clothing. James Green- 

 halgh in 1780 left money for linen cloth 

 for the poor ; the income, now 2 41. 4</., 

 is distributed in doles of cloth by the in- 

 cumbents of St. Augustine's, Tonge, and 

 St. George's, Little Bolton. Some smaller 

 gifts for the poor and for doles of linen 

 cloth had been lost before 1828. 



' Thomas Seddon in 1 894 left money 

 for coal to be distributed by the vicar 

 and churchwardens of St. James's among 

 twelve poor families ; the interest amounts 

 to 4 81. \d. 



A linen charity, founded by Mrs. Ann 

 Parker, was discontinued about 1808. 



98 Lawrence Brownlow in 1630 gave a 

 granary to trustees, together with 40, 

 to buy corn, which they were to store up 

 and sell to the poor at a cheap rate in 

 times of scarcity. This does not seem to 

 have been practicable, and in 1828 a dis- 

 tribution of linen cloth had long been 

 customary, one-eighth being appropriated 

 to Darcy Lever. The premises belonging 

 to the trust were the inn then called the 

 Starkey's Arms, and formerly known as 

 the Almshouse. The income, which in 

 1828 was 32, has now reached 134, 

 and is distributed to about 280 persons in 

 doles of blankets, drabbet, and flannel. 



Little Lever has a share of James Gos- 

 n ell's Charity, now 3 18*. a year. 



