FARNHAM HUNDRED 



4a^ 



Rich. Gules a cheve- 

 ron between three crosslets 



Hunter, who built a house on the present site, 

 died in 1770, and in 1 771 his son Charles sold the 

 estate to the trustees of Sir Robert Rich, bart., 

 deceased. *5 His son, Sir Robert Rich, died in 

 1786. It was during his 

 lifetime that Cobbett 

 worked on the place as a 

 boy, and has recorded 

 how he ate his straw- 

 berries when supposed to 

 be gathering them for his 

 master. Sir Robert added 

 wings to the house, using 

 the ruins of the abbey. 

 He was succeeded by his 

 daughter Mary Frances, 

 wife of the Rev. Charles 

 Bostock, who changed his 



name to Rich and was created a baronet in 1792.40 

 In 1796 they sold the estate to John Thomson, 

 who sold it to George Thomas Nicholsonin 1832.*' 

 Sir Walter Scott made the acquaintance of the 

 Nicholsons, but subsequently to the publication 

 of Waverley, the name of which was suggested by 

 the Annals, not by the place itself, which Mr. 

 Nicholson bought but a few months before Sir 

 Walter's death. In 1833 Mr. Nicholson nearly 

 rebuilt the house, which had been damaged by 

 a fire. The estate passed, again by purchase, 

 in 1870, to the Anderson family. *8 Mr. Rupert 

 Anderson is the present owner. 



As the charities refer to the 

 CHARITIES ancient parish of Farnham it is 

 more convenient to group them 

 together here. 



In 1619, Andrew Windsor, of Bentley, Hants, 

 built the houses of the Holy Trinity for the accom- 

 modation of eight poor, honest, old, impotent 

 persons, and endowed the inmates with one shilling 

 and eightpence a week each, paid out of the land 

 belonging to him at Burwascot in Berkshire, often 

 called Buscott, near Lechlade. This was the 

 foundation of the Windsor almshouses. During 

 his lifetime the money was paid, but after his death, 

 on 4 October, 1621, his brother Peter disputed the 

 gift and withheld the money. A commission for 

 charitable uses was sued out, and an inquisition was 

 held on 8 September, 1624, when the gift was 

 decreed to be good. Peter Windsor still held out 

 for &. time, but was overruled, and the Charity 

 placed in the hands of trustees. As these died 

 and the Civil War troubles intervened, the Charity 

 seems to have lapsed, but was reorganized in 1673, 

 in pursuance of a decree made by the Commissioners 

 for Charitable Uses,*' and the trust has since been 

 duly discharged. 



In 1771 Dr. Butler, Archdeacon of Surrey, gave 

 ^8 a year out of his farm of Westcourt, Binsted, 

 Hants, towards the same almshouses. 



In 1789 Mrs. Mary Geree gave 30J. a year to the 

 inmates of the almshouses to be paid on I March, 

 from money in the funds. 



WAVERLEY 



In 1792 Mrs. Mary Smither, in pursuance of the 

 wishes of her late husband, Mr. Stephen Smither, 

 gave £500 to the almshouses. 



In 1806 Samuel Turner, and in 1819 Daniel 

 Bristow made small benefactions to the same alms- 

 houses. 



The inmates now receive seven shillings a week, 

 and £2 at Christmas for coals. The almshouses 

 are in Castle Street. 



In 1623 John Byworth left \os. to the officiating 

 clergyman for a sermon on All Saints' Day, 10/. to 

 the poor who listened to the said sermon, 6s. Sd. to 

 the schoolmaster for a sermon to be delivered a 

 month after All Saints, 3/. 4^. to the parish clerk 

 to wash his tombstone, 10/. to the repairs of the 

 church and school, 1 3 J. 41/. to the poor in the alms- 

 houses near the parish church. These almshouses 

 were formerly the parish workhouse, now replaced 

 by the Union workhouse in Aldershot Road. 



In 1650 Henry Smith gave £1,000, whch was 

 laid out in 1653 in land at Faringdon in Hamp- 

 shire and Ash in Surrey, to the poor of good char- 

 acter, for the relief of aged and infirm persons, the 

 support of large families, the marriage of poor girls 

 and the apprenticeship of boys. This was a gift 

 in his lifetime, and is not therefore administered 

 by the Smith Trustees who manage the benefac- 

 tions made under his will to nearly all the parishes 

 in Surrey. It was apparently however adminis- 

 tered by trustees till about 1689, when it was made 

 over to the town.^" 



In 1656 Henry Vernon gave 20s. a year to the 

 poor to be distributed in bread on St. Thomas' 

 Day, charged on the houses occupied by the 

 schoolmaster. 



In 1659 Abraham Thornton and Margaret his 

 wife gave land worth 40J. a year, called Body 

 Acre at Runwick, to the poor of the old alms- 

 houses. 



In 1660 Mrs. Hayes gave 20s. a year to the poor 

 in bread distributed on St. Matthew's Day, charged 

 upon the Bush Inn. 



In 1670 Richard Fox gave 20s. to the poor in 

 bread distributed on Candlemas Day, charged on 

 his house at Farnham. 



In 1688 and 1697 James and Robert Mason gave 

 40J. to the poor in bread distributed on St. Mat- 

 thias' Day, charged upon a house in Farnham. 



In 1722 Mrs. Mary Lintott gave 20s. to the poor 

 in bread distributed on I June, 20s. to the Vicar 

 for a sermon on St. Matthew's Day, and 20^. to the 

 poor in bread for listening to the said sermon, 

 charged upon her land at Weyborne. 



In 1722 John Stanton gave 20s. to the poor near 

 his late dwelling-place to be distributed in bread 

 on Christmas Eve. 



In 1731 George Hall left the interest of ;£300 

 to be applied to the apprenticing of poor boys ; 

 but if a charity school were erected the said sum 

 was to be diverted entirely to that object. 



In 1734 John Lampard left £5 to be distributed 

 in bread and beef to the poor of Badshot on 19 



*6 Manning and Bray, iii. 152. 

 " Ibid. 



4' Information, Mr. Rupert Ander- 

 son of V/averley. 

 «8 Ibid. 



625 



" Charity Com. Rep. xii. 589. 

 s» See the Smith Charities by W. 

 Bray, p. z8 (London, 1800), 



79 



