WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



ORMSKIRK 



LATHOM 



Latune, Dom. Bk. ; Lathum, 1200, and generally 



to XV. cent.; Lathom, 1223, became the usual 

 spelling, sometimes as Lathome, about the end of 

 XV. cent. 



sols, and blankets are distributed once a 

 year, Sarah Mollineux, widow, in 1839 

 left the residue of her personal estate for 

 the provision of clothing for the poor. 

 The interest on the capital sum of ;^948 

 consols amounts to ^26 i;. Zd. a year. 

 This Is administered in conjunction with 

 the preceding charity, clothing and blankets 

 being given. Timothy Virtue, who died 

 in 1839, but of whom nothing further is 

 known, left ;^JOO, now held by the vicar 

 and churchwardens ; the interest, ^^2 lOi., 

 is paid into the churchyard account, and 

 the burial place is repaired as required, 

 this last being the purpose Intended by the 

 donor. Philip Forshaw In 1862 left 

 j^i,ooo to the vicar for distribution In 

 bread, coals, and consumable stores to the 

 poor, not more than j^ioo a year to be 

 spent. Both capital and Interest are drawn 

 upon, and there was in 1899 ;^66o re- 

 maining, the expenditure being about j^^o 

 a year. 



The following had been lost before 

 1828 : The interest on ^z^ bequeathed 

 by John BaylifF in 174.9, paid down to 

 1802; on ^30 given by Peter Aspinall 

 before 1767, paid till 1821 ; on ^^20 left 

 by Eleanor Rigby in 1774, also paid till 

 1821 J OHj^io left by Anne Taylor in 

 1791, to augment the Rigby bequest — no 

 trace ; on j^io bequeathed by Ralph Piatt 

 in 1703, paid till 1821. These, except 

 Aspinairs, were bread charities. In 1822 

 a vestry decided that as the lay-payers had 

 no benefit from the money which their 

 ancestors had taken and spent on the 

 public service the payment of Interest 

 should be discontinued. It appears, how- 

 ever, that some of the money had been 

 used to buy a cottage in 1828 held by the 

 township. 



Tot Bickerstaffe there is only one charity, 

 founded in 1818 by a bequest of Robert 

 Watkinson for bread to be distributed to 

 the poor. In 1828 the Commissioners 

 found that linen cloth was being given, 

 and recommended strict adherence to the 

 founder's wish. The stock amounts to 

 ^58 consols in the hands of the official 

 trustees, and the interest is spent on bread 

 distributed once a quarter at Bickerstaffe 

 church ; different religious denominations 

 share in it. 



The Burscougb charities were numerous. 

 Besides gifts to the school, there were 

 others to the poor. William Sutch, by 

 will In 1638, gave rent-charges of 20i. on 

 Porter's meadow and 501. on a meadow 

 adjoining EUer Brook, payable to the con- 

 stables of the township. In 1828 the 

 former payment, though continued till 

 1802, had ceased, and as Porter's meadow 

 was no longer known, could not be re- 

 covered ; but the latter one was still in 

 force. John Houghton, the founder of 

 the school, gave further sums of ^^20 and 

 j^8o, the interest on the former to pro- 

 vide bread and beef for the poor, and on 

 the latter to pay the apprenticeship pre- 

 miums of poor children ; besides these, 

 the residue of his estate, about ;^2io, was 

 left to the poor. Thomas Sharrock, by 

 his will of 1729, left £^z for a weekly 

 distribution of bread to poor persons of 

 Burscough attending divine service at 

 Ormskirk parish church. Ralph Piatt in 

 1793 bequeathed ^^50, the interest to 

 purchase cloth for the poor. Richard 

 Alty, by will dated 1802, left ^^20 for an 

 annual distribution of good and whole- 



some cow-beef at Christmas time. John 

 Tasker, in addition to his gift to the 

 school, left ^^30 for beef at Christmas. 

 Roger Scarisbrick and Gabriel Walker 

 gave ;^20 for n like charity ; the will of 

 the latter, made before 1692, ordered ^^6 

 to be invested for the poor. Richard Berry 

 the elder in 1799 also gave ^^lo loj. for 

 beef at Christmas ; Alice Parrpoint in 

 1768 gave ^14., and Thomas Baldwin ^5 

 to the poor \ James Berry ^^5 for bread 

 at Christmas, and Richard Berry, who 

 died about 1821, ordered his son to pay 

 6j. for a like charity, the son (Peter Berry) 

 not only doing so, but adding 4;. as his 

 own gift. Richard Robinson, by will 

 made in 1800, gave his share of the pew 

 No. 5 in the south gallery of Ormskirk 

 church to his son, subject to 55. to be dis- 

 tributed annually for ever in bread at 

 Christmas time. 



The capital sum of the charities was in 

 1774 in the hands of William Hill, and 

 on his being compelled to render an ac- 

 count was found to be £^"2-$' Of this 

 j^6oo was invested In a mortgage of 

 property in Ditton ; possession had to be 

 taken, and in 1805 on the accounts being 

 made up It was found that ^827 was due 

 to Burscough. This sum was secured 

 upon the sale of the estate, and gradually 

 increased until in 1812 it became the 

 j^goo lent to the Leeds and Liverpool 

 Canal Company ; another ^^50 was added 

 in 1815. Thus in 1827 the amount In- 

 vested was largely in excess of the total of 

 the original bequests, and the distribution 

 of the interest, though in general accord- 

 ance with the wishes of the benefactors, 

 took but little account of the increase of 

 the capital. The Commissioners there- 

 fore recommended a more proportionate 

 distribution, which was agreed to by the 

 township at once. 



Later, Peter Prescott (1828) gave ^^50, 

 the interest to be distributed like the ex- 

 isting May dole, and Peter Berry by his 

 will of 1830 provided for the continuance 

 of the loj. he had given to the poor, and 

 added 10s. more. In 1874 an application 

 was made to the Charity Commissioners 

 for the appointment of trustees for the 

 whole of the charities, and a scheme was 

 drawn up in 1880 by which one-third of 

 the interest on the stock was to be paid 

 to the school, and the rest in subscriptions 

 to hospitals or friendly societies, in the 

 purchase of clothing, food, fuel, &c. and 

 in payments in money either In small 

 sums as needed or by way of annuity. The 

 gross income in 1899 was ^^36 131. 81/. 

 The ex-officio trustees were the vicar and 

 churchwardens of St. John's, Burscough, 

 and the overseers j and there were three 

 non-official trustees approved by the 

 Charity Commissioners. 



Robert Reynolds of Southport, by his 

 will dated 1878, bequeathed ^1,700, the 

 interest to be applied to various charitable 

 objects. The net sum received Is repre- 

 sented by ^1,505 consols in the hands of 

 the official trustees. The income, ^^41 85. 

 is distributed according to the wishes of 

 the benefactor, the greater portion being 

 given in doles by the Incumbent of St. 

 John's Church to 'sick and needy poor 

 people' in Lathom and Burscough. 



For Lathom^ beside the almonry and 

 Newburgh School, there are several im- 

 portant charities. Heyrick Halsall, by 

 his will of 1724, left the residue of his 



247 



estate for charitable uses at the discretion 

 of the trustees. In 1828 the property con- 

 sisted of the tenement called Heyricks — 

 to which an allotment on Span Moss had 

 been added in 1781 under the Enclosure 

 Act — and a field and two cottages in New- 

 burgh, producing ^^40 51. a year, to which 

 j^7 was added by Lord Skelmersdale as the 

 rents of some leasehold cottages formerly 

 held by the trustees. A distribution of 

 drab cloth, linen, and flannel was made in 

 November yearly, in conjunction with 

 Crane's charity. Richard Andern, Richard 

 Crean, James Cropper, Thomas Baldwin, 

 and John Crean in 1743 bequeathed ^32 

 for bread for the poor, the bread used to 

 be distributed on Easter eve ; but in 1800 

 the principal was added to the Crane be- 

 quest. This originated In a rent-charge 

 of j^4 I Of. bequeathed by George Crane 

 in 1751 for bread for the poor of Orms- 

 kirk and Lathom. The charity appears 

 to have been lost for a time, but in 1792 

 steps were taken to recover it, and in 

 1799 Anne Crane, the representative of 

 the testator — being daughter and coheir of 

 James the only brother and heir-at-law of 

 George Crane ; and also devisee of the 

 eflfects of her sister, Sarah Segar, widow, 

 the other daughter and coheir — in con- 

 sideration of ;^8o granted to trustees the 

 house at Moor Street End on which the 

 charge had been made. In 1S12 the rent 

 of this house amounted to j[^iy loj., part 

 of which was distributed in bread and part 

 in linen and flannel. For the Halsall 

 charity new trustees were appointed in 

 1889. The property and income remain 

 unaltered, and about ^^40 a year is dis- 

 tributed in November in flannel and calico. 

 New trustees also were appointed for the 

 Crane and amalgamated charities in 1877 ; 

 at the same time the real estate was sold 

 and the money invested in the name of 

 the official trustees in ,^834 consols. This 

 is the whole endowment, and yields nearly 

 j^2 3 a year. Part of this is still distributed 

 in bread at Ormskirk church, though no 

 Lathom people go to receive it, and part 

 in flannel and calico In conjunction with 

 Halsall's charity. Sir Thomas Bootle, by 

 will of 1753, directed the owner of Lathom 

 House to give ^^5 a year to the poor. This 

 is understood to be included in a dole of 

 £10 or more distributed annually by Lord 

 Lathom. 



By an award made In 1781 under the 

 Lathom and Skelmersdale Enclosure Act 

 of 18 Geo. Ill, an allotment of 'Poor's 

 land ' was made of about 3 J rds. This is 

 let by the Lathom and Burscough district 

 council for £i 155. The same council 

 also lets the Town's Croft at Moss Bridge 

 for £z 1 51. These sums are applied to 

 the relief of the rates. 



Mrs. Mary Robinson, by will dated 

 1791, left ;^2oo, the interest to be applied 

 in the distribution of linen and woollen 

 cloth to the value of £6 annually on 26 

 June ; the remainder of the interest to be 

 given in beef on St. Thomas's day to the 

 poor of the township of Lathom. It 

 would appear that an arrangement was 

 made by the executors and beneficiaries 

 by which a tenement in Newburgh was 

 charged with ^10 a year, for this sum 

 was paid regularly down to 1873, when the 

 estate, belonging to Henry Robinson & Co. 

 brewers, Wigan, became the subject of a 

 suit In Chancery, and the payments ceased. 

 A sum of j^20 has since been paid as full 



