A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



From this time onward the vicars, except Edward 

 GooJall, do not call for special mention. It is notice- 

 able that at the visitation in May, 1691, no clergy 

 appeared from this parish * ; the chapels of Rainford, 

 Great Sankey, and St. Helens were then in the hands 

 of Presbyterians. The schoolmaster, Henry Wareing, 

 licensed a year before, was the only representative.* 



A grammar school was founded here before 1 600. 

 The charities, usually for particular 

 CHJRITIES districts or township, are very 



The old almshouses were 



numerous * 



founded by Oliver Lyme in 1707, for poor persons in 

 Prescot and Whiston.^ For Prescol itself were the 

 benefactions of the Rev. Samuel Sewell, John Lyon, Sir 

 Thomas Birch, and others.* A number of charities 

 are united under the control of the chief officere of 

 the township, but the intentions of the several bene- 

 factors are, as far as possible, respected in the distribu- 

 tion. In 1 861 Eleanora Atherton bequeathed ^4,500 

 for the erection of almshouses.* 



For Eccleston Richard Holland, Priscilla Pyke, and 

 others left various sums." Rainhill received 20/. from 



or ill-afFectcd .' It appeared that he had 

 some duties at King's Coll., and he pro- 

 fessed his apprehension that it was not 

 safe for him to live at Prescot, * in re- 

 gard of the wars and of the king's forces 

 then frequent in those parts.' In 1650, 

 the new vicar not having come down, 

 the schoolmaster of Farnworth supplied 

 hif place, receiving \^s. for every Lord's 

 day he officiated; Commoniuealtb Cb. Surv, 



* Thomas Wells was curate in 1689 

 and * conformable* ; Kenyon MSS. 230. 



3 Visit. list at Chester. 



• The particulars given in the follow- 

 ing notes arc taken from the report on 

 the Endowed Charities of Prescot, exclu- 

 sive of the borough of St. Helens, made 

 in 1902, supplemented by that of the 

 commissioners of 1829, The report for 

 St. Helens was issued in 1905. Some 

 earlier particulars will be found in Bishop 

 Gastrcli's Notitia Cest, (Chet. Soc), li, 

 205-15. 



■* Jonathan Case, lord of the manor of 

 Whiston, conveyed part of the waste to 

 Oliver Lyme in 1 708, and almshouses 

 were erected, a sum of ^^500 being the 

 endowment. After the founder's death 

 his sister, Ellen Glover, claimed the money 

 but continued the foundation, trustees be- 

 ing appointed. In 1753 William Part 

 left j^5o to the almshouses. In 1828 

 there were twenty-seven of these houses, 

 of which eight were rented by the town- 

 ships of Whiston and Prescot : the alms- 

 people were appointed by the trustees, 

 each having 2j. (>d. a week and an allow- 

 ance of coal. The income wa8;^i72 151. 

 chiefly derived from farms in Eccleston. 

 A further endowment of j^i,ooo was re- 

 ceived in 1877 from Elizabeth Atherton. 

 Leases for working the coal under the 

 lands belonging to the charity have been 

 made since 1892, and the gross income 

 is ;^305. The almshouses, now some- 

 what dilapidated, forma row on the Prescot 

 and Rainhill road, the oldest portion 

 dating from 1708. They are occupied by 

 twenty-eight persons, nearly all women, 

 who receive weekly allowances varying 

 from 35. 6d. to 4J. 6d. 



^ The Rev. Samuel Sewell, vicar of 

 Prescot, gave in 181 5 ^200 to the 

 grammar school, ;^8oo to the Sunday 

 school, jf 700 for almshouses, and ^^400 

 towards establishing a fever ward. The 

 fever ward not being practicable it was 

 purposed to apply the money to the alms- 

 houses. The endowment for these was 

 void in law, but Sir John Sewell, a resi- 

 duary' legatee, undertook to give £700. 

 This was carried out, and in all six alms- 

 houses were built in 1830 and 1850. The 

 occupants are women, and each receives 

 1$. 6d. a week. 



John Lyon, who built a school at 

 St. Helens, gave in 1670 a house called 

 Linaker's at Upton in Widnes to William 

 Glover, charging it with annual payments 

 to preaching ministers at St. Helens, 



Rainford, Farnworth, and Childwall, the 

 schoolmasters at St. Helens and Rain- 

 ford, and the poor of Windle, Rainford, 

 Upton, Farnworth, Halewood, and Prescot, 

 amounting in all to £12.. The payments 

 continue to be made. 



Ellen Siddall in 1729 gave her estate 

 in Whiston, called Cumberiey's or Cum- 

 berlane tenement, for the poor and the 

 charity children of Prescot. The estate 

 was sold in 1900, and the proceeds in- 

 vested. Joshua Marrow in 1708 left his 

 residuary estate, amounting to j^400, to- 

 wards binding poor children apprentices. 

 This and other charitable funds appear to 

 have been spent In rebuilding the town 

 hall, the interest being paid out of rents 

 and rates. In 1783 the known benefac- 

 tions amounted to about ^^950, as fol- 

 lows : — Joshua Marrow, ^^400 ; Thomas 

 Glover, £^0 ; Mary Cross (a third of 

 £$6), £16 13J. ^d. -y Margaret Norrls, 

 j^20 ; Lawrence Webster, ;^lo ; Eliza- 

 beth Booth, ;^io ; Ellen Siddall, arrears, 

 j^20 ; Anne Glover, ;^ioo ; James Wal- 

 ton, j^50 ; Edward Blundell, ^50 5 

 Catherine Waring, ^^50 ; James Cross, 

 ^60 ; Nicholas Fazakerley, ^^50 ; Dr. 

 Roper, /"40 ; Robert Barrow ^17 zs. ^d. ; 

 a company of comedians, ^^12 91. This 

 last entry is interesting. Some of these 

 sums were for the benefit of the poor 

 attending the services at the parish church. 

 Dr. Roper's ^^40 was derived from the 

 sale of wood from the racecourse, 1772 ; 

 •the interest of this sum has always been 

 considered as applicable towards finding 

 a dinner for the jury on the feast of 

 Corpus Christ!,' the court-leet day. The 

 rents from the town hall, &c., amounted 

 in 1828 to ^79. Since 1829 the capital 

 has been increased by ^^1,000 under 

 Elizabeth Atherton's will in 1877, and 

 ^^289, the capital of Slddall's charity, 

 has been incorporated with the other 

 charities. The gross income is over ^130 

 a year. 



William Marsh in 1723 charged 20s. 

 upon his house, called Kenrick's, for the 

 benefit of the poor of Prescot and Knows- 

 ley J this appears to have been lost about 

 1 800. After a time payment was re- 

 sumed, at first only for the Knowsley half, 

 but since 1892 for the Prescot half. The 

 money ts added to the Public Charities 

 as above. Anne Wainwright in 1818 

 left ;^ioo for the benefit of poor per- 

 sons attending the parish church. This 

 also forms part of the Public Charities 

 fund. 



Mary Gwyn, 1821, left ^^90 for the 

 poor. This is now represented by a 

 Mersey Dock bond of ;^ioo, but the 

 income has not been expended for many 

 years. Anne France left ^5 for bread, 

 to be distributed on Good Friday ; it has 

 been incorporated with the General 

 Charities, and tiie Good Friday distribu- 

 tion has ceased. 



Elizabeth Chorley, by her will dated 

 1820, left money to various charities, in- 



346 



eluding ;f 200 to the poor in the Preicot 

 almshouses. She was sister of John 

 Chorley, and had sisters, Jane, Mary, and 

 Frances. Jane Chorley, by her will of 

 1824, left ]^4,ooo for charitable purposes, 

 including a school for poor girls at Prescot; 

 to this was to be added jf 1,400 received 

 under the will of her sister Elizabeth. 

 Frances Chorley, in 1 849, also bequeathed 

 j^200 for coals and clothing for the poor. 

 Part of these bequests was lost owing to 

 the bankruptcy of the clerk, but the capi- 

 tal stocks at present are jf554 for the 

 Clothing Charity; ,^1,216 for the 

 Ladies' Charity — this including many ad- 

 ditional gifts ; and ^4,660 for the sdiool, 

 William Ackers, sailcloth manufacturer, 

 in 1 85 1 bequeathed ^300 for an annual 

 distribution of clothing. The adminis- 

 tration is left to the vicar. Ellen Byron 

 in 1872 left j^ioo foraged single women ; 

 the interest is distributed in clothing. 

 Sir Thomas Bernard Birch in 1880 left 

 j^50o for the poor. The interest is dis- 

 tributed at Christmas-time in doles of 

 coal. 



° They were a memorial to her sister 

 Lucy, wife of Richard Willis, of Hal- 

 snead. The inmates are to be members 

 of the Established Church. The alms- 

 houses, a handsome and substantial block 

 of building near the old almshouses, wtrc 

 ready in 1862. Each married couple 

 receives 8j. 6ti, a week and each single 

 person 55. 6d. ; and there are other 

 allowances. 



' Henry Bispham, of Upholland, in 

 1720 and 1728, made benefactions for 

 apprenticing poor boys, and for providing 

 clothing for the poor in various townships, 

 including Rainford, Windle, and Eccles- 

 ton ; a fuller account is given under 

 Wigan. Richard Holland, by his will of 

 171 3, left money for clothing the poor ; 

 and j^i3 loj. a year was the income in 

 1828. There is now a capital of ^^450 

 consols, and the income is spent in blan- 

 kets for the poor. 



Priscilla Pyke, in 1739, bequeathed 

 j^too for a like purpose ; this and other 

 sums were lost by the failure of a bank in 

 Liverpool, but Peter Moss, of Eccleston, 

 one of the trustees, replaced this ,^100, 

 entrusting it to Thomas West, who died 

 in 1828, and ^4 loj. as interest was paid 

 by his son, James Underhill West. The 

 capital is invested in consols. The charity 

 has always been considered as for the 

 benefit of Roman Catholics only, the re- 

 cipients being now selected by the priest 

 in charge of the Sacred Heart Church, 

 St. Helens. 



John Alcock, in 1653, left £$0 towards 

 apprenticing poor boys ; Lawrence Web- 

 ster jf 10 to the poor of Eccleston, Rain- 

 hill, and Whiston ; Mary Cross £$0 to 

 the poor of Prescot, Eccleston, and Rain- 

 hill i and Eleanor Eccleston / 1 00 to the 

 poor. These charities, with the exception 

 of the Prescot third of Mary Cross's gift, 

 had been lost before 1828. 



