WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



a gift by William Glover.' Whiston had a special 

 benefaction from James and Samuel Ashton, and 

 shares in others.' 



To Rainford Thomas Lyon left his estate, and there 

 were other donations.' Windle benefited by the gifts 

 of Thomas Taylor, Richard Holland, and others ;* 

 and more substantially by land granted by Sarah 

 Cowley in 17 14, resulting in the establishment of 



PRESCOT 



the Cowley Schools." Parr received some small bene- 

 factions." Sutton shared certain charities with Bold 

 and Windle.' 



In Farnworth division numerous small sums have 

 been left for charitable purposes in Widnes at different 

 times, more particularly by the Rev. Richard Garnet.* 

 Bold has a poor's stock and other moneys." Cronton 

 received gifts from T. Windle, Margaret Wright, and 



1 William Glover left 20J. a year to 

 each of the townships of Rainhill, Cron- 

 ton, and Whiston, charged on a meadow 

 in the last-named. The money was paid 

 until 1871, since which time payment has 

 been refused. The meadow belongs to 

 Mr. Willis of Halsnead. 



' In 1689 James Ashton, as carrying 

 out the wishes of his brother Samuel, 

 gave four cottages at the Hillock in Whis- 

 ton, the rents to be applied to the relief of 

 aged and impotent persons, at the discre- 

 tion of the constables of the township. In 

 1828 of three cottages said to belong to- 

 the charity, one had been sold to the then 

 'new railway' from Liverpool to Man- 

 chester. There are now four cottages at 

 the Hillock which belong to the charity. 

 The net income, about ^^19, is distributed 

 by the overseers at Christmas in money 

 gifts. 



By Richard Hawarden's will, 1600, the 

 trustees of Prescot school were to pay 

 6s. id. a year to the poor of Whiston. Oa 

 the sale of the premises from which the 

 rent-charge was due, the purchaser (Cap- 

 tain Willis) redeemed it by a transfer of 

 £11 6s. id. stock to the official trustees. 

 The j^io left by Lawrence Webster had 

 been lost between 1798 and 1828. Henry 

 Case of Whiston, butcher, left a rent- 

 charge of 201. a year for the benefit of the 

 poor ; but nothing further is known of it 

 or the land on which it was charged. 



^ Thomas Lyon, of Rainford, in 1667 

 left his estate there, called Quakers, in 

 thirds for the chapel, school, and poor 

 housekeepers. In 1768 there was a poor's 

 stock of ^120, which was practically in- 

 tact in 1828, The estate was sold in 1861 

 under an order of the Charity Commis- 

 sioners, and the proceeds invested in 

 ,^1,615 consols. 'The income of ^^49 is 

 distributed in accordance with a scheme 

 prepared in 1877 — one-third to the vicar 

 of Rainford ; one-third to exhibitions for 

 boys attending grammar schools, for which 

 exhibitions there is no demand ; and one- 

 third to the poor, in the form of blankets, 

 flannel, &c. 



Bishop Gastrell (ii, 2 14) states that the 

 old poor's stock was ^42 ioj., to which 

 Mrs. A. Singleton had added ^60. This 

 was perhaps the nucleus of a sum of ,^175 

 supposed to be part of the Thomas Lyon 

 fund, and so administered. David Gray- 

 son, in 1735, gave the interest of ,f 20 to 

 poor pipemakers' widows and orphans. 

 This, in 1828, was represented by a charge 

 of £1 a year on a house in Tithebarn 

 Street, Liverpool, known as the ' Hole-in- 

 the-Wall.' This payment was continued 

 by James Birch as a private charity down 

 to 1847, when it ceased. No one had 

 ever been able to identify the ' Hole-in- 

 the-Wall.' George Mather's charity had 

 been lost, and jQz a year left by John 

 Haydock was void in law. 



James Barnett, by his will of 1832, left 

 a sum represented by ;^229 consols, the 

 interest of which is distributed in the same 

 way as the clothing part of Thomas Lyon's 

 charity. David Rosbotham, in 1857, left 

 ^200 for the poor, the interest of which 



is now paid to the overseers, who distri- 

 bute it in doles of flannel, &c. 



■■ Thomas Taylor, in 1684, gave pro- 

 perty in Great Crosby to trustees for the 

 benefit of the poor of Windle and Great 

 Crosby. The land produced ,^50 a year 

 in 1828. Richard Holland, in 1707, 

 charged his land in Windle (Windle Ashes 

 Farm, now owned by Mr. Richard Pilking- 

 ton) with j^5 a year for the poor. Oliver 

 Denton charged land in Billinge with los. 

 a year. William Heyes was supposed to 

 be the benefactor on whose account 

 j^2 1 31. ^d. a year was received for 

 the poor from the ' King's Head ' in 

 St. Helens. Mary Egerton, in 1693, gave 

 zos. a year to the poor ; this had since 

 been paid by the owner of Hardshaw 

 Hall. Samuel Clark left ,fioo for poor 

 housekeepers j it was lent to the town- 

 ship and in 1828 ,^4 151. was paid as in- 

 terest. Peter Greenall, of St. Helens, in 

 1828 paid I OS. annually, charged on the 

 Lower House in Hardshaw ; the origin of 

 this was unknown. With the exception 

 of the two last-mentioned, which have 

 been lost, the charities still exist ; the 

 combined income is distributed in money 

 doles. 



Three charities have been established 

 since 1 829 : Mary Bolton, widow, in 

 1848 left ,^250 for the relief of the poor, 

 aged, and infirm women. Catherine Gar- 

 ton, widow, in 1876 bequeathed ^^300 for 

 poor widows. Edward Carr, formerly 

 vicar of St. Helens, left ;^ioo for the 

 benefit of widows who had been com- 

 municants. The interest of these sums 

 is distributed annually in money doles. 



* Sarah Cowley left ^^5 a year to Mrs. 

 Anne Naylor, and 20j. to the Dissenting 

 Minister at the New Chapel at St. Helens 

 for preaching on New Year's Day and 

 Midsummer Day. Further, she left her 

 house and land to Joseph Gillibrand, at 

 that time the ' Dissenting Minister,' in 

 trust for the education of poor persons' 

 children, and 'to find them with books, 

 as the Love Book, the Primer, the Psalter, 

 Testament, and Bible' ; the surplus to be 

 laid out in linen and clothes for them. A 

 trust was formed in 1724. The great in- 

 crease in income due to the opening of 

 coal mines and the growth of St. Helens 

 has been devoted to the present Cowley 

 Schools, which have a gross income of 

 ^800. 



^ Mary Egerton of Hardshaw, in 1693, 

 left ^1 a year to poor housekeepers in 

 Parr. This was in 1828 distributed, to- 

 gether with the interest of a stock of ^^50, 

 by Charles Orrell, in gifts of cloth and 

 blanket. John Martin had contributed 

 gQzo of this stock, but the origin of the 

 remainder was unknown. Nothing is 

 now known of these gifts. 



Joseph Greenough of Sutton, in 1877, 

 left ,^50 a year. This is provided by 

 railway stock in the hands of the Offi- 

 cial Trustees. The income is distri- 

 buted once a year in gifts of clothing and 

 money. 



7 The poor of Sutton share in the 

 Greenoe {£zz) and Heyes charities ; 



347 



widows also share in Catherine Garton's 

 gift. Miss Eliza Brooks, in 1877, be- 

 queathed ;^ioo for the poor ; the interest 

 is added by the vicar to the sick and poor 

 fund. A gift of ^^lo by Bryan Leay 

 could not be traced in 1 829. 



* The Rev. Richard Garnet, who died 

 in 1764, left ,f 200 for woollen cloth and 

 useful books to poor Protestant families 

 in Widnes. In 1868 the turnpike in 

 which the fund had been invested ceased 

 to pay interest, and part was lost, the 

 present capital being ,^85 consols. The 

 interest is distributed by the vicar of 

 Farnworth. 



At Barrow Green in Widnes was 

 Knight's house, the rents of which had 

 for fifty years before 1828 been applied to 

 charitable gifts. The origin of this bene- 

 faction was unknown in 1828, when one 

 Thomas Kidd was acting as trustee. In 

 1762 John Hargreaves paid to the copy- 

 holders of Widnes ^^lo left by Thomas 

 Smith of Cuerdley, the mterest to be paid 

 off Knight's house. The present gross 

 income is ^21 151., which is distributed 

 once a year in money doles ; ' it is stated 

 that at one time the distribution was in 

 ale.' 



Bread charities were established by 

 James Heyes in 1724, and by Thomas 

 Windle, by charging estates in Halewood 

 and Cronton respectively with sums of 

 ,^5 4J. and £z 12s. The former charge 

 is now paid by Lord Derby, and the latter 

 by the tenant of a farm at Townend in 

 Cronton. The sums are distributed in 

 bread every Sunday. William Fenn, by 

 his will, dated 182;, left his pew in Farn- 

 worth church, let at £z zs. a year, in trust 

 for the poor ; he also left ^50 to the Pro- 

 testant Sunday schools. No rents are now 

 payable for the pews in the church. The 

 poor of Upton and Farnworth benefited by 

 the charity of John Lyon, and those of 

 Farnworth district by that of Ellen Greenoe, 

 but IOJ. from William Glover's estate has 

 not been paid since 1815. 



' Ellen Greenoe, by her will of August, 

 1759, left all her lands in Sutton called 

 Greenoe's to the minister and wardens of 

 Farnworth chapel. In 1828 the land 

 produced a rent oi £iz izs. and of this 

 IOJ. was paid to the minister of Farn- 

 worth, IOJ. to the minister of Tarleton, 

 ^i to the poor of Farnworth, and the rest 

 was divided equally between the poor of 

 Bold and Sutton. The testatrix specially 

 desired loj. to be expended on books for 

 the children, but this appears to have been 

 a temporary use. The rent of the farm 

 in 1898 was j^3 5. The money is laid out 

 in accordance with the testator's wishes, 

 money doles being given. The loj. for 

 books is given to the managers of Bold 

 School. 



For Bold itself there was a poor's stock 

 of ^i 14, bearing interest at 4 per cent, 

 arising chiefly from gi.'ts of ,f 50 by Peter 

 Bold, and ^^40 by Thomas Haigh, a 

 former steward of the Bold estates. 'The 

 capital is still intact, and the interest, 

 j^5 2J. 6^., is distributed once a year in 

 money doles. 



