316 



Notes on the History of Mere. 



schoolmaster at a salary of £25 per annum. Mr. Henry Andrews 

 paid the salary till 1716, and repaired the schoolroom, when he 

 withdrew the salary. The case was laid before James Edgill by 

 Mr. Hill, who was of opinion that he had no right to withdraw the 

 salary, but Mr. Andrews availed himself of the plea of mortmain. 

 The commissioners in their report say : — 



" After a minute inquiry into all the circumstances relating to the school, we 

 could discover no facts nor any trace of any deed or paper likely to lead in any 

 way to the recovery of the charity. 



" Several persons now living (1836) remember to have seen the ruins of the 

 school or school-house ; but the site together with the garden adjoining have 

 been disposed of repeatedly to bond-fide purchasers for their full value." 



At present (1897) no one knows where the school was situated. 



Dycke's Charity. 



1621. This consisted of £42, left by Alice Dycke, of which £37 

 was to be used for clothing the poor of the parish. The money 

 appears to have been distributed by the Kev. Thomas Chafyn, D.D., 

 vicar, the churchwardens, and others. It appears to have been paid 

 to Randoll Baron, who died without having paid it over to the 

 parish. In 1633 his widow paid £32 in full discharge of the legacy 

 of £42 by Alice Dycke. Subsequently it seems that the remaining 

 £10 was paid to the parish officers, but what became of the money 

 there is nothing to show. 



Baron's Charity. 



In 1662 a commission was held at Mere, enquiring into such 

 monies as had been detained by Mrs. Baron, of London, and Mrs. 

 Baron, of Mere. The jury having been sworn and charged, upon 

 sufficient evidence given them, found upon their oaths that Mrs. 

 Baron, of London 



" Oweth, and is to pay to the Company of Cloth Workers, London, as Executrix 

 to her husband Christopher Baron, the sum of £100, out of which the said Cloth 

 Workers are to pay for the use of the poor of Mere aforesaid at St. Andrew's 

 Day yearly to the world's end, the sum of £5." 



The money appears to have been paid to the Cloth Workers' 



