Part 69

THE ENGLISH SCHOOL is a neat brick building, erected in 1843, and situated on the Wellington road. This school appears to have had its origin in a certain grammar school, which, by the certificate of the commissioners under the statute of the 1st of Edward VI., now remaining in the augmentation office, was certified to have been always kept by Richard Robins, one of the Fellows of the college of Newport, to whom was paid out of the revenues of that college the annual stipend of £5. In the twenty-third year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, her Majesty granted to Edmund Downing and Peter Ashton, “all that site of the late college of Newport, in the county of Salop, late the possession of the said college, with all rights, members, and appurtenances, rendering to her said Majesty £15 yearly, to be paid for a salary or stipendary curate of Newport, and school-master there—that is to say, to the curate £10, and to the schoolmaster £5.” William Robson, in 1633, deposited £5,000 in the hands of the Salters’ Company for charitable uses, among which he directed £5 per annum to be paid to the master of the free school at Newport, and £10 per annum to a lecturer, and a like sum annually for the benefit of the poor. William Adams gave to the bailiffs and burgesses of Newport, and their successors for ever, all those two closes, situate at Norbroom, upon trust, to apply the rents for the support of the English school. William Barnfield, in 1665, gave “six days’ work of ground in Norbroom, four tenements let for 16s. a year each, and a shop let for 30s. per annum, towards the support of the free school.” The total income, when, the charity commissioners published their report, amounted to £49. 1s., of which £24 arises from Adams’s gift, £15. 11s. from Barnfield’s, £5 from Robson’s benefaction, and £4. 10s. from the receiver-general. The school has long been confined to the instruction of children in reading English, and we find it described by the name of the English school as early as 1660. How long before that period it had ceased to teach grammar we have not been able to discover; but it may reasonably be conjectured to have been about the time when that branch of education became otherwise so largely provided for by the establishment of the Free Grammar School of William Adams. The school is free to the children of the humbler classes of society for instruction in English: fifty-four scholars now attend.

THE INFANT SCHOOL, situate on the Wellington road, was built in 1841 at a cost of £250; the room is spacious and lofty, and has an average attendance of 95 scholars. The Sunday school in connection with the Independent Chapel is also situated on the Wellington road, and has an attendance of 150 children.

THE GIRLS’ NATIONAL SCHOOL is a neat brick structure, situated in the Workhouse lane; it was built in 1842, and has an average attendance of seventy children.

THE TOWN’S ALMSHOUSES. In 1446 the burgesses or commonalty of Newport granted to William Glover a plot of land between the church-yard and the king’s highway, towards the north, between two stiles in the said church-yard, that the said William Glover should build on the land a hospital for the use of the poor. The almshouses are appropriated to the use of four poor old women of the town of Newport, who are appointed from time to time by the trustees, and retain their respective places for life. The rents of lands and dividends of funded property, left by various benefactors, produced a yearly income of £69. 14s. when the charity commissioners published their report. Each inmate has a weekly payment of 4s. 6d. from Lady-day to Michaelmas, and 5s. from Michaelmas to Lady-day. They also receive 10s. each for coals, and a gratuity of 5s. each at Christmas. The present almshouse was built in 1836, and is situate in Workhouse lane.

THE SAVINGS’ BANK, held at Mr. Silvester’s, High street, was enlarged in 1818, on November 20th; the capital stock of the bank amounted to £36,221. 12s. 10d., at which period there were 1,450 separate accounts, of which twelve were charitable and seven friendly societies. Of the total number of depositors 963 had respective balances under £20; 268 were above £20 and less than £50; 135 did not exceed £100; 51 did not exceed £150; 31 were above the latter sum and less than £200; and two exceeded £200. Mr. Charles Silvester is the secretary.

THE COUNTY COURT OFFICE, for the recovery of debts, and in all pleas of personal action where the damage does not exceed £50, is situated in High street. The several parishes and places within the jurisdiction of the court in Shropshire are Adney, Brockton, Caynton, Cherrington, Cheswell, Chetwynd. Chetwynd Aston, Chetwynd End, Church Aston, Donington, Donington Wood, Edgmond, Howle, Lilleshall, Longford, Littlehales, Lynn, Muxton, Newport, Pave Lane, Pickstock, Pilston, Sambrook, Stockton, Tibberton, Vauxhall, Woodcote. The places in Staffordshire are Adbaston, Alston, Apeton, Aqualate, Batchacre, Beffcote, Bishops Offley, Bromstead, Coton, Cowley, Flashbrook, Forton, Gnosall, Great Chatwell, High Offley, Knighton, Knightley, Loynton, Meertown, Moreton, Norbury, Oulton, Outwoods, Plardiwick, Shebdon, Sutton, Tunstall, Weston Jones, Wilbrighton, and Woodseaves. _Judge_: Uvedale Corbett, Esq., Aston Hall. _Clerk_: William Liddle, Esq., Newport. _High Bailiff_: George Hill Townsend, Wolverhampton. _Appraiser and Auctioneer_: Joseph Doody, High street, Newport. _Bailiff_: Thomas Roberts, Upper Bar, Newport.

THE NEWPORT UNION HOUSE, situated in Workhouse lane, a plain brick structure, will accommodate about sixty inmates; the aged, infirm, and the older children are sent to the union house of Gnosall, in Staffordshire, which is connected with the Newport union, and this house is for the reception of the able-bodied poor and very young children. The several places comprised in the union in the county are Newport, Chetwynd, Chetwynd Aston, Church Aston, Cherrington, and Edgmond. The townships and places in Staffordshire are Adbaston, Forton, Gnosall, High Offley, Norbury, and Weston Jones. _Chairman to the Guardians_: John Cotes, Esq. _Clerk_: Henry Heane, Esq. _Chaplain_: Rev. William Sandford. _Surgeons_: Mr. William Lindop, Mr. Godley, and Mr. John Green. _Relieving Officer_: Mr. Benjamin Rees. _Master_: Samuel Winnell. _Matron_: Emma Wellings.

THE MARKET HALL is an ancient structure, standing upon pillars, and situate nearly in the centre of High street. The area between the pillars is appropriated to a corn market; and here the farmers assemble on a market day for the sale of corn and other grain, which is sold by sample. The market is held on Saturday, when the town has a busy and animated appearance. Above the corn market is a spacious room, which is used for magisterial purposes. Here the petty sessions are held every alternate Tuesday, and the official business of the county court is also transacted here. An adjoining room is used as a Sunday school. The Market Hall was chiefly erected at the expense of William Adams, the munificent founder of the Grammar School, who “gave £550 towards building a town house.” Near to the Market Hall is a butter market, a covered area, which is of more modern construction. Under this covering is the market cross, a structure of considerable antiquity, consisting of four steps, and a fluted pillar broken at the top, the whole much dilapidated by time.

FAIRS.—The chartered fairs at Newport have merged into the fortnightly cattle market, held every alternate Tuesday, except the fair held on May 28th, which is still continued. These markets are well attended by the farmers in the surrounding district, and considerable quantities of fat and other stock are sold. Whether the growing importance of the Shrewsbury cattle market, which is held on the same day, will not tend to diminish the number of buyers at Newport remains to be seen.

THE GAS WORKS, situate in Marsh lane, were established in 1835 by a company of shareholders with a capital stock of £1,800, since which £400 has been added to the capital. There are two gasometers, each of which will hold about 8,000 cubic feet of gas. A charge of 7s. 6d. per 1000 cubic foot is now made to the consumer. The expense of lighting the streets is paid from the income arising from the town lands, and the cost of pitching the streets is also paid from the same source.

THE LOCK-UP, situate on the Stafford road, has been built within the last few years. It is a small structure with two cells, and residence for the constable.

THE RAILWAY STATION is situated about half a mile S.E. from the church, within the bounds of the township of Field Aston. There are six trains each way daily; an omnibus meets the different trains, and calls at the principal inns in the town. Newport is distant 17½ miles from Shrewsbury and 11½ miles from Stafford by railway.

Newport sustained great damage by a fire which broke out on the 16th May, 1655; it consumed 162 houses, the loss of which with what they contained was estimated at £30,000. It is stated that a festival was formerly kept on the 30th August, in memory of Mr. Adams, the founder of the Grammar School and almshouses. Tradition says that Charles II., being informed what large sums Mr. Adams had expended in charitable uses, expressed a desire to see him when he was on a visit to the city; and Mr. Adams being introduced to his Majesty, the King asked him whether he had not straitened his fortune by his great benefactions. Mr. Adams replied that he had not, and if his Majesty pleased he would present him with £1,000, provided he would procure an act of parliament to exempt his land from taxes, to which the king consented. How far the above may be true we are unable to affirm; it is certain, however, that the estate at Knighton, with which the Grammar School is endowed, is exempt from parliamentary and parochial taxation.

THE MARSH TRUST.—By an Act of Parliament passed in the 4th of George III., intituled “An act for dividing and inclosing a waste ground called the Marsh, in the township of Newport, in the county of Salop, and for applying the produce thereof to the several purposes therein mentioned;” after reciting that there was within the said township a common waste ground called the Marsh, containing 117 acres, or thereabouts, wherein each householder in the said town had from time immemorial a right of turning a milch cow, which privilege had proved of very little advantage to the town, but rather an inconvenience, by increasing the poor thereof; and that it was apprehended that the enclosing and improving the said Marsh, and applying the profits thereof from time to time, after making satisfaction to the lords of the manor for their respective rights therein, in paving and keeping in repair the streets of the town of Newport, and in keeping in repair the Market Hall and Cross there; and also in establishing and encouraging some manufacture, and in apprenticing the children of the poor parishioners of Newport, would be of great advantage to the town in general, and might be a means of extending a manufactory throughout the neighbourhood; it was enacted, that certain persons therein named, and their heirs and successors respectively should be trustees, for enclosing, improving, and dividing the said Marsh, and for putting the said act into execution: and it was further enacted, that from and immediately after passing that act, all right of common or pasturage in or upon the said Marsh should cease and be extinguished; and the trustees were authorized to set out to the Earl of Shrewsbury such portion of the Marsh as two indifferent persons should appoint, as a recompense and satisfaction for the said earl’s four beast-gates upon the Marsh: and it was further enacted, that the residue of the said Marsh, after the allotment so made, should be vested in the said trustees and their successors, and be freed from all right, title, and interest whatsoever, of the householders of the township.

A survey being made in pursuance of the directions of the act, the Marsh was found to contain 111A. 3R. 31P., of which four acres being allotted to the Earl of Shrewsbury for beast-gates, there remained 107A. 3R. 31P. to be employed for the beneficial objects of the trust. This remainder, the trustees then proceeded to inclose and subdivide; and as an effective mode of providing for the fencing-in and improvement of the different parcels, they granted leases for 99 years, determinable on three lives, binding the lessees by covenants to plant and set the fences, within a limited time, with good hawthorn sets; to make ditches of certain dimensions; and otherwise to improve and properly manage the respective parcels demised to them. The leases originally granted produced a yearly income of £91. 7s.; but a considerable income may reasonably be looked for on the falling of leases, determinable on three lives, the lands being valued at upwards of £3 per acre, which would produce an annual rental of about £350. The income is subject to a charge for land-tax of £6. 2s.; chief rent, £1; and £5. 5s. to the collector of rents. In the application of their annual rents, the trustees were in the first instance called upon to defray the expenses attending the Act of Parliament and the preliminary arrangements in execution of their trust, which amounted to £663. 0s. 8d. These expenses being discharged, the income was next applied, for several years, to the purpose of repairing the streets and public buildings specified in the act; and having appropriated to those uses, from time to time, the sum of £808. 3s. 5½d., the trustees had in hand, on the balancing of their accounts in April, 1785, the sum of £93. 8s. 7½d. In the year 1787 the benefits of the trust were extended to the establishment of a Sunday school, and in 1790 to that of a stocking manufactory. This undertaking being found not to prosper, was superseded in 1796 by the erection of a wind-mill for grinding corn. This measure appears to have been loudly called for by the inhabitants of Newport, as a means of protecting themselves against what were deemed the extortionate demands of the millers of the neighbourhood. The speculation, however, proved exceedingly ruinous, and was finally abandoned in the year 1801; since which time the rents of the premises have been applied, as before, to the repairs of the streets and public buildings, as far as there has remained a surplus, after keeping down the annual interest of the debts which these abortive schemes have entailed upon the trust. It appears that £460 was expended in the attempt to establish the manufacture of stockings, and the corn-mill cost £2,000. The latter, however, was subsequently sold for £900. Previously to the year 1799 debts had been contracted to carry on these schemes, amounting to £2,300. This sum had been reduced to £1,100, when the Charity Commissioners published their report, which had been secured by mortgage of the Marsh, at five per cent. interest; so that there remained an annual charge of £55 in respect of the debts which remained unpaid. In addition to the debts contracted for the purposes above mentioned, £192. 4s. 3d. was borrowed from the treasurer in 1811, for the benefit of the public repairs, for which it was agreed to allow him five per cent. interest until he should reimburse himself from the rents.

THE BRIDGE TRUST.—By an indenture, dated 5th May, 1749, purporting to be made between the Earl of Shrewsbury and Earl Gower, lords of the manor of Newport, and Robert Pigot, Esq., steward of the borough of Newport, and the burgesses of the said borough, of the first part, and Robert Barber, Esq., and others, of the second part, it was witnessed that the said earls, steward, and burgesses, granted to the said Robert Barber, and others, all those parcels of lands lying waste, but formerly covered with water, called the Strine, or Newport Pool, and the Flags, with the appurtenances, in trust, that, with the rent, issues, and profits thereof, the Pool Dam, at the lower end of the town, should be repaired and kept in good order; and if any surplus should remain, the same should be appropriated to keeping in good order the pavement of the streets, or in the reparation of the Market House or Town Hall. A subsequent indenture was made, dated 17th October, 1750, granting the waste lands called the Flags, and also a small parcel of land lying near the entrance to the same, rendering the annual rent of 5s. The premises conveyed in these indentures were found by a survey, made in 1804, to contain 2A. 2R. 21P. of land, which produced an annual rental of £18. The rent, after deducting the 5s. reserved to the burgesses, and certain incidental expenses, appears to have hitherto been confined to the repair of the Bridge and Bridge-street; which not having exhausted the whole, the surplus has been deposited, from time to time, in the Newport Bank.

CHARITIES.—_The Rev. Thomas Perkes_, by will, dated 26th March, 1734, gave (after the death of his wife, Hannah) to the minister and churchwardens of the parish of Newport, and their successors, the sum of £200, to be laid out in lands, and the profits thereof (except the sum of 20s. to be paid to the minister, as a recompense for disposing of the charity) to be expended in purchasing Holy Bibles, Books of Common Prayer, and books intitled The Whole Duty of Man, to be yearly distributed among the poorer sort of inhabitants of Newport; and when such poor people should, in the judgment of the minister, be sufficiently supplied with such books, then the yearly rent should be laid out in clothing old people residing in and being parishioners of the town of Newport. A preference to be given to those that should be of the most religious and orderly life.

_Hannah Perkes_, wife of the above Mr. Perkes, who appears to have died in 1766, bequeathed £600, to be put upon land or other good security, to the intent that the interest should be duly applied towards the setting out three poor boys, of the parish of Newport, apprentices in some place of manufacture, to be elected annually by the minister, church-wardens, head-schoolmaster, together with five men nominated by the parish yearly,—especial regard being had that the boys so chosen should be able to read the English tongue well. She likewise left £100, to be laid out in land, or some other good security, the interest to be distributed amongst the poorest inhabitants of the parish, upon St. Thomas’s day. These several legacies, amounting together to the sum of £900, were laid out in the purchase of £996. 1s. 9d. three per cent. reduced annuities, producing annual dividends amounting to £29. 17s.; two-ninths of which are annually paid to the minister on account of Mr. Perkes’s charity, and on account of Mrs. Perkes’s charity six-ninths are annually applied on apprentice fees, and one-ninth is expended in bread for the poor.

_Mrs. Mary Scott_ bequeathed £100, and desired the minister and two masters of the free-school, whom she constituted trustees, to dispose of the yearly produce in the relief of poor housekeepers of this parish, except that every fourth year they should lay out the income in Bibles, Common Prayer Books, and The Whole Duty of Man, which should be distributed among poor children whose parents should not be able to provide them. This gift, and a further legacy of £20, the gift of _Mrs. Felicia Vyse_, was laid out on the 8th of March, 1786, in the purchase of a plot of land, situated at Chetwynd End, called the Four-day Math, and containing 3A. 0R. 36P., which land was conveyed to the then minister and two masters of the grammar school, on trust, to apply five-sixths of the rents to the charitable uses appointed by Mrs. Scott, and to pay the remaining sixth among the poor of the parish. The land produces an annual rental of £13. 17s. The rent is received by the minister, as one of the trustees; but in the application of it the trusts do not appear to have been duly kept in view, the rent having been paid to the churchwardens for general distribution among the poor, without reserving any portion for the purchase of books, as directed by the will of Mrs. Scott.

DOLE CHARITIES.—By an indenture, dated the 23rd of March, 1675, certain lands, situated at Little Aston, called the Foxhall lands, were conveyed for the sum of £220 to William Harding, one of the churchwardens of the parish, for charitable uses, subject to a yearly rent of 3s. 6d. to Thomas Talbot, the lord of the manor. It does not appear from what source the consideration money of this purchase was derived, but it is probable that it arose from a stock of £161, recorded in an inquisition as having been given by several donors, and the additional sum might be the subsequent accumulations of interest upon it. The premises consist of a cottage and garden, and three closes; containing in the whole about 13 acres of land. They were let under a lease of 14 years at Lady-day, 1814, at the annual rent of £82. It appears Mr. Leek was induced by particular circumstances to offer the above mentioned rent, though far exceeding the fair value of the premises.

_Robert Hawkins_, on the 15th December, 1660, charged a certain house in Newport, with the payment of 13s. 4d. per annum, and directed the same to be distributed to the poor.

_William Adams_; who died in 1690, gave a rent charge of 26s. per annum, payable out of his lands and tenements in Newport, and directed the same to be expended in bread, and given to the aged poor in sixpenny loaves for ever, according to the discretion of the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of the town. This charity is understood to be comprised in a weekly supply of twelve penny loaves which has been for many years made for the use of the poor, by the late Richard Marsh, Esq., as owner of certain lands, at Norbroom. There does not, however, appear any mention of such a charge in the title deeds, nor was Mr. Marsh able to give any information as to the origin of the weekly supply, which, having been made before his time, he had felt it proper to continue. There is no charity to which the residue of this weekly supply might with any likelihood be ascribed, except that of _Thomas Sprig_, who is recorded on the benefaction table to have left six penny loaves, to be given to the poor every Lord’s-day, and twelve every Sacrament-day.

_Richard Haynes_, in 1713, left to the poor of this parish six penny loaves to be given every Lord’s-day. This benefaction appears to have been charged upon a parcel of land which became the property of Mrs. Humpherson some time ago, by whom a weekly supply of six penny loaves was duly made. In 1713 Stephen Denston left £100 to the poor; and we also learn from the churchwarden’s book of donations that Richard Fletcher, in 1721, left £30 to the poor, and that Mrs. Moreton by her will bequeathed £20, the interest to be distributed in bread. These several sums, amounting together to £150, were invested on the 2nd April, 1770, on a mortgage of the tolls of the Forton and Lilleshall turnpike, producing at five per cent. interest the annual sum of £7. 10s. It is also stated in the churchwarden’s book that Felicia Vyse, who died in 1747, gave by her will £20, the interest to be given yearly to the poor of the parish. We have already shown that this legacy, in conjunction with Mrs. Mary Scott’s, was applied in the purchase of the Four Math Meadow. The whole rents having been paid over to the churchwardens for the same common purpose, no severance has taken place in the application.