Part 13

E. WRIGHT, ESQ., REV. S. DONNE,

REV. G. CAREW, REV. J. LUXMOORE,

R. K. PENSON, ESQ., J. V. LOVETT, ESQ.,

THOS. MINSHALL, ESQ., ROWLAND J. VENABLES, ESQ.,

THOS. LOVETT, ESQ., E. WILLIAMS, ESQ.,

T. L. LONGUEVILLE, ESQ., JOHN CROXON, ESQ.,

_Treasurer_:—J. T. JONES, ESQ.

_Surgeons_:

MR. CARTWRIGHT, MR. BLAIKIE,

DR. FULLER, DR. WILLIAMS.

The Trustees to whom the site for the new Dispensary and Baths was conveyed are, William Ormsby Gore, Esq., Thomas Lovett, Esq., Edmund Wright, Esq., and Thomas Longueville Longueville, Esq.

The proposition for building the Dispensary with the addition of Baths originated with Edward Williams, Esq., of Lloran House; and his efficient and zealous efforts were used in promoting the benevolent design, which was most successfully accomplished in the end. In the prosperity of so valuable an institution all classes in the town and populous neighbourhood, who are blessed with this world’s goods, should consider it a Christian privilege to take a lively interest, by contributing to its funds, and thus extending its usefulness among the labouring poor who have few to help them.

THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY,

Situated on elevated ground near the river Morda, on the road from Oswestry to Welshpool, was erected by virtue of an Act of Parliament obtained in the year 1790, and opened for the reception of inmates April 28th, 1791. The first steward and matron were Mr. Thos. Cooper and Mrs. Cooper, who held those responsible situations for the long period of nearly thirty years. Directors were appointed, under the Act, to manage the affairs of the institution, on behalf of Oswestry town and parish, and the other parishes also thereby incorporated: namely, Saint Martins, Selattyn, Whittington, West Felton, Ruyton, Kinnerley, Knockin, and Llanyblodwel, in the hundred of Oswestry, and county of Salop; that part of the parish of Llanymynech which lies in the hundred of Oswestry; the parish of Chirk, in the county of Denbigh; and the parish of Llansilin, in the counties of Salop and Denbigh. The Directors held their first meeting on Monday, August 11th, 1791: Chairman, John Lovett, Esq., Mayor of Oswestry. The building, of red brick, which still looks fresh and fair, cost £12,000. It has ever excited the attention of strangers, on account of its imposing stateliness of architecture, the exterior presenting, at the first view, the appearance of a fine old English baronial residence. Nicholson, in describing it thirty years ago, says, “it is a ridiculously-splendid brick building, intended, not for a purpose which its exterior seems to prompt, but for the abode of the indigent and wretched.”

In 1851 a slight sensation was created in the united parishes of Oswestry by a proposal from Mr. Doyle, Poor-Law Inspector, to admit six additional parishes into union with the Oswestry Incorporation. The Poor-Law Board had some time before claimed a general authority over the Incorporation, to which the Directors, after a slight resistance, submitted. Public meetings of the rate-payers of the incorporated parishes were held, to consider Mr. Doyle’s proposal, and one also was convened in the Old Church, Oswestry, on Saturday, July 21st: Peploe Cartwright, Esq., in the chair. Mr. Doyle stated that certain alterations in the House of Industry would have to be made; and in order to effect these improvements at as small a cost as possible to the incorporated parishes, he suggested that six other parishes should be united to the present, the expense being thus spread over a larger number of rate-payers. The proposal was not favourably entertained, as such a measure would have involved the immediate dissolution of the Oswestry Incorporation. A resolution was adopted at the meeting, “That in the absence of proper information and details, we are at present of opinion that it is not desirable to dissolve the Oswestry Incorporation.” From that time to the present the Poor-Law Board exercise only a general authority over the Incorporation, whose powers, as defined by the Act of Parliament, with the exception just named, remain intact.

In 1853 various alterations, suggested by the Poor-Law Board, were made in the House, at an expense of £1500. The average number of inmates in the Institution is 174. The number which the House can receive is limited by the Poor-Law Board to 300. The election of Directors is independent of the Board; they are nominated by the vestries of the several parishes, and appointed by the Board of Directors.

The present officers of the Institution are as follows:—The Rev. J. Maude, Chairman; the Rev. E. W. O. Bridgman, Vice-Chairman; Mr. John Hughes, Clerk to the Directors; and Mr. R. Richards, Master. Relieving Officers:—For the _Upper Division_, comprising Oswestry Town and Parish, Llanyblodwel, townships of Llwyntidman and Treprenal, Llansilin, and Selattyn, Mr. Thomas Davies. For the _Lower Division_, consisting of Chirk, Saint Martins, Whittington, Ruyton, West Felton, Knockin, and Kinnerley, Mr. Joseph Rogers.

CHARITABLE DONATIONS TO THE POOR.

In the present age the good old-fashioned mode of bequeathing some portion of worldly substance for the education or relief of the poor is recognized by very few of our wealthier fellow-countrymen. The usual channels of relief to the poor and needy—the Poor-Law Union, the Night Asylum, the Good Samaritan Society, and other institutions of like class—are excellent in their way, and diffuse much benefit and comfort among the aged and indigent; but still our ancient charities, especially our schools and almshouses, whilst they secure to their recipients permanent, not precarious good, shed a brilliant lustre over the land, and denote the kind and benignant spirit of many of our ancestors. Would that the old benevolent English spirit were revived among us, and that all affluent men, who have possessed their money by inheritance, or obtained it by the force of their talents, or success in trade or commerce, would, among their testamentary bequests, never fail to “remember the poor.” Then should we have comfortable asylums for many hoary-headed men and women, who, reduced by misfortune, or overwhelmed by the distressing calamities of life, have no place of quiet shelter—no resting-place in which to pass the residue of their days.

The following list of Charitable Donations, left for the benefit of the poor of Oswestry, shows that in days gone by, the weak were not overlooked by the strong, and that many, imbued with practical Christian benevolence, deemed it their duty to aid, not only the poor of their own days, but those also of succeeding generations. The only Aims-Houses in the town are those situated near the turnpike-gate in Willow-Street. They are six in number, and were left by Dame Ellen, widow of Sir Francis Eure. Mrs. Jane Owen, in 1732, bequeathed to the twelve poor persons (six men and six women), inmates of the alms-houses, the sum of 18s. to be paid to them yearly, for ever, and also ordered her executor to charge her real and personal estate with the payment thereof. Mrs. M. Ormsby, by her will in 1805, requested her daughter (the present Mrs. Ormsby Gore), and those who should succeed her in the Porkington Estate, would pay “as she had done,” the poor people in the alms-houses for ever. Mrs. Ormsby Gore regularly distributes £3 among the inmates on Christmas-Day, that being the sum her mother had previously given. The alms-houses are kept in good repair by Mrs. Ormsby Gore, and she selects the inmates.