Allotments for the Labouring Poor.

Hawkshead.

The Bailiwick of

Allotments

By an award dated 19th May 1862, made upon the inclosure of Hawkshead Moor, Borwick Ground Fell, Holme Fell, Tom Heights, Hill Fell and Monk Coniston Moor, under the authority of the Second Annual Inclosure Act, 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. cap. 47), Hawkshead. there was allotted "unto the said churchwardens and overseers of the poor a piece of land, numbered 63 on the Award Map B, and containing one acre, and also another for the piece, numbered 88 on the Award Map D, and containing one acre, to be held by them and Labouring their successors in trust as allotments for the labouring poor of the parish of Hawkshead Poor. subject nevertheless to and chargeable with a clear rentcharge of 12s., which it was stated did not exceed the net annual value of the said allotments in their condition at the time of the award. The rentcharge of 128. was allotted by the award to Thomas Bowman, of Hawkshead, esquire, and the co-trustees of the Rev. Thomas Sandys' Blue Coat Charity and their successors (see above, page 20).

No previous reference had been made in the award to churchwardens and overseers, but it is generally assumed that those of the parish of Hawkshead were intended to be designated. The allotments are now managed by the parish councils of the three parishes of Hawkshead, Skelwith, and Coniston. Mr. Stephen A. Marshall, who represented the managers at the Inquiry, stated that the plots had never been used for the purpose for which they were intended, partly because there was no demand for allotments of the kind, and partly because by their position and configuration they were quite unsuited to spade culture. They are now let, the one to Hodgson Atkinson, i 10s. a year, and the other to Joe Tyson, at Ss. a year. The money received for the letting of the allotments is accumulated in the Post Office Savings Bank, and on 31st March 1900 there was a balance of 26l. 17s. 7d. in the bank, and 17. 14s. 8d. in the hands of the treasurer, Mr. Nathan R. Garnett. The accounts are audited every two years, by arrangement with Mr. Hibbert, the Local Government Board auditor. The only expenditure that is made is that of 5s. for an audit stamp.

ters of

Charity for the Ministers of Hawkshead Hill and Sunny Bank Baptist Chapels. The endowment of this Charity consists of a sum of 1,6337. 18s. 3d. New Consols Charity for standing in the name of the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds, and producing an the Minisannual income of 441. 188. 8d. This sum represents the investment of the proceeds of Hawkshead sale of a farm known as Sawrey Ground, in the parish of Hawkshead, with the house and Hill and outbuildings, containing 54a. 2r. 37p., which was sold under the authority of an Order of Sunny Bank the Charity Commissioners dated 30th May 1899 for the sum of 1,750l. The expenses Baptist Chapels. attending the sale amounted to 407. 10s. 6d. and the balance of 1,7091. 9s. 7d., was invested in the purchase of the sum of stock above mentioned, which was transferred to the Official Trustees on the 24th October 1899.

The rents and profits of the farm, which was let at the time of sale at a rent of 281. a year, were applicable under the trusts declared by a deed of appointment of new trustees dated 13th December 1808, for the maintenance of Protestant Dissenting ministers of the Particular Baptist Persuasion celebrating Divine Service and the worship of God, and performing other ministerial offices in the chapels or meeting-houses at Hawkshead Hill and Sunny Bank, and the dividends upon the stock are applied to the same object. The following persons, who were appointed at a meeting held on the 5th August 1895, were the trustees of the Hawkshead Hill Chapel at the date of the Inquiry :George Stephen Inglis, Duchray, Helensburgh; John Atkinson Jackson, Laurel Bank, Whitehaven ;

John Nicholson, Penny Bridge, Ulverston;

William Woodend, Chapel House, Blawith, Ulverston ;
David Sawrey, Bridgefield, Greenodd, Ulverston;

Emmanuel Hutchinson, Thompson Ground, Hawkshead;
Nathan Garnett, Hawkshead;

Anthony Tunstall Garnett, Hawkshead;

John Briggs, Hazlecroft, Ulverston;

James Oxley, Dalton-in-Furness;

John Dawson, Barrow-in-Furness;

Richard Harman Wadeson, Russell Street, Portsmouth.

Mr. John Nicholson, who acts as secretary to the trustees, represented the Charity at the Inquiry, and produced the deed of 1808 above referred to, which recites an earlier deed of the 27th November 1792. He also produced the trustees' account book, from which it appeared that on the 31st December 1899 there was a balance in hand of 591. 4s. 6d., but Mr. Nicholson stated thas there had been an expenditure in January 1900 of 407. on new buildings in connection with the chapel. Mr. Nicholson also said that the chapel at Sunny Bank is no longer used.

Hawkshead.

Division of
Monk
Coniston

with Skelwith.

Miles
Sawrey's

Charity.

John
Jackson's

Charity.

DIVISION OF MONK CONISTON WITH SKELWITH.

Miles Sawrey's Charity (see page 7).

The purchase of the Oxenfell estate with the money left by this benefactor is described in the Report of 1820. The extent of the farm was originally 10 acres, and by an inclosure award dated the 13th March 1862, made under an Act for inclosing Skelwith Common, two allotments were made in repect of it, containing respectively 3a. 1r. 11p. and 13p., and numbered respectively 5 and 4 on the Award Map. The farm is customary freehold of the manor of Hawkshead, of which the Duke of Buccleuch is the lord, and is subject to a quitrent of 1s. a year. At the time of Mr. Skirrow's inquiry there were no trustees of the Charity, which was administered by Mr. William Hopes Heelis. The last previous admittance of a tenant was dated 29th November 1836. The tenant admitted was Eleanor Jackson, who died two or three years before Mr. Skirrow's visit.

At the latter date the farmi was let at a rent of 67. a year, which, however, was stated to be less than its actual value. The income, after deduction of the quitrent, was distributed, in sums varying from 5s. to 12s. 6d., amongst poor persons of Monk Coniston and Skelwith, without inquiry as to whether they were in receipt of parochial relief. As mentioned above, this Charity was included in the Apportionment Order of the 14th August 1867, and is now subject to the Scheme of the 5th October 1897.

The farm was let at the date of the Inquiry to Isaac Creighton on a yearly tenancy at a rent of 127. 10s. a year. The dwelling-house has for some time past been in a very bad state of repair. In 1899 the trustees accepted tenders for the most necessary repairs, the cost of which they proposed to defray by instalments out of income. The commencement of the work, however, was prevented by the illness of the late tenant, and meanwhile it had become clear that a much larger outlay than was at first expected would be required. The trustees, therefore, early in May 1900 applied to the Charity Commissioners for authority to borrow part of the sum required, or to provide it by a sale, on terms of replacement, of part of the Stock belonging to some of the other Charities included under the Scheme. To this proposal the Commissioners gave a general assent, but before any further step was taken the trustees on the 22nd May 1900 suggested to the Commissioners that it might be more expedient to sell either the whole of the property, or a certain portion of it which was suitable for building. This proposal also was accepted by the Commissioners, and a form was sent upon which an application for the sale might be made, but it appeared at the Inquiry that under a misunderstanding the contractors with whom the trustees had been in treaty for the repairs of the house had begun to execute the work, and the trustees accordingly, at a meeting held after the close of the Inquiry, decided to proceed with the repairs, and to reserve the question of a sale for future consideration.

The costs of the repairs amounted to 1381. 8s. 10d., of which sum 1007. was provided by the sale, on the 18th September 1900, under the authority of the Commissioners, of a sum of 1017. 188. 3d. New Consols belonging to the Various Charities, and the balance was defrayed out of income. An Order is now in draft by which the Commissioners, after reciting the particulars set forth above, approve the expenditure of the sum of 1007., and direct that the sum of 1011. 18s. 3d. Stock so sold as aforesaid shall be replaced out of the income of the Charity within a period of 15 years from the date of the Order, for which purpose the trustees are directed to pay out of the said income to the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds on or before the 1st December 1901, and in each succeeding year during the said period, a yearly sum of not less than 6l., to be invested by them at compound interest in the purchase in their name of New Consols in trust for the Various Charities, until the said sum of Stock shall have been fully replaced.

The income has not for some time past been applied towards the objects of the Charity. A few years ago the barn on the premises was repaired, at the cost of 407., which was paid out of income by instalments. Since that time the income has been accumulated with a view to the repairs of the house, and at the time of the Inquiry there was a balance of 351. 18s. 4d., which has since been applied towards the cost of the repairs.

John Jackson's Charity (see page 7).

The sum of 50l. Consols, forming the endowment of this Charity at the date of Report of 1820, was transferred on the 25th November 1862 to the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds, and is now represented by the same amount of New Consols standing in their name and producing an annual income of 17. 78. 4d.

Division of
Monk

Coniston

At the time of Mr. Skirrow's inquiry the income, then amounting to 17. 10s. a year, Hawkshead was distributed among 12 poor persons of Monk Coniston and Skelwith, and notwithstanding the express direction to the contrary in the deed of 1798, the receipt of parochial relief was not considered a disqualification. This Charity also was included in the Apportionment Order of 1867, and in the Scheme of the 5th October 1897. An account of the provisions of the latter in respect of the application of the income of the several Charities, and also of the actual application at the present time, has been given above,

Charity of the Rev. George Park.

with

Skelwith.

Park.

The Rev. George Park, by his will, dated 8th July 1829, and proved at Lancaster Charity of on the 21st August 1829, bequeathed to three trustees therein named the sum of 1007. the Rev. upon trust to lay out and lend the same in their joint names or in the names or George name of the survivors or survivor of them, upon Government or other good and sufficient real security, and so keep the same for ever at interest; and after the death of such survivor he directed that the said sum of 1007. should be placed out at interest as aforesaid in the joint names of the resident minister for the time being of the parish church of Hawkshead and of any three of the most considerable and respectable resident proprietors of land situate in the said parish; such proprietors from time to time, as occasion might require, to be nominated and selected at any vestry meeting holden for the public business of the said parish, upon special trust and confidence to lay out and expend the yearly interest and proceeds of the said principal sum of 1001. monthly for ever in the purchase of bread to be given and distributed on the first Sunday of every calendar month to and amongst such indigent and poor persons as the said minister and the churchwardens for the time being of the said parish of Hawkshead in their judgment and discretion should deem fit objects of his charitable intentions, and he declared that it was his will that in making a selection of such objects preference should be given to such of them as regularly attended Divine service according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and who otherwise in their pious lives and conversation did honour unto that Church.

The testator's sister and sole executrix voluntarily paid the legacy duty on the bequest, so that the whole sum of 1007. was available for the purposes of the Charity. In August 1862 the endowment was represented by a sum of 1181. 17s. 5d. Three per Cent. Consols standing in the names of four persons, two of whom were deceased, and under the authority of an Order of the Charity Commissioners dated 20th October 1862 the above-mentioned sum of Consols was transferred to the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds on the 6th November 1862, and is now represented by the same amount of New Consols standing in their name in trust for the Charity. At the date of Mr. Skirrow's inquiry the income was applied in the distribution every month of 24 threepenny loaves among 24 persons belonging to the parish, irrespective of their being in the receipt of parochial relief, a preference being given to those who attended the parish church.

By letter addressed to Mr. Skirrow under date 20th December 1862, the Rev. George Park, nephew of the testator, entered a protest against any portion of the income of this Charity being apportioned to the new parish of Brathay, stating that he was well aware that his uncle, the testator, intended by the legacy to benefit those poor persons only who were regular attendants at his own parish church of Hawkshead. As appears above, the Charity was not included in the Order of Apportionment dated 14th August 1867. It was also excluded from the provisions of the Scheme of the 5th October 1867, of which an account has been given above.

The Charity is now administered by the vicar and churchwardens, by whom the income, amounting to 31. 5s. 4d. a year, is expended in the purchase of bread, which is given away in the parish church on the second Sunday in every month. In the year ending at Easter 1900, there were 12 recipients, who received two or three loaves apiece at each distribution. The list is settled at Easter, the recipients being selected by the vicar and the four churchwardens, namely, those of Claife, Satterthwaite, Hawkshead Field, and Monk Coniston.

DIVISION OF BRATHAY.
Mackreth's Charity (see page 8).

Division of
Brathay.

The rentcharge of 20s. a year referred to in the Report of 1820, is payable out of a Mackreth's field known as Ing Field on the estate at Clappersgate mentioned in that Report, and Charity. is, or was, locally known as " Ing money." Mr. Skirrow, on the occasion of his inquiry, was informed that there were no legally-appointed trustees of the Charity, but that the

Brathay.

Hawkshead. churchwardens had long acted in its administration. On the 20th December 1867, an application, signed by the incumbent and churchwardens of Brathay, the owner of the Division of Ing Field, and an inhabitant of the parish, asking for the appointment of the incumbent and churchwardens of Brathay as trustees of the Charity, was received by the Charity Commissioners, and after some delay, due to a mistake in the wording of the notices of the proposed Order, the appointment was effected by an Order of the Commissioners dated 23rd June 1868.

Mackreth's Charitycontinued.

Rentcharge for School.

Prendergast's

Charity.

The present owner of the field subject to the charge is the Rev. J. Cookson, of Clappersgate, Ambleside, who was said to be 85 years of age. The money is regularly paid, and is now equally divided between the two areas entitled to participate in the benefit of the Charity. The 10s. forming the Brathay share is always given to one poor person residing in that portion of the ecclesiastical parish which is within the ancient parish of Hawkshead.

Rentcharge for School.

The seventh volume, dated 28th January 1822, of the Reports of the abovementioned Commissioners contained, under the heading of "Township of Rydal and Loughrigg," in the county of Westmoreland, a report in the following terms :

The sum of 7s. 6d. is paid by Anthony Atkinson, of Loughrigg Fold, out of his estate there, for the benefit of Skelbrig School, in this township. We could not learn when or by whom this was left. It is regularly paid to the to the person teaching the school at Skelwith Bridge, which is merely a children's school, and has always been taught by a female.

Skelwith Bridge is situated on the border between the counties of Lancashire and Westmoreland. The rentcharge is now paid to Brathay National School, which is in the Lancashire portion of the ecclesiastical parish of Brathay.

Prendergast's Charity.

Jeffrey Francis Prendergast, by his will, dated 5th July 1879, and proved at Bristol on the 22nd August 1879, directed his executors to set apart out of his pure personal estate such a capital sum as would produce the annual income of 157., and further directed that the said income or so much thereof as might be found necessary should be applied by his executors in keeping in good repair the burial place purchased by Mr. Auprèze and himself in the year 1865 at Brathay, near Ambleside, his desire being that the graves within the enclosure should be kept in constant repair, and that all damage from accident or weather should be made good, that the railings should be painted in the best manner every spring, that all moss and dirt should be removed from the stones, and that the inscription should be kept legible; and the testator directed that any surplus after defraying the expenses attending such reparation should be divided annually by and at the sole discretion of the clergyman of the said parish of Brathay amongst the four poorest parishioners at Brathay aforesaid, at the time of the distribution, such distribution to be made irrespective of the religious convictions of the recipients, and regard being had only to their material wants and general good reputation.

For the satisfaction of the bequest the executors set apart a sum of 4907., that being the cost at the market price of the day of a sum of 5007. Three per Cent. Consols, and by deduction of legacy duty the amount set apart was reduced to 441l. At the suggestion of the Charity Commissioners, the executors subsequently purchased a sum of 450l. Three per Cent. Consols in the name of the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds, to whom it was transferred on the 2nd July 1880. The executors of the will were also reminded by the Commissioners that according to the decision in the case of Fisk v. AttorneyGeneral (L.R. Equity, vol. 4, p. 521) the bequest for keeping the family graves in order was void, and that the whole of the income was applicable for the poor.

The endowment now consists of the sum of 4501. New Consols standing in the name of the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds, and producing an annual income of 121. 78. 4d. The administration of this sum is in the hands of the vicar of Brathay, now the Rev. C. L. Hulbert. It appears that notwithstanding the intimation given by the Charity Commissioners, as mentioned above, sums of money are from time to time expended upon cleaning and keeping in repair the graves mentioned in the will. The remainder of the income is expended for the benefit of the poor of the parish in various ways, as occasion may arise. In 1899 a doctor's bill of 17. 14s. was paid, 15s. was expended upon the fare of a poor child to a hospital, and 10s. as a contribution to

hospital expenses. In 1896 a sum of 21. 18s. was applied in paying the expenses of Hawkshead. 16 mothers in attending lectures on nursing at Ambleside, and 10s. 5d. on coals, and 51. was given as a donation towards the general expenses of Brathay National School, at Skelwith Bridge, which is a public elementary school.

Mary Cookson's Charities.

Division of
Brathay.

Cookson's
Charities.

Mary Cookson, of Clappersgate, in the parish of Grasmere, spinster, by her will, dated Mary 27th March 1884, and proved at Carlisle on the 11th June 1887, bequeathed 1007. to the Skelwith School, and the same amount to the Brathay Sunday School.

The above-mentioned legacies, which were reduced by the payment of legacy duty to 1807., were made up to 2001. by private donations, and the latter amount was invested, at first in Minnesota and North Western Railway 5 per cent. bonds, and afterwards in debenture stock of George Angus & Co., in the name of Mr. Giles Redmayne. After Mr. Redmayne's death the last-mentioned stock was sold, and in January 1899 the sum of 100%. was paid to the treasurer of each of the schools. The Sunday school endowment was invested in the names of the vicar and churchwardens of Brathay in a 3 per cent. bond for 100%. of the Ambleside District Council, and the day school endowment in a 3 per Cent. bond for the same amount of the Bowness Urban District Council. The interest is applied in each case towards the general support of the school. The day school is that referred to above, situate at the Skelwith Bridge.

Giles Redmayne's Charity.

Giles Redmayne, of Brathay Hall, by his will, dated 24th January 1895, and proved Giles with four codicils in London on the 6th July 1898, bequeathed 100l. to the vicar and Redmayne's Charity. churchwardens for the time being of the chapel or church of the Holy Trinity, Brathay, to be invested in such stocks or securities as should from time to time be authorized for the investment of funds under the control of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, and the income thereof to be applied from time to time towards the expense of carrying on the Sunday-school at the room erected for the purpose near the said church, or in preference, if the law would allow, in repairing and keeping up the building.

The sum of 90l., being the amount of the bequest after deduction of legacy duty, was paid to the vicar and churchwardens in 1898, and was placed in the Ambleside branch of the Bank of Liverpool. At the time of the Inquiry it had not yet been invested, but was kept at the bank with other moneys, not subject to a trust for investment. The interest has from time to time been applied towards the expenses of the Sunday-school.

The testator also bequeathed, in case his daughter Mary should die without having been married, or, having been married, without leaving issue, the sum of 500l. to the minister and churchwardens for the time being of Brathay Church, to be invested in such stocks or securities as should from time to time be authorized for the investment of funds under the control of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, and the income thereof to be applied towards the providing stipends for ringers and the general church expenses.

The testator's daughter above referred to was still living at the time of the Inquiry.

TOWNSHIP OF CLAIFE.

James Braithwaite's Charity (see page 8).

Mr. Skirrow was informed on the occasion of his visit in December 1862, that Mr. Braithwaite Hodgson, who is mentioned in the Report of 1820 as having the sum of 201., representing the endowment of this Charity, in his hands at that date, had died in February 1862, and that his executors intended to pay this money and the sum of 107. which he also held as the endowment of Leonard Cowperthwaite's Charity, to the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds, for investment in their name.

Under the authority of the Charity Commissioners the two sums were paid to the account of the Official Trustees on the 22nd March 1864, and were invested in the purchase of 217. 14s. 11d. and 107. 16s. 8d. Three per Cent. Consols respectively, which were transferred to the Official Trustees on the 7th April of the same year. Mr. Hodgson had in his lifetime distributed 20s. annually, by way of interest upon the principal sum, amongst poor inhabitants of Claife, and his executors had similarly distributed after his death an annual sum of 16s. 8d.