In 1725 £400 was bequeathed to the trustees of the school by William Grimbaldson, M.D., to be invested in lands, and the rental to be added to the stipend of the head-master, if “he should be a scholar bred at Westminster, Winchester, or Eton, and a master of arts,” but if not the rental to be devoted to binding apprentices, for which purpose it is used at present. In addition this physician left £50 to be similarly invested, and the income to be spent in buying classical books for the school. The management of the school has been in the hands of trustees from the time of Barker’s bequest.
Since the establishment of the exhibition under Barker’s trust twenty-eight youths have been assisted in their university careers by its means.
| HEAD MASTERS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL SINCE 1800. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | By whom appointed. | |
| 1801 to 1806 | Rev. Thos. Stevenson | pro. temp. | Company of Drapers |
| In 1806 | Jas. Thos. Halloway, D.D. | ” ” | |
| ” 1808 | Rev. Henry Dannett, B.A. | ” ” | |
| ” 1814 | Rev. Phipps Gerard Slatter, M.A. | ” ” | |
| ” 1815 | Rev. Jas. Ratcliffe, M.A. | ” ” | |
| Before 1837 | Rev. Richᵈ Martindell Lamb, M.A. | pro. temp. | ” ” |
| In 1837 | Rev. Geo. Thistlethwaite, M.A. | ” ” | |
| ” 1845 | Rev. S. E. Wentworth, M.A. | ” ” | |
| ” 1866 | Rev. Jno. Burrough, M.A. | ” ” | |
| ” 1874 | Rev. J. Young, M.A. | ” ” | |
From the vestry book of Kirkham, we learn that the charity known as “Bread Money” originated from the vicar and “Thirty-men,” who, on the 5th of April, 1670, “with the consent and countenance of some of the gentlemen and of the present churchwardens, with some neighbours of repute in the respective townships,” held a meeting, at which it was unanimously decided to raise £80, such sum to be laid out on good security, and the interest to be expended in providing “a dozen penny loaves for every Sunday in the year, Christmas and the king’s birthday, and for every other holiday, to be given to so many of such poor as shall use to frequent the church and to those of distant townships.” The resolution continued:—“These loaves shall not be given to strangers or vagabonds, nor to children that shall but play about the church till sermon be passed, and then come in for a loaf, nor to any of the town of Kirkham in summer, but only in winter.” In order to raise the fund agreed upon, it was resolved that “what could be got by contribution of the communicants at Easter should be thus employed;” vicar Richard Clegg promised £5, and stated that if he remained at Kirkham during the rest of his life, and had the means, he would at some future time give £15 more for the same object, an intention which appears subsequently to have been carried out by his daughter, Mrs. Mary Nightingale, who some years after his decease, contributed £20 towards the fund. £5 given for the use of the poor by Jane, wife of John Clifton; arrears of rent due from Goosnargh; and funeral doles were all devoted to this purpose. In 1867 the fund amounted to £102 2s., yielding an annual income of £5 13s. 3d.
A sum of £12 was given by vicar Clegg, the interest to be paid to the clergyman preaching a sermon in Kirkham church on Easter Tuesday.
Richard Brown, by indenture dated 1639, conveyed for a term of 999 years a close called New Moor Hey with appurtenances, in Kirkham, to James Smith, upon condition that he, his heirs and executors, should pay the yearly rent of 20s. at Martinmas. “It is witnessed, that the said Richard Brown, in consideration of the good will he bore to the town of Kirkham, and the inhabitants thereof, and out of his zeal to God, and the charitable relief of the poor, needful and impotent people within the said town, granted to William Robinson and three others, their heirs and assigns, the said yearly rent of 20s., to hold the same upon trust, and to dispose of it amongst so many of the people of the said town, as the bailiffs thereof for the time being should, in their discretion, think most needful, on St. Thomas’s day.”[171]
By indenture, dated 1734, Joseph Hankinson, of Kirkham, in consideration of £45 released and conveyed to Robert Hankinson, and four others a close in Kirkham, called Swarbreck’s Old Earth, containing, by estimate, 1½ acres, to hold the same to themselves and their heirs for ever; and in the deed it was declared that the consideration money belonged to the poor of the township, and that the grantees were only trustees of the same, and had laid it out by direction of the inhabitants for the benefit of the poor according to the wish of the benefactors. The indenture is endorsed:—“Conveyance of Swarbreck’s Old Earth, for the use of the poor of Kirkham, purchased by monies given by Mrs. Clegg, widow of the Rev. Richard Clegg, vicar, and Mrs. Phœbe Sayle, wife of Mr. Charles Sayle, to wit £20 by the former, and £20 by the latter.”
Thomas Brockholes, by an indenture of 1755, conveyed for £50 to John Langton and William Shepherd, their heirs and assigns, a close called Moor Hey, with appurtenances; and subsequently in 1768 William Shepherd conveyed the close then denominated the Bailiffs’ Moor Hey to Henry Lawson, yeoman, of Kirkham, who in the following year being moved by “divers good causes and considerations” sold to the Rev. Charles Buck, vicar of Kirkham, and twelve others, all of Kirkham, gentlemen, for the sum of five shillings, two plots of land in Kirkham township, one of which, called Moorcroft, contained a rood and four perches, and the other, Swarbreck’s Old Earth, comprised an acre and an half. The conditions were that all profits or income accruing from the lands should be used for the relief of the poor of the aforesaid township.[172]
On the 1st of December, 1739, a legacy of £40 was bequeathed to trustees by Elizabeth Brown, to be invested, and the interest applied to the relief of the poor and necessitous widows of Kirkham, or the neighbouring townships, at Michaelmas.