Sarah Pardoe, in 1808, left the sum of £100, to be placed out at interest for the use of the almshouses. This donation was invested in the purchase of £156. 3s. 3d. consols, the dividends of which being £4. 12s. per annum, which sum, after deducting charges, is divided among the twelve poor women in January and July, in shares of 3s. 10d. each.
Mr. Clark left 10s. for a sermon on the 11th day of January, and three shillings to be given in bread the same day.
William Taylor, by will, dated 6th of February, 1735, directed that every person who should hereafter be an owner of his two freehold messuages, land, and premises, with the appurtenances, situated in High street, in the parish of St. Leonard’s, should yearly for ever provide a dinner on the 26th of December, for the poor persons called almshouse-women; or, in default, he ordered the sum of £10 to be divided between the aforesaid almswomen, the same to be chargeable yearly upon the said messuages and premises.
Mary Childe, by her will, dated 27th of August, 1817, and proved in November, 1819, gave the sum of £100, to be placed at interest on some good security, and to pay the interest, dividends, and produce thereof, in equal shares at Christmas, to the almswomen of Bridgnorth.
Bread Fund.—The almswomen also participate in the general distribution of bread from the parochial fund of St. Leonard’s, of which we shall give an account among the charities of that parish.
Walter Wrottesley, by will, proved in 1630, bequeathed to the poor people of Bridgnorth the sum of £100, to be disposed of by the magistrates of the town as they should think fit. It was resolved in 1633 to repair the conduit pipes of the town with the principal, and that £5 per annum as interest should be given to the poor of St. Leonard’s and St. Mary’s parishes; which sum they now receive.
William Pulley bequeathed a house and land, situated in Beauchamp Roothing, in Essex, on the 20th of December, 1640, to the inhabitants of Bridgnorth for ever, on condition that they should give £16 every year to two young men or women who should stand in need of it; and that those who had it one year should have it no more for the space of three years after.
The Rev. Francis Wheeler, by will, dated 8th of February, 1686, gave five meadows in St. Mary’s parish, containing 21a. 2r. 5p. of land, on condition that the sum of £10 should be given to the poor of Bridgnorth, as an annuity or rent charge; £10 per annum for a sermon to be preached by the minister of St. Leonard’s on the feast of St. James. And having further charged the lands with an annuity of 50s. yearly to the curate of Masemoor, and 10s. to the poor of Willey, he directed that if the rent of the premises should be improved, the increase of the rents should solely redound to the settled public preachers of Bridgnorth. The premises were let in 1818 for a rent of £102. 2s. 6d., which, after deducting the rent charges, left the sum of £44. 11s. 3d. to each of the two ministers, subject to occasional expenses for repairs.
The Spinners’ Money—It seems that the sum of £215 is in the hands of the corporation (which was left by Mr. Blakeway, Mr. Lamb, and Mr. Elliot, for the use of the spinners and carders), for which is paid the small sum of £3. 18s, 4d. yearly, as interest, which is divided among the poor of the town.—Bridge Lands: There are several tenements in Bridgnorth, the rents of which are applied to the repair of the bridge, but when and by whom left is unknown. The annual rents amount to £18. 7s. 2d.
Charities of the Upper Town.—Palmer’s Hospital.—The Rev. Francis Palmer, by will, dated 2nd September, 1680, bequeathed the sum of £800, to be laid out in the purchase of free lands in or near the county of Salop, of the clear yearly value of £30 per annum; and he also willed that his executors should cause to be erected an almshouse containing ten distinct rooms for ten several poor widows of the Upper Town, such as should frequent the church, and to allow each of them the sum of £3 per annum, save only repairs to be deducted. The executors purchased an estate in Hopton Wafers, containing 111a. 3r. 32p., which was let in 1807, at a rent of £93. 6s. per annum; by a valuation of premises made when the Charity Commissioners published their report it was found that the annual value was £119. 6s. 3d. From sales of timber in 1797 and 1810, and a donation of £200 in 1803 from the executors of the late Mr. Hawkins, the sum of £24 is paid to the charity as interest of the money, in addition to the rent of the land.