Thomas Turner, by his will, 1777, bequeathed £20, the interest thereof to be distributed among the poor of the parish of Oswestry.
The produce of the eleven charities last mentioned, amounting to £55. 11s., are brought to one account, kept by the churchwardens appointed for the town of Oswestry, and disposed of for the benefit of the poor of the town, exclusive of the rest of the parish. Six shillings worth of bread is given away in the church every alternate Sunday, and the residue is given away at different times of the year, in bread, clothing, or shoes, according to the discretion of the churchwardens for the time being. As it appeared the churchwardens had frequently selected for distribution such articles as they themselves dealt in, the charity commissioners strongly recommended that some regular mode of distributing these charities should be adopted, and that the directions of the respective donors should be followed as far as they could be ascertained, and circumstances would admit.
Sir John Swinnerton, by will 1616, charged his lands with the payment of £5. 4s. for bread, which, by the sale of the lands, was increased to £7. 4s. per annum. The money for which the land was sold was in the hands of T. Kynaston, Esq., nearly fifty years, and subsequently of Mr. Lloyd, for which interest was regularly paid till 1781, when this money was called in, for the purpose of enabling the town to purchase and repair certain premises near the churchyard, intended for a workhouse. The money was probably applied accordingly; but in 1808 this workhouse was sold for £280, by the directors of the Oswestry house of industry, under the powers of an act of parliament, passed 31 George III. We are informed, however, that the produce of this sale was not added to the funds of the house of industry, but was applied in obtaining an act of parliament for lighting and paving the town of Oswestry. It appears, therefore, the inhabitants of the town of Oswestry have appropriated to their own use a sum of £120 applicable to charitable uses, without making the poor any compensation in lieu thereof.
Richard Muckleston, in 1638, gave 40s. per annum to be distributed in bread to the poor of Oswestry, charged on premises in the parish of Kilgurran, and at Llandrau. The amount is expended in bread and distributed on Good Friday.
Francis Shore, in 1691, charged his mansion house in Oswestry, with the payment of 20s. yearly, to be distributed among the poor. Mr. Jones, the owner of the house, gives 20s. yearly among poor persons, according to his own discretion, on St. Thomas’s day.
Margaret Lloyd, by will 1694, charged her house and croft in the parish of Oswestry, with the annual payment of 20s., to be given among twenty poor labourers or decayed tradesmen.
Elizabeth Williams, in 1703, left to poor housekeepers 40s. per annum, to be distributed by the churchwardens on Palm Monday, for ever, which money was to be paid out of the Mixen Hall estate.
Rebecca Lloyd, by will 1733, gave £20, which was afterwards secured on premises in Cross street. The amount is paid by Mr. Penson, the owner of a house and garden in Cross street, and distributed by the churchwardens among forty poor persons on New Year’s day.
Sir William Williams, by his will, 7th September, 1734, bequeathed £200, the annual produce thereof to be distributed among poor persons of the town and parish of Oswestry. This money is in the hands of Sir Watkin W. Wynne, whose agent pays the yearly sum of £10 as the interest thereof. One half of this money is distributed by the churchwardens of the town, in sums of 6d. and 1s. each. The other half is divided between the upper and lower divisions of the parish.
Sir Nathaniel Lloyd’s Charity.—In the will of Sir Nathaniel Lloyd, bearing date All Souls day, 1740, there is the following clause:—“I give to some of the meaner inhabitants of Oswestry and Whittington a yearly benefit, equally among them, as shall arise out of my South Sea Stock and old annuities; the first putting in of such persons to be in the heir of Aston, of the family of my grandfather, Andrew Lloyd, Esq., and the nomination to any vacancy to be in the bishop of that diocese and the heir of Aston alternately.” Soon after the death of the testator, proceedings were instituted in the Court of Chancery, and by a decree made 14th November, 1743, it was referred to the master to inquire of what South Sea Stock and Old South Sea annuities the testator died possessed; to appoint trustees, to whose names the same should be transferred, and to approve of a scheme for the application of the charity; and it was declared that the bequest to the meaner inhabitants of Oswestry and Whittington was a perpetual charity, and ought to be distributed among the meaner inhabitants, who should not receive alms. The master, by his report, made 15th May 1745, certified that the testator was possessed of £660. 16s. 9d. South Sea Stock, and £2,623. 16s. Old South Sea annuities; and he approved of a scheme, whereby it was provided that the charity should be extended to the whole town and liberty of Oswestry; and that three-fifths of the dividends should be paid among the meaner inhabitants, not receiving alms, and two-fifths among the like persons in Whittington; and that twelve persons of the town and liberty of Oswestry, and eight persons of Whittington, be nominated alternately by the heir of Aston, and the bishop of St. Asaph, should be allowed £4 each yearly, by quarterly payments. That a power should be vested in seven trustees thereinafter named, to make orders for the better management of the charity; and that on the death of any of the trustees, the survivors should within six weeks appoint another. The master’s report was confirmed, and the stock and annuities duly transferred into their names. The dividends, amounting to £97 19s. 8d. per annum, are received by Messrs. Child, and £50 is transmitted every Christmas, and £45 every Midsummer, to Mr. Lloyd, who pays to twenty poor persons of the parishes of Oswestry and Whittington, £4. 10s. per annum, by half-yearly payments. No persons are appointed unless at the time they reside in one of the parishes above mentioned; but if they afterwards cease to reside there, the allowance is not taken away from them. The parties receiving the charity are generally such as have been reduced from better circumstances.