Wrockwardine: Charities for the poor

CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.

Various benefactions made between 1616 and 1657 totalling £60 were used to buy a field called Tiddicross, of which the rent was distributed annually. Edward Pemberton improved the land's value in 1670 by building a house and barn on it. The parish workhouse was built on the site c. 1801 but the rent of £4 10s. was not increased; it was paid out annually as the Tiddicross charity from the poor rate. In 1830 the charity's income was raised to £8, closer to a realistic rent. (fn. 1) In 1907 it was £35 a year, from the four cottages (fn. 2) to which the old workhouse had been converted. (fn. 3)

By her will of 1675 Margaret Langley of Burcot left £10. It was probably the bequest that was being honoured in 1821 by Edward Cludde and Mr. Stainer, who had charges of 10s. a year on their estates. Cludde's 10s. provided two bushels of flour distributed annually; Stainer's, with an additional 10s. from the sacrament money, provided bread given with the flour. Usually c. 80 people, widows receiving preference, benefited. (fn. 4) In 1897 the charity's income was £2 10s. distributed as a hundred 6d. loaves. (fn. 5)

A £3 rent charge was left by Edward Pemberton (d. 1680) for apprenticing one child a year. Between 1804 and 1821 it paid for nine apprentices. In 1897 the income, £4 4s. 4d. from stock, was paid to the girls' school. Under a scheme of 1922 the charity was widened to include general assistance to young and other poor persons. (fn. 6)

Thomas Ore (d. 1798) left a 40s. rent charge. The vicar was to have £1 1s. and the parish clerk 1s. for administering it. By 1821, and still in 1897, it was given to the same sixteen recipients each year. (fn. 7)

Joshua Gilpin, vicar (d. 1828), left the interest on £50 to be divided equally between eight of the poorest families. Until her death in 1856 Gilpin's widow personally supervised the distribution. In the later 19th century beneficiaries received between 3s. 9d. and 4s. 6d. (fn. 8)

A charitable clothing club, founded by donations and subscriptions, was established in 1832. Members of the society, numbering 57 in 1853 and 68 in 1875, paid in small sums over the year. To their savings a sum from the charity's capital was added, the whole being paid out in tickets redeemable by a Wellington tailor. (fn. 9)

Sir W. S. R. Cockburn (d. 1858) (fn. 10) left a cottage and garden at Rushmoor. It was sold for £70, to which £20 was added by G. L. Yate, vicar 1828-73, and £2 by Mrs. R. C. Herbert. In 1895 the charity's income was £2 17s.; 10s. was given to each of the two occupants of Cludde's almshouses and the remainder distributed to twelve poor people. (fn. 11)

Under schemes of 1922 Cludde's, Cockburn's, and the clothing charities were combined in one group, Pemberton's, Ore's, Gilpin's, and the bread charity in another. The combined annual income of the two groups and of the Tiddicross charity was £55 in 1975. (fn. 12)

A pair of almshouses was erected in Wrockwardine village in 1841 as a memorial to Edward Cludde (d. 1840) of Orleton. The houses were designed by Edward Haycock, built by Thomas Smith of Madeley, and paid for by subscriptions. (fn. 13) Two widows were housed, and in 1895 £10 8s. from stock was distributed between them. (fn. 14) From c. 1980 the almshouses were occupied by married couples. (fn. 15)