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A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 9, Burton-Upon-Trent. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 2003.
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Charities for the poor
By the later 1780s there were three charities, possibly for Stapenhill township only: annual distributions of £1 (Daniel Robinson), £1 5s. (Frances Jackson), and £1 10s. (a Mr. Cox or Cocks). The daughters of probably the same Mr. Cox, Joyce Cox and Elizabeth Rhodes (or Rodes), each left £15 to the poor of Stapenhill, but only the Rhodes charity existed in the later 1820s, when the distribution was 12s. at Easter. (fn. 17)
In the late 1950s the combined income of the surviving charities was £4 2s. 4d. The money was supplemented from church funds in order to enable a distribution of 3s. each to 35 widows on New Year's day; after the amount was raised to 5s. in 1960, the bulk of the funds came from the church rather from the charity. Writing to the charity commissioners in 1963, the vicar argued that any change in the manner of distribution might lead to 'a measure of unpleasantness', if fewer widows benefited. The distribution, however, was terminated some years later, and in 1998 the charities were removed from the register. (fn. 18)
Stapenhill Relief Society was established in the late 1870s and still functioned in 1912, when it ran a soup kitchen during the winter in Stapenhill Institute. (fn. 19)