CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 79)
George
Thompson, by will proved 1604, (fn. 80) gave an annual rent charge of £6 for the poor of Bampton,
Weald, and Lew. In the early 19th century it
was distributed yearly in money, and the dole
continued in 1854. (fn. 81) Leonard Wilmot (d. 1608)
of Clanfield gave in his lifetime a rent charge of
£2 for the poor of Bampton, Weald, Lew, and
Aston and Cote; (fn. 82) in the late 18th century and
early 19th the churchwardens retained it, but in
1848 it provided blankets lent to the poor in
winter. Julian Walter of Appleton (formerly
Berks.), by will proved 1660, (fn. 83) left a house and
lands, the rent to be distributed to the poor of
Bampton in bread with 8s. reserved for an annual
dinner for the churchwardens and overseers.
The rent was £42 in 1848.
Following an enquiry in 1680 into misuse of
Bampton charities, (fn. 84)
c. 12 a. were bought c. 1687
using the bequests of John Palmer (£100 to the
poor of Bampton and Weald by will proved
1650), (fn. 85) John Butt (£20 to the poor of Bampton
by will proved 1610), (fn. 86) John Tull (£5 to the poor
of Bampton by will proved 1615), (fn. 87) Robert
Veysey of Chimney (£10 to 12 poor widows of
Bampton and Weald by will proved 1666), (fn. 88) and
Henry Clanfield (date and amount unknown).
Before 1801 the rent was divided into 33 parts,
25 representing Palmer's bequest and 8 the rest.
Income in 1801 was £27; c. 2 a. was sold at.
inclosure, and in 1848 income was £15 of which
£3 14s. went to the town bread fund, the rest,
after land tax, being added to the vicars' fund
for supplying coal to the poor in winter.
Sir William Coventry, by will proved 1686, left
£100 towards apprenticing poor children, at
least 17 of whom were indentured within 3
years. (fn. 89) The bequest was not mentioned later
and was presumably either lost or amalgamated
with other apprenticing charities. In 1706 an
estate at Shilton (formerly Berks.) was bought
with bequests of Richard Coxeter (£10 for apprenticing to masters outside the parish, by will
proved 1683), Dorothy Loder (£300 to set the
poor to work, by will proved 1702), (fn. 90) and reportedly of the vicar Edward Cotton (£25 from a
bequest of £50 by will proved 1676). (fn. 91) Income
was £36 in the early 19th century, but following
criticisms of apprenticing policy it was diverted
before 1815 to the National school. (fn. 92) Thomas
Horde, by will proved 1716, left £10 each to
Bampton and Weald for apprenticing 2 boys or
girls, but though the gift was applied in the
earlier 18th century it was lost by the 19th. A
£10 rent charge left by Horde on lands in Aston
and Cote for the poorest of Bampton and Weald
seems never to have been paid. (fn. 93)
In 1726 c. 10 a. were bought with bequests of
William Osborn, vicar (£100 for apprenticing by
will proved 1646), (fn. 94) Edward Cotton, vicar (£50
to poor churchgoing householders, by will
proved 1676), (fn. 95) Tobias Sadler (£50 for bread by
will proved 1676), (fn. 96) Richard Blagrave (d. 1675,
£10 for bread by oral testimony), (fn. 97) Thomas Hall
(£5 for bread by will proved 1693) and his wife
Anne (£5 for bread), (fn. 98) Ann Coxeter (£10 for
bread to poor widows, by will proved 1695), (fn. 99)
Robert Jeeves of Lew (£5 to poor labourers by
will proved 1703), (fn. 1) Robert Cripps (£5 for poor
widowers by will proved 1705), (fn. 2) and John Holloway (d. 1720, £100 for bread by will); another
£60 from unspecified bread charities probably
included Michael Fawdrey's bequest of 50s. in
1726. (fn. 3) Three-eighths of the income were used
for apprenticing under Osborn's and Cotton's
bequests, a quarter for bread under Holloway's
bequest, and the rest for bread or otherwise. Of
c. £22 income in 1848 c. £14 went to the bread
fund, c. £5 to an accumulating apprentice fund,
and c. £3 was distributed in half crowns.
Mary Dewe (d. 1764) left £200 by will to
employ the poor of Bampton 'in some manufactory'. (fn. 4) The interest was diverted to a proposed
new workhouse in 1768 and towards medical
expenses in 1784, and an attempt to establish a
sacking factory was reportedly made c. 1795. (fn. 5) In
1815 South Sea annuities belonging to the charity were sold for c. £264, which was combined
with c. £47 from a 'manufactory account' presumably representing the sacking cloth venture,
and with accrued dividends of £253 presumably
from another charity. The interest from £500
remaining after expenses was diverted to the
National school. Susannah Frederick's bequest
of £200 by will proved 1798, (fn. 6) the interest to be
distributed in clothing, was received by 1824
after a delay, and before 1839 (fn. 7) both that and the
Dewe legacy were invested with an organist's
subscription fund totalling c. £600, the income
being distributed proportionately to the poor in
linen, to the National school, and to the organist.
Joseph Carter of Bristol, by will proved 1769,
left £50, the interest to be paid to the unrelieved
poor. Much of the bequest was lost c. 1837, and
in 1844 capital and interest totalled only c. £30. (fn. 8)
Edward Church (d. 1771) left an estate at Weald
worth £14 a year to benefit poor widows, but
his heir-at-law recovered it; James Leverett of
Witney, by will proved 1783, (fn. 9) left £50 for bread,
which was never received. Elizabeth Snell, by
will proved 1788, (fn. 10) left £200 which in 1824
produced c. £8, though more was then distributed in kind. Thomas Dewe (d. by 1862) of
Longworth (formerly Berks.) left £300, the interest to buy blankets, sheets, or clothing for the
poor of Weald. (fn. 11) In 1801 total charitable income
was c. £180, and in 1824 there were 100 loaves
distributed weekly; many charities were mismanaged or neglected, and repeated attempts
were made to overhaul their administration. (fn. 12)
A Scheme of 1888 combined Bampton's,
Lew's, Aston's, and Brighthampton's charities,
two organists' funds, and church lands totalling
c. 12 a. as the Bampton Consolidated Charities.
Under Schemes of 1906 and 1911 the Shilton
estate and Mary Dewe bequest became the
Bampton Educational Charity, and the church
lands and organists' funds the Bampton Proper
Ecclesiastical Charity. Total income of the Consolidated Charities in 1969 was c. £369, of which
c. £155 were expended in general charitable
relief in Bampton and Weald. Under a Scheme
of 1972 the eleemosynary charities were reconstituted as the Bampton Welfare Trust, some
income from which was used for educational
purposes in 1993. (fn. 13)