CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
A number of
charities for the poor existed apart from the educational and denominational bequests mentioned
above. In 1695 Stephen Gardiner left £10, the
interest to be used for doles of bread on Christmas
day, but the principal sum had apparently been lost
by 1826. (fn. 78) Mary Shipton (d. 1753) left £10 for the
same purpose; in 1826 the sum was held by William
Baylis who paid 10s. yearly for bread (fn. 79) but in
1833 the charity was combined with the bequest of
Theyer Townsend who by will dated 1801 left £100,
the interest to be distributed in bread on St. Thomas's
day; Townsend's bequest was not being admini
stered in 1826. (fn. 80) In 1683 Richard Clissold left a
rent-charge of 10s. on his estate at Steanbridge to
buy bread but by 1894 the charity was being used to
buy coal. (fn. 81) John Gardner, by will dated 1826, left
£100, the interest to buy bread. (fn. 82) By his will proved
1836 John Harvey Ollney of Cheltenham left £320 to
the town of Painswick, the interest to be used to buy
coal and blankets for the poor at Christmas. (fn. 83) Robert
Barnard by will proved in 1872 left £500 in reversion, the interest to be used for the general benefit of
the poor of the ecclesiastical parish, which brought
in an income of £15 yearly in 1894. (fn. 84) Edwin Gyde (d.
1894) left £500, the income to be used to buy bread
and coal for the poor of the civil parish of Painswick as then constituted. (fn. 85) In 1915 the above charities, with an unknown donor's bread charity, were
united by agreement (fn. 86) and the income in 1970
amounted to £44 which was distributed in 15s.
grocery or coal tokens. (fn. 87)
In 1681 Samuel Webb left £10, the interest to buy
bread for poor communicants on Christmas day. The
principal sum was later used to purchase or repair
the pest-house at Edge in which one of the parish
poor was accommodated and 10s. yearly was paid to
the churchwardens out of the poor-rates. (fn. 88) The
charity was apparently attributed to Samuel Gardner
in 1894 (fn. 89) and was subsequently lost.
George Cox of London (d. 1932) left £5,000 to
Painswick in memory of his sisters. The interest was
to be applied for the sick and needy of the parish (fn. 90)
and realised an income of £174 in 1970. The interest
was shared out on St. Thomas's day but some part
was retained to form a special fund for cases of
emergency. (fn. 91)
Frederick Gyde (d. 1872) left approximately
£10,000 for the benefit of the town of Painswick (fn. 92)
and the trustees subsequently played a major role in
the provision of public services. (fn. 93) Edwin Francis
Gyde (d. 1894), his brother, also left considerable
sums to the town for founding alms-houses, which
were designed by Sidney Barnsley and opened in
1913, and an orphanage, completed in 1918 to
designs by P. R. Morley Horder, for Protestant
orphans of the locality and blind or deaf and dumb
children. (fn. 94)
Two charities recorded in the early 18th century
have not been found recorded later; the interest on
£10, bequeathed by a Mr. Loveday of London, was
said to have been left to the poor, and Daniel
Clissold of Pitchcombe was said to have left an
annual gift of 20s. to be shared by Stroud and
Painswick. (fn. 95) A charity for apprenticing one boy
annually was left by Thomas Phillips of Gravel Hill
by will dated 1824, (fn. 96) but no further record of the
charity has been found.
The ecclesiastical district of Slad received a
bequest from Elizabeth Phillips (d. by 1851) who
left £500, the interest to be administered as follows;
two-fifths to be distributed among the poor attending Holy Trinity church, two-fifths to help support
the Sunday school, and one-fifth for a singers' pew
in the church. (fn. 97) The income of the charity was £6
in the early 1970s and the money for a pew was
devoted to the church fabric. (fn. 98)