The establishment of these two institutions is honourable to the founders, and, we are glad to observe, of great benefit to the poor and needy afflicted with disease. The origin of both is part of the annals of the town, and claims especial record in our volume. We find that in the year 1828 a meeting of the leading gentlemen of Oswestry was held, for the purpose of endeavouring to establish a Dispensary. That assembly was presided over by William Ormsby Gore, Esq., and the benevolent institution was at once founded under most liberal auspices. Donations amounting to one hundred and sixty guineas were subscribed at the meeting, and a Committee was appointed, to carry out the objects of the Charity. At the same time a liberal amount in annual subscriptions was determined upon, that the new institution should be rendered permanent. The following parties formed the first Committee, &c.

President:

Wm. Ormsby Gore, Esq.

Committee of Management:

Honorary Treasurer:—C. T. Jones, Esq.

Visiting Physician;—Dr. Evans.

Surgeons:

Dispenser and Secretary:—Mr. J. M. Hales.

The original Dispensary rented for the Charity was situated in Lower Brook-Street; but the premises being found too limited and inconvenient for the benevolent objects contemplated, a new building was suggested, and accordingly, in March, 1852, the Committee adopted a resolution to the effect, that it was desirable to erect a Dispensary, with Baths attached to it, for the accommodation of the public, as well as for the use of the patients of the institution. To carry out this excellent design a handsome subscription was entered into, amounting to between seven and eight hundred pounds; to which was added, from the accumulated fund of the Dispensary, the sum of five hundred pounds. The present Dispensary and Baths were immediately erected from a design by R. Kyrke Penson, Esq., on ground near the site of the former Dispensary. The building is roomy and convenient, containing handsome and suitable rooms for the Dispensary, with the addition of Warm and Cold Baths, Shower Baths, a Vapour Bath, and Plunge Baths.

Dispensary and Baths

The number of patients who have partaken, within the last three years, of the benefits which the Dispensary affords, shows the necessity and value of the institution. From May, 1851, to May, 1852—Patients, 455. In 1853—Patients, 496. In 1854—Patients, 555.The Dispensary, with the Baths, was opened May 1st, 1854. Mr. Ormsby Gore still holds the office of President of the institution, and Mr. Hales continues to officiate as Secretary and Dispenser. The Committee and officers are:—

Committee of Management:

Treasurer:—J. T. Jones, Esq.

Surgeons:

The Trustees to whom the site for the new Dispensary and Baths was conveyed are, William Ormsby Gore, Esq., Thomas Lovett, Esq., Edmund Wright, Esq., and Thomas Longueville Longueville, Esq.

The proposition for building the Dispensary with the addition of Baths originated with Edward Williams, Esq., of Lloran House; and his efficient and zealous efforts were used in promoting the benevolent design, which was most successfully accomplished in the end. In the prosperity of so valuable an institution all classes in the town and populous neighbourhood, who are blessed with this world’s goods, should consider it a Christian privilege to take a lively interest, by contributing to its funds, and thus extending its usefulness among the labouring poor who have few to help them.

THE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY,

Situated on elevated ground near the river Morda, on the road from Oswestry to Welshpool, was erected by virtue of an Act of Parliament obtained in the year 1790, and opened for the reception of inmates April 28th, 1791. The first steward and matron were Mr. Thos. Cooper and Mrs. Cooper, who held those responsible situations for the long period of nearly thirty years. Directors were appointed, under the Act, to manage the affairs of the institution, on behalf of Oswestry town and parish, and the other parishes also thereby incorporated: namely, Saint Martins, Selattyn, Whittington, West Felton, Ruyton, Kinnerley, Knockin, and Llanyblodwel, in the hundred of Oswestry, and county of Salop; that part of the parish of Llanymynech which lies in the hundred of Oswestry; the parish of Chirk, in the county of Denbigh; and the parish of Llansilin, in the counties of Salop and Denbigh. The Directors held their first meeting on Monday, August 11th, 1791: Chairman, John Lovett, Esq., Mayor of Oswestry. The building, of red brick, which still looks fresh and fair, cost £12,000. It has ever excited the attention of strangers, on account of its imposing stateliness of architecture, the exterior presenting, at the first view, the appearance of a fine old English baronial residence. Nicholson, in describing it thirty years ago, says, “it is a ridiculously-splendid brick building, intended, not for a purpose which its exterior seems to prompt, but for the abode of the indigent and wretched.”

In 1851 a slight sensation was created in the united parishes of Oswestry by a proposal from Mr. Doyle, Poor-Law Inspector, to admit six additional parishes into union with the Oswestry Incorporation. The Poor-Law Board had some time before claimed a general authority over the Incorporation, to which the Directors, after a slight resistance, submitted. Public meetings of the rate-payers of the incorporated parishes were held, to consider Mr. Doyle’s proposal, and one also was convened in the Old Church, Oswestry, on Saturday, July 21st: Peploe Cartwright, Esq., in the chair. Mr. Doyle stated that certain alterations in the House of Industry would have to be made; and in order to effect these improvements at as small a cost as possible to the incorporated parishes, he suggested that six other parishes should be united to the present, the expense being thus spread over a larger number of rate-payers. The proposal was not favourably entertained, as such a measure would have involved the immediate dissolution of the Oswestry Incorporation. A resolution was adopted at the meeting, “That in the absence of proper information and details, we are at present of opinion that it is not desirable to dissolve the Oswestry Incorporation.” From that time to the present the Poor-Law Board exercise only a general authority over the Incorporation, whose powers, as defined by the Act of Parliament, with the exception just named, remain intact.

In 1853 various alterations, suggested by the Poor-Law Board, were made in the House, at an expense of £1500. The average number of inmates in the Institution is 174. The number which the House can receive is limited by the Poor-Law Board to 300. The election of Directors is independent of the Board; they are nominated by the vestries of the several parishes, and appointed by the Board of Directors.

The present officers of the Institution are as follows:—The Rev. J. Maude, Chairman; the Rev. E. W. O. Bridgman, Vice-Chairman; Mr. John Hughes, Clerk to the Directors; and Mr. R. Richards, Master. Relieving Officers:—For the Upper Division, comprising Oswestry Town and Parish, Llanyblodwel, townships of Llwyntidman and Treprenal, Llansilin, and Selattyn, Mr. Thomas Davies. For the Lower Division, consisting of Chirk, Saint Martins, Whittington, Ruyton, West Felton, Knockin, and Kinnerley, Mr. Joseph Rogers.

CHARITABLE DONATIONS TO THE POOR.

In the present age the good old-fashioned mode of bequeathing some portion of worldly substance for the education or relief of the poor is recognized by very few of our wealthier fellow-countrymen. The usual channels of relief to the poor and needy—the Poor-Law Union, the Night Asylum, the Good Samaritan Society, and other institutions of like class—are excellent in their way, and diffuse much benefit and comfort among the aged and indigent; but still our ancient charities, especially our schools and almshouses, whilst they secure to their recipients permanent, not precarious good, shed a brilliant lustre over the land, and denote the kind and benignant spirit of many of our ancestors. Would that the old benevolent English spirit were revived among us, and that all affluent men, who have possessed their money by inheritance, or obtained it by the force of their talents, or success in trade or commerce, would, among their testamentary bequests, never fail to “remember the poor.” Then should we have comfortable asylums for many hoary-headed men and women, who, reduced by misfortune, or overwhelmed by the distressing calamities of life, have no place of quiet shelter—no resting-place in which to pass the residue of their days.

The following list of Charitable Donations, left for the benefit of the poor of Oswestry, shows that in days gone by, the weak were not overlooked by the strong, and that many, imbued with practical Christian benevolence, deemed it their duty to aid, not only the poor of their own days, but those also of succeeding generations. The only Aims-Houses in the town are those situated near the turnpike-gate in Willow-Street. They are six in number, and were left by Dame Ellen, widow of Sir Francis Eure. Mrs. Jane Owen, in 1732, bequeathed to the twelve poor persons (six men and six women), inmates of the alms-houses, the sum of 18s. to be paid to them yearly, for ever, and also ordered her executor to charge her real and personal estate with the payment thereof. Mrs. M. Ormsby, by her will in 1805, requested her daughter (the present Mrs. Ormsby Gore), and those who should succeed her in the Porkington Estate, would pay “as she had done,” the poor people in the alms-houses for ever. Mrs. Ormsby Gore regularly distributes £3 among the inmates on Christmas-Day, that being the sum her mother had previously given. The alms-houses are kept in good repair by Mrs. Ormsby Gore, and she selects the inmates.

LIST OF CHARITIES FOR THE USE OF THE CHURCHWARDENS, CONSISTING OF SUCH ONLY AS ARE PAID TO AND DISTRIBUTED BY THEM.

Charities relating to the Town only.

Yale’s; Morris’s; Witcherley’s; Sontley’s; Donor unknown, (Owen?) Land in Beatrice Street; Muckleston Allen’s; Lloyd and Peacock’s; Muckleston’s (Poor of Oswestry); Margaret Lloyd’s; Elizabeth Williams’s (Mixon Hall); Rebecca Lloyd’s (Freeman).

Charities relating jointly to the Town and Parish.

Morgan’s; Gough’s; Winifred Matthews’s; Turner’s; Sir William Williams’s.

Charities relating to the Parish only.

Elizabeth Williams’s (Croft at Croes-Wylan); Jeffreys’s.

The SOCIETY for BETTERING the CONDITION of the POOR,

Within the Hundred of Oswestry, was established in or about the year 1812, by the late Rev. C. A. A. Lloyd, Rector of Whittington, and the late Rev. G. N. K. Lloyd, Rector of Selattyn. The objects of the Society at its original institution were—the encouragement of schools for the education of the lower classes; the increase of the comforts of the poor in their dwellings, by the improvement of cottages; the distribution of moral and religious books and tracts; the encouragement and promotion of friendly societies; the establishment of a bank for the poor, paying interest for small sums; and, finally, the distribution of rewards among the poor for extraordinary acts of industry.

During the progress of the Society very much has been done in the neighbourhood, through its instrumentality, with regard to the above objects. Several schools were established soon after its commencement, and a vast number of moral and religious publications have been given as prizes, from time to time, to the best-informed children, and also as rewards for proficiency in writing, drawing, sewing, &c. With respect to the improvement of cottages, the Society issued several small publications some years ago, directing the attention of owners of property to this very important social amelioration; some plans were also engraved, and rules printed, relative to the building of habitations for the poor. Through the influence of this institution some Friendly Societies were established, and also (which is well worthy of notice) a Savings’ Bank for the poor, about four years before the present excellent institution commenced operations in conformity with an Act of Parliament passed on the subject. As soon as the Government Savings’ Bank was opened, the funds of the former were transferred to it.

Subjoined are specimens of some of the prizes which were offered by the Society during the year 1854:—

No. 2.—To the Labouring Cottager who shall be found to occupy the best-furnished, neatest, and cleanest Cottage, together with the best-cultivated Garden, the same being not less than a quarter of an acre in extent:

No. 5.—To the most deserving Widow, who under the greatest difficulties has supported herself by her own unassisted exertions:

No. 8.—To the Cottager, or Farming Servant, who shall have accumulated most money in the Savings’ Bank, the same to have arisen entirely from his or her own earnings:

No recipients of parish relief are allowed to become candidates for any of the prizes.

It is to be regretted that the Society, since the loss of its benevolent founders, has been in a declining state; but it is to be hoped that an institution which has effected so much social and domestic comfort, and advanced the cause of morality and vital religion, will not, in this wealthy district, be allowed to expire for want of support. Franklin has well observed, that “more will be done for the happiness of the poor by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all your estates among them.” To establish principles of self-reliance among a people is to secure to them respectability and a manly independence of character.

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

There are several Friendly Societies in Oswestry, all of which are conducted with prudence and judgment, and are at present in a state of prosperity. The following is a list of these institutions:—

Sun Friendly Society, established 1765, consisting of 107 Members.

The Feathers Friendly Society, established 1830, consisting of 150 Members.

King Oswald Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 603 Manchester Unity; established 1833, consisting of 153 Members. Held at Osburn’s Hotel.

Philanthropic Lodge of ditto, No. 1637, established 1838, having 50 Members. Held at the George Inn.

Duke of Cornwall Court of Foresters, No. 86, established 1840, consisting of 86 Members. Held at the Unicorn Inn.