THE CHANGES

The Will had not stipulated the usage of surplus monies above the specified income of £100 per annum. Seventy years after commencement one person was very unhappy with what was happening and took action. The Master of the Rolls, in a suit against Philip Harley Bainbrigge and Harley Vaughan, decreed that new trustees would be appointed by the court, he also proposed a scheme for the future application of surplus income. An Order of July 1761 decreed that all profits, after building repairs, etc., should be divided into eight equal parts – one part to each widow, and the remaining two parts to the schoolmaster. Accordingly, more of those ‘Indentures of Lease and Release’ documents transferred all the Charity properties to eight new trustees in April 1762. The names of the new trustees are not known, and may well have included Harley relatives, but the true descent of the Charity’s officers from either Mary or Francis intended by Thomas Harley was broken by the dismissal of his grandson, Philip Harley Bainbridge, and his nephew’s grandson, Harley Vaughan.

Various ‘Acts of Enclosure’ changed the face – and the life – of the countryside by ending inefficient ‘strip farming’, and enclosing waste, common and forest land. Harley’s Charity gained by being awarded several acres, including four acres of Charnwood Forest. The poorest country people lost – deprived of their subsistence they drifted to the towns. Land values rose rapidly, and land owners got richer. The Charity Commissioners Report of 1837 recorded that the Charity owned some 230 acres, rented at £280 per annum. Part of the money invested in these properties had come from a windfall – literally, timber felled by a storm in 1805 was sold for £984, twelve shillings. About £200 worth of timber remained.

THE SCHOOL

The report stated that the custom was to appoint a clergyman to the post of schoolmaster, the appointment considered to be for life. The Reverend Doctor Theophilus Henry Hastings Kelk (a large name for a small school room) was appointed in 1833 (and was still there in the Census of 1851). It had become the custom to charge an entrance fee of two shillings and sixpence (13p) per boy, although there was nothing in the Will to authorise it – and it was certainly against the spirit of the foundation. Custom and usage prevailed, the practice probably dated back to the ‘fixed salary’ period. No boy was admitted under eight years of age, or if unable to read. Very few stayed beyond fourteen years. There were forty-two scholars registered, and an average attendance of thirty five. There were only two full paying scholars. “They are all the children of small farmers, trades people and the labouring classes, and do not require to be instructed in the Classics and Mathematics”, declared the Reverend Doctor Theophilus Henry Hastings Kelk. All books and stationery were provided by the pupils.

THE MONEY

The profit sharing scheme had improved the payments considerably. The 1835 figures were: Schoolmaster = £107; six widows at £43. 10 shillings each (£43.50p) = £261; Insurance = 210 shillings. Total = £370. 10 shillings, leaving an annual balance of £8.16 shillings and 10 pence (£8.84p) for repairs and incidental expenses. There was a balance of £26.5 shillings 9 pence with the treasurer (£26.29p).

The trustees appointed in 1832 were: The Marquis of Hastings, Charles March Phillips, Ambrose Lisle Phillips, Edward Dawson, John Bainbrigge Story, James Sutton, Reverend Samuel Dashwood and Reverend John Dalby.