SHEFFIELD:
Sheffield description, 1852
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THE CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS OF SHEFFIELD, 1852
The GENERAL INFIRMARY ranks as the most useful public charity in
Sheffield. It is a spacious and handsome stone building, on the northwest
side of the town, erected by subscription, in 1793-'4. In 1840-1,
it was enlarged by the erection of extensive Fever Wards, which cost about
£5000, but have not yet been occupied. The average number of in-patients
in 1851 was 92; and the total number of in and out-patients on
the books last Midsummer was 2468. The Duke of Norfolk is the president,
the Duke of Devonshire and Earl Fitzwilliam, vice-presidents; Drs.
Thompson, Branson, and Bartolome, physicians ; Messrs. Overend, Jackson,
and Gregory, surgeons; Mr. Joseph Law, house surgeon; Rev. H. J.
Graham, chaplain; Mr. Joseph Kirk, secretary; Mr. D. Cooley, collector;
and Mrs. Hannah Barker, matron.
The DISPENSARY, in West street, was opened in 1832, for the purpose of
affording medical and surgical aid to the poor, as out-patients. It occupies
a building purchased in 1834, at the cost of £1500. Saml. Roberts, Esq.,
is president; and Robert Sorby and E. Vickers, Esqrs., vice-presidents.
Messrs. Gregory, Walker, Barber, Wright, Martin, Chesman, Porter, and
Hunter are the surgeons; Mr. H. J. Walker is the house surgeon, and Mr.
Roberts the collector. The Eye Dispensary, at No. 10, Cheney row, is
attended by Messrs. Gregory and Gillett, every Tuesday, Thursday, and
Saturday, from 12 to 2 o'clock; and the Eye and Ear Dispensary, at 71,
Westbar, is attended by Messrs. Chesman, Thompson, and Martin, daily
from 11 till 12 o'clock.
The TOWN BURGESSES' TRUST consists, like that of the Church
Burgesses, of property held in trust, for the benefit of the town at large,
and it now produces upwards of £2000 per annum, of which £1000 arises
from Navigation shares, and more than £500 from land in and near the
town. The trustees have, at various periods, expended large sums in
widening the streets, and otherwise improving the town. In 1840, they
extended Queen street from Workhouse croft to Scotland street, and widened
that part of Campo lane between St. James' row and Lee croft. In 1845,
and subsequent years, they widened Trippet lane, by removing a long
range of old houses which formed one side of Red croft; and in 1849,
they widened Snighill by clearing away the old buildings below the Black
Swan. In 1848, they expended £3848 in purchasing old property for the
improvement of the town. The present Town Trustees are Wm. Butcher,
(town regent,) B. Withers, Wm. Fisher, S. Bailey, J. W. Hawksworth,
Wm. Vickers, Samuel Roberts, Thomas Porter, T. A. Ward, Edward Smith,
T. R. Barker, Hy. Wilkinson, and Thomas Birks, Esqrs. Mr. H. Vickers
is their clerk.
The HOSPITAL OF GILBERT, EARL OF SHREWSBURY, founded by that
illustrious nobleman, in 1616, formerly occupied the site of the present
Corn Exchange and New Haymarket, but the original buildings were pulled
down in 1827, when the almspeople were removed to the present Hospital,
which forms one of the handsomest establishments of the kind in the
kingdom, and occupies an airy situation, on the brow of the hill
overlooking Claywood, on the eastern side of the town, opposite the Cholera
Monument, round which is a large plot of ground, laid out in public walks and
shrubberies. The trusteeship and patronage of this hospital is vested with
the Duke of Norfolk, and it now affords comfortable dwellings to 20 poor
men, and 20 poor women, with a weekly allowance of 10s. to each of the
former, and 8s. to each of the latter. They have also each a load of coals
every three months, and a blue coat or gown once in two years. The
founder directed that the inmates should be such as had "seen better days,
and had been reduced by misfortune." The Rev. John Stacye, M.A., is the
governor and chaplain, and has a good house, and £60 a year.
HOLLIS HOSPITAL, in Newhall street, was founded in 1703, by Thomas
Hollis, a wealthy merchant, of London, but a native of Sheffield, and a
liberal and benevolent nonconformist. He purchased the first dissenting
meeting house in Sheffield, called the New hall, and a house adjoining, which
he converted into dwellings for 16 poor women, widows of cutlers, residing
within two miles of Sheffield, or others connected with its trade. In his will
he made no provision for the maintenance of the Hospital, merely desiring
that it might be continued, and this request was religiously fulfilled by his
descendants. The annual income is about £680. Besides stipends to the
ministers of the Upper, Nether, and Fulwood Chapels, and the Presbyterian
ministers, and schoolmasters of Rotherham and Doncaster, seventeen alms-
women receive each 7s. per week, and the governor a yearly salary of about
£60. The latter reads prayers to the almspeople, and conducts a School for
the gratuitous instruction of 70 children. The property of the charity is
vested in 14 trustees, chiefly descendants of the founder. Richard Solly, Esq.,
is the treasurer ; and Mr. Rd. Carr, governor and schoolmaster.
The LICENSED VICTUALLERS' ASYLUM, which occupies a pleasant
situation near Grimesthorpe, comprises a row of neat cottages in the Tudor
style, built in 1818, and intended to be enlarged when the funds of the
society are sufficient for that benevolent purpose. At present there is room
for six pensioners, but only 3 or 4 have been admitted.
The CHARITIES under the management of the Callers' Company, are:-
Thos. HANBEY'S, which yields £150 a year, to be distributed in clothes,
and money, to the poor and aged men and women attending the Church ;
JOSEPH HUDSON'S, consisting of an annuity of £8 10s. for poor file-strikers,
at Christmas; and the Charity of the late SAML. HADFIELD, Esq., who died
in 1850, and left £3000 to be vested, and the proceeds applied in relieving
poor dissenters, in the same manner and at the same time as Hanbey's
charity. The poor of Sheffield have about £140 a year from the bequests
of Mary Parsons, Eliz. Parkin, and seven other donors, vested with various
trustees; £100 a year from the Church Burgesses' Trust; £60 a year from
William Birley's charity, left in 1715, and vested with the Church Burgesses;
and occasionally they have small distributions from the Town Burgesses'
Trust. Various societies, for bettering the condition of the poor, are
liberally supported by the contributions of the benevolent, who, in seasons of
scarcity, inclemency, and want of employment, often dispense large sums in
food and clothing, among the destitute inhabitants.
DEAKIN'S CHARITY :--The late Thos. Deakin, Esq., merchant, of Change
Alley, died in August 1849, and bequeathed £3000 for the foundation or
commencement of a Charitable Institution for Single Women, of good character,
who have never been married, and are either members of the Church of
England, or Protestant Dissenters, believing in the doctrine of the Trinity,
as taught by that Church. This bequest was made on the express condition
that another sum of £3000 should be raised by subscription, and vested in
the same trust, and for the same benevolent object. This was accomplished
in August 1851, when the two sums of £3000 each were vested in trust with
the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Ripon, the Vicar of Sheffield, and the
Incumbent of St. George's; -the latter of whom displayed the most anxious
zeal and indefatigable industry in awakening the sympathy of the rich and
benevolent inhabitants of Yorkshire, for the foundation of this charitable
institution, for the benefit of about 20 single women of the dioceses of York
and Ripon, to be nominated by the trustees, governors, and subscribers; the
latter of whom are to have a vote for every sum of £50 they may contribute.
The trustees are about to apply to the Court of Chancery for a scheme for
the management of the charity, and until a building is provided, yearly
stipends of £16 to £25 will be allowed to a number of single women who
hive been reduced from responsable circumstances.
Data transcribed from:
Whites Directory of Sheffield 1852
Transcribed by
Colin Hinson ©2003
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