TETLOW’S CHARITY

John Tetlow, of Cross, by his will, bearing date August 10, 1704, gave, after the decease of his wife, all the land which he had purchased from John Cooper, to the poor of the town of Oldham, for ever, the yearly profits thereof to be disposed of by the then Minister of Oldham, and the yearly Churchwarden and Overseers of the Poor of the town of Oldham. The child of some poor necessitous parents to be yearly bound apprentice to some sufficient trade or calling, and the overplus to be given yearly to the poor of the said town, on St. Thomas's day, for ever.

An Indenture, dated October 23, 1724, declared, that John Chadwick stood seized of the four closes of John Tetlow, lying near Broadway-lane, for the use of Alice Buckley for life, and after her decease for the use of the Minister, Churchwarden, and Overseers of the Poor of the township of Oldham, and their successors, for ever, for the purposes expressed in the will of John Tetlow. On the 24th May, 1735, the Rev Samuel Townson, then Curate of Oldham, and the then Churchwarden and Overseers, leased the closes comprised in the will of the said John Tetlow, to John Wallwork, for the term of 1000 years, at the clear rent, payable to the said Curate, Churchwarden, and Overseers, and their successors, of £4 per annum, and an additional rent of £1 1s. at the end of every twenty-one years, to be applied in the manner directed in Mr. Tetlow’s will. The Trustees of the Poor's Field Charity, however, considered this arrangement a most disadvantageous one for the recipients of Tetlow's bounty, and in the year 1736 they agreed - with the consent of the Curate, Churchwarden, and Overseers - for the purchase of the residue of the said term of 1000 years in the said lands, from the parties then interested in the lease, namely, Thomas Birley, Richard Bains, and Isabella Lawson, for £130, being money accumulated out of the rents of the Poor’s Field; the said Curate, Churchwarden, and Overseers to receive the rents and profits of the said premises, and dispose of the same amongst the poor, as desired by the donor. This sale was effected February 28^th, 1785.

By the award of the Commissioners, for inclosing the waste lands of Oldham, in 1804, a plot of land, upon North Moor, containing 3r. 6p. was allotted to the Trustees of this Charity, under the name of Street’s Charity. The Trustees, appointed in 1804, were the same as those appointed for the Poor’s Field Charity. On the 29^th of May, 1833, another appointment of Trustees took place, the following gentlemen being elected: - Robert Gregg Hopwood, Esq., James Starkie, Esq., Peter Heron, Esq., John Taylor, Esq., George Gee, Esq., Harry Heron, Esq., James Rowland, Esq., William Jones, Esq., Andrew Schofield, Esq., John Lancashire, Esq., Jonathan Hague, Esq., James Lees, Esq., Greenbank, James Lees, Esq., Clarksfield; and Horatio Nelson, Esq. The first five of these gentlemen have since died. It does not appear that there has been any conveyance of the freehold interest in these lands, since the levying of the fine in 1724.

The property constituting this Charity consists of a farmhouse and outbuildings, a cottage and three closes, formerly four (the Lower-field and the Clough having been added together) in the township of Oldham, adjoining a lane, called Honeywell-lane, near Broadway-lane, containing nearly five acres, customary measure of seven yards to the perch, occupied at a fair rent (1826) of £30 per annum, and it now lets for £27, deducting income tax. The expenses of repairs of the buildings are defrayed out of the rents. An allotment on North Moor, containing 3r. 6p. statue measure, is in the occupation of the Messrs. Rowland, as yearly tenants, at a rent of £3 per annum,

The principal object of this benefactor was the apprenticing of poor children, which is done occasionally, as applications are made to the trustees. The whole of the clear rents, and the residue of those of the Poor's Field Charity, after the payment to Royton, are laid out by the Overseers in the purchase of blankets, linen, and calico, which are distributed on St. Thomas' day, amongst poor persons of the township of Oldham, recommended by the principal inhabitants. One general account is kept of the receipts and disbursements of this and the Poor's Field Charity, and of the names of the poor persons that participate in the distribution.

In the year 1849 a sum of £140 was received by the late incumbent of Oldham, the Rev. Mr Fallowfield, for a small quantity of coal got from under the estate. This sum was placed out at interest by the trustees, and at five per cent produces now £7 per annum to the charity. On St. Thomas’s day last, the Trustees voted £70 to be distributed amongst the recipients of the two charities - Poor's Field and Tetlow’s - and that sum was given to each according to their respective proportions.