SOHAM PARISH

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Soham Moor Charity dated 1664.

Disputes between the Lord of the Manor and the inhabitants of Soham.

About the year 1658, disputes having arisen between the Lord of the Manor and the inhabitants of Soham respecting their common rights, the matter was referred to the arbitration of Sir Thomas Chichley and Sir Jonas Moore, who, by deed poll, dated 20th December 1664, made their award, and directed, That 100 acres, 50 acres being in Horsecroft next Dow Field, 20 acres in the Moor, and 30 acres in the borders next Nutland-field, should be allotted and set out for the working horses of such persons as should plough or work in Soham fields, they owning or farming six acres at the least, the stinting and settling of the feeding to be left to the major part of the farmers and owners, That 200 acres of common in Horsecroft, East Fen, Qua Fen, Townsend Sheets, and elsewhere should be set apart for feeding the cattle of the poor cottagers and others, in such order as should yearly at the Easter court be set on by the Lord's steward and the homage:-- That there should be liberty of digging clay and gravel for the Highways, to be limited by the steward and homage: that 100 acres in the Hasse should be set out for digging peat for the poor cottagers and inhabitants, the ordering to be left to the Lord's steward and homage, as also how the herbage should be disposed of for the good order of the Town; and, That 116 acres, the remainder of Soham Moor, with three acres near Rosefield-lane, which were to be applied to the repairs of the road there, should be settled in Trustees, to be chosen by the Lord of the Manor and Tenants, or Lord and major part of the Tenants, and after deducting the expenses of embanking, draining, and surveying, &c., the overplus of the rents to be for a Town stock, to set the poor on work, for binding out apprentices, and raising a revenue for a Schoolmaster, as the Lord and major part of the Tenants should order. The Commissioners of the Bedford Level, to whom an application to that effect was made, refusing to decree the execution of the award as not being within their jurisdiction, it was agreed by all parties, that the lands should remain vested in Sir Thomas Chichley and his heirs, in trust to be conveyed and settled upon the uses in the award directed. The lands were accordingly decreed by the Commissioners to him in fee, with others allotted to him in his own right, the decree being silent as to the trusts. Sir Thomas Chichley not having performed the agreement, in Easter Term 1682, a suit was instituted against him in the Exchequer, on behalf of the inhabitants of Soham. By the decree made therein in 1687, it was ordered that the 516a. should be and remain upon the same uses and trusts, and be held, ordered, and used in such manner, as by the said award were limited and appointed, and that Sir Thomas Chichley should, before 1st August in the same year, convey the 300a., allotted in the award for feeding the poor's cattle and digging peat, and the 3a. for the repairs of Rosefield-lane, and the 116a. in Soham Moor, for raising a common stock, and other uses mentioned in the award, to the Master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, for the time being, the Vicar of Soham for the time being, and other Trustees, therein-named, with a provision, that so often as it should happen that six of the Trustees should die, the surviving Trustees should, within one year after, enfeoff two other persons, to the intent that they should reinfeoff the surviving feoffees and as many of the substantial tenants of the said manor as should make up the number of 12 persons, besides the Master of Pembroke Hall, and the Vicar of Soham. The first conveyance was dated in 1709, and several mesne assurances were made from time to time, and ultimately by indentures of lease and release, the release dated 7th February 1829, the premises became vested in Gilbert Ainslie, Master of Pembroke Hall, George Haggitt, Vicar of Soham, (since deceased,) William Wilkin, John Slack, Ralph Eden, William Jugg, Ellis Staples, James Drage Merist, John Dobede, Robert Fyson, Julius Caesar Martin, William Staples of Gaseley, John Hatch, and William Staples of Brook-street. The parcels agree with those in the first conveyance, and the feoffees have always been copyhold tenants, the Master of Pembroke Hall and the Vicar excepted.

The Poor's Common.---Is enjoyed under the order of the leet, and fen-reeves are regularly appointed. Encroachments have been occasionally made, some of which have been presented by the homage. Gravel has lately been dug for making roads in order to confine the traffic to one track. A small portion is subject to a drainage tax. The payment of tithe has not of late exacted, and the whole property is exempt from Land-tax.

Turbary.--- By one of the Drainage Acts it is provided that no persons shall dig fuel in the Middle Fen district, in which the 100a. are situate, without giving security to the Commissioners. This amounts to a prohibition, and the land is consequently mown by the poor for fodder and stover, on notice given by the fen-reeves, when a violent struggle usually takes place to obtain the best portions. The aftergrass is sold and the proceeds applied towards the drainage tax, which amounts to about £18., the deficiency being supplied amongst the mowers. If let to the best advantage this land would produce £50. or £60. per annum, clear of outgoings.

Rosefield-lane Estate.---The three acres in Rosefield are let to Robert Horseley as yearly tenant at a rent of £6. They are in good condition, and rent is regularly received by the Trustees, and paid by them to the Surveyors of the Highways. A doubt was raised as to the propriety of this application; but it does not appear that the roads for which it was alleged the rents were intended to be applied, are at all conductive to the enjoyment of the common.

School and Town Estate.---The land, stated as 116a. in the award and decree, was surveyed shortly before the Inquiry, and found to contain only 102a. 1r. 33p.; but it has since been discovered that the deficiency has been occasioned by altering the course of a brook which marked the boundary, and the remainder will probably be recovered. The whole of the land is grass and in good condition, but varying much in quality.

A	R	P		£	s	d
67	1	2	are let to Charles Spring, as yearly tenant at a rent of	73	14	0
35	0	0	are let to Thomas Howlet, as yearly tenant at a rent of	45	0	0
102	1	2	£	118	14	0

The Trustees, at the request of Mr. Spring, who contemplates improving the property, have agreed to grant him a lease for six years, from Michaelmas 1835, at the same rent. The rents are regularly paid. Prior to the occupation by the present Tenants, the land was held by the late Mr. Dobede, one of the Trustees.

Workhouse.---At a court, holden 17th April 1727, 18 persons were admitted to a copyhold tenement, described in the admission as a Workhouse, '' in trust for the maintenance, relief, and exercise of the poor of the Parish of Soham.''
Three sums, amounting together to £80. 8s., were paid towards the purchase money of this house out of the charity funds; but it does not appear how the rest was furnished. It has been from time to time repaired out of the trust-money, and in 1812, £257. 7s. 7d. were expended upon it. In 1827, John Slack, Ellis Staples, junior, Henry James Merist, John Dobede, junior, William Slack, junior, and William Syser Martin were admitted tenants at the expense of the Parish. The building is in good repair, and worth from £30. to £35. per annum. It is insured by the Trustees, and is used by the Parish as a common Workhouse. The Poor Law Commissioners have expressed their intention to convert it to the use of the district.

School.---In the year 1699, a School-house was erected by the Trustees upon a piece of copyhold land, the legal estate in which is vested in the Trustees of Bond's Charity, hereafter mentioned. It is in substantial repair; but much to small for the wants of the Parish. It is not insured.
The Schoolmaster receives £60. per annum, and £3. 3s. for acting as clerk to the Trustees of this charity. He also receives small payments from the other charities in the Parish, amounting altogether to £5. 5s., as hereafter stated.
The School is open to the Parish generally, and is attended, on an average, by between 40 and 50 boys, who are required, on admission, to be able to read the New Testament. They are further instructed in reading, and also in writing and arithmetic, in the latter of which they advance as far as the Rule of Three. The farmers and tradesmen's sons attend more regularly than the children of the poor, who are called off to field-labour. In the summer months the number does not exceed 20; in winter the School-room is filled. They are required to pay 1s. a year for firing, and there have been instances of exclusion for non-payment. Girls are not admitted. It was stated that the School is not efficiently attended to, the Master being withdrawn by other avocations from his regular duties. (The Master acts as Clerk to the following Charities, for which he receives the payments stated below.)

	£	s	d
From the School Moor Charities	3	3	0
Peachey's	1	5	11½
Bond's Highway Charity	1	15	2½
Bond's Church Charity	0	13	9½
IWright's Gift	0	7	9½
Bond's Poor Account	1	0	3½
Tyler's Gift	0	1	11½
	£8	8	0

In his absence, however, the scholars are instructed by his son.
In this Parish there are many small landowners, and it is difficult to draw the line as to who can afford to pay for the education of their children. Were the qualification of being able to read dispensed with, and the plan of mutual instruction adopted, the School would be better attended by the children of the poorer classes.
£1. 1s. is paid to the Trustees of Bond's Charity for the rent of the School-house and a piece of ground, called the Hempland, used as a playground. The Trustees of the School permit it to be also used for a rope-walk, in consideration of a rent of 7s. 6d. a year.
Since 1815, £60. per annum has been regularly applied for the School, besides some trifling expenses incurred by it. In the years 1818-19, £140. 4. were expended in repairs.

Apprentices.--- Apprentices have been bound from time to time until the year 1829, when six were placed out at an expense of £120. From that period to March 1832, when three more were bound out, the system was discontinued. Females do not participate in this branch of the Charity.

Town Stock.---For many years it was the practice to procure employment, in spinning, for old women, and to give them an allowance, per pound, in addition to the wages they obtained from the woolmen, which, however, do not appear to have been lowered in consequence. Until the year 1826 about £50. per annum was expended in this manner. In the two following years the payments were reduced to about £20., and, with the exception of £5., in 1828, they have been entirely discontinued. These transactions, although an injudicious employment of the capital, appear to have been fairly conducted.
The conveyances have been made by double deeds of lease and release, whereby considerable additional expense has been unnecessarily occasioned. It was recommended that this practice should be discontinued.
An information has been lately filed respecting these charities, which states the facts above set forth, as to the origin and the erection of the Workhouse; and further, that it was originally built and used for the purposes of setting the poor of the Parish at work on Town Stock, but had of late, with the consent of the Trustees, or some of them, been possessed by the Churchwardens and Overseers of the poor of the Parish, and had been used, and was still used by them, as a Workhouse for such poor, without paying rent.
It charges that the Workhouse or Poor-house ought either to be sold or disposed of for the benefit of the charity, or that it ought to be let at a rack rent, to be applied for the purposes of the charity, and that the Trustees of the said charity estates ought also to be appointed Trustees of the Workhouse;--that no part of the residue, after payment of a salary of £60. to the Schoolmaster, was applied in procuring Town stock, or in binding out apprentices; and prays, that the charities may be established, and the lands allotted for charitable purposes, distinguished, and for an account to be taken of the rents and profits received, or which might, without wilful default, have been received, and for an inquiry, whether it would be for the benefit of the charity that the Workhouse should be sold or let at a rack rent, and for a reference for a scheme.
The cause was heard as a short cause about 23rd December 1835, while the inquiry at Soham was pending. The minutes proposed were for a reference to take an account of the rents, &c., and whether there was any, and what personal estate:---and inquiry to be directed, as to whether the real estates are freehold or copyhold, and if copyhold, of the particulars of the tenure, and an account of receipts and expenses for five years:---an inquiry as to the persons in whom the legal estate is vested, and whether any are desirous of resigning, in which case they are to be at liberty to resign, and the Master to approve others to fill up the trusts. The Master also to approve a proper conveyance, particularly of the site of the School-house, to Trustees to be approved of by him, and to inquire the value of the Workhouse, and what it would produce if let at a rack rent, and whether it is expedient that the freehold or copyhold should be conveyed and vested in the general Trustees of the charity, and to approve a scheme. Costs and further directions reserved. No proceedings have been had since the decree.
The expediency of the information appears questionable, but as it has proceeded so far, it seems desirable that a scheme should be settled by the Master, and that the point should be raised before him as to how the Trustees are to be chosen - whether by the Lord and Tenants, or by the remaining Trustees; and that the question of the boundary of the estate, as to which a doubt at present exists, as already noticed, should also be set at rest.
A communication has been made to the Attorney-general on the subject.