RECORDS OF WESTLEY'S CHARITY FOR WIDOWS AND CHILDREN OF CLERGYMEN OF SOMERSETSHIRE.

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Repository	Somerset Heritage Centre
Reference number	A/AMV
Description	By a deed dated 21 June 1709, William Westley the elder of Wells, Esq., and Richard Healy the elder of Wells, Doctor of Laws, assigned to Marshall Bridges and others the principal sum of £125 and interest secured by a mortgage on lands belonging to Jeremy Tucker. The money was assigned on trust to endow a charity 'for the relief, sustentation and maintenance of widows and children of such of the clergy of the Church of England...as should be residing at any time thereafter within the said county of Somerset, or be sent out from thence to school, or to either of the two universities, or to be apprentices...'. In 1716, the trustees lent their capital to the corporation of Wells on the security of premises in the city, and at a later date they invested in securities on the Shepton Mallet turnpike roads and the Wells turnpike. By a codicil to his will, dated 1776, Peter Davis, Esq., gave £100 to augment the charity, and a further sum of £100 was bequeathed by the will, dated 1797, of the Rev. John Golden of Wells.
Date	1709-1971
Access status	Open
Level	Collection
Related material	See Reports of the Commissioners to Enquire Concerning Charities: Somerset, 1819-1837 (1894), pp 62-3. See D/P/w.st.c/17/7/1,2 for account books of the charity which list recipients of aid.

Deeds of William Westley's Charity, including foundation deed, 21 June 1709, deeds for appointment of new trustees,and schedule of documents. Miscellaneous papers and correspondence of William Westley's Charity Correspondence, etc., relating to a bequest of £100 left by the Rev. John Golden of Wells for the benefit of Westley's Charity. Annual accounts of Westley's Charity, with associated papers. Papers in the case Julia Ann Rouquet, spinster, plaintiff, and Edwin Lovell, defendant, concerning the appointment of trustees to Westley's Charity. Petitions for financial assistance from Westley's Charity, and receipts for money received, including also some general correspondence and accounting records. Petitions for financial assistance from Westley's Charity, and receipts for money received, including also some general correspondence and accounting records. Petitions for financial assistance from Westley's Charity, and receipts for money received, including also some general correspondence and accounting records. Petitions for financial assistance from Westley's Charity, and receipts for money received, including also some general correspondence and accounting records. Petitions for financial assistance from Westley's Charity, and receipts for money received, including also some general correspondence and accounting records.