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Woodbridge in the
Loes hundred
Woodbridge 1844 Whites Directory
part one ;
part two ;
part three
The TOWN LANDS are situated in the parish of Martlesham, adjoining that of
Woodbridge, and consist of the Lamb Farm, comprising three tenements,
out-buildings, and 51A. 20P. of copyhold land, given by John Dodd, in the reign
of Henry VII., for the maintenance of the poor and the benefit of the town; and
the Street farm, containing 9A. 2R. 39P. of copyhold land, given by Jeffery
Pitman in 1687, for the reparation and maintenance of the church. They are
let fot �56 a year, out of which �10 a year is contributed towards the support
of the free school ; and the remainder, after the payment of �5 6s. 4d.
for land tax and quit rents, is applied in the service of the church. In, 1660,
the churchwardens and principal parishioners let on lease for 999 years, at the
yearly rent of 10s., the Town Common (about 11A.) which had been used from time
immemorial by the parishioners ; and also for the same term, at the annual rent
of 2s. 6d. , about a rood of land, which had been left to the poor by John Sayer.
This property now comprises a dockyard, shipyard, quay, etc, let by the present
lessee for about �400 a year, out of which he pays only 10s. yearly to the
churchwardens for what was formerly the town common, and 2s 6d yearly for the
site of a house standing on land given by John Sayer. The POOR'S HOUSES
comprise a house in Pound street, given by Wm. Bearman in 1668, and long used as
the parish workhouse ; two houses and a garden belonging to the parish, and
formerly used as pest-houses ; a house in New street, formerly used as a
bridewell, and purchased by the parish in 1641 ; two houses in Turn lane, given
by Wm Smith and Jeffery Pitman, in 1608 ; and two houses in the Thoroughfare,
also given by Wm. Bearman. These premises are all occupied rent-free by paupers
or poor persons. Two pieces of land belonging to two of the houses, are let for
�2. 4s. 6d. a year, which is carried to the poor-rates, out of which the cost of
repairing the houses is paid.
SECKFORD'S ALMSHOUSES.- Queen Elizabeth, in the 29th year of her reign, by
letters patent, gave license to Thomas Seckford, Esq, to found an
almsbouse of the seven tenements lately built by him at Woodbridge, for the
constant residence of thirteen poor men, twelve of them to occupy six of the
tenements, and one to occupy the seventh, and to be called the Principal ; and
her Majesty thereby ordained that the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the
lord of the manor of Seckford Hall, if he should be the heir-male of the body of
the late Thomas Seckford, Esq.,- if not, the Master of the Rolls of the Court of
Chancery, - should he governors of the almshouse, and of the lands and
possessions thereof; and that they should be a body corporate, and should have
power to make statutes and ordinances for the government of the almspeople. In
1587, the founder ordained that the 13 almsmen should have the use of the
gardens, and about three acres of land near the almshouse, and of the well or
fountain in his newly enclosed park of Woodbridge, and that they should have a
yearly supply of fuel and gowns, and each an annual stipend of �5, except
the Principal, who should have �6. 13s. 4d: yearly. He also gave a tenement
called Copthall, and two acres of land, for the use of three poor widows, to be
nurses to such of the poor men as should be sick or infirm, and to have each a
yearly stipend of �2. 13s. 4d. By his will in the same year, he endowed the
almshouse with various houses, buildings, yards, gardens, and other pieces of
land in the parish of St. James, Clerkenwell, London, then of the yearly value
of �112. 13s. 4d.
This estate is now one of the most improving parts of the metropolis, and had
increased, in 1768, to the yearly value of �563. In 1826, an act of Parliament
was obtained to enable the governors of the alms-house to grant building and
other leases, to take down many of the old buildings, to erect new premises and
repair and alter old ones, and to lay out new streets on the charity estate in
Clerkenwell, which now comprises Seckford street, Woodbridge street, Suffolk
street, and one side of St. John street, Aylesbury street, St. James' walk,
Prison wait, and Corporation row. This estate, including the buildings upon it,
belonging to the almshouse, produced, in 1830, a rental of more than �3000 per
annum; but as a great part of the most valuable building-sites in the new
streets were then unlet, the yearly rental is now more than �4000. The Charity
Commissioners, in 1830, were informed by the governors' solicitor that no
alterations had been made in the allowances to the almspeople, or other
payments, since 1768, when the rental of the estate was only �563 per annum, but
that it was the intention of the governors, as soon as the building ground was
let, to apply for an act of Parliament for the future regulation of the charity
funds ; and that the sum of �3456, three per cent, stock, and all other savings
of the income, had been expended in obtaining the act of Parliament of 1826, in
redeeming the land-tax, in building new sewers, drains, and arched cellars, in
forming new roads, and in otherwise improving the Clerkenwell estate. The yearly
sums paid out of the rents to the objects of the charity, till some years after
1830, were, �27 to the Principal ; �20 to each of the other twelve almsmen ; �12
to each of the three nurses ; �13 to an extra nurse ; �10 to the minister, and
�10 to the churchwardens of Woodbridge ; �12 to the receiver of the rents; about
�152 for distributions of clothing and coals among the alms people and other
poor of Woodbridge; about �17 for medical attendance; about �30 for repairs, &c.
; and about �10 each to Woodbridge and Clerkenwell, for distribution among the
poor of those parishes. In 1838, the governors commenced the erection of a NEW
HOSPITAL, in lieu of and near the Old Almshouses, for the residence of 26 men
and 6 nurses, and they now allow each of the latter a yearly stipend of �20, and
each of the former �25 a year, except the Principal, who has �80 a year, and has
the superintendence of the other inmates, under the direction of the minister
and churchwardens of Woodbridge. They are also supplied with coals, clothing,
and medical attendance. The New Hospital is an elegant building, in the
Elizabethan style, comprising two wings, with a handsome chapel in the centre.
It was erected at the cost of �15,000, from a design by J. Noble, Esq., the
architect. It contains two rooms for each of the 32 inmates, and they have each
a small garden. The Old Almshouses were new fronted in 1824, and are now let at
low rents to poor widows. The churchwardens of Woodbridge are the administrators
of this charity, under the control of the governors.
JOHN SAYER, in 1637, left 15A. 2R. 26p. of land at Melton, in trust, that the
rents thereof should be applied in a weekly dole of 15 two: penny loaves, and a
yearly distribution of clothing among the poor of Woodbridge. The land is partly
copyhold, and is let for about �30 a year, which is distributed by the
churchwardens in bread, of which 42 threepenny loaves are given every Sunday
among the aged poor attending the church. A yearly rent-charge of 40s., left by
ALICE OSBORN, in 1677, out of her messuage called the Malting Office, is
distributed among the poor parishioners in coals. For a distribution of bread on
Candlemas- day, they have a yearly rent-charge of 20s., left by GEORGE CARLOW in
1738, out of a house in New street. In 1731, JOHN RUDLAND charged his estate at
Hasketon with the yearly payment of �3 to the pastor and deacons of the
Congregational Meeting House in Woodbridge, to be laid out in three gowns for
three poor widows of the parish, on the 2nd of April.
Woodbridge Public Houses
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