HC Deb 28 February 1884 vol 285 cc90-1
MR. JESSE COLLINGS

asked the Vice President of the Committee of Council, Whether Alderman Dauntsey left property in trust to the Mercers' Company for the benefit of the poor of West Lavington, to be enjoyed by them for ever; whether the Charity Commissioners have made a provisional agreement with the Mercers' Company, under which the whole of the valuable property in London under the Dauntsey bequest will become the property of the Mercers' Company on the payment of £30,000; whether the proceeds of this £30,000, with the exception of a portion for the maintenance of almshouses, are to be appropriated for the establishment of a middle-class school at Marlborough or Devizes, or some other town in Wiltshire; whether the poor of West Lavington, among other advantages, are in possession of a free school, of which this scheme will deprive them; and, whether the Government will take steps to prevent the completion of a scheme which takes away the property of the rural poor of West Lavington, and devotes it to the benefit of the middle and wealthier classes of the county?

MR. MUNDELLA

Sir, I have received the following reply from the Charity Commissioners to the Question of my hon. Friend:— (1.) Apart from his almshouses, which are not in question, Alderman Dauntsey left no property in trust to the Mercers' Company for the benefit of the poor of West Lavington. (2.) The Charity Commissioners have entered into a provisional agreement with the Mercers' Company, under which, for a sum of £30,000, the property left by Alderman Dauntsey to the Mercers' Company is to he freed from all charges for charitable purposes. These charges, as fixed by the will, were (besides repairs) £10 a-year for the master of the Grammar School, and £2 3s. 4d. a-year for each of seven alms people at West Lavington. These sums were subsequently raised by the Court of Chancery to a yearly sum of £00 in all. (3.) It is proposed to devote part of the £30,000, after provision for the almshouses and for the school in West Lavington, to the purposes of a middle-class school for the county of Wilts. (4.) The poor of West Lavington, in fact, use the Dauntsey Grammar School as an elementary school for boys and pay no fees. The school is badly attended, and is not under Government inspection. Under the intended new scheme it is hoped it will he raised to a proper condition of efficiency. In reply to the last part of the Question, as to whether the Government will take steps to prevent the completion of a scheme which takes away the property of the rural poor of West Lavington, I can only say that when the scheme comes officially before me, I will endeavour to secure the interest of the poor of that parish; and, if I am rightly informed, the provision made for them will far exceed in the future anything that has been done for them in the past. The scheme was laid on the Table on the 5th instant, and ordered to be printed.