yards, together with the yearly sum of 13s. 4d., being a third part of the said yearly sum of 40s. to the said parties of the second part, and their successors, churchwardens and overseers of the said parish of St. Mary, in trust, for the use and benefit of the said parish, for 999 years, at a pepper-corn rent, and the parties of the third and fourth parts, on behalf of their respective parishes, ratified the said demise, provided that the said yearly sum of 13s. 4d. should be reserved to the churchwardens and overseers of each of the parishes of St. Peter and St. Nicholas, and their successors, in as ample a manner as the like sum should be held by the churchwardens and overseers of the said parish of St. Mary, and their

successors.

By two similar indentures, of the same date respectively, as that above abstracted, the mayor and burgesses demised to the churchwardens and overseers of the parishes of St. Peter and St. Nicholas, respectively, the upper part and the lower part of the said houses, with a third part of the garden, and a third part of the rent charge of 40s. to each parish, for like terms of 999 years, at peppercorn rents, in trust for the use and benefit of those parishes respectively.

At a common hall, held on 21st March, 1785, a committee of the corporation was appointed to meet a committee of the three parishes of Nottingham, to take into consideration the proposals from those parishes, touching the sale of the White Rents, on the corporation giving them ground in lieu thereof, on which, if given, new houses were intended to be built, for the habitation of poor aged persons, according to the directions of Mr. Gregory's will.

At a subsequent common hall, holden 31st October, 1786, the rector of the parish of St. Nicholas presented a report, signed by him, by order of a committee, purporting that the buildings in Hounds'-gate, called the White Rents, having been long deemed a nuisance, and the inhabitants of Nottingham having frequently expressed their desire that the inhabitants therein might be accommodated with rooms in a less public and valuable part of the town, by the sale of the said White Rents, whereon great improvements would in all probability be made, and purporting that the rectors of the parishes of St. Peter and St. Nicholas, together with the churchwardens of the three parishes, solicited the favour of a small quantity of waste land belonging to the corporation, within their respective parishes, on which to build new rooms for the said paupers, in case such improvements should be carried into execution, and it being requested on behalf of the parish of St. Nicholas, that the corporation would give to that parish a piece of ground near the Leen, to build places for the paupers of that

parish; and on behalf of the parish of St. Mary, that they would give to that parish a piece of ground near St. Ann's street, for that parish to build places for the poor thereon; and in case the workhouse of St. Peter's should be sold, that they would give to that parish another piece of ground near the same street, for that parish to build places for the poor thereon; the corporation signified their readiness to comply with the request, provided that the parish of St. Mary should give up to the corporation a house near the house of correction.

On 21st November, 1786, it was resolved at a vestry meeting of the parish of St. Peter, that the portion of the White Rents held by that parish as a workhouse, should be sold, and a new workhouse should be built on a piece of land to be given by the corporation, and the same was sold accordingly.

The portions of the White Rents appropriated to the parishes of St. Mary and St. Nicholas were also sold, and in each of the three parishes a building was erected in lieu of the portion of the White Rents belonging to each, on a parcel of land given for that purpose by the corporation.

The building thus substituted in the parish of St. Mary, is situate in York street, near St. Ann's street, and consists of twelve small tenements, now called the "White Rents," and inhabited by paupers placed there from time to time by the churchwardens and

overseers.

The substituted building in the parish of St. Nicholas is situate near the river Leen, and consists of eight tenements, with a small garden in front thereof, also called the "White Rents," and inhabited by poor widows and others, most of whom receive parish relief, placed there by the parish officers.

In the parish of St. Peter, a new workhouse was erected, which is situate in the Broad Marsh, and is used for the reception of paupers of that parish.

It may be collected from the above-mentioned leases, granted in 1732, by the corporation to the churchwardens and overseers of the several parishes, of the old buildings, called the White Rents, had already become the residence of paupers, instead of being as the donor intended, almshouses, under the patronage of the corporation. This departure from his intention probably arose from there being no fund for the support of his almshouses, except the annual rent charge of 40s.

The close called Boycroft, subject to that rent charge, was, at the time of our investigation, the property of Mr. William Stretton, who has died since that time. We have not been able to ascertain with accuracy to what period the annual sum of 40s. was

paid,

WILLIAM GREGORY'S CHARITY.

703

according to the arrangement made by the corporation in 1732, in equal portions to each of the three parishes, but we are informed that applications were some years ago made by the churchwardens of St. Mary's parish, to Mr. William Stretton, who was then in possession of the close, (it having been purchased by his father,) for the yearly payment of 13s. 4d. which he declined, on the ground of the tenements called the White Rents, in Hound's gate, for the support of which the charge was created, being no longer in existence. It appears, however, that Mr. Stretton has, for many years past, made an annual donation of beef amongst the poor persons of Nottingham to a much larger amount than 40s., which he considered to be partly made in respect of the charge on the close called Boycroft. We apprehend that although the original White Rents no longer exist, the owner of that close is not discharged from the annual payment of 40s. but that it ought to be applied to some purpose, as nearly similar to the object for which it was originally given, as circumstances will permit; and that the above-mentioned mode of distributing the amount in beef is objectionable, as being mixed with a private donation, and as the charity might thus eventually be forgotten and lost. It appears to us, therefore, that the best course may be, that it should be in conformity with the leases of 1732, paid in annual portions of 13s. 4d. to the churchwardens of each parish, and should be by them applied, not in the repairs of the houses substituted for the White Rents, which would be merely an aid to the parochial funds, but in a donation to one or more poor persons in each parish not receiving parochial relief. Having communicated this suggestion to Mr. William Stretton, he expressed his readiness to comply with it.

On the front of these almshouses in York street, is a stone, bearing the following inscription:

These Alms Houses Built in lieu of the White Rents,

Late in Hound's Gate, A. D. 1788.

RICHARD FEATHERSTONE,

Churchwardens.

WILLIAM KELK,

upon goods and merchandize, but not otherwise; that the people of this kingdom had been very careful to preserve these liberties and rights when any thing had been done to prejudice them; that his majesty's most humble commons, following the example of their ancestors, and finding that his majesty, without advice and consent of parliament, had lately in time of peace, set both greater impositions, and far more in number, than any of his ancestors had ever done in time of war, with all humility presumed to petition, that all impositions set without assent of parliament should be quite abolished and taken away, and that his majesty in imitation of his noble progenitors, would be pleased that a law be made during this session of parliament, declaring that all impositions and duties set, or to be set upon his people, their goods or merchandize, save only by common consent of parliament, are, and ever shall be void. This was gall and wormwood to James, but the commons did more than petition, they passed a bill taking away impositions. This, however, was rejected by the lords, who were not disposed to do any thing to check the march of absolutism.

1610, Is remarkable in the History of Nottingham, from the fact that it was the year in which John Speed (a) published his map, which is not less valuable than interesting, inasmuch as it shows the state of the town and castle at that remote period, every enclosure, waste land, and where every house at that time stood. The following description accompanies the engraving, which is a fac simile of that published in the life of that celebrated man.

The road from Derby along Tollhouse hill, and Chapel bar, is a very ancient thoroughfare, and was much travelled when the men of Derbyshire, &c., were compelled to bring their goods for sale to the Friday and Saturday's market at Nottingham. Chapel Bar forms the western entrance of the town. The gateway in the Old Wall, in this place, was flanked by two strong towers, in one of which was an oratory, and the other a room for the guard. This patriarchal erection survived its contemporaries, and was not removed till 1743. On the top of this gate at the east side, exactly in the middle, grew one of the greater sort of maple (Sycamore) trees, part of the branches of which covered an arbour where six people might regale themselves. The north half of it was neatly disposed into beds of various figures, and turned into a pleasant

(a) John Speed, an English historian, was born about 1555, at Farrington in Cheshire, and died in 1629, leaving "Theatre of Great Britain," 1606, reprinted in 1650. The " History of Great Britain, &c." 1614. His son, John Speed, who studied at Oxford and died in 1640, wrote "Stonehenge," a pastoral, &c.; John, the younger, son of the latter, who was educated at Oxford, and was driven from his scholarship at St. John's during the rebellion, wrote "Batt upon Batt," &c., a poem, "The Vision," &c., a poem.