lost heir = charity - Leicester
Wall monument with the busts of George Newton 1746 between his mother & stepmother
"Near this place lies interred George the only son of Gabriel Newton gent by Mary his wife daughter of George Bent, gent. He departed this life the 8th of March 1746 in the 18th year of his age to whose memory his affectionate and disconsolate father erected this monument and with a pious intention clothed 35 poor boys and put them out to trades at his own expense settling £3,250 By his last will for a perpetual support of the charity and for carefully instructing them in toning And psalmody which you may see more pathetically described '2 Chron 5, 13' +++ and for educating them rightly in the principles of our most holy and divine religion, for as Denham says: 'All human wisdom to divine is folly, This truth the wisest man made melancholy That man is the greatest monster without doubt Who is a wolf within and sheep without"
At the top are the arms of Newton (Argent, on a chevron azure 3 garbs or),
Beneath are the figures of charity children, with the text
"I was hungry and He gave me meat; Thirsty and He gave me drink; A stranger and He took me in; Naked and He clothed me".
He was the son of Gabriel Newton, Mayor of Leicester & 2nd wife Mary daughter of George Bent, a prominent corporator; Mary was the widow of William Wightman 1696 - 1724 son of Mary & John Wightman 1709 of Peckleton
His father Gabriel was the son of Joseph Newton, a jersey comber, who died in 1688 at Lincoln, to which city he appears to have gone in 1684 to take charge of the jersey school organised by the Corporation there, "for the employment of the poor in knitting and spinning".
Gabriel in his youth apprenticed as a wool-comber later abandoned this trade becoming an innkeeper running the respectable "Horse & Trumpet" near the High Cross, a Tory meeting place. In 1702 he was admitted to the freedom of the borough of Ieicester, as the eldest freeborn son of his father, paying for fine on admission a "bottle of wine". In consequence of admission to the freedom, he gained the parliamentary franchise of the town, the right to ply his trade within the limits of the borough jurisdiction, and a potential footing in the civic hierarchy. From this point, he endeavoured to advance the growth of his public importance and the accumulation of his fortune. In 1711 he was col-lector for the poor, and later churchwarden of St. Mary de Castro
He was an alderman of the town from 1726 to 1762 & mayor & JP in 1732 ; He was churchwarden here 1730 - 32
Gabriel married 3 times, each one strengthening his position in the borough oligarchy , each of his wives a woman of considerable wealth. however George was his only son.
Gabriel m1 1715 Elizabeth daughter of Alderman Wells having 7 children who all died in their infancy; m3 1738 Eleanor daughter of John Bakewell of Normanton on the Heath .
Gabriel having no son to whom he could leave his plentiful fortune, decided to devote the greater part of it to the "religious education of children ". To this object he devoted the larger part of his wealth which was estimated at £14,000 founding in his lifetime Greencoat school for boys between 7 & 14 . (His bounty also extended to several places besides Leicester) About 35 boys were educated in St Martins church Leicester from 8 to 11 in the morning and 3 to 5 in the afternoon. Once every year, or 15 to 18 months, each was to have a green cloth waistcoat and breeches of material not under 20 pence per yard, a shirt of flaxen cloth not under 13 pence per yard, with stockings, caps and other apparel. They were given a halfpenny coarse roll each for breakfast, taught reading writing and accounts, and apprenticed with £5.
This venture suffered from Gabriel's irritability which was notorious , consequently bringing opposition to his schemes.
The conditions he set were :-
A. the schoolboys were to be selected exclusively from Anglican families, and they were to "attend daily and join in the liturgical worship of the church for if they were obliged for a series of years to attend the daily office, they might it not reasonably be hoped they were in the most likely way to receive such impressions of religion as might sometime work together for their future happiness as well as be a means to improve their condition in this present life"
B. No town was to enjoy the benefit of the bequest unless the Creed was duly received and recited as enjoined in the Book of Common Prayer
C: No place was to receive money unless the boys were taught to sing the psalms so as to "adorn with music the spiritiual simplicity of the Christian scheme"
After his death, many years passed and a considerable amount went in lawyers fees & collecting bad debts from various people who absconded and excused themselves, Finally 20 years after Gabriel's death the Corporation was awarded £2409. 13s & 5 d, £2300 to be invested immediately
Gabriel died 26th October 1662 and was buried in All Saints churchyard, Leicester. His altar tomb in the churchyard, near the south east angle of the church, has 2 inscriptions:
"In memory of Gabriel Newton gentleman, one of the aldermen, and once mayor of the borough of Leicester, who died the 26th of October 1672 aged 78 years. By his first wife Elizabeth daughter of Mr Alderman Wells, he had seven children, which all died in their minority; by his second wife Mary daughter of George Bent, gentleman, he had George Newton who died the 8th of March 1746 in the 18th year of his age; by his last wife Eleanor daughter of John Bakewell, gent, of Normington on the Heath he had no issue"
"Mr Alderman Newon, in his life time by deeds of trust, charged several of his estates with the payment of 26L annually for ever to the following towns, for cloathing and educating poor children therein viz; to Hertford, Bedford, Buckingham, St Neots, Northampton and Ashby de la Zouch; and also 20L 16s yearly for ever to Earl Shilton (for 20 boys); and by his last will directed 3250L to be raised upon his personal estate, for supporting a charity of the same kind in Leicester"
Sadly it was noted "the chicanery of law respecting the omission of a word, or a misconstrued sentence, has cruelly deprived the children of the necessitous in Leicester of that support which his bounty had provided for them. It is computed that he left lands and money to the amount of 16000L for charitable uses. Bad debts owed to him became hard to collect , the debtors absconding or denying their indebtedness. His executors instead of enforcing the will by an over caution searched for his nearest relation, and met with a Richard Walker, a pauper, a member of Trinity Hospital here. Him they produced to chancery and acknowledge though on disputable grounds as first of kin. He instead of accepting of a pecuniary present and assisting them to pass a fine, got advice and support to embarrass them several years.
Finally 20 years after Gabriel's death the Corporation was awarded £2409. 13s & 5 d, £2300 to be invested immediately
He is one of 4 figures on the Haymarket Clock Tower www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/1L01E5
Greencoats School later became known as Alderman Newtons School and survived until 1999 when it was merged by the local authority with two other local schools to form a single educational institution. Gabriel is one of the 4 men portrayed on Leicesters Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower.
+++ "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever that then the house was filled with a cloud even the house of the Lord:"
Cathedral Church of St Martin, Leicester.
Picture with thanks - copyright Jules & Jenny from Lincoln CCL commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leicester_Cathedral,_Monu...(46228360191).jpg
www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/NewtonPagesfromVolume19.pdf file:///C:/Users/Peter/Downloads/p15407coll6_5999.pdf
lost heir = charity - Leicester
Wall monument with the busts of George Newton 1746 between his mother & stepmother
"Near this place lies interred George the only son of Gabriel Newton gent by Mary his wife daughter of George Bent, gent. He departed this life the 8th of March 1746 in the 18th year of his age to whose memory his affectionate and disconsolate father erected this monument and with a pious intention clothed 35 poor boys and put them out to trades at his own expense settling £3,250 By his last will for a perpetual support of the charity and for carefully instructing them in toning And psalmody which you may see more pathetically described '2 Chron 5, 13' +++ and for educating them rightly in the principles of our most holy and divine religion, for as Denham says: 'All human wisdom to divine is folly, This truth the wisest man made melancholy That man is the greatest monster without doubt Who is a wolf within and sheep without"
At the top are the arms of Newton (Argent, on a chevron azure 3 garbs or),
Beneath are the figures of charity children, with the text
"I was hungry and He gave me meat; Thirsty and He gave me drink; A stranger and He took me in; Naked and He clothed me".
He was the son of Gabriel Newton, Mayor of Leicester & 2nd wife Mary daughter of George Bent, a prominent corporator; Mary was the widow of William Wightman 1696 - 1724 son of Mary & John Wightman 1709 of Peckleton
His father Gabriel was the son of Joseph Newton, a jersey comber, who died in 1688 at Lincoln, to which city he appears to have gone in 1684 to take charge of the jersey school organised by the Corporation there, "for the employment of the poor in knitting and spinning".
Gabriel in his youth apprenticed as a wool-comber later abandoned this trade becoming an innkeeper running the respectable "Horse & Trumpet" near the High Cross, a Tory meeting place. In 1702 he was admitted to the freedom of the borough of Ieicester, as the eldest freeborn son of his father, paying for fine on admission a "bottle of wine". In consequence of admission to the freedom, he gained the parliamentary franchise of the town, the right to ply his trade within the limits of the borough jurisdiction, and a potential footing in the civic hierarchy. From this point, he endeavoured to advance the growth of his public importance and the accumulation of his fortune. In 1711 he was col-lector for the poor, and later churchwarden of St. Mary de Castro
He was an alderman of the town from 1726 to 1762 & mayor & JP in 1732 ; He was churchwarden here 1730 - 32
Gabriel married 3 times, each one strengthening his position in the borough oligarchy , each of his wives a woman of considerable wealth. however George was his only son.
Gabriel m1 1715 Elizabeth daughter of Alderman Wells having 7 children who all died in their infancy; m3 1738 Eleanor daughter of John Bakewell of Normanton on the Heath .
Gabriel having no son to whom he could leave his plentiful fortune, decided to devote the greater part of it to the "religious education of children ". To this object he devoted the larger part of his wealth which was estimated at £14,000 founding in his lifetime Greencoat school for boys between 7 & 14 . (His bounty also extended to several places besides Leicester) About 35 boys were educated in St Martins church Leicester from 8 to 11 in the morning and 3 to 5 in the afternoon. Once every year, or 15 to 18 months, each was to have a green cloth waistcoat and breeches of material not under 20 pence per yard, a shirt of flaxen cloth not under 13 pence per yard, with stockings, caps and other apparel. They were given a halfpenny coarse roll each for breakfast, taught reading writing and accounts, and apprenticed with £5.
This venture suffered from Gabriel's irritability which was notorious , consequently bringing opposition to his schemes.
The conditions he set were :-
A. the schoolboys were to be selected exclusively from Anglican families, and they were to "attend daily and join in the liturgical worship of the church for if they were obliged for a series of years to attend the daily office, they might it not reasonably be hoped they were in the most likely way to receive such impressions of religion as might sometime work together for their future happiness as well as be a means to improve their condition in this present life"
B. No town was to enjoy the benefit of the bequest unless the Creed was duly received and recited as enjoined in the Book of Common Prayer
C: No place was to receive money unless the boys were taught to sing the psalms so as to "adorn with music the spiritiual simplicity of the Christian scheme"
After his death, many years passed and a considerable amount went in lawyers fees & collecting bad debts from various people who absconded and excused themselves, Finally 20 years after Gabriel's death the Corporation was awarded £2409. 13s & 5 d, £2300 to be invested immediately
Gabriel died 26th October 1662 and was buried in All Saints churchyard, Leicester. His altar tomb in the churchyard, near the south east angle of the church, has 2 inscriptions:
"In memory of Gabriel Newton gentleman, one of the aldermen, and once mayor of the borough of Leicester, who died the 26th of October 1672 aged 78 years. By his first wife Elizabeth daughter of Mr Alderman Wells, he had seven children, which all died in their minority; by his second wife Mary daughter of George Bent, gentleman, he had George Newton who died the 8th of March 1746 in the 18th year of his age; by his last wife Eleanor daughter of John Bakewell, gent, of Normington on the Heath he had no issue"
"Mr Alderman Newon, in his life time by deeds of trust, charged several of his estates with the payment of 26L annually for ever to the following towns, for cloathing and educating poor children therein viz; to Hertford, Bedford, Buckingham, St Neots, Northampton and Ashby de la Zouch; and also 20L 16s yearly for ever to Earl Shilton (for 20 boys); and by his last will directed 3250L to be raised upon his personal estate, for supporting a charity of the same kind in Leicester"
Sadly it was noted "the chicanery of law respecting the omission of a word, or a misconstrued sentence, has cruelly deprived the children of the necessitous in Leicester of that support which his bounty had provided for them. It is computed that he left lands and money to the amount of 16000L for charitable uses. Bad debts owed to him became hard to collect , the debtors absconding or denying their indebtedness. His executors instead of enforcing the will by an over caution searched for his nearest relation, and met with a Richard Walker, a pauper, a member of Trinity Hospital here. Him they produced to chancery and acknowledge though on disputable grounds as first of kin. He instead of accepting of a pecuniary present and assisting them to pass a fine, got advice and support to embarrass them several years.
Finally 20 years after Gabriel's death the Corporation was awarded £2409. 13s & 5 d, £2300 to be invested immediately
He is one of 4 figures on the Haymarket Clock Tower www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/1L01E5
Greencoats School later became known as Alderman Newtons School and survived until 1999 when it was merged by the local authority with two other local schools to form a single educational institution. Gabriel is one of the 4 men portrayed on Leicesters Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower.
+++ "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever that then the house was filled with a cloud even the house of the Lord:"
Cathedral Church of St Martin, Leicester.
Picture with thanks - copyright Jules & Jenny from Lincoln CCL commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leicester_Cathedral,_Monu...(46228360191).jpg
www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/NewtonPagesfromVolume19.pdf file:///C:/Users/Peter/Downloads/p15407coll6_5999.pdf