Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/158

 fflSTORY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. 131 meeting f onnerly held at Raby is now held at Darlington ; and the schools of Bishop's Auckland and Shildon are now under the management of the monthly meetings held at the latter place. For a period of about twenty years after the establishment of the charity, the testator's directions were strictly complied with, in applying one half of the dividends in pa3dng the salaries of the four schoolmasters, and the other half in buying books and binding out apprentices from the four places in which the schools were established. From that period, until the income was increased by the change of the stock, the whole was applied in paying for the education of children, finding them books and paper, and defraying the expense of repairs and improvements of the schools. At a quarterly meeting held in January, 1828, a committee was appointed to inquire into this trust ; and at the next quarterly meeting a report was made, whereby the committee declared their opinion, that the primary object of the donor was the education of children, and that as the capital sum had been increased to £3,000, they were of opinion that the intention of the donor would be most satisfactorily adhered to, if the quarterly meeting were to recommend to the monthly meetings to apply j£10 out of each fourth-part of the dividends attaching to each of the schools under this trust, in the purchase of books and in the binding of boys and girls apprentices in each place where schools were directed to be established, and to apply the remainder in the support of the said schools ; and they further recommended that the capital sum should not be divided, but that the same should continue in one entire sum as theretofore, and that the interest should be annually paid to the quarterly meeting. Since 1826, the income has been divided between the four schools, one half being given to the Newcastle monthly meeting, and the other to the monthly meeting at DarUngton. The sum of £20 per annum is paid to the masters of each of the four schools ; and in the latter district, since 1826, the surplus has been expended, partly in purchasing a cottage and garden for the use of the schoolmaster at Shildon, and in providing books for the use of the two schools, and some incidental expenses. From the present time it is intended to expend it according to the recommendation of the committee. The nomination of the masters and scholars is left, according to the directions of the donor, to the monthly meetings of the society, who act by a committee specifically appointed from time to time for this purpose. The schools of Bishop's Auckland and Shildon are visited by the committee from Darlington three or four times in the year, when the vacancies in the number of scholars are filled up. The master of the school at Bishop's Auckland receives, as already stated, £20 a-year, and has the use of a school and schoolhouse rent free ; the house being kept in repair by the trustees. He instructs twenty children of the parish in reading, writing, and accounts, free from all expense ; and the children are also supplied, by the trustees, with books and all school requisites. The free children are selected by the committee from a list of applicants, kept by the master. None are appointed except those of the labouring poor, and such as are of the township of Bishop's Auckland have the preference. Such waa the report given of this useful charity by the Commissioners, who were appointed for that purpose in 1825. The funds of the charity appear to havjB been carefully applied in ac- cordance with the intentions of the donor. The school-house at Bishop Auckland originally stood in Great Gates; but, being found inadequate to meet the growing requirements of the place, the present building at Newgate-end was purchased from the governors of the Grammar School, the cost of which was defrayed, to a large extent, by the late Joseph Pease, Esq., of Darlington, who was well known in this district as a liberal promoter of general education. The trust has been recently increased by a legacy of £250, left by the late Peter Johnson, Esq., 80 that the master now receives £29 per year for teaching twenty children, but no books are found, nor are there any apprentice fees paid- Since the purchase of the present school-house it has been greatly improved, and a new class-room added at a cost of about £200. The school staff at present consists of a master (Mr. Ronald) holding a Gk)vemment certificate, five pupil teachers, and a sewing mistress, who instructs the girls in plain and fancy needlework, cutting, Ac. The number of scholars is between two and three hundred. The school, which is generally considered one of the best conducted in the neighbourhood, is still under the management of the Friends' monthly meeting at Darlington, who report to the Durham county quarterly meeting ; and thus an efficient supervision is maintained over the establishment, in strict accordance with the spirit and intentions of the trust. Within the last two or three years the whole of the properties possessed by the Society of Friends, both in this and the adjoining county of York, have been conveyed to trustees, " to be held by them upon the several trusts, and for the several ends, intents, and purposes expressed Digitized by Google