Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/177

 150 HISTORY OP BISHOP AUCKLAND. Walker and Emley; and plumbing, Mr, J. Watson, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. The entire cost of the building was about £1,600. ORGANIST AND CHOIR FUND. Henry Dowson,* of Bishop Auckland, builder, by his will, dated the 19th day of December, 1847, established a fund for securing permanently an efl&cient organist and choir to aid in the divine worship in the Wesleyan chapeL The bequest is as follows : — I give and bequeath unto the chapel stewards of Bishop Auckland Wesleyan Methodist chapel, and to the superin- tendent minister for the time being of the Bishop Auckland circuit of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, the sum of four hundred pounds, upon trust that the chapel stewards and superintendent minister for the time being of the said chapel shall pay and apply the yearly income and produce thereof for the support of the organist in the said chapel, and for the keeping up of the singing choir in the said chapel, for the purpose of divine worship. And I direct that the receipt of the chapel stewards and superintendent minister for the time being of the said chapel shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors for the said legacy ; and I direct the above legacies to be paid at the end of six calendar months from my decease. CHAPEL AND MINISTERS' FUND. The same gentleman also by his wiU founded a " Chapel, Ministers, and Travelling Preachers' Fund," by a munificent donation of £800. The bequest in the will is appended : — I give and bequeath unto my friend John Pattison, of Biahop Auckland aforesaid, joiner, William Buxton, of the same place, watchmaker, and my foreman, Alexander French, of the same place, mason, the sum of eight hundred pounds, to be invested by them as soon as may be, in their names, on the public stocks or funds of Great Britain, and upon trust to pay the yearly income and produce thereof to the said John Pattison and Jane Pattison, his wife, during their lives, and during the life of the survivor of them, for their, his, or her benefit. And from and after the decease of the survivor of them, the said John Pattison and Jane, his wife, I give and bequeath one equal half part of the said sum of eight hundred pounds, or of the stocks or funds on which the same may be invested, unto the trustees for the time being of the Wesleyan Methodist chapel subsisting in Bishop Auckland, to be applied by them for the purposes of the said chapel. And I direct that the receipt of the major part of such trustees for the time being shaU be a good discharge to my executors for the same legacy. And as to tiie other equal half part of the said sum of eight hundred pounds, or of the stocks or funds on which the same may be invested, I give and bequeath the same unto the superintendent minister for the time being of the Bishop Auckland circuit of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, the stewards of the same circuit for the time being, the stewards of the same circuit town for the time being, and also the chapel stewards for the time being of the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Bishop Auckland, the circuit town. And I direct the annual income and produce of the same sum to be applied in and towards the payment of the expenses in the maintenance of the ministers and travelling preachers officiating in the Bishop Auckland circuit, and other charges coming upon the same circuit. And I direct that the receipt of the superintendent minister for the time being, and of the major part of the respective stewards before mentioned, shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors for such legacy. a school at that place. The life of this enterprising man affords an enconraginf example of what may be effected by patient indnstiy, perseverance^ and integrity. He was bronght np as an agricnltnnl laboarer ; bat, tirm^ of the plough, he enm;ed himself, at the age of 20, to a stone-mason for three years, receiving only about 38. a week. With this small sam, and a tnfle he had contrived previonuy to save, he manased to support himself. On completing the term of his euffagement, he worked as a journeyman for some time, and .then began to undertake work on his own account to a hmited extent By dint of industiy and foresight, be conducted his business with success, and was enabled to extend his opmtions. He contracted for the execution of several undertakings, the principal of which was the masonry department of the Wear V alley Railway. At the time of his death, he had accumulated a considerable fortune. His private charities are said to have been numerous ; he was a liberal contributor to the cause of Wesleyanism, of which body he was a member ; and, besides providing amply for hispoor relations, he left £500 to the Baptist Chapel at Hamsterley, his native place. The cemetery attached to the Baptist chapel at Hamsterley is the family burial-place of the late Mr. Dowson, to whose memory tiie following epitaph is inscribed :— •• By skill in art he gained an earthly nam^ And carved himself a title on the scroll of fame. By virtue, truth, benevolence^ and love^ He also sained a passport to tiie realms abova Tread softly, ffentie reader, o'er this his humble dust ; He lived and died an honour to the good and just" Digitized by Google
 * Henry DowBon died at Bishop AaokUnd on the 20th March, 1850, and left a considerable ram for the boildinff and endowment of