(Part 5, Chapter 2, Section 2) ( Bk. Index )
The history of Older’s Cottage and Farm will be found under Village Houses.
William Older died in 1680 and, by his will, created a school charity and two other foundations, i.e.:
1 - Rent from his Angmering lands to maintain a schoolmaster and his schoolhouse.
2 - £1 annually to the poor of Angmering, from his copyhold of inheritance lands in Kingston.
3 - 10s [50p] annually to the Rector to preach a sermon, out of the freehold lands in Kingston and Goring.
In his own words the terms were:
The School:
That is to say I give the summe of One hundred pounds to Thomas Olliver of East Angmering aforesaid yeoman to bee by him laid out & disposed of so soon. after my decease as conveniently can bee uppon Trusts & for the uses herein after menconed
That is to say That the said Thomas Olliver doe purchase an howse & garden in East Angmering aforesaid or West Angmering in the County aforesaid or a small parcell of Land & build an howse thereon to Humphrey Gratwicke of Hamm in the parrish of Angmering aforesaid Gent the said Thomas Olliver & Hugh Penfold of East Angmering aforesaid yeoman & to their heyres for ever
To the intent & purpose that the said [EG TO HP] & the Churchwardens of the parrish of Angmering & their heyres & successors for ever shall from time to time at their discretions place in the said Messuage or howse so. to bee bought purchased or built a convenient Schoolmaster for the teaching & instructing poore Children within the said parrishes of West & East Angmering or either of them
Which said Schoolmaster shall from time to time have the use & benefitt of the said howse & garden
And for the better mayntenance of the said Schoolmaster I doe by this my will give & devise unto the said [EG TO HP and c.ws etc] for ever All my Messuage Lands Tenements & herediments whatsoever situate lying & being in the parrish of East Angmering aforesaid
And after her decease [his wife died in 1690] for ever hereafter shall permitt & suffer such Schoolmaster aforesaid to receive & take the Rents Issues & profitts of the said [as above] for his paynes in teaching the poore Children of the pishes of East & West Angmering aforesaidThe Poor:
Also my will & intent is that the said William Olliver his heyres & assignes shall from time to time pay out of these Freehold Lands lying in Kingston & Goring the summ of Twenty shillings per Annum to the poore of the parrish of Angmering aforesaid to bee distributed according to the discretion of the churchwardens & overseersSermon:
And Ten shillings every yeare to a Minister to preach a sermon yearly for ever uppon the same day I am buryed.
It can be assumed the sermon, on the day of William’s burial, continued until after his widow died in 1690. How much longer is unknown, for the 1724 Church Inspection Book only mentions the school endowment. Which means the annual dole of £1 to the poor was in doubt. [Ep/I/26]
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When the Charity Commissioners investigated local benefactions, their report in the 1830s stated that the sermon was no longer preached, and payment of 10s to the rector had ceased. Regarding the poor dole it had the misleading note:
“The above sum of £1 is charged upon a farm in the parish of Angmering now occupied by Mr John Oliver of Little Hampton and its distribution to the poor in small sums on S. Thomas day.”
What had happened over the past 150 years is that the Olliver family estate in Angmering and Kingston had become merged, and it was no longer realised that the charge was only on part of the Kingston lands, and not on Pound House farm in Angmering. In 1864 the churchwardens asked the Commission for information about this dole, but whether any action was taken and any payments made is unresolved. [Par 6/24/1]
As is plain enough to everyone when they look at what is today the village library, and was Older’s School, the main foundation of his will flourished and provided primary education to parish children for three hundred years.
The first Trustees, Thomas Olliver, Humphrey Gratwicke, and Hugh Penfold, were not at all dilatory and had acquired a site for the school within a year of William Older’s decease.
RWS 16/1/2009 NRD