Guildford Holy Trinity, Surrey Genealogy: Difference between revisions

The borough comprises the parish of the '''Holy Trinity''', containing 1506; that of '''St. Mary the Virgin''', 1676; and part of that of '''St. Nicholas''', with 892 inhabitants. The parish of the Holy Trinity comprises by admeasurement 142 acres, of which 125 are arable land, and the rest, sites of houses, gardens, and roads. The living is a rectory, with that of St. Mary's united, valued in the king's books, the former at £11. 11. 0½. and the latter at £12. 5. 5., and in the patronage of the Crown; the tithes of the two rectories have been commuted for £142. The church was rebuilt in 1763, after the damage it sustained from the fall of the tower in 1740, and is a handsome brick edifice; the central east window contains a representation of Our Saviour on the Cross in ancient stained glass, and there are monuments to Archbishop Abbot, and Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of commons. St. Mary's church is an ancient structure of flint and chalk intermixed with pebbles, situated on the slope of a hill, and supposed to have been erected soon after the Conquest; it consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a chapel on each side, circular at the eastern extremity. It was repaired under the superintendence of the late Rev. Henry P. Beloe, by whom many of its most interesting features were judiciously restored. The chapel on the north side of the chancel is now the vestry; a portion of the roof is groined, and in the compartments are various old paintings in fresco. The living of St. Nicholas' is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £21. 0. 10., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Winchester: the tithes have been commuted for £720. The church was taken down, with the exception of the tower and of '''Loseley chapel''' on the south, and re-erected in 1837, at an expense of £2700, defrayed by subscription, aided by a grant of £500 from the Incorporated Society. In Loseley chapel are a splendid monument to Sir William More and family, and several neat tablets to the family of Molyneux; and under a niche removed from the old church is an ancient monument of a priest in a recumbent position, with the inscription, "Arnold Brocas, rector, died 1395." This chapel, and the monuments, have been restored and beautified, at an expense of about £300, by J. More Molyneux, Esq., a descendant of the More family. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans.<br>The free grammar school was originally founded in 1509, by Robert Beckingham, of London, who assigned to it lands and tenements; and was endowed by Edward VI. with £20 per annum, under the title of Schola Regia Grammaticalis Edvardi Sexti. In 1671, Joseph Nettle devised land, now producing £32 per annum, for an exhibition from the school to the University of Oxford, or Cambridge. In the Blue-coat school, 22 boys are educated in a part of the tower of Trinity church. An hospital for a master, twelve aged men, and eight unmarried women, was founded in 1619, by Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, who afterwards endowed it with £200 per annum; and it was incorporated by letterspatent of James I., in 1622, under the title of "The Master and Brethren of the Hospital of the Blessed Trinity." The archbishop also left £100 per annum for setting the poor to work, half of which is distributed to them, and the other half applied to the support of four additional women in the hospital. Sir Nicholas Kempe, Knt., left £600 to the master, brethren, and sisters; Mrs. Jane Molyneux, of Loseley, in 1798, £2000 in the 3 per cent. Bank annuities, the interest to be given to the inmates of the hospital, except the master; and Thomas Jackman, Esq., in 1785, £600 to the four sisters who were added. The buildings occupy a quadrangular area, on the north side of which is a small chapel, containing some very fine specimens of stained glass, with portraits of the founder, Sir Nicholas Kempe, and Mr. Jackman, and a valuable painting of Our Saviour in the Sepulchre, with Mary Magdalene, &amp;c., weeping over him; the scriptural subjects are said to have belonged to the priory founded by Eleanor, wife of Henry III. The Poyle charity, from a bequest by Henry Smith, amounting to £500 per annum, is under the management of trustees; and there are several other benefactions for the relief of the poor. In 1676, Caleb Lovejoy left funds for endowing almshouses for four widows, and for instructing boys belonging to the parish of St. Nicholas. The union of Guildford comprises 21 parishes or places, and contains a population of 23,085. On the banks of the river is St. Catherine's Hill, so called from the remains of a chapel on its summit, founded about the time of Henry III. Richard De Wauncey, Parson of St. Nicholas', procured a charter to the chapel in 1328, for holding a fair on this hill, on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Matthew, which is still held according to the new style. Loseley House, an ancient mansion near the town, was frequently visited by Queen Elizabeth. Archbishop Abbot, a native of St. Nicholas' parish; Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of commons; and Bishop Parkhurst, were buried in the church of the Holy Trinity. Robert Abbot, elder brother of the archbishop, was also born here, and raised to the see of Salisbury in 1615. Guildford gives the title of Earl to the family of North.  

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