Plaque numbers 64 and 65 can be found at this location.
They are to be found just inside the entrance to Trinity Hospital, one either side.
Trinity Hospital is in Trinity Street.
Table of benefactors 1
Plaque 64 can be found just inside the entrance to Trinity Hospital.
A photograph of the frontage of Trinity Hospital is below.
The O/S grid position is SU 14615 East 30288 North.
A
Table of Benefactors.
Frans. Swanton Esqr. Deputy
Recorder of this City, gave
10£ a year forever to the Poor
of this Hospital, payable out
of a Meadow at Clatford
near Andover.
Edwd, Baker Esq. of this City
left by his Will 1797, one
third part of three hundred
& fifteen Pounds to Trustees
to pay the Interest Annually
to the Poor of this Hospital.
Mr.Wm. Moulton of this City left
by Will 1799, Five hundred
Pounds towards the Support
of this Hospital.
Trinity Hospital was founded in about 1370 for 12 poor inmates. It was completely rebuilt in 1702.
According to Henry Hatcher plaque 51 (an historical and descriptive account of Old and New Sarum or Salisbury) the hospital owes its origin to Agnes Bottenham, a 14th century citizen. It was built on a site previously occupied by a brothel. Tradition has it that Agnes was herself a brothel keeper and that she founded the hospital as an act of penance.
In 1379, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued an indulgence (remission of sins) to any parishioner contributing towards the maintenance of the hospital's inmates. An early major benefactor (who would have therefore, presumably, benefited from the indulgence) was John Chandler, who in 1396 (by permission of the king) assigned land to Adam Teffont as master of the hospital. A ward list of about 1399 shows both men as living in Martin's ward, with Teffont probably the wealthier of the two - he is shown as contributing 8 shillings (to an unknown cause) while Chandler contributed five. Teffont was probably in the cloth trade - his name appears in the official cloth inspector's return for 1396/97.
Another benefactor of the hospital was John Wynchestre, a barber (see plaque 14). By 1666 the hospital was receiving £58 13s annually in rent from property bequeathed to it.
Plaques 64 and 65 were in place by 1834 when Hatcher's book (mentioned above) was published. Of the benefactors mentioned in the plaques, only William Chiffinch (plaque 65) is famous enough to be included in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He was born in Salisbury in 1602 and succeeded his elder brother Thomas as keeper of the private closet and bedchamber to Charles II. His position gave him enormous influence and he became a close confidante of the king. Samuel Pepys mentions him in his diary and he later appears as a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel Peveril of the Peak.
Unfortunately, William does not seem to have shared his brother Thomas' reputation for probity. An earlier Dictionary biographer (not the current one) characterised him as "a time server and libertine, wasteful, unscrupulous, open to bribery and flattery, ingratiating himself into the confidence of courtiers and mistresses, delighting in intrigue of every kind except political plots, though even with these he sometimes meddled, but seldom skilfully".
For all that, he was generous to the hospital. He served as MP for Windsor from 1685 to 1687 and died in 1691.
Francis Swanton (plaque 64) was born in 1666 and was appointed Deputy Recorder of the City (Deputy Chief Executive is the nearest modern equivalent) in 1712. In 1714 he was elected MP for the City. He voted in the Tory interest and was included in a list of putative Jacobites sent to the Old Pretender in 1721. He died that same year and was described in the Cathedral burial register as being "of Over Wallop" - there is no evidence that he lived in the City.
However, the Swanton name is quite prominent in Salisbury's history. An earlier Francis Swanton was in 1655 appointed honorary churchwarden of St Edmund's because "he being a gentleman of honour and respect in the City may countenance and help forward the building of the tower" (St Edmund's tower had collapsed in 1652) This Francis Swanton (relationship not known) was sufficiently important for one of the chequers to be named as "Mr Swanton's Chequer" in a list dated 1667
The same list shows Henry Fricker, yeoman, (possibly a relative of John Fricker, plaque 65) living in Martin ward.
Edward Baker (plaque 64) was born in 1742 and died in 1796. He was the son of John and Elizabeth Baker and a member of the vestry of St Martin's church. The proceeds from the investment of his bequest were to be shared equally among the inmates of Trinity Hospital, the inmates of St Martin's own almshouses and the retired weavers living in St Ann Street.
There were other post Restoration benefactors who are not named in the plaques. These include Sir Alexander Powell who in 1785 left £50, and - perhaps too late for the plaques - William Ghost who left £300 in 1823. Finally, in 1830 the hospital received 13s per year for the use of its pump by neighbours.
Table of benefactors 2
Plaque 65 can be found just inside the entrance to Trinity Hospital.
The O/S grid position is SU 14615 East 30288 North.
A Table
of Benefactors to this
Hospital since the Year
of his Majestys happy
Restoration AD. 1660.
Wm. Chiffinch Esqr. gave
7L-3S-10D pr. Ann. for ever.(viz)
6£ to the poor Brethren, 20S
to the Chaplain, &3S-10D for recg.
it. He likewise gave for making
the new Seats & Repairing &
beautifying the Chapel 30L-2S.
Mr John Fricker also gave
3L pr Ann. for ever.
Oliver Cromwell ruled from 1649 until his death on 3 September 1658. He was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son, Richard, who resigned in May 1659.
Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660.
For further details see plaque 64 & 65 details.
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) report on Salisbury 1980
The aulnage return for Salisbury 27 Nov 1396 to 26 Nov 1397 (Public Record Office E/101/345/2)
Ward list roll believed to date from 1399/1400 (Salisbury District Muniments WRO G23/1/236)
List of contributors to a royal aid and supply 1667
Churchwardens' accounts of St Edmund and St Thomas, Sarum, 1448 to 1702 - Ed Henry Swayne, Wiltshire Records Society 1896
Trinity Hospital, Salisbury - TH Baker - reprinted from the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Vol XXXVI, 1910
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on William Chiffinch - author Ewan Fernie
Endless Street - John Chandler, Hobnob Press 1983
Caring - a history of Salisbury City charities compiled by members of the Salisbury Local History Group - 2000
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