Corn Charity

In this letter of 14 December 1776 George Hall describes the ongoing work at Bamburgh Castle. Reference is made to work on the granary – the floor has been filled with rubbish and nailed down. The plasterwork is ongoing. Hall refers to a sailor staying at the Castle. The sailor is lame but does not have any broken bones. The Charity provided refuge, board and medical support to shipwrecked sailors at Bamburgh Castle. Reference is made to “a vast many children under inoculation in our nighbourhood (sic)”. Smallpox inoculation of the poor without charge was another innovation introduced by the Charity. 

George Wood was accountant to the Lord Crewe Trustees. In this annual account sheet he sets out payments made to local farmers for the provision of a range of grain – barley, corn, oats, meal, pease and wheat to the charity’s granaries. Dr. John Sharp established four granaries- two in Bamburgh Castle and two in Bamburgh village. The granaries were open two days per week and were sold produce to any poor person who lived within a forty-mile radius of Bamburgh. The document provides information about the farmers that provided grain to the granaries – in most cases the name or situation of the farm is recorded and the quantities of grain provided with costs. The sums involved are large. One of the totals recorded is £702, equivalent to about £55k today. A boll was a measurement of quantity, the extent of which varied from area to area. It generally equated to about six bushels – a bushel equated to about 36.4 litres meaning that a boll was approximately 218.4 litres. The quantities listed give an impression of the demand placed upon the granaries.  

The Corn Charity was established in 1766 to provide the poor of the area with subsidised grain. In the 18th century corn was a generic term used to describe grain – probably barley, oats and wheat. This page dated 1797 lists the local farmers that the charity purchased grain from. Most of the farms formed part of the Lord Crewe estate – the Charity leased the farms to the farmers and bought some of their produce back from them. This arrangement may have been set out in the leases issued to tenants. Reference is made to oats and pease sold to the stables at Bamburgh Castle. The usual diet for a horse at this time would be chaff (chopped hay and straw), mixed oats and beans or peas. The total value at the bottom of the page £907 16s 9d roughly equates to about £70k at today’s values.  

This page, dated 23 August 1804, forms part of a volume of accounts listing the goods in hand in the Bamburgh Castle Cheap Shop together with their values. The products listed are mostly recognisable to us. Allum (Alum), rosin and saltpetre were all used in home remedies. The document suggests that relatively large quantities of stock were bought in and maintained. The total value at the bottom of the page £292 14s 5d roughly equates to about £15k at today’s values.  

Grains produced in the Bamburgh granaries were sold in the Meal Shop. This document is a sample pages from the monthly account book of the shop, 1799-1840. The page details quantities of grain, barley, oats, oatmeal and seeds sold through the shop. It also references the sale of dust – a by-product of the milling process and probably sold to make cheap bread or possibly a form of porridge or gruel. Quantities of grain passing through the shop are large. The entry of 30 April 1818 records the sale of 232 stones and 7 pounds of oatmeal – approximately 1477 kilograms – and indicate the level of usage of the shop. There are several references to a loss made by the shop. It is likely that the aim was for the shop to break even, charging only the cost of buying the grain in. 

Grains produced in the Bamburgh granaries were sold in the Meal Shop. This document is another page from the monthly account book of the shop, 1799-1840. This page lists quantities of beef and tallow distributed to the poor at Christmas 1816. Tallow is beef or mutton (sheep) fat and was used to produce candles to light homes. Pig fat was not used as it was very smoky and produced a pungent smell. Families that could afford to eat meat regularly might produce their own tallow. Families that ate meat irregularly needed to buy in supplies of tallow. The page does not include reference to payment which would suggest that users of the Meal Shop were given free beef and tallow at Christmas. The name of the recipient and their place of residence is given. In some cases, an indication of the household size is given. Entry number 3 references “Jane Hendry, her son & sister”. This may be an indication that Jane Hendry is a widow. 

This sample page from the register of charity recipients at the Bamburgh Castle meal (or corn) shop lists those receiving support in 1802. The register lists the name of the head of the household, residence, occupation, the name of the employer, landlord or recommender, number of persons in the family, a description of the family and the date the ticket was issued. In order to use the shop a person had to present a ticket thereby demonstrating their need. A range of occupations are referenced – four paupers (presumably in receipt of poor relief), three blacksmiths, one butcher, one carrier, seven fishermen, one gardener, eleven labourers, two masons, one schoolmaster, one shepherd, one shoemaker, one weaver and three widows. One of the households – that of  William Smith, a schoolmaster included a servant. The household of James Taylor, shoemaker, included an apprentice. Also included on the list is Mary Summers, matron of Bamburgh Castle School who wishes to use the Shop for herself and nineteen boarders at the School. 

This is a sample page from a volume of Bamburgh Castle Cheap Shop invoices, 1855-1858. The page lists items purchased from Messrs. Lloyds & Co. The products listed are largely recognisable to us. Fig blue and powder blue were products used in laundry. We know that the Charity imported rice from Carolina to sell in the Cheap Shop. This sample pages begins to give us an idea of the products sold in the Cheap Shop, the quantities purchased, costs and the regularity of purchase in the mid 19th century.