DEVON AND EXETER SAVINGS' BANK, in Bedford circus, was established
in 1815, for the safe and beneficial investment of the savings of
the humbler classes. The large and handsome building which it now
occupies, was completed in 1839, at a considerable expense, paid
out of the surplus fund. The principal office, or banking room, is
60 feet long and from 40 to 60 broad, and is very lofty. The
building comprises also residences for the actuary and cashier, a
board room, and other offices. The whole is warmed by hot water,
heated by stoves on the basement floor, and passed through copper
pipes into each compartment. The operations of this Savings' Bank
extend over a very large portion of the county of Devon, by means
of more than 130 Branches. It is under the direction of 48
trustees, and upwards of 260 managers; and the amount
of its deposits is only exceeded by one other Savings' Bank in the
kingdom. The sum which it had invested in the Bank of England, on
the 20th of Nov., 1848, including a year's interest, was
£987,075. 17s. 5d., belonging to about 30,000 depositors, and
a number of Friendly and Charitable Societies. The total sum which
it had then received on 88,123 accounts, during the 33 years of its
existence, amounted to £3,717,827; and the sums withdrawn and
interest paid during the same period, amounted to £2,760,427.
This institution is empowered, under the provisions of the 3rd of
William IV., cap. 14, to grant Government Annuities,
immediate or deferred, for life, or for a certain term of years;
and the sum of £58,487, has been invested by it in the
purchase of annuities of from £4 to £30 each, payable
half yearly. A husband and wife are both eligible to hold an
annuity of the highest amount. Copies of the regulations, with
lists of the trustees, managers, branches, &c., may be obtained
at the Bank, on application to Mr. Wm. Lee, the actuary.
The West of England Fire and Life Insurance Company was
established in 1807; and empowered by act of Parliament, in 1813.
It has a subscribed capital of £600,000, in £100
shares, of which £46.16s. 6d. is paid. Its chief office is a
large and elegant building at 237, High street, erected in 1833.
The facade of this edifice is of Portland stone, and is about 50
feet wide and 26 high. It has a portico in the centre surmounted by
a pedestal, on which stands a figure of King Alfred. Behind this is
a large building, erected in 1820, and containing an excellent
board room, and the secretary's residence. This provident
institution ranks among the principal insurance companies of
Europe, and has a large establishment in London, and agencies in
Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin, and almost every town in the kingdom. In
1847, it paid no less than £42,856 as duty on fire insurance.
Earl Fortescue, Earl Morley, Lord Clifford, Sir T.D. Acland, Bart.,
Edward Divett, Esq., M.P., and S.T. Kekewich, Esq., are the
trustees; W.M. Praed, Esq., is the president; and Mr.
Charles Lewis is the secretary. The London office is at 20,
Bridge street, Blaekfriars.
The Western Provident Association was established here in
May, 1848, for the purpose of assuring to the industrious classes
of both sexes, in return for their small monthly contributions, -
weekly stipends and medical aid, during sickness and old age; also
payments of £5 to £100 at death;- and endowments of
from £5 to £50 for children. This mutual assurance
society affords to the tradesmen and the working classes all the
benefits, without any of the risks and evils of the old Benefit and
Friendly Societies. Its rules are enrolled under the act of
Parliament relating to such institutions, and its tables have been
most carefully calculated by that eminent statist - Mr. Nelson. The
benefits of the association may be extended by the Board to any
part of the West of England, by the formation of Branches,
with the assistance of Local Committees; and any existing Benefit
Society may be incorporated with it, on equitable terms. During the
first ten months of its existence 663 members enrolled themselves
as subscribers for 857 assurances, and their number has since been
greatly augmented. Branches have been formed at Plymouth,
Devonport, Crediton, Torquay, Ashburton, Bovey-Tracey, Teignmouth,
Exmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Leskeard, and other places in Devon,
Cornwall, Somerset, &c., Viscount Ebrington, M.P., is
president, and some of the principal gentry of the city and
neighbourhood are the vice-presidents and trustees. Mr.
Chas. Hill is the secretary, and the office of the
Association is at the Athenaeum, Bedford circus, and is open daily
from 10 till 4, and on Tuesday and Saturday evenings from 6 to 8
o'clock.
The National Loan Fund Life Assurance and Deferred Annuity
Society has a branch office at 59, High street, and upwards of
70 Fire and Life Insurance Companies have agencies here, as
will be seen in the subjoined Directory. The Western Annuity
Society was established in 1831, and Mr. W.D. Moore, of 59,
High street, is its secretary. Mr. Thomas May is manager of the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Exeter Benefit Investment Societies,
established in 1845, '6, and '7. These societies consist of many
hundred holders of £120 shares, to be raised by monthly
contributions of 10s. per share, and lent out on security of
freehold or leasehold property. Mr. Thos. W. Gray is solicitor to
the Devon and Exeter Benefit Building and Investment
Society, established in 1847, and Messrs. Walkey and Truscott
are solicitors to the Second Economic Benefit Building
Society, established in 1848. J.H. Terrell and Mr. Fryer are
solicitors to Exeter and St. Thomas's Benefit Investment
Society, founded in 1848. Mr. E.A. Copleston is secretary to
the Western Agricultural and General Benefit Society. The
Earl of Devon is chairman, and Mr. John Bowring, secretary, of
St. Thomas's District Loan Society, which was established in
1839, and meets every Friday at 2 o'clock, in the Agricultural
Rooms, 197, High street. Mr. Thomas May is secretary to the West
of England and South Wales Land Drainage and Inclosure Company,
established in 1844, and incorporated by act of Parliament in 1848.
The object of this Company is to afford to landowners and occupiers
increased facilities for draining and improving their land in the
most scientific and effectual manner, or by the advance of capital
for that purpose, to be repaid by instalments. Among the other
provident institutions in Exeter are several Friendly Societies and
Lodges of Freemasons, Odd Fellows, and other Secret Orders. The
Masonic Lodges, (Nos. 46 and 129) are open on the 2nd and
last Thursdays of every month at the Tucker's and Masonic
Hall, as already noticed at page 112.
EXETER WORKHOUSE:- In 1699, an Act of Parliament passed for
erecting hospitals and workhouses for the poor of the 23 parishes,
"c., of the City and County of the City of Exeter; under which a
large Workhouse was built in the parish of St. Sidwell. Since 1704,
the CORPORATION OF THE POOR, instituted by this Act, have been in
receipt of most of an annuity of £40, left by the Rev.
John Bury, in 1667, for the support of a workhouse for the poor
of the parish of St. Sidwell. As part of this annuity they receive
£30 yearly out of land at Netherstover, and £3 from a
cottage at Broadnymet; but £8. 8s. per annum charged by the
donor on a tenement called Rock, now held by the Dean and Chapter,
has not been paid for many years. In 1700, the site of the
Workhouse, and 17 acres of land adjoining, were conveyed to the
Governor and Guardians of the Poor, subject to a yearly rent-charge
of £30, one half of which belongs to Sir T. Lethbridge, and
the other half was left to the Episcopal Charity Schools by Mrs.
Mary Trelawny. Part of this land is occupied as the Workhouse
garden, brick-yard, &c., and the rest is let for about
£106 per annum, and chiefly occupied as nurseries, gardens,
and the building sites of two rows of houses called Summerland
place and terrace. The Corporation of the Poor derive also about
£50 a year as the rents of a house and the Bury Meadows, of
which four-fifths were left by Sir Edward Seaward, in 1703,
and the remaining fifth by Margery Gould, at a subsequent
date. About four acres of Bury Meadows were laid out as a
public promenade for the inhabitants in 1846. The Workhouse
has been enlarged at various periods, and comprises several
extensive ranges of brick buildings, in which are accommodations
for about 550 paupers, but it has seldom more than 400 inmates. It
is pleasantly situated in the eastern suburbs of the city, and is
surrounded by gardens and handsome houses. Behind it is a large
brick and tile yard, in which many of the able-bodied
paupers are employed. The 23 parishes, &c. of the city and
county of the city of Exeter, are still incorporated for the
support of their poor, under the local act of 1699, and they
form a Superintendent Registrar's District, under the
general registration act. The numerous and valuable charitable
funds, which are periodically distributed among the indigent of
Exeter, tend materially to lighten the burden of the city poor
rates, which seldom exceed £10,000 per annum, and in 1838
only amounted to £7500. Under the act of 1699, the Mayor and
12 Aldermen are Guardians of the Poor (ex officio,) and
about 40 others are elected for life by the ratepayers of the four
wards. The following is a list of the Guardians and officers of the
Wm. Hooper, Esq., Governor; Joseph Cuthbertson, Esq.,
Deputy Governor; Wm. Lee, Esq., Treasurer; the Mayor and
Twelve Aldermen; and Messrs. W.P. Kingdon, M. Franklin, J. Pearse,
R. Taylor, E. Woolmer, M. Kennaway, J. Golsworthy, T. Balle, John
Dymond, Samuel Mortimer, Samuel Maunder, Henry Hooper, George
Maunder, George Bradford, Joseph Sayell, Christopher Arden, Wm.
Nation, John Dinham Osborn, Wm. Hobson Furlong, H. Lake Hirtzel, W.
Richards, James Luke Knight, Charles Davy, George Ferris, T.E.
Drake, J.H. Gasking, R.S. Cornish, J. Pine, J.C. Wilcocks, W.
Drewe, J.P. Nichols, J.C. Sercombe, J. Stoppard, R. Pain, T.
Salter, John Ware, and Joseph Moxon. Chaplain, Rev. Theodore
Coldridge. Solicitor, Chas. Brutton, Esq. Auditor,
John Tyrrell, Esq. Clerk, Mr. Robert Hake. Office, New
Buildings, Castle St. Medical Officers, Messrs. F.H. Warren,
Arthur Kempe, J.S. Perkins, and A. J. Cumming. Head Beadle,
Mr. John Shears; Beadle, Mr. John Sparkes; Assistant Beadle,
George Couch. Schoolmaster and Mistress, Mr. J. Fryer and
Miss A.J. Thompson. Foreman of the Brick and Tile Yard, Mr.
Robert Sparke.
Commissioners for Controlling the Expenditure of the
Corporation of the Poor:- Messrs. Paul Measor, Thomas Besley,
George Braund, Thomas Merchant, John S. Gard, John Hill, Rev. G.M.
Slatter, Messrs. J. Northam, R.B. Best, C.K. Webb, W. Lang, W.
Land, N.W. Tanner, W.H. Farrant, W. Tombs, W. Pepperell, Ralph
Sanders, and George Weedon.
REGISTRARS:- James Terrell, Esq., is Superintendent Registrar
of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; and Mr. Edward H. Roberts is
his deputy. Messrs. Charles Hill and John Porter are Registrars
of Marriages. The following are the REGISTRARS OF BIRTHS AND
DEATHS, viz., Mr. S.M. Cox for St. David's District, and Mr. F.G.
Farrant for St. Sidwell's District. Mr. B.B. Best is deputy
to the former, and Mr. S. Hooker to the latter.
ST. THOMAS'S UNION, though none of it is within the municipal
limits of Exeter, includes those populous suburbs of the city in
the parishes of St Thomas the Apostle, St. Leonard, and Heavitree,
as well as 46 other parishes in Wonford and adjacent hundreds. It
was formed under the New Poor Law, in 1836. Its 49 parishes
comprise an area of about 126,510 acres, and contained in 1841 a
population of 46,467 souls, of whom 21,671 were males, and
24,796 females. The total number of Houses in the Union in 1841 was
9735, of which 610 were unoccupied, and 147 building. Its total
expenditure on the poor in the year ending March, 1848, was
£22,728, including £2605 paid to the county rates. The
number of paupers relieved in each quarter of the same year
averaged 4571, of whom 350 were in-door poor. The UNION WORKHOUSE
is a large stone building in St. Thomas's parishes, and was erected
in 1837, at the cost of about £11,000, including the purchase
of 3½ acres of land. It has accommodations for 450 paupers, and
the rooms are spacious and well ventilated. The Guardians
meet every Friday at eleven o'clock, and the Earl of Devon is
chairman, and S.T. Kekewich, Esq., and the Rev. A. Atherley are
vice-chairmen. The Board consists of 42 ex officio,
and 61 elected Guardians. Messrs. J.G. Bidwill and J. Bowring are
joint clerks of the Union; and the former is also
superintendent registrar, and the latter deputy sup.
regr. Mr. and Mrs. Hodge are master and matron of the
Workhouse; the Rev. E. Bartlett is the chaplain; and Mr.
and Mrs. Dunn are teachers of the schools. Sixteen surgeons are
employed for the Union, and one for the Workhouse. Messrs. John
Trenchard, of Exmouth, and James Lyddon, of St. Thomas's, are
registrars of marriages, and the following is a
LIST OF PARISHES IN ST. THOMAS'S UNION.
With Notes referring to the subjoined List of Relieving
0fficers and Registrars of Births and Deaths.
Alphington
D7
Doddiscombsleigh
A10
Kenton
A3
Sowton
C4
Ashton
A10
Dunchideock
A7
Littleham
B2
St Leonard's
D6
Ashcombe
A3
Dunsford
A7
Lympstone
B2
St Thomas's
D1
Aylesbeare
B8
East Budleigh
B5
Mamhead
A3
St Mary's Clist
C4
Bicton
B5
Exminster
B3
Nether-Exe
C6
St George's Clist
B4
Brampford Speke
D1
Farringdon
C8
Otterton
B5
Stoke Canon
C6
Broadclist
C9
Heavitree
D6
Pinhoe
C6
Tedburn St Mary
A7
Bridford
A10
Holcombe Burnell
A7
Poltimore
C6
Topsham
B4
Christow
A10
Honiton's Clist
C4
Powderham
A3
Upton Pyne
D1
Clist Hydon
C9
Huxham
C6
Rewe
C6
Whimple
C9
Clist St Lawrence
C9
Ide
D7
Rockbeare
C8
Whitstone
A1
Clist Raleigh
B5
Kenn
A3
Shillingford St George
A7
Whithycombe-Raleigh
B2
Woodbury
B8
All these Parishes are in the jurisdiction of the County Court,
held at Exeter.
RELIEVING OFFICERS:- Mr. Badcock, of Kennford, for all the parishes
marked A; Mr. Edward Southcott, of Topsham, for those marked B; Mr.
Henry W. Austin, of Broadclist, for those marked C; and Mr.
Christopher Saunders, of Heavitree. for those marked D.
REGISTRARS OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS:- Mr. Benison, of St. Thomas's,
for all the parishes marked 1; Mr. Land, of Exmouth, for those
marked 2; Mr. Collyns, of Kenton, for 3; Mr. Tothill, of Topsham,
for 4; Mr. Kendall, of Budleigh-Salterton, for 5; Mr. Madden, of
Heavitree, for 6; Mr. Cheeseworth, of Dunsford, for 7; Mr. Lindsay,
of Woodbury, for 8; Mr. Austin, of Broadclist. for 9; and Mr.
Hamlyn, of Christow, for those marked 10.
Brian Randell, 25 Oct 1998
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