CHARITIES

The Witney and Hailey charities are described in the Tenth Report of the Charity Commissioners, (1824), pp.365-384. The properties of many of the Witney charities were vested in 'Town Trustees' (also called 'Common Trustees' or 'Feoffees'), but the management of most of them was delegated either to the town bailiffs (in most instances) or to the churchwardens. All the properties administered by the bailiffs were within the town of Witney. In addition to these 'Town' charirities there were others whose properties were vested in separate trustees. Most of the separate trusts were established by individual donors, but the largest of them, the Freeland Charity, was created in 1682 when land in Freeland was bought with money derived from numerous small benefactions.