These papers are concerned with three
charities in Towersey, those of
Christopher Deane, Katherine Pye, and
someone called Lacey (first name
unknown).
While nothing is known of the purposes
of the Lacey bequest, something is known
about the others: Christopher Deane left
some land in Lincolnshire to the parish
in 1690, to raise rents on it to give £5
a year to the incumbent of Towersey and
spend the rest on apprenticing poor
children born in Towersey (some 50
indentures for children apprenticed
under this scheme may be found in PAR274/5/A2 above). Katherine Pye gave some
land to the parish in 1713 to pay two
widows £2 a year, and spend the surplus
on religious purposes, in connection
with the Sunday School, the church
choir, etc., in Towersey, Princes
Risborough, Hughendon and West Wycombe.
By the later 19th century, this surplus
was usually spent on school prizes.