(December 21st the Winter Solstice)
Jane James (1669)
To pay the eight poor people inhabiting Owfield’s Almshouses the sum of five shillings each on St. Thomas’ Day.
Christopher Pegg (1669)
To the poor of Ashbourne on St. Thomas’ day £18 18s 2d
Shaw and Denton (1625)
To pay £3 on St. Thomas’ Day to poor widows and others of the township of Ashborne and hamlet of Compton , according to a list which was approved by the Governors and Assistants
George Taylor’s (1668)
£1 was distributed in sixpences on St. Thomas ’Day to forty poor housekeepers of the township of Ashborne according to a list approved of by the Governors and Assistants
Taken from the Minutes of the Old Trust concerning St. Thomas’ Day gifts
6th December 1861
At this meeting the distribution and disposal of the several charities payable at this season were regulated and ordered.
6th December 1894
Ordered that a meeting be called for the13th inst. at 6 o’clock to arrange St Thomas’ Charity and that notices be sent to the Curates.
6th December 1900
The Clerk was requested to call a meeting for the 13th inst. at 6pm to arrange Saint Thomas’ Charity, the Curates and the Revd. A.P. Neele to be invited to attend.
Monday 13th December 1909
The list of recipients of St, Thomas’ Gift was settled.
It was Resolved to place it upon record in the Minutes that it is the opinion of the Trustees present at this Meeting that if any of the Recipients of St. Thomas’ Gift shall be convicted of
drunkenness within one month of St. Thomas’ Day that they ought to be struck off the list of
recipients the following year.
Tuesday 3rd December 1946
The List of the Recipients of St. Thomas’s Gift was considered and revised.
The amount of each recipient should be increased from 2/6d to 3/6d each.
Tuesday 2nd December 1947
The List of the Recipients of St. Thomas’s Gift was revised, and it was resolved that the amount to be distributed to each should be 4/-.
Tuesday 6th December 1949
Mr Jones and his Committee reported the amendments to the list of recipients of the
St Thomas’s Day Gift. Five new names were added, and 9 deleted and a distribution of 4/6d was being made to 92 persons at a cost of £31. 2. 0d.
Tuesday 5th December 1950
The list of recipients for the St. Thomas’s Gift was revised by the deletion of four names and addition of 2, reducing the number of recipients to 90 at 4/6d, which makes a total cost of
£30. 8. 6d
Tuesday 4th December 1951
The list of the Recipients for St. Thomas’s Gift was considered and 17 names were deleted and 7 new names were added to the list, making a total of 80 at 4/6d = £18. 0. 0d.
Tuesday 2nd December 1952
The Governors then considered the list of recipients of St. Thomas’s Gift. 8 names were deleted and 3 additional nameswere added with the result that 75 persons will now receive 5/- each on distribution.
Tuesday 1st December 1953
The Governors then settled the list of Receipients of St. Thomas’s Gift. From the 75 names on the original list, 11 names were deleted, and 11 new names added, leaving a balance of 75 names, and it was decided that each should draw 6/- making the total cost of £22. 10. 0d.
Tuesday 1st December 1959
On the allocation of St. Thomas’ Gift, and allowing for 10 Spalden’s occupants to receive 8/- and 5 Owfield’s occupants to receive 16/- making £8 in all, the list included 64 names, to each of whom a sum of 7/6 was allocated.
6th December 1960
On the allocation of St. Thomas’ Gift and allowing for 10 Spaldens occupants to receive 8/- each, and 8 Owfields occupants to receive 16/- each making a total of £10. 8. 0., the list includes 66 names to each of whom the sum of 7/6 was allocated.
5th December 1961
On the allocation of St. Thomas’s gift, six additional names were added, making 61 names, each recipient to get 7/6 at an estimated cost of £32. 17. 6.
This was the last of the St. Thomas’s Day distribution as the Scheme of 1962 now took over when the money was included in the Ashbourne Poor Charity