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The Ancient Brothers and the Nurse.
A pride to the dwellers in West Retford Town, Is a Hospital Brother arrayed in his gown, Provided for life by the good Doctor Darrel, With house, coals, and garden; with food and apparel. In a mansion embellished with beautiful trees, Where the Brothers—old gentlemen—free and at ease, To the Hospital roll-call should answer sixteen. And o'er them as Master, presides the Sub-Dean Of Lincoln's fair Minster, the Governor still, In accord with the terms of the good Founder's Will.
When an old Brother dies, other applicants pour, By the dozen and score, to the Hospital door, With papers, provided, which Parson must witness, And vouch for good character, conduct and fitness, A Darrel, or Denman proved true Founder's kin, And character worthy—he must be put in.
And when the good Master the best has selected, And after enquiry, declared him elected, Visitation he notifies—with solemn prayers, And laying his hands on his aged grey hairs, He solemnly makes him of Hospital Trinity, A much envied Brother; exhorts him that in it he, Remember his life:—diligently prepare For a mansion provided above in the air.
In Chapel, each morn, prayers are said by the Rector, The Hospital Chaplain, and spiritual director; The "Reader" each evening, from portions selected, Gives praise, prayer, and lesson, as duly directed.
| When a Brother's " took worse," | At the Trinity Feast, |
| The Matron or Nurse, | As provided by Founder, |
| Is there to look after | With currants and raisins, |
| Both him and his purse, | And good things around her, |
| Sole Sister provided | She makes them plum puddings, |
| For Brothers sixteen, | Spiced veal and ham pies, |
| She rules them by gentleness, | Which made their mouths water, |
| Just like a Queen. | And sometimes—their eyes. |
It has been the policy of the successive Master Governors to appoint decayed gentlemen, farmers, tradesmen, and also better-class artizans, foremen, parish clerks, and employees, who have had some education, and can take their turns as overseer, porter, and reader of evening prayers: and they have fixed the age of 70 from which to select candidates, of whom there are generally twenty or thirty whose names are on the application rolls. Some Brothers have attained the age of 90, and have therefore received a thousand pounds each, at least, in the payments and benefits of the Hospital, which with residence and money exceeds .£50 per annum to each Brother.
By the Founder's express directions, the inmates are to be of the Church of England. It must be remembered that his own relatives had been persecuted and forced into exile, and his brother ejected from his fellowship at Oxford by Cromwell's Independents, Presbyterians, and Ana-Baptists, who had also judicially murdered his Archbishop, Laud, and his King, Charles I, so that no doubt exists as to the Founder's intentions on that point; but an exception has been made occasionally, as in the case of the late Brother Hindley, a Town Councillor, and once prosperous tradesman of Retford, and who was a Wesleyan Methodist. The Bailyffe, on personal application, will always provide a printed form to be filled up in favour of any deserving case. The Master Governor will exercise his discretion and his right, in selecting from the numerous applications; and the Parish Clergy and others in the North Notts. District, are desired and requested to make known deserving cases to the Bailyffe.
In the middle of the last century sobriety was a virtue not prevalent. Edward Beckett was the gardener who laid out the grounds and the gardens of the then newly-built Grammar School of King Edward VI. in East Retford: he was appointed a Brother, and he was a teetotaler; the others all allowed themselves (a minimum of) a pint of ale daily, costing 3d., and they jeered at the new comer as a semi-lunatic, and monstrosity; but Edward the sober regarded them not, but he went into the market on Saturday, and bought him a brown crock, and instead of imbibing a daily pint, he put the cost thereof (3d.) into his crock, and when three years had elapsed, he said unto the Bailyffe, "I be grateful for the benefits I enjoy in this Hospital, and I wish to put a stained glass window into the Chapel as my thank-offering." So the window was designed, with an angel holding a scroll with the word "Gratitude" on it, and with three other figures "Faith, Hope, Charity"; and a carved inscription on the stone window-sill records, "Edward Beckett, Grateful, gave it," 1876.
Then Edward arose, and spake unto his Brethren, "Now then you, there's t'other winder, and there be 15 o'yah; I dares ye to put him in." So the 15 Brothers bought brown crocks, and put in 6d. a week, and "T'other winder" was soon filled in with stained glass, with figures of the Four Evangelists; and the carved inscription beneath it records, "15 Grateful Brothers gave it," 1877.
The Names of the present Brothers (1908) are shewn
on engraving as follows:—
| AGE | ||||
| Left | The Bailyffe | 75 | ||
| 1 | Brother | Stokes | 76 | of Clarborough |
| 2 | " | Pickard | 80 | " East Retford |
| 3 | " | Cordal | 86 | " East Retford |
| 4 | " | Simpson | 77 | " Barnby Moor |
| 5 | " | Darby | 77 | " Tuxford, |
| 6 | " | Bedford | 84 | " Ordsall |
| 7 | " | Fairbanks | 88 | " Treswell |
| 8 | " | Nicholson | 79 | " West Retford |
| 9 | " | Etches | 78 | " East Retford |
| to | " | Easton | 78 | " South Leverton |
| 11 | " | Spray | 76 | " West Retford |
| 12 | " | Wagstaff | 86 | " Boughton |
| 13 | " | Cobb | 76 | " West Retford |
| 14 | " | Johnson | 73 | " Sutton |
| 15 | " | Denman (absent) | 81 | " East Retford |
| 16 | " | Blagg (absent) | 72 | " Ordsall |
| Right | Nurse | Horsfield, Matron | " Blyth | |
The Names of the Nurses, from the foundation, as far as known:—
| 1671 | Unknown | ||
| 17— | Mary Theaker | died | 1795 |
| 1795 | Sarah Priest | died | 1800 |
| 1800 | Mary Wilson | died | 1822 |
| 1822 | Mary Baker | resigned | 1833 |
| 1833 | Sarah Millhouse | died | 1837 |
| 1837 | Elizabeth Temporal | resigned | 1853 |
| 1853 | Mary Ayre | resigned | 1864 |
| 1864 | Ann Clayton (age 93 in 1908) | resigned | 1899 |
| 1899 | Sarah Elizabeth Horsfield | (acting) | — |
| " Sole Sister provided for Brothers Sixteen." | |||
The Scholarship.
My task is ended—yet remains Another noble deed by Founder wrought, Who, like his Master, loved both old and young, And when West Retford street you chance to pass, Observe, in gabled roof, the stone which tells "Ex-dono Scolastici"—so the script records; These messuages, and lands adjacent, still Stand and fulfil the Founder's noble quest, And yet on banks of Isis (where he quaffed Full deep the cup of knowledge), still maintain "Puer ingenius," some likely youth, Who lives his College to adorn, And lustre add to Darrel's honoured name.
NAMES OF THE DARREL SCHOLARS AS FAR AS KNOWN.
Founded in 1671.
| 1694 | Gervis Raynes, son of Edward, of Ordsal (pleb), Notts. |
| 1729 | George Widdowson, son of George, of Tuxford (pleb), Notts. |
| 1740 | John Frost, son of George, of Granby (pleb), Notts. |
| 1754 | Edmund Brown, son of Paul, of Butterwick, Linc. |
| 1762 | Joshua Sampson, son of Rev. Joshua, Retford, Notts. |
| 1793 | Henry Moon, son of Rev. Peter, of Lincoln, Linc. |
| 1801 | John Hewes, son of Rev. James, of Woodborough, Notts. |
| 1803 | Francis Swan, son of Rev. Francis, of Lincoln, Linc. |
| 1815 | Robt. Hodgson Fowler, son of Rev. Charles, of Southwell, Notts. |
| 1823 | Charles Wollaston, son of Rev. John, of Scotter, Linc. |
| 1840 | Charles Garvey, son of Rev. Richard, of Lincoln, Linc. |
| 1852 | Morgan G. Watkins, son of Rev. Morgan, of Southwell, Notts. |
| 1871 | Francis E. Pitman, son of Rev. Henry, of Basford, Notts. |
| 1875 | Raymond M. Latham, son of Rev. Mortimer, of Tattersall, Linc. |
| 1878 | Thomas J. F. Haskoll, son of Rev. James, of Retford, Notts. |
| 1881 | Gerard C. Bailey, son of Rev. Anthony, of Panton, Linc. |
| 1885 | Ernest A. Glover, son of Rev. Frederick, of Withern, Linc. |
| 1889 | William G. Cruft, son of Rev. William, of Edwalton, Notts. |
| 1893 | J. E. Langdon, son of Rev. Alfred, of Sleaford, Linc. |
| 1897 | J. C. Hamilton, son of Rev. John, of W. Leake, Notts. |
| 1900 | Arthur T. Williams, son of Rev. Charles, of Scrimby, Linc. |
| 1904 | Lawrence F. Harvey, son of Rev. Frederick, of Egmanton, Notts. |
The value of the Darrel Scholarship at Exeter College, Oxford, is at present £10 per annum, and the tenure generally for three or four years. The endowment consists of four houses and two cottages, with gardens behind, forming the "Scholar's Court, in West Retford Town," and in the central gable of the houses, facing the street, is a stone, carved with the following Latin inscription:—
Ex DONO JOHANNIS DARELL, M.D.,
Scholastici Usui, anno domini mdclxxii.
"The Gift of John Darell, M.D., for use of the Scholars,
A.D. 1672,"
and there are also two scholar's fields on the Great North Road.
(The Scholarship Accounts are kept separately.)
A Benefaction is also charged on the Estate, payable to a Charity at Gainsborough for the benefit of eight poor boys who get 5/- each. It is called Wharton's Charity.
It may be noticed that at the death of the Founder in 1665, the receiver of the rents is named in the list of Bailiffs, as Mr. Wharton, of Retford; and that a Mr. George Wharton gave a field in Dominie Cross to the Head Master of the Grammar School, that he should read Common Prayer in the Church of East Retford every Sunday Afternoon; and, earlier, his Uncle, William Wharton, Gentleman, gave a benefaction to the poor of East Retford—still existing.
The Hospital for married couples, was also founded in East Retford, opposite West entrance of S. Swithun's Church, by another benefactor, Richard Sloswick, in 1675, an oval stone in gable of which has the following inscription:—
Mease-di-dieu, Ex Dono
richardi sloswicke generosi.
Re-built 1806.