Reed, jumped overboard to assist them. Wingfield was seen to reach Miles, and place a life-collar around him. The ship's cutter was lowered, but some delay appears to have occurred before it got away, and the four men were meanwhile a mile or so astern, and to windward. The unfortunate swimmers were nowhere to be seen, and after the ship had been hove to for an hour, Captain Douglas felt compelled to hoist the return signal.

When the news of the sad occurrence first reached this country, some indignation was expressed that no greater effort had been made to rescue the gallant fellows, and the Hon. Hanbury Tracy, Member for Montgomeryshire, rose in the House of Commons to demand a Court of Enquiry into the circumstances of the case. On the return of the squadron to Sheerness a Court of Enquiry was held, and the decision arrived at was that every possible effort had been made to effect a rescue. The members of the court-naval men, in possession of all the evidence in the case-must be allowed to be the best judges of the question; and it must have been a satisfaction to the sorrowing relatives to learn that the first unfavourable reports as to the details of the sad event were without foundation.

Mr. Wingfield, who was only seventeen years old, was known as a splendid swimmer, and some three months before his death he made a brave effort to effect a rescue by leaping into the Woosung River on a dark night, and with a strong tide running, on hearing a cry that a boat was upset. Had he lived to reach England, he would no doubt have received the Royal Humane Society's medal for his gallant conduct.

In the north wall, immediately facing the entrance to the church, is the two-light stained glass window erected in 1898 to the memory of the late rector of the parish. The compartments are each about 43 ft. by 15 ins. wide: the left-hand light facing the spectator contains a figure of Saint Peter, with the text, " Feed my Sheep;" to the right is a figure of St. Paul, with

the words, "I have fought the good fight." The top of the window contains the figures of angels holding celestial crowns; at the foot are angels supporting the scrolls on which the Apostles' names are inscribed. The dedication is placed on a tablet of rose metal underneath the sill of the window, and runs follows:

"To the Glory of God and in loving memory of
The Revd. Joseph Matthews, M.A.
Prebendary of St. David's Cathedral

and Rector of this parish from 1871 to 1897
Born 21st January 1822, Died 14th June 1897.
Dedicated by Parishioners and other Friends."

as

The organ is placed in the vestry and organ-chamber at the north-east angle of the church, the front and key-boards facing the chancel, the pipes of the pedal organ facing the north aisle. A faculty for the erection of the organ was duly applied for and granted on February 27th, 1897. The instrument was made by Messrs. Peter Conacher and Co., of Huddersfield, and was presented to the church by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pryce, on the occasion of their completing the third of a century of their married life.

The organ was dedicated on Sunday, March 28th, 1897, and an organ recital was held in the church on the following day. The specification of the instrument is as follows: Oak case of Gothic design, the front pipes decorated in gilt and colours; two finger-boards, and a pedal organ of one stop, compass CC. to G., fifty

Three couplers, two composition pedals and tubular pneumatic action to pedal organ. Above the key

board is a brass tablet with the following inscrip

tion :

:

To the Glory of God
and in loving memory of
Those who have gone before
This Organ
is presented to
Llandysilio Church

28th March, 1897.

by THOMAS PRYCE

and ROSALIE S. PRYCE.

PARISH CHARITIES.

The parish charities are five in number, but are not of any very large amount. The earliest is known as the DAVID JONES'S CHARITY. David Jones described as of Ludlow, in Salop, gent., by deed dated May 16th, 1696, granted a rent charge of twenty shillings per annum on his estate in Llandysilio, for the benefit of ten of the most aged and impotent poor of the parish, to be distributed at Christmas, at the discretion of the parson and churchwardens.

PETER JONES, brother of the above-mentioned David Jones, charged the same estate with a like sum of twenty shillings, to be distributed annually to the poor of the parish, at the discretion of the parson and

churchwardens.

The property on which the above rent charges were granted is called in the deed " Lletty yr Brithill," and now forms part of the West Farm in this parish.

The meaning of the Welsh name "Lletty Brithyll" is "Haunt of the Trout," and the spot of ground, bordering on the river Vyrnwy, was possibly noted as

a favourite resort for anglers.

The trout has now become so scarce in this part of the river that the name might be more appropriately changed to "Lletty Penhwyad" or "The Resort of the Pike."

The rent charge of £2 per annum appears to have been regularly paid up to Easter 1850. The property had been sold by public auction in July 1848, and one of the sale conditions expressly stated this yearly rent charge of £2 for the benefit of the poor of Llandysilio. The purchaser of the property, however, refused in 1850 any longer to fulfil the obligation which had so clearly been laid upon him, and a long and somewhat unpleasant correspondence ensued. An appeal in December 1851 by the then rector, Mr. Butler, to Sir George Grey, the Home Secretary, was apparently without any satisfactory result; as we find that at a vestry meeting, held on August 26th, 1853, the rector and churchwardens were authorised to take the necessary steps to enforce the claim. The matter was placed in the hands of the Charity Commissioners, and by them referred to the Attorney-General.

Long and costly legal proceedings ensued, and the owner of the estate, utterly regardless of the conditions under which he had purchased the property, continued to resist the claim by various frivolous

excuses.

It was not until March 1857 that he consented to pay up the arrears, and after another eight months' delay the amount of £16 was paid to the AttorneyGeneral on November 26th, 1857. Meanwhile the poor of the parish had been deprived of the amount due to them from the David and Peter Jones's charities for a period of eight years, and a debt of £29 11s. 6d. had moreover been incurred for the amount of the AttorneyGeneral's bill of costs. It was not until April 1864, that the funds obtained from these charities enabled the rector and churchwardens to clear off the whole of the debt. Nearly the whole amount due from the Jones' charities during a period of fifteen years was thus

lost to the poor of the parish. Since 1857 the rent charge of £2 per annum has been paid by the tenant of the West Farm, on account of the owners of the property.

MARY BERNARD'S CHARITY. Mary Bernard, by will dated January 20th, 1783, bequeathed to the minister and churchwardens of Llandysilio the sum of fifty pounds, upon trust, to invest, and divide the interest arising therefrom among the poor of the parish. She bequeathed a similar amount to the poor of Llandrinio.

Miss Bernard was a relative of the Clopton family, and was administratrix to the will of Mrs. Martha Bernard, her mother, who was buried in Llandysilio on May 25th, 1743. She died in January 1791, and was buried in the Rhysnant vault.

The name is written in various ways: in the Registers it is spelt Barnett and Barnet, and on her tombstone she is called Berenard.

Was it her brother, John Bernard, who was curate of Llandrinio from 1799 to 1814, and afterwards vicar of Bettws?

The amount of this legacy remained under the care of her relatives until the year 1838, when the Rev. Rowland Wingfield paid the £50 to the rector and churchwardens. In an unlucky moment, the vestry meeting, held on April 16th, 1838, resolved to invest the amount in a Turnpike Bond of the third district of the Montgomeryshire Roads, at that time considered an unquestionable security. This Turnpike Trust, however, came to an end in 1879, in pursuance of Act 37 and 38 Victoria, cap. 95, and a dividend of about 7s. 6d. in the pound was all which remained to satisfy the claim, which was discharged by the payment of £18 18s. 10d. This sum was then invested in the purchase of £19 Ss. 6d. Consolidated Stock in the name of the official Trustees of Charitable Funds.

MARY JONES SHUKER'S CHARITY. Mary Jones