The Feoffee was a charity which owned several properties and provide aid to the poor from the income derived from these properties.
Two Feoffee ledgers survive for the period 1766 to 1866. They record only payments. During this period, it appears that the Feoffee owned Stafford House which was being run as a work house. There are no expenditures recorded for the support of people in the workhouse. It seems likely that this fell on the trustees for the poor rate.
The payment are of two types:
- support payments to beneficiaries, occasionally with a brief explanation of why the support was needed
- payments for services or taxes, usually connected with the maintenance of feoffee properties, sometimes with an indication of the work
Most of the support payments are made in the winter months, presumably because there was insufficient agricultural work to provide employment for everyone in these months.
