Edward Irving – forgotten Santa
Should you pay a visit to St Mary’s Church, Stapleton, on Christmas Day, and manage to find the grave of Edward Irving, you would be partaking in an apparently long-forgotten tradition.
Two death notices
The Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware’s Whitehaven Advertiser of March 17, 1778, carried two interesting death notices. The first has been widely recorded:
‘DIED. Yesterday se’ennight, at Mr. Wm. Cookson’s in Penrith, Mrs. Wordsworth, wife of Mr. John Wordsworth, attorney at law in Cockermouth…’
‘Mrs Wordsworth’ was Ann, née Cookson. Mother of a little boy of almost eight called William, who would grow up to become one of our most-famous poets.
The second death notice reads:
‘The 30th ult. at Harper-Hill in this county, Mr. Edward Irwing. He bequeathed £80 to the poor of Stapleton-Quarter, the interest of which is to distributed annually on Old Christmas day, for ever, at the stone to be placed at the head of his grave.
‘One shilling, with victuals and ale, was also distributed to every poor person who attended his funeral.’
Edward Irving
There is very little of readily available information about Edward, who in the few sources I’ve found is named variously as Edward Irwing, Edward Irwin, and Edward Irving.
I’m going to stick with Irving, for consistency.
Harper Hill farm, in 1811 (for sure) ran to 170 acres. And when he died in 1778, Edward Irving was wealthy enough to leave £80 to charity – the equivalent of around £10,700 today.
Edward’s bequest
CHARITIES. – Edward Irving, Harper Hill, in 1778, bequeathed to the rector of Stapleton, for the time being, and others, the sum of £80, the interest, £2 6s. 8d.,to be divided as follows:- one-half to the school and the other half to be divided on his tombstone among the poor not receiving parochial relief. This charity is restricted to the township of Stapleton.
What was it worth?
The £1 3s 4d given out to the poor each Christmas Day would initially have been worth around £150. The value, according to the Bank of England’s calculator, fell and rose down the years, but not by a great deal.
The population of the parish, however, did jump from 239 in 1801 to 550 in 1841, before gradually declining back to 289 in 1931. (Source:)
How many were eligible?
In 1838, Stapleton parish had one Guardian of the Poor, under the 1834 Poor Law. But actual figures of those in need in such a small parish are not readily available.
In January 1852, Rev W Graham, rector of Arthuret (population 2,234), was helping some 60 ‘poor persons’ in his parish every day with money and ‘tickets to procure bread and other necessaries’.
You can’t say extrapolate too much from that. But say three per cent of Stapleton’s population was also in need, that, in 1852, would have been 17 people.
Edward Irving’s (equivalent of) £120 would have ensured they enjoyed Christmas Day. But not beyond. It was never intended for that.
Perhaps the fact that just before Christmas 1852, the congregation of St Mary’s Church, Stapleton, raised 14s 6d for Cumberland Infirmary tells us something? If many of the congregation were giving to charity, were there many others at all in need of it (and not getting parish relief)?
‘On Christmas Day for ever’
So, what became of it? Did the Christmas graveside gifts fizzle out, due to a lack of people turning up?
Was it the trustees? The original ones died, leaving their heirs to take over the role, and they in turn died… After a few generations, was there no one left to administer things? Had it all basically been forgotten?
Or had the money gone?
John Armstrong
The Carlisle Journal of December 21, 1833, names Edward Irving’s trustees as
‘the rector of Stapleton, and his successors, and John Baty, of Roweltown, and his successors.’
The Journal says, of the £80:
‘This sum is now the hands of John Armstrong, Lanercost, who has given promissory note to John Baty, one of the present trustees, for the amount, with interest at five per cent.; he has also assigned to Mr. Baty certain real property as a collateral security for this and other debts.’
It also shows that the charity had always been in a bit of of muddle:
‘..until about eight years ago, the schoolmaster received a greater proportion of the interest than he was entitled to, the trustees having been unaware of the terms the will.
‘For the last eight years the Interest has been been properly divided, and laid out by Mr. Baty, according to the directions of the testator.’
Is it possible that John Armstrong had been unable to make the payments? That the £80 capital was lost?
John Baty
A John Baty, yeoman, of Roweltown, Stapleton, died in 1842, aged 61.
(A previous John Baty – likely Edward Irving’s original trustee – had died in 1800).
John ‘junior,’ in 1841, was living alone at Roweltown, with a domestic servant. His will would shed some light on whether or not there was any money left. And if so, who succeeded him as a trustee of Edward Irving’s charity.
Edward Irving’s grave
The St Mary’s Church, Stapleton, that Edward Irving knew is long gone, having been rebuilt in 1830.
The rector when Edward Irving died in 1778, was the Rev William Graham, who died in 1796.
Fast-forward a lot of vicars later, and today St Mary’s is part of a benefice with three other churches (St Cuthbert’s Bewcastle; St Cuthbert’s Kirklinton, and; St Mary, Hethersgill), each holding one regular service a month.
Contributors to findagrave.com have uploaded some 591 photos of memorials. But Edward Irving’s isn’t among them. Perhaps it is as long lost as his kind legacy has been.