This
is an interesting plaque detailing the bequest of William Killingworth
Hedges Esquire, to firstly ensure the upkeep of a relative's grave,
and secondly to provide assistance for the elderly in need in the
parish. A photo of the grave mentioned is among those taken in the
churchyard, further down the the thumbnail menu.
The text
of the plaque reads thus:
WILLIAM
KILLINGWORTH HEDGES ESQUIRE
who died on the 21st of October 1852
bequeathed to the RECTOR, CHURCHWARDENS and PARISH CLERK of the Parish
of WOOTTON nr WOODSTOCK, OXON, the sum of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS to be
invested in their names in Consols and called the KILLINGWORTH BEQUEST,
and out of the annual interest to pay one guinea to the Parish Clerk
to certify and attend to the keeping in decent repair for ever the
Tombstone and Grave of WILLIAM KILLINGWORTH who died on the 14th of
March 1767, and the surplus after paying the needful repairs of the
Tombstone & Grave to be given annually on the anniversary of the decease
of the said WILLIAM KILLINGWORTH, either in money, clothes, or fuel
to any Poor Parishioner above the age of Sixty who has never received
Parochial relief that the Rector for the time being thinks most deserving,
one of the name of either KILLINGWORTH or HEDGES to have the preference
if equally deserving.
