|
Sir William, who died in 1634, had left lands valued at £3 per annum called "Yr Arloesydd" in the parish of Aber for the support and maintenance of three "poor, decrepit old men" of the parish. These almsmen were to be nominated by the family of Pen-y-Bryn, Sir William Thomas's seat in Aber, and each was to receive 20s. Per annum during their life. Twenty shillings a year at that time was approximately equivalent in value to the old-age pension of today. In the Tudor and early Stuart period charitable bequests of this kind were often made by the gentry and by wealthy merchants both in England and Wales. Almsgiving was regarded as a Christian duty and a means of grace as well as a combination to the welfare of society. To establish a permanent charity for the relief of the poor and especially to erect an almshouse also brought prestige to a landed family and commemorated locally both the name and the munificence of the donor. Thus Sir William Thomas was following the practice, if not the fashion, of his age when he decided to leave a tiny portion of his estates for the maintenance of three poor old men in the parish of Aber. His friend Sir John Wynn of Gwydir had built an almshouse at Llanrwst in 1610 and it may be supposed that Sir William's charitable inclinations would have been partly inspired at least by a desire to emulate the famous Sir John. Sir William, however was not as wealthy as the Squire of Gwydir and furthermore may well have been reluctant to give too freely for the poor of those lands which he had striven so hard to acquire during his lifetime. At all events though he established a charity, he did not go so far as to build an almshouse. Sir William Thomas was a fairly typical example of the Welsh gentry of his day.
|
