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In
1633 Thomas Williams lived in Castle Villa (now The Mynde). His
wife gave birth to a son, Charles, who was christened in the village
church. When Charles was a young man he fought a duel with his
cousin, Edmund Morgan of Penrhos (just outside Caerleon). Charles
killed Edmund in the fight and then fled to Turkey - duelling
was at this time illegal. With the assistance of family contacts
he became extremely wealthy as a fig merchant. His family and
friends used their influence back in Britain to arrange for his
return. Eventually Queen Anne granted him a pardon. And so, as
a middle aged man he bought his amnesty and came 'home'. (See
note at foot of page.)
It is not known
if he ever returned to Caerleon (London became his new home) -
but his legacies were to have far reaching consequences for generations
and generations of residents of the village.
He died in 1720,
aged 87, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. His will revealed
that he had bequeathed seven thousand pounds to a Trust Fund for
assisting Caerleon and its inhabitants. Three thousand pounds
for improvements to be made to the church and roads leading to
it, the rest was to be spent on education. In 1724 a school was
built at a cost of 500 pounds, the remaining money (as instructed
in the will) was invested in land. The profits and rents from
this investment were to be used for running the school. Due to
the good investments made, the fund has grown substantially. In
the early years coal was discovered under lands purchased by the
fund bringing in huge revenues. More recently land owned by the
fund has been sold to the local authority for a new housing estate.
The first school
took in 30 pupils, 20 boys and 10 girls (3 of the boys and one
of the girls were from Ultra Pontem, just the other side of the
River Usk, sometimes called 'Old Caerleon'). Through subsequent
years numerous local children have benefitted.
This information
has been obtained from "Charities
Direct" http://www.charitiesdirect.com/CharityDetail.asp?orgid=19190
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