| Description | Admin History: Thomas Henshaw died in 1810 a very wealthy man. His will outlined how he wished to distribute his money with several large bequests being made to establish charitable institutions. The will that was eventually granted probate, made by Thomas on the 14 Nov 1807, was the third Thomas had made and had four codicils [a supplement or appendix to a will]. The will was contested by Sarah Henshaw, Thomas Henshaw's widow, and Ann Hadfield his niece who through this final will had been deprived of the greater part of his wealth. They contested the will on the grounds that Thomas was not of sound mind when drawing up the 1807 will.
The Case was known as Henshaw & Hadfield v. Atkinson & Atkinson was heard in several courts. It went through the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Chester, the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York, the High Court of Delegates and the Court of Chancery.
On the 21 Jul 1818 the Vice-Chancellor found in favour of the defendants and the charitable bequests were declared valid. The matter was then passed to the Master of the Court to ascertain the residue of the amount and between 1818 and 1824 various orders were issued by the court in accordance with the provisions of the will. In Jul 1833 it was reported that £120,180 1s. 5d. was held for the endowment of the Blue Coat School and the Blind Asylum.
The solicitors dealing with the case for the defendants including Mr Atkinson were based in Manchester. During the years of the court case the partners within this firm changed several times and at various times included Mr Cririe, Mr Eccles, Mr Slater and Mr Heelis. Clarke, Richard & Medcalf Solicitors of Chancery Lane, London [again with several partnership changes during the case] were then employed to make all representations in the Chancery Court in relation to the case.
Scope and Content: The records in this section relate to the will of Thomas Henshaw, the legal challenges brought by Sarah Henshaw and Ann Hadfield and the subsequent establishment of the Trust. There were also specific calls on the capital amount to meet large, one off costs, such as furnishing the school, the cost of paving the streets around the school, etc.
The documents are mainly from solicitors of Mr Atkinson (Messers Cririe, Eccles, Slater and Heelis) and their correspondence with Clarke, Richard and Medcalf Solicitors, London. |