Oldham Historical Research Group

Scan and page transcript from:
Historical Sketches of Oldham by Edwin Butterworth
Pub. 1856
Page

Historical Sketches of Oldham by Edwin Butterworth

Henshaw. In August, 1807, Mr. Henshaw made a second will, comprising an equitable division of his property, principally to Mrs. Henshaw and Mr. George Hadfield, but including other bequests, and among them £2,000 to Mr. John Atkinson, hat manufacturer, of Manchester, one of the executors; and £500 to Mr. Joseph Atkinson, co-executor. On the 14th of November, 1807, Mr. Henshaw, under the guidance of Mr. John Atkinson, framed another, and still more extraordinary will, by which he devised £20,000 to endow a Blue Coat School, at Oldham, and £20,000 to endow a Blind Asylum, at Manchester, £2,000 to Mr. John Atkinson, an annuity of £200 to Mrs. Henshaw (in addition to an annuity of £100 previously settled), and an annuity of £30 per annum to his servant, Hannah M'Naught, leaving the residue of his personal estate to be divided for the benefit of the charities. By a codieil to the will dated January 9, 1808, he gave to the Blue Coat School a further sum of .£20,000, rendering the total for that institution, £40,000; by a second codicil dated January 14, 1808, he gave £1,000 to the Manchester Infirmary, £1,000 to the Lunatic Hospital, £500 to the Lying-in Hospital, and £500 to the Ladies' Charity, also at Manchester; and by a third codicil dated May 9, 1808, he directed that the £60,000 devised for a Blue Coat School and Blind Asylum, should continue in the firm at Oldham, as long as the executors determined; and he further devised £18,000 to Mr. John Atkinson, in addition to an alleged gift of £3,000, which he had already made him. The remainder of the property being bequeathed to the charities; the nearest relatives, and particularly Mr. George Hadiield, were effectually deprived of the bulk of the wealth; For the last nine years of his lite, Mr. Henshaw had repeatedly manifested symptoms of insanity, and he terminated his existence by self-destruction, drowning himself in a pond near the works, March 4, 1810. The legal proceedings which ensued as to the validity of Mr. Henshaw's wills of 1807 -

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