THOSE attending the March meeting of Bidford and District History Society were treated to a fascinating and informative talk on ‘Williams Perkins and his Legacy’ by Dr Stephen Roberts, who as well being a prominent local historian and a specialist in the history of Parliament, is the current Chairman of the Perkins Trust. William Perkins was born in Salford Priors in 1579 and baptised in the parish church. The second of four children from a yeoman family, Perkins received some form of elementary education in the parish. His lucky break came when, with the possible assistance of a benefactor, he secured a seven year apprenticeship in London with the prosperous tailor, Adam Riding, before beginning work as a stocking maker. He lived near the Mermaid Tavern, which Shakespeare was known to frequent at this time and it is tantalising to wonder if they ever met. During his time in London, he developed strong Puritan views which he held for the rest of his life.

In 1621 he joined the Livery Company of Merchant Taylors and enjoyed increasing wealth and status. By the 1630s he was selling suits to aristocratic patrons and to the army. By 1641 he was active in the City government and aligned himself with the faction opposed to King Charles I, though he later dissociated himself from those responsible for the King’s trial and execution. During the Civil Wars his business suffered badly and he withdrew completely from public life.

In 1656 he drew up a Deed to found a grammar school in Salford Priors to enable children of the parish and children from Bidford, Broom, Cleeve Prior and Harvington to receive a classical education and to develop rhetorical skills and moral values, which would fit them for professional careers in law, politics and the Church. The school was to be funded by income derived from properties purchased in Church Street and Sheep Street in Stratford, properties still owned by the Trust today.

However, Perkins’ dream never came to fruition. An elementary school, probably held in the church, was founded shortly after Perkins’ death in 1657, and little is known about the school from the late 17th to the early 19th century. In the 1850s, a new school was erected in School Road by public subscription bearing the name, ‘William Perkins Free School’, which is still visible on the building. From 1900 the Trust began to concentrate on giving grants to enable local children to receive secondary education at endowed grammar schools such as Alcester and King Edward’s, Stratford. Following the establishment of a nationwide system of secondary education after World War II, the Trust turned its attention to funding local university students. Since then, hundreds of families have benefited from the Trust’s bequests, with an average of 80 children per year receiving grants.

Summing up, Dr Roberts emphasised the important role performed by charities such as the Perkins Trust, referring to them as ‘a drop of lubricating oil’ in the growing national schemes of social and educational improvement.

JOHN ALEXANDER-HEAD