Hugh Squier

Hugh Squier (1625-1710) of Petty France, Westminster, was a wealthy merchant best remembered as a generous benefactor to the town of South Molton in Devon, the place of his birth, where in 1684 he founded a "free school".

The Charity Commission issued an order dated 12/01/1883 "that the clear amount of the annual income .. after all proper outgoings and expenses shall be expended … on highways maintenance or suitable public works".

[16] The original "Deed of Endowment and Appointment of Trustees" dated 1686 survives in the archives of the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple, summarised as follows:[17] "Parties: The mural monument of John Cruse (d.1692, N.S.

[27] As premises the school was granted rent-free by the Vestry of St Margaret's Church use of the large building of the "Grey Coat Hospital" in Tothill Fields within the parish.

[28] In 1706 the trustees obtained a royal charter from Queen Anne which formed them into a corporation legally capable of holding land and receiving donations, when the name of the school was changed to "Grey Coat Hospital".

The Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, contains the following entry for June 24, 1662:[31] The information led to a trial for treason of Maurice Thomson, at which he was proven innocent.

Hugh Squier was marked down as recipient of a repayment of £3,000, one of the highest sums, on the "List of orders of repayment for loans on the credit of the Act of 1 James II, c. 5, granting an imposition on French linens, East India linens, several other manufactures of India, French wrought silks and stuffs, all other wrought silks and all brandies imported after 1685, July 1, and before 1690, July 1, said loans being at 7 per cent.

It was demolished (together with the unfashionable classical monuments to Hugh Squire and family within) and rebuilt in 1842 in the fashionable gothic style as "Christ Church, Broadway".

[44] Hugh Squier made his will on 24 February 1709, of which a part was as follows:[45] The testator then gave three leasehold houses in St Martin's-le-Grand to the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster, the rents of which were to be appropriated to various purposes; and then proceeded:

Contemporary miniature portrait of Hugh Squier, by unknown artist. Purchased in 1796 by South Molton Town Council from a certain Mrs May, and today hangs from the chain of office of the Mayor of South Molton [ 1 ]
Portrait of Hugh Squier (1625-1710), Mayor's Parlour, Guildhall, South Molton . Painted in 1799 by a certain Mr Whitby, a copy of the miniature purchased by the Town Council in 1796. It hung formerly in Hugh Squier's School. [ 2 ]
Stone bust of Hugh Squier (1625-1710), within an aedicule on facade of South Molton Guildhall . Inscribed on plinths: "Hugh Squier AD 1625-1710. Our great benefactor. Erected AD 1910, James Sanders, Mayor"
Townhouse Barton, south front, in 2015. The textured concrete rendering and concrete window cills hide a former Devon "mansion" of considerable age containing a fine 17th century decorative plasterwork ceiling in the ground-floor room of the east annex at right
Townhouse Barton, view from north-east, in 2015
Fine 17th century decorative plaster ceiling in Townhouse Barton
Hugh Squier's School then and now, an old photograph compared with the truncated building in 2015. South front viewed from East Street
Mural monument in St Mary Magdalen's Church, South Molton, to John Cruse (d.1692), the first Master of the School founded in 1682 by Hugh Squier
Memorial brass tablet situated above fireplace in school-hall of South Molton Primary School, North Street