WILLIAMS, CHARLES (1633 - 1720), benefactor of his native town, Caerleon-on-Usk.

He was unfortunate enough to kill a cousin of his (Morgan of Penrhos) in a duel, and had to flee the country. He went to Smyrna, where he became a merchant, trading not only with Turkey but with other countries such as Russia, and acquiring great wealth in the process. John Hanbury of Pontypool succeeded in the reign of William III in making it possible for him to return to Britain, where he appears to have lived quietly in London, dealing in stocks and shares and lending money to the Government - thus adding to his wealth. He died unmarried, 29 August 1720, 'at the age of 87'; when he made his will (January 1717) he was living in Covent Garden. As a token of his gratitude to Hanbury, he had arranged for the sum of £70,000 to be paid to one of Hanbury's sons as soon as he attained his majority, subject to the condition that he added the name ' Williams ' to his own surname; this was done in 1729 (see Hanbury-Williams, Sir Charles). In his will, he left £4,000 to found a charity school for thirty boys and twenty girls in Caerleon-on-Usk, and to pay for their apprenticing - so far as the balance permitted; the school was built in 1724. Moreover, in a codicil (23 August 1720), he left a further sum of £3,000 for the repair of the church and the improvement of the roads in, and leading to, the town.

Author

• Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)

Sources

• W. Coxe, An historical tour in Monmouthshire (1801) (1904 ed.), 104, 207
• Bradney, A History of Monmouthshire, I, ii, 438
• Report on Charities ('Monmouth'), 1815-39 ('Monmouth'), 450-60, for a full account of the charities

Additional Links

• VIAF: 378146094139800330248
• Wikidata: Q20804663

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/