The Church Burgesses, formerly known officially as the Twelve Capital Burgesses and Commonalty of the Town and Parish of Sheffield, are a

charitable organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

in the city of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

. In 1297, the Burgery of Sheffield was established in the Charter to the Town of Sheffield. Thomas de Furnival, Lord of the Manor of Sheffield, granted land to the freeholders of Sheffield in return for an annual payment, and a Common Burgery administrated them.Clyde Binfield et al., ''The History of the City of Sheffield 1843-1993: Volume I: Politics'' In 1554, a charter established the Twelve Capital Burgesses, a petition to Mary Tudor, probably supported by the fifth Earl of Shrewsbury, presented by the inhabitants of Sheffield. The lands confiscated by King Edward were returned to the people under the 1554 Charter. The Burgesses were charged with providing

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

s for three assistant ministers at the church and with the maintenance of the church. They were also given the power to maintain and improve streets and bridges in the environs of the church. In contrast to the Burgery, which was an elective body, the Burgesses were to fill empty positions by

co-option Co-option, also known as co-optation and sometimes spelt cooption or cooptation, is a term with three common meanings. It may refer to: 1) The process of adding members to an elite Social group, group at the discretion of members of the body, us ...

. Elsewhere in England, the existence of a

church rate The church rate was a tax formerly levied in each parish in England and Ireland for the benefit of the parish church. The rates were used to meet the costs of carrying on divine service, repairing the fabric of the church and paying the salaries of ...

proved a source of conflict between members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and nonconformists, and in some cities, church posts became politicised, but the existence of the Burgesses meant that no rate was levied in Sheffield. In order to pay for their works, the Burgesses were endowed with land in the parish. From 1736 to 1829, they leased a large amount of land, second in the town only to the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

. By 1833, they owned . They received rental income from the land, and also income from investments. However, by the nineteenth century, this proved insufficient for them to undertake the maintenance and improvement work. In 1805, they convened a public meeting to discuss the formation of an Improvement Commission. Although this idea was initially rejected, the Sheffield Improvement Commission was established by the

Sheffield Improvement Act 1818 The Sheffield Improvement Act 1818 was a local Act of Parliament passed in 1818, regarding the administration of the town of Sheffield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Before 1818, the town was run by a mixture of bodies. The Sheffield Town Trus ...

. Relieved of their obligation to maintenance in the town, the Burgesses refocussed on a range of charitable works. Today it splits its income between "ecclesiastical purposes in support of the Church of England... education and for the betterment of the needy and deprived and ... the benefit of the community." In addition to supporting Sheffield Cathedral (the former parish church), it puts money towards the building of churches and payments towards Anglican clergy stipends throughout Sheffield. A separate trust, the Church Burgesses Educational Foundation, administers its educational funds.Sheffield Burgesses
,

Sheffield Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when ...

References

3. George Tolley. We, of our Bounty.

External links

* * *{{EW charity , 529357, Church Burgesses Educational Foundation 1554 establishments in England Christianity in Sheffield Charities based in Sheffield