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PETER MEECH - A LOCAL DICK WHITTINGTON

Peter Meech died in 1903 and was laid to rest in Powerstock Churchyard. Few people living in the Beaminster Rural Area will not have heard of him or have seen his name carved on the foundation stone of Beaminster Public Hall.

In his Will he left monies to be used for the benefit of the Poor in Beaminster. According to Hine this was called the Peter Meech Homes, alias Peter Meech Pension Charity. As far as the Homes are concerned, there were to be six cottages erected in Church Street, Beaminster. One of these was to be for the use of a “poor male or female of the Parish of Poorstock”. Whilst the will provided for the rent of Hitts Farm to be used for the upkeep and maintenance of these cottages and the surplus of the income applied for the benefit and relief of the inmates, no provision was made for their erection and so they were never built.

Until recent years the Pension Charity was administered by trustees who included the Vicars of Beaminster and Powerstock. In 1 967 Beaminster amalgamated all the charities in the town and the Powerstock part of the Pension Charity is now known as the Peter Meech Poorstock Charity and is administered by the Vicar and two trustees at Powerstock. There already existed in Powerstock the Peter Meech Gift Charity which under his will was to be used to buy coals for the Poor, providing a tablet to this effect was erected in the Church. This is in the tower. Another condition was that the Church was to be responsible for the upkeep of his tomb but as this was in the Churchyard and not in the Church this condition was not legally enforceable.

Almost since its inception the Peter Meech Powerstock Charity - Hines Pension Charity has been given in the form of a pension to people chosen by the trustees. It was to have been applied for annually but it would seem that this was rarely done, especially in the Poorstock case and pensioners have received it until they have left the parish or until death. It is approximately £ 10 per year and under the terms of the Will it could be used to buy bedding, clothing, fuel, furniture etc. to relieve the poor or the sick. It could be used to pay fares for people attending hospital or just visiting there. It could be used to buy tools for a man to start off in a trade or books to help a boy or girl with their schooling. In short it was a complete social service in itself. The Will specifically stated that the Trustees were not to commit themselves to any one item for more than a year. It would seem that the paying of pensions was the easiest way to administer the money.

As a permanent memorial of the Coronation of Edward VII it was decided in Beaminster to erect the present Institute and Public Hall. It was chiefly through the generosity of Peter Meech that the scheme was floated. He, in response to an appeal from his fellow townsmen, subscribed a massive £400 to start the scheme. The foundation stone was laid by him on June 1 7th 1902. The building cost £1170.

Why was Peter Meech so concerned with Poorstock? He was born in Church Street in Beaminster in 1826, the son of James Meech, butcher and Ann, his wife. The name Meech or Meesh appears on the earliest surviving register of Beaminster. It was on the Court Rolls of 1620 and a Richard Meech stood trial at the Bloody Assize at Dorchester in 1685. Later a Meech was carrying on his trade of Brazier and Tinplate worker in the Fore-place at Beaminster in 1840.

Peter Meech’s connection with Powerstock is, regretfully almost all hearsay but there is obviously more than a grain of truth in the story. Otherwise there would be no accounting for his generosity towards the Parish.

As a butcher’s son it was quite natural for him to follow in his Father’s footsteps and become a butcher in his own right. Whilst still a single man he came to the hamlet of Nettlecombe in Powerstock parish and set up his business in a slaughter house in Well Lane. The business did not prosper. There was probably competition from another similar business just across the valley in Powerstock itself. As time went on he got into debt and eventually left the district owing a lot of money to the local farmers for fatstock that he had had and not paid for.

He went to London to seek his fortune and took a job with a meat trader in Smithfield Market. After a while he fell in love with his employer’s daughter and married her and in the fullness of time took over her Father’s business. His luck had changed and his business prospered. He was now able to pay off the debts he had left behind when he went to London. This he did. Twofold.

By this time (1 857) the Railway had come to Powerstock and the farmers with whom he had squared his debts now began to send their fatstock to him in his London slaughterhouse.

He never forgot his early connections with the parish and obviously expressed a wish to be buried here in Powerstock. His coffin, with two hundred mourners came down from London by special train to Powerstock station. Rarely can there have been such a funeral in a parish of this size.

The tomb of Peter Meech stands out among those of his fellow men. It must be added that so did Peter Meech.