ABSTRACT
On Tuesday morning a meeting of the magistrates, clergymen and church wardens of the city [of Exeter] was convened at the Guildhall, for the purpose of appointing a local committee for the relief of the wives and families of soldiers engaged in the east. The chair was taken by the Mayor, who explained that an application having been made to the magistrates a short time since by the wife of a soldier who stated that she was unable to support herself, he directed the Clerk to write to the Commissioners to whom the management of the fund had been entrusted. At first there was no reply; the magistrates requested Mr. Barton to write again, and Mr. Woolmer having some connection with Major Powys wrote also. Answers were received to both of these letters. There was £1 sent for the immediate relief of the party, and it was suggested that a local committee should be appointed to co-operate with the central committee and to take upon themselves the relief of cases in Exeter, the funds for that purpose being remitted from the central committee. He at first thought of calling a special meeting of the inhabitants, but it was considered that this would be unwelcome and that it would be much better to assemble a meeting of the clergymen and churchwardens of the various parishes in which subscriptions were made. He understood that there had been about £50,000 collected throughout the country; and that there were between 2000 and 3000 soldiers [sic] wives to be supported so that there would be a considerable sum to be divided. The central committee had determined that it would be much better to give a tolerably large sum to each, such as would provide them with the means of permanent employment, than to dole out 5s. or 7s. a week, and the latter was only to be done for a month, from the time they commenced receiving relief, to afford them time to obtain permanent employment.
