Nottinghamshire Guardian – Thursday 6th December 1855.
DEATH OF GEORGE GILL, Esq., FOUNDER OF THE PEOPLE’S COLLEGE, PEOPLE’S HALL, AND WORKING MEN’S RETREAT, AT NOTTINGHAM.
We lament to state that this venerable citizen of Nottingham died rather suddenly on Friday morning the 30th ult., at the advanced aged of 77. Having sustained in February last an attack of paralysis, he had ever since been deprived of the use of his left side. This severe affliction, necessarily heightened as it was by forming the close of a very active career, he nevertheless endured with Christian fortitude and resignation; and he died without a struggle.
Mr Gill’s active and thoughtful benevolence was of that rare order which the possessors of wealth have seldom the fortitude or the foresight to attempt, by not only devising the means of benefiting their fellow men, but also setting them in operation during their own life time. Nottingham can boast, however, of having possessed in him one man at least who thirsted to see some earnest of the just administration of the institutions he intended handling down to posterity; and who by providing for the instant realisation of his schemes of generosity and usefulness, not only ensured the greater efficiency of these institutions, but took care that they should receive an impulse in the direction contemplated, and that no delay should be interposed in their being practically realised. A sketch of the life of the deceased philanthrophist, which we have been at some pains to authenticate, will show that such was the case as respected Mr Gill and his benevolence.
The late George Gill, youngest son of the Rev W Gill, curate of Wilford, was born in that village, on the 9th of January 1779. In early life (1793) he was apprenticed to the hosiery business with Messrs Cox, of Parliament Street; and commencing that business on his own account at the early age of 21, he continued to prosecute it for a period of 20 years, when relinquishing it, he entered into the commission trade, which he followed for some time on his own account, subsequently in partnership with his son, and latterly, up to the commencement of the present year, when Mr Gill finally retired from business, in conjunction with Mr William Wright, under the firm of Mess Gill and Wright. In the course of his business life of half a century’s duration Mr Gill amassed that ample competency which enabled him to carry out his views of general benevolence.
With an enlightenment which may almost be pronounced in advance of his times, Mr Gill sought about for the most improved and effective modes of benefiting society; and for 50 years the deceased gentleman was found taking an active part in every movement tending in his estimation to promote the social and intellectual progress of the people. That he was most sincere in his intentions, he was always willing to attest by his unsparing liberality; and if ever he may by some have been judged extreme in his views and sentiments, it must be said that – “Even his failings learned to virtue’s side.”
On behalf of “the people” he was ever ready to put forth not only his purse but his whole powers; and to throw in the weight of his integrity of character, business attainments, and public spirit into the cause of liberal opinion in the widest, which is not always the worst sense of these words.
More recently Mr Gill has become distinguished amongst his fellow townsmen, and his name and practically philanthrophy will be best and most imperishably remembered as the originator of the three noble institutions with which we have associated his name at the outset of this article, although we are informed that he invariably objected to having his name paraded in connection even with these – the offspring of his benevolence; their acknowledged public utility insures the transmission of his name along with them to all coming generations, whilst they shall endure.
Of these institutions the first which he was mainly instrumental in establishing was “The People’s College”, founded in 1846 by Mr Gill and other “earnest friends of the working classes for their perpetual benefit, and especially for enabling their children, both young and adult, to receive a sound, comprehensive, and practical education by the most approved methods and at a moderate cost.” As our readers are perhaps aware, it comprises two day schools, one for boys and the other for girls. Two evening schools chiefly for adults of both sexes – a library and a reading room. There are also lectures delivered occasionally. As must also have been evinced by the reports on the subject which have recently appeared in the Guardian, the general management is most efficiently vested in and successfully conducted by a board of directors, and a principal or head master, assisted by other masters, a school mistress (for the girls) and assistant teachers, both male and female. To the thoroughly popular object of which this is the outline, Mr Gill has from time to time contributed in all £3000, in acknowledgement of which he was presented by the Trustees of the College with the following testimonial inscribed on vellum:-
“Nottingham, 5th Dec., 1854
“Sir,-The Trustees and Directors of the People’s College present their sincere thanks to you for the additional Gift of Four Hundred and Seventy-four Pounds Five Shillings, which you have now made.
“The generous contributions which you have from time to time presented to this institution, amounting to about Three Thousand Pounds, have mainly contributed to its permanent establishment.
“We believe that it is producing important benefits to this town and in this result you have a great reward.
“It is our hope that the People’s College may long continue to confer the many advantages on the Working Classes which you contemplated, in promoting its foundation, and that you may still be spared to witness them. “We are your friends,” (Here follow the signatures of the Trustees and Directors.)
In 1852 he originated entirely from his own resources a second institution termed by him “The Working Man’s Retreat,” and comprising six very comfortable dwelling-houses intended for occupancy, rent free, by aged working men and their families. The recipients of this bounty must be upwards of 60 years of age; they must not have had recourse to parochial relief for at least five years prior to their admission. The only relative endowment being a small annual sum for keeping the property in repair; no money allowance devolves upon the occupants; and it was Mr Gill’s frequently expressed desire that a preference should be given in their selection to such as by their individual thrift and industry had acquired a small income of a specified amount. The management of this property is in the hands of ten trustees.
Mr Gill finally turned his attention towards the establishment of a “People’s Hall,” where working men could assemble after the toils of the day for intellectual improvement as well as rational enjoyment. Such was his idea. In 1853 he purchased for this purpose the handsome and commodious mansion in Beck Lane, Nottingham, formerly occupied as the Government School of Design. He has since erected upon the ground attached to this building four cottages, the rents of which together with those of another contiguous building included in the original purchase, are devoted as a perpetual endowment to the general benefit of the institution. In the People’s Hall are comprehended an excellent library, a news room, class rooms, lecture hall, and several smaller rooms, rented by different societies. The whole cost of this institution, which is now attended by 500 members, was defrayed by Mr Gill, and amounted to £4000.
The last and crowning act of Mr Gill’s benevolence must not be forgotten. It was a munificent donation of £1000 to the funds of the General Hospital of Nottingham. This act of generosity was so highly appreciated by his fellow-townsmen that the Town Council of the Borough thought proper to present a special vole of thanks to Mr Gill on the occasion, which they directed to be engrossed upon vellum, and to contain an acknowledgement of this and his other noble donations to the institutions of the town.
Yesterday the remains of this large-hearted philanthropist were followed to the last resting place in the General Cemetery, Derby Road, in a quiet and unostentatious manner, by a respectable funeral procession of real mourners, composed chiefly of the Committees of the three institutions he had founded. Had it been generally known that the funeral of the humane and generous George Gill was proceeding, there is scarcely a citizen of Nottingham but would have been anxious to join the funeral train, scarcely a shop but would have been shut, and a general manifestation of regret and sympathy would have unquestionably taken place. As it is, it was more in accordance with his life and character, and we believe even with his express request, to conduct his obsequies with privacy. The lamentation for his loss will not be the less general; and he needs no monument to hold him in remembrance.
