If you’ve ever wandered into St Michael and All Angels Church in Aston Clinton, you may have noticed a framed document on the south wall. It’s the Will of Mary Turpin, a widow who, in 1736, made a remarkable bequest that continues to support the parish nearly 300 years later.  In her Will, Mary Turpin left all her freehold and leasehold land within Aston Clinton to Mary Hockley for life, with provision that, should Mary have children, they would inherit the land. However, in the absence of heirs, Mary decreed that the estate should pass to “the poor of Aston Clinton forever,” to be managed by the parish’s overseers of the poor. 

 

This enduring legacy is still very much alive today. For many years, the rental income from Mary’s land helped provide bread for the poor of the parish, traditionally on the Feast of St Michael and the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. The estate originally included seven and a half acres of land in College Road North—now the site of the Land Rover Jaguar dealership—and allotments in London Road, which are still owned by the Turpin’s Charity. 
 

At the time, Aston Clinton was administered by the Vestry Committee, which appointed the overseers responsible for supporting the village's most vulnerable residents. Interestingly, an identical version of Mary’s Will—differing only in the name of the village—is displayed in the church at Weston Turville. There, her bequest provided for the poor of that parish under the same conditions, with land including a ten-acre field off New Road, which is still rented out for grazing. It’s a rare example of a double legacy written with clear foresight and generosity for both communities. 
 

Mary Turpin, née Mary [surname unknown], was the wife of Thomas Turpin Snr., a Yeoman (landowner) of Halton. They had a son, Thomas, baptised in 1682. This younger Thomas and his wife Deborah had five children between 1708 and 1716. 
 

Thomas Turpin Snr.’s own Will, dated 1702, left all his lands in Aston Clinton and Weston Turville to his wife Mary, and then to his kinsman Joseph. He died the following year and was buried in Halton. Curiously, although described as a substantial Yeoman farmer, his Will makes no mention of a house. It’s possible he was renting a local Palladian-style house owned by an absentee landlord, which stood near Halton church until its sale to Francis Dashwood in 1720. That year Thomas Turpin Jnr., and Deborah were living in Amersham and arranging for the sale of their crops in Halton. 
 

Mary Turpin died in 1712 and is also buried in Halton. Her husband’s Will wasn’t proven until 1734, two years before it formalised her charitable legacy. One of the signatories on the Will was Thomas Turpin, a nephew. 
 

The story takes an unexpected international twist. In 1951, The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a story on Mary Turpin’s Will, mistakenly implying that there were no longer any poor people in Weston Turville. This prompted a letter to the Weston Turville Parish Council from a director of a charity in Cincinnati, requesting funds to provide bread for their own poor. Quite how the story reached the United States is unclear, but records show that by 1788 a Philip Turpin owned a homestead in that area of Ohio, and there is even a “Turpin’s Wood” on the map—suggesting a possible family connection across the Atlantic. 
 

Today, the Turpin Charity is still active. The Aston Clinton land was sold in 2016, and the proceeds were invested to support those in hardship—whether physical, financial, or mental—within the parish. The charity also helps fund education, training, and residential accommodation, and supports village organisations with similar aims. 
 

The trustees of the Turpin Charity include the Rector of St Michael and All Angels, a nominated trustee from the Parish of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards (once part of Aston Clinton), and three co-opted parish residents. 
 

Nearly three centuries later, Mary Turpin’s thoughtful bequest continues to enrich not one, but two communities—a legacy of generosity and compassion that still bears fruit today. 
 

Richard Maskell 
 

Trustee of the Turpin Charity