| Description | Bridget Soothern, member of Coventry Preparative Meeting (see SF/3/6) died in 1731 leaving her estate to Trustees so that they could sell it and reinvest the funds in land and property. The income from this was to be used to provide poor girls in Coventry with clothes and education, prioritising those from Quaker families, but also helping non-Quaker girls. When Frances Cramner died, she left her property to be used for the same purpose. Further gifts were subsequently added to the Trust by other Friends and it became known as the Soothern and Cramner Educational Foundation.
It awarded grants to mainly Quaker girls from poor families attending any school within the city and county borough of Coventry. Grants were only to be made on provision of written confirmation from the head of the school of an individual's good conduct, regular attendance, and academic progress. Any remaining income of the trust was to be used for junior or senior exhibitions (types of scholarships) which were to be awarded to mainly Quaker girls from poor families in the city of Coventry. |