The Feoffees of Rotherham
The word feoffee means one who is entitled to a freehold estate held in fee. In Rotherham it has the particular meaning of a trustee holding freehold estate, as a member of a board entrusted with land for charitable or pubic purposes. The feoffees were some of the better off men of the town who could be trusted to to administer the property and distribute the proceeds in an honest manner. There is some evidence that the Feoffees of Rotherham had existed for a long time before 1589 and they had taken on some of the charities and duties of the Gilds dissolved in 1547.
In 1589 the Feoffees of the Common Lands of Rotherham, were granted their charter by Elizabeth I. Revenues from the Common Land were used for the benefit of the people of Rotherham, and the Feoffees were responsible for the sick and the poor of the parish, the water supply, the punishment of minor wrongdoers and the handing over of criminals to higher authority. They maintained roads, bridges and rights of way. They appointed parish officials and staff, they were in charge of the archery butts, stocks and ducking stool, and the town pound or pinfold. Here straying animals were impounded and the owner had to pay a fee to get them back again (An early version of the present day wheel clamp so you can see that there is nothing new under the sun). In 1570 and 1589 when the plague came to Rotherham they organised isolation huts and nurses.