CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
By 1859 Bottisham was well provided with charitable
endowments. (fn. 11) Under a Scheme of 1886 seven
of them were combined with Salisbury's school
charity as the Bottisham United Charities,
excluding only Pugh's bequest. Their total
incomes were thereafter to be divided, as had
been done since 1864, equally between the newly
distinct Bottisham and Lode parishes, whose
populations were then nearly equal. A Scheme
of 1913, which added the Bottisham Poor's Fen,
constituted a charity since 1878, set up separate
groups of trustees for Bottisham and Lode to
distribute the income from their charity property, jointly managed by a third group. (fn. 12)
Thomas Pledger by will proved 1600 left £40
to buy land whose rent should go to 6-8 'ancient
inhabitants', including help with their house
rents. (fn. 13) The 11 a. acquired in Bottisham, for
which 2½ a. were allotted in 1808, yielded £6
10s. in 1738, 10-12 guineas c. 1780-1840, £30
by 1870. (fn. 14) Giles Bream (d. 1621), an Alington
kinsman, (fn. 15) left £600 to build and endow an
almshouse at East Ham (then Essex, later
Greater London). Three of its six places were
to be for old people from Bottisham, who should
share the net income. From 1638 the balance of
his bequest left after building costs was invested
in land at Brandon (Essex). In practice the distance involved induced Bottisham to let East
Ham almspeople occupy the rooms intended for
its own, in return for rents amounting to £2 in
the 19th century, and for yearly payments equal
to the residents' stipends. In 1837 Bottisham's
share was c. £24, given to five old men, c. 1870
£50, c. 1900 almost nothing. After the Brandon
farm was sold in 1931 and the site of the
then demolished almshouses c. 1940, Bottisham
received half the £2,600 raised. (fn. 16) John Craister,
fellow of Trinity, (fn. 17) by will proved 1736 left £100
between the poor of three parishes where he had
once ministered, including Bottisham, with
whose share, £30, a house on Lode street was
bought in 1744. Called c. 1800-30 Craister's or
Crofter's Hall, it then housed, rent free, up to
seven paupers. It was burnt down in 1853 and
the site sold in 1894; its price with the insurance
money, £175 in all, yielded £5 yearly. (fn. 18) About
1870 the income of Pledger's and Craister's gifts
was paid to four old men. (fn. 19) From 1886 the combined incomes of those and Bream's charities
were to be given as pensions to needy villagers,
resident for at least seven years, In the late 19th
century pensions of £5-10 were paid to two or
three old people. About 1975 £200, by 1980
£320-40 was spent in pensions.
Mary, widow of John Clench, (fn. 20) by will of
1741, charged land at Little Wilbraham with
paying £5 yearly to apprentice poor children
from Bottisham. Until c. 1875 the net income,
£4, was accumulated and used every few years
for apprenticeships. (fn. 21) The Schemes of 1886 and
1913 continued that application.
General assistance for the poor came from
three other gifts. Samuel Shepherd in 1739
charged a 141-a. farm at Burwell with paying
£20 for the poor in each of the parishes of
Bottisham and Exning (Suff.). By the early 19th
century that endowment was represented by a
farm of 51 a. in Burwell and 27 a. in Exning,
jointly controlled by trustees for Bottisham and
Exning. Bottisham's share, half the net rent,
worth £26 in 1837, £38 by 1870, was usually
given in small cash doles among the settled
poor. (fn. 22) William Mott (d. 1772), a Cambridge
attorney, gave in 1762 £5 yearly charged on land
at Little and Great Eversden. After providing
10s. 6d. until 1868 for an annual sermon, the
rest was for the poor of his native Bottisham. In
1837 it was given in cash doles of 6d.-1s. among
church-goers, by 1870 in coal by tickets. (fn. 23)
Soame Jenyns's widow Elizabeth, by will proved
1796, gave £100 in Consols, then worth £6 a
year, to have turf given among the poor.
Distribution of the 'Turf charity' continued into
the 1870s. (fn. 24) From 1886 the combined income of
those three charities, c. £100 yearly in the early
20th century, was to be given in fuel, clothing,
medical help, or temporary relief in cash.
Initially distribution was largely in coal and
blankets, and through clothing clubs. (fn. 25)
William Pugh, having supposedly saved the
whole vicarial income during his incumbency
1812-25, (fn. 26) by his will of 1825 left the yield of
the accumulated £3,946, c. £120 yearly, for distribution among the resident poor, especially
widows and orphans. At first it was mostly given
in flannel clothing and blankets, while after 1840
initially a quarter, by 1870 a sixth, was spent on
the church schools. By the 1870s half the income
went to a maternity club, and church and chapel
clothing clubs. (fn. 27) By the 1890s two thirds of
Pugh's charity was being given to needy individuals. By the 1970s it was being administered
with the United Charities.
Having since the early 1860s alleged various
abuses, the vicar of Lode and some farmers
sought from 1875 the conversion of Bottisham
Poor's Fen into a charity. Despite opposition
from c. 210 Lode labourers, who, roused by a
radical 'agitator' from Cottenham, wished to
retain their customary rights of turbary or have
the fen divided into allotments, the change was
effected under Schemes of 1877 and 1878. The
former was concerned with 166 a. of that fen, the
latter with another 51 a. in which Horningsea
and Stow cum Quy had interests derived from
ancient rights of intercommon. Bottisham's
share, much the largest, of the expected rents
was supposed to support coal clubs and assist
education. The 1913 Scheme devoted its whole
income to general charitable purposes. (fn. 28) About
1890 the total rents were £185-95, of which
Bottisham and Lode shared equally £140-50,
by 1913 only £135. (fn. 29) By the 1890s their parts
were customarily given in 'fen coal', shared out
individually among, eventually, 240-50 householders, including until 1906 many tradesmen
and small farmers. Attempts to enforce the
official rules were resisted by villagers claiming
the coal as their 'birthright'. (fn. 30) Only the introduction of fuel rationing after 1939 led to effective change. (fn. 31)
By 1960 the Bottisham and Lode income from
the Poor's Fen was c. £155. With Shepherd's
land, then worth £140, and the properties (24½
a.) of Pledger's and Salisbury's, it produced
most of the combined United Charities income
of c. £3,000 in the late 1970s and over £9,500
by 1990. (fn. 32)