CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 51)
Early
charities divide between those for Ealing parish
and those for New Brentford. Some Ealing
charities served the whole parish but others,
through the donors' intentions or by custom,
were limited to Upper Side or to Old Brentford,
Lower Side, by 1822. A Scheme of 1904 created a
group later called Ealing Charities for the Poor
and excluded gifts used solely for Old Brentford,
while allowing Old Brentford its share in the
common charities. A second Scheme of 1918
created Brentford United Charities out of those
for New Brentford, leaving Old Brentford's own
charities to be administered separately.
Ealing Charities.
Almshouse charities.
There was a church house in 1492 (fn. 52) which was said in
1547 to have been given for the relief of the poor (fn. 53)
and later became the assistant curate's house. (fn. 54)
Almshouses were built in Uxbridge Road,
later the Mall, in 1783 out of profits from
inclosure of the waste. (fn. 55) Numbering seven by
1840, (fn. 56) they still lacked their own endowment in
1867, when they received the income from the
poor's allotments, and were dilapidated in 1870.
With the aid of subscriptions and sums from the
reorganized Bowman's charity and the sale of
Lammas land, the buildings were replaced by ten
new houses between 1872 and 1876. (fn. 57) Pensions
were paid from £323 stock left by J. S. Prosser,
by will dated 1874, and £134 given by John
Goodchild in 1884, supplemented from a small
endowment which existed by 1899. The almshouses were replaced by shops in 1902. (fn. 58)
New almshouses were built on land in Church
Gardens bought in 1900 from Ealing Cottage
Dwellings. The number of inmates was fixed at
12, a married couple to count as one, in 1907.
From 1904 the almshouses could benefit from the
income of other Ealing charities, although they
continued to receive separate bequests, including
£585 from James William Tidy by will proved
1911 and £650 stock from Francis Garner
Gledstanes by gift of 1912. Those and later gifts
were regulated by a Scheme of 1971 for St.
Mary's church homes, as they were then called.
A further endowment was provided by G. F.
Browse, whose bequest produced over £1,000 a
year for weekly allowances. The building, a twostoreyed range with half-timbering, survived in
1980. (fn. 59)
St. Stephen's Jubilee (later Victoria) homes,
Castlebar Park, were opened in 1899 as flats for
old couples, with the aid of a fund started in 1887.
Near by six single flats, given by Miss M.
Wheeler and known as the Wheeler homes, were
opened in 1899. From 1958 both sets of flats were
managed by Ealing Philanthropic Institution. (fn. 60)
Distributive charities.
Edward Vaughan, by
will dated 1612, left the rent from 4 a. equally
between Upper Side and Lower Side for meat,
coal, and bread at Christmas. In 1822 two-thirds
of the income of £31 10s. was spent in Upper
Side with money from Bowman's, Taylor's, and
Payne's charities, on Christmas gifts to c. 150
families, the other third being reserved for Lower
Side. By 1867 £30 was spent on fuel in Upper
Side.
John Bowman of Ealing, canon of St. Paul's,
by deed of 1630, endowed a lectureship with £40
and also gave rent charges totalling £22 a year for
distribution at Christmas and other times. After
increases in the rent and further purchases by the
trustees, £30 was divided in 1822 between the
vicar, for Upper Side, and Mrs. Trimmer, for
Lower Side, and a further £11 12s. spent on
apprenticing or casual relief. By 1867 £42 was
spent on clothing or, occasionally, apprenticing
in Upper Side. A Scheme of 1869 allotted 4/7 of
the total income from Bowman's property to
ecclesiastical purposes and the remainder to
general charitable purposes, which might include
support of the almshouses. (fn. 61)
Richard Taylor, by will dated 1715, left the
rent from the later Lion brewhouse towards coal
for 8 poor of Upper and 8 of Lower Side. The
rent of £36 was divided equally in 1822, when in
Upper Side it formed part of a distribution larger
than that intended by the donor. By 1867 the rent
was £50, spent on fuel in Upper Side.
Jonathan Gurnell, by will proved 1753, left
stock to provide coal for householders in Upper
Side. The income of £15 was spent on coal in
1822 and 1857.
Elizabeth Barne, by will proved 1758, left £400
for four widows. The income was £13 os. 7d.
in 1822, when paid quarterly to four widows of
Upper Side, and 1867.
William Adair, by will proved 1783, left £100
for widows. The income was £3 in 1822, distributed to 24 recipients in Upper Side at
Christmas, and 1867.
Henry York, by will proved 1793, left £250
stock in reversion for pensions. After a composition with his heirs, (fn. 62) the income was £4 1s. 8d.
from £136 3s. 9d. stock in 1867.
Edward Payne, by will proved 1794, left £100
stock for coal. A further £100 was left by Sir
Charles Morgan, raising the income to £9 6s. 8d.
by 1822 and £12 8s. 10d. in 1867.
Hannah Harman, by will proved 1795, left £12
a year for coal, which was distributed in 1822 and
1867.
Thomas Denison Lewis, by deed of 1850, left
£1,428 11s. stock in reversion to support poor
women. No income had been received in 1867.
Ealing Dean common allotments.
The £25 rent
from allotments established on Ealing Dean
common under the Poor Relief Act, 1832, (fn. 63) was
spent on the almshouses in 1867. By 1904 c. 145
holders shared c. 20 a., which yielded £35 a year.
Ealing Charities for the Poor.
All the above
charities, including the almshouse ones, were
regulated in 1904 as the charities of Bowman and
others. The ecclesiastical share of Bowman's
charity was continued, small sums from
Bowman's and York's charities were assigned to
educational purposes, and certain proportions
from Taylor's, Vaughan's, and the residue of
Bowman's were allotted to Old Brentford. The
name was changed to Ealing Charities for the
Poor in 1961 and the total income was c. £19,836
in 1974-5, after some of the allotment land had
been sold.
Brentford Charities.
Apprenticing charities.
Dame Mary Spencer, by will proved 1659, left a
rent of £6, charged from 1668 on the Butts closes,
New Brentford, for apprenticing one boy a year.
In 1822 apprenticing was effected at irregular
intervals by the parish officers, in conjunction
with the trustees of Lord Ossulston's charity.
John Bennet, Lord Ossulston (d. 1695), by
deed dated 1692, gave £100 to apprentice
children whose parents were communicants at
New Brentford chapel. The money was lent on
interest until 1753, when £140 stock was bought.
The amount had risen to £190 by 1822 and £200
by 1867, when the income, like that from Lady
Spencer's, was £6.
Almshouse charities.
There were almshouses in
1573, (fn. 64) presumably the queen's seven almshouses at Brentford which were to be repaired in
1576. (fn. 65) It is possible that they were the four old
almshouses of 1811 (fn. 66) later called the St. Paul's or
Ferry Lane almshouses, at the corner of High
Street and Ferry Lane, Old Brentford. Unendowed and of unknown origin in 1867, they
numbered seven in 1870 (fn. 67) and were demolished
after closure in 1949. (fn. 68)
Four double almshouses, later called Salutation or St. George's, also stood on the south side
of High Street, Old Brentford, near the Salutation inn. (fn. 69) They were built in 1794 by the
churchwardens of Ealing, probably with the help
of a gift from Henry Beaufoy of Castle Hill
Lodge, were not endowed, and were demolished
c. 1953. (fn. 70)
The almshouses' only income came from rent
for land behind St. George's almshouses and
from the use of a wall in Ferry Lane for advertisements. Stock was bought after the sites had been
sold and a pension fund was established, yielding
c. £174 in 1979, when it was distributed monthly
among six widows. (fn. 71)
Distributive charities.
Henry Redman, by will
dated 1528, left the George and other property to
support a minister at New Brentford. A rent
charge of £6 was agreed in 1576 and divided
equally between the minister and the inhabitants
in 1714, although by 1822 the minister again
received the whole of it. In 1867 £3 was spent on
clothing, bread, and fuel, and in 1980 the entire
£6 was distributed in small sums. (fn. 72)
John Middleton, by will dated 1624, left a rent
charge of £5 for the poor of New Brentford. The
income of £5 was distributed in bread and fuel,
with Andrews's and Hubbold's charity and
Townsend's and Williams's charity, in 1822
and 1867.
Richard and Mary Need, according to a list in
Ealing church, in 1633 gave property in Old
Brentford for the poor. In 1822 the income of
£78 12s. was distributed in bread and coal near
Christmas, together with John Taylor's charity
and Old Brentford's £10 10s. share of Vaughan's
charity. The Needs' charity was combined with
John Taylor's in 1856, to provide £40 for bread
and coal and the remaining money for schools.
Richard Andrews left £20 and Ann Hubbold,
by will dated 1673, an additional £10 for coal in
New Brentford. The income was £1 16s., spent
on fuel and bread in 1822 and 1867.
John Taylor, according to a list in Ealing
church, left land for the poor which was first let in
1685. The rent came to be reserved for Lower
Side and was £4 in 1822, when it was usually
added to the Needs' charity.
Elizabeth, countess of Derby, by will proved
1717, left property for the poor of Kew and Old
Brentford. The income of £15 from £500 stock,
bought under a Chancery decree of 1719, provided pensions for 20 widows of Lower Side in
1822.
James Townsend, by will dated 1741, left £100
and Mary Williams, by will dated 1766, left an
additional £5, together yielding £3 in 1822. It
was then distributed with the charities of
Middleton and of Andrews and Hubbold, as in
1867.
John Bennett gave £100 stock c. 1814, of which
the income was distributed in cash at New
Brentford in 1867.
Elizabeth Pitt, by will proved 1816, left £300
stock for New Brentford and the Half Acre
district of Old Brentford. The income of £9 was
distributed in fuel in 1867.
George Osborne, by will dated 1843, left
£92 8s. 6d. stock, yielding £2 15s. 4d. for bread
in New Brentford in 1867, and a like sum for
Old Brentford.
Ann Northall, by will dated 1857, left
£333 6s. 8d. stock, subject to the maintenance of a
vault in New Brentford church. The income of
£10 provided bread, fuel, and clothing in 1867.
Henry Chappell, by will dated 1860, left £100
stock, yielding £2 15s. for clothing 6 widows of
Old Brentford in 1867.
Henry Meyers, by will proved 1873, left £100
stock, yielding £2 15s. for cash payments in New
Brentford in 1899, and a like sum for the parishes
of St. Paul and St. George, Old Brentford.
Thomas Layton, by will proved 1911, left the
residue of his estate for the poor of St. George's,
Old Brentford. (fn. 73) In 1980 the income was c. £620,
distributed in monthly grants and at Christmas. (fn. 74)
Brentford United Charities.
A Scheme of 1918,
besides establishing a separate ecclesiastical
charity with £40 out of Ann Northall's endowment, united the New Brentford charities of
Townsend and Williams, Bennett, Pitt, Osborne,
Northall, and Meyers. The total income in 1980
was £23, generally dispensed in gifts of at least
£3 at Christmas. (fn. 75) The Old Brentford charities
of Lady Derby, Osborne, and Chappell stayed
separate under a Scheme of 1912, with an income
of c. £45 in 1979, distributed at Christmas to 30
widows. (fn. 76) Those of Redman, in 1980 in the sole
control of the vicar, Spencer, Middleton, and
Layton also remained separate. The Needs' and
John Taylor's eleemosynary charity, governed
by a Scheme of 1966, in 1979 received £40 a year
from the educational branch, which was distributed to local hospitals.