CHARITIES
St. Saviour's Parish:
A charity school stood at the corner
of Red Cross Street and Union Street,
on ground which had been a burial-ground supposed
to be the 'Single Women's Burying Ground' connected with the Stews. Its origin is unknown, but
twenty children were educated, clothed and bound
apprentices by the benefaction of Mrs. Elizabeth
Newcomen, or Newcombe, by will proved in 1674,
and seventy by the will of John Collet of 1711.
The building in this place was erected in 1713 after
Mr. Collet's benefaction was received.
A school for girls in Three Tun Court was
supported by voluntary subscriptions.
A school for boys and girls in Zoar Street was
established by the exertions of Mr. Arthur Shallett,
Mr. Samuel Warburton and Mr. Fernando Holland
in 1687, in opposition to a free Roman Catholic
school, then newly set up. It was supported by
voluntary contributions. An annual sermon was
preached for it at St. Thomas'. It was established
for forty children, raised to fifty, and in 1781 to
200.
Cure's College, almshouses for sixteen poor
parishioners, with a warden and sub-warden, was
founded in 1584 by Thomas Cure, saddler to the
queen. The chief justice of the Common Pleas was
president of the college.
Edward Alleyne, in connexion with his Dulwich
foundation, established almshouses in 1616 for ten
men and women, to be taken into Dulwich College
as vacancies occurred.
Henry Jackson founded an almshouse in 1660 for
two poor women.
Henry Young founded a similar almshouse in
1690.
Henry Sprat, by will in 1708, established almshouses for two poor men out of the Clink Liberty.
There was an almshouse in Gravel Lane for ten
poor women who had formerly paid scot and lot,
rebuilt in 1705, of unknown foundation.
In 1812 the Rev. Rowland Hill, whose large
octagon chapel of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion used
to be a well-known place in Christchurch parish,
opened almshouses in Gravel Lane for twenty-four
poor widows belonging to the congregation.
To the north of the Lady chapel of the church
were eight almshouses, in this parish but belonging to
the trust of St. Thomas' Hospital.
Smith's charity exists as in other Surrey parishes. (fn. 1)
St. Olave's Parish (and St. John's, Horsleydown):
In 1611 the vestry built almshouses in Horsleydown in what was called the Artillery Ground.
In the reign of James I there was a workhouse,
called the Pynn House. In 1725 a new workhouse
was built, which was added to from time to time.
The management was the occasion for frequent
quarrels and lawsuits. (fn. 2) It was superseded after 1835
by the Union Workhouse for St. Olave's, St. John's,
and St. Thomas'.
A charity school for about fifty girls was supported
by voluntary contributions.
In 1708 Mrs. Elizabeth Stuckbury, by will, left
£2,200 for apprenticing the children of poor Quakers
and for the relief of poor Quakers. She was an
inhabitant of St. John's, Horsleydown, but the benefaction was not confined to the parish, in which,
however, there was a considerable body of Quakers
with a large meeting in 1725. It was said to have
been for long the only benefaction in England enjoyed
by Quakers.
In 1714 a school was established by Protestant
Dissenters of different denominations 'upon those
common principles of Christianity wherein they all
agree,' an interesting anticipation of undenominational religious teaching. As in 1725 there were in
the parish large congregations of various dissenting
bodies, including about two thousand persons, the
place was a fitting area for the experiment.
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes. (fn. 3)
St. Thomas' Parish:
A charity school was established in 1781, next to
Guy's Hospital, for thirty boys.
There were almshouses in St. Thomas' Street
belonging to the parish, which were transferred to
Pipemakers' Alley.
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes.
St. George's Parish:
The Lock Hospital for Lepers is said by Stow to
have existed in the time of Edward II, but its
foundation appears to be unknown. It had a chapel
in it, which was perhaps rebuilt in 1636, which date
remained on the door in Aubrey's time. In 1437
John Pope left by will an annual rent of 6s. 8d.
to it. Tanner says that it was dedicated to
St. Leonard. It was attached to St. Bartholomew's
Hospital in the 17th and 18th centuries, but became
ruinous and was pulled down about 1800. It was
on the stream between St. George's parish and
Newington, at the head of the tidal water. If there
was a sluice from which the name came it is perhaps
the earliest known use of the word lock for a sluice
in English.
In 1725 there was a charity school for fifty boys.
In 1725 almshouses of the Drapers' Company are
returned; they held four poor persons of the parish
and were on ground belonging to the City of London
The almshouses are in Hill Street.
The Surrey Dispensary was opened in 1777 in
Union Street. It was removed to Dover Street in
1840.
The Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, in Kent
Street, was started by the Rev. John Townshend and
the Rev. Henry C. Mason in 1792, though the
present building was not opened till 1809.
The School for the Indigent Blind was founded in
1799 at the old 'Dog and Duck' in St. George's
Fields. The society was incorporated in 1826, and
the buildings near the Obelisk, now itself superseded,
used to be much admired. They were faced with
stone, in imitation 16th-century style. They were
pulled down in 1908, the school having been
removed to Letherhead in 1902.
The Philanthropic Society for the care of children
of convicted parents and for the reformation of young
offenders was started in London Road, St. George's
Fields, in 1788. The society was incorporated in
1806. The chapel has been already noticed.
Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam), after existing for
400 years close to the present Liverpool Street
station, then for 140 years in Moorfields, was rebuilt
in 1812 in St. George's Fields, on the 'turnpike
road from Westminster Bridge to Kennington.'
Lewis was the first architect, and Smirke enlarged it
in 1838.
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes. (fn. 4)
Christchurch Parish:
Edwards' Almshouses were founded by deed of
gift by Edward Edwards, in 1717, for twenty-four
poor women, receiving 40s. a year each, and a gown
every two years.
Hopton's Almshouses were founded by will by
Charles Hopton in 1730, for twenty-six poor men,
with £10 a year and a chaldron of coals apiece.
Parish schools were opened for boys in 1712 and
for girls in 1720; some of the children were clothed
by the parish. Mrs. Elizabeth Downes gave £50 to
each in 1766, and Mr. John Stock £100 in 1780
to completely clothe and teach one orphan boy in
the school for ever.
The Magdalen Hospital was opened in the parish
in 1758.
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes. (fn. 5)