Teddington: Charities

CHARITIES.

Henry Beckett (d. 1627) and Lady Anne Hyde (will dated 1687) left rent charges of 6d. a week and £1 a year respectively to the poor. Beckett's charity was expendable on bread and Hyde's was generally used for the same purpose by the 19th century. (fn. 1) Robert Udney (d. 1802) (fn. 2) left the parish £200. His estate sufficed to pay only a third, which the churchwarden received in 1825 and apparently spent at once. William Kent (d. 1853) left £300 in trust for the poor.

In 1738 the lord of the manor gave the parish a small plot on the edge of the common, on which the parish almshouses were built, and also 2 acres nearby for the benefit of the poor. (fn. 3) In 1746 the rent of the 2 acres was used for the poor, but in 1810 it had been in arrears for some time. (fn. 4) In 1799 there was also said to be a yearly payment of £2 due from the lord of the manor for fuel for the poor, (fn. 5) and in 1824 this was assumed to be instead of the land. The payment had long been discontinued in 1868, when an inquiry was held into all the parish charities. Another charity from the lord of the manor had, however, now been created: it was alleged, erroneously, (fn. 6) that James I's grant of the manor in 1603 charged it with a yearly payment of £4 to the poor. In 1907 this payment also fell into arrears, but following threats of legal proceedings by the Charity Commissioners, it was redeemed for stock.

At the time of the inquiry Beckett's rent-charge was also in arrears, but payment was later resumed. It was redeemed for stock in 1931 and Hyde's was redeemed a year earlier. In 1956 Beckett's, Hyde's, Kent's, and the manor charity, together with the stock bought after the sale of the old parish almshouses, had together an income of about £50. About £60, including part of an accumulated balance, was spent on gifts of coal and cash mostly between 15s. and £2 each.

Anthony Spurr (d. 1887) left £1,000 duty-free, after the expiry of a life interest, to repair his tomb and for the poor of the congregations of the various Anglican and free churches. It was still being paid in 1957. (fn. 7)

The history of the parish almshouses forms part of the history of local government in the parish. (fn. 8) Park's Almshouses in Queens Road were built by C. J. Park (d. 1909) in 1900. (fn. 9) They were endowed with £1,000 which had been left earlier by his father J. C. Park (d. 1887) to the Calvinistic Baptists of Teddington and had been disputed between the two existing Baptist churches. It was agreed to use the legacy to endow the two almshouses, which were reserved for Peculiar or Calvinistic Baptists living in Teddington. A further endowment of £500 was added by the will of C. J. Park. In 1952 the income was used in maintenance and gifts to the inmates. The Teddington Old People's Welfare Committee opened hostels for old people in 1954 and 1956. (fn. 10)