CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 3)
The early history
of the almshouses in Eastcote Road is uncertain.
Extensive alteration to the 'parish house', probably
to convert an earlier building into a series of tworoomed dwellings, took place in 1616. (fn. 4) A number of
minor repairs are recorded later in the century. (fn. 5)
Lady Mary Franklin, by will proved 1737, left £100
for the purchase of land, the income of which was to
be applied to clothing the inhabitants of the church
houses. No land was bought, and the money was
invested in stock. In 1895 the gift yielded £3 interest, which was distributed by the vicar on St.
Thomas's Day. The two-storied building, which
may be of 16th-century origin, stands at the northwest corner of the churchyard. The partly exposed
timbering of the upper floor incorporates large
curved braces; the ground floor has been faced with
brickwork. The former almshouses, each with an
upper and a lower room, were arranged back to back,
five facing the churchyard and five facing Eastcote
Road. By 1968 four dwellings at the west end had
been converted into a verger's house and two in the
centre were occupied as a cottage by the curate. (fn. 6)
The earliest charity known in the parish is that of
Richard Coggs, who in 1717 conveyed 3 a. in Frog
Lane, Eastcote, to the use of the churchwardens for
the relief of poor families. The land was converted
into stock in 1889, at which date the gift yielded £4
yearly.
On consideration of £150 paid to them by Jeremiah Bright in 1721, the Leathersellers' Company
covenanted to pay £6 annually to provide bread for
the poor. The vicar was to receive 10s. from this sum
for his care in administering the charity. (fn. 7)
Ralph Hawtrey, by will proved 1725, left £200,
the interest on which was to be disposed of by the
vicar in the relief of the poor. This gift yielded £8
annually, which was paid by Elizabeth Rogers,
Hawtrey's granddaughter, until 1803 when she invested £267 stock, yielding an annual interest of £8.
By 1897, however, the annual income had fallen to
£7.
Elizabeth Rogers, by will proved 1803, left £380
stock, from the interest on which the vicar was to
receive two guineas a year on condition that he
preached a sermon each Good Friday morning. The
residue was to be divided among the poor, preference
being given to regular church-goers. Rogers's
charity yielded £16 in 1895.
Henrietta Howard, the date of whose will is unknown, left £100 stock to provide beef and bread for
25 poor families in Eastcote on Christmas Eve, and
£60 stock to purchase blankets for six Eastcote
families every New Year's Day. The gift was administered by the vicar and churchwardens, and
yielded £4 yearly in 1897.
Lady Juliana Campbell, by will proved 1886, left
sufficient money to yield, when invested, £10
yearly, to be devoted to the purchase of coal for the
poor of Eastcote. In 1895 the gift consisted of £333
stock.
By a scheme of 1897, which introduced representative trustees, the gifts of Lady Juliana Campbell, Howard, Hawtrey, Bright, and Coggs, together
worth £49 yearly, were consolidated as the Ruislip
Non-Ecclesiastical Charities, and the income made
available for the parish poor in general. In 1952 the
income of the charities amounted to £358, used to
provide coal and food vouchers, bread, and gifts of
money.
Under the inclosure award of 1814 60 a. were
allotted to the use of cottagers whose rents did not
exceed £5 a year. Administration of the Ruislip
Cottagers' Allotments Charity was vested in a representative committee. In 1880 95 cottagers were
licensed to pasture cattle on this land. In 1960 the
income of this charity was £319, applied to the
general benefit of cottager families selected by the
trustees.