CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 5)
Samuel Atkinson,
by will proved 1680, left £600 in trust to buy land
in Edgware on which to build four almshouses. The
almshouses were built on Watling Street at a cost of
£240 (fn. 6) and the remaining sum was used to purchase
an endowment of 12 a. in the parish of Oakley
(Bucks.). Thomas Napier of Brockley Hill, by will
dated 1707, left £100 with which were purchased 3 a.
in Harrow parish. The rent was to be applied as 4s.
every month to each of the four almspeople, and the
remainder in annual payments of 1s. 6d. each to the
parish poor. By 1897 Napier's gift was represented
by 3 a. in Harrow and £60 stock. A man named
Watts, by an instrument of uncertain date, left
copyhold called Harrods Green in Harrow to the
use of the Edgware poor. Until c. 1820 the income
was used in aid of the church- and poor-rates, but
after that date the proceeds of the gift were added to
the endowment of the Atkinson almshouses. By 1823
the almshouses' endowment was worth in all £33.
Each of the four almspeople received 10s. a month
and coals. The endowment was augmented under
the will (dated 1875) of Harriet Hurst, who left the
proceeds of her estate in trust for the upkeep of the
church, the voluntary school, and the Atkinson and
Day almshouses. (fn. 7) In 1897 her gift to the Atkinson
almshouses was represented by £977 stock.
Under a Scheme of 1897 the gifts of Atkinson,
Napier, Watts, and Hurst were consolidated as the
Almshouse Charities of Atkinson and Others. The
income of £50 a year, with the exception of 30s.
payable under Napier's will to the parish poor, was
to be applied to the upkeep of the Atkinson almshouses. Napier's gift was converted to £345 stock
before 1915. Under a Scheme of 1932 the almspeople were defined as paupers who were unable to
maintain themselves and had been resident in the
parish for not less than two years. They were to
receive an allowance of 5s. a week from the income
of the Atkinson charities, which then amounted to
£90 a year. The Atkinson almshouses were severely
damaged by enemy action in 1940. They consisted of
a single-storied brick range, having a central curvilinear gable on the front with an inscribed panel
commemorating their foundation in 1680. (fn. 8) The
ruins were demolished in 1955 and new almshouses,
built on the same site, were opened in 1957. A
Scheme of that year provided that almspeople were
to contribute at least 10s. a week towards their own
upkeep.
Miss Margaret Abel of Cricklewood, by will
proved 1943, left £7,250 stock and £491 in cash in
trust to build almshouses in the borough of Hendon.
Under a Charity Commission Scheme of 1959 the
gift was used to erect two almshouses, to be known
as the Abel Homes, at the rear of the Atkinson almshouses. Occupation of the Abel Homes was limited
to elderly poor who had been resident in Hendon
Borough for at least 5 years, and the foundation was
to be administered by the trustees of the Atkinson
charities. In 1964 the income of the Atkinson
charities amounted to £433, all of which was spent
on the upkeep of the almshouses.
Charles Day (d. 1836) built, probably in 1828, (fn. 9)
eight almshouses on a 1-acre plot fronting on Watling Street at Stone Grove which he bought in 1829
from All Souls College. During his lifetime Day
selected the almspeople; by his will, which was
proved in 1840, he conveyed the almshouses and land
to trustees, leaving sufficient money to provide an
endowment of £100 a year for the upkeep of the
property and weekly payments to the almspeople.
In selecting almspeople the trustees were to give
preference to parishioners of Edgware and Little
Stanmore, providing that they did not sell or drink
intoxicants, swear, or break the Sabbath. Harriet
Hurst (fn. 10) left £1,350 stock for the upkeep of the Day
almshouses, and in 1958 the endowment comprised
the site of the almshouses and £4,793 stock. One of
the almshouses was burned down and rebuilt c. 1886,
and the buildings were restored in 1959. They consist
of a long single-storied range in an early-19th-century
Gothic style with steep gables, pinnacled buttresses
and a slate roof. The front is faced with stone ashlar
and has Gothic arcading below the eaves and verges.
In the central gable, which is flanked by two smaller
ones, is a clock and the date 1828. (fn. 11) In 1964 the income of the endowment was £278. Expenditure was
limited to the upkeep of the buildings and no payments were made to the occupants.
William Blasson, by will proved 1904, left the
income on £200 to provide coal for the Edgware
poor. In 1963 the income of £9 was used to buy
2 cwt. of coal for each of the eight almspeople.