CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 75)
The will of
Werhard, dated 832, mentions a bequest by Archbishop Wulfred (d. 832) of food to be given daily and
2s. 2d. to be given annually for clothing to 5 poor
people at Harrow. (fn. 76) One will of the 15th century (fn. 77)
and several of the 16th century (fn. 78) contain small bequests to the poor. In 1580 John Lyon provided that
the governors of Harrow School should give 60 of
the poorest 'housekeepers' in Harrow 6s. 8d. apiece
every Good Friday or otherwise at their discretion.
Pinner was to be excluded unless there were insufficient paupers in Harrow. In the 19th century and
later the governors paid £20 annually to the Vicar of
St. Mary's, for distribution at Christmas and on
Good Friday. Any surplus was to be devoted to the
'help and relief of poor marriages, and other such good
and charitable purposes'. In the 18th and early 19th
centuries the charity occasionally provided small
sums for apprenticing poor children, as marriage
portions, and to support a Sunday school at Pinner
and the National school at Harrow.
In 1611 Catherine Clarke settled £240 in trust on
the Mercers' Company to pay each year to the Vicar
and churchwardens of Harrow £12, for distribution
half-yearly among 6 paupers from Harrow and 6
from Roxeth. From 1696 until 1802 payments were
in arrear but after the money had been re-invested
in stock worth £324 the income of £22 was distributed annually in sums of 10s. In 1630 Barbara
Burnell bequeathed £300 to the Clothworkers'
Company (fn. 79) and in 1655 Thomas Burnell augmented
the gift by £5 a year, the income to be paid to the
poor of Stanmore. Later the gift, in the form of 2d.
loaves, 3½d. cheeses, and clothes, was distributed
among two poor women in Harrow Weald, two in
Bushey, two in Edgware, and one in Stanmore. By
will dated 1637 William Dwight left a rent-charge
of £2 a year from property in Sudbury. This was
augmented when Margaret, widow of Samuel Parr
(d. 1825), left the interest on £200 stock in trust to
be distributed annually in bread among the poor of
Harrow, Roxeth, Sudbury, and Greenhill. Her bequest yielded £6 a year in the 19th century. Under a
Charity Commission Scheme of 1888 the gifts of
Clarke, Burnell, Dwight, and Parr were consolidated
as the Harrow Pension Charities, vested in seven
trustees who were to pay pensions to 3 paupers who
had lived in the parish for more than 5 years. By
1965 the income was between £25 and £60 a year.
In 1791 Henry Burch, a London citizen, gave the
interest on £200 stock for the use of the Wembley
poor. In the early 19th century this gift was distributed by the vicar in sums not exceeding 10s. Martha
Bowen, by will dated 1888, left £150 in trust to be
distributed annually by the vicar in bread or money
to paupers attending the parish church. In 1965 the
income of about £4 was spent on bread. Ann Sahler,
by will dated 1893, left £300 in trust to provide an
annual gift for not more than 3 widows in Harrow
Weald. In 1965 the income of between £10 and £25
was distributed as coal.
In Pinner Mary Franklin, by will dated 1735, left
the interest on £50 to buy bread for paupers of
the Established Church. In the early 19th century
the income was distributed in bread at Christmas. Elizabeth Deering, by will dated 1781, left the
interest on £100 to be distributed at Christmas to 10
widows 'who frequently receive the sacrament'. The
charity was still in existence in 1810 (fn. 80) but its history
after that date is obscure. Mary Roberts, by will
proved 1797, left the interest on £500 stock to be
distributed at Christmas in portions of 30s. to 10 old
people who received no parish alms. The gift was
contingent on the death of Abraham Clarke, and
Chancery proceedings after his death in 1811
reduced the amount to £364 stock. In the 1830s the
interest of £17 a year was generally distributed in
sums of 30s. Mary Elige, by will dated 1824, gave
£50 to be distributed among out-poor in Pinner.
In 1836 the legacy was invested and the interest was
thereafter consolidated with Franklin's gift, the
combined charity being called Elige's. In 1849
Thomas Hill, a Pinner farmer, gave £200 stock, the
interest on which was to be distributed annually in
blankets to Pinner paupers. Henrietta Howard in
1841 gave £100 stock, the interest on which was to
be spent annually on bread and meat for 25 poor
families in Pinner. By her will, proved 1855, she gave
a further £60 stock, the interest on which was to be
used to buy blankets for six poor families. Charlotte
Howard, by will proved 1855, left the interest on
£500 stock for distribution in fuel and blankets to
the poor of Pinner at Christmas. The gift was to be
styled the Edward Alexander Howard Charity in
memory of her father. Christian Snow, by a codicil
to his will, proved 1868, left the interest on £50
stock to be distributed each Christmas in bread to
the resident poor. Benjamin Weall, by will proved
1868, left to the churchwardens the interest on £100,
with which to buy blankets for such poor as they
thought proper. John Weall, by will dated 1864,
created a similar trust for the purchase of blankets
for 6 poor parishioners. In 1962 the income of
the Pinner non-ecclesiastical charities, comprising
Roberts's gift and the 19th-century benefactions,
amounted to £43, which was distributed in small
sums and blankets.