CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
In 1610 Lawrence Campe (d. 1613) gave a rent-charge in the
City of London, from which £1 a year was to be
divided equally among eight poor people of Friern
Barnet. (fn. 85) In 1612 he gave a rent-charge of £8 6s. 8d.
on land in Hertfordshire: £7 16s. was to be disbursed at the rate of 1s. monthly to twelve inmates
of the alms-houses that he had erected in Friern
Barnet, £1 6s. 8d. was for repairs, and the churchwardens were to keep the remaining 4s. (fn. 86) The total
endowment of £9 6s. 8d. was paid in 1902 by the
London Parochial Charities. (fn. 87) Campe's widow
married Thomas Tooke (d. 1670), who assigned £3
a year to the poor from lands at Wormley (Herts.). (fn. 88)
His gift may have been the so-called turnpike
bond, first mentioned in 1729. Payment was due
from John Nicholl the younger (d. 1747), whose
son-in-law the duke of Chandos (d. 1789) paid the
interest, until in 1785 the principal was exacted to
meet repairs. (fn. 89)
Campe's six alms-houses were built on 1½ a. of
copyhold land called Tromers, (fn. 90) and included two
communal rooms for prayer and for washing,
baking, or brewing. The founder's detailed statutes
were largely ignored in the 18th century. After
repairs in 1728 a seventh tenement was substituted
for the communal rooms and by 1828 prayers were
no longer said. (fn. 91) Although restored in 1854, (fn. 92)
prayers had again ceased by 1883 (fn. 93) and in 1889 it
was claimed that alms-people were chosen without
regard for religious beliefs. In 1778 one tenement
was vacant and the others had nineteen occupants,
including two families. Eight inmates were then
considered unsuitable (fn. 94) and in 1828 they included
a woman of evil reputation and natives of other
parishes. (fn. 95) The alms-houses were used as a school
between 1809 and 1853, (fn. 96) housing the schoolmaster
and schoolmistress in 1828 (fn. 97) and the sexton in
1838. (fn. 98) There were 21 inhabitants in 1851, including 8 old people and, in two of the tenements,
the families of the schoolmaster and schoolmistress
and the parish clerk. (fn. 99) The inmates numbered 16
in 1871, 17 in 1897, and 7 in 1938. (fn. 1) In 1903 they
had to be aged over 70, of twenty years' residence in
Friern Barnet, with an annual income of not less
than £31, and not in receipt of poor-relief. (fn. 2) Weekly
pensions had been appropriated to other uses by
1795 (fn. 3) but were restored in 1837 (fn. 4) and finally withdrawn in 1961. (fn. 5)
The alms-houses were largely rebuilt in 1728
after a fire, (fn. 6) with help from a gift from Mrs.
King of Friern House, and repaired in 1785-6, (fn. 7)
1809, (fn. 8) and 1843. (fn. 9) In 1855 John Miles subscribed
£100 to augment the endowment and annual
collections were started, (fn. 10) and in 1868 George
Knights Smith gave the ground rents of nos. 1-7
Carlisle Place, worth £14. (fn. 11) Nevertheless the income
was only £28 in 1867-8, including rent of £6 from
1 a. which had been allotted to the poor of Friern
Barnet at the inclosure of Finchley common. (fn. 12)
The sale of that land in 1889 brought £845, (fn. 13)
and a Diamond Jubilee appeal raised over £600
for improvements to the fabric. (fn. 14) A Scheme of 1896
vested the alms-houses and the money raised by the
sale of the Finchley allotment, collectively known
as the Consolidated Almshouse Charity of Lawrence
Campe, in the rector, churchwardens, and three
representatives of Friern Barnet U.D.C. (fn. 15) Income
rose to £169 in 1898 (fn. 16) but had fallen to £118 by
1920-1, when there was a deficit. (fn. 17) The council
requisitioned the alms-houses (fn. 18) and restored three
tenements c. 1946 (fn. 19) and the others after 1956, (fn. 20)
partly at the trustees' expense. (fn. 21) After the leases of
Carlisle Place had expired in 1953, some land was
sold for £1,196 to the Eastern Electricity Board in
1962 and for £800 to Friern Barnet U.D.C. in
1964. (fn. 22) From 1959 the houses in Carlisle Place were
unlet, depriving the charity of rent and in 1961
causing the pensions to be stopped. In 1962 an
income of £175 from increased investments was
sufficient to maintain the building (fn. 23) and between
1971 and 1974 the income was c. £1,000. (fn. 24) Further
grants were made by Barnet L.B., and a Scheme
of 1976 provided that inmates should contribute
towards running costs. (fn. 25)
The alms-houses, (fn. 26) on the east side of Friern
Barnet Lane, are of brick with stone dressings and
tiled roofs. No trace remains of the stucco added in
1843. (fn. 27) The doorways of 1612 have four-centred
tops and the low windows have three lights on the
ground floor and two on the first. (fn. 28) The row faces
south-west and was separated from the road by
a short garden with trees (fn. 29) which had disappeared
by 1957.
The alms-houses received several further endowments. Samuel Dorman (d. 1892) left £500, invested on the death of his widow in 1932. (fn. 30) Miss
Sarah Anne Wilson in 1920 left the residue of her
estate, £504. (fn. 31) In 1926-7 £200 was received from
a fund known as the Holden bequest. (fn. 32) Sydney
Simmons left sums totalling £1,320, paid over
between 1926 and 1929; (fn. 33) a further £134 was paid
on the death of his wife in 1936. (fn. 34) Henry Broadway
Barnes (d. 1934) left £1,000. (fn. 35) He and Simmons
were commemorated by a plaque inside the
building. (fn. 36)