CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 64)
A clothing
fund was established c. 1818 from clothing
charities and bequests formerly distributed in
money or fuel. Later gifts for food and clothing
augmented the fund, which was administered
with other parochial charities from 1899.
Almshouses.
In 1725 almshouses were built in
the Steyne on the site of a house which the parish
had bought in 1681 for the poor. (fn. 65) The almshouses contained eight rooms, with seven inmates, in 1779 (fn. 66) and were in disrepair by 1793,
when they were sold. Joseph Grantham thereupon granted some copyhold tenements on the
west side of the Steyne, where six cottages were
built for the poor (fn. 67) with the aid of sums received
for inclosures of the waste. (fn. 68) In 1839 the almshouses were to be sold to contribute towards the
cost of Brentford union workhouse but in 1843
the rector and overseers took charge and the
rector paid for their repair. (fn. 69) The almshouses
were rebuilt by public subscription as the Jubilee
almshouses, nos. 1-12 the Steyne, in 1897 (fn. 70) and
bought by Ealing L.B. in 1967.
Frederic Ouvry gave £200 stock to the almshouses in 1880, Mrs. Sarah Mary Sibson £100
stock in 1883, and Selina Payne £1,009 stock by
will dated 1893. The gifts formed an endowment
fund, providing weekly pensions, from 1967,
together with £10,000 paid by Ealing L.B.
Apprenticing charity.
Catherine, Viscountess
Conway, by will dated 1637, left £800 to the
Grocers' Company of London to provide, among
other purposes, £20 a year for apprenticing poor
children after the death of a residuary legatee.
After a dispute over arrears the vestry received a
reduced income from 1706. Only boys had been
apprenticed for some time in 1826, at a cost of
£10 a year.
Distributive charities.
Thomas Thorney, by
will dated 1612, left a rent charge of 20s. On
Conduit close, of which at least 6s. 8d. was for
repair of the conduit and the rest for the poor. In
1826 the entire income had been spent for some
time on the conduit.
Paul Freeman, by will dated 1615, and William
Harraway, by will dated 1620, left sums to buy 2s.
worth and 1s. of bread respectively. The money
was not accounted for after 1628.
Catherine, Viscountess Conway, in addition to
providing £20 for apprenticing, assigned in reversion £10 a year for bread for 21 recipients and
teaching 6 children, to which her executrix Mary
Harrison added £8, making the income £10 8s.
Lady Conway also assigned £10 a year to the
minister for alms. (fn. 71) The Grocers' Company fell
into arrears with payments and in 1706 the vestry
accepted £50 in lieu of £100 arrears, (fn. 72) although it
later received only £22 9s. 8d. a year for all her
bequests, including the apprenticing charity.
Thereafter £2 12s. was paid regularly for teaching and by 1826 15s. 8d. was spent on clothing
and the balance, after apprenticing, on bread for
21 parishioners weekly and on alms.
John Perryn, by will dated 1656, left a rent
charge of £10 for the poor, vested in the Goldsmiths' Company of London. By 1826 it was paid
into the clothing fund.
George Needler, by will dated 1638, left £40
for annual purchases of shoes and stockings. The
capital was lent out to parishioners, from whom
interest was last received in 1719. It was said to be
vested in the Grocers' Company in 1786 and had
been lost by 1826.
Henry Ramsay, by will dated 1693, left a rent
charge of £10, perhaps to fulfil a similar bequest
of 1601 by Mary, wife of Sir Thomas Ramsay,
lord mayor of London. (fn. 73) In 1826 the sum was
devoted to the clothing fund.
Sarah Crayle, by will dated 1730, left £300 to
provide 40s. a year for a sermon and £6 for
weekly bread doles to the poor not receiving
alms, the residue to be distributed in money
twice a year. In 1745 land was bought in Ealing, (fn. 74)
producing £13 13s. c. 1786-8 and £30 from 1825.
Bread for 14 persons was bought with £6 in 1826,
when the minister received 40s. and the residue
went to the clothing fund. By 1899 the principal
had been invested in stock.
Ann Crayle, by will dated 1767, left £700 stock
to provide £12 3s. a year for specified clothing for
6 men and 6 women, the residue to be spent on
coal. In 1826 the income of £21 was paid into the
clothing fund.
Edward Dickenson, by will dated 1781, left a
third of the interest on £100 stock for payments
to three couples married in Acton church during
the previous year. The income was £45 in 1786
and £50 by 1867.
Rebecca Bulwer, by will dated 1789, left the
income from £600 for eight householders,
preferably Anglican communicants, and Thomas
Bramley (d. 1807) left £300 for the same purpose.
Twelve families then received £3 each, although
by 1826 the income had fallen to £31 1s. 4d.
Elizabeth Wegg, by will dated 1799, left £100
for the poor. Her husband Samuel added £100
stock, by will dated 1802, and their son George
added £300 in 1817.
John Cordy, by will dated 1799, left the
income from £100 to clothe three widows. Only
two women could be given the full amount of
clothing in 1826.
Rebecca Cranmer, by will dated 1813, left
£400 stock to provide greatcoats for six men,
as did Thomas Church, by will dated 1823.
Church's money had not been received in 1826,
when Mrs. Cranmer's gift for clothing was
augmented by the surplus income from £300
which she had left towards repairs of the family
vault.
The churchwardens in 1786 held £20, of
unknown origin, which was spent on cheap coal
until c. 1812 and then on building the National
school.
The clothing fund had an income of £85 in
1826, from the charities of Lady Conway,
Perryn, Ramsay, Sarah and Ann Crayle, Cordy,
and Mrs. Cranmer. It was later augmented by the
following gifts: £100 stock from William Henry
Church, by will dated 1832; £741 stock from
Elizabeth Wegg, by will dated 1842, for food and
clothing; £200 stock from Mary Tubbs, by will
of c. 1852, for food; £52 stock from William
Hervey, by deed dated 1860, for food and
clothing.
Acton (Middlesex) charities.
All the existing
charities were united under a Scheme of 1899 as
the Acton (Middlesex) charities, to which in 1913
was added £5 a year bequeathed to the poor by
Rachel Rebecca Murton. The income from stock
in 1976 was £1,224. In 1980 it produced £2 for
apprenticing, £50 for nursing, and small sums
for ecclesiastical purposes, the residue being
spent on the poor.