CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 44)
Apart from
the almshouses in Sutton Lane, benefactions of
unknown origin included 2 a. known as the poor's
land in Chiswick field. Producing £3 a year
before inclosure, they were then replaced by a
plot at the corner of Duke Road and Hogarth
Lane (fn. 45) which was let for market gardens at £25 a
year by 1893. A rentcharge left by Thomas
Barker by will proved 1643 was probably never
paid. Sums left for coal by 1622 and 1659 may
have been only gifts; in 1659 money, which had
been misspent on the church, was to be used as
the donors had wished, (fn. 46) but it was not recorded
again. In 1826 rent from the poor's land had for
long been wrongly included in the overseers'
general accounts. The five oldest distributive
charities, apart from Quaife's, were disbursed in
money before forming a bread and coal fund
from c. 1818. Nearly all the distributive charities
from 1893 constituted a branch of the parochial
charities devoted to the almshouses, none of
which had originally been endowed.
Almshouses.
A church house and other rooms
in the churchyard served as lodgings for poor
people, chosen by the vestry, in 1629. (fn. 47) Probably
nothing was done after Chaloner Chute, by will
proved 1661, desired the building and endowment of a hospital as he had elsewhere directed, (fn. 48)
but almshouses in Sutton Lane were built before
1676 by William Ashburnham. Lord Fauconberg
and his widow, by wills proved 1700 and 1713,
left money for mourning gowns to women in the
hospital at Little Sutton, presumably the almshouses which were maintained by Ashburnham's
successors as lessees of Sutton Court manor and
which accordingly came to be known as the duke
of Devonshire's almshouses. (fn. 49) Six tenements of
c. 1700, single-storeyed and with attics, survived
in Sutton Lane until 1957, (fn. 50) when they made way
for flats called Sutton Close. (fn. 51) The inmates were
moved to Essex Place, Turnham Green, before
1822, when the almshouses there were enlarged;
those almshouses were demolished in 1885. (fn. 52)
At Strand-on-the-Green there was a parish
house in 1655 and almshouses in 1658. (fn. 53) The
thatched buildings thereafter were often repaired
by the vestry, (fn. 54) until some parishioners paid for
four new almshouses between 1721 and 1724. (fn. 55)
Repaired in 1816, apparently for six inmates, (fn. 56)
they were extended and converted into three
under a Scheme of 1934 with the aid of £801
from the estate of Hopkin Morris, in whose
memory they were renamed the Hopkin Morris
homes of rest. After the trustees of Chiswick
parochial charities had proposed to sell them for
demolition in 1971, the almshouses, a singlestoreyed brick range backing onto Grove Row,
were bought in 1973 and meticulously restored in
1974 by Hounslow L.B. (fn. 57)
Six almshouses, under the Scheme of 1934,
were built at the corner of Edensor Road and
Alexandra Avenue. Rebuilding was planned in
1971 and later carried out by the trustees of
Chiswick parochial charities, with money from
the sale of the Hopkin Morris homes. Eighteen
flats, each for two people, were opened, as
Whittington Court, in 1976. (fn. 58)
Distributive charities.
Henry Fryer, by will
dated 1631, left part of a rentcharge to the poor of
Chiswick, who were later awarded £25 a year. In
1698 the income met a wide range of expenses,
including an apprenticeship and medical care. (fn. 59)
The churchwardens spent it on a customary
payment to the parish clerk and on gifts of from
2s. 6d. to £1 1s. to 88 recipients in 1777-8 and on
almost twice as many gifts, some of only 1s. or in
kind, in 1778-9. Although providing bread and
coal in 1826, it was again distributed in money by
1868.
Mary Quaife, by will dated 1730, left £400
stock for the poor, subject to her sister's life
interest. The stock was soon afterwards sold for
£430 1s., which the vicar transferred to the parish
officers in order that they could discharge a debt
to Thomas Mawson over the new workhouse. In
1826, as advised by the Charity Commissioners,
the vestry had agreed to buy stock worth £430 1s.
out of the poor rates and return it to the vicar. In
1867-8 the income of £14 18s. 5d. was distributed in bread.
Elizabeth Lutwyche, by will proved 1776, left
£200 for gifts to the poor at Christmas. The
income of £7 6s. 6d. on stock worth £244 5s. 6d.
was spent on fuel in 1867-8.
Anna Maria Reynolds, by will dated 1803, left
£500 for the poor. The income of £25 2s. 6d.
on stock worth £837 10s. provided fuel in
1867-8.
Elizabeth Blackshaw, by will proved 1811, left
£100 stock for gifts to the poor at Christmas. The
income of £3 provided fuel in 1867-8.
Compensation money from Thomas Whipham
for permission to inclose a wastehold at Strandon-the-Green in 1815 was spent on stock worth
£59 0s. 2d. The income of £2 7s. 2d. provided
fuel in 1867-8.
Edward Waistell, by will dated 1812, left £200
for gifts to poor householders not receiving
parish relief. Stock worth £244 3s. 8d. in 1826
produced £9 15s. 4d., which furnished gifts of
from 2s. to £1, and £7 6s. 6d. in 1867-8, when it
was still distributed in money.
Charles Whittingham, by will proved 1840,
left £1,000 for coal. In 1867-8 £33 6s. 8d. was
spent, from stock worth £1,111 2s. 3d.
Sarah Sermon of Isleworth, (fn. 60) by will proved
1849, left £666 13s. 4d., producing £20 which
was distributed in money in 1867-8.
Sarah Wilhelmina Brande, by will proved
1856, left £250 for the poor and £500 to maintain
her family's vault, any surplus to be spent on
lying-in women in accordance with the objects of
a maternity society already established. Stock
worth £450 in 1867-8 produced £13 10s., which
was distributed in money.
David Goodsman, by will proved 1870, left a
sum represented by £531 4s. 2d. stock in 1899,
when distributions were made in kind.
Chiswick parochial charities.
A Scheme
of 1893 provided for 12 trustees to administer the
parochial charities, which were divided into four
branches: the educational charities, the almshouse charities, including the poor's land and all
the distributive charities except Sermon's and
Brande's, the eleemosynary charity of Mrs.
Sermon, and the lying-in charity of Mrs. Brande.
Income from the almshouse charities was to be
spent on the buildings and on paying 5s.-8s. a
week to almspeople who had lived in Chiswick
for at least five years, their number to be decided
by the trustees. Investments were later increased
after sales of the poor's land in 1898 for £1,200
and the site in Essex Place in 1905 for £175, and
the redemption of Fryer's rentcharge for £1,000.
In 1934 the educational branch was separated
from the others and from 1960 almspeople
might be required to make contributions of
up to 5s. a week. The almshouse branch had an
investment income of £503 in 1973-4, when the
eleemosynary charity had £22, mostly distributed at Christmas, and the lying-in charity £25,
largely paid in a grant to the Hounslow branch
of Wel-Care.