CHARITIES FOR THE POOR
As a hamlet of Stepney parish Bethnal Green
was a beneficiary of early Stepney charities, (fn. 31)
including Prisca Coburn's (1701) and Dame
Sarah Pritchard's (1718), and shared in Fuller's,
Bowry's, and Pemel's almshouses, (fn. 32) the last of
which, at 'Dog Corner' in 1732, were in Bethnal
Green. (fn. 33) Also in Bethnal Green were the nonparochial Fisher's almshouses for widows of
ships' commanders, built in 1711 on the western
side and southern end of Dog Row. (fn. 34) They
were absorbed by Trinity almshouses, which
stood just outside the boundaries but took over
property within them. (fn. 35)
Bethnal Green's combined annual income
from charities averaged £650 in 1818–37, £1,203
in 1861–76, and £5,804 in 1894–1904. Of the
last, more than half, £2,961, was spent on
education, (fn. 36) £1,359 on almshouses and pensions,
£278 distributed in money and £209 in kind,
£187 for medical uses, (fn. 37) £113 for church and
£302 for nonconformist purposes, and £36 for
apprentices. (fn. 38) Bethnal Green Parish Charities
was formed by amalgamating the charities of
Mary Baker, Robertson, Greenwood, Truss,
Fontaneau, Mary Bowry, and Henry Merceron
in 1978. (fn. 39) In 1994, together with the Poor's
Land charity, they were jointly administered by
trustees appointed by Tower Hamlets L.B., the
rector, and up to 6 appointed under governing
instruments. Reinvestment of capital had doubled
income since c. 1979. In 1994 23 pensions and
24 £10 Christmas payments were paid out of the
joint charities. (fn. 40)
Almshouse charities.
Parmiter's almshouses
commemorated Thomas Parmiter, probably
from a Suffolk family; (fn. 41) he or his father was a
merchant tailor, who lived in Bethnal Green with
his wife Ann in 1651. (fn. 42) The purchasers of the
green in 1678 (fn. 43) considered, in a draft agreement
of 1681, using the rents to build and maintain
four almshouses on the waste. One of the group,
apparently acting as treasurer or 'town clerk',
was Parmiter, (fn. 44) who by will proved 1682 left
lands in Suffolk to be used, after the death of his
widow Elizabeth (d. 1702), to build and endow
a school and six almshouses 'on the waste of
Bethnal Green'. (fn. 45) In 1705 Chancery ordered the
lands to be mortgaged to build the school and
almshouses, the trustees to be 10 inhabitants of
Bethnal Green appointed at the general vestry.
In 1720 they leased a site at the eastern end of
St. John Street from Elizabeth Carter for 600
years at a peppercorn rent, where a school and
almshouses were opened in 1722. Further gifts
included a rent charge of £10 from Elizabeth
Carter and another payable by the Dyers' Co.
and granted in 1720 by William Lee. In 1732
the charity was said to have been founded by the
donations of the town clerk and beadle of
Bethnal Green. (fn. 46) If the first was Parmiter, the
second was probably Lee, churchwarden and
overseer in 1703. (fn. 47)
In 1723 the trustees bought 4½ a. of waste at
Cambridge Heath, (fn. 48) which by 1786 produced
£25 a year of the charity's total revenue of
£102 (fn. 49) and in 1819, after building had begun,
£225 out of a total income of £338, which
included £12 from £400 stock purchased out of
savings. By 1863 £928 stock yielded nearly £63
out of a total income of nearly £400. The bulk
of the income was always applied to the school.
The six almsmen, Anglican parishioners, received £2 10s. a year each in 1732, (fn. 50) £5 by 1763,
and £10 by 1809. Coal, worth 15 guineas a year,
was also given to the almsmen by 1819.
In 1838 the site in St. John Street was sold to
the G.E.R. and land was leased in Gloucester
(later Parmiter) Street where a new school and
three almshouses on either side, of yellow brick
and designed by Sir William Tite, were built in
1839. (fn. 51) In 1891, after the school had again
moved, its buildings were adapted for two more
almspeople; by 1894 the inmates were 6 married
couples and two widowers.
Further bequests included £500 stock left by
the treasurer Peter Renvoize (d. 1841). In 1870
the G.E.R. bought much of the Cambridge
Heath property, the proceeds being invested
until in 1893 part was used to purchase a
freehold estate in Lewisham (Kent). (fn. 52) In 1884 a
Charity Commission Scheme allotted 2/3 of the
income to the school and ⅓ to the almshouses. (fn. 53)
By 1894 the gross income was £3,505, of which
£1,262 was for the almshouses. (fn. 54)
In 1913, under Schemes of the Charity Commissioners and the Board of Education, (fn. 55) the
school became a separate foundation. (fn. 56) The
almshouses were combined with the Widows'
fund into Parmiter's Almshouse and Pension
charity. (fn. 57) Its assets were the almshouse site, ⅓
of Parmiter's income, and the Widows' fund. (fn. 58)
Parmiter's Estate was set up to administer the
assets of the two charities. (fn. 59)
Thomas Henry Rippin by will dated 1927 left
£500 to Parmiter's school and £600 to the
almshouse charity. (fn. 60) The almshouses were
bombed in 1945 and their site was sold in 1959 to
the L.C.C., the proceeds augmenting the pensions. (fn. 61) In 1952 the almshouse trust absorbed
Bethnal Green Philanthropic Pension society (below). The estate and almshouse charities were
registered in 1961 and 1963 respectively and,
although amended in 1993 and 1992, continued
to provide pensions and annuities. (fn. 62)
Spitalfields almshouses, (fn. 63) adjoining the early
Parmiter's almshouses, owed their existence to
William Lee, the dyer and benefactor of Parmiter's. In accordance with an agreement with
the Dyers' Co., which held mortgaged property
in Thames Street from him, Lee by will dated
1720 left £300 for his nephew John Ham to
build 6 almshouses for the company. Ham leased
land in St. John Street from Elizabeth Carter on
the same terms as Parmiter's in 1721, building
the almshouses and assigning the trust to the
Dyers' Co. In 1732 the inmates were 6 dyers'
widows, each of whom received 6s. a quarter,
together with 6s. for coal at Christmas, financed
by Dyers' Co. subscriptions. (fn. 64) Another 4 almshouses had been built and endowed with an
estate in Leytonstone (Essex) by 1739 by John
Peck, a trustee for the new Bethnal Green parish
in 1743, for the widows of freemen of the
company who had lived in Bethnal Green. By
1795, however, the almshouses had 'no farther
connection' with the parish. (fn. 65) They closed with
Parmiter's in 1838 and moved to Islington in
1840–1. (fn. 66)
George Crump almshouses were founded after
Miss Mary Edith Crump, by will proved 1925,
left money for a house to accommodate one or
two old people resident in St. Matthew's parish.
No. 61 Hereford Street was bought under a
Scheme of 1933 and used as an almshouse until
compulsorily purchased by the G.L.C. in 1966.
Administered with Mary Bowry's charity from
1933, the proceeds were distributed as pensions,
from 1978 as part of Bethnal Green parish
charities. (fn. 67) In 1994 the income of Crump's
charity, £903, was distributed to two pensioners
and £18, the income from Bowry's charity, was
paid to a seaman's widow. (fn. 68)
Distributive charities.
The Poor's Land or
Green Lands (fn. 69) was the name given to the charity
and its endowment formally founded in 1690 but
originating in the purchase of 11 ½ a. of waste
in the centre of the hamlet from the lady of the
manor in 1678. Although the primary object was
to restrict building, a secondary motive was the
'yearly relief of the poor'. The 11½ a. were
turned into three closes and let as farmland on
21-year leases from 1678. At first the profits
augmented the contributions of the original
purchasers but after Parmiter's bequest made
the suggested building of almshouses unnecessary, (fn. 70) it was decided to spend the rent money on
coal and doles. From 1685 the first yearly distribution of coal and £12 in money was made to 24
poor families. That application was established
by deed of 1690. Trustees were to be co-opted
and building on the land was forbidden. Income
was £38 in 1768, although £42 was spent on coal
for 65 people, (fn. 71) and £59 by 1820. (fn. 72) In 1822
Joseph Merceron accused a fellow trustee, who
was a supporter of the rector, of being the sole
supplier of coal. Some stock was sold in 1831 to
finance repairs to the fencing around the Poor's
Land. In 1825 and 1849 part of the land was
sold to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the
money invested. (fn. 73) By 1834 the total income was
£154, of which £19 was dividends. By 1857 the
income of £172 was distributed in coal and
pensions to some 100 recipients, mostly residing
around the green. (fn. 74) In 1868 £2,000 from the sale
of the northern close for Bethnal Green Museum
was invested, (fn. 75) enabling payments to be made to
190 recipients.
Between 1889 and 1890 the Charity Commission
drew up three schemes as disputes raged over
the direction of the charity and especially over
whether any of the Poor's Land should be sold
as sites for admittedly worthy causes. Under
the last Scheme, established in 1891 by a suit in
Chancery, there were to be 12 trustees, representing
the four wards and chosen from residents or local
businessmen; they could sell a small part and
grant the rest to the L.C.C. for a recreation
ground, the income to be applied as pensions or
in other ways for the poor. Most of the land was
conveyed in 1893 to the L.C.C. (fn. 76) and by 1896
the resulting stock yielded £307 a year, paid in
20 weekly pensions. The charity was registered
in 1961 and in 1994 an income of £277 was
applied in £20 pensions. (fn. 77)
John George Fabry, carver of Bloomsbury, by
will proved 1794 left dividends for six old weavers
and six weavers' widows of Christ Church,
Spitalfields, and Bethnal Green parishes, with
preference for any named Fabry or Ovington.
In 1797 Chancery settled an endowment of
£548 on the charity, to be administered by the
churchwardens of the parishes. In 1799 each
recipient received 7s. 1¾d. (fn. 78) Bethnal Green's
share of the dividends was £7 14s. 1d. in 1819
and £8 4s. 7d. in 1857 (fn. 79) but no distribution was
made in 1890–4.
The Bread charity originated in subscriptions
raised before 1817 to provide bread for children
of the Parochial Charity school who attended St.
Matthew's church. By 1817 the fund consisted
of £120 in consols and £50 in annuities. In 1818
one of the three trustees, George Seaman
Inman, gave £66 13s. 4d. consols to provide £2
a year for a sermon by the rector in aid of the
charity. Benefactions were received throughout
the 19th century, including £200 from Joseph
Merceron (1840) and £388 from other members
of his family. The income reached £38 in 1857 (fn. 80)
and £88 by 1893. In 1933 it was merged in
Greencoat and other Bethnal Green Educational
charities. (fn. 81)
Bethnal Green Philanthropic Pension society (fn. 82)
was founded by subscribers in 1822 to make
weekly grants to the aged. Its income was £478
in 1870, distributed in weekly half crowns to 41
pensioners. (fn. 83) The fund was augmented in 1874
by the bequest of William Cluff of £500 consols
and by 1894 consisted of £4,235 in government
securities. The society purchased property in
Hackney in 1906 and in Islington in 1914,
which was sold during the 1930s and 1940s.
Responsibility for the fund was allotted by a
Scheme of 1952 to the trustees of Parmiter's
Almshouse and Pension charity.
Margaret Vaughan by will proved 1836 left the
interest on £6,000 for clothing and other needs
of unemployed mechanics and weavers in
Spitalfields. In 1843 Chancery decreed that
Miss Vaughan's Spitalfields charity was to
benefit the parishes of Christ Church Spitalfields,
Mile End New Town, St. Leonard Shoreditch,
and Bethnal Green. In 1893 Bethnal Green
received £47 which was distributed in money,
coal, food, clothing, and blankets throughout the
civil parish. The charity, registered in 1971, had
an income of £799 in 1992. (fn. 84)
James George Greenwood by will proved 1837
left money to apprentice pupils of the Parochial
Charity school and the interest on £1,300 stock
to provide coal before Christmas for the poor in
the western half of Bethnal Green. The coal charity
received £39 a year in 1861 and £36, given in
coal to 61 people, in 1893. The apprenticing
part, called Greenwood's gift, was merged with
other educational charities in 1933. (fn. 85) The coal
portion was jointly administered with Mary
Baker's charity from 1978. (fn. 86) Its income of £64
was distributed in £10 doles in 1994. (fn. 87)
George Fournier by will proved 1841 left
the dividends on £4,447 as doles of £10–£15
to industrious parishioners, to be paid by the
minister and officers of St. Matthew's parish.
The yield was £133 in 1861 and £119, distributed to 12 people by the vestry, in 1894.
Alexander Truss by will proved 1851 left the
dividends from the residue of his personal estate
to be distributed in charity, one third in £5
doles to widows in St. Matthew's parish yearly.
In 1864 Bethnal Green was allocated £11,207
stock, which by 1894 yielded £45 a year, paid
to unrelieved elderly widows. A Scheme of
1884 vested the Bethnal Green portion in the
rector and three other trustees. From 1978 it
was administered with the other Bethnal Green
Parish charities. (fn. 88) In 1994 the £82 income was
distributed in £10 pensions. (fn. 89)
The Widows' fund originated in the bequest
of Jemima Margaret Thomas by will proved
1854 of £200 consols to the trustees of Parmiter's charity, the income to go to widows
forced to leave the almshouses on the death of
their husbands. Additions were made of £100
stock by Henry Merceron's will in 1864 and of
£100 consols by Jane Thomas's will in 1892.
Three widows benefited in 1894. A Scheme of
1913 merged the fund with Parmiter's Almshouse charity. (fn. 90)
George Robertson in 1862 vested property
in Mile End Old Town in the rector and others,
to use half for St. Matthew's National school (fn. 91)
and half for parishioners at the rector's discretion.
The second part was governed by an instrument
of 1897 and registered in 1966 as the Eleemosynary charity of George Robertson; money was
distributed annually among parishioners chosen by the rector but payments were no longer
made in 1994. (fn. 92)
Nehemiah Robson by will proved 1863 left
the dividends from £100 consols to be
distributed in money, bread, coal, or clothing
in St. Matthew's parish on St. Thomas's day
by the rector and churchwardens. Dividends
of £2 9s. 4d. were paid out in 1864 but were
irregular.
Robert Leverington by will proved 1865 left
the dividends from £1,333 6s. 8d. stock to 40
'honest and industrious' poor of St. Matthew's
parish, chosen at the vestry. The rector and
parish officers were to distribute the money in
winter. In 1894 £36 13s. 4d. was distributed in
£1 pensions.
Mrs. Esther Doe by will proved 1871 left
annuities of up to £10 for unmarried women,
with preference for those living in Bethnal
Green and Whitechapel. The income was £236
in 1991. (fn. 93)
Mary Baker by will proved 1872 left £5,000
annuities to the rector and parish officers of Bethnal
Green in trust to distribute the dividends in £5
yearly doles to industrious parishioners who had
not received parish relief for two years. The
income was £137 10s. in 1894 and £250 in
1992. (fn. 94) From 1978 it was administered with
other Bethnal Green Parish charities. (fn. 95)
The Hastelow Pension fund was founded by
the will proved 1892 of Henry Hastelow. He left
a house in Clapton to be sold, the proceeds to
be paid by Bethnal Green Philanthropic Pension
society to 8 pensioners in weekly doles of 2s. 6d.
The society paid out £346 received from trustees in 1892.
Louisa Fontaneau (d. 1893) left £1,495 for an
annual distribution in bread and coal for the
parishioners of St. Matthew's. Income was £41
in 1894. From 1978 it was administered with
other Bethnal Green parish charities. (fn. 96) In 1994
the income was £192, distributed in £10 doles. (fn. 97)
Jane Wood by will proved 1904 left money
to relieve poor members of Approach Road
Methodist chapel. Governed by a scheme of
1980, its income in 1993 was £10. (fn. 98)
The Alfred Ewin trust, governed by a deed of
1910, provided assistance to 'deserving persons'
in Bethnal Green M.B. It was registered in
1961. (fn. 99)
Miss Emily Searley Long by will proved
1912 founded a charity for women and children
of St. Matthew's parish. It was registered in 1966
and amended in 1989 but had lapsed by 1994. (fn. 1)
Nathan Dell's charity, governed by a Scheme
of 1951 and registered in 1966, provided money
for the poor of the Congregational chapel in
Bethnal Green Road. The income in 1994 was
£31,379. (fn. 2)
Bethnal Green Old People's Trust fund was
instituted in 1970 to relieve aged residents in the
former Bethnal Green M.B. The income in 1992
was £2,011. (fn. 3)
The Immigrant Welfare and Legal Advisory
Services was set up in 1988 and registered in
1991 to advance education and relieve poverty
among immigrants and refugees, especially
through legal and other advice. The income was
£21,389 in 1994. (fn. 4)