CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
John Edward
(d. c. 1532) devised land to the parson and churchwardens of Kingsbury, the rent from which was to
be distributed annually to the poor in meat, drink,
and money. By will proved 1540 Alice Cowyer
bequeathed 8 kine to be used as an obit; in 1547 it
took the form of annual payments of 10s. to the
poor. (fn. 44) Robert Kitchingman, curate of Kingsbury
from 1669 to 1683, bequeathed £400 to build an
alms-house to house three people and to endow its
maintenance. (fn. 45) The alms-house, unless it is the
same as the later poorhouse, (fn. 46) does not seem to
have been built.
By will dated 1719 Richard Bowater (d. 1726) of
Chalkhill left 7 a. in Greenwich, then worth £4 or £5
a year, to the owner of his estate at Chalkhill to
distribute the income therefrom annually to the poor
of Kingsbury. (fn. 47) In 1786 the yield from the Greenwich estate was said to be £3 7s. a year but there
had been no payments since 1773. (fn. 48) When George
Worrall of Bristol became the owner of Chalkhill,
he passed the responsibility for the charity to his
tenant. Mrs. Ranking, tenant until 1820, distributed
the charity in the form of clothes, flannel, sheets,
and blankets, but from 1821 there was no tenant at
Chalkhill and the money accumulated. (fn. 49) By 1843
the Greenwich land yielded £21 a year. (fn. 50) In 1846
it was conveyed to trustees, including Hannah
Rooke, owner of Chalkhill, to let on building leases,
thus increasing the annual income to £82 by 1880.
By a Scheme of 1852 the income was to be paid in
money or kind to those who 'from age, infirmity or
poor circumstances had insufficient means of
subsistence'. There were 47 recipients in 1880. By
will proved 1842, Francis Perry Stubbs bequeathed
£666 to trustees to invest in stock and to apply the
income to purchasing coal and potatoes for the poor
and needy at Christmas. In 1880 the income was £20
and 49 people received coal and potatoes.
The Charity Commissioners instituted an inquiry
in 1882 at the request of the parishioners, who
especially objected to absentee trustees, the choice
of recipients, and the secrecy surrounding the
charity accounts. As a result the two charities were
amalgamated, as Bowater and Stubbs, and trustees
were appointed from the parish. (fn. 51) A comprehensive
Scheme was drawn up in 1902 by which trustees
were to be appointed by Kingsbury U.D.C. and the
income was to be spent on a wide variety of aid to
the poor. Modifications were made by Schemes of
1938, 1953, and 1954, the main effect of which was
to purchase from Wembley borough a site between
Kingsbury Road and Buck Lane for 14 alms-houses
for old people. The alms-houses, called Bowater
Close, were opened in 1954 by Sir Noel Bowater,
Lord Mayor of London. Income of the Bowater and
Stubbs charity increased from £100 a year in 1902
to £16,404 in 1968. (fn. 52)
Kingsbury District Nursing, founded in 1925 and
reconstituted in 1941, by a Scheme of 1956,
purchased two alms-houses in Bowater Close and
maintained them for almspeople suffering from
chronic disease. The endowment, originally consisting of annual subscriptions, was later invested
and yielded £542 a year in 1968.