CHARITIES. (fn. 69)
In 1652 John Howkins built five
alms-houses for poor women on land between the
church and the vicarage house. (fn. 70) By will dated 1677
he left a rent-charge of £5 a year out of property at
Wrotham Park for quarterly payments to the almspeople but he did not provide for the upkeep of the
houses, which fell upon the parish. In 1811 Francis
Barroneau left £100 stock, the interest to be distributed half-yearly among the inmates, and in 1844
Elizabeth Barroneau bequeathed £50 stock on similar
terms. In 1837 Mrs. Kerney left £200 to provide
bread and coal for widows in the alms-houses and
George Pooley, by will proved 1883, left £2,500, the
income on which was to be paid in doles. Before 1928
an unknown donor had given £24 and F. Abraham
made a gift to Howkins's alms-houses which in 1899
was represented by £32 stock. (fn. 71) The buildings
gradually fell into decay and were demolished, the
site being sold in 1928 and the rent-charge of £5 redeemed in 1939 for £224 stock.
John Bradshaw (d. 1698) left £3 a year, charged
upon lands in South Mimms and Enfield Chase, to
provide 20s. for the vicar of South Mimms for
preaching a sermon on Christmas Eve and 40s. for
bread to be distributed among poor parishioners.
The property was later conveyed to Paul Jervis (fn. 72)
(d. 1718) and became part of the City Parochial
Foundation. In 1895 the trustees of Bradshaw's
charity applied for the redemption of the annuity and
£120 stock was transferred from the central fund to
the credit of the charity.
George Ferne Bates, vicar of South Mimms, by
will proved 1841, left £250, the interest to provide
coals for the poor. Thomas Maling Nicholson, a
later vicar, by will proved 1852, gave £100 for the
same purpose.
Under a Scheme of 1941 the gifts of Howkins, the
Barroneaus, Kerney, Pooley, the unknown donor,
Abraham, Bradshaw, Bates, and Nicholson were
consolidated as the South Mimms parochial charities. The Scheme provided that the charities should
be managed under that title, although each should
retain its own identity. The annual income of
£77 7s. 8d. from Howkins's and the six other related
charities was to be applied in pensions of between
6s. 6d. and 10s. a week to poor women of good character who had resided in the parish for at least two
years. One of the pensioners was to be a widow and
called 'the Kerney pensioner'. The annual income of
£8 15s. from the charities of Bates and Nicholson
was to be spent on coal for poor persons living in
South Mimms and not in receipt of poor law relief,
as selected by the trustees. The £3 from Bradshaw's
charity was to provide 20s. to the vicar as before
and 40s. in cash or bread for distribution among
parishioners attending the 'Bread Service'.
James Hickson, of the Brewers' Company of
London, by will dated 1686, devised in trust his
manor of Wyllyotts and other lands at South Mimms
for the endowment of six alms-houses which he had
built at Kitts End. The endowment provided for the
upkeep of the property and payments to the almspeople, each of whom was to receive £4 and a load of
firewood every year, and a gown every second year.
The company, on the recommendation of the vicar,
churchwardens, and overseers, were to select almspeople from the poor inhabitants of South Mimms.
The alms-houses were rebuilt by the company in
1750 and c. 1800 they were inhabited by six widows
who each received £6 a year, a further £1 instead of
the firewood, and a gown of grey cloth every second
year. There was an additional payment of 10s. 6d. to
each widow at Christmas. Six new alms-houses were
built in grey brick in 1856, on a site where the Cross
Keys inn had formerly stood. (fn. 73) The old alms-houses,
each consisting of a single room and a coalshed,
were in poor conditions in 1867, when they were
leased out. (fn. 74)
Hickson's endowment was augmented by the gift
of John Neiman, who, by will dated 1802, left £700
stock subject to a life interest, to provide weekly payments to the almspeople. The charity became payable in 1820 and after legacy duty £644 stock was
transferred to the company, raising the total income
of each widow by 1823 to £10 14s. 10d. The two
charities were combined by the Charity Commissioners in 1894. By 1961 the total payment of
allowances and gifts to inmates had risen to
£457.
George Pooley, by will dated 1883, left £10,300,
later invested in stock, the interest to be applied to
poor persons of Monken Hadley and part of South
Mimms. The charity, called the George and Mary
Ann Pooley trust, is governed by Schemes of 1884,
1899, 1904, and 1924, the first of which provides
that the income shall benefit 15 poor persons who
have resided in the parishes of Monken Hadley and
South Mimms (including the ecclesiastical districts
of Christ Church and St. John's, Potters Bar) for
not less than two years, preference to be given to
those who have been reduced by misfortune from
better circumstances. By 1962 the annual income was
£270 and in 1971 twenty quarterly payments of
£4 10s. were made to each of the fifteen pensioners,
less nine payments not made owing to temporary
vacancies.