Hayes: Charities for the poor

CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.

The earliest known charity in which Hayes was concerned was the Emmanuel Hospital in Tothill Fields, Westminster, which was founded by the will of Anne, Lady Dacre, in 1594. (fn. 1) One man and one woman from Hayes were allotted places as almspeople in the hospital, (fn. 2) as well as a boy and a girl to attend the school which she also founded. The school was not established until 1736, but two Hayes children were selected thereafter. (fn. 3)

Thomas Triplett's charity was founded by a deed of 1668 securing property in Suffolk to pay, among other charitable donations, £15 a year for apprenticing the poor children of Hayes. During the early 18th century the charity appears to have been unpaid although the trustees were receiving the profits from the estate. The irregularities were settled in 1757 and thereafter the charity was regularly paid and unapplied income was generally invested in stock. The normal apprenticeship fees in the early 19th century were £15 for a boy and £10 for a girl. (fn. 4) The paying of these fees appears to have lapsed when the school was opened in 1861; (fn. 5) this may not in fact have been the case, however, since the charity supplied an endowment of £100 a year to the school but also received a third of the school pence. (fn. 6)

Roger Lea, by will dated 1661, left a rent of 10s. a year charged on land in Hayes. The distribution of Lea's gift was later linked with Blencowe's charity. Two cottages with ground attached were given to the poor in 1720 by Robert Cromwell to provide 6 blue cloth gowns for widows every Michaelmas. (fn. 7) In 1820 the cottages were in good repair, the gardens being small orchards, and some 11 gowns of blue serge were distributed annually. (fn. 8) By 1858, however, the cottages were dilapidated and were considered an example of discreditable management by the parish officers. After being condemned by the authorities, the buildings were finally sold and demolished in 1926. (fn. 9) The Revd. William Blencowe founded a coal charity in 1810, by will dated 1802, out of the income from £500 stock. The distribution of this was linked with the Lea charity, and the amount spent, which often exceeded the income, was made up by the Blencowe family. (fn. 10) Other charities were founded by the will of Elizabeth Parker, dated 1824, who left £1,000 stock, and by the will of the Hon. Juliana Curzon, dated 1834, who left £400 stock for coal and blankets at Christmas. (fn. 11) In 1857 these five charities were consolidated as the Hayes Amalgamated Charities by a Middlesex County Court Scheme. (fn. 12) In 1894-5 there was a bitter local dispute when an attempt made by the newly formed parish council to take control of the parish charities was strongly resisted by the trustees. (fn. 13) Other coal charities, each of £500 stock, were founded by the will of Emma Rousby Thompson, dated 1899, and by the will of Ann Fleet, dated 1912. The latter, however, was abated and only £110 stock was finally acquired in 1926. Louisa Davis gave £100 for stock to provide grey calico sheets for the poor in 1889. In 1958 the income from the five Hayes Amalgamated Charities amounted to £79, which was distributed in 50 gifts of coal, 26 of money, 6 blankets, and 4 blue gowns. (fn. 14)