CHARITY LANDS.
THE question “What has become of the Charity Lands?” which has been so
often asked in other parishes, has been occasionally put to those in
authority in this; but so far as I can discover, no satisfactory answer
has been returned—unless indeed we may deem it satisfactory to hear “that
charity has been so little needed here, that much of that land which was
given for this purpose, has been lost.”
In the “Abstract of the returns of charitable donations for the benefit
of poor persons, made to the House of Commons, by the ministers and
churchwardens of the several parishes and townships in England and Wales,
1786 to 1788,” we find the following answers returned by the minister and
churchwardens of Paddington:
Name of the person who gave the charity?
1—Unknown.
2—Margaret Robinson, and Thomas Johnson.
3—Dr. Henry Compton.
When given?
1—Unknown.
2—Unknown.
3—Uncertain.
Whether by will or deed?
1—Uncertain.
2—Unknown.
2—Deed.
Description of the charity, and for what purpose given?
1—For bread, cheese and beer to the inhabitants.
2—For apprenticing poor children.
3—To the poor.
Whether land or money?
1—Land.
2—Ditto.
3—Ditto.
In whom now vested?
All in the churchwardens.
The clear annual produce of that given in land, after deducting the rents
issuing thereout?
_£_ _s._ _d._
1 21 „ „
2 4 10 „
3 70 „ „
Almost all is “unknown” and “uncertain,” in this Return, and this is the
more to be lamented, as it was about the time at which this report was
made that the value of land in Paddington began to be known by those who
intended to secure the sanction of the legislature to a measure which
would enhance its value.
Since that time, the “Report of the Commissioners for enquiring
concerning Charities,” (1826), has been published, and some little light
has been thrown on this subject.
This report contains, in fact, almost all that I have been able to
discover relative to the Charity Lands; and I cannot do better than
reprint it in this place; adding what little information I have been able
to obtain.
“The parish officers of Paddington were unable to produce any deeds
or other original documents relative to the charitable funds of this
parish; but they laid before us the minutes of vestry, in which under
date the twelfth of April, 1803, is an entry stating that the vestry
clerk produced an account of the estates, &c. belonging to the
parish, written on vellum; and also several extracts from wills and
other documents relative to the titles of the said estates, which
were compared and examined with the said account by the vestry; and
it appearing that such account was correct, it was resolved that the
same be hung up in the vestry-room, and that a copy thereof be
entered upon and taken as part of the minutes of the vestry; and
which was so entered accordingly.”
The account referred to, was made out by the late vestry clerks, Messrs.
Robertson and Parton, both of whom are since dead.
From the account so entered on the vestry minutes the following statement
of the charities is chiefly taken:
Bread and Cheese Lands.
The lands thus denominated are said to have been given by two maiden
gentlewomen, for the purpose of supplying the poor with a donation of
bread and cheese, on the Sunday before Christmas. Neither the names of
the donors, nor the date of the gift is known, but it is a very ancient
one. The land consists of three parcels, viz.
1.—A piece of arable land lying in the common field, called Bayswater
field, in this parish, containing two and a half acres, in the occupation
(at the time of taking the account) of John Harper, Esq., at the rent of
five guineas per annum. This piece was formerly called Five Pieces, and
afterwards Three Pieces; it is now divided into two holdings; one, being
one and a half acres, is let to Samuel Cheese, as tenant from year to
year, at a rent of thirteen pounds; the remainder to Thomas Hopgood, as
tenant from year to year, at the rent of four pounds ten shillings.
This land lies intermixed with lands respectively belonging to the Dean
and Chapter of Westminster, and the Bishop of London; and there is a
dispute existing among these parties as to the boundaries of their
respective properties. The parish claim an acre as belonging to
Hopgood’s holding, but they take from the tenant rent for half an acre
only, till the dispute be settled. {62}
2.—Another piece of land (formerly two), containing one acre, two roods,
and twenty-four perches, lying on the southwest side of the Harrow road
at Westbourne Green, and forming part of the lawn and grounds belonging
to Westbourne-place, the property of Samuel Pepys Cockerell, Esq. This
land, at the time of taking the account, was held by Mr. Cockerell at the
annual rent of seven pounds. It has since been demised to him by the
churchwardens and overseers, in pursuance of an order of vestry, together
with a small piece of waste land lying between the above and the road,
containing one acre and seven perches, which he has enclosed and added to
his lawn; making together one acre, three roods, and thirteen perches,
for a term of sixty-three years from Christmas, 1805, at the annual rent
of fifteen pounds.
This lease is granted in consideration of the surrender of a former
lease, and of the charge which the lessee had been at in inclosing and
cultivating the said piece of waste land, and of the sum of money paid by
him to the parish on account of such inclosure; and it is provided that
the lessee shall keep up the nine stones, or land-marks, marked P. P. in
the places where they now stand, to ascertain the boundaries of the land;
and that if the land, or any part of it, or any part of the lawn or
grounds adjoining to it on the west and south, and within thirty yards of
the same, should, at any time during the term, be let for and used as
building ground, it shall be lawful for the churchwardens and overseers
for the time being, with the consent of the vestry, to determine the
lease at the expiration of any one year of the said term, upon giving six
months’ notice in writing.
3.—Another piece of meadow or pasture land, lying near Black Lion lane,
in this parish, containing one acre or thereabouts, in the occupation of
William Kinnard Jenkins, Esq., under a lease to Jacob Simmonds, for
sixty-three years, from Christmas, 1802, at the rent of eight pounds,
eight shillings per annum.
This lease appears from the vestry minutes to have been granted to Mr.
Simmonds, in consideration of his covenanting to lay out the sum of three
hundred pounds at least in building on the land, and to contain a
reservation of all timber, with power for the grantors, (who are the
churchwardens and overseers of the parish) and their successors, to fell
and carry away the same, and to restrain the lessees from digging
brick-earth, sand, or gravel for sale, or from carrying such earth, sand,
gravel or bricks off the land.
Simmonds built a good house upon the premises, which have been materially
improved by the present tenant. Much more than the stipulated sum has
been expended there.
It appears to us that all the foregoing rents are adequate to the present
value of the respective premises.
With the rents of this land it was formerly the custom to purchase bread
and cheese, which, on the Sunday before Christmas, were thrown down from
the church among the poor assembled in the church-yard. Latterly, a less
objectionable mode of distribution has been adopted: bread and coals are
now given by the minister and parish officers to poor families inhabiting
the parish, of whom a list is made out annually for the churchwardens,
stating their residence and occupation, and the number of children under
ten years of age: and we are assured that much care is taken in selecting
those to receive this gift who are most deserving. One or two four-pound
loaves, and one or two bushels of coals are given to each family,
according to the number it consists of. No distinction is made between
parishioners, and unsettled resident poor, nor between such as do not
receive parochial relief.
Johnson’s Charity.
The account above referred to mentions a rent-charge of one pound a-year,
given by Thomas Johnson, merchant-tailor, of London, issuing out of three
houses on the east side of Paddington Green, and payable on St.
Thomas’s-day in every year, in the following proportions:—
Out of a house in the occupation of the Rev. „ 10 „
Basil Wood
Ditto in the occupation of Benjamin Edward „ 5 „
Hall, esq.
Ditto in the occupation of Miss Morel „ 5 „
It is not stated when this benefaction was given, nor to what purposes it
was appropriated.
In the returns of 1786, it is said that this, and Mrs. Robertson’s
benefaction after mentioned were given for apprenticing poor children;
but they are not now so applied. It appears indeed that Johnson’s
rent-charge goes into the churchwarden’s general account, and it is not
the subject of any particular application. This seems to have arisen
from inadvertence, as it is understood to have been a charitable gift;
and we are assured that it shall in future be corrected.
Dr. Compton’s Charity.
There is a copyhold estate in the Harrow-road, held of the manor of
Paddington, and which is stated in the account to have been the gift of
Dr. Compton, bishop of London, lord of the said manor, by the description
of “one cottage and a piece of land.”
The estate now consists of six houses: one of these is at present
occupied as a poor house, the rest are let and occupied in the following
manner:—
_£_ _s._ _d._
1.—A public house, called the 28 „ „
“Running-horse,” held by Robert
Cuthbertson, under a lease granted to
Robert Hullah, for twenty-one years, from
lady-day, 1806, at the rent of
In 1802, the rent was £14. It is a very old house, but to be let as
a public-house its value would be considerably beyond the present
rent, if it were out of lease.
The value of public-houses is rather of a fluctuating nature; but
even for any other mode of occupation, it seems probable that a few
pounds more a year might be obtained.
2.—A house in the possession of Thomas 16 ,, „
Seabrook, as tenant from year to year, at
the rent of
The rent of this house also, in 1802, was £14. It is a very old
house, and the present rent seems a fair one.
3 and 4.—Two houses in the respective 32 ,, „
occupation, in 1802, of Joseph Mansell, and
John Dyke, one at the rent of £11, and the
other of £14; now on lease to Mr. William
Smith, for twenty-one years, from Lady-day,
1806, at the rent of
The lease is stated to have been granted in consideration of the
costs and expenses which the said William Smith had been put to in
enlarging and repairing the messuages.
5.—A house in the occupation of Mr. John 30 ,, ,,
Bucquet, as tenant from year to year, at
the rent of
The occupier has laid out money in repairing these premises. The
house is stated in the account to have been intended to be leased as
a school-house for the charity-children, and in fact a schoolroom was
built in the garden belonging to it; but the charity-school has now
been established in another part of the parish, and this room has
been annexed to the sixth messuage now used as a workhouse.
£106 „ ,,
It does not appear from “the account” what specific application was
directed to be made of this property by Dr. Compton. The rents are now
applied, under a recent resolution of the vestry, towards the maintenance
of the charity-school in this parish. Before this resolution, the rents
were carried to the overseers’ general account, and an annual sum of
fifty-pounds was paid by the parish towards the maintenance of the
charity-school. The school is large containing two hundred or three
hundred children. The expense of it far exceeds the amount of all the
rents now applied to its support.
Successive admissions are found on the court-rolls of the manor of
Paddington, of certain parishioners as tenants of this and the other
copyhold property mentioned below, to the use of them, their heirs and
assigns, in trust for the use and benefit of the poor of the parish of
Paddington. The last of these entries bears date the ___ 1822, when the
late Francis Maseres, esq., John Symmons, esq., the Rev. Charles Crane,
D.D., Samuel Pepys Cockerell, esq., Joseph Neild, the younger, esq., John
White, esq., and Benjamin Hall, esq., were admitted tenants in trust in
the form above stated.
Margaret Robertson’s Charity.
It appears from “the account” that Mrs. Margaret Robertson, by will,
dated sixteenth September, 1720, gave for the use of the poor of this
parish, a copyhold estate, on the west side of the Edgeware-road,
consisting of a messuage and garden.
This property now comprises five houses lately erected under an
agreement, dated first March, 1823, whereby in consideration of the
surrender of a former lease for sixty-two years, from Lady-day, 1763, at
the rent of three pounds ten shillings, the trustees agreed with Stephen
Haynes, that they would, as soon as the five messuages, therein agreed to
be built, should be covered in, grant to him a lease of the said
premises, for the term of twenty-one years, from Lady-day, 1824, at the
rent of fifteen pounds, clear of all taxes, with the usual covenants for
repairs; and the said Stephen Haynes covenanted to pull down the old
buildings, and erect thereon five substantial messuages, according to the
specification therein contained. These premises lie at the junction of
the Harrow and Edgeware roads, and adjoin two small houses newly erected,
which come up to the point of junction, belonging to another proprietor.
This rent is applied, under the orders of the vestry, to the support of
the charity-school.
Alms’ Houses and School-house.
There is in the parish a set of alms’ houses, copyhold of the manor of
Paddington, consisting of seventeen dwellings, containing one apartment
each. Thirteen of these, as appears by an inscription in front of the
building, were erected in 1714, at the expense of the inhabitants, for
the poor past their labour. The four additional dwellings were built by
Samuel Pepys Cockerell, esq.: two of them to be occupied as alms’ houses,
and two for the master and mistress of the charity-school.
The alms’ houses are inhabited by paupers placed there by the parish.
The charity-school has been built near these alms’ houses, upon copyhold
land, granted for the purpose by the present bishop. The expense of this
erection was defrayed from subscription in the parish, and by the
application of certain monies received by the parish as a consideration
for the enclosure of some waste land.
Chirac’s Gift.
Denis Chirac, esq., by his will, dated ninth August, 1775, gave to
Francis Maseres and Peter Paget, esqrs., one hundred pounds to be laid
out or applied as they should think proper for the use and benefit of the
charity children of Paddington.
This legacy was applied by Mr. Baron Maseres, together with one hundred
and twenty pounds, a year’s rent of his own estate in the parish, towards
the building of the school-room.
Abourne’s Charity.
George Abourne, esq., by will, dated fifth August, 1767, gave, after the
death of certain persons therein named, the dividends of three hundred
pounds in the four per cent. consolidated bank annuities, in meat and
bread to as many poor families as might have eight pounds of good beef
and a half-peck loaf a-piece, to be given twice a-year, every Michaelmas
and every Lady-day, for ever; and all the butchers and all the bakers of
the place where he should be buried, to take their turns in serving the
meat and bread.
This legacy is now three hundred pounds three per cent. reduced
annuities, standing in the name of the testator, George Abourne. The
dividends, nine pounds a year, are received by Benjamin Edward Hall,
esq., as executor of James Crompton, the surviving executor of Benjamin
Crompton, who was surviving executor of the testator, George Abourne.
Mr. Hall distributes the amount annually, on the twenty-fourth of
January, among poor persons of the parish of Paddington, where Mr.
Abourne was buried, by tickets, each entitling the bearer to four pounds
of meat and a loaf of the same weight. The number of persons receiving
them varies according to circumstances; they are selected either upon Mr.
Hall’s personal knowledge, or the recommendation of respectable
inhabitants; preference being generally given to the most aged and
infirm, or such as are encumbered with the largest families. {68}
Mr. Hall furnished us with a statement of the receipts and expenditure
from the time that the charity came into action in 1792, from which it
appears that, one year with another, more has been given than the amount
of the dividends.
* * * * *
The poor of this parish owe much to Messrs. Robertson and Parton for the
trouble they took to preserve the memory of those rights which remained
at the time they accepted the office of vestry-clerks. Had it not been
for their exertions, I very much question, judging from what had taken
place and from the state of affairs when they were appointed, whether
anything respecting these lands would have been known now; and there can
be no doubt but their “account” was a very imperfect one. All those who
were benefited by past peculation, would studiously avoid giving these
gentlemen the benefit of their knowledge; and even now it is exceedingly
difficult to obtain any traditional information on this subject. One of
the oldest tenants of the charity-lands plainly said to me, with a blunt
honesty I could not but admire, “You’ll excuse me, Sir, but if I could
tell you any thing, I wouldn’t.”
I have already mentioned my notions respecting the origin of the term
“Bread and Cheese Lands.” The tale which is told, and which has hitherto
been generally received, is to be found in the London Magazine, for
December, 1737:—“Sunday, 18th, this day, according to annual custom,
bread and cheese were thrown from Paddington Steeple to the populace,
agreeably to the will of two women who were relieved there with bread and
cheese when they were almost starved, and Providence afterwards favouring
them, they left an estate in that parish to continue the custom for ever
on that day.”
This custom was continued down to about 1838; a single slice of cheese
and a penny loaf, being, at last, all that was thrown; the old method of
dispensing alms having been found to be anything but charitable
alms’-giving. The Sunday before Christmas was, in fact, in the last
century and beginning of this, a sort of fair-day, for the sturdy
vagabonds of London, who came to Paddington to scramble over dead men’s
bones for bread and cheese.
The dispute about _the half-acre_ is settled, as I am informed, by the
bishop having established his right to it; and the whole of the second
portion of the bread and cheese lands, mentioned in this Report, was sold
to the Great Western Railway Company for £1,200. There remains,
therefore, of this charity-estate only a portion of the first, and the
third parcels, reported on by the Committee of the House of Commons.
On the twenty-seventh of July, 1838, the first and second Victoria, Chap.
32, “An Act for enabling the trustees of certain lands situate in the
Parish of Paddington, in the county of Middlesex, to grant building
leases of the said lands and for other purposes,” confirmed an order of
the Court of Chancery relative to the appointment of trustees, and the
disposal of the proceeds of this freehold estate. By this Act six
trustees are appointed, and future appointments are to be made by the
vestry, whenever the number is reduced to three; and to these, and their
successors, power is given to grant building leases. And after the
payment of all costs and charges relative to their trust, they are
directed to “pay and apply the rents and profits arising from the said
Charity Estates, in manner following, that is to say, the same to be
divided into five equal parts, three-fifths thereof to be applied towards
the support of the Paddington Parochial National and Infant Schools, for
the instruction of boys and girls, children of poor persons residing in
the said parish of Paddington; one other fifth-part towards apprenticing
or instructing in business, for their future support, boys and girls, the
children of parishioners of and not having received parochial relief from
the said parish; and the remaining one-fifth part in the distribution of
bread and cheese, coals, blankets, and other necessary articles, at the
discretion of the said trustees, for the benefit of and amongst poor
parishioners of the said parish not receiving parochial relief.”
By the ninth section of this Act, the money paid into the Court of
Exchequer for that portion of the estate sold to the Great Western
Railway Company, was assigned to the application for and expenses
incurred in obtaining this Act.
The schedule which is annexed to this Act describes the bread and cheese
lands, then claimed by the trustees, as follows:—
“All that piece of Garden Ground formerly lying in the common field,
called Bayswater field, containing three roods, six perches, and
three quarters, being in the occupation of Thomas Hopgood, as a
yearly tenant; and also all that piece or parcel of Garden Ground,
contiguous to the above-mentioned piece of Garden Ground, containing
one acre, two roods, and fifteen perches, now in the occupation of
Samuel Cheese as yearly tenant; and also all that piece or parcel of
meadow-land, with a dwelling-house thereon, lying near Black Lion
Lane, containing one acre or thereabouts, now in the occupation, of
Robert Nevins, for a term of sixty-three years, from Christmas, one
thousand, eight hundred and two.”
Messrs. Hopgood and Cheese are still the tenants of the land north of the
Uxbridge-road. The house and grounds, situated “near Black-lion lane,”
are now in the occupation of Mr. G. P. Shapcott.
With respect to what Bishop Compton gave to the poor of this parish,
little appears to be known. The deed of gift cannot be found; but from
many circumstances, I am inclined to believe it was the land on which the
Alms’-houses now stand, and not that estate which is situated at the
entrance of the Harrow-road, for which the poor are indebted to this
bishop.
The houses, described in the report under “Dr. Compton’s charity,” were
pulled down ten or eleven years ago, and the ground was let on building
leases; six large and handsome houses, including the public-house, were
built on the ground on which the old poor-house, &c. stood; and, as I
have been informed, these houses pay to the trustees of the
charity-estate a ground rent averaging forty pounds per house. By the
cash accounts, it will be seen that the “Enfranchised Copyholds” have for
many years past produced an annual income of upwards of five hundred
pounds. The “Freehold rents” appear from the same accounts, to be
seventy-one pounds and a few shillings per annum. {70}
Of the trustees mentioned in the report as having been admitted tenants
in trust for the copyhold estates, in 1822, only one, I believe, is now
living.
Mrs. Margaret Robertson’s will is still existing, and to be seen at
Doctors’ Commons: it is dated sixteenth of December, and not September.
The messuage and garden which she gave, appear to have joined the Red
Lion, which was also in her possession, and which she left to Mr. Gee.
The will does not express the donor’s desire respecting the disposal of
her charity, excepting that it was “for the use of the poor.”
New leases have been granted for “Margaret Robertson’s charity,” and also
“Dr. Compton’s charity,” by trustees appointed under an order of the
Court of Chancery. These charities are now called “The Enfranchised
Copyhold Estate.” I am informed by the Rev. Mr. Campbell that the
proceeds are applied in the same manner as the rents of “The Freehold
Estate,” but that a separate trust exists.
I was very desirous to have ascertained the exact dimensions of these
separate estates, now held for the benefit of the poor of this parish;
but, unfortunately, on my application to the trustees I found they had
held their half-yearly meeting. Lysons, writing in 1794 or 5, says, “A
benefaction of five pounds per annum, given by Mrs. Margaret Robinson,
for the purpose of apprenticing poor children has been lost.” This
charity must not be mistaken for a donation of five pounds, which is
recorded on the panels in front of the gallery of St. Mary’s Church.
On the vestry minutes, I find two entries relative to the copyhold
charity-estates; one in October, 1800, the other in May, 1821. From the
first entry, I learn that each of the said premises therein described was
held at a quit-rent of six-pence per annum. The piece of ground
belonging to the alms’ houses is described as “a piece of ground,
formerly waste, lying upon Paddington-green;” having 80-feet of frontage,
and 90-feet of depth, which was increased by two other pieces; one “in
front of the alms’ houses,” 13-feet 10-inches in breadth, by 70-feet
long. The other on the east of the alms’ houses, 24-feet broad, by
113-feet 9-inches from north to south. If to this latter piece we add
that which was to be given up by the Grand Junction Canal Company,
(13-feet by 116 feet) we shall get at all that has been known of the
alms’-house land during this century.
But these minutes shew there were other pieces of copyhold formerly held
in trust for the poor, which have “escheated” into the lord’s domain, or
“merged” into other private hands.