CHAPTER IV.

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.