A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 





In 1609 Mrs. Elizabeth Radcliffe purchased land 

 for the poor, which now consists of 2 acres at Standhill 

 Common and 2 acres called Cromer's Close, producing 

 £7 a year, and £61 16s. 2d. consols, representing 



In 1613 Thomas Whittamore by will left £20 

 for the poor, which was laid out in 1 6 1 9 in the 

 purchase of2a. 3 r. 6p. called Pierwcll Field, of which 

 24 p. was sold to the Great Northern Railway 

 Company, and the proceeds invested in £70 4*. ^d. 

 consols. The land produces £8 13/. 6d. yearly. 



In 1625 Edward Radcliffe g 

 Tyler's Street for the poor. 



In 1635 James Huckle by will devised his house 

 and land in Winkfield, Berks., for the poor. The 

 trust property now consists of three tenements and 

 pasture land in Winkfield producing £;5 a year, and 

 £1,237 z> - 1 1^- consols, representing sale of land in 

 1867 and accumulations of income. 



In 1653 William Guyver by his will gave a 

 perpetual annuity of £4 out of land at Hitchin for 

 putting apprentice a poor boy. This charity also 

 possesses £49 14/. ~]d. consols, representing accumula- 



Joseph Kemp, M.A., schoolmaster, of Hitchin, by 

 his will dated 17 July 1654, devised his manor-house, 

 commonly called 'The Biggin,' and his copyhold and 

 freehold land in Hitchin for ten disabled women, 

 apprenticing, and other charitable uses. The trust 

 property now consists of 'The Biggin' (directed by 

 the scheme to be used as an almshouse), and 51 acres 

 and eight cottages in Biggin Street, of the annual 

 rental value of £1 jO or thereabouts, and £959 01. 6d. 

 consols, arising in part from sale of land and in part 



1 Or. yearly for the poor, payable out of tenement) 

 and land at Great Wymondlcy. 



In 1739 Mrs. Mary Arriss by will charged land 

 at Hitchin with £5 yearly, to be applied as to £4 

 for poor housekeepers, 10/. to the minister for a sermon 

 on the day of her death — 2 September — and 10/. to 

 the trustees. In 17S0 Mary Godfrey, testatrix's 

 niece, by deed gave the lands charged to the poor, 

 which consist of 12 acres or thereabouts, let at 

 £10 i8r. a year. This charity is also possessed of 

 £493 gs. id, consols, arising from sale of land in 

 1900 and accumulations of income. 



In 1780 Elizabeth Ewisdin left £50 for the poor, 

 which was invested in the purchase of 3 r. I 3 p. situate 

 in Burbushes, which is let with the property belonging 

 to the preceding charity. 



The parish is also in possession of half an acre at 

 the south end of the town let at £3 p. a year, the 

 donor of which is unknown. 



In 1813 John Crabb by his will directed his 



as would produce £5 a year for fuel for the poor. 

 The legacy is now represented by £105 consols 

 standing in the names of trustees. 



The official trustees also hold £30 17/. lU 

 ulations of income of this 



In 1697 Edward Draper by his will devised a 

 perpetual rent-charge of £5 out of a messuage in 

 Angel Street — now Sun Street — 201. thereof to be 

 paid to the minister for a sermon on Easter Monday 

 in commemoration of benefactors of Hitchin, twenty 

 poor to receive 2r. 6d. each and a 6d. loaf, and 201. 

 for a dinner to the trustees. 



In 170; Ralph Skynner Byde by will charged his 

 lands and tenements within the precinct of Walshoe 

 and Walsworth with an annuity of £5 4*. for the 

 poor in bread. 



In 1 71 3 Sir Ralph Radcliffe by will charged his 

 land in Ippollitts with 40J. a year for bread. 



In 1 716 John Turner charged his messuage in the 

 churchyard with 30/. a year for the poor. 



In 1729 William Dawes by will charged land in 

 Great Wymondley with an annuity of £5 for poor 

 housekeepers. 



In 173; Robert Tristram by his will, proved in 

 the court of the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, devised 



consols arising from 



In or about I 837 Ml 

 a legacy for the poor, n: 



Frances Leckie by will left 

 / represented by £217 10/. 



Elizabeth Ann Lucas's charity for the poor (see also 

 under Educational Charities) consists of £187 14/. $J. 

 Bank stock, £3,156 I2J. 6d. India 3 per cent, stock, 

 and £185 8r. 2d. consols, producing in the aggregate 

 £117 a year or thereabouts. The several sums of 

 stock, unless otherwise stated, are held by the official 



The scheme for the United Charities provides, 

 inter alia, that a sum of not less than £30 a year out 

 of the income of the charity of Elizabeth Ann Lucai 

 shall be applied in aid of any dispensary, hospital, or 

 institution ; that the yearly income of William 

 Guyver's charity, and £20 yearly out of the income of 

 Joseph Kemp's charity, shall be applied in apprentic- 

 ing ; that the residue of the income of Lucas's chanty 

 and a yearly sum of £100 shall be provided out of 

 the remaining charities in augmentation of the endow- 

 ments of the almshouses ; and that the remaining 

 income (after satisfying the trusts for ecclesiastical 

 purposes) shall be applied for the benefit of the poor 

 generally, including subscriptions to provident clubs, 

 outfits for children, in maintenance of a reading-room 

 or working-men's club, &o, or in pension*. 



The almspeople are entitled to receive not lesi 

 than 51. per week. 



In 1 720 Jacob Marson conveyed a messuage in the 

 market-place to trustees upon trust that the profits 

 should be applied in putting out poor fatherless boys 

 apprentices to freemen of the City of London. The 

 said messuage, which is now a public-house called the 

 ' Rose and Crown,' is let for £40 a year, and there 

 is a sum of £601 18/. 2d. consols with the official 

 trustees producing £15 or. %d. a year. The charity 

 is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioner* 

 19 October 1909, whereby the trustees of the United 

 Charities are appointed the trustees. The premiums 

 are to be not less than £10 or more than £25, 

 payable in not less than two portions. 



