Corporation of London

Charitable giving is embedded in religious practice. In the early Middle Ages the Christian Church encouraged the wealthy to contribute to poor relief funds and the building of institutions which cared for the sick and aged. Later, monasteries took over the care of the poor in the distribution of alms and establishment of hospitals. Money was given with the afterlife in mind, in the hope that good works in this life would reap rewards in the next. In the later Middle Ages charity was not limited to the ecclesiastic, as guilds provided relief for their members, and individuals endowed schools and hospitals, fed prisoners, supported scholars and built bridges. Charity continued to become increasingly secular into the Tudor period. The government replaced monasteries with almshouses and houses of correction and made parishes responsible for the poor in their area. However, the poor-rate was levied only in times of great emergency: individual philanthropy undertook the main burden of social welfare and this continued to be the case until the twentieth century.

Abuses in the administration of charity were common despite the Statute of Charitable Uses (1601) which empowered Chancery to investigate the way charities and charitable trusts were managed. From 1818 onwards various regional commissions were set up to register charities and bring to the attention of the Attorney-General any which merited investigation. This exercise made obvious the need for a permanent body to oversee the administration of charities, which led to the creation of the Charity Commission in 1853. The Commission had full powers of investigation including the right to audit accounts. By the later nineteenth century changing societal needs led to the introduction of legislation allowing the terms of charitable trusts to be re-written. This legislation included the City of London Parochial Charities Act of 1883, which extended the scope of the hundreds of trusts in the City to include the Metropolis as a whole and enabled them to be applied to the general physical, social and moral condition of its poorer inhabitants.

The Corporation of London has long been associated with charity and charitable giving. The Corporation owned or maintained several hospitals, workhouses, schools, orphanages and almshouses. In addition, charitable funds have been created and maintained both for emergency relief (such as after a natural disaster or conflict) or as long term funds in support of various causes (such as support for education or the elderly).