West Hackney Almshouse

According to A History of the County of Middlesex: "The almshouses called Cooke's Rents, whose lease was shortly to revert to the lord, were conveyed in 1837 by W. G. Daniel-Tyssen to the select vestry of West Hackney, which vested the management in a committee of subscribers. Inmates were chosen in 1841, after the building had been repaired and renamed West Hackney almshouses. The site was compulsorily purchased for a school playground in 1885, whereupon new almshouses were opened in 1889 on the opposite side of what had become Northwold Road. Under a Scheme of 1890 the eight tenements might be occupied by single people or couples who had lived in West Hackney parish for five years or more, with preference for those reduced from better circumstances; they were to receive 3s. to 5s. a week but must already possess at least 3s. a week. Although no income was derived from the Eltham property, Anna Wilmot augmented the subscriptions by giving £500 stock in 1887. The charity had c. £1,003 stock and total receipts of £270 in 1893. The income was £336 in 1963, when a Scheme slightly altered the inmates' payments, and £2,849 in 1975, when £2,100 was contributed by West Hackney Parochial charities".

From: 'Hackney: Charities for the Poor', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 166-172. URL: [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22719&strquery=west hackney almshouse](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22719&strquery=west hackney almshouse) Date accessed: 29 July 2010.