Christmas charity at Wateringbury Place (1909)

Post date: Jan 12, 2012 7:38:8 PM

The Wateringbury Parish magazine of January 1909 reported as follows:

In years gone by, year after year, forty aged and poor parishioners assembled themselves by invitation in the kitchen of Wateringbury Place on the morning of Christmas Eve. Dame Fortune, in the person of Lady Davies, smiled on those good people at this season of goodwill, if at no other time in the year. The list was personally prepared by consultation with the Vicar, who was privileged to witness the scene. Each one received, from the hands of Lady Davies, a gift to the value of 5s., consisting of 4lbs. of beef and 1/2lb. of suet, together with material for a Christmas pudding—1lb. of currants,1lb. of raisins, 1lb. of sugar, 1oz. of spice, 1/4lb. of peel, and 1 quart of flour. The kindly custom was continued for a year or two after the -family left to take up residence for a year at the Mansion House in London City. When Lady Davies died and Sir Horatio came no more to Wateringbury the custom was given up. Then it was that Mr. R. H. Fremlin, Mr. W. Jude, and Mr. A. Leney combined to distribute,either in kind or in money, gifts of the same value to the same number of people through the Vicar. After a year or two Sir George Donaldson made an annual contribution to the fund. At length circumstances have brought that arrangement to an end; but by the kindness of Mr. Fremlin and Mr. Jude, with help from three or four other residents in the parish, the Vicar has this year been able to distribute gifts of crown-pieces to each of 32 parishioners—old people and families who have felt the pinch of an autumn of rather slack work.

Early in the autumn it seemed probable that in the course of the winter there would be a greater scarcity of work than has hitherto proved the case. Relief works at Ditton Quarries, necessarily at a low rate of wages, started by the Board of Guardians, have kept a few men going who would otherwise have been unemployed; and latterly Lord Falmouth and two or three residents in the parish have devised ways of employing extra hands; so that the Vicar has not felt any necessity to summon a meeting of the Local Relief Committee to which reference was made in the December Magazine. Hard weather with snow and frost has just made its appearance, and will doubtless throw a certain number of men out of work. If it continues and distress threatens to become acute a meeting of the Committee will be summoned. It would be wrong, however, to say here anything that would raise false hopes. I am not in a position to anticipate the decision of the Committee with regard to the course they should pursue; but I do not think it likely that the Committee would do anything tending to lead people to suppose that temporary unemployment, even if widespread, would constitute a reason for general distribution of voluntary relief. I think it probable that they would relieve any cases of acute distress that might come to their knowledge. It is not always easy to discover such cases. It would remove the difficulty if anyone who finds himself and his family in real distress through continued want of employment would communicate the fact privately and personally to the Vicar in the first instance. Every such case the Vicar would bring before the notice of the committee for their consideration.

THE OLD AGE PENSIONS ACT, by the conditions which it imposes, acts harshly upon old people who have been obliged to throw themselves previously upon the rates, but these conditions will certainly tend in the future to preserve the independence of people by deterring them from seeking Poor Law relief as long as they can possibly struggle on without it. In numerous cases it will confer a great boon and it is sincerely to be hoped that it will encourage the friends of old people to keep them out of ''the house." Some scheme of this sort was certainly wanted, and the want was recognised by all parties in the State; but there are many people who much regret that the Government have launched this particular scheme and pushed it through just at the time when the Royal Commission charged with the consideration of the whole question of the Poor Laws and Charitable Belief are concluding their prolonged labours and are on the point of issuing their Report. Legislation involving considerable changes in our system of dealing with all these matters cannot be long delayed. When will our leading politicians prove themselves to be statesmen, rising above the temptations to promote reform and progress by party tactics and vote-catching schemes?

For other snippets on poor relief in Wateringbury see Poor rate assessment of 1586, Doctor for Wateringbury poor, Wateringbury in debt, Wateringbury pays its own to go west