THE WHITCHURCH WELFARE TRUST (Registered charity no 204378) was founded by a scheme of incorporation dated 26th July,1968 "for the relief of need, hardship or distress in the Ancient Parish of Whitchurch" and incorporates the following charities:
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Richard Woollaston Bequest (3/10ths share) 1688. Settled by a deed of lease dated 30th March,1705, the endowment comprised three tenths of the clear income of the estate charity of Richard Woollaston (which, in 1705, amounted to £30 p.a. out of a total legacy of £100 pa.
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William Walton, Junior, Charity 1844
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George Twynham Charity 1846, to provide bread for poor people.
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Constance Blyth Watson Charity 1934
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The James Thomas Bingham Blanket Trust and Coal Trust, both 1951, both set up by the will of Cecilia Ann Bingham, in memory of her father.
In addition, there was a subsidiary charity for the Maintenance of Roadside Seats, also founded by Cecilia Ann Bingham in memory of her father, J T Bingham JP. Seven of the eight seats (or their replacements) can still be found around the town, particularly on Newbury Hill where there are two seats which still bear the original commemorative plaque. Sadly, all the other plaques are gone. Maintenance of the seats is now the responsibility of Whitchurch the Town Council.
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By 1968, the year of amalgamation, the value of the first five charities had been significantly eroded by inflation, and the only charity to represent any real value was The Richard Woollaston Bequest. The Richard Woollaston Charity was founded by a codicil (dated 27th February, 1689) to Richard Woollaston’s will dated 1688. The codicil left “a hundred pounds a yeare for poore distressed people to buy cloth to cloth(e) such of them as really want clothing and are by my exequeter really judged to feare God tho’ of different opinions … soe long as any of my estate lasts”. The codicil did not specify how this money was to be raised or paid. The “exequeter” was his son John, who unfortunately died a year or two later, without having made any arrangements to set up the charity. After a number of appeals before the Attorney General, it was decreed in 1705 that £2,000 (a substantial amount, in today ‘s values) should be taken from the estate, and invested in two farms to generate rental income of £100 p.a. This income was to be used to buy cloth for poor people in accordance with the codicil, in the name of The Richard Woollaston Estate Charity. The court also decided that the £100 should be apportioned between three parish groups, of which Whitchurch should get three tenths - £30.00 p.a. The basis of the apportionment is not stated in the decree but may relate to places where Richard Woollaston lived or worked throughout his life. The story was told by John Clarke, a well-known local solicitor in his day, and one of the original trustees, of how his grandfather, Spencer Clarke, used to sit at a table outside the Town Hall, once a year, surrounded by yards of cloth, and ask poor people passing, “Do you fear God?” If the answer was, “Yes”, he gave them a yard of cloth! Over the years, the original farms were sold and, in the early part of the 20th century, the proceeds were invested in property leases. As these leases matured, the Richard Woollaston Charity began to accumulate significant amounts of capital, and in 2005 this capital was distributed to the three beneficiary charities. The Whitchurch Welfare Trust received over £250,000 capital, compared to the £600 which its original share was worth in 1705!