| AdminHistory | The charity was founded by will of Thomas Dickinson of Holloway, Islington, dated 9 October 1848 and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 14 January 1852 (for the registered will see The National Archives reference, PROB 11/2145/197). It was established for the benefit of the poor in St Mary Whitechapel and later to the wider Stepney area. Preference was given to members of the Church of England.
Dickinson bequeathed to the rector of the parish of St Mary, Whitechapel £4000 £3 percent annunities or consols in trust - the interest to be used to purchase of bread, coal and potatoes to be divided equally during the winter among 20 poor families who attended the church. Coin tokens with the name of the bequest survive mentioning all three commodities. See Mernick Brothers website: https://www.mernick.org.uk/thn/tokens/19th/charity.htm for further details (accessed 04/03/2024).
Under Charity Commissioners Scheme dated 24 November 1959 and amended 12 August 1982 the trustees consisted of six individuals, three ex-officio trustees from Church of England and the remaining three required to be nominated by the Borough.
The Charity was later administered by the Borough and meetings held at Town Hall, Patriot Square in 1988. The charity was closed but re-activated in 1996. Surviving papers held by the Borough were passed by Legal Department to newly appointed Secretary and Chair - Reverend Gillean W Craig of St George-in-the-East.
The charity found increasing difficulties in appointing trustees and overlap in charities providing benefit in the area. In 2009 John Kitchen, Clerk to Trustees was appointed to wind up the organisation. The charity (number 252738) was removed from the Charity Commission Register in 2009. In 2010, the balance of the charity's funds went to the parishes of St Dunstan and All Saints Stepney (Stepney Relief in Need Charity being nominated to receive a share, namely £12,573.55), St George-in-the-East and Christchurch Spitalfields. |