TO THE CHARITY COMMISSIONERS FOR
ENGLAND AND WALES.

IN pursuance of a minute of the board of the 1st November 1864, I have inquired into the conditions of the under-mentioned Charities, under the management of the Tin Plate Workers' Company of the City of London, and I have stated in the Report, under the head of each endowment, the result of my investigation. Miers' Gift.

White's Gift.

The style of the Company is, "The Master, Wardens, "and Court of Assistants of the Worshipful Company "of the Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers."

The Court consists of a master, two wardens, and when complete, twenty-eight assistants; at present there are only eleven assistants.

The liverymen of the Company are about thirty. The number of freemen does not exceed fifty. MIERS' GIFT.

John Miers, by his will of the 30th April 1779, gave to the Company 150l. to be laid out in Government Stock, and the dividends to be divided amongst the poor of the Company at the February Court yearly. This is now represented by a sum of 2451. 31. per cent. consols, standing in the corporate name of the Company. The dividends amount to 71. 7s. a year, which is given in sums of half a guinea each to fourteen poor persons, who are either freemen, or widows of freemen of the Company.

JOHN WHITE'S CHARITY.

John White, a member of the Company, by his will dated the 22nd January 1853, proved in the Prerogative Court with two codicils the 24th April 1853, gave 1,000l. 31. per cent. consols to Sarah Dale for her life, and after her decease he gave the same sum to the Company upon trust as soon as conveniently might be after his decease, and when a proper site could be obtained for that purpose, with the proceeds of the said sum of 1,000l. to erect and build in such part of England as they might think fit, being near to some principal market town,

eight or more almshouses with two rooms in each house, to be called White's Almshouses, for the gratuitous use and occupation in the first place of so many of the blind, helpless, or decayed liverymen of the said Company of 55 years of age, who should seek the benefit of the said charity, to be chosen by the said master, wardens, and court of assistants of the Company for the time being; and if there should be no liverymen of the said Company entitled to or seeking the benefit of the said charity, then secondly for the freemen of the said Company of the age aforesaid, who should come under the above denomination of blind, helpless, or decayed, and in case there should be no freemen of the said Company, then for any poor and decayed men of the trade of a tin plate worker of the like age, to be chosen as before mentioned; nevertheless he thereby declared that if there should be any worthy person an object of this charity under the age aforesaid, it should be in the discretion of the said master, wardens, and assistants, to admit him to the benefit thereof, and he thereby declared that in case any one of the said three classes of persons before-mentioned, should at the time of his election be married, his wife should be at liberty to live with him, and in case she should survive her husband, she should not be turned out of the said almshouses, but should be entitled, so long as she remained a widow, to dwell therein, and he declared that the persons so to be elected as aforesaid, must be of strictly sober, moral, and religious principles, and constant attendants at some place of public worship, and in all things obedient to the wishes and desires of the said master, wardens, and court of assistants, who should have power of dismissal for misconduct, and that such charity should be managed and governed by such rules as the master, wardens, and court should from time to time make. And the testator declared that he had made the gift in the hope that some other person would endow the

The style of the Company is "The Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Worshipful Company of Tylers "and Bricklayers."

The Company consists of a master and two wardens, and a court of assistants. There are about fifty liverymen besides the court, and there are a few freemen not on the livery.

FOWLER'S CHARITY.

Thomas Fowler by will of the 29th November 1670, gave to the company one-third of certain messuages in St. Catherine's Alley near the Tower of London to pay thereout 408. a year to the Almshouse at Chipping Norton towards the maintenance of poor widows there, and 40s. for apprenticing poor boys of Chipping Norton. The property was sold under the Act of Parliament for building the St. Katherine Docks, and is represented by 7991. 128. 31. per cent. Consols standing in the name of the Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery to an account intituled in the matter of the St. Katherine Dock Company and the Tylers' and Bricklayers' Company. This produces 231. 198. 9d. a year, less income-tax. The sum of 41. annually is paid by the company to the Churchwardens of Chipping

Norton. There does not appear to be any charitable trust affecting the residue, but the Company of their own bounty carry it to the Almshouse fund.

SIR THOMAS ROWE'S and VERNON'S CHARITIES. Three freemen of the Company receive 47. a year each from the Merchant Taylors' Company. They generally hold the annuity for their lives, and on the occasion of any vacancy, the court of assistants of the Company elect two freemen, of whom the Merchant Taylors' Company select one.

THE ALMSHOUSES.

In or about the year 1837 a plot of land at Balls Pond, in the parish of Islington, Middlesex, purchased out of the funds of the Company was conveyed absolutely to the Company by its corporate name without any declaration of trust, and upon this ground twelve almshouses and a lodge containing two tenements have been built at the expense of the Company. They are occupied by liverymen, freemen and their widows. One is stated to be vacant at this time. A sum of 3,7501. new 3 per cent. Stock has also been set apart by the Company for the maintenance of the almshouses. The present trustees are Henry Lee, Wm. Isaac Vale, Wm. Lee and James Christmas (deceased). The income amounting to 1127. 10s. a year is applied in paying 27. 10s. per quarter to each of 14 inmates=1407.

The inmates also receive yearly a ton of coals each; the whole expenditure including repairs to the almshouses is made up out of the funds of the Company including the interest of the purchase money of Fowler's Charity estate which is carried to this account. All which I submit to the Board.

THOMAS HARE.

By the Statute of 11 & 12 William 3rd, cap. 21., entitled "An Act for the better explanation and better "execution of former Acts made touching Watermen, "Wherrymen, &c." It was enacted that it should be lawful for the rulers of the Watermen and Lightermen's Company to appoint any number of watermen to work on every Lordsday between Vauxhall and Limehouse, at such common stairs or places of plying as to the said rulers should seem most convenient, carrying pas sengers across the said river, such persons so appointed paying over every Monday such sums as they should so receive to said rulers who were to allow to such watermen for their days labor so much as they should agree for, and the overplus should from time to time be applied to the use of the poor, aged, decayed and maimed watermen and lightermen of said company and their widows.

And it was also enacted that all the forfeitures and penalties in the former Acts should be paid unto the rulers for the use of the poor, aged, decayed, and maimed persons of the said company.

On the erection of Westminster, Blackfriars, and Vauxhall Bridges, where ferries had previously existed, certain sums or stock were transferred under the trusts of the various Acts of Parliament for building the same, to the credit of the rulers of the company as trustees of the Poors' Funds as compensation for the loss of such ferries, the annual interest of which was by such Acts directed to be applied to the same purposes and in such manner as the money arising by the said ferries had been applied in pursuance and according to the directions of the said Act, and on various occasions sums of money had been transferred and invested by the said rulers for the purpose of forming a permanent Poors' Fund.

In June 1827, an Act was passed entitled "An Act "for the better regulation of the Watermen and "Lightermen of the River Thames between Yautlet "Creek and Windsor," by which the Company was incorporated, and the above-mentioned Act and others were repealed and fresh enactments made, by the 42nd section of which Act the Sunday ferries between Chelsea and Bow Creek were re-established, the Company being empowered to let such ferries on lease, and to apply the produce thereof in the same manner as provided by such first-mentioned Statute, and by section 88, a portion of all penalties and forfeitures under the Act

was directed also to be applied for the same purpose, and section 22 enacts that the account should be entitled "The Poor's Account," and kept distinct from the Company's account.

In 1845 an Act was passed intituled "An Act to "enable the master and wardens to invest the said Poors' Fund in the purchase of land or on mortgage,' and under the provisions of which certain sums were advanced on mortgage (all of which have since been repaid), and the increased amount of interest obtained on such mortgages was added to the permanent fund.

Under the various provisions of this Act a sum of 43,590l. 58. 4d. 31. per cent. Consols (December, 1864,) now stands in the books of the Bank of England in the corporate name of the Company, which includes, however, a legacy of 5211. 10s. 3d. Consols, the produce of 5007. given by Alderman Lucas, and including also the sum of 2,7607. 188. 1d. like stock belonging to the Westminster Chest Society, for which this Company is trustee only, leaving 40,307. 178. 7d., the produce of these corporate rights, (dividends, 1,2091. 48. 7d.). This fund has been increasing from the year 1758, when the first account appears, and when 3241. 78. 6d. South Sea Annuities, and 917. 5s. 31. 108. per cents., and 180l. 15s. and 1851. 108. in the 31. per cents. had been invested.

There are also receipts for Sunday Ferries. Of these since 1827, annual leases are granted of the ferries across the Thames, which are about 25 in number, and a list of which I append, and also an account of the receipts for the last seven years. The ferries are advertised and let by written tender, and only let to freemen of the Company. On other days the freemen are at liberty to work unobstructed by these Acts.

8. d.

421 11 10 1,209 4 7

58 0 0

500 £1,693 16 5

The distribution of this fund is by way of pensions to poor members of the Company and widows of members, varying in amount from 21. to 51. The distribution is under the section 110 of the Byelaws.

The resolutions of the Court have regulated the age of the pensioners, and direct that they shall be, if widows not less than 55, and men 60 years of age, and that they shall not be in receipt of more than 201. per annum from any permanent source. The pensioners are selected by the Court as vacancies occur, and as the funds permit, upon the petition of the persons requiring relief. The cases are inquired into by the Court, who relieve the cases which they conceive to be the most fit. Notices of all the petitioners who are applicants are suspended in the office. There are generally 100 applicants at least on the list. From 20 to 30 are elected every year. They all enter at 21. a year, and are gradually increased until they arrive at 51. The pensions are:

50 at 51. per annum. 100 at 41.