Agenda item

Patrick Streeter asked a question of the Chairman of the City Side of the Joint Grand Gresham Committee regarding will of Sir Thomas Gresham which charged his Trustees with three tasks; namely the maintenance of Gresham College, the funding of Almshouses  and the support and help for prisoners. He commented that the Trust honoured the first two but not the third and he asked whether the Trustees would be taking steps to correct this.

In reply the Chairman detailed the history of this matter and specifically referred to the will which provided that £10 be paid quarterly to the five debtor prisons which were then located in the City "the relief of the poor persons and prisoners in the prisons and places called Newgate, Ludgate, the Kings Bench, the Marshalsea and Counter (Wood Street)". He reported that these institutions no longer existed and the purpose of assisting poor persons in the debtors’ prisons became redundant as a result of the Debtors Act 1869 and subsequent changes to the laws relating to bankruptcy and insolvency. He added that the five debtors’ prisons closed variously in or about 1727, 1760, 1880 and 1902 and this element of the bequest was therefore believed to have lapsed. In addition, if any remnant of the bequest remained, it was believed to have been subsumed under the general charitable grants programmes allocated by Finance Grants Sub-Committee (and its predecessors) from City’s Cash funds which amount to some £743,000 per annum.

In response to a supplementary question from Patrick Streeter, the Chairman agreed to discuss any further details with Mr Streeter after the meeting.

In response to a supplementary question from Brian Mooney, the Chairman agreed to look into a possible donation to a charity concerned with the assistance of prisoners or debtors.