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The Almshouse Trusts
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Henry Lucas’ Charity
The Charity
This Charity was founded by Henry Lucas, a well-connected gentleman who died a bachelor in 1663. By his Will, he bequeathed part of his estate (about £7,000) for the erection and endowment of a hospital or almshouse for the relief of old men and for the upkeep of a Master to be their Chaplain. Henry laid down that the men were to be chosen from the poorest inhabitants of the Forest Division of Berkshire and the Bailiwick of Surrey in or near the Forest.
The original Hospital was built by Lucas’s executors on 1 1/2 acres of land in Wokingham in 1666. On the death of the executors, in 1675, the Drapers’ Company inherited the trusteeship of the Hospital.
In 1923 an Act of Parliament dissolved the ancient Corporation and confirmed a Scheme by the Charity Commissioners which provided for the admission of married couples, for the employment of a Matron, and for the administration of the Hospital by the Master and Wardens of the Drapers’ Company.
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By 1999 the original Grade 1 listed Hospital was no longer suitable for use as a modern almshouse. Permission was therefore sought and obtained from the Charity Commission to sell the Hospital to enable the Trust to invest in a new, more appropriate site providing effective relief to the beneficiaries as set by Lucas in his original Will. By a Scheme issued in July 2002, the Henry Lucas Charity was merged with the Whiteley Homes Trust. Sixteen double cottages will be built in the Whiteley Homes Village, in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey in 2003 providing accommodation for more than twice as many people as was possible in the Hospital. These cottages will be known as “The Henry Lucas Cottages”. The Whiteley Homes Trust will provide accommodation for 32 persons drawn from the original beneficiary area of the Henry Lucas Charity continuing to meet the wishes of Henry Lucas.
Charity Registration No. 209846
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