It must be well known to many of those whom I am now addressing, and ought to be known to all, that in the year 1837, with the joint consent of the copyholders of the two parishes of Fulham and Hammersmith, nine acres of the waste land known by the name of Wormholt Scrubs, were taken by the Directors of the Great Western Railway Company, at 150l. per acre, for the prosecution of their works. The sum paid for this purchase was invested in 1487l. 12s. 1d., 3 per cent. consols, in the names of G. Carr Glyn, Esq., Mr. John Knight, and Mr. George Bird, the first of these gentlemen being selected to represent the interest of the Directors, and the other two those of the parishes which have a common interest in the land in question. The stock still remains in the names of the same individuals, and the dividends having been regularly invested as they accrued, although in a different account, the whole amount now exceeds 2,200l. There is a prevalent, and, I believe, a well-grounded opinion, that under the terms of the agreement made between the Copyholders and the Company, the period has expired, within which the latter had the option of giving land instead of money in exchange for the waste of which they had thus become possessed; and that consequently the whole amount of the stock thus described, the original investment, as well as the accumulated dividends, will fall, under the provisions of the Railway Act, in equal moieties, to the disposal of the Vestries of the two parishes.
I am well aware that other schemes have been devised for the appropriation of this fund, which, I apprehend, the Vestry will in that case deem it their duty to devote to some object of permanent utility and benevolence. A disposition exists in favour of alms-houses, either the erection of new ones, or the better endowment of those already existing. But I may surely remind you, that within the last year the intention has been announced of a most munificent, though unknown benefactor, to found twelve new and amply-endowed alms-houses at Fulham, and thus to meet the additional demand, which, I admit, always exists in such districts for these valuable institutions. And I would submit to you, whether a wiser, or more seasonable mode can be found for applying the fund in question, than to devote it to the purchase of a piece of ground, centrally and conveniently accessible to our poor, in the several occupations which they follow, upon which either common dwelling-houses or separate cottages may be built, with airy and well-ventilated rooms, with moderate rents, to be collected weekly, and with an absolute exclusion of lodgers beyond the members of the family to which each house or apartment is separately let.
The land, thus purchased, might be conveyed to trustees named by the Vestry, for the express purpose of building upon it such dwellings as I have described, upon an uniform and well-considered plan, and with an efficient agency to ensure an adherence to it. And if a suitable site could thus be attained for the object, there is reason to believe that persons might offer the capital requisite for the building, from the two-fold motive of the dividend which they would realize, and of the benefits which they would confer upon the poorer parishioners. An improved sewerage, whenever it can be effected upon a proper scale, would provide a better scheme of drains than that to which they are now accustomed in their ill-placed and inadequate cesspools. And since the proprietors of the West-Middlesex Water-works have already carried their supply into the northern and western extremities of the parish, the further demand that would be created for their water would induce them to bring it to the buildings in question; and would not only enable the proprietors of them to lay on soft water to every room at a very moderate expense, for the convenience of the immediate occupiers, but also for a supply to baths and wash-houses to be erected on a portion of the site, for the equal use of other districts of the parish, if any sufficient encouragement can be given to such a scheme. And such establishments, it has now been ascertained, can also be maintained upon the self-supporting principle, whenever an adequate quantity of water can be gained for their consumption, and a proper drainage for carrying it off.
It only remains for me to suggest, that if you should shrink from the adoption of a scheme at once so extensive and so responsible, from the obvious difficulty of creating an agency in this parish adequate to the proper superintendence of it, we might, having secured a site for the buildings, confide the erection and management of them to the Association incorporated by Royal Charter in 1845, and known as “The Metropolitan Association for improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes.” The following sentence is quoted from its prospectus; and any person who may wish to make himself acquainted with its actual operations, has only to visit the houses erected by the Directors in the old Pancras-road, leading from King’s-Cross to Camden Town, or those now in progress near Spicer-street, Spitalfields.
“The terms of the Charter do not restrict the operations of the Association to the metropolis; and the Directors have made arrangements for imparting the benefits, privileges, and immunities, granted by the Charter under this Association to Branch Societies, in districts wherein a sufficient number of shareholders shall be desirous of erecting improved dwellings for the industrious classes. The effect of these arrangements will be to ensure (as far as possible) the success of local undertakings, at the same time that those benevolent individuals who may be disposed to subscribe for the benefit of their respective neighbourhoods, will be made secure against all individual claim and liability whatsoever. Application has already been received from the parish of Hampstead to be admitted as an Incorporated Branch Association, and similar applications are expected from other quarters.”
I am well aware, indeed, that objections are often raised to any scheme, either of public benefit or of private accommodation in this parish, which requires the command of ground, from the alleged difficulty of obtaining it; and no one can be ignorant how well founded these objections are, who has adverted to the tenures under which large portions of the land situate within the bounds of Fulham are held. But, on the other hand, we cannot forget within what a comparatively recent period sites have been purchased for different purposes, all requiring, like that for which I am here pleading, open space, free ventilation, and ready means of access. I need only enumerate the Roman Catholic church, schools, burial-ground, and residence for the priest; the new Union Workhouse; and the situation secured for the Alms-houses already referred to. The successive fulfilment of these schemes serves to show what may be effected by influence and perseverance. Nor can I allow myself to doubt, that, if it shall please God to excite among us a real feeling of interest and anxiety adequate to the object, we may, even before the present year has expired, see some plot of ground placed at the disposal of the Vestry, combining all the requisites which the project calls for. And surely, if we may rejoice in the reflection that an improved Workhouse, with all the watchful and humane administration which, we may hope, will characterise it, will provide for our orphan, or deserted, or disabled poor, deserted in their infancy, or disabled through the infirmities of old age; and that our various Alms-houses will secure a comfortable maintenance to many respectable individuals who have known better days, and have been brought, without any fault of their own, to need the helping hand of others; we may value it as an equal, if not a paramount duty, to do at least what we can in improving the dwellings of some families among our hard-working and intelligent, and still independent poor; providing for their health, advancing their comforts, and rescuing their children from the demoralizing associations of their present homes. I cannot believe that the difficulties, which confessedly surround the question, are insuperable. Let us, at least, give our minds faithfully to the consideration of them.
Believe me,
My dear Parishioners,
Your sincere friend and well-wisher,
R. G. BAKER.
Memorial of the undersigned Owners and Occupiers of Land or Houses, situate within the Parish of Fulham, and assessed to the Poor-rate in the amount annexed to each of their Signatures.