The Hellard Almshouses Part 1 

Extracts from:  The Hellard Almshouses and other Stevenage Charities, 1482-2005.  Edited and with an Introduction by Margaret Ashby and a Preface by Evelyn Lord.  Copyright Margaret Ashby & Evelyn Lord and published by Hertfordshire Record Society ISBN 0 9547561 2 6.  Used with permission.

Preface by Dr Evelyn Lord
 Today Stevenage is synonymous with 'new town'. However, Margaret Ashby's work on the town has shown that the core was an old foundation with a special identity of its own. Her present work in transcribing and editing the unique documents contained within this volume reinforces this identity; shedding new light onStevenage and its people in the past, as well as showing in great detail how private charities worked in practice. The documents in this volume show how careful management of resources has enabled Stevenage's charitable trusts to survive into the 21st century, and how private charitable gifts have helped to ameliorate the conditions of Stevenage's poor throughout the centuries.

Prior to the late 16th century Poor Law coming onto the statute book, the poor relied on relief from the church, or from the better off members of society. This relief could be in the form of random impulse gifts to beggars, or a trust set up in perpetuity for the benefit of the poor. In his will of 1501 Stephen Hellard priest, made arrangements for a newly built messuage in Dead Laneto become a house for three poor folk. This was the nucleus of Hellard's Almshouses. In the will Hellard appointed trustees or feoffees as they were called to manage the almshouses. The documents in this volume contain a great deal of information of who they were and how the operated over successive generations, which helps us to understand the role of the trustees in a charitable trust in depth and with record linkage to other Stevenage documents tell us about the individuals concerned with the charity's management.

Charity had to be paid for in some way. In the case of Hellard's Almshouses and subsequent bequests in Stevenage, this was through the rents from plots of land in the town. The records also contain social and economic information on rents and leasing conditions, as well as enabling the local historian to trace how land usage changed over time, responding to local and national conditions.

The most important elements of a charity are often an unknown quantity - its recipients, who too frequently disappear from the pages of history without a trace. But this is not the case with these records which contain lists of recipients and what they received from the charities. This could be in cash but more often was in kind especially cloth which could be used to make warm clothing. Taken with the list of trustees who included local gentry and tradesmen we have an integrated picture of the social structure of Stevenage from the 16th to the 20th century.

The 19th century inhabitants of the almshouses have been traced through successive censuses which are reproduced in this volume, which adds another social dimension. From the census it can be seen that although elderly widows were, as might be expected, the main occupants of the almshouses, there were male paupers living there as well. In the 20th century the Stevenage   charities came together under the Stevenage Consolidated Charities, and the records of this organisation give a fascinating insight to a subject often neglected - the role of private charities in the 20th century.

From 1773-1835 Stevenage had its own workhouse for those poor considered able but too idle to work. Until the 1834 New Poor Law this was managed by the Select Vestry. After the 1834 act Stevenage became part of Hitchin Union. The private charities such as Hellard's Almshouses continued to flourish during this time, so that Stevenage provides an excellent example of private and public assistance to the poor. This combination was found in most towns, for example at Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire where Harding's Charity operated beside public relief for the poor, but is a combination often ignored by historians. The records transcribed and printed in this book provide an excellent avenue for further research into this topic, and one of the values of publications such as this is in sparking off new avenues of research whether by local or social historians, or someone who wants to find out more about where they live.

Overall, this is a Hertfordshire Record Society Volume which has significance for local, family and social historians and especially for Stevenage residents. It celebrates an anniversary of outstanding charitable attempts to alleviate the conditions of the poor of which the town can be proud, and is a worthy addition to the Record Society's publications. Margaret Ashby, a resident of Stevenage and long-time recorder of its history is to be congratulated on her dedication in producing this volume at the same time as her many other commitments which include part-time tutoring for the University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education, oral history and film making.

The Hertfordshire Record Society's volumes provide a model for other record societies to follow. Well researched, clearly produced annual publications which give fascinating insights into the history of the county and are an accessible source of records to be used by other researchers who could include local and family historians, but also members of the general public who are interested in Hertfordshire. This particular volume shows clearly how wrong general assumptions about Stevenage are, and that the new town is part of a community that has its roots firmly in the past, which can be traced through this volume. Its history of charitable benefactions over the last five hundred years is something that Stevenage can be proud of, showing that the actions of individuals taking civic and social responsibility in the fifteenth century have left a legacy that benefits citizens today.







READ MORE ABOUT THE ALMSHOUSES HISTORY HERE!!







Stevenage Consolidated Charities: Registered Charity Number 206448.
(c) Text copyright Stevenage Consolidated Charities 2010 and as stated  in specific text references.
(c) Photographs copyright Stevenage Museum 2010 and Stevenage Consolidated Charities 2010.
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