| AdminHistory | Among the various Huguenot charities, two soup-kitchens for the poor were started, in the late 17th century, one in Soho and the other in Spitalfields, two areas where many of the needier French refugees had settled. Of the Soho charity, no records are now known to exist, and those in the following catalogue relate only to the Spitalfields charity, which was carried on until 1826, when its remaining funds were transferred to the French Hospital on condition that 43 existing beneficiaries of the charity should be paid a shilling a week for life.
An inventory of the archive taken in 1739 (see H/M/2/6) lists the following records then in existence:
1-4) Four old books of little use, full of writing.
5) A large book of 'actes' (proceedings), begun on 2 April 1718, 'cotté A'.
6) The present book of receipts, begun on 16 May 1738, 'cotté B',
7) A long expenditure book, begun on 1 November 1738, 'cotté C'.
8-9) Two other books of petty house expenses.
10) A book covered in blue paper, serving as 'Journal', begun on 17 May 1737, 'cotté D'.
11) A similar book serving as 'Grand Livre' to which entries in the Journal are carried , 'cotté E'.
'Cotté' is evidently the modern French coté, in the sense of 'marked with an identifying letter or number'. Most of the volumes in the list above, including some deemed to be 'of little use' in 1739, are still extant, and several can be readily identified as:
6) Receiver's book H/M/2/6.
8-9) Steward's expenses, H/M/2/7-8.
10) Treasurer's day-book, H/M/2/3.
11) Treasurer's ledger, H/M/2/4.
The four old books of little use (1-4) presumably include the extant minutes (H/M/2/1), the earlier Treasurer's day-book (H/M/2/2) and the earlier Receiver's accounts (H/M/2/5). No. 5 in the inventory of 1739 must be a second minute book, now unfortunately missing. No.7 may be the long book of which a fragment (4 leaves) survives and is listed as H/M/2/10.
According to a printed appeal of 1802, the Spitalfields 'Maison de Charité' was founded in 1690. The earliest of its surviving records (see H/M/2/7) begins on 26 February 1690. Leading spirits in the early days of the enterprise evidently included Hilaire Reneu, a wealthy silk-merchant from Bordeaux, the Reverand William Smythies, Rector of St Giles, Cripplegate, 1673-1704, and a Captain Perez, of whom nothing is known.
The story of the Charity is related in considerable detail (mainly from the manuscript records) in C F A Marmoy's Presidential Address to the Huguenot Society of London, 1979, printed in the Proceedings of the Huguenot Society (London: Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland), vol. XXIII, pp. 134-147. |
| CustodialHistory | The archives of the Spitalfields charity were merged with those of the Hospital in 1826 when the funds were transferred. |