The Henry Smith Charity

The Henry Smith Charity has been helping combat disadvantage and poverty since 1628. Nearly four centuries after it was first established, The Henry Smith Charity is one of the largest grant making charities in Britain; making grants of over £30 million in 2017.

Henry Smith was born in Wandsworth in 1549. He lived through Elizabethan and Jacobean times, dying in 1628, early in the reign of Charles I.

The ongoing success of Henry’s charity is largely thanks to his foresight and understanding of the value of land. The land owned by the Charity has been the foundation of its income since its formation. Henry made his fortune lending money to many landed families of his time. By the 1620s he was the owner of thousands of acres and the mortgagee of thousands more. It was, however, after his death that his trustees were to make the most important acquisition; the purchase for £2,000 in the 1640s of a marshy estate of mainly market gardens just outside London, in the parish of Kensington.

Henry was an astute businessman and left a detailed Will as to how his estate was to be administered. Indeed Henry spent much of his energy in his final years refining the details of his legacy. As a result, his philanthropic wishes have been maintained through the centuries with a remarkable degree of consistency and continuity. In his Will, Henry, who had no children himself, left money for the welfare of descendants of his sister, Joan. Referred to in Henry’s Will as his ‘poor kindred’ the Charity still honours this benefaction. Amongst the Charity’s range of grant making, Henry’s legacy to ‘poor clergy’ also continues, with grants administered by dioceses of the Church of England on behalf of the Charity, and a separate fund makes grants to relieve poverty in some 200 specific parishes named by Henry and his early trustees.

BUT where does the Parish Council come into this:

The parish was named by Henry Smith as one of the parishes to receive benefit from his will and we receive around £2500 per year to be distributed to ‘the poor of the Parish’.

The parish Council are trustees of these monies and are registered with the charity commission accordingly. (No 254535) and report annually to the commission every year.

We attempted to clarify what is classified as the poor these days. It was suggested by Henry Smith that provided we followed their aspirations then they would be happy with that. Therefore we help those who apply to us for help and offer help to those organisations in the village whose main aim is to help children and children’s education.

For example we helped financially the setting up of the youth football training at the recreation ground on a Saturday morning. We have also helped the school from time to time.

We must emphasise that all individual applications are treated as confidential by the Trustees and that monies granted will not be discussed outside Trustees meetings.

Should you have a reason to obtain a grant from Henry Smith please contact the Parish Clerk or a Parish Councillor who will provide an application form, or download and return the following, editable, PDF application form.