Hoddesdon. Elizabeth Warner Cottage

 

Queen Victoria Cottage Homes, with Elizabeth Warner Cottage at the left end. 2016

Colin Wilson

 

Detail from Portman's 1968 plans showing the size difference between the Warner and Queen Victoria accommodation.

Courtesey of Lowewood Museum

 

Sketch map showing the location of the cottages in Beech Walk

In 1905 the Warner family decided to add a cottage to the Queen Victoria Cottage Homes, in memory of their mother, Mrs Septimus Warner. The governing deed was dated 16 November 1906. Plans of the cottages dated 1968 are held at Lowewood Museum.

It was a double cottage for a mother and daughter, or two sisters. It also seems that it could be for a married couple as there is a stipulation that if the wife died first the husband would be required to vacate the premises after a reasonable time. The Warner family would provide 2s. a week for the beneficiary. This was repealed in a Charity Commission scheme of 1971.

The relationship with the other three cottages was close but not fully combined. For example, the Priscilla Manser Fund was only to be used for the three original cottages.

A 1970 Charity Commission letter held at Lowewood Museum lists the Warner Fund investments. In 1907 £300 was invested in Herts County Council 3 ¹/₂% stock, which was repaid in 1935 and reinvested in the Metropolitan Water Board.

Residents of the Warner cottage paid more than the other three as it was larger. A letter from The Charity Commission dated Dec 1970 states that rents were 50s. for Warner and 45s. for Queen Victoria Cottage Homes. The Trustees were asked to check if the residents would be reimbursed by Social Security, and various letters specify that any costs should not be too high for the residents.

For further information, please refer to the article about Queen Victoria Cottage Homes. The charity is now a subsidiary of the Queen Victoria Cottage Homes, ref 210209-2 and managed by LEAP Almshouses.

Location

Address:        4 Beech Walk Hoddesdon Herts EN11 8NS
Georef:          536900 208688
Grid ref:        51^o 45′ 37″N  0^o 01′ 00″W

References

Documents held at Lowewood Museum, including typed notes of a talk c1996 by the then Secretary of the Charity.

The Victoria Cottage Homes Hoddesdon 1897 – 1996 by Jack Edwards
pub @Jack Edwards Feb 1997 (a copy is held at HALS).

http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/Subsidiaries.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=210209&SubsidiaryNumber=2 is the Charity Commission website, accessed Dec 2018

http://www.leapalmshouses.co.uk