CHARITIES

Bartholomew's Charity was founded in 1712 under the will of John Bartholomew which provided for the maintenance of a schoolmaster to teach ten poor boys reading and writing and for the apprenticing of one of those boys every year. St Thomas' or the Bread Charity was made up of a number of small endowments (including one from John Bartholomew) and used for the regular distribution of bread to the poor of the parish. The Fuel Allotment Charity for the distribution of coal to the poor was endowed by the nineteenth century with property known as 'The Poor's Estate' and, from at least 1830, as Foxley Farm, Eynsham. Eynsham also received a quarter share of the rents of property at Appleton, Berkshire, which formed the endowment of the West and Walter Charities, founded by bequests of 1638 and 1640 to benefit the poor of Witney, Standlake and Eynsham. This was administered as part of the St Thomas or Bread Charity from at least 1858. In 1911 the Bread and Fuel Allotment Charities were amalgamated to form the Consolidated Charities, except for a portion held for educational purposes which was, from that year, administered with the Bartholomew Charity. This educational portion and the Bartholomew Charity were amalgamated to form the Bartholomew Educational Foundation.