Northam Charities – 

List of recipients of Cocke's Charity, 1955, 1964

Ref: NDRO 1843A/PF/1/4/4/2

Transcribed by David Carter 2024 

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Catalogue entry:

Northam Charities.
List of recipients of Cocke's Charity, 1955, 1964.
Ref: NDRO 1843A/PF/1/4/4/2; Alternative ref: 1843-4/38/1-2
https://devon-cat.swheritage.org.uk/records/1843A/PF/1/4/4/2

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Description of document and transcribers notes:

Two printed single sheets of paper, one for each year, 1955 and 1964.

This contains a printed list of recipients of charity money distributed from Cocke’s Charity to deserving women of Northam and Appledore. Names were categorised under: Class I, Class II, Special Class, or Children (generally orphans). It is not clear what the difference was between Class I and Class II, apart from Class I being more deserving.

The individual Charities managed by these Trustees can be seen in detail at:
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/Northam/EndowedCharities1908
The particular charity mentioned in these minute books is Cock’s.

Cocks and Langdons Charity:

Established by James Cock (he left £200 in 1700) and Elizabeth Langdon (she left £100 in 1702) to support widows and orphans. The money was used to purchase an estate of four houses and ten acres of land, which became known as the Tomouth Estate. The income went to supporting four almshouses which were on the site. A fire destroyed the Almshouses in 1859, but the Trustees continued to manage the estate until it was eventually sold in 1918. The invested money was then used for the continuing support the poor of the parish.

According to the instructions given to the Charity’s Agent (see NDRO 1843 add4/37):
“The printed lists of Widows etc, who received the Charity the previous year are to be posted up, with the date of next distribution. The agent will now write out lists of the Widows, etc, & amounts to be distributed this year.”
It appears that these are the only two surviving ‘Printed Lists’ referred to in these instructions. However, there is also a surviving “Northam and Appledore Charity Account Book (1845-1846)” which lists all the people who received Charity assistance, generally in the form of clothing – see NDRO 1843A/PF/1/3/1/2.

It appears that £43 was distributed in 1955, and £36 in 1964.

It is not known when this distribution ceased, but it was obviously still in existence in 1964.

In the following transcript, surnames have been sorted into alphabetical order for easy reference.

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