§ Mr. MORRELLasked the hon. Member for the Barnstaple Division, as representing the Charity Commissioners, whether his attention has been called to the action of the trustees of a charity, known as the Donnington Hospital, in pulling down numerous cottages which form part of the property of the charity in the village of Iffley, near Oxford, and refusing to build other cottages in their place; whether he is aware that in the last few years no less than 15 cottages have been destroyed, and that in one case an old man of 76 was turned out of his home and forced to leave the village where he had lived for 40 years, although the house, in the opinion of many competent witnesses, was well kept and in good repair; whether he is aware that in consequence of this action of the trustees, who own most of the land in the parish, not only has hardship and inconvenience been caused, but a sense of insecurity produced amongst other tenants of the charity, and that a petition, which was signed by the vicar and almost all the principal residents of the village, to the trustees asking them to build new cottages, has had no effect; and whether the Charity Commissioners can take any action in the matter?
§ Mr. ERNEST SOARESThe attention of the Charity Commissioners had not been specifically called to the subject of the hon. Member's question since they made an Order on 23rd September, 1904, authorising the trustees to apply £500 capital in rebuilding two cottages on their Iffley estate. The trustees now inform the Commissioners that in the 10 years, 1899 to 1909, 13 cottages have been pulled down, of which three have been rebuilt, while three new houses are in course of erection. The estate had been let many years ago on leases for lives during which the cottages pulled down had become so dilapidated as to be beyond repair. But the trustees have spent £1,630 in the last 10 years on improving their remaining cottages and property. The cottage of the old man mentioned in the question was required for an improvement scheme. He was given six months' notice before he was required to give up possession, and was offered a better cottage in the village, but refused it. The Commissioners will call the attention of the trustees to the desirability of retaining a due proportion of cottages on the estate, but Iffley is now becoming a part of Oxford, and the trustees are bound to lay out the property for the best advantage of the objects of the 525W charity, the almspeople at Donnington, in Berkshire, and the pensioners in several parishes in Berkshire and Oxfordshire.