By Catherine Wright
The records of John Tate’s Charity are perhaps one of the more unusual collections in Wicklow County Archives. Founded as a bequest in the will of John Tate in 1787, the charitable trust supported the poor inhabitants of the parish of Rathdrum for over 200 years. Remarkably, the charity is still in operation today, providing assistance to third-level students.
John Tate of Fananierin, Glenmalure, was a very interesting character. After his father’s death, John at twenty years of age was the heir to the family seat at Fananierin. Ambitious and successful, he became a major player on the local scene in his 20s and early 30s, amassing an impressive personal fortune in his brief life and extending his holdings to almost 3,000 acres in County Wicklow. He forged firm friendships among the local gentry, and his landed interests included a series of leases with the local élite, such as the Hayes family who built Avondale House, later inherited by the Parnells.
Strongly attached to Rathdrum parish church, between 1775 and 1776 he acted as churchwarden to the town’s Anglican congregation, as well as serving several terms as a parish councillor in the 1770s and 1780s. These activities, combined with his membership of the county grand jury and his role as tithe applotter, fostered vital social connections which could have served as a prelude to higher county offices. When Tate died unmarried in 1787 at the age of 33, we see in his will that he provided well for his ‘natural’ (i.e. illegitimate) sons, John and Abraham, which was unusual for the times.
Tate’s last will and testament is dated 7 October 1787, less than a month before his death, giving reason to believe that he was already suffering an advanced stage of illness when the document was drafted. It is clear that a great deal of thought went into the setting up of his charitable trust, as is evident in the detailed instructions of the founding deed. In his will, Tate left his interest in 895 acres at Cullentragh near Rathdrum to form the basis of his charity, with the stipulation that parishioners of Rathdrum should benefit from its support. Reflecting contemporary ideas about poverty in Georgian Ireland, Tate’s will specified the lending of ‘small sums of money not exceeding £5 to any one person interest free to be paid in such a manner and at such times not exceeding 12 months … for the industrious poor of the said Parish of Rathdrum’. The will also states that charitable donations (rather than loans) should only be distributed in exceptional circumstances, such as in cases of ‘sickness or some unforeseen misfortune or sudden emergency happening to any of the poor of the said parish’. To avail of the services of the trust, applicants had to be residing in the parish of Rathdrum for more than three years: ‘Strolling beggars who shall go from Parish to Parish to beg’ would not be entitled to ‘relief from my said Trustees’.
Tate’s will also includes detailed instructions on the charity’s board of trustees. Membership of the board was specified to ensure that only ‘fit and discrete’ persons were eligible. All potential trustees must own ‘a freehold of the clear yearly value of £100, or of personal property of £1000’. For this property qualification, the household ought to be located in Rathdrum itself, or in a directly adjoining parish. Meetings were required to take place at least ‘once every month at least in some convenient part of said parish’, and if a member failed to appear at least four times annually his status as trustee would automatically be ‘considered vacant and a new trustee elected’. The five trustees must include ‘the resident officiating Protestant clergyman’ of Rathdrum parish, while the others would be elected from among the resident parishioners following a ‘public written notice’.
A key condition of Tate’s will was that the charity would not discriminate based on religion—‘differences in religious principles shall not preclude any person from receiving benefit from this charity’—and, over time, two of the five trustees would be the Rathdrum parish priest and the Church of Ireland rector. The charity’s minute books detail trustees, including Charles Stewart Parnell, who was its chairman from 1869 to 1878. Trustees were generally from well-established landed families, such as the Hayes family, the Parnells, the Actons of Kilmacurragh, the Comerfords and the Guinness family.
The collection contains papers dating back to 1762, which have been catalogued chronologically and divided into categories. Records include the impressive A1-size will of John Tate, original leases, bonds and minute books of the John Tate Charity, with the names and circumstances of those who availed of the charity’s loans and details of local businesses. Apart from the provision of small loans, the collection also reveals other activities of the charity, including the support of a dispensary, a midwife and a school in Rathdrum, as well as a clothing club which ran from 1877 until 1979. Tate’s Clothing Club was a savings club with a difference—savings were matched by the charity; if someone saved £5, they could get clothing worth £10, and they could nominate a local draper to supply it.
While the Tate collection is significant for the history of Rathdrum and County Wicklow, it also holds national historical importance as a notable example of the philanthropic activities of the landed gentry in Ireland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This social class is well represented in local authority archive collections, through their activities on grand juries and boards of guardians, and of course their estate papers. However, the records of John Tate’s Charity also offer an insight into the lives and needs of the labouring and poorer classes and the perspectives and activities of charitable trusts.
The John Tate’s Charity archives project features a descriptive list of the collection, an online exhibition and digital resources. Wicklow County Archives are grateful to the Heritage Council, who supported this project through their Heritage Stewardship Fund 2024, and for the work of Louise Maher, Oscar Bryan and designers Yellowstone. For more information on Wicklow County Archives and the John Tate’s Charity collection see www.wicklow.ie.
Catherine Wright is an archivist with Wicklow County Archives and Genealogy Service.