WHAT WOULD THOMAS THINK?by

ANGELA M. SMITH

Sketch Map of T

homas H

ickman’s

Hom

e Ground

WHAT WOULD THOMAS THINK?(A short history of Thomas Hickman’s alms houses,

drawing on Hugh Hanley’s book “Thomas Hickman’s Charity.”)

by

Angela M. Smith

What would Thomas Hickman think?

I wonder what Thomas Hickman, who died in 1698, would think, if he were to risefrom his grave and wander around Aylesbury to-day. I think he would have a broadsmile on his face. Surely, he would hardly believe his eyes as he strolled, in thearea, of his old home. He would be pleased to see that his house at, what was then,1 Church Street is still standing as is the house, where his cousin Robert lived, butundoubtedly, he would be overwhelmed to see what his bequest to the poor peoplehas now brought about.

In 1698, he left 5 cottages to be alms houses for the poor, with the proviso infavour of his kin, stating that they could live in them even if they had lived far away.But now at last there is a real community for many elderly folk in the vicinity ofthese cottages. He wanted the poor to have “ a more comfortable subsistence intheir poor and mean condition as long as this world continueth,” and I guess hiseyes would really sparkle, when he found his way to the Chantry complex, offChurch Street and the spacious gardens at Green End between Castle Street andRickfords Hill. It would all be beyond his wildest dreams.

A view of Church Street

Who was Thomas Hickman?

He held a schoolmaster’s licence but there is no evidence that he was employed atthe Grammar School in Church Street. He left a number of good books andmathematical instruments in his Will and documents bearing his signature, showthat his writing was elaborate with the fashionable flourishes favoured in his day. Itis possible that he might have been a freelance writing master also teachingarithmetic.

He had sufficient finances to lend money to others. This was a very helpfulservice, as there were no Banks at that time. He seems to have been able to live thecomfortable life of an unmarried gentleman. He died at the age of 61.

He does not seem to have inherited wealth, but during his lifetime he bought anumber of properties. In his Will, he listed his home at 1 Church Street, Robert’shome in Church Street, a house in Market Square, a farm house in Walton withoutbuildings and 32 acres of land, which he had acquired in small lots and 4cottages in Parsons Fee.

What was he like?

Obviously, he had great love for his family. He stated in his Will that he wished tobe buried “in the grave of my dear mother”. When he died, he was living with hiscousin, Faith Platter. He wanted her to have those of his good books “that shemight care to read”. He describes his male cousin as “my loving kinsman, RobertHickman” and bequeathed the rest of his books and mathematical instruments tohim. As Robert was a carpenter, they must have come in useful. He left one of hiscottages to Faith’s sister Katherine Platter and also small sums of money to threeother cousins and their children and to the children of two other cousins, who haddied. He appointed his “loving friend John Wilson of Hartwell” as an overseer ofhis Will and said he was to be paid for his pains,

Green End Garden

What are the results to-day?

A large lawn and gardens now extend between the properties owned by the ThomasHickman Trust in Castle Street and the Rickfords Hill houses. A communal lounge,in one of the Castle Street dwellings is used by the residents of all 49 of theThomas Hickman properties and a flourishing residents committee organises socialactivities on a regular basis. There is also a part time pastoral care consultant.

People, who can be married couples but must be of pensionable age, who havelived in Aylesbury for at least 3 years and can have modest savings can apply to livein the Hickman houses. They make contributions towards the maintenance of theproperties, which are made up of a mixture of bungalows, flats/ ground flooraccommodations and cottages of different sizes.

Since 1979, Hickman’s Charity has also made grants for the relief of need in thetown, so the spirit of the old annual cash distribution to the poor has been retained,but housing continues to be its main focus.

I believe that old Thomas would be well pleased.

AcknowledgementsI wish to thank the Thomas Hickman Almshouses Charity and the residents of theHickman Houses for the encouragement they have given me and for some of theinformation in this booklet. Thanks to Karl Vaughan for the photograph of ThomasHickman’s House.I am also grateful to ALMAR (Tring) Limited.

Robert Hickman’s House

It is probable that at the age of 33, he served as one of the four parishes overseers ofthe poor and distributors of the “rate” which landowners had to pay to support thepoor of their parish, under the provision of the Elizabethan Poor Law. While fulfill-ing this role, he must have seen the distress these people suffered. Widows andorphans, the sick and the infirm would have been particularly vulnerable and hewould have, no doubt, had to listen to many tales of woe. Perhaps that is why hewished his cottages to become alms houses and why he left funds in trust to pay anannual allotment “to the poorest and most pitiful objects of charity in Alms to them,and not to ease the rich in their collection but to this my gift be given that they mayhave a comfortable subsistence in their poor and mean condition, as long as thisworld continueth”. He also left a payment to the poor of Wendover and the poor ofBrickhill.

What was Thomas thinking when he made his Will?

Thomas made his Will on 1st January 1696. He would then have been in his latefifties – a good age at that period in history. He may have already been ailing, sothoughts about his death might have been in his mind. I don’t know what he wasthinking as he recorded his wishes but can use my imagination to guess.

It was not long since an English translation of the Bible had appeared in localchurches. Having heard it read weekly, he was probably struck by a verse from Isaiahchapter 58, which speaks of sharing food with the hungry and providing the poorwanderer with shelter and goes on to say, “when you see the naked clothe them anddo not turn away from your own flesh and blood”

He was concerned about his family. Faith was looking after him but he probablyknew that she was planning to get married soon, so she was provided for. His cousinKatherine would need a home though, so he left her a cottage and said young ener-getic Robert must also keep his property and be encouraged with his trade. When heconsidered the rest of his family, he decided he wanted to help them as well. Allthose he knew, would have been living fairly nearby. He thought that the incomefrom his land and the rent from some of his properties would be sufficient, not only toallow members of his kin, who fell on hard times to be provided with alms houses butalso to provide for an annual allotment of money to the poor of Aylesbury.

Cottages in Parsons Fee

Who was Dame Isabella?

She was the daughter of Sir Robert Croke, of Chequers in Ellesborough,Bukinghamshire and the widow of Sir Samuel Dodd, Lord Chief Baron of the Courtof Exchequer. Dame Isabella had made her Will on 2nd March 1720. A photographof her portrait and a plaque about her is displayed in Green End House. In her Willshe stated that she wished alms houses to be built for 4 men and 4 women, belowthe Church of St Peter and St Paul in Ellesboroough for the poor and needy of theparish. She said that these persons should abide by 10 rules “to preserve their moralwellbeing and maintain their religious observance by a series of allowances, finesand forfeits.” The alms houses were finally completed in 1746.

The Rectors, Wardens and Trustees of Ellesborough gave much time and effort toprovide comfort and shelter for those in need, through the centuries but the plaquerecords that by the year 2000, the “social structure of the parish and necessarystandards of fabric and infrastructure made the old alms houses redundant. Withbuilding maintenance and council tax constantly eroding funds a decision had to bemade. Therefore, the trustees, anxious to ensure the assets of the alms houseswould continue to be used as originally bequeathed, took the necessary steps torelease capital and in January 2004 donated it to the Thomas Hickman AlmshousesCharity, the donation being in excess of half a million pounds.”

8 Rickfords Hill was acquired on 7th July 2011 and 12 Rickfords Hill was ob-tained on 12th October 2012 and converted into flats in 2014.

Green End House

He wanted to help the poor “as long as this world continueth”. I wonder if heconsidered how long this might be. He had lived through troubled times. The Biblehad much to say about the coming of the Last Judgement. It would have been hardfor him to guess what England might be like 300 years after his death. He could nothave imagined what a burden he was putting on his trustees through the ages tocome. In his day, the cottages would have been comparatively new and in goodrepair. Probably they were better than the houses of the poor folk, who live out inthe countryside. He would have believed that his kin would have been so pleased tolive in that pleasant spot opposite the Church, that they would all be peaceable andgodfearing men and women, who would be proud to keep their dwellings clean,neat and in good condition.

He appointed his cousin Robert, to whom he had left a cottage in Church Streetand two older relatives to be trustees, to ensure that his wishes were carried out.

How did the trustees cope with their responsibilities?

The answer is not well. Everything may have been satisfactory in Robert’s time.He lived until 1742 and was a skilled man. He rebuilt the farmhouse in Walton,which belonged to the trustees of the William Harding Charity in 1728/9. It wasgiven a tiled roof instead of the original thatch. He was also one of the threecarpenters, who agreed to lay the floors in the new jail in 1737.

Thomas Hickman’s House

Major refurbishments were carried out over time and the Chantry Project, wasopened in 1990. On 28 January 2000, Green End House, on Rickfords Hill waspurchased. Then in February 2004 money from Dame Isabella Dodd’s bequest wasgiven to the Thomas Hickman Charity.

The Chantry back

Bungalow in the “Secret Garden”

The house where his Uncle Thomas had lived was also renovated in 1739, giving ita brick frontage and the pedimented doorway it still has.

The members of Thomas’ kin, who followed him as trustees, were not good atmanaging things. There were years when no allotment of money was made to thepoor of Aylesbury and accounts were lost or never kept. When another RobertHickman died, unmarried in 1795, his sister Ann became a trustee, at the age of 65.She was unable to read or write but luckily Henry Hickman, a more distant grand-son of the original trustee, was able to take over. He was better educated than Ann,as he was a surgeon, apothecary and man midwife but he was not good at keepingaccounts either. He left all his property and the trusteeship to his wife, but noaccounts were kept until 1821.

What happened in 1821?

In 1821, the church wardens attempted to sort things out. They allowed Ann to stayin Church Street, on payment of a smaller rent than might have been expected andafter that date accounts were maintained. The Charity’s income was also used tobenefit the poor of the town, as Thomas had intended, from then on.

Twelve years later, in 1833, the Commissions for Inquiring Concerning Charitiesvisited Aylesbury and published their report. They noted that the alms houses wereoccupied by Thomas Hickman’s kin, except for the one occupied by John Porter,who had married the widow of one of the kin. They found that the alms personstook very little care of their dwellings and some of them even “wantonly damagedtheir cottages,” knowing that the Charity was responsible for repairing them. Thecost of the repairs, of course, meant there were reduced funds for the annualdistribution to the poor of the town.

What was life, like in the alms houses?

Church Street had St Mary’s Church at one end and the Grammar School on oneside. One of the cottages still stands at the top of the street. The other four arearound the corner in Parsons Fee, overlooking the graveyard. Years ago, the churchbells would have been heard regularly summoning the people to worship for Sundayservices, baptisms, weddings and funerals and grammar school boys would haveoften been seen dawdling back and forth.

View of the Church and graveyard

Following the Second World War, Aylesbury was transformed into a large urbancentre and there became increasing need for housing in the area. The price of landsoared in the 1960s and it was finally decided to sell the Hickman land adjacent tothat being put on the market by the trustees of the William Harding Charity, nearElm Farm, Aylesbury for a phenomenally large sum. The sale took place inSeptember 1972.

With so much money available after this, ambitious plans were drawn up toprovide housing for the elderly. Over the next few years houses were acquired inCastle Street (1978-85), Church Street (1984), culminating in the Chantry Project(1984-90) incorporating new bungalows and the secret gardens.

Houses in Castle Street

The kin of Thomas Hickman must have been grateful for their entitlement to thehousing and many babies were given Hickman as a middle name demonstratingtheir claim for when they grew up. The recession following the Battle of Waterlooin 1815 and the declining lace trade resulting in unemployment must have causedthe alms houses to seem very desirable.

However, by 1864, two of them had been uninhabited for some time owing totheir “state of decay” and poor sanitary arrangements.

In 1858, Mary Hickman White aged only 39, had been given a cottage with herhusband, Richard Burt White, who was not a parishioner of Aylesbury. She hadbrought with her, her illegitimate son, who did not belong to her husband. TheCharity Commissioners were not happy about this. They asked, “should almspersons be orderly, cleanly and moral in their conduct” and “should a womanclaiming kinship to Thomas, who had married a person not qualified as kin, dis-qualify herself?” I wonder, was it possibly the result of the appointment of the newvicar, Archdeacon Bickersteth, as a trustee, that Rules were drawn up to be ob-served by the alms people?

The“THOMAS HICKMAN ALMS HOUSES”

The alms houses are intended for poor persons, who from ill health, accident orinfirmity, are unable to maintain themselves by their own exertions. Such personshaving a legal settlement in Aylesbury parish and having resided in Aylesbury fornot less than three years next preceding their appointment and having being of goodcharacter and regular attendants of public worship are eligible to the alms houses.

THE FOLLOWING RULESMUST BE STRICTLY OBSERVED BY INMATES

I They are to keep their houses neat and clean at all times and in decent repair.II They are not to take in lodgers under any pretence whatever, nor to admit othersto dwell with them, without the permission of the trustees.III They are to conduct themselves in a quiet orderly manner, especiallyendeavouring to maintain peace and charity with their neighbours.IV They are expected to attend Divine Service regularly.V As the alms houses are only held on good behaviour, the trustees will feel it to betheir duty to remove any occupant, who shall transgress these rules.Aylesbury May 13 1867.

Following the issue of these rules, however, in 1877 and again in 1880, Mary Whitewas informed that her son, then aged 37 and employed as a firewood dealer, was nota fit inmate for the alms houses and Elizabeth Reader was informed, in 1882, thatshe should be paying for the water she was using in her work as a laundress. Thetrustee Rev. William Hickman objected to her taking in washing and employinghelp.

What was done about the state of the alms houses?

By the end of 1871, the five cottages had been repaired and made uniform in “arather advanced old English picturesque” and “Victorian Gothic style”. Each househad a living room, scullery and a tiny pantry. A staircase led to an upper floor withtwo bedrooms. There was a sink and a small range with an oven and windowboards were present for ironing. There was one outside convenience for all theinmates.

Electricity was not connected to the houses until 1949 and none of them hadbathrooms. The outside toilets were without lights until 1968.

By 1955 only one of Thomas Hickman’s kin was living in the alms houses. Therest were occupied by local people.

How did Thomas Hickman’s wildest dreams come true?

In 1964, Hayward Parrott became a trustee of the Charity. He was the son of DrGodfrey Parrott, who had lived in 1 Church Street until 1951. Hayward had livedthere for most of his life. His father had worked with Lord Joseph Lister, whopioneered the use of antiseptics. He himself worked as a solicitor. Parrott & CoalesSolicitors still act as trustees to-day and a great debt of gratitude is owed to them forthe wise way in which they have looked after the funds during these later years.

The Chantry front

The kin of Thomas Hickman must have been grateful for their entitlement to thehousing and many babies were given Hickman as a middle name demonstratingtheir claim for when they grew up. The recession following the Battle of Waterlooin 1815 and the declining lace trade resulting in unemployment must have causedthe alms houses to seem very desirable.

However, by 1864, two of them had been uninhabited for some time owing totheir “state of decay” and poor sanitary arrangements.

In 1858, Mary Hickman White aged only 39, had been given a cottage with herhusband, Richard Burt White, who was not a parishioner of Aylesbury. She hadbrought with her, her illegitimate son, who did not belong to her husband. TheCharity Commissioners were not happy about this. They asked, “should almspersons be orderly, cleanly and moral in their conduct” and “should a womanclaiming kinship to Thomas, who had married a person not qualified as kin, dis-qualify herself?” I wonder, was it possibly the result of the appointment of the newvicar, Archdeacon Bickersteth, as a trustee, that Rules were drawn up to be ob-served by the alms people?

The“THOMAS HICKMAN ALMS HOUSES”

The alms houses are intended for poor persons, who from ill health, accident orinfirmity, are unable to maintain themselves by their own exertions. Such personshaving a legal settlement in Aylesbury parish and having resided in Aylesbury fornot less than three years next preceding their appointment and having being of goodcharacter and regular attendants of public worship are eligible to the alms houses.

THE FOLLOWING RULESMUST BE STRICTLY OBSERVED BY INMATES

I They are to keep their houses neat and clean at all times and in decent repair.II They are not to take in lodgers under any pretence whatever, nor to admit othersto dwell with them, without the permission of the trustees.III They are to conduct themselves in a quiet orderly manner, especiallyendeavouring to maintain peace and charity with their neighbours.IV They are expected to attend Divine Service regularly.V As the alms houses are only held on good behaviour, the trustees will feel it to betheir duty to remove any occupant, who shall transgress these rules.Aylesbury May 13 1867.

Following the issue of these rules, however, in 1877 and again in 1880, Mary Whitewas informed that her son, then aged 37 and employed as a firewood dealer, was nota fit inmate for the alms houses and Elizabeth Reader was informed, in 1882, thatshe should be paying for the water she was using in her work as a laundress. Thetrustee Rev. William Hickman objected to her taking in washing and employinghelp.

What was done about the state of the alms houses?

By the end of 1871, the five cottages had been repaired and made uniform in “arather advanced old English picturesque” and “Victorian Gothic style”. Each househad a living room, scullery and a tiny pantry. A staircase led to an upper floor withtwo bedrooms. There was a sink and a small range with an oven and windowboards were present for ironing. There was one outside convenience for all theinmates.

Electricity was not connected to the houses until 1949 and none of them hadbathrooms. The outside toilets were without lights until 1968.

By 1955 only one of Thomas Hickman’s kin was living in the alms houses. Therest were occupied by local people.

How did Thomas Hickman’s wildest dreams come true?

In 1964, Hayward Parrott became a trustee of the Charity. He was the son of DrGodfrey Parrott, who had lived in 1 Church Street until 1951. Hayward had livedthere for most of his life. His father had worked with Lord Joseph Lister, whopioneered the use of antiseptics. He himself worked as a solicitor. Parrott & CoalesSolicitors still act as trustees to-day and a great debt of gratitude is owed to them forthe wise way in which they have looked after the funds during these later years.

The Chantry front

The house where his Uncle Thomas had lived was also renovated in 1739, giving ita brick frontage and the pedimented doorway it still has.

The members of Thomas’ kin, who followed him as trustees, were not good atmanaging things. There were years when no allotment of money was made to thepoor of Aylesbury and accounts were lost or never kept. When another RobertHickman died, unmarried in 1795, his sister Ann became a trustee, at the age of 65.She was unable to read or write but luckily Henry Hickman, a more distant grand-son of the original trustee, was able to take over. He was better educated than Ann,as he was a surgeon, apothecary and man midwife but he was not good at keepingaccounts either. He left all his property and the trusteeship to his wife, but noaccounts were kept until 1821.

What happened in 1821?

In 1821, the church wardens attempted to sort things out. They allowed Ann to stayin Church Street, on payment of a smaller rent than might have been expected andafter that date accounts were maintained. The Charity’s income was also used tobenefit the poor of the town, as Thomas had intended, from then on.

Twelve years later, in 1833, the Commissions for Inquiring Concerning Charitiesvisited Aylesbury and published their report. They noted that the alms houses wereoccupied by Thomas Hickman’s kin, except for the one occupied by John Porter,who had married the widow of one of the kin. They found that the alms personstook very little care of their dwellings and some of them even “wantonly damagedtheir cottages,” knowing that the Charity was responsible for repairing them. Thecost of the repairs, of course, meant there were reduced funds for the annualdistribution to the poor of the town.

What was life, like in the alms houses?

Church Street had St Mary’s Church at one end and the Grammar School on oneside. One of the cottages still stands at the top of the street. The other four arearound the corner in Parsons Fee, overlooking the graveyard. Years ago, the churchbells would have been heard regularly summoning the people to worship for Sundayservices, baptisms, weddings and funerals and grammar school boys would haveoften been seen dawdling back and forth.

View of the Church and graveyard

Following the Second World War, Aylesbury was transformed into a large urbancentre and there became increasing need for housing in the area. The price of landsoared in the 1960s and it was finally decided to sell the Hickman land adjacent tothat being put on the market by the trustees of the William Harding Charity, nearElm Farm, Aylesbury for a phenomenally large sum. The sale took place inSeptember 1972.

With so much money available after this, ambitious plans were drawn up toprovide housing for the elderly. Over the next few years houses were acquired inCastle Street (1978-85), Church Street (1984), culminating in the Chantry Project(1984-90) incorporating new bungalows and the secret gardens.

Houses in Castle Street

He wanted to help the poor “as long as this world continueth”. I wonder if heconsidered how long this might be. He had lived through troubled times. The Biblehad much to say about the coming of the Last Judgement. It would have been hardfor him to guess what England might be like 300 years after his death. He could nothave imagined what a burden he was putting on his trustees through the ages tocome. In his day, the cottages would have been comparatively new and in goodrepair. Probably they were better than the houses of the poor folk, who live out inthe countryside. He would have believed that his kin would have been so pleased tolive in that pleasant spot opposite the Church, that they would all be peaceable andgodfearing men and women, who would be proud to keep their dwellings clean,neat and in good condition.

He appointed his cousin Robert, to whom he had left a cottage in Church Streetand two older relatives to be trustees, to ensure that his wishes were carried out.

How did the trustees cope with their responsibilities?

The answer is not well. Everything may have been satisfactory in Robert’s time.He lived until 1742 and was a skilled man. He rebuilt the farmhouse in Walton,which belonged to the trustees of the William Harding Charity in 1728/9. It wasgiven a tiled roof instead of the original thatch. He was also one of the threecarpenters, who agreed to lay the floors in the new jail in 1737.

Thomas Hickman’s House

Major refurbishments were carried out over time and the Chantry Project, wasopened in 1990. On 28 January 2000, Green End House, on Rickfords Hill waspurchased. Then in February 2004 money from Dame Isabella Dodd’s bequest wasgiven to the Thomas Hickman Charity.

The Chantry back

Bungalow in the “Secret Garden”

It is probable that at the age of 33, he served as one of the four parishes overseers ofthe poor and distributors of the “rate” which landowners had to pay to support thepoor of their parish, under the provision of the Elizabethan Poor Law. While fulfill-ing this role, he must have seen the distress these people suffered. Widows andorphans, the sick and the infirm would have been particularly vulnerable and hewould have, no doubt, had to listen to many tales of woe. Perhaps that is why hewished his cottages to become alms houses and why he left funds in trust to pay anannual allotment “to the poorest and most pitiful objects of charity in Alms to them,and not to ease the rich in their collection but to this my gift be given that they mayhave a comfortable subsistence in their poor and mean condition, as long as thisworld continueth”. He also left a payment to the poor of Wendover and the poor ofBrickhill.

What was Thomas thinking when he made his Will?

Thomas made his Will on 1st January 1696. He would then have been in his latefifties – a good age at that period in history. He may have already been ailing, sothoughts about his death might have been in his mind. I don’t know what he wasthinking as he recorded his wishes but can use my imagination to guess.

It was not long since an English translation of the Bible had appeared in localchurches. Having heard it read weekly, he was probably struck by a verse from Isaiahchapter 58, which speaks of sharing food with the hungry and providing the poorwanderer with shelter and goes on to say, “when you see the naked clothe them anddo not turn away from your own flesh and blood”

He was concerned about his family. Faith was looking after him but he probablyknew that she was planning to get married soon, so she was provided for. His cousinKatherine would need a home though, so he left her a cottage and said young ener-getic Robert must also keep his property and be encouraged with his trade. When heconsidered the rest of his family, he decided he wanted to help them as well. Allthose he knew, would have been living fairly nearby. He thought that the incomefrom his land and the rent from some of his properties would be sufficient, not only toallow members of his kin, who fell on hard times to be provided with alms houses butalso to provide for an annual allotment of money to the poor of Aylesbury.

Cottages in Parsons Fee

Who was Dame Isabella?

She was the daughter of Sir Robert Croke, of Chequers in Ellesborough,Bukinghamshire and the widow of Sir Samuel Dodd, Lord Chief Baron of the Courtof Exchequer. Dame Isabella had made her Will on 2nd March 1720. A photographof her portrait and a plaque about her is displayed in Green End House. In her Willshe stated that she wished alms houses to be built for 4 men and 4 women, belowthe Church of St Peter and St Paul in Ellesboroough for the poor and needy of theparish. She said that these persons should abide by 10 rules “to preserve their moralwellbeing and maintain their religious observance by a series of allowances, finesand forfeits.” The alms houses were finally completed in 1746.

The Rectors, Wardens and Trustees of Ellesborough gave much time and effort toprovide comfort and shelter for those in need, through the centuries but the plaquerecords that by the year 2000, the “social structure of the parish and necessarystandards of fabric and infrastructure made the old alms houses redundant. Withbuilding maintenance and council tax constantly eroding funds a decision had to bemade. Therefore, the trustees, anxious to ensure the assets of the alms houseswould continue to be used as originally bequeathed, took the necessary steps torelease capital and in January 2004 donated it to the Thomas Hickman AlmshousesCharity, the donation being in excess of half a million pounds.”

8 Rickfords Hill was acquired on 7th July 2011 and 12 Rickfords Hill was ob-tained on 12th October 2012 and converted into flats in 2014.

Green End House

Who was Thomas Hickman?

He held a schoolmaster’s licence but there is no evidence that he was employed atthe Grammar School in Church Street. He left a number of good books andmathematical instruments in his Will and documents bearing his signature, showthat his writing was elaborate with the fashionable flourishes favoured in his day. Itis possible that he might have been a freelance writing master also teachingarithmetic.

He had sufficient finances to lend money to others. This was a very helpfulservice, as there were no Banks at that time. He seems to have been able to live thecomfortable life of an unmarried gentleman. He died at the age of 61.

He does not seem to have inherited wealth, but during his lifetime he bought anumber of properties. In his Will, he listed his home at 1 Church Street, Robert’shome in Church Street, a house in Market Square, a farm house in Walton withoutbuildings and 32 acres of land, which he had acquired in small lots and 4cottages in Parsons Fee.

What was he like?

Obviously, he had great love for his family. He stated in his Will that he wished tobe buried “in the grave of my dear mother”. When he died, he was living with hiscousin, Faith Platter. He wanted her to have those of his good books “that shemight care to read”. He describes his male cousin as “my loving kinsman, RobertHickman” and bequeathed the rest of his books and mathematical instruments tohim. As Robert was a carpenter, they must have come in useful. He left one of hiscottages to Faith’s sister Katherine Platter and also small sums of money to threeother cousins and their children and to the children of two other cousins, who haddied. He appointed his “loving friend John Wilson of Hartwell” as an overseer ofhis Will and said he was to be paid for his pains,

Green End Garden

What are the results to-day?

A large lawn and gardens now extend between the properties owned by the ThomasHickman Trust in Castle Street and the Rickfords Hill houses. A communal lounge,in one of the Castle Street dwellings is used by the residents of all 49 of theThomas Hickman properties and a flourishing residents committee organises socialactivities on a regular basis. There is also a part time pastoral care consultant.

People, who can be married couples but must be of pensionable age, who havelived in Aylesbury for at least 3 years and can have modest savings can apply to livein the Hickman houses. They make contributions towards the maintenance of theproperties, which are made up of a mixture of bungalows, flats/ ground flooraccommodations and cottages of different sizes.

Since 1979, Hickman’s Charity has also made grants for the relief of need in thetown, so the spirit of the old annual cash distribution to the poor has been retained,but housing continues to be its main focus.

I believe that old Thomas would be well pleased.

AcknowledgementsI wish to thank the Thomas Hickman Almshouses Charity and the residents of theHickman Houses for the encouragement they have given me and for some of theinformation in this booklet. Thanks to Karl Vaughan for the photograph of ThomasHickman’s House.I am also grateful to ALMAR (Tring) Limited.

Robert Hickman’s House

WHAT WOULD THOMAS THINK?by

ANGELA M. SMITH

Sketch Map of T

homas H

ickman’s

Hom

e Ground