Queen's Road 81 & 83, "Park's Almshouses"
Road: Queen's Road, Teddington
Property: Park's Almshouses
The Park's Almshouses were built in 1900 by Cornelius John Park (1832-1909) in fulfilment of a bequest by his father, John Cornelius Park (1805-1887), who left £1000 in his will for this purpose. There seem to have been legal difficulties with the terms of the bequest which may only have been settled with the Charity Commission in 1896. In any case, the almshouses were not built until 1900. The Park's Almshouses were then established as "Two almshouses to be occupied as residences by persons being Peculiar or Calvinistic Baptists of good character and above the age of 60 years who have resided in the parish of Teddington for at least 2 years prior to the date of election and are not receiving, and have never received, parochial relief." In his will, Cornelius John Park left a further £500 which was invested, with the income used for the maintenance of the Almshouses and for support of their residents.
For many years the Park's Almshouses Trust existed as an independent charity (formally registered as charity number 248015 in 1966) with the trustees coming from Teddington Baptist Church. In the 1990s, it was transferred to the management of the Richmond upon Thames Churches Housing Trust and in 2007 was amalgamated with four other small local housing charities to become the Quintus Housing Trust (charity number 265192). The provision giving preference to Baptists for residentce in the almshouses remains in place.
The original benefactor, John Cornelius Park, was a prominent builder and land owner who lived in Auckland House, Hampton Road, Teddington for many years (ref: 1871 Census and 1881 Census). He is said to have built Teddington Hall. His gravestone in Teddington Cemetery says he died on 4 Jan 1887 aged 80 but his 1823 christening record (St Mary Newington) gives his birthday as 13 May 1805. Although not a member of Teddington Baptist Church, John Cornelius Park appears to have been sympathetic to that Church and gave it a concessionary rent when it used Craig Hall in the period 1880-1884 before it moved to its site at the junction of Church Road, Teddington and Walpole Crescent.
This page is part of the Directory of Buildings of Townscape Merit in Teddington assembled by the Planning Group of The Teddington Society. Copyright for the material on this page rests with the contributor.