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THE DOWAGER COUNTESS ELEANOR PEEL
TRUST (DCEPT)
The Trust Deed was made on May 3rd 1951, the original
Trustees being Horace Evelyn Sier, George Gregson Parkinson
and William Gosselin (later Sir William) Trower. The
Trust was made to accord with the will of the Right Honourable
Eleanor Countess Peel, who died on November 9th 1949, directing
that “the Executors should stand possessed of her residuary
estate upon trust to establish a charitable trust to be known
as “the Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust”.
The background to the Trust arises from the union of two
remarkable families. Eleanor (Ella), born in 1871,
was the daughter of a James Williamson (later Baron Ashton)
of Lancaster, whose father sowed the seeds of establishing
a vast family fortune. James Williamson, father of
Lord Ashton, was the son of a Keswick (Cumbrian) wool manufacturer. He
migrated to Lancaster in 1830 and was apprenticed as a painter
and decorator but in a most imaginative way he started to
make table beige (American cloth) which he began to export,
together with upholstery and wallpaper, from a factory at
the head of navigation of the Lune river – Lune Mills
(known locally as the “shipyard”). He
then digressed by producing a floor covering by painting
oil paints on a cork or sack cloth base. This product,
known as oilcloth and later as linoleum, became accepted
almost universally as a floor covering, becoming a great
source of wealth and laid the foundation of the firm of James
Williamson and Son. James Williamson became a Freeman
of Lancaster in 1837 and gave to the town a magnificent ornamental
park, known to this day as Williamson Park.
James Williamson’s son, also James, inherited the
business and wealth on his father’s death in 1879. He
expanded the firm and became a local dignitary and benefactor. He
was a town councillor, a justice of peace, High Sheriff of
Lancaster and Liberal Member of Parliament for Lancaster
from 1886 to 1895. In 1895 he was created a Peer of
the Realm, assuming the name Baron Ashton. His generosity
to local institutions was notorious, but the outstanding
donations were the building of a magnificent town hall in
Dalton Square and providing a bronze statue of Queen Victoria
which adorns the centre of the square.
Lord Ashton was married three times, and to commemorate
his nuptial happiness he created a monument in the Williamson
Park. This fantastic Baroque building (known locally
as “the structure”) is a landmark which can be
seen from miles around. In his later years he became
a virtual recluse, living in a beautiful house, Ryelands,
in Skerton. He died, intestate, in 1930. It is
estimated that his estate was valued at £9.5 million. He
had two daughters by his first marriage – Eleanor who
later founded the DCEPT, and Maud who died in 1906 at the
age of 30.
Eleanor Williamson married the Rt. Hon. William Robert Wellesly
Viscount Peel at All Saints Knightsbridge, London in April
1899. Viscount Peel had an illustrious lineage, the
first Baronetcy having been bestowed on one Robert Peel in
1800. Many of his descendants were distinguished in
the army, the church, the professions and in politics. Perhaps
the ancestor of Earl Peel most renowned in history was Sir
Robert Peel, a distinguished statesman, M.P. for Oxford and
later for Tamworth, who introduced the police force into
Ireland (1812-18) and the Police Act in Parliament in 1828. He
thus gave rise to the slang expressions “bobbies” and “peelers”.
But Viscount Peel was a man of great stature. He was
a barrister at the Inner Temple, M.P. for Manchester South
(1900-1906) and for Taunton (1906-1912), and became Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1921. In 1929 he was elevated
in the peerage, becoming the first Earl Peel. After
such a distinguished career, he died in 1937 at the age of
60. His widow, the Dowager Countess, survived him by
12 years.
The Charitable Trust (The DCEPT) not only
reflects the wishes of the Dowager but highlights many facets
of her wisdom and determination. Apart from certain
scheduled charities, emphasis is made to helping medical
charities and research, old people, and those “who
have fallen on evil days through no fault of their own”.
From the inception of the Trust to 5th April 2011 grants
totalling £ 563,039 have been made to scheduled charities
and £ 14,147,014 to other charities including subsidiary
charities and endowments.
To facilitate applications of the Trust to medical research, a subsidiary trust, The Peel Medical Research Trust (PMRT) was established in September 1954, the Trustees being William Gosselin Trower and Dr Thomas Parkinson. This enabled the Trust to devote money to individuals for medical research and to endow a Travelling Fellowship to allow a doctor to study abroad for one year and to bring back knowledge,techniques and research methods to this country, since the formation of the Trust to the winding up of this Trust grants totalling £2,188,732 have been made.Grants to individuals for fellowships are now made by the Charitable Trust. Two annual fellowship may be awarded namely The Peel Travelling Fellowship and The Rothwell-Jackson Travelling Fellowship.
In June 1964 a further subsidiary trust
named The Peel Studentship Trust was established, the first
trustees being John Cuthbert Bevington; Stanley George Sturmey;
Thomas Edward Lawrenson; and Robert Scott Parkinson. The
Trust was established with the prime objective of the advancement
of education at The Lancaster University and grants totalling £ 748,167
have been awarded since formation up to 5th April 2011.
The Trustees have also created two permanent endowment funds
namely Eleanor Peel Chair of Geriatrics at St George’s
Hospital on 15th April 1975 and The Eleanor Peel Lectureship
in Psycho-Geriatrics at The Institute of Psychiatry on 21st
February 1984. The awards been for £250,000 and £299,894
respectively
The current trustees are John W Parkinson
(Chairman), Professor Sir Robert Boyd,Robert Michael Parkinson,
Professor Maggie Pearson, Professor Richard Ramsden and Julius Manduell
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