THE ELLEN BARNES CHARITABLE TRUST
Several dates could be chosen as the start of this charity. In a sense it came into being when Ellen Barnes died on 23rd February 1920. However, the foundations were laid in her will dated 5th July 1913 from which time the future shape of her many interests began to form. The first recorded meeting of Trustees was on 18th March 1923, but the Scheme for the Charity was not finally approved till 26th June 1930.
This account was written in 2023-24 at a time of consolidation for the Ellen Barnes Charitable Trust. The first decades of the twentieth century had seen enhanced public scrutiny of all charities and tighter regulation. This coincided with the completion of the first hundred years of the Charity. So, the desire to re-examine the origins of the charity and the intentions of its benefactor was a natural part of setting a course for the challenges of the future.
CELEBRATING A FIRST CENTURY
AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION AND SOURCES
Late in 2022, a small metal trunk, unknown to current Trustees, was re-discovered in the Charity Solicitor’s basement store where it had been untouched for almost two decades. In this was found a large leather-bound hand-written Charity Record Book. It had been started but never completed. The Charity Record book began with a two-page biography of Ellen Barnes with an illuminated heading. Ellen Barnes’ Will and Codicils were also transposed in full along with other early legal records.
This record book together with minute books: 1923–1979 and 1979–2005, plus files of minutes from 2005 to the present day, and various deeds and documents are the main sources for this summary of the Charity’s history. These sources will normally be assumed and not referenced in the text.
Other information has been gleaned from the work of Jennifer Barnes [not related] who published the definitive history: “Thomas Barnes of Farnworth and The Quinta [Quinta Press 2012]”.
I began this work in late 2022 when, rather than bowing out as a Trustee, I found myself, unexpectedly, Chair of Trustees. So, I write not as a competent historian, but more as someone trying to unravel the significant features in the life of our benefactor and the history of the Trust so that the Charity can navigate its second century based on understanding its origins and heritage.
I was already blown away by the information discovered in the trunk. Till then, despite 50 years of involvement with The Quinta, Ellen Barnes had just been a relatively meaningless name to me. Early in 2024, I thought I had come close to finishing the work, but I was contacted by Jennifer Barnes who had information she wanted to pass on about Ellen Barnes and the Trust.
Her notes, documents and the various records she came across in her decades of research included her sixty-three-page account of James Richardson Barnes and his wife Ellen. This came from her unpublished work on the Barnes Family. I shall be unable to do justice to all Jennifer’s material, but I hope to offer a glimpse into the life of an extraordinary woman whose legacy continues to have a remarkable impact one hundred years later. When these sources are used “[J. Barnes]” will normally appear in the text. Other specific sources will be specified.
I also make use of my accumulated knowledge gained from working for Dr Barnardo’s at The Quinta School 1971–1980 and then as the first employee of Centre Ministries at The Quinta Christian Centre where I worked from 1985 until I retired in 2014. Finally, I have absorbed knowledge from my role as a Trustee of the Ellen Barnes Trust since 2010 and from personal involvement in the life of Weston Rhyn.
I am grateful to those who have helped me in correcting and adding to my original text.
I reserve the right to publish this material elsewhere: perhaps in a similar account of The Quinta
Peter Bevington Summer 2024
FURTHER READING:
ELLEN BARNES CHARITABLE TRUST – CELEBRATING A FIRST CENTURY