Queen Anne's Bounty facts for kids

Queen Anne's Bounty was a special plan started in 1704. Its main goal was to help church leaders in the Church of England who didn't earn much money. It also referred to the organization that managed this help, called "The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the Poor Clergy." Over time, this organization also offered other types of support to churches that struggled financially.

How it Started

The money for Queen Anne's Bounty came from payments called annates. These were "first fruits" and "tenths." "First fruits" was the first year's income a church leader earned when starting a new job. "Tenths" was a tenth of their income each year after that. For a long time, English church leaders paid these amounts to the Pope. After the English Reformation, these payments went to the King.

Henry VIII had these payments carefully valued, and they were set as specific amounts of money. This value was never updated. By 1920, the money from "first fruits" and "tenths" was about £15,000 to £16,000 each year.

The bounty money was used to increase the income of church jobs that earned less than £80 a year. The money wasn't given directly to the church leaders. Instead, it was used to buy land, usually worth £200. The income from this land would then help the church leader's earnings.

Churches that needed help were chosen by a lottery if they earned less than £10 a year. In the early years, churches could also get help if someone else offered to add money, and the bounty would match it. Over time, more churches became eligible. By 1747, churches earning less than £20 a year were included. By 1788, it was those under £30, and by 1810, those under £50.

How it Grew

Over time, many churches found it easier not to buy land themselves. Instead, they left the money with Queen Anne's Bounty. The Bounty paid them a steady, but not very high, interest rate. The Bounty then invested this money at higher interest rates. The extra money they earned helped cover their running costs and added more funds to help other churches.

By 1829, the money left with the Bounty was over £1 million. This was invested in bank annuities, which are investments that can change in value. By 1900, the Bounty held over £7 million for various churches they had helped.

By 1815, the original income and the money from interest had allowed the Bounty to give out nearly £1.5 million. This also encouraged others to donate almost £0.5 million. This helped increase the income of 3,300 church jobs. To speed things up, the government gave the Bounty £100,000 every year between 1809 and 1820, totaling £1.1 million.

Because of this, by 1824, all church jobs earning less than £30 a year had been helped. There was also enough money to help all jobs worth under £50 a year. By 1841, it was estimated that the Bounty's work had increased church income by more than ten times the amount from the original "first fruits" and "tenths."

In 1836, a group called the Ecclesiastical Commission reported on church jobs with low incomes:

To compare, during Queen Anne's time, about 3,800 church jobs earned less than £50 a year. These jobs were excused from paying "first fruits" and "tenths" forever.

After 1836, the Bounty mostly helped churches by matching donations from other people. This was for church jobs worth less than £200 a year. In 1890, the total amount given out was £176,896.

On April 2, 1947, Queen Anne's Bounty joined with another group called the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Together, they formed the Church Commissioners. The old records of Queen Anne's Bounty are now kept by the Church of England Record Centre.

Links to Slavery

On June 16, 2022, the Church Commissioners released a report. It showed that Queen Anne's Bounty had invested a lot of money in the South Sea Company. This company transported 34,000 enslaved people to the Spanish Americas in the 1700s. The Bounty also received donations from people who were involved in slavery, like Edward Colston.

Justin Welby, who is the Archbishop of Canterbury, said sorry for these links to slavery. In January 2023, the Church Commissioners announced they would create a fund of £100 million. This money will be spent over the next nine years to address these historical links to slavery.

Laws About the Bounty

Here are some of the laws that created and changed Queen Anne's Bounty:

• The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1703
• The Queen Anne's Bounty Acts 1706 to 1870 is a group name for these laws:
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1706
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1707
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1714
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1716
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1803
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1805
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1838
  • The Queen Anne's Bounty Act 1840
• The Queen Anne's Bounty (Superannuation) Act 1870

See also

• Board of First Fruits, in Ireland
• Commission for Building Fifty New Churches
• John Ecton (d. 1730)
• First fruits in Scotland