Until Tudor times, the City of London kept within the City walls. However, as the population grew in the sixteenth century, the marshes north of the City were drained and gradually people settled in what was the Manor of Finsbury. Such was the expansion of the St Giles parish that in 1731 it was decided to carve out a new parish. The church of St Luke’s, Old Street, was consecrated in 1732.

There was no welfare state and so the poor relied on the parish and benefactors, either whilst they were living or as bequests in their will. It is interesting to see that the first act of the new parish was to build a workhouse in 1734 to house the poor. St Giles had benefitted from bequests since 1500, the earliest record of which is from the will of John Sworder. As a result, the parish enjoyed the rental income from eight dwellings, which was used for bread, clothing and fuel. When the parishes were split, a number of bequests were administered jointly in various proportions. Reading the various committee minutes you realise that by the early 18th century the whole system of committees, minutes and their general governance was well established.