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Daniel George Bingham, 1830-1913 John Kirby, Secretary of the Bingham Trust Reprinted from Parish Magazine, 2006 As trustees of the Bingham Trust, we felt that we ought to know something about Mr Bingham, our original founder. All we knew was that he was a mysterious benefactor who built the Bingham Hall in Box and gave it to the village. Left: Mr DG Bingham (courtesy www.bbc.co.uk) Information about sports grants available from the trustees for the benefit of young people in the parish of Box can be obtained by contacting us or from the article at Parties at Bingham Hall. |
Personal Life
Mr Bingham was born and bred in Cirencester and started work for the Great Western Railway as a clerk at Cirencester station.
He was very good at his job and in 1855 he was promoted to the head office at Paddington where he showed considerable ability as a railway manager.
Because of his ability, in 1858, he was invited to move to Holland to help sort out the Dutch-Rhenish railways which ran between Holland and Germany and were in a bit of a mess at the time.[1] He did this with great success, and in 1862 he became the general manager of the Dutch-Rhenish railways, which he continued to be for the rest of his career.
In 1860 Mr Bingham married his cousin, Jane Brain of Kelmscott, and they lived all their married life in Holland in the town of Utrecht. When Mr Bingham retired in 1890 they considered moving back to England and chose not Cirencester, but Box where, at sometime in the 1890s, they bought Sunnyside, which is now the Bybrook Nursing Home. They had the house extensively enlarged and improved and laid out the gardens, all of which must have taken some time, and the date stone over the front door of Bybrook House suggests that the work was finished in 1902. However, they had so many friends and other ties in Holland that they decided not to move after all and kept Sunnyside for periodical visits.
Mr Bingham was well paid for his work on the railways and he was an astute business man and, as a result, he became very wealthy. As they had no children, he used his wealth for the benefit of the community, particularly the town of Cirencester. He gave the town two public buildings, the Bingham Library which was built in 1905 and the Cirencester Bingham Hall which was built in 1908. Both of these are substantial stone buildings which are in use to this day. He also paid for an additional wing to Cirencester Cottage Hospital and gave grants to organisations in the town in much the same way as our Bingham Trust does today.
Box and Cirencester
He didn't overlook Box and in 1905 he bought some land in Chapel Lane for the site of a village hall. A deed dated 5th December 1905 transferred ownership of the land from Mr Bingham to the trustees of the newly formed Bingham Hall Trust who were Rev William White, vicar of Box, Mr Thomas Vezey, solicitor of Bath and Mr Bingham himself. The deed also states the intention to erect a building, at the expense of Mr Bingham, to be known as The Bingham Hall. The parish magazines of the day, which are held in Box Library, record that the hall was duly built at a cost of £650 which was paid by Mr Bingham, and opened with a concert on the 24th April 1906.
In Cirencester, Mr Bingham built 12 cottages and 6 villas near to the Bingham Hall, which are owned by their Bingham Hall Trustees, so that the rents could provide an income for the upkeep of the hall. He made no such provision in Box, but in 1915 his widow gave our Bingham Hall Trustees two bonds, worth £99.5s.0d each, issued by the Russian Imperial Government with the intention that the interest on them should provide for the upkeep of the hall. Unfortunately these bonds became worthless after the Russian Revolution, so she subsequently gave the Box Trustees a further £250 which they invested in £248.16s.0d of British Government War Stock and used the interest for the upkeep of the hall. This investment remained intact and, along with the sale proceeds of the Bingham Hall site, was handed over to the present Bingham Trust when it was formed. A further deed dated 17th December 1924 acknowledged these gifts from Mrs Bingham and also appointed Mr Shaw Mellor of Box House as a trustee in place of Mr Bingham.
Bingham Hall Closed and Trust Began
Box Bingham Hall was very much the poor relation as it was a wooden structure with a corrugated iron roof which, nevertheless, served the village well for over 60 years. Those of us who lived in Box in the Sixties will no doubt remember cosy social gatherings in the Bingham Hall and occasions when the dancing got too vigorous and the whole building would start to shake. A surveyor's report on our Bingham Hall in 1965 said that it was near the end of its useful life and in 1969 when the Selwyn Hall opened, the Bingham Hall finally closed.
An order by the Charity Commission dated 27th September 1973 ordered that the Bingham Hall site should be sold and the hall demolished, and the sale took place on 23rd November 1973. A further order by the Charity Commission dated 4th June 1979 set up the Bingham Trust in its present form and ordered that the sale proceeds and other money held by the Hall Trustees should be handed over to the Bingham Trust. The Trustees of the Bingham Trust have invested this money and use the interest to make grants for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Box.
So, in the form of the Bingham Trust, Mr Bingham's legacy continues to provide benefits for the village of Box.
Sources
Most of the information about Mr Bingham has been taken from the book Cirencester a Century Ago by David and Linda Viner and the authors have kindly given permission for its use in this article.
Also, we are most grateful to John and Bethan Denning of Bingham House for the loan of their deeds which contain a record of the Bingham Hall from its inception in 1905 to its demolition in 1973.
Mr Bingham was born and bred in Cirencester and started work for the Great Western Railway as a clerk at Cirencester station.
He was very good at his job and in 1855 he was promoted to the head office at Paddington where he showed considerable ability as a railway manager.
Because of his ability, in 1858, he was invited to move to Holland to help sort out the Dutch-Rhenish railways which ran between Holland and Germany and were in a bit of a mess at the time.[1] He did this with great success, and in 1862 he became the general manager of the Dutch-Rhenish railways, which he continued to be for the rest of his career.
In 1860 Mr Bingham married his cousin, Jane Brain of Kelmscott, and they lived all their married life in Holland in the town of Utrecht. When Mr Bingham retired in 1890 they considered moving back to England and chose not Cirencester, but Box where, at sometime in the 1890s, they bought Sunnyside, which is now the Bybrook Nursing Home. They had the house extensively enlarged and improved and laid out the gardens, all of which must have taken some time, and the date stone over the front door of Bybrook House suggests that the work was finished in 1902. However, they had so many friends and other ties in Holland that they decided not to move after all and kept Sunnyside for periodical visits.
Mr Bingham was well paid for his work on the railways and he was an astute business man and, as a result, he became very wealthy. As they had no children, he used his wealth for the benefit of the community, particularly the town of Cirencester. He gave the town two public buildings, the Bingham Library which was built in 1905 and the Cirencester Bingham Hall which was built in 1908. Both of these are substantial stone buildings which are in use to this day. He also paid for an additional wing to Cirencester Cottage Hospital and gave grants to organisations in the town in much the same way as our Bingham Trust does today.
Box and Cirencester
He didn't overlook Box and in 1905 he bought some land in Chapel Lane for the site of a village hall. A deed dated 5th December 1905 transferred ownership of the land from Mr Bingham to the trustees of the newly formed Bingham Hall Trust who were Rev William White, vicar of Box, Mr Thomas Vezey, solicitor of Bath and Mr Bingham himself. The deed also states the intention to erect a building, at the expense of Mr Bingham, to be known as The Bingham Hall. The parish magazines of the day, which are held in Box Library, record that the hall was duly built at a cost of £650 which was paid by Mr Bingham, and opened with a concert on the 24th April 1906.
In Cirencester, Mr Bingham built 12 cottages and 6 villas near to the Bingham Hall, which are owned by their Bingham Hall Trustees, so that the rents could provide an income for the upkeep of the hall. He made no such provision in Box, but in 1915 his widow gave our Bingham Hall Trustees two bonds, worth £99.5s.0d each, issued by the Russian Imperial Government with the intention that the interest on them should provide for the upkeep of the hall. Unfortunately these bonds became worthless after the Russian Revolution, so she subsequently gave the Box Trustees a further £250 which they invested in £248.16s.0d of British Government War Stock and used the interest for the upkeep of the hall. This investment remained intact and, along with the sale proceeds of the Bingham Hall site, was handed over to the present Bingham Trust when it was formed. A further deed dated 17th December 1924 acknowledged these gifts from Mrs Bingham and also appointed Mr Shaw Mellor of Box House as a trustee in place of Mr Bingham.
Bingham Hall Closed and Trust Began
Box Bingham Hall was very much the poor relation as it was a wooden structure with a corrugated iron roof which, nevertheless, served the village well for over 60 years. Those of us who lived in Box in the Sixties will no doubt remember cosy social gatherings in the Bingham Hall and occasions when the dancing got too vigorous and the whole building would start to shake. A surveyor's report on our Bingham Hall in 1965 said that it was near the end of its useful life and in 1969 when the Selwyn Hall opened, the Bingham Hall finally closed.
An order by the Charity Commission dated 27th September 1973 ordered that the Bingham Hall site should be sold and the hall demolished, and the sale took place on 23rd November 1973. A further order by the Charity Commission dated 4th June 1979 set up the Bingham Trust in its present form and ordered that the sale proceeds and other money held by the Hall Trustees should be handed over to the Bingham Trust. The Trustees of the Bingham Trust have invested this money and use the interest to make grants for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Box.
So, in the form of the Bingham Trust, Mr Bingham's legacy continues to provide benefits for the village of Box.
Sources
Most of the information about Mr Bingham has been taken from the book Cirencester a Century Ago by David and Linda Viner and the authors have kindly given permission for its use in this article.
Also, we are most grateful to John and Bethan Denning of Bingham House for the loan of their deeds which contain a record of the Bingham Hall from its inception in 1905 to its demolition in 1973.
Addendum
[1] The GWR had many connections with the Dutch-Rhenish railway. Richard Potter was a leading player, a director of the GWR and of the Dutch railway. Mr Bingham's involvement was even more personal. James Forbes, the Area Manager of GWR, had lodged with Bingham's parents at one stage and when James was promoted to the Head Office in Paddington, he invited Daniel to join him. In 1855 Forbes took up a post with the Dutch-Rhine Railway Company in Utrecht and Daniel again joined him. Their organisational skills helped save the company from the brink of bankruptcy and they acquired considerable wealth by buying shares in the company when they were extremely cheap. In 1857 Forbes became General Manager in Utrecht and in 1858 Daniel was appointed Chief Goods Manager. When Forbes returned to England in 1861, Daniel became General Manager.
[1] The GWR had many connections with the Dutch-Rhenish railway. Richard Potter was a leading player, a director of the GWR and of the Dutch railway. Mr Bingham's involvement was even more personal. James Forbes, the Area Manager of GWR, had lodged with Bingham's parents at one stage and when James was promoted to the Head Office in Paddington, he invited Daniel to join him. In 1855 Forbes took up a post with the Dutch-Rhine Railway Company in Utrecht and Daniel again joined him. Their organisational skills helped save the company from the brink of bankruptcy and they acquired considerable wealth by buying shares in the company when they were extremely cheap. In 1857 Forbes became General Manager in Utrecht and in 1858 Daniel was appointed Chief Goods Manager. When Forbes returned to England in 1861, Daniel became General Manager.