Registered charity, no. 306,641
A charity for Exeter's heritage
The purpose of the trust
The Kent Kingdon Trust exists to purchase books for the Exeter Central Public Library and works of art for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.
Some historical background
The Trust was established under the will of Kent Kingdon, an Exeter cabinet maker who died on 2 April 1889. The will laid down detailed instructions for the administration of his generous bequest. The Trustees were to meet on his birthday, 24 April to select books for the Library. Every third year no books were to selected but "a good work of art" was to be chosen for the Museum. Kent Kingdon had fixed ideas on what he preferred: "if a painting I prefer a good landscape", and as far as books were concerned "no theological works or works of fiction of any sort or kind". In the early part of the twentieth century the funds facilitated the purchase of many items but over the years they were eroded by inflation. From the 1970s the fund became dormant but in 1994 the Trust was revived and the income which had accrued over the previous twenty years reinvested. Some of the earlier stipulations of the will have been dropped, for example the limitation of trustees to "gentlemen" and the requirement that every seven years the interior of the Museum be decorated in "grey and black but no gilding as I consider that exhibition rooms should be kept in very quiet good taste". Nevertheless the intention of the present trustees is to continue the spirit of Kent Kingdon's wishes and the Trust is now once more able to assist the Library and Museum with purchases, although on a much more modest scale than at the start of the century.
Examples of grants
Since the re-establishment of the Trust grants have included assistance in the purchase of the following items:
For the Museum:
- Etchings of birds by Katrina Cook
- A collection of Melanesian dance masks
- Contemporary prints by Ronald Salmond, Howard Phipps and Monica Poole
- Totem pole commissioned from Tim Paul of British Columbia
- Landscape no. 440, by John Virtue
- Portrait of James Northcote by James Ramsay
- Two medieval stained glass panels in the style of the master of the east window of Exeter Cathedral
- Ten silver pennies by Exeter moneyers c991-1086. Click for images of coins.
- Painting by Alan Richards.
- Sculptures by Peter Thursby.
- Elizabethan panelling from 229 High Street, Exeter.
- Watercolour by Thomas Rowlandson.
- Watercolour by Francis Towne.
- Fairey & Adams architectural drawings of Exeter.
- William Nation volume of Caricatures.
- Portrait of Thomas Medland Kingdon, father of Kent Kingdon.
- Dartmouth from Saint Petrox, by Henry William Dawson (1852).
- Archdeacon of Barnstaple's seal.
- Watercolour by Burlison and Grylls showing the proposed design for the Tanner Memorial Window of 1872 for Exeter Cathedral.
- Watercolour by Samuel Palmer. After the Storm.
- A proclamation of ... pardon to the inhabitants ... of Exceter (1643).
- War illustrated (an almost complete set of this unusual World War 2 illustrated periodical).
- The Batten and Bennett collection of 160 county maps of Devon (1575-1837)
- A late 16th century manuscript armorial.
- The old lawes and statutes of the stannaries (1574).
- Totnes charters, manuscript copies.
- Practical observations on ectropium, by Sir William Adams (1814).
- The ship of fools, translated by Alexander Barclay (1570). Click here for extracts and some of the woodcuts.
- Map book of the Calmady Estates, 1788/89.
- Masonic miscellanies volume of 93 items (1820-1838).
- J.R.Powell’s typescript notes in 24 volumes.
- Eighteenth century manuscript map of Templeton.
- Izacke's Remarkable antiquities of the city of Exeter. William Chapple’s annotated copy.
- A Sermon preach'd in the Church of Crediton, by Thomas Ley, Vicar of Crediton (1710).
- The Tuckenhay Mills : people and paper by Peter and Donna Thomas. An American private press item (2016).
Before the 1970s the Bequest has assisted in the purchase of the following:
For the Museum:
Stanhope Forbes (1857-1948) "22nd January 1901" (the announcement of the death of Queen Victoria)
Sir Herbert E.P.Hughes-Stanton (1870-1937) "Cader Idris" (1918)
Lucy Kemp Welch (1869-1958) "In sight: Lord Dundonald's last dash on Ladysmith" (1901)
James Northcote (1746-1831) "Portrait of the artist"
For the Library:
John Gendall. "Exeter Cathedral monumentarium" (Manuscript, 1835)
Wilfred Drake. Cartoon history of Devon (1906).
John Dyer. The fleece: a poem (1757)
These are only examples of many purchases over the years. It is hoped to draw up a fuller list to celebrate the great contribution of Kent Kingdon's bequest to Exeter's heritage over more than a century.
The Trust also holds a sum of money made over to it by the Devon Dialect Society when it disbanded. This is available to assist in the promotion of Devon dialect studies, particularly for providing access to a corpus of dialect texts or recordings through the Public Library in Exeter.
The illustration below is taken from The ship of fools, translated by Alexander Barclay (second edition, 1570). Alexander Barclay of Ottery St. Mary was the first Devon writer to appear in print when his translation was originally published in 1509. By making a grant of ninety per cent of the purchase price in 1999 the Trust was able to ensure that this important item was acquired for the Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter.
How you can help the Trust
Libraries and museums aim to preserve the written and visual heritage of their community and region but in an age of austerity for public institutions funds are not always available for them to acquire everything that is desirable to carry out this duty comprehensively. By making a donation to the charity you will be recognising and assisting the work of Exeter's Museum and libraries in this field. Under the terms of the charity all income must be applied to the acquisition of books and works of art and not added to the original endowment, so your contribution will be made immediately available to assist in the purchase of suitable items as they come on the market. All items proposed for purchase are considered by the trustees to ensure that they are appropriate to the collecting policy of the institutions. The work that the charity can undertake has been progressively eroded by inflation so your contribution would help to restore the level of pride and investment in Exeter's heritage that characterised earlier generations.
If you wish to make a donation, please make it payable to the Kent Kingdon Bequest and forward it to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Queen Street, Exeter EX4 3PQ for the attention of the Kent Kingdon Bequest. All donations received will be acknowledged and noted in the annual report to the trustees. Acquisitions for the Library will normally bear a special Kent Kingdon bookplate.
This web page is maintained by Ian Maxted on behalf of the Kent Kingdon Bequest following a resolution made at the Trust's Annual General Meeting on 23 June 2000.
Last updated 13 April 2021
