The story starts with Charles and Mary Ross of Acorn House, Rochester. They ran the Acorn Wharf shipbuilding and ship repairing business at Acorn Wharf. John Foord was born in Chatham in 1796 and came to work for the Rosses. When he was 23 he married their daughter Rebekah. Eventually he took over the business and started to grow it. by the time of his death in 1868 his company (John Foord and Sons) owned most of the land which is now becoming Rochester Riverside. John was an Alderman and JP.
John, and later his sons, renovated forts, build St. Mary's Strood and the Bridge Wardens' offices. It was their government contracts that really filled the coffers though, They had contracts from the Admiralty and built some or all of the dockyard basins. For this they acquired the stone quarries at Allington to add to their brickworks at Upnor. They built the Royal Marine barracks and then moved on to contracts including the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum and London police courts.
John and Rebekah had eight children, only two of whom married. Most of the boys went into politics leaving just the eldest, John Ross, and the third child, Thomas Hellyar Foord to run the business. Three of the children died within 6 months of each other in 1896 and John Ross followed them in 1902. Thomas was left without family or descendants and from this point the business seems to have declined.
Thomas was extremely wealthy however, and started to give away money. He gave nearly £6,000 to build the nurses home at St. Bartholomew's Hospital (Rochester), and another £500 for general use. He turned his attention to the cathedral and paid £6.319 to rebuild the tower and replace the spire which had been missing since the 1830 works. As if that weren't enough he gave £730 for repairs to the chapter room and £2,000 for other repairs including stabaising and converting Gundulf's Tower. Then he paid for the cathedral clock, and also funded the 1904 partial recasting and augmentation of the bells. Several of the 1904 bells carried inscriptions dedicated to the memory of family members.
He died on 30 November 1917 and left a further £10,000 to the hospital, £2,000 to the cathedral and £2,000 to the council to pay for Eastgate house along with a further £7,000 for an extension to accommodate treasures he had also left to the council.
The residue of his estate paid for the Foord Almshouses which opened in 1927. They are grade II* built in the shape of a "U" with a boundary wall closing off the arms and enclosing the courtyard garden visible in the satellite photo. The central hall is decorated with a frieze running around all four walls. The frieze is filled with murals illustrating scenes from English history.
Link to the official listing:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1329912Oops, nearly forgot:
- Nat Grid: TQ 73710 67122
- Nearest Post Code: ME1 3AF
- Co-ords (WGS84): 51°22'36"N,000°29'40"E or 51.37658,0.49454
