Six Poor Travellers House
Encyclopedia
Six Poor Travellers House is a 16th-century charity house in Rochester, Kent, founded by the local MP
Richard Watts
to provide free lodgings for poor travellers. Watts left money in his will for the benefit of six poor travellers, each of whom, according to a plaque on the outside of the building, would be given lodging and "entertainment" for one night before being sent on his way with fourpence.
The house was the inspiration for Charles Dickens
' short story "The Seven Poor Travellers" (with Dickens himelf, as narrator, being the seventh traveller). Watts' benevolence and the Dickens story are remembered during Rochester's fancy dress Dickensian Christmas Festival, when a turkey is cooked and ceremonially distributed to "the poor" at the house.
The house features restored small Elizabethan period bedrooms, along with a herb garden in the rear, and is open to the public from March through October.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Richard Watts
Richard Watts
Sir Richard Watts was a successful businessman and MP for Rochester, Kent in the 1570s. He supplied rations for the English Navy as deputy victualler and supervised the construction of Upnor Castle...
to provide free lodgings for poor travellers. Watts left money in his will for the benefit of six poor travellers, each of whom, according to a plaque on the outside of the building, would be given lodging and "entertainment" for one night before being sent on his way with fourpence.
The house was the inspiration for Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' short story "The Seven Poor Travellers" (with Dickens himelf, as narrator, being the seventh traveller). Watts' benevolence and the Dickens story are remembered during Rochester's fancy dress Dickensian Christmas Festival, when a turkey is cooked and ceremonially distributed to "the poor" at the house.
The house features restored small Elizabethan period bedrooms, along with a herb garden in the rear, and is open to the public from March through October.
External links
- Six Poor Travellers House – Visiting information from Medway Council