A Charitable Trust is a type of trust created for the benefit of members of the public and is created where land or personal property is given in Trust to be applied to a specific charitable purpose. A Charitable Trust may evolve into a perpetual trust, in that it may continue without any stated termination time. Perpetual trusts are terminable only by virtue of an Order of the Court provided it can be shown that performance of the Trust is impracticable or impossible. The Trust may not fail but the Court can direct that the property be applied for another charitable purpose.

Notable among the Charitable Trusts at the Department are:

Estate Henry Salmon Hoskins Mr. Hoskins, a philanthropist, died on July 14, 1915. He was the owner of the Seville Great House and Estate in the parish of Saint Ann. One of the main recipients under the Will of Mr. Hoskins is the Saint Ann’s Bay Hospital. The present land on which the Hospital is erected is part of the Seville Estate donated under his Will. The Department ’s continued responsibility lies in the investment of the Trust funds and proper utilization thereof for the benefit of the Hospital.

The H.S. Hoskins Memorial Operating Threatre was built from the Trust funds. A Ventilator, Infant Model 500, Humidifier and an IRMA SL200 Blood Analyzer are some of the equipment purchased from the Trust fund for the Hospital. A Scholarship fund has been set up for nurses. The Seville Plantation was sold to the Jamaica Heritage Trust/Government of Jamaica and the Estate’s Great House is now a museum.

Estate Michael Grabham, a retired Surgeon, died on April 13, 1938. The Administrator-General was appointed Executor and Trustee of his Will, in which he bequeathed a capital sum to the Government of Jamaica with the interest thereon to be used exclusively for the promotion and extension of the maternity services at the Victoria Jubilee Lying-in Hospital.

The Supreme Court on June 6, 1944 authorised the Administrator-General to make half-yearly payments of the income from the fund to the Accountant General. The income is further managed by Trustees appointed by the Court, namely the Principal Medical Officer nominated by the Minister of Health, the Senior Medical Officer of the Victoria Jubilee Hospital and the Secretary of the British Medical Association.

Estate Frederick B. Brown Frederick Brown died testate on December 2, 1918. The Supreme Court on February 18, 1938 appointed the Administrator-General the sole Trustee of Frederick’ s Will. The main asset of the Trust was the Fairy Hill Estate in the parish of Portland, with over Four Hundred acres. The famous Winnifred Rest Home is part of this property. A substantial portion of the property was sold to the Urban Development Corporation and the Trust retained the remaining 25 acres on which the Winnifred Rest Home is presently located.

Frederick Brown’s instruction in his will regarding the Winnifred Rest Home is that it should be a place of rest for missionaries, teachers and respectable poor persons so that they may come for a limited time to rest. He established in the Will, a Board of Trustees for the Home of which the Administrator-General is Chairman.