In August 1837, Angela Burdett-Coutts inherited the fortune of her grandfather, Thomas Coutts, estimated at £1.8m. She devoted herself to philanthropy, conceiving the idea of Urania Cottage—a hostel where female petty criminals and former prostitutes could be trained in useful skills—with her friend Charles Dickens.
In August 1847, the Duke of Wellington wrote her a warning: “I have heard of the manner in which you dispose of your money, and indeed... I am astonished that you should have any left! You, like me, are supposed to be made of gold, and everybody supposes that it is only necessary to touch you to partake of the prize. I find that the parent of generosity is economy. Indeed it is impossible to be generous without it... Form no large establishments or engagements; in the position in which you are placed they will only embarrass you...”
Despite this, Burdett-Coutts poured money into social housing, sanitation, schools and training centres. Both the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were founded by her financial and administrative assistance. In 1871, Queen Victoria conferred on her a peerage. In 1872, she became the first woman to be presented with the freedom of the City of London.
In 1893, the Duchess of Teck wrote of Burdett-Coutts: “Great as have been the intrinsic benefits that the baroness has conferred on others, the most signal of all has been the power of example—an incalculable quantity which no record of events can measure..."
By her death in 1906, Burdett-Coutts had given away at least £3m (the equivalent of several billion pounds today). King Edward VII described her as “after my mother, the most remarkable woman in the kingdom.”
In 1889, Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American industrialist, preached his gospel of wealth: “In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves; to provide part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give those who desire to use the aids by which they may rise; to assist, but rarely or never to do all... Those worthy of assistance, except in rare cases, seldom require assistance. The really valuable men of the race never do, except in cases of accident or sudden change…
“The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise... In this manner returning their surplus wealth to the mass of their fellows in the forms best calculated to do them lasting good.
“Thus is the problem of rich and poor to be solved. The laws of accumulation will be left free; the laws of distribution free. Individualism will continue, but the millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor; intrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself...”
By the time of his death in 1919, Carnegie had disposed of nearly 90 per cent of his fortune—around $350m.
In 1903, a visitor to Leo Tolstoy suggested he should protest about the sale of rotten food in Moscow’s Khitrov market. Tolstoy declared that in most cases drunkenness and debauchery, not misfortune, reduced people to these conditions: “There have always been bosyaki [beggars]. They drink, are lazy and that is all there is to it.”In his younger days, Tolstoy had organised relief efforts during famines in 1873 and 1891, but he later declared that philanthropists had done more harm than good.
In 2010, Robert W Wilson, founder of the hedge fund, Wilson & Associates, responded to Bill Gates’s request to sign up to his “Giving Pledge”—by which people agree to give the majority of their wealth to charity during their lifetime or through their will: “I decided more than 10 years ago to try to give away 70 per cent of my net worth and have already given away one-half billion dollars.
“Your ‘Giving Pledge’ has a loophole that renders it practically worthless, namely permitting pledges to simply name charities in their wills...”
Gates’s reply to Wilson included the suggestion that one of the goals of the pledge was to make it more common for people to consider their philanthropic plans at a much earlier age. Wilson responded: “When I talk to young people who seem destined for great success, I tell them to forget about charities and giving. Concentrate on your family and getting rich—which I found very hard work. I personally and the world at large are very glad you were more interested in computer software than the underprivileged when you were young. And don’t forget that those who don’t make money never become philanthropists. When rich people reach 50 and are beginning to slow down is the time to begin engaging them in philanthropy.”
In August 1847, the Duke of Wellington wrote her a warning: “I have heard of the manner in which you dispose of your money, and indeed... I am astonished that you should have any left! You, like me, are supposed to be made of gold, and everybody supposes that it is only necessary to touch you to partake of the prize. I find that the parent of generosity is economy. Indeed it is impossible to be generous without it... Form no large establishments or engagements; in the position in which you are placed they will only embarrass you...”
Despite this, Burdett-Coutts poured money into social housing, sanitation, schools and training centres. Both the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were founded by her financial and administrative assistance. In 1871, Queen Victoria conferred on her a peerage. In 1872, she became the first woman to be presented with the freedom of the City of London.
In 1893, the Duchess of Teck wrote of Burdett-Coutts: “Great as have been the intrinsic benefits that the baroness has conferred on others, the most signal of all has been the power of example—an incalculable quantity which no record of events can measure..."
By her death in 1906, Burdett-Coutts had given away at least £3m (the equivalent of several billion pounds today). King Edward VII described her as “after my mother, the most remarkable woman in the kingdom.”
In 1889, Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American industrialist, preached his gospel of wealth: “In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves; to provide part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give those who desire to use the aids by which they may rise; to assist, but rarely or never to do all... Those worthy of assistance, except in rare cases, seldom require assistance. The really valuable men of the race never do, except in cases of accident or sudden change…
“The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise... In this manner returning their surplus wealth to the mass of their fellows in the forms best calculated to do them lasting good.
“Thus is the problem of rich and poor to be solved. The laws of accumulation will be left free; the laws of distribution free. Individualism will continue, but the millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor; intrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself...”
By the time of his death in 1919, Carnegie had disposed of nearly 90 per cent of his fortune—around $350m.
In 1903, a visitor to Leo Tolstoy suggested he should protest about the sale of rotten food in Moscow’s Khitrov market. Tolstoy declared that in most cases drunkenness and debauchery, not misfortune, reduced people to these conditions: “There have always been bosyaki [beggars]. They drink, are lazy and that is all there is to it.”In his younger days, Tolstoy had organised relief efforts during famines in 1873 and 1891, but he later declared that philanthropists had done more harm than good.
In 2010, Robert W Wilson, founder of the hedge fund, Wilson & Associates, responded to Bill Gates’s request to sign up to his “Giving Pledge”—by which people agree to give the majority of their wealth to charity during their lifetime or through their will: “I decided more than 10 years ago to try to give away 70 per cent of my net worth and have already given away one-half billion dollars.
“Your ‘Giving Pledge’ has a loophole that renders it practically worthless, namely permitting pledges to simply name charities in their wills...”
Gates’s reply to Wilson included the suggestion that one of the goals of the pledge was to make it more common for people to consider their philanthropic plans at a much earlier age. Wilson responded: “When I talk to young people who seem destined for great success, I tell them to forget about charities and giving. Concentrate on your family and getting rich—which I found very hard work. I personally and the world at large are very glad you were more interested in computer software than the underprivileged when you were young. And don’t forget that those who don’t make money never become philanthropists. When rich people reach 50 and are beginning to slow down is the time to begin engaging them in philanthropy.”
