The Dr Rae bequest

The July article in the Bury Free Press is about this little known but very important aspect of the Bury Society

The Bury Society has been able to help worthy community and heritage projects but only because it has the funding to do so. Like other groups, the society’s funds are a mix of membership subscriptions, sponsorship and donations.  However, we differ as a result of a significant bequest to the society in the late 1980s.

In 1987 the Bury Society received a legacy in the will of Dr Alison Rae. This the largest bequest to the society to date. It has allowed the society to provide more generous grants towards larger scale heritage projects in the town. Some notable grants being towards the restoration of the Unitarian Meeting House and the Guildhall, both buildings continuing to serve the community. 

The Dr Rae fund has also helped numerous other small projects, including a fountain in the sensory garden contained within the precincts of the Abbey Gardens, and a lift to improve access for all within the cathedral. More recently, the Dr Rae fund has paid for the replacement of the planters facing the cathedral green. Also, a substantial contribution has enabled the purchase of more environmentally friendly electric mowers, soon to be available to the gardeners within the Abbey Gardens. 

Sadly, one of the specific requests contained in her will which was to plant trees within the Great Churchyard was disallowed by the Diocesan Consistory Court as potentially damaging to the existing graves.  The society, with some imaginative thinking, provided a series of benches along the walks.

But who was Dr Rae?  Dr Alison Rae enjoyed a successful medical career and finally retired from her post as Deputy Medical Officer for the then county of West Suffolk. A recognisable figure, conservative in dress, often seen about the town wearing her distinctive white bonnet and large sweeping black cape. Dr Rae loved the town and set out her will in 1981. This involved bequests to the Town Trust, St Mary’s church as well as a substantial bequest to the Bury Society thanks to Gerry Travers,  chairman at the time. Obviously, our assurances about the society being a good custodian of the proposed bequest met with her approval.  Sadly, she died six years later in 1987 having spent her last years in a care home in Northgate Street.

Today, through careful management and prudent investment, the Dr Rae fund still contains reserves which allows the Bury Society trustees to consider any approaches for funding that may fall within the spirit of her legacy; namely ‘To secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features or areas of historic or public interest in the area of benefit (Bury St Edmunds), including through grant making.’

The Dr Rae fund is there to be used to help preserve the heritage and unique identity of the town. Our record clearly demonstrates that we can be trusted custodians of any such bequests in the future. Such bequests, of whatever size, can make marked and enduring enhancements to the life and appearance of the town through the many community projects.

Whilst such generosity is of great importance, the work of the society and the impact it has on Bury St Edmunds depends upon the voice of its membership.  Residents of the town and the immediate area can join us to make that voice even louder and more effective.  If younger residents add their names to our membership, coming generations can influence our future Bury St Edmunds. Recently, the trustees agreed that we would offer a concessionary membership fee of just £10 to those under 30 years of age – a small price to get your voice heard.