Mainly from British History Online we've learnt the following:
In 1740 Thomas Cooke, a director of the Bank of England, built almshouses, Cooke’s Rents, for 8 poor families with small children, and in his will he left property in Kent to provide the maintenance funds. The site was on waste of Stoke Newington Common, on the south side of what would become Northwold Road. His daughter Susannah and her husband Thomas Thornton ensured the continuation of the charity. By 1841 the vestry of West Hackney had taken this charity over and renamed it.
In 1885-9 the site was compulsorily purchased for a school playground and new almshouses built on the opposite site of the road – the building with the plaque.
