Besides straightforward compassion for the poor, there are two other possible motivations for Mrs Thwaytes's philanthropy.
Firstly there was the 19th-century progress of Evangelicalism, which encouraged good works from those with religious sensibility and social pity.
 Secondly, following the expansion of the middle classes in the 18th and 19th centuries, beneficence was "an avenue for entry into elite society for women and gave them a sense of place and direction outside the home."
In other words, for a woman of known humble origins and at the same time a wealthy widow looking for a place in society, philanthropy would be in her best interests.
However 19th-century British elite society was based in the popular imagination upon elegant culture, not money or good deeds, and Herne Bay Clock Tower's opening ceremony drew mockery from the Figaro in London of 6 October 1836, in which she was called a Cockney and her clock, celebration and philanthropy laughed at.
Besides straightforward compassion for the poor, there are two other possible motivations for Mrs Thwaytes's philanthropy. Firstly there was the 19th-century progress of Evangelicalism, which encouraged good works from those with religious sensibility and social pity.  Secondly, following the expansion of the middle classes in the 18th and 19th centuries, beneficence was "an avenue for entry into elite society for women and gave them a sense of place and direction outside the home." In other words, for a woman of known humble origins and at the same time a wealthy widow looking for a place in society, philanthropy would be in her best interests. However 19th-century British elite society was based in the popular imagination upon elegant culture, not money or good deeds, and Herne Bay Clock Tower's opening ceremony drew mockery from the Figaro in London of 6 October 1836, in which she was called a Cockney and her clock, celebration and philanthropy laughed at.
Ann Thwaytes