A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



parishioner and that of 1684 by the rector and three 

 parishioners. The minutes for the period 1705-9 are 

 imperfect but in 1706 and 1708 they appear to have 

 been signed only by the rector. From 1709 until 17 14 

 the minutes were usually signed by the rector and by 

 the parishioners present; it seems from these signatures 

 and from those which appeared occasionally after 17 1 5 

 that the number of persons attending the meetings 

 varied between two and four. 



The main work of the vestry consisted in appoint- 

 ing officers and approving their accounts. In the first 

 part of the i8th century at least, however, vestry meet- 

 ings were held as required to regulate the allotment of 

 parish apprentices and the distribution of weekly doles 

 and allowances. 



In 1614 there were two churchwardens.** At Easter 

 1663, however, only one was elected for the following 

 year and it is clear that during the period 1705-1844 

 there was never more than one. It was usual to spend 

 many consecutive years in this office. From 1 844 until 

 1852 there were two churchwardens each year, one 

 being elected by the rector and the other by the 

 parishioners. From 1852 only one seems to have been 

 elected. 



There were two overseers in each of the years 1 6 1 3 

 and 1614.*" In 1663 and each year from 1709 until 

 1742 one overseer was appointed. These officers 

 usually served for one year only, but occasionally for 

 two consecutive years. They were evidently chosen 

 on a rota system. On four occasions during the period 

 1709-42 a woman, Mrs. Collins, was nominated over- 

 seer but on at least two of these occasions, in 1 721 and 

 1729, a man was appointed to serve the office for her. 

 The minutes of the vestry held at Easter 1730 recorded, 

 however, that 'Mrs. Collins overseer gave up her 

 account at this vestry for the year 1729'. 



There was never more than one constable for the 

 parish.'" It was customary for this officer to serve at 

 least two years consecutively and sometimes much 

 longer. 



One surveyor of highways was appointed in each of 

 the years 1614" and 1663. Only ten appointments to 

 this office were recorded in the vestry minute-book 

 after 1705; these were for the years 1725 and 1729 

 and for most years between 1758 and 1767. These 

 appointments show that in the i8th century one sur- 

 veyor was appointed annually in December. 



In the period 1705—42 the overseers, churchwardens, 

 and constables each submitted a separate annual ac- 

 count to the vestry at Easter. No record of overseers' 

 accounts was kept in the surviving vestry minute-book 

 after 1742. A separate overseers' account book was, 

 however, probably kept from this time when, in other 

 parishes in the hundred,''^ the cost of poor relief was 

 increasing. The churchwardens and constables con- 

 tinued to account separately to the vestry until 1836, 

 after which no more constables' accounts appear in the 

 minute-book. In the period 1758-67 the surveyors 

 submitted an annual account to the vestry in December. 

 In 1836 the rateable value of the parish was about 



There was a parish poorhouse in Little Laver, 

 situated on the east side of the road to Matching Green, 

 about J mile to the north-west of the church.'* In 

 May 1836 the overseer paid £^ \\s. 'at the work- 

 house'.'s In 1837 and 1838 he received rent for the 

 property.'* By 1 848 it belonged to C. P. Meyer and 

 was said to comprise two cottages." It was refaced 

 with flint rubble and largely rebuilt during the second 

 half of the 19th century by Herman P. D. Meyer. It 

 now forms two small dwellings, called Stone Cottages. 

 They are timber-framed internally and may have an 

 1 8th-century or earlier origin. 



In most cases poor relief was given, in various forms, 

 outside the poorhouse. In each of the years 18 13-15 

 there were 8 to 9 adults on 'permanent' outdoor relief.'* 

 Provision for the poor was made in various ways 

 including the binding out of paupers' children as 

 apprentices, the payment of allowances for lodging, 

 the provision of clothes and the payment of weekly 

 doles. The memorandum of 1668 recorded that the 

 inhabitants whose names were subscribed consented 

 that Thomas Ansell be transported 'into his Majesty's 

 plantations of the Barbadoes', he having acknowledged 

 himself willing to go. 



It was agreed at a vestry held in 1709 that four 

 parishioners should each take .. parish apprentice for 

 three years, and at another vestry held in 17 14 that 

 William Clemmory should receive 20s. a quarter for 

 providing his mother with 'meals, drink, washing and 

 lodging only sickness excepted' and that the overseer 

 should buy her a gown and a petticoat. Before this 

 Clemmory had already received i os. from the overseer 

 to buy bedding for her. At the same vestry it was 

 agreed that the widow Oram should receive a weekly 

 dole of 3/. Other doles recorded soon after this date 

 ranged from \s. to 2S. bd. a week. 



In 1613-14 the cost of poor relief was ;{^i." In 

 1776 it was [fiz, and in 1783-5 it averaged ^^77 a 

 year.*" In the hard years which opened the 19th 

 century it rose to about ^{^200.*' The sums recorded 

 for the years 1800-17 show a minimum ol [j.00 in 

 1803—4 but the cost was above ^{^160 in almost every 

 other year, 1812-13 and 18 16-17 being particularly 

 expensive years at ^^241 and ^^231 respectively.*^ 



In 1836 Little Laver became part of the Ongar Poor 

 Law Union. 



In 1807 there was no school in the parish but the 

 rector paid for a few children to 

 SCHOOL AND attend a neighbouring school.*^ In 

 CHARITY 1 8 1 8 there was still no school of any 



kind in Little Laver, though the poor 

 were said to desire education for their children.** In 

 1833 some children were apparently paying \d. a week 

 to attend a school in Matching; in their own parish 

 there was only a Sunday school, founded two years 

 before and attended by 17 girls and 8 boys.*5 In 

 1 846-7 attendance at the Sunday school had fallen to 

 7, a mistress being paid (jl 12s. a year to teach them.** 

 Some children probably attended the day school in 

 High Laver (q.v.) after its erection in 1866. In 1872 

 this school was said to have accommodation for all the 



«« E.R.O., Q/SBa 3. 



M Ibid. 



'0 Ibid. " Ibid. 



'^ See for examples the parishes of 

 Bobbingworth and High Laver. 



" E.R.O., D/P 147/12/1. 



'* There was a poorhouse by 1776 at 

 latest : Rep. Sel. Cttee. on Overteers' Retns. 



1777, H.C. ser. i, vol. \\, p. 350. 



'5 D/P 147/12/1. '6 Ibid. 



" E.R.O., D/CT 210. See above, p. 97, 

 and also Manor of Little Laver Hall. 



'8 E.R.O., Q/CR i/io. 



'« E.R.O., Q/SBa 3. 



8" E.R.O., Q/CR i/l. 



8- E.R.O., e/CR 1/9. 



" Ibid. 



83 E.R.O., D/AEM 2/4. 



8-» Reim. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 260 

 (i8i9),ix(i). 



85 Educ. Enquiry Ahstr. H.C. 62, p. 281 

 (183s), xli. 



8' Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Church Schs, 

 1846-7, pp. 12-13. 



102 



