A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



Committees were occasionally appointed. In 1769 

 one of five members was appointed to negotiate with 

 a builder for the erection of a workhouse, and in 1 80 5 one 

 of seven was set up to reassess the parish rating. The 

 Easter vestry of 1824 adopted the 2nd Sturges Bourne 

 Act (59 Geo. Ill, c. 12) and appointed a select vestry 

 consisting of five men in addition to the rector, church- 

 wardens, and overseers. Each successive Easter vestry 

 appointed a select vestry, usually of 10-15 men, until 

 1834. 



The usual officers were nominated and appointed 

 by the vestry. Three overseers of the poor were ap- 

 pointed until 1642, when it was decided that two were 

 sufficient. Before this they were usually called 'col- 

 lectors'. In 1642 it was noted that the constable should 

 be chosen first. Between 1624 and 1634 there were 

 opportunities for 93 men to serve parish office.'^ 

 Thirty-nine actually served. In 1750—60 there were 

 88 opportunities and 30 men served. Allowing for the 

 fact that one churchwarden served throughout the later 

 period it appears that the incidence of office changed 

 little, although in the i8th century the office of over- 

 seer was more widely shared than it had been in the 

 17th century, when the responsibilities were lighter. 

 A paid overseer was appointed in 18 10 at an annual 

 salary of ;^I0 10/., and he was reappointed every year 

 until 1822, when he became a constable. Women 

 were twice chosen as overseers in the i8th century. 

 This indicates a rota of substantial landowners from 

 which overseers were picked. A woman overseer's 

 responsibility seems to have ended with providing by 

 her 'substance' financial security for the operations of 

 her male deputy, who attended vestry for her. 



It is possible that one churchwarden was customarily 

 chosen by the parishioners and one by the rector, and 

 an explicit statement of this first occurs in 1763. 



The standing orders of 1724 provided that an officer 

 with an account to pass who did not appear should be 

 prosecuted. This order was applied capriciously. In 

 1725 it was resolved to apply for a warrant against a 

 defaulting overseer, who subsequently returned. In 

 1735 Mr- Webb, a surveyor, came to the vestry with- 

 out his accounts but declared 'to the best of his know- 

 ledge' that he had spent £6. In fact he had spent 

 slightly less, as appeared later, but there is no hint of 

 censure. After 1750 the totals of each overseer's dis- 

 bursements were recorded monthly and were pre- 

 sumably examined by each monthly vestry. 



Income from parish property and charities went far 

 to meet the expenses incurred during the i8th century 

 and rates were not often required. Money was raised 

 for special purposes by loans (e.g. j^2 50 to build the 

 workhouse in 1769), the interest on which was paid 

 from the rates. In 1 806 the parish debts were paid by 

 the sale for ;^I20 of parish lands in Shonks Mill 

 meadow and the sale of timber worth £fio 'in the field 

 adjoining the workhouse'. 



In the 17th century and the first half of the i8th 

 rates were granted to each officer as required. In 

 1732 the surveyors were ordered to pay the surplus on 

 their account to the repair of the church bells. In 1741 

 the last separate surveyors' rate was levied. Thence- 

 forth all rates were levied by the overseers who re- 

 imbursed other officers. 98 The product of a i</. rate 

 in 173 1 was ^q. By a resolution of 1749 there was a 



'7 Eleven pairs of churchwardens and of 

 turveyors ; 1 1 trios of overseers ; 8 pairs 

 of sidesmen. 



" The levy of a special church rate in 



reassessment, probably stimulated by a sharp rise in 

 the cost of poor relief In 1748 a i</. rate produced 

 £10 15/., and in 1749, C^^ 4^- ^^ produced ^^9 in 

 1805 and 1 8 17. In 1824, after anew reassessment, the 

 product was £17." 



An entry in the churchwardens' accounts in 1626 

 'for writeinge is. 6d.' is the first surviving record of 

 payment to a servant of the parish. In 1674 Richard 

 Cox bequeathed to the parish a black shroud, directing 

 that the parish clerk should have custody of it and that 

 he and succeeding sextons or clerks should be paid \s. 

 by each person using it. In 1744 a church clerk was 

 appointed at a salary of £2 a year. A new vestry book 

 was started in 1775 and most of the records of meetings 

 in it are signed by the clerk. Previously, from the mid 

 17th century, minutes seem to have been written by 

 the best penman present. In 1 8 1 7 the salary of the 

 clerk was raised to £4 41. a year. 



It was easy to relieve the poor in the 17th century. 

 Income came from Easter communion collections, 

 from Green's Charity, and from casual bequests to the 

 parish poor. In 16 17, for example, the first source 

 yielded 8^., the second £2, and the third 10/. Fifteen 

 persons shared this income. They included five 

 widows, and three men who appear from the Register 

 of Baptisms to have been aged 70, 58, and 52. The 

 recipients of poor relief were such old and infirm people 

 as these, some children, and travellers along the 

 London road. Relief was by money doles, boarding 

 out, apprenticing of poor children, providing clothes, 

 and apparently also by providing accommodation. In 

 1652-3 the sum of ^^^6 17;. 6J. was laid out towards the 

 building of a cottage for the poor. No other reference 

 has been found to the use of this cottage. 



The administration of poor relief during most of 

 the 17th century was entrusted not to the overseers of 

 the poor but to the churchwardens and constables. All 

 the examples quoted above come from the church- 

 wardens' accounts except those relating to travellers, 

 which are from the constables' accounts. Records of 

 the overseers handling money appear first in 1670. 

 During the i8th century the duties of the overseers 

 became increasingly heavy as the cost of poor relief 

 rose. Between 1724 and 1754 the average cost was 

 about £iTiO a year. In 1754-64 it was over ;^i8o, in 

 1764-74 it was ^£260, in 1774-84 it was ^360, in 

 1784-94 it was ;^44o, and in 1794-1804 it rose to 

 £?)^o. The parish spent ten times as much in 1 800-1 

 as in 1726-7. The poor rate levied between 1801 and 

 1 8 17 was rarely below ^^1,000 in any year.' 



The two overseers acted independently and rendered 

 separate accounts. When the balance of both accounts 

 had been struck at the Easter vestry the surplus in the 

 hands of the outgoing officers was shared between their 

 successors. Each overseer apparently acted for a dif- 

 ferent 'end' of the parish, either Toot Hill or Hare 

 Street. 



The poor in the l8th century formed two classes. 

 About two dozen received regular weekly doles, and 

 the rest, varying in number with the season and the 

 price of food, received casual aid. The recipients of the 

 regular doles were enjoined by the orders of 1724 and 

 1732 to wear badges.^ 



Until the building of the workhouse the expedients 

 of the previous century seem to have been adopted for 



1 8 17, for extensive repairs to the church, tion. 



is the only exception. ' E.R.O., Q/CR 1/9. 



" A dispute with 3 ratepayers over the ^ This was under Poor Relief Act, 8 k 



new reassessment was settled by arbitra- 9 Will. Ill, c. 30. 



220 



