ONGAR HUNDRED 



THEYDON GARNON 



a week for every child above the number of two under 

 the age of lo. There were 37 people in the workhouse 

 in 1793 and 30 in 1805. In 181 1 the house was 

 enlarged. 3' 



In 1796 the lord of the manor granted the parish 

 2j acres of waste upon condition that 2 acres be planted 

 with potatoes for eventual sale to the poor inhabitants. 

 Payment for digging potatoes on the common piece is 

 recorded in the account books in October 1 797 and in 

 March 1798 there were two entries of money received 

 for 'taters'. 



The parish always seems to have given much atten- 

 tion to the relief of the sick poor. The first mention of 

 a parish doctor occurs in 172 1 when Dr. Dimsdale's 

 bill for £^ for treating a pauper was settled, and there 

 are other references to the settling of apparently casual 

 bills, but this method seems to have caused some alarm, 

 for in 1729 the vestry, after approving Dimsdale's bill, 

 ordered that for the future no bill was to be allowed, 

 unless those afflicted had procured an order in writing 

 from a churchwarden or overseer, except in an emer- 

 gency. This order was repeated in 1737. The last 

 payment to Dimsdale was in January 1742. In April 

 1743 the parish settled a bill of Dr. Davies for ^^lo 

 and there is at least one other similar payment, in 

 March 1 744, but these may have been casual payments 

 and need not imply a definite contract. The first 

 definite reference to a salaried doctor occurs in 1749 

 when Thomas Fletcher agreed to take care of the poor 

 of the parish in pharmacy and surgery at an annual 

 salary of 8 guineas; in 1756 Francis Mitten agreed to 

 take the poor under his care and to supply them with 

 physic and attend in all cases of surgery at a salary of 

 8 guineas, and also to attend every maternity case at 

 J guinea a case.^" On one occasion, in June 1764, the 

 parish resolved to pay Mitten 6 guineas for curing a 

 broken leg; he was then described as surgeon at Epping. 

 In 1777, however, Richard Boodle was appointed to 

 attend the poor when necessary and all cases of surgery, 

 midwifery, and inoculation at a salary of 10 guineas. . 

 The vestry ordered that one of the overseers should 

 wait on Mitten, who was on this occasion merely 

 described as an apothecary, to pay his salary, to return 

 the thanks of the parish for what he had done for the 

 poor, and to inform him that his future attendance was 

 no longer required, as Mr. Boodle was chosen in his 

 place, the parish not thinking 'the parish business an 

 object worth his notice'. Boodle's appointment was to 

 date from Easter 1777, but these arrangements were 

 apparently abortive, since Mitten received salary to 

 Easter 1778, and Boodle was appointed as surgeon, 

 apothecary, and man midwife at a salary of 10 guineas 

 at the Easter vestry meeting of that year. In 1788 

 William Stewart was appointed apothecary and man 

 midwife at a salary of 12 guineas; his duties were to 

 include inoculation, and he was to attend accidents to 

 parishioners even if they occurred outside the parish. 

 He was succeeded in 1790 by C. C. Stuart who held 

 the position, on the same terms as his predecessor, at 

 least until April 1 806. 



In 161 3-14 the cost of poor rehef was ;^8.'" In 

 1776 it was ^{^355.'*^ In 1783-5 expenditure averaged 

 ;^295 a year.« In 1800-1 it reached £1,152.*^ In 

 1 801-2 the cost was jC94I ^^'^ '" 1802-3 {jdT..^^ 

 Between 1803 and 1809 it was much lower, being 

 always between ;^55o and ^^600 a year.** In 1809—10 

 the cost rose to ^^725 and from then until 18 17 it 

 ranged between £fi'^o and ;^850 a year, being highest 

 in I8I2-I3.+7 



In 1 8 36 Theydon Gamon became part of the Epping 

 Poor Law Union. 



In 1 8 1 8 the parish clerk and his wife kept a school 

 at Theydon Gamon, which was attended 

 SCHOOL by 20 boys and 26 girls. Six of these 

 children attended as the result of a grant 

 from Baker's Charity (see Charities, below) and the 

 fees of seventeen others were paid by benevolent per- 

 sons.''* This was still the only day school in the parish 

 in 1839, when I2 boys and 14 girls attended it. The 

 decline in attendance was probably due to increased 

 educational provision at Theydon Mount and Epping. 

 By that time there was also a Sunday school at Theydon 

 Gamon.'*' In 1846-7 there were 15 boys and 15 girls 

 at the parish clerk's school. He and an assistant mistress 

 received ,^27 a year between them. 5° 



In 1850 Harriet Archer-Houblon of Coopersale 

 House (see above) built a National School and teacher's 

 house at Coopersale. During the following years she 

 contributed much of the school's income and took a 

 personal interest in its work.s' The Vicar of Coopersale 

 also supervised the school and local Anglicans con- 

 tributed to its support.5^ The school was immediately 

 successful. In 1858-9 it had an average attendance of 

 88 and was described by an inspector as 'a fair village 

 school'. 53 By 1 87 1 attendance was over 100. 54 It 

 continued to rise and in 1879 Miss Archer-Houblon 

 enlarged the school at a cost of ^^300 to provide total 

 accommodation for 180 pupils. In 1880 average atten- 

 dance was 117.55 The annual government grant rose 

 from j^37 in 1873 to £128 in 1902. 5* 



In 1 89 1 the school was placed under the manage- 

 ment of the Rector and churchwardens of Theydon 

 Gamon, the Vicar and churchwardens of Coopersale, 

 and three subscribers belonging to the Church of 

 England, and the National Society became the owner 

 in trust, the deed requiring that religious teaching 

 should be according to Anglican principles. 5' By the 

 Education Act, 1902, the school passed under the 

 administration of the Essex Education Committee, 

 Epping District, as a non-pr6vided school. Attendance 

 was 1 55 in 1904, and there was a staff of 4 teachers, a 

 probationer, and a monitress.ss In 19 10 the school was 

 further enlarged, but by 1926 average attendance had 

 fallen to 100. There was a further decrease after the 

 school had been reorganized in 1932 for mixed juniors 

 and infants. 59 In 1938 there were only 67 pupils but 

 in 1942 the children from Theydon Mount were 

 transferred to Theydon Gamon after the closure of 

 their school. In May 1952 there were 157 pupils and 

 4 teachers at Theydon Gamon. In view of financial 



39 E.R.O., D/P 152/18/5. 



«» Ibid. 41 E.R.O., Q/SBa 3. 



42 E.R.O., e/CR i/i. 43 Ibid. 



44 E.R.O., Q/CR 1/9. 



45 Ibid. 46 Ibid. 47 Ibid. 



4' Reins. Educ. Poor, H.C. 224, p. 273 

 (.8.9), ix(.). 



49 E.R.O., D/P 30/28/19. 



so Nat. Soc. Enquiry into Ch. Schs. I 84.6- 

 7, pp. 18-19. 



5' Kelly's Dir. Essex (1899). 

 5^ Inf. from Mr. Temple, Headmaster 

 of the school; Kelly's Dir. Essex (1870). 



53 Reps, on Scks. in Norfolk., Suffolk and 

 Essex, 1858-9, p. 19 (in Min. of Educ. 

 Libr.). 



54 Retns. Elem. Educ. H.C. 201, pp. 

 iio-i I {1871), Iv. 



55 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1899); Ref>. of 

 Educ. Ctlee. of Council, 1880 [C. 294.8-1], 



p. 579, H.C. (i88i),-)cxxii. 



56 Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1873 

 [C. 1019], p. 325, H.C. (1874), xviii; 

 Schs. under Bd. of Educ. 1902 [Cd. 1490], 

 p. 74, H.C. (1903), li. 



5' Min. of Educ. File 13/366. 



58 Essex - Educ. Cttee. Handbk. 1 904, 

 p. 151. 



59 Min. of Educ. File 1 3/366 ; Kelly's Dir. 

 Essex (1922). 



Nn 



