Wisdom Wednesday: Overseers v. Guardians of the Poor

Overseers and guardians of the poor are not interchangeable terms for people who administered the early UK poor laws. The important factor is the time period. Overseers were in charge of relief before 1834, when the new poor laws created Poor Law Unions and Boards of Guardians.

During the 1500s, the ecclesiastical parish took over local government from the manor. Parishes did their work through the local vestry (town council) and the Justice of the Peace. From 1572, the vestry appointed one or two overseers (depending on the size of the parish) for a one year term.  Because they were unpaid, these administrators were from what we would call the middle or upper classes.

The job was a complicated balancing act between deciding who needed assistance and the taxpayers’ ability and willingness to pay. Through it all, they kept good records of their work which allows us to see who paid rates and the assessment of their property values and who received assistance…how much, for how long and why.

In 1834, the philosophy of how to assist the poor changes. Workhouses become universal. Little relief is available to anyone who will not live in the workhouse. The administrators are now called guardians but their balancing act is much the same.

The LDS Family History Library and www.familysearch.org are the best places to find copies of rate and account books generated by any poor law officials.

Wisdom Wednesday: Other Names for Paupers

Did you know that paupers were also called collectioners and bearmen/bairmen? The first of these terms is used today, that is, in books written in the late 1990s and the early 2000s about poverty in Britain. However the term bearman or bairman sent me googling with interesting results.

Googling ‘bearman’ found a host of men’s clubs and references to hirsute men. Looking for “bairman” got one hit in a glossary of ‘peculiar words’ in a book called, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: AD 1403 -1589. The Extracts includes an alphabetical list of names contained and a list of topics covered in the records of this period. The third and last section is the glossary which defines bairman as an insolvent debtor. This book is downloadable as a PDF from Google Books. There are options for ipads and ereaders as well.

If you are intrigued by the glossary of words from the 15^th and 16^th century but wish there were indexes to the records of other cities, you will be happy to find that the Extracts are a series which includes Glasgow, Leith, Stirling and others. Edinburgh is Volume 5, first published by Scottish Burgh Records Society in 1892.

Wisdom Wednesday: Illegitimacy and Bastardy Bonds

Some definitions:

Bastard – an illegitimate child, often referred to in baptism records as a ‘base born child.’

Bastardy Bond – document by which a father acknowledged paternity and agreed to pay the mother’s maternity expenses and maintenance of the child.  The money could be paid as a lump sum or in installments. If the father did not want to leave so public a record, his admission and agreement might be included in the Vestry Minutes instead of a separate bond. A more reluctant father might go to court to try to avoid paying and the records will be found there. Another way to think of it is that the parish council took the reluctant father to court to force him to pay. (After 1844, a woman was allowed to apply directly to the courts for maintenance orders.)

Bastardy Examinations – In 1733, a law was enacted that required a woman to declare an illegitimate pregnancy and tell the father’s name. Bastardy examination papers were the result of her interview with the overseers.

An unmarried woman was under a lot of pressure to name the father of an illegitimate child. In the 1600s, an unmarried pregnant woman could be sent to jail for a year. Whippings were carried out against women into the 1700s. Later, if the man was unmarried, he was pressured to wed the mother.  On the other hand, a man might make payments to the mother directly or to the parish as the intermediary. Only the latter were recorded in the parish documents.

Everything was done to prevent the mother and child from being a burden to the community.  Laws were tweaked and treatment of the mothers changed. An act of 1732/3 stopped removal of women during pregnancy and during the first month after childbirth. In 1743/4, it was decided that an illegitimate child’s parish of settlement was the mother’s parish, not where the birth took place.

It is easy to spot a bastard birth in the records because no father’s name is given, although it sometimes is in later records.  Sometimes a child is given a second name which is a surname that appears to be indicating the father - for example, John Haylett, base born son of Sarah Brett. So there is no confusion, when children were born after their father had died, the word ‘posthumous’ is used, such as ‘John Brett, son of James (posthumous) and Mary Brett.’

©2012 Susan Lewis Well

Wisdom Wednesday: UK Poor Rate Books and Apprenticeships

Most genealogists agree that having a poor ancestor is better than having a rich one. With the exception of land records, people who were better off leave only birth, marriage and death records behind while the poor can be found in many ledgers and lists.

Two exceptions to this rule were the poor law rate or account books where the names of the rich who were assessed a tax to cover the costs of poor relief appeared, and records of apprenticeships paid for by the parish, which listed the masters and apprentices.

The ratepayers were listed in the parish account books with the amount they owed and the date the debt was settled. The rich were assessed the poor rate according to their relative wealth so it is easy to see how wealthy an ancestor was compared with his neighbors. The second part of the ledger lists all the relief paid and to whom.

The overseers were ratepayers and had a tendency to keep the rates low. Budgeting was done with an eye to what was being spent in the present year.  A supplementary rate could be charged in cases when a disaster like flood or fire happened. As you can imagine, overseers had a better attitude toward widows, deserted wives and orphans; men who had given good service in their younger days; and the sick. It seems that the concept of the ‘worthy poor’ has been with us a long time.

Overseers probably knew how close to the edge all the parishioners were living, including themselves. They had interesting ways to deal with some situations. A poor widow might be required to nurse someone in exchange for room and board. You will find these women in the census as 'nurse paupers.' In rural parishes, poor children might be placed in service or in farmers’ fields at no pay at an early age.

Apprenticeship was a system for young men to learn a trade, especially one controlled by a guild. It was illegal to practice a craft without serving an apprenticeship. A contract, called an indenture, was signed between a tradesman and the parents. It gave the tradesman money in turn for him providing training plus food, clothing, and shelter for at least seven years. After 1601, overseers and later, guardians were allowed to “put out” many pauper children, since it was cheaper to pay for an apprenticeship than to otherwise maintain a child. When trained, the person would no longer need poor relief.

During the arrangements, two copies of the contract were made- one for the parents or parish officers, and one for the master. Today, the county registry offices have the parish copies, if they exist.  Guild records also exist. The Society of Genealogists in London has a collection of indentures. sog.org.uk

The indentures are worth finding because they will have the apprentice’s name, the master’s name and trade, the apprentice’s father’s name, and sometimes the apprentice’s birth date and place. The father’s occupation and residence is given sometimes as well.

The indenture was usually drawn when child was seven years old for the required seven years but often until age 21. The poor parent of a young child might be against a parish-arranged apprenticeship, which were supposed to be to learn trades of husbandry or housewifery, but were just cheap labor for farms or factories, and as domestic servants.

©2012 Susan Lewis Well

Wisdom Wednesday: Parish of Legal Settlement

As Americans, we can live wherever we choose. There is some grousing about poor people moving because a different state has better benefits, but not to any great extent, at least in my locale. For years, England handled poor relief in a way that tied people to a place.

Every English person had a place where they belonged and where they were entitled to poor relief. This place was known as their ‘parish of legal settlement.’ While the economy was agrarian, people were not mobile, and the system worked reasonabIy well. When people wanted to move for a better job or better housing, trouble arose.

If a person was successful and had lived in the new parish a few years before needing help, the new parish was willing to give it, but if a person applied for assistance too soon, the overseers in the new parish were inclined to send them back to their former parish. A Removal Order was issued stating that a family or person was to be returned to their parish of legal settlement. It meant that they were physically taken from the new parish, at least over the boundary line, if not all the way to the legal parish.

In 1662, a law was passed to give officials criteria to determine a person’s legal residence:

o  Someone who held public office in the parish, or paid the parish poor rate

      o  Someone who rented property in the parish over a certain value

o  An unmarried person who lives in the parish more than one year

      o  A woman who had married a man of the parish.

o  A legitimate child, under age 7, whose father lived in the parish

      o  An illegitimate child born in the parish

o  An apprentice to a master in the parish

      o  A resident for 40 days who gave the authorities prior written notice of his intention to live in the parish.

From Mark Herber, Ancestral Trails, page 345

Rules were strictly enforced. By 1800, laws softened somewhat and settlement was less an issue. People could no longer be removed if sick or if just poor, but not on relief. Parish officials or Justices of the Peace could question newcomers.

Records from a settlement examinations or disputes might include the person’s:

      n  Place of birth

      n  Employment or apprenticeship details

      n  Places they have lived over a period of time

If these records exist, they are with the parish records or court records at the County Record Office.
                                                                                                        

©2012 Susan Lewis Well

Wisdom Wednesday: Poor Relief in England

Like people around the world, genealogists have learned about the poor in England by reading Charles Dickens or seeing the movies and musicals featuring his great characters.  The orphans, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, and the Cratchit family from A Christmas Carol introduced us to the lives of England’s poor in the 19^th century.

Much earlier, in the time of Henry VIII, the parish was made the center of poor relief. This system with variations continued until 1834.  Records of the parish were kept in a chest for safekeeping. (See one of my October posts for details about the parish chests’ designs and history.) A group of documents kept there recorded the handling of poor relief in a parish – rate/account books, bastardy bonds and apprenticeships. Poor relief was a complicated affair as philosophies, attitudes, and laws changed over time. Dickens’ era was not a good time to be poor in England, if there ever was one.

Before 1834, each English parish was responsible for the welfare of its citizens. People were poor for much the same reasons that they are now – old age; sickness; widowhood, desertion and orphaned children; and unemployment. Some people became destitute wanderers or temporary residents.  The last group ‘temporary residents’ suggests that each person had a ‘parish of legal settlement’, where they were entitled to benefits. This is true, but it is a hard concept for a modern day North American to grasp because we can move wherever we want.

A parish usually selected two churchwardens each year. They were in charge of the religious and moral welfare of the parish, the upkeep of the church itself, the church yard, cottages and charities. Two overseers looked out for the secular aspects of the parish including poor people, but also the roads, bridges and waterways. These officials worked together with the Parish Council or Vestry to assist the poor.

Before 1834, the English called their system ‘out-relief,’ meaning outside of an institution. The poor were given help, while staying in their own houses. Their rent or medical care might be paid for them. They might have been given food or clothing. Young men might be given apprenticeships so they would not be dependent on relief in the future. Men who fathered children out of wedlock were strongly encouraged to marry the mother, if they were single, or provide money for the child’s upbringing, if they were already married. (More on apprenticeships and bastardy bonds in later posts.)

After 1834, the Poor Laws changed radically. Parishes were joined together in poor law unions, and a workhouse was built. In order to receive any kind of assistance, poor people had to live in the workhouse. This system, referred to as ‘in-relief’, was administered by a Board of Guardians with members from the various parishes. In a workhouse, men and women were separated and given jobs to do. Details about the 'new poor laws' can be found at workhouses.org.uk, a very informative web site by author, Peter Higginbotham.

If an ancestor emigrated in the twenty-five years following 1834, you would be well advised to look into the records of the poor.

 

©2012 Susan Lewis Well

Black Sheep Ancestors

Happy New Year everyone. Let's hope this is the year when we leap some brick walls and finish the projects we have in mind - write the book, create the timeline, or scan and ID all the photos.

One of genealogies first maxims is: "You are not responsible for your ancestor's actions." Sit back and relax. You may find a pirate in your family tree, but who really cares at this time and date.

In fact, there is a great website for those of us with shady characters in our tree - http://www.blacksheepancestors.com/. To quote the site's webmaster, "Here you will find prison records and insane asylum records for the US as well as genealogical prison records for the UK. You will also find numerous links to historical court records, execution records and biographies of famous outlaws & famous criminals across the US, UK and Canada." If you click on 'Prisoners and Convict Search' under the UK heading, you will find some Australian transportees. 

There really is a section of 'Pirate and Buccaneer Biographies.' Clicking on Blackbeard takes you to the Colonial Williamsburg website. www.blacksheepancestors.com is certainly worth some of your research time.

An old favorite has a Prisoner and Convict secton- www.cyndislist.com/prisons.htm. There is a subhead 'United Kingdom and Ireland' and another 'Poorhouses and Poverty' under which you will find 'The Poor Law, Work Houses, Poor Houses and Poor House Unions in the UK.'

In this new year, I will be writing some posts about poor laws in England before 1834. Watch this blog.