Treasures from the Parish Chest: exploring North Yorkshire’s church history from archives to architecture

The administration of the parish

In addition to a parish priest, a number of officers were appointed with particular responsibilities for the maintenance of the church and its property, and for the administration and management of the parish. A curate assisted a priest in caring for the souls of the parishioners, and a sexton assisted with the maintenance of the church and churchyard and the digging of graves for burials. The four major parish officers were the churchwardens, overseers of the poor, parish constables and surveyors of the highways, assisted by a parish clerk, who collected fees and rents and helped with the writing of accounts and reports.

Overseeing all of these was the vestry, a body consisting of male householders, originally named after the church vestry where they met every month, although meetings could be held elsewhere. They had the right to levy a ‘church rate’, a tax on parishioners to meet the costs of repairs to the church and other church expenses. Poor relief was funded by the ‘poor rate’, a tax raised on property from the early-17th century. Minutes of the vestry meetings were kept, often in the same book as the churchwardens accounts and, at an annual meeting, usually after Easter, they approved the last year’s accounts of each of the parish officers and elected the officers for the coming year. Some of these records survive back to the 16^th century, but the majority date from the late-18th and early-19th centuries. 

By the early-19th century, the more prominent members of the community established a select vestry, which in some cases are known as the ‘Four and Twenty’, who were primarily concerned with poor law matters. You can read more about select vestry records in this related blog.

• L: Bedale, St Gregory: churchwardens’ account book, 1576-1675, showing page recording the minutes of a meeting of the ‘fower and twentie’ on 17 June 1652 [PR/BED 2/1]
• R: Bedale, St Gregory: Churchwardens’ accounts etc.,1734-1860 showing page recording the appointment of four churchwardens, two chosen by the rector and two by the Twenty Four, at a meeting of the latter on 4 May 1740 [PR/BED 2/3]

Concerned for their parishioners’ physical health and well-being as well as their spiritual and moral welfare, until the 19th century, the parish church held responsibilities for administering the Old Poor Law, maintaining the highways and upholding law and order. Such duties were managed by a number of officers of the parish.

Churchwardens

Churchwardens were responsible for the maintenance of the fabric of the church, for the management of parish property and finances, the allocation of pews and collection of rents, for fundraising, organising community festivities and, amongst a range of other duties, upholding standards of behaviour.

You can read about churchwardens, their roles and responsibilities, and the accounts they kept in further detail on the following page.

Copy of articles agreed upon by the four and twenty of Masham relating to the repair of the church, appointments of and meetings with churchwardens, and the personal conduct of their members, 1636 [PR/MAS 3/3/1]

Overseers of the poor

Overseers of the poor administered the Old Poor Law. Their accounts show the rates collected for the poor and records of payments to named individuals for such necessities as rent, clothes, fuel, medical and burial expenses. They were also involved in issuing settlement certificates, removal orders and enforcing bastardy orders.

Pages from the Thirsk, St Mary: overseers’ rate book (poor book), 1701-1778 [PR/TH 6/1/3]

To raise money for poor relief and other local services, rates were levied on property owners and occupiers based on the yearly value of their property. These pages from the Thirsk, St Mary: overseers’ rate book (poor book), 1701-1778, show the assessment of rates payable on 10 May 1765 at 2d (old pence) in the pound, listed by the name of each householder [PR/TH 6/1/3]. This same book records the names of boys and girls who were put out as apprentices by the town of Thirsk, 17 August 1772, and the names of gentlemen and freeholders appointed as trustees for the poor house, 19 November 1771.

L: The accounts of George Thompson, Overseer of the Poor of Normanby for the year ending Easter 1821 [PR/NOR 5/1] and R: Ripley, All Saints: overseers’ account book, 1819-1847 page extract showing disbursements for December 1829 [PR/RPL 23/1]

Disbursements to those in need were recorded in the overseer’s annual accounts submitted for approval to the Easter vestry meeting. In the examples above, in 1821, 7 shillings were paid for 7 yards of cloth for Christopher Hebron’s shirts, who also had his board paid for a year, and received a pair of shoes. Elizabeth Thompson also had her year’s rent paid, and received £1 10s 4d for a chalder (a dry measure) of coal. In Ripley, in December 1829, payments are similarly mainly for rent and for coals.

A settlement examination was undertaken by the overseer of the poor and churchwardens to determine whether a person had a legitimate right live in the parish and thus receive poor relief. If found against, a removal order was issued to remove a person from the parish. In the example of Elizabeth Coates from the Northallerton parish record collection, Elizabeth is ordered to be removed from Northallerton to Thirkleby. A child born to unmarried parents was considered by law to be illegitimate and a bastardy examination was held to establish the name of the father, who was expected to pay maintenance for the child rather than burden the parish. In this example, Elizabeth Coates swears under oath that she had a daughter on 20 January 1778 in Northallerton, the reputed father is Thomas Holdstock. On 19 April 1779, the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of Thirkleby, concerned about the burden on their parish, ordered the removal of the female child of Elizabeth Coates, singlewoman back from Thirkleby to Northallerton.

The Thirsk, St Mary parish record collection, unusually, contains a quantity of surviving correspondence and papers relating to poor relief, settlement and removal, including letters from those in need requesting assistance. The example above was sent by William and Ann Benson, requesting relief as William has been laid very bad.

Parish constables

Parish constables not only upheld law and order, but also punished misdemeanours, collected rates and taxes, inspected ale houses, supervised vagrants and beggars, collected maintenance from the fathers of illegitimate children, apprehended escaped prisoners and suspected criminals and impounded stray animals. Their records are some of the least common to survive.

Normanby, St Andrew: constable’s accounts and assessments book, 1786-1865, open at pages for the years 1807-1809 [PR/NOR 5/2]

Richard Hartas, Constable for the township of Normanby records an assessment made on 31 March 1807 for the rate charged at 1s 1d (shilling and old pence) in the pound to cover his costs as constable. Amounts owed by named individuals are listed, calculated on the value of their property. On the opposing pages to the rate assessment for each year, the constable’s expenses are recorded. For example, he paid a shilling for taking down militia men’s names; and 8 shillings for two journeys to Kirby when militia men were sworn in; 6d to Thomas Rawling for cleaning the sewer at Barugh Gate; 4s for paper and writing, and 1s for taking the oath.

Surveyors of the highway

Surveyors of the highway were responsible for the upkeep of roads within their parish boundaries, which ran to market towns, a responsibility placed on parishes by the 1555 Highways Act. They were empowered to raise local rates, and parishioners had to work on the roads themselves for a certain number of days each year, providing their own tools and equipment. In 1835, a new system was introduced whereby Justices of the Peace appointed paid surveyors for groups of parishes.

Normanby, St Andrew: surveyors of the highways’ accounts and assessments book, 1788-1861, open at pages for 1805 [PR/NOR 5/3]

The surveyors of the highways recorded payments made to named individuals for breaking and carting quantities of stones to repair the highway. Payments can also be seen to the blacksmith for mending hammers and for paper and writing. In Normanby, they also record the rate charged at 10d (old pence) in the pound to pay for the necessary costs and materials.

Austwick, Church of the Epiphany: account book for the maintenance of the Keighley to Kendal turnpike road, 1825-1836, open at page for Long Preston, 1831-1832 [PR/AUS 29/2/3] 

Austwick, Church of the Epiphany: account book for the maintenance of the Keighley to Kendal turnpike road, 1825-1836, open at pages for Hellifield, 1829 and Clapham, 1831, with note of appointment of Richard Clapham of Feizor as Surveyor of Highways, 20 October 1834 [PR/AUS 29/2/3-4] 

Further information

The Workhouse: the story of an institution website, which provides detailed information about parish poor relief and parish workhouses throughout the country.

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