THORNTON - IN - CRAVEN BYGONE DAYS IN AN ANCIENT PARISH. [1.
Posted: 20 Apr 2012, 15:52
THORNTON - IN - CRAVEN
BYGONE DAYS IN AN ANCIENT PARISH.
[1.]
From the Craven Herald Friday April 26th 1928
We publish below the first of a series of articles on the Ancient Parish of Thornton-in-Craven from the pen of Mr. A. H. Clegg. The Ancient Parish included the town-ships of Thornton, Earby, Kelbrook and Harden, and Mr. Clegg's survey will deal with some of the bygone forms of civil and ecclesiastic administration as revealed in old documents which for the first time have been used as the basis of public writing. In compiling material for the first article, a section of which is now given, Mr. Clegg acknowledges the permission of the Bishop of the Diocese and the courtesy of the Rector of Thornton-in-Craven for access to certain documents. Having regard to changes, which are imminent to the administration of the Poor Law, Mr. Clegg's sketch of the system of poor relief over a century ago is of special interest.
The ancient Parish of Thornton-in-Craven consisted of four townships, namely, Thornton, Earby. Kelbrook and Harden. The first three of these are mentioned in Domesday Book. In olden days the parish was the district in which one parish priest ministered—the area which paid tithes and other ecclesiastical dues to the same person. The Parish Meeting, or Vestry, played a very important part in the life of the parish. The business at a vestry was not confined to matters affecting the Church. In early days the distinction between things secular and things ecclesiastical did not exist. In this article it is proposed to deal with the care of the poor of the parish about a century ago.
Perhaps a brief explanation of the general system of poor relief prevailing at that time would be advantageous. In those days each parish was responsible for and had to maintain, its own poor. The ultimate authority in all parish matters was the Vestry. The various officers of the parish were elected by the Vestry. The poor law system in force dated from the time of Queen Elizabeth. In 1601 an Act was passed which directed that officers should be appointed for each parish called "over-seers of the poor," whose duty it should be to raise a common fund "for the necessary relief of the poor" by "taxation of every occupier of lands, houses, tithes, coalmines, or saleable underwoods in the parish." and this system continued, with modifications, down to about 1834.
Prior to 1722, parishes which desired to build a workhouse had to get a special Act of Parliament, but in this year an Act was passed which authorised Over-seers, with the consent of the Vestry, to start workhouses, or to farm out the poor. If applicants for relief refused to go into the workhouse they forfeited their right to any relief at all.
In 1790 another Act was passed which abolished this restriction of right to relief to persons willing to enter the work-house, and for the first time the granting of out-door relief to the able-bodied was made general. An Act of 1795 repealed the Act of Settlement of Charles II.'s reign which enacted that the Justices, at the complaint of the Overseers, might order any person coming to live in the parish to be removed back to his own place of settlement unless he could give security against becoming chargeable to the parish. This Act provided that nobody was to be removable until he became actually chargeable to the parish, and even then the order for removal was to be suspended in cases where the pauper was dangerously ill. Further, in 1795 conditions were so bad and there was so much poverty, that the Speenhamland system of supplementing wages from the poor rate according to a scale based on the price of a gallon loaf was largely adopted. In 1819 an Act was passed which allowed parishes to set up a select Vestry and ordered that in these parishes the Overseers should give relief as ordered by the select Vestry.
POVERTY AND DISTRESS.
There can be no doubt that there was a great deal of poverty and distress in the Parish of Thornton-in-Craven in the early part of last century. For the period of 22 years from 1816 to 1837, the amount disbursed in poor relief was about £24,060, or an average amount of over £1,093 per year, and the population of the parish in 1801 was 1,202 persons. Payments to the poor for the different years are as follows :—1816, £1,411 ; 1817, £1,490; 1818, £1,211; 1819, £1,410: 1820, £1,238; 1821, £829; 1822, £778 ; 1823, £871 ; 1824, £1,060 ; 1825, £1,081 ; 1826, £2,830 ; 1827, £1,261: 1828. £1,006; 1829, £1,231; 1830, £908; 1831, £895 ; 1832, £880 ; 1833, £855 ; 1834, £705 ; 1835, £620 ; 1836, £616; 1837, £863.
Each year the overseers' accounts were passed by two magistrates in the following form :
"West Riding of Yorkshire. Perused and allowed by us, two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting in and for the said Riding, the same being duly verified upon oath." Incidentally, the expenses of the journey to the magistrates to get the book signed was from 5s. to 7s. 6d. per year. It will be noted from the above figures that 1826 was the year of greatest distress within the period, and during this year over 400 persons belonging to the parish were relieved to the extent of £2,830.
The winter of 1825-6 was a hard one, and 1826 appears to have been a disastrous year throughout the country, and especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Food was scarce and wages, even when work was to be had, were low. From 1826 the payments to the poor gradually decreased until, in 1836, the amount was £616.The number of persons in receipt of poor relief in any one year seems to have varied between 150 and 400. The year 1816 to 1820 was a bad period from the point of view of distress. Conditions seem to have been somewhat better from 1820 to 1823. But from then until 1829 distress was great, 1826, as stated above, being the worst year.
Payments from the parish to the treasurer of the Skipton Union commenced in October, 1837, as a result of the Poor Law Act of 1834, and for the half-year October, 1837, to March, 1838, £323 13s. 7d. was so paid. The following figures for 1816 may be of interest. In this year the amounts paid to the poor in the different townships of the parish were as follows: Thornton, £358 ; Earby, £340 : Kelbrook, £441 : Harden, £272 ; making a total of £1,411 for the whole parish. For the same year the rates were as follows: Thornton township, 65 cesses at £9 10s. 5d. per Cess, £618 7s. 1d. ; Earby township. 65 Cesses at £4 17s. 0d. per Cess, £315 5s. 0d. ; Kelbrook township, 65 Cesses at £2s. l0d. per Cess, £269.4s. 2d. ; Harden township, 65 Cesses at £3 1s. 0d. per Cess, £198 5s. 0d. Earby Mill in this year paid 65 Cesses at 3s. 7d. per Cess, amounting to £11 12s. 11d.
In 1826, when expenditure was highest, 'the rates for the whole parish were 118 Cesses at £20 14s. 4d. per Cess—a total of £2,444 11s. 4d. In 1823 the rates are shown as 51/2 books of poor rates at £210 14s. 01/4d. per book. As the poor rate mounted up, parish authorities kept a very strict watch on strangers entering the parish.
There was much poor law litigation. Lawsuits between parishes were continually occurring and in 1815 it is estimated that in the whole country the money spent in litigation and removal of paupers amounted to £287,000. Thornton-in-Craven contributed its share to this huge sum as the following items show: 1817 Law Bill, £76 2s. 6d. ; 1820 Law Expenses, £80 16s. 7d. 1826 Law Expenses, £48 3s. 8d. 1828 Bill of Law, £11 2s. 1831 Law Costs, £56 11s.
In 1817 the Overseers of Thornton received of the Overseers of "Barlick their share" of a pauper's expense, namely, £4: and, the Overseers add, "now Barlick takes him to themselves"-- no doubt to the joy of the Thornton Overseers, as it would relieve them of some expense and responsibility. In 1832, the Overseers received from the Overseer of Salford for the maintenance of S.W. while under removal orders, £3 9s. 0d. Apparently a native of Salford had settled in Thornton Parish and had unfortunately become chargeable to the parish, hence the Overseers had probably obtained an order for his removal back to Salford. The Thornton accounts show many payments to per-sons living outside the parish, but these would originally belong to the parish, which was therefore responsible for them.
THE OVERSEERS.
Previous to 1817 the Thornton Vestry seems to have appointed its Overseers by turn or "rotation of farms" and such Overseers seem to have been unpaid, but the Vestry held 27th March, 1817 decided "that the old of late practice of Overseers serving the office by turn, or rotation of farms, is not for the benefit in general, of either the payers of assessments or the poor, therefore it is agreed that two men shall be hired for the year ensuing to serve the office of Overseers." At the same meeting, two persons were elected to "serve the office of Overseers, jointly, with a wage from the parish of thirty pounds, who are to collect their assessments every month, and enforce all arrears as speedily as possible and make up their accounts of all disbursements monthly." Further, it was agreed that the two Overseers should "have the usual allowance for necessary journeys out of the parish, which are to be made as few as possible." This last instruction is a naive and direct hint to the Overseers to economise.
One rather suspects that the chief reason for the appointment of paid Overseers was the defaulting ratepayers, with whom one cannot help but have some sympathy considering the amount which had to be raised each year. The Overseers were elected annually at a Vestry held in March, and probably their election was subject to the approval of the magistrates as the minute of their election usually takes the following form : "At a meeting held pursuant to Notice for the purpose of returning to the Magistrates a list of substantial House-holders to be appointed Overseers of the Poor for the Parish of Thornton, for the year ensuing the following persons were approved, etc."
The Overseers often held other parish offices as, for example, in 1818 the two Overseers were also appointed Constables and Collectors of Assessed Taxes, their joint salary as Constables being £2 2s. for the year. The Vestry often elected a Committee, or Select Vestry, to assist the Overseers. At a Vestry held 2nd June, 1817 " sixteen persons were appointed to form a committee, to assist the Overseers when required, in property inspecting and administering relief to the poor." The Select Vestry was appointed under the Act of 1819 previously quoted, and had to be submitted for approval to two magistrates. Relief was usually given in cash, but it might also be given in kind or might take the form of payment of rent or free medical attendance. Apparently the poor were paid once a month, and at a Vestry held 21st March, 1833, it was resolved: "That the poor shall be paid on the first Thursday in every calendar month at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, that T.B., J.S., J.W., and B.P. shall assist the Overseer and shall examine the accounts and settle them every three months and shall for their trouble receive the sum of £1 6s. each." In 1818 the following relief to various persons was made in kind: Aprons 2s., shoes 2s. 6d., healds, etc., 4s. 6d., petticoats, etc., 7s. 7d.
The following items appertain to medical attendance :—At a Vestry held 1st June, 1818, it "was agreed with Dr. Petty, of Gisburn, to attend all the paupers within the Parish of Thornton, from this time to the 4th day of April, 1819, for the sum of £6." In 1826 doctors' bills paid by the parish amounted to £7 13s. 0d. In 1837, 15d. 6d. was paid to William Harrison, surgeon, Gargrave, for attending D. P.'s family in September 1837. In 1818 the Overseers paid to a property owner "for house rents" £16 18s. 5d. Probably these houses were occupied, by persons in receipt of poor relief, their rents being paid for them by the parish.
The overseers were occasionally troubled with defaulting ratepayers.
The following items appear to indicate that some unfortunate persons were in arrears :—Earby overseer received of A. B. for clock and drawers sold to C. D. under a distress £5. This was in 1816. In 1829 the proceeds of M. W.'s furniture amounted to £7 18s. 7d. In 1834 the overseers received for goods sold belonging to the late R. N., 6s 4d. Also in 1816 the arrears of cesses in Thornton township amounted to £7 8s. 10d.
The overseers frequently lost rates through property being unoccupied, empty houses, and through rates allowed to poor cottagers. The following items are from the accounts of 1830 :—Commons unoccupied, £9 3s. 4½d; barhouses, chapels rates, but the cesses not collected, £4 4s. 6d; rates allowed to poor cottagers, £5 13s. 9d.
The Vestry seems to have its share of trouble with regard to the re-assessment and re-valuation of property in the parish. At a Vestry held 16th November 1826, a revaluation of all property in the parish was decided upon in the following term: "At a meeting of such persons as are assessed or are likely to be assessed for the necessary relief of the poor of the parish of Thornton held in pursuance of notice duly given for the purpose of taking into consideration and deciding the best measures to be adopted for making and laying upon all rateable property within the said parish, a fair and equal assessment for the necessary relief of the poor thereof and for other purposes in the several Acts of Parliament mentioned relating to the poor. It was unanimously resolved: 'That a new valuation of all rateable property within the said parish of Thornton shall with all convenient speed be made, by such person as the committee hereinafter mentioned shall select for that purpose. That in the making of such valuation such valuer be guided by the admeasurements recently made of lands in the said parish of Thornton under or by virtue of the Thornton Inclosure Act. That the expense of making such valuation shall be paid, by the churchwardens and over-seers of the poor of the said parish out of moneys arising from the Poor Rate for such parish.' " Further, at a meeting held 11th February, 1830 pursuant to notice for the purpose of considering the propriety of reducing the rates on the moorland throughout the parish of Thornton, it was resolved that the overseer be directed to demand not more than, after the value of, one shilling and three pence per acre on all such land.
A short time afterwards, at a Vestry held 1st April, 1830, "pursuant to notice for the purpose of regulating and altering the assessment of cottages, houses, and other buildings within the parish of Thornton, it was agreed that there shall be a rate made after the present valuation."
THE WORKHOUSE.
From 1824 to 1837 there seems to have been a workhouse for the parish. At a Vestry held 25th March, 1821, the following was resolved :—
"This meeting considers a workhouse very necessary and of the greatest importance, and we. the undersigned, consider and authorise the overseers to procure a part of Holden Clough, if it can be obtained, if not to procure one where it can be obtained for the most advantage." Apparently the suggested workhouse was obtained, for the accounts show that during the year £48 15s. was spent on it.
The following interesting items relating to the workhouse are taken from the accounts. 1827. To Cash for fixters (sic) in Holden Workhouse, £2 8s. 6d. ; Dec. 27th, 1837, Holden Workhouse bills, etc., paid, £22 8s. 51/2d ; by cash for H,B, weaving at Workhouse, £3 10s. 2d.; by cash for H.A. weaving at Workhouse, 3s. 6d.; by cash for K.T. weaving at Workhouse, £2 9s. 6d. The last three items are also referred to in the accounts as "Received by paupers' work at Holden Workhouse, £6 12s. 2d." Does this mean that hand-looms were installed in the workhouse, and that they received the above amounts for weaving done by the inmates?
There is nothing to indicate where Holden Clough or Holden Workhouse was. But it seems probable that the above minute refers to a workhouse, which was already in existence. No trace of such a workhouse having existed within the parish of Thornton can be found, hence it appears that the overseers obtained the use of part of some work-house outside the parish. It is possible that the workhouse referred to was at Holden, near Bolton-by-Bowland, as a workhouse was in existence there at that time.
The following items are rather puzzling: 1817, the Overseer for Kelbrook and Harden received by payment of looms rent, etc., £19 13s. 31/2d. : 1827, to cash for barrows sold at Thornton, £3 14s. 9d; 1827, to cash of R.W. for a lngeon (sic), 10s; 1830, received of J.B. in part of £1 for looms 7d. 6d., received of C.R. in part of 10s. for looms 3s; 6d., received of B.T. part of his rent, 3s, 0d; 1830, received of H.E. for one pair of looms £1 10s.
COUNTY RATE.
As at the present time, the County Rate formed part of the Poor Rate. The payment of the County Rate is shown in the Thornton Accounts from 1824. For the period of 14 years from 1824 to 1837 the total amount paid by the parish in County Rates was £2,057, an average of £145 per year.
The year of the highest County Rate for this period is, also the year of the highest Poor Rate, namely, 1826, when it was £185 15s. The journey to pay the County Rate cost as a rule 10s.
CONSTABLE ACCOUNT.
The Constable Account is entered in the overseers’ accounts, the amounts paid to or received from the Constable Account by the overseers being given. Unfortunately, from a historical point of view, no individual items are shown.
In days gone by, stocks, whipping posts and ducking stools were in frequent use and the unfortunate person who had to inflict these parochial punishments was the Constable. It was an ancient office dating back over a thousand years. When a new Constable was required he was appointed by the Vestry.
From 1818 to 1820 there were two Constables, but from 1820 onwards only one. The Constable received 2 guineas a year for his pains. At a Vestry held 22nd April, 1824, six Special Constables were appointed, three for Earby Township and three, for Kelbrook Township. These were in addition to the regular Constable and it was unusual, but there may have been some special reason for it. From 1818 to 1823 the Constable Account seems to have been a profitable concern, for during this period the overseers received sums varying from £2 to £9 per year from it, but from 1823 onwards they paid to the Constable Account an average of £8 10s. per year.
ROAD MAKING.
The accounts for 1826 include the following: — Cash belonging roads making and repairing, £541 10s. ; Expenses belonging the road, £295 12s. 9d. But there is nothing to show whence this money was obtained or on what roads it was spent. The date leads one to think that the expenditure had some connection with the Thornton Award of 1825, based on the Thornton Inclosure Act of 1819. In this award the Commissioner appointed by the Act set out and appointed certain public carriage roads to be constructed. It is possible that the Surveyors of Highways for the parish supervised the construction of the roads, but it is probable that the money came from rates paid by the several proprietors, who had had land allotted to them as a result of the Inclosure Act, and perhaps from other landowners in the parish.
Other miscellaneous items in the accounts are as follow: —On May 15th, 1817, the 'Thornton overseer received of A.B. "for one year's rent of house in Cam Lane to Michaelmas 1816, 10s. 6d." A rent which would be a joy to present day householders! On April 6th, 1818, the Overseers received of J.C. for Militia money the sum of 10s.
In 1826 the parish paid "By proportionate share for power looms, damaged belonging to J. Mason, £9 14s. 9d." This item invokes interesting speculation. Who was J. Mason? Who damaged the power looms, and why? Why did the parish pay a share? Who paid the other share or shares? I think it is probable that the item is connected with the riots, which occurred at Addingham and Gar-grave in 1826.
As stated above, 1826 was a year of great distress, and in addition to the distress the hand-loom weavers and spinners were haunted by the fear of further trouble to come through the introduction of, power-driven machinery, and some took to rioting. W. H. Dawson, in his "Loose Leaves from Craven History," gives interesting accounts of these riots. Mr. Jeremiah Horsfall had decided to install power-looms in his mill at Addingham. During April, 1826, a wagon load of machinery was sent from Cheshire for Mr. Horsfall's Mill. It travelled by way of Colne. A large number of hand-loom weavers from Colne, Trawden, Wycoller, Laneshawbridge, Cowling and maybe other villages, met the wagon there and followed it. Eventually, near Laneshawbridge they broke up the machinery. 'Within, a few days of this outrage the same crowd decided to visit Addingham and break up the machinery in the mill as they had broken that on the wagon. Their designs were frustrated by the action of the workpeople in the mill and the timely arrival of soldiers.’
The rioters than decided to proceed to Gargrave to destroy the looms in Mr. Mason's mill there. Mr. Mason met them outside the village and tried to dissuade them from their misguided plans. He even offered them money to buy food. They persisted, however, and in a quarter of an hour completely destroyed the looms and then quietly dispersed to their own villages. For the damage done by the riot the parishes in the wapentake of Staincliffe had to pay. Each parish paid its share. Whether any persons from Thornton Parish took part in the rioting it is not stated, but Thornton Parish would have to pay its share, which probably explains the item of £9 14s. 9d, paid as "a proportionate share for power looms damaged belonging to J. Mason."
In 1827 Earby Chapel (sic) is mentioned in the accounts. In 1828 sundry expenses and money paid to Wakefield Asylum amounted to £52 0s. 8d. In 1832 the overseers received of 42 persons "who claimed as voters for Knights of the Shire one shilling each—£2 2s." Apparently there were only 42 parliamentary voters in the whole parish. In the same year the overseers received of Mr. A—. for the conveyance of T.B. to Wakefield House of Correction the sum of £2. and in the following year they also received of Mr. A —. for the conveyance of M. E. to Wakefield House of Correction a further sum of £2.
In 1837 the overseers paid £23 0s. l0d. for a map and plan of the parish, and this "was the balance between the charge of map and the money paid by the proprietors." The reason for the making of this map is not given, but it may have been required in connection with the formation of the new Skipton Poor Law Union.
The next two items throw an interesting light on the cost of postage in 1827. for in this year 5d. was paid for the postage of a letter from Colne respecting H. N.'s rent and 8d. was paid for the postage of a letter from Thornton, near Bradford, respecting R.E. and his family.
The first payment to the Skipton Union was made in October, 1837. The overseers' accounts cease in March, 1838, as in this year, after nearly three and a half centuries, the duties of the overseers of the parish respecting the relief of the poor were taken over by the Skipton Union. At a Vestry held 22nd March, 1838, two overseers were appointed, namely: J.S. and T.B. and it was decided, "that this meeting do agree to pay J.S. for his services as overseer and guardian the sum of twenty-five pounds, he being to attend at the meetings of the Board of Guardians and also to assist the relieving officer on the weekly pay day and make out and deliver all lists to magistrates and Chief Constable without further charges; that this meeting be binding upon all ratepayers of the parish."
And so ends an interesting but un-fortunate phase in the history of the ancient parish of Thornton-in-Craven.
A. H. C.
The next article will appear shortly.
Transcribed from the Craven Herald April 26th 1928 written by A. E. Clegg,
Headmaster of New Road School, Earby.
From a collection of newspaper cuttings made by J. Hartley kindly loaned by Mrs. E. Wilkinson.
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[Posted on oneguy 30 August 2004.]
BYGONE DAYS IN AN ANCIENT PARISH.
[1.]
From the Craven Herald Friday April 26th 1928
We publish below the first of a series of articles on the Ancient Parish of Thornton-in-Craven from the pen of Mr. A. H. Clegg. The Ancient Parish included the town-ships of Thornton, Earby, Kelbrook and Harden, and Mr. Clegg's survey will deal with some of the bygone forms of civil and ecclesiastic administration as revealed in old documents which for the first time have been used as the basis of public writing. In compiling material for the first article, a section of which is now given, Mr. Clegg acknowledges the permission of the Bishop of the Diocese and the courtesy of the Rector of Thornton-in-Craven for access to certain documents. Having regard to changes, which are imminent to the administration of the Poor Law, Mr. Clegg's sketch of the system of poor relief over a century ago is of special interest.
The ancient Parish of Thornton-in-Craven consisted of four townships, namely, Thornton, Earby. Kelbrook and Harden. The first three of these are mentioned in Domesday Book. In olden days the parish was the district in which one parish priest ministered—the area which paid tithes and other ecclesiastical dues to the same person. The Parish Meeting, or Vestry, played a very important part in the life of the parish. The business at a vestry was not confined to matters affecting the Church. In early days the distinction between things secular and things ecclesiastical did not exist. In this article it is proposed to deal with the care of the poor of the parish about a century ago.
Perhaps a brief explanation of the general system of poor relief prevailing at that time would be advantageous. In those days each parish was responsible for and had to maintain, its own poor. The ultimate authority in all parish matters was the Vestry. The various officers of the parish were elected by the Vestry. The poor law system in force dated from the time of Queen Elizabeth. In 1601 an Act was passed which directed that officers should be appointed for each parish called "over-seers of the poor," whose duty it should be to raise a common fund "for the necessary relief of the poor" by "taxation of every occupier of lands, houses, tithes, coalmines, or saleable underwoods in the parish." and this system continued, with modifications, down to about 1834.
Prior to 1722, parishes which desired to build a workhouse had to get a special Act of Parliament, but in this year an Act was passed which authorised Over-seers, with the consent of the Vestry, to start workhouses, or to farm out the poor. If applicants for relief refused to go into the workhouse they forfeited their right to any relief at all.
In 1790 another Act was passed which abolished this restriction of right to relief to persons willing to enter the work-house, and for the first time the granting of out-door relief to the able-bodied was made general. An Act of 1795 repealed the Act of Settlement of Charles II.'s reign which enacted that the Justices, at the complaint of the Overseers, might order any person coming to live in the parish to be removed back to his own place of settlement unless he could give security against becoming chargeable to the parish. This Act provided that nobody was to be removable until he became actually chargeable to the parish, and even then the order for removal was to be suspended in cases where the pauper was dangerously ill. Further, in 1795 conditions were so bad and there was so much poverty, that the Speenhamland system of supplementing wages from the poor rate according to a scale based on the price of a gallon loaf was largely adopted. In 1819 an Act was passed which allowed parishes to set up a select Vestry and ordered that in these parishes the Overseers should give relief as ordered by the select Vestry.
POVERTY AND DISTRESS.
There can be no doubt that there was a great deal of poverty and distress in the Parish of Thornton-in-Craven in the early part of last century. For the period of 22 years from 1816 to 1837, the amount disbursed in poor relief was about £24,060, or an average amount of over £1,093 per year, and the population of the parish in 1801 was 1,202 persons. Payments to the poor for the different years are as follows :—1816, £1,411 ; 1817, £1,490; 1818, £1,211; 1819, £1,410: 1820, £1,238; 1821, £829; 1822, £778 ; 1823, £871 ; 1824, £1,060 ; 1825, £1,081 ; 1826, £2,830 ; 1827, £1,261: 1828. £1,006; 1829, £1,231; 1830, £908; 1831, £895 ; 1832, £880 ; 1833, £855 ; 1834, £705 ; 1835, £620 ; 1836, £616; 1837, £863.
Each year the overseers' accounts were passed by two magistrates in the following form :
"West Riding of Yorkshire. Perused and allowed by us, two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting in and for the said Riding, the same being duly verified upon oath." Incidentally, the expenses of the journey to the magistrates to get the book signed was from 5s. to 7s. 6d. per year. It will be noted from the above figures that 1826 was the year of greatest distress within the period, and during this year over 400 persons belonging to the parish were relieved to the extent of £2,830.
The winter of 1825-6 was a hard one, and 1826 appears to have been a disastrous year throughout the country, and especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Food was scarce and wages, even when work was to be had, were low. From 1826 the payments to the poor gradually decreased until, in 1836, the amount was £616.The number of persons in receipt of poor relief in any one year seems to have varied between 150 and 400. The year 1816 to 1820 was a bad period from the point of view of distress. Conditions seem to have been somewhat better from 1820 to 1823. But from then until 1829 distress was great, 1826, as stated above, being the worst year.
Payments from the parish to the treasurer of the Skipton Union commenced in October, 1837, as a result of the Poor Law Act of 1834, and for the half-year October, 1837, to March, 1838, £323 13s. 7d. was so paid. The following figures for 1816 may be of interest. In this year the amounts paid to the poor in the different townships of the parish were as follows: Thornton, £358 ; Earby, £340 : Kelbrook, £441 : Harden, £272 ; making a total of £1,411 for the whole parish. For the same year the rates were as follows: Thornton township, 65 cesses at £9 10s. 5d. per Cess, £618 7s. 1d. ; Earby township. 65 Cesses at £4 17s. 0d. per Cess, £315 5s. 0d. ; Kelbrook township, 65 Cesses at £2s. l0d. per Cess, £269.4s. 2d. ; Harden township, 65 Cesses at £3 1s. 0d. per Cess, £198 5s. 0d. Earby Mill in this year paid 65 Cesses at 3s. 7d. per Cess, amounting to £11 12s. 11d.
In 1826, when expenditure was highest, 'the rates for the whole parish were 118 Cesses at £20 14s. 4d. per Cess—a total of £2,444 11s. 4d. In 1823 the rates are shown as 51/2 books of poor rates at £210 14s. 01/4d. per book. As the poor rate mounted up, parish authorities kept a very strict watch on strangers entering the parish.
There was much poor law litigation. Lawsuits between parishes were continually occurring and in 1815 it is estimated that in the whole country the money spent in litigation and removal of paupers amounted to £287,000. Thornton-in-Craven contributed its share to this huge sum as the following items show: 1817 Law Bill, £76 2s. 6d. ; 1820 Law Expenses, £80 16s. 7d. 1826 Law Expenses, £48 3s. 8d. 1828 Bill of Law, £11 2s. 1831 Law Costs, £56 11s.
In 1817 the Overseers of Thornton received of the Overseers of "Barlick their share" of a pauper's expense, namely, £4: and, the Overseers add, "now Barlick takes him to themselves"-- no doubt to the joy of the Thornton Overseers, as it would relieve them of some expense and responsibility. In 1832, the Overseers received from the Overseer of Salford for the maintenance of S.W. while under removal orders, £3 9s. 0d. Apparently a native of Salford had settled in Thornton Parish and had unfortunately become chargeable to the parish, hence the Overseers had probably obtained an order for his removal back to Salford. The Thornton accounts show many payments to per-sons living outside the parish, but these would originally belong to the parish, which was therefore responsible for them.
THE OVERSEERS.
Previous to 1817 the Thornton Vestry seems to have appointed its Overseers by turn or "rotation of farms" and such Overseers seem to have been unpaid, but the Vestry held 27th March, 1817 decided "that the old of late practice of Overseers serving the office by turn, or rotation of farms, is not for the benefit in general, of either the payers of assessments or the poor, therefore it is agreed that two men shall be hired for the year ensuing to serve the office of Overseers." At the same meeting, two persons were elected to "serve the office of Overseers, jointly, with a wage from the parish of thirty pounds, who are to collect their assessments every month, and enforce all arrears as speedily as possible and make up their accounts of all disbursements monthly." Further, it was agreed that the two Overseers should "have the usual allowance for necessary journeys out of the parish, which are to be made as few as possible." This last instruction is a naive and direct hint to the Overseers to economise.
One rather suspects that the chief reason for the appointment of paid Overseers was the defaulting ratepayers, with whom one cannot help but have some sympathy considering the amount which had to be raised each year. The Overseers were elected annually at a Vestry held in March, and probably their election was subject to the approval of the magistrates as the minute of their election usually takes the following form : "At a meeting held pursuant to Notice for the purpose of returning to the Magistrates a list of substantial House-holders to be appointed Overseers of the Poor for the Parish of Thornton, for the year ensuing the following persons were approved, etc."
The Overseers often held other parish offices as, for example, in 1818 the two Overseers were also appointed Constables and Collectors of Assessed Taxes, their joint salary as Constables being £2 2s. for the year. The Vestry often elected a Committee, or Select Vestry, to assist the Overseers. At a Vestry held 2nd June, 1817 " sixteen persons were appointed to form a committee, to assist the Overseers when required, in property inspecting and administering relief to the poor." The Select Vestry was appointed under the Act of 1819 previously quoted, and had to be submitted for approval to two magistrates. Relief was usually given in cash, but it might also be given in kind or might take the form of payment of rent or free medical attendance. Apparently the poor were paid once a month, and at a Vestry held 21st March, 1833, it was resolved: "That the poor shall be paid on the first Thursday in every calendar month at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, that T.B., J.S., J.W., and B.P. shall assist the Overseer and shall examine the accounts and settle them every three months and shall for their trouble receive the sum of £1 6s. each." In 1818 the following relief to various persons was made in kind: Aprons 2s., shoes 2s. 6d., healds, etc., 4s. 6d., petticoats, etc., 7s. 7d.
The following items appertain to medical attendance :—At a Vestry held 1st June, 1818, it "was agreed with Dr. Petty, of Gisburn, to attend all the paupers within the Parish of Thornton, from this time to the 4th day of April, 1819, for the sum of £6." In 1826 doctors' bills paid by the parish amounted to £7 13s. 0d. In 1837, 15d. 6d. was paid to William Harrison, surgeon, Gargrave, for attending D. P.'s family in September 1837. In 1818 the Overseers paid to a property owner "for house rents" £16 18s. 5d. Probably these houses were occupied, by persons in receipt of poor relief, their rents being paid for them by the parish.
The overseers were occasionally troubled with defaulting ratepayers.
The following items appear to indicate that some unfortunate persons were in arrears :—Earby overseer received of A. B. for clock and drawers sold to C. D. under a distress £5. This was in 1816. In 1829 the proceeds of M. W.'s furniture amounted to £7 18s. 7d. In 1834 the overseers received for goods sold belonging to the late R. N., 6s 4d. Also in 1816 the arrears of cesses in Thornton township amounted to £7 8s. 10d.
The overseers frequently lost rates through property being unoccupied, empty houses, and through rates allowed to poor cottagers. The following items are from the accounts of 1830 :—Commons unoccupied, £9 3s. 4½d; barhouses, chapels rates, but the cesses not collected, £4 4s. 6d; rates allowed to poor cottagers, £5 13s. 9d.
The Vestry seems to have its share of trouble with regard to the re-assessment and re-valuation of property in the parish. At a Vestry held 16th November 1826, a revaluation of all property in the parish was decided upon in the following term: "At a meeting of such persons as are assessed or are likely to be assessed for the necessary relief of the poor of the parish of Thornton held in pursuance of notice duly given for the purpose of taking into consideration and deciding the best measures to be adopted for making and laying upon all rateable property within the said parish, a fair and equal assessment for the necessary relief of the poor thereof and for other purposes in the several Acts of Parliament mentioned relating to the poor. It was unanimously resolved: 'That a new valuation of all rateable property within the said parish of Thornton shall with all convenient speed be made, by such person as the committee hereinafter mentioned shall select for that purpose. That in the making of such valuation such valuer be guided by the admeasurements recently made of lands in the said parish of Thornton under or by virtue of the Thornton Inclosure Act. That the expense of making such valuation shall be paid, by the churchwardens and over-seers of the poor of the said parish out of moneys arising from the Poor Rate for such parish.' " Further, at a meeting held 11th February, 1830 pursuant to notice for the purpose of considering the propriety of reducing the rates on the moorland throughout the parish of Thornton, it was resolved that the overseer be directed to demand not more than, after the value of, one shilling and three pence per acre on all such land.
A short time afterwards, at a Vestry held 1st April, 1830, "pursuant to notice for the purpose of regulating and altering the assessment of cottages, houses, and other buildings within the parish of Thornton, it was agreed that there shall be a rate made after the present valuation."
THE WORKHOUSE.
From 1824 to 1837 there seems to have been a workhouse for the parish. At a Vestry held 25th March, 1821, the following was resolved :—
"This meeting considers a workhouse very necessary and of the greatest importance, and we. the undersigned, consider and authorise the overseers to procure a part of Holden Clough, if it can be obtained, if not to procure one where it can be obtained for the most advantage." Apparently the suggested workhouse was obtained, for the accounts show that during the year £48 15s. was spent on it.
The following interesting items relating to the workhouse are taken from the accounts. 1827. To Cash for fixters (sic) in Holden Workhouse, £2 8s. 6d. ; Dec. 27th, 1837, Holden Workhouse bills, etc., paid, £22 8s. 51/2d ; by cash for H,B, weaving at Workhouse, £3 10s. 2d.; by cash for H.A. weaving at Workhouse, 3s. 6d.; by cash for K.T. weaving at Workhouse, £2 9s. 6d. The last three items are also referred to in the accounts as "Received by paupers' work at Holden Workhouse, £6 12s. 2d." Does this mean that hand-looms were installed in the workhouse, and that they received the above amounts for weaving done by the inmates?
There is nothing to indicate where Holden Clough or Holden Workhouse was. But it seems probable that the above minute refers to a workhouse, which was already in existence. No trace of such a workhouse having existed within the parish of Thornton can be found, hence it appears that the overseers obtained the use of part of some work-house outside the parish. It is possible that the workhouse referred to was at Holden, near Bolton-by-Bowland, as a workhouse was in existence there at that time.
The following items are rather puzzling: 1817, the Overseer for Kelbrook and Harden received by payment of looms rent, etc., £19 13s. 31/2d. : 1827, to cash for barrows sold at Thornton, £3 14s. 9d; 1827, to cash of R.W. for a lngeon (sic), 10s; 1830, received of J.B. in part of £1 for looms 7d. 6d., received of C.R. in part of 10s. for looms 3s; 6d., received of B.T. part of his rent, 3s, 0d; 1830, received of H.E. for one pair of looms £1 10s.
COUNTY RATE.
As at the present time, the County Rate formed part of the Poor Rate. The payment of the County Rate is shown in the Thornton Accounts from 1824. For the period of 14 years from 1824 to 1837 the total amount paid by the parish in County Rates was £2,057, an average of £145 per year.
The year of the highest County Rate for this period is, also the year of the highest Poor Rate, namely, 1826, when it was £185 15s. The journey to pay the County Rate cost as a rule 10s.
CONSTABLE ACCOUNT.
The Constable Account is entered in the overseers’ accounts, the amounts paid to or received from the Constable Account by the overseers being given. Unfortunately, from a historical point of view, no individual items are shown.
In days gone by, stocks, whipping posts and ducking stools were in frequent use and the unfortunate person who had to inflict these parochial punishments was the Constable. It was an ancient office dating back over a thousand years. When a new Constable was required he was appointed by the Vestry.
From 1818 to 1820 there were two Constables, but from 1820 onwards only one. The Constable received 2 guineas a year for his pains. At a Vestry held 22nd April, 1824, six Special Constables were appointed, three for Earby Township and three, for Kelbrook Township. These were in addition to the regular Constable and it was unusual, but there may have been some special reason for it. From 1818 to 1823 the Constable Account seems to have been a profitable concern, for during this period the overseers received sums varying from £2 to £9 per year from it, but from 1823 onwards they paid to the Constable Account an average of £8 10s. per year.
ROAD MAKING.
The accounts for 1826 include the following: — Cash belonging roads making and repairing, £541 10s. ; Expenses belonging the road, £295 12s. 9d. But there is nothing to show whence this money was obtained or on what roads it was spent. The date leads one to think that the expenditure had some connection with the Thornton Award of 1825, based on the Thornton Inclosure Act of 1819. In this award the Commissioner appointed by the Act set out and appointed certain public carriage roads to be constructed. It is possible that the Surveyors of Highways for the parish supervised the construction of the roads, but it is probable that the money came from rates paid by the several proprietors, who had had land allotted to them as a result of the Inclosure Act, and perhaps from other landowners in the parish.
Other miscellaneous items in the accounts are as follow: —On May 15th, 1817, the 'Thornton overseer received of A.B. "for one year's rent of house in Cam Lane to Michaelmas 1816, 10s. 6d." A rent which would be a joy to present day householders! On April 6th, 1818, the Overseers received of J.C. for Militia money the sum of 10s.
In 1826 the parish paid "By proportionate share for power looms, damaged belonging to J. Mason, £9 14s. 9d." This item invokes interesting speculation. Who was J. Mason? Who damaged the power looms, and why? Why did the parish pay a share? Who paid the other share or shares? I think it is probable that the item is connected with the riots, which occurred at Addingham and Gar-grave in 1826.
As stated above, 1826 was a year of great distress, and in addition to the distress the hand-loom weavers and spinners were haunted by the fear of further trouble to come through the introduction of, power-driven machinery, and some took to rioting. W. H. Dawson, in his "Loose Leaves from Craven History," gives interesting accounts of these riots. Mr. Jeremiah Horsfall had decided to install power-looms in his mill at Addingham. During April, 1826, a wagon load of machinery was sent from Cheshire for Mr. Horsfall's Mill. It travelled by way of Colne. A large number of hand-loom weavers from Colne, Trawden, Wycoller, Laneshawbridge, Cowling and maybe other villages, met the wagon there and followed it. Eventually, near Laneshawbridge they broke up the machinery. 'Within, a few days of this outrage the same crowd decided to visit Addingham and break up the machinery in the mill as they had broken that on the wagon. Their designs were frustrated by the action of the workpeople in the mill and the timely arrival of soldiers.’
The rioters than decided to proceed to Gargrave to destroy the looms in Mr. Mason's mill there. Mr. Mason met them outside the village and tried to dissuade them from their misguided plans. He even offered them money to buy food. They persisted, however, and in a quarter of an hour completely destroyed the looms and then quietly dispersed to their own villages. For the damage done by the riot the parishes in the wapentake of Staincliffe had to pay. Each parish paid its share. Whether any persons from Thornton Parish took part in the rioting it is not stated, but Thornton Parish would have to pay its share, which probably explains the item of £9 14s. 9d, paid as "a proportionate share for power looms damaged belonging to J. Mason."
In 1827 Earby Chapel (sic) is mentioned in the accounts. In 1828 sundry expenses and money paid to Wakefield Asylum amounted to £52 0s. 8d. In 1832 the overseers received of 42 persons "who claimed as voters for Knights of the Shire one shilling each—£2 2s." Apparently there were only 42 parliamentary voters in the whole parish. In the same year the overseers received of Mr. A—. for the conveyance of T.B. to Wakefield House of Correction the sum of £2. and in the following year they also received of Mr. A —. for the conveyance of M. E. to Wakefield House of Correction a further sum of £2.
In 1837 the overseers paid £23 0s. l0d. for a map and plan of the parish, and this "was the balance between the charge of map and the money paid by the proprietors." The reason for the making of this map is not given, but it may have been required in connection with the formation of the new Skipton Poor Law Union.
The next two items throw an interesting light on the cost of postage in 1827. for in this year 5d. was paid for the postage of a letter from Colne respecting H. N.'s rent and 8d. was paid for the postage of a letter from Thornton, near Bradford, respecting R.E. and his family.
The first payment to the Skipton Union was made in October, 1837. The overseers' accounts cease in March, 1838, as in this year, after nearly three and a half centuries, the duties of the overseers of the parish respecting the relief of the poor were taken over by the Skipton Union. At a Vestry held 22nd March, 1838, two overseers were appointed, namely: J.S. and T.B. and it was decided, "that this meeting do agree to pay J.S. for his services as overseer and guardian the sum of twenty-five pounds, he being to attend at the meetings of the Board of Guardians and also to assist the relieving officer on the weekly pay day and make out and deliver all lists to magistrates and Chief Constable without further charges; that this meeting be binding upon all ratepayers of the parish."
And so ends an interesting but un-fortunate phase in the history of the ancient parish of Thornton-in-Craven.
A. H. C.
The next article will appear shortly.
Transcribed from the Craven Herald April 26th 1928 written by A. E. Clegg,
Headmaster of New Road School, Earby.
From a collection of newspaper cuttings made by J. Hartley kindly loaned by Mrs. E. Wilkinson.
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[Posted on oneguy 30 August 2004.]