Towcester Union Settlement Records 1848 - 1861
The Poor Law Act of 1601 had declared
that every parish was responsible for its own poor. Parishes did not want to be
liable for the relief of poor from another parish also, and so the concept of 'settlement' arose. Anyone 'settled' in a parish had a right to
relief from it, and others did not.
After the
Settlement Act of 1662, people could obtain a settlement in any parish through:
Anyone not fulfilling these criteria was liable
to be removed to their original parish.
After 1697, poorer people had to carry
a settlement certificate with them to show that their parish of legal
settlement would take them back if necessary. Anyone
who applied for relief and was not accepted as legally 'settled' in the parish
would have their origins investigated to discover where their true place of
settlement actually was. This process was known as a 'settlement examination'.
This was conducted before two magistrates, who questioned the person about
their life-history.
Many of the cases were the result of
illegitimacy, or the death of a father followed by the re-marriage of the
mother.
Typically,
a legitimate child would take it's father's place of settlement, and an
illegitimate child would be settled in its place of birth until:
It
is noticeable that many of those who worked were hired by the day, week, or
month. Longer periods of employment would be 51 weeks. These were stratagems to
avoid making a man potentially chargeable on the parish. No-one wanted to put
the Poor Rates up.
Those
deemed to be settled elsewhere could be Removed back to their place of
settlement, by a Removal Order. This could in theory take them back to a parish
they had last lived in as a small child. But if they had lived in the parish
for 5 years, they were deemed “irremovable”, and could not be returned,
although their parish of Settlement was still expected to pay for them.
This
book covers a wide area around Towcester.
Names of those examined in
this book:
Elizabeth
Adams of Silverstone (wife of George), Elizabeth Adams (single) of Silverstone,
Mary
Ann Adams of Towcester, George Ager of Litchborough, William Armstone of
Grimscote, Cold Higham,
Elizabeth
Ashby of Astcote, Pattishall
James
Barnes of Blakesley, Naomi Barron of Fosters Booth, Thomas
Basford of Towcester,
Thomas
Bass of Shutlanger, George Bennett of Silverstone, Jane Blunt of Lois
Weedon, Amelia Botterill of Litchborough
William
Carter of Shutlanger, Henry Cartwright of Silverstone, Richard Causeby of
Pattishall,
Ann
Chapman of Pattishall, Michael
Clements of Greens Norton, William Coles of Astcote, Pattishall, Edward
Colson of Whittlebury, Sarah
Cook of North Crawley, John Cowley of Whittlebury, William
Croxford of Pattishall
John
Dove of Towcester, Sarah Drinkwater of Blakesley, John Dudley of
Whittlebury
Mary
Eales of Towcester, John Ellis of Blisworth, William
Evans of Towcester
George
Farey of Stoke Bruerne, Esther
Foster of Abthorpe, John Foster of Duncote
Joseph
Gardiner of Meridan, Richard
Gardner of Eastcote, Pattishall, William Gardner of Stoke Bruerne, George
Grantham als Judge, Robert
Grantham of Silverstone, Thomas Greaves of Wappenham, Richard Green of
Blisworth
Mary
Hall of Hulcote, Thomas
Harris of Towcester, Thomas
Haynes of Heathencote, Paulerspury, George & Ann Humphrey of Maidford,
George Humphrey of Weedon Lois, William
Hutchings of Pattishall
Charles
Cook James of Pattishall, Jane Johnson of
Towcester, Elizabeth Jones of Bury, Lancs and
John
Kendall of Greens Norton, Mary Kent of Silverstone, Joseph Key of Greens
Norton, James Kinder of Eastcote, Pattishall, Mary King of Gayton, Robert King
of Silverstone, James Kingston of Towcester,
James
Kirby of Towcester
Anna
Maria Lovell of Whittlebury, Job
Loveridge of Towcester
Eli
Maul of Whittlebury, Catherine Mawby of Weston by Weedon, Winifred Mott of
Bradden
Jane
Oldham of Whittlebury
William
Packwood of Wappenham, Richard Pinckard
of Cold Higham, Thomas Polkey of Blisworth,
Ann
Powell of Towcester
John
Quinney of Silverstone
John
Richardson of Blisworth, Jemima
Rickards of Towcester, Jesse Roberts of Cold Higham
Richard
Sanders of Blakesley, Joseph Satchell of Blakesley, John Scott of Silverstone,
George Shephard of Towcester, Aaron
Skerry of Astcote, Pattishall, Hannah Smith of Blakesley, George Smith of
Stoke Bruerne, Henry Smith of Astcote, Pattishall, Sarah Smith of Blakesley,
Sarah Spurling of Towcester, William
Stevens of Silverstone
Lucy
Tapp of Towcester, John Thorneycroft of
Blisworth, Zachariah Tibbs of Blisworth, John Tooley of Silverstone
William
Varney of Silverstone
Mary
Ann Warren of Cogenhoe, Sarah Webb of Paulerspury, George
Welch of Fosters Booth,
George
Wheeler of Silverstone, William White of Wappenham, Benjamin Whitmore of
Silverstone, Richard Whitmore of Stoke Bruerne, Elizabeth
Priscilla Wilcox of Towcester, Maria
Williams of Stoke Bruerne, Isaac Wood of Slapton, Frances
Wright of Towcester