Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 63, 1830-1831. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, [n.d.].
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'Appendix: poor laws, Appendix No. X', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 63, 1830-1831( London, [n.d.]), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol63/pp707-713 [accessed 8 July 2024].
'Appendix: poor laws, Appendix No. X', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 63, 1830-1831( London, [n.d.]), British History Online, accessed July 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol63/pp707-713.
"Appendix: poor laws, Appendix No. X". Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 63, 1830-1831. (London, [n.d.]), , British History Online. Web. 8 July 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol63/pp707-713.
In this section
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No. X.-Regulations for the Management of the Poor of the Parish of Hatfield, established in the Year 1820. (Delivered in by The Rev. F. J. Faithful.)
A Select Vestry shall be Annually appointed, agreeably to the Provisions of the Act of 59 Geo. 3, c. 12. Their Duties shall be as follows:-
They shall meet at the Workhouse, or in the Church, once in every Fortnight.
At their Meetings they shall consider all Cases brought before them, and order such Relief as they may deem requisite; being, however, guided by the Regulations hereafter laid down. They shall further consider and determine upon all Matters relating to the Parish, as far as the Provisions of the 59 Geo. 3, c. 12, will permit.
A Vestry Clerk shall be appointed, at a Salary of 15l. per Annum, with the following Duties; - to attend all Vestries, - to enter all Minutes of Proceedings into the Vestry Book, - to prepare all Rates, Summonses, Examinations, &c. for the Use of the Parish.
When any particular Parochial Business is to be transacted, the Vestry Clerk shall send a Notice to all the Members of the Select Vestry.
A Medical Man shall be appointed, at a Salary of 55l. per Annum, who shall attend all the Poor within the Parish, and within Four Miles of the Parish Church, and furnish them with Medicines; except Cases of Accident and Women in Labour.
A permanent Overseer shall be appointed, at a Salary of 50l. per Annum, with Board and Lodging for himself and Family. The sole Distribution of Relief under the Orders of the Select Vestry shall be placed in his Hands. He shall also be Governor of the Workhouse. He shall perform all the Duties of the Annual Overseers, with the Exception of the Collection of the Rates, which shall be left in their Hands. He shall, with the same Exception, discharge all the Duties of Stonewarden.
The Rates shall be called in Church on the first Sunday after a Quarter Day.
Administration of Relief to the Poor.
No Pension or permanent Allowance shall be granted henceforth to any Person out of the Workhouse.
All Persons who shall have been established as Pensioners before the Commencement of this System shall attend at the first Meetings of the Select Vestry next after Michaelmas and Lady Days.
All Pensioners who shall not attend, or who shall not give a reasonable Excuse for Non-attendance, shall forfeit their Pension.
The Workhouse shall be made sufficient to receive all Persons whom the Select Vestry shall deem fit Objects for Admission.
No Relief shall be given to any Person on account of the Number of his or her Family, except by the Admission of One or more of the Children, as may seem fit to the Select Vestry, into the Workhouse.
No Relief shall be granted to any Person residing beyond the Limits of the Attendance of the Parish Apothecary, who shall not bring or send a Certificate of his or her Illness, signed by the Churchwarden or Overseer of the Place where he or she reside, or by a respectable Medical Man in the Neighbourhood.
All Relief shall be given in Provisions or Necessaries, except by especial Order of the Select Vestry, when the Reason of their Order shall be entered in their Minutes.
Relief out of the Workhouse shall be given only in Cases of Sickness and Infirmity; with the following Exceptions:-
When the Child of a Parishioner has been placed in Service, out of the Parish, and is approved of by his Master, he may be clothed at the Expence of the Parish, in such Manner as the Select Vestry may deem fit.
Any Sum not exceeding Five Shillings in Provisions or Necessaries may be given to Women in their Confinement, in lieu of providing a Midwife, when the Select Vestry may deem it necessary.
Compensation at the Discretion of the Select Vestry may be made to Persons attending others in Sickness.
The Expences of Funerals may be defrayed by the Parish.
Widows or Families may, at the Discretion of the Select Vestry, receive Relief out of the Workhouse for One Month after the Death of the Master of the Family, but no longer.
Every Case of Application for Relief, whether granted or refused, shall be entered into the Vestry Book, with the Cause of such Application.
A List shall be made out Annually of all Persons who have received Parish Relief, stating their Residence, and the Amount which they have each of them received; and Copies shall be affixed to the Church Doors in large and legible Characters, on the Sunday immediately after the passing of the Annual Accounts.
The Family of a Person sent to Gaol for any Crime or Misdemeanor, or under Suspicion of the same, shall not be relieved except by Admission into the Workhouse.
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Relief in Sickness.
The Form of obtaining Relief in Sickness shall be as follows: -
Application shall be made by the Party to the permanent Overseer, who is bound to give an Order for the Attendance of the Parish Apothecary, as follows:
"Sir,
"You are requested to visit at and if you think that any Relief in Provisions or Necessaries is advisable to be given, you will have the goodness to order it on this Paper, and sign it with your Name.
"I have the honour to be,
Your obedient Servant,
"N. B.-It is particularly requested that you will not order Money."
"Permanent Overseer."
At all Meetings of the Select Vestry a List shall be laid before them of the Persons who have applied for Medical Attendance between their Meetings.
The Parish Apothecary may order Relief in Cases of Emergency, until the next Meeting of the Select Vestry, when it is his Duty to report the Case for their Consideration.
The Hours for distributing Relief for Sickness shall be on Thursday, from Nine 'till Twelve o'Clock, except in Cases of great Emergency.
Providing Labour.
All Parishioners wanting Work shall, upon Application to the permanent Overseer, receive a Paper, in the Form which follows, to which they shall obtain the Signature of Twenty of the Farmers of the Parish, commencing with the Person with whom they last worked, if they were employed within the Parish, who is requested to state the Cause of their Discharge. When they bring back the Papers properly signed, they shall be set to such Work as the permanent Overseer may think fit, or the Select Vestry may direct.
"The Bearer of this Paper has applied to me for Work. It is therefore particularly requested that you will have the goodness to certify your Inability to furnish him with it, and also to state if he has refused Work of any kind. The Person with whom he last worked is requested to sign the Paper first, with the Cause of his Discharge.
"From you obedient Servant,
Permanent Overseer.
"Dated of 183.
N. B.-It shall only be required of Women who apply for a Working Paper, that it should be signed by the Person who last employed them.
All Persons, except Women, employed by the Parish, under the Age of Fifty, shall be employed in Task Work.
The Value of the Work done by them shall be calculated at Five Sixths of the common Rate of Wages for such Work.
Persons above the Age of Fifty may be employed in such Work as is not capable of being measured, but the Wages of their Labour shall be One Sixth below the common Rate of Wages.
The youngest Men shall always be put to the hardest Work, but no Difference whatever shall be made between the Wages of a married or a single Man on that Account.
When any Man shall have been discharged by his Employer for gross Misconduct, it shall be lawful for the Select Vestry to reduce the Rate of his Wages, whether by Task or Day Labour, to any Sum not less than One Half of the common Rate of Wages.
No Person shall be employed by the Parish for more than Six Weeks, without being again sent round with a Paper for Signature.
A Field of Five Acres, or not exceeding Twenty, shall be rented by the Parish, for the Purpose of employing the Poor.
A Weekly Labour Book shall be kept according to the annexed Form. (A. infra Page 16.)
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The permanent Overseer shall be authorized to contract for the Execution of any Work for other Persons, provided the Parish shall receive the Profit, and not run the Risk of any Loss.
The permanent Overseer may set the Poor to any Work which he may deem for the Benefit of the Parish.
WORKHOUSE.
Provisions.
The Paupers in the House shall be fed according to the annexed Table. (B. infra Page 17.)
Sealed Tenders for Flour of the Third Quality shall be delivered Once in Three Months to the Select Vestry.
Only One Sack of Flour shall remain in the House at the Termination of each Contract for that Article.
Sealed Tenders for Beef without Bone, and Mutton with Bone, shall be delivered Once in Six Months.
All other Provisions and Necessaries, of which the Consumption is sufficient to make it an Object to contract for them, shall be contracted for under the same Regulations as Meat.
Ten Days Notice shall be given in Church before such Tenders are required.
When Two Tenders are offered at the same Price, the last Contractor shall have the Preference. In other Cases of equal Offers fresh Tenders shall be required.
The rest of the Provisions and Necessaries for the Use of the Parish shall be purchased at Wholesale Prices.
A List of the Prices shall be laid before the Select Vestry at each of their Meetings.
A Provision Book shall be kept according to the annexed Form. (C. infra Pages 18, 19.)
Lodging.
The House shall be divided into the following Wards:-
No. 1.-For Men.
2.-For Boys.
3.-For Women.
4.-For Girls.
5.-For married old People.
6.-For Sick Male.
Female.
Day Rooms.
Women's Room. Men's Room.
Children's Room. Dining Room.
No Person shall be suffered to sleep out of his Ward under any Pretence, without Leave from the Governor of the House.
The Rooms shall be divided into Berths, each of which shall be furnished with a Straw Mattrass, a Straw Pillow, Two Blankets, Two Sheets, and a Rug.
The Straw in the Mattrasses shall be changed as often as required. The Bedding of other Description which is now in use shall not be replaced when worn out.
The Bed Rooms shall be vacated and cleaned by Seven o'Clock in the Morning from Lady Day to Michaelmas, and by Eight o'Clock from Michaelmas to Lady Day.
No one shall be suffered to return into them until Five o'Clock in the Evening, without the Leave of the Governor of the House.
The Two last Regulations shall not apply to the Sick Ward.
Fires shall be kept in the Day Rooms from Michaelmas to Lady Day, but none in the Bed Rooms, except in the Sick Ward.
All Persons shall be in Bed by Nine o'Clock at Night.
A Porter shall be appointed from amongst the Paupers to attend the Gates and keep them locked. None of the Inmates of the House shall pass through the Gates without the written Permission of the Governor, in the following Form:
The Bearer
is allowed to be absent from the Workhouse,
from 'till
on the
No Person shall enter without his Knowledge.
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No Person absenting himself from the Workhouse beyond the Time for which Leave is given to him, or sleeping out without Permission, shall be again admitted until the next Vestry, or by Order of a Magistrate.
No Beer or Spirituous Liquors shall be brought into the House without the Approbation of the Governor of the Workhouse.
All Men and Boys capable of Labour shall be employed on the Parish Account, every Day, in such Work as may be directed by the Governor of the House. The Hours of Labour shall be from Six o'Clock to Six from Lady Day to Michaelmas, and from Seven o'Clock to Five from Michaelmas to Lady Day.
They shall receive 2d. in the Shilling on the Amount which they have earned.
The Women shall do all the Work of the House; and such as are placed in Offices of Trust shall be allowed a Sum not exceeding 6d. per Week, at the Discretion of the Governor.
The Children shall be employed in such Work as they may be capable of performing.
The Governor of the House shall pay into the Saving Bank the Sum of 4d. Weekly for each of the Children employed in the Silk Work, or other Work profitable to the Parish, to be applied as may hereafter be directed by the Parish. The Children employed in that Way may be further allowed any Sum not exceeding 3d. per Week, at the Discretion of the Governor of the House.
No Person neglecting the Work or Duty which he is appointed to perform shall receive the usual Allowance in Money.
Whenever any Silk-winding shall be carried on in the Shed belonging to the Parish, rented by Mr. Woollam, all Children capable of Work shall be employed on it.
The Children shall be taught to read and write by the best Schoolmistress that can be found amongst the Paupers of the House.
The Men and Women shall be punished for any minor Offence, by reducing them to the Second or Third Class of Diet, and depriving them of every Indulgence which is allowed to others; such Punishment being always reported at the next Meeting of the Vestry.
All Cases of greater Offence shall be brought before the Select Vestry.
These Regulations shall be read to every Person when admitted as an Inmate of the Workhouse.
Casual Relief.
A House shall be kept for the Accommodation of such Vagrants as may need Parish Assistance; they shall be lodged and fed, but no Money given to them.
Accounts.
The Accounts shall be kept according to the Forms annexed. (D. infra Pages 20, 21.)
The permanent Overseer shall provide the Books and Papers necessary for the Purpose, at the Expence of the Parish.
The Quarterly Account shall be invariably audited, and Vouchers examined, at the next Vestry after the Quarter Day, by a Committee appointed for the Purpose. They shall be entered in the Vestry Book.
The Yearly Accounts shall be submitted to the General Vestry, as by Law directed.
Stonewarden's Rate.
The Rate necessary for the Repair of the Roads shall be placed at the Disposition of the permanent Overseer. The whole of it shall be levied in Money.
A Cart and Two Horses, and also One for the Use of the permanent Overseer, shall be provided, and the Keep of the Horses paid out of the Stonewarden's Rate.
The Remainder of it shall be expended as much as possible in Labour. It shall not be charged with any Labour that is not strictly necessary for the Repair of the Roads.
It shall be lawful for the permanent Overseer to employ the Paupers in the House upon the Roads, at a Rate not exceeding the Price of their Maintenance, and the 2d. in the Shilling allowed to them upon their Earnings.
No Person under Fifty Years of Age, unless labouring under some Infirmity, shall be employed otherwise than by Task Work upon the Road.
On the Application of a Parishioner, the permanent Overseer shall furnish a Horse and Cart for the Conveyance of Prisoners to Gaol.
Any Work that may be done by the Cart and Horses for the Parish, otherwise than upon the Roads, shall be charged to the Parish, and carried to the Credit of the Stonewarden's Account.
An Account of the Expenditure, specifying the Weekly Work, and the Place where it has been done, shall be kept according to the annexed Form (E. infra Page 22.) and when passed shall be entered in the Vestry Book.
None of the above Resolutions shall be repealed, altered or amended without Notice of an Intention to that Effect being given at the previous Meeting of the Select Vestry, and in Church on the Sunday before their next Meeting.
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N.B.-Persons superintending washing and cleaning the House, with those who are very old and infirm, are allowed Ale - Men a Pint, and Women Half a Pint; the other Persons have a Pint of Table Beer per Diem.