Although it is an easy process
to move from one place to another these days because of centralized
government, it was not so simple in the days of our ancestors. Each
parish had to look after their own poor and that financial responsibility
usually fell on the shoulders of the freeholders and well-to-do of the
particular parishes. Parish clerks, normally an "Overseer", would be
responsible for assessing the needs of the poor in a particular parish
and from there calculating a set of "rates" that would be charged to
the members of his community to meet the anticipated expenses. Many
of these "Overseers Rate Books" still survive and these books give an
inventory of the local population [normally, only the head of the household
is mentioned] and the amounts paid by them on an annual basis to this
central fund. It might be a system that we should consider going back
to! The Overseer himself would have to pay the same rates as everyone
else and obviously took care to see that these costs were affordable.
Because the local parishes were "self-financing", it was very important
to the parish council that they were aware of anyone moving in or
out of their locality because such movement could result in additional
or less expenditure, depending on the circumstance of the family.
There were a whole set of rules relating to movement between parishes
that I will not set out here as they did vary from time to time. However,
the important thing was that if vagrants or individuals without the
proper means of support {i.e. a real job] moved into the parish it
would be necessary for the Parish Council to immediately assess the
particular situation. If the family or individual were/was not desirable
as an inhabitant, then immediate steps were taken to have them sent
back to the parish from whence they came.
Sometimes there was a full and official investigation if the case
was borderline and the record of this interview was an "Examination
as to Settlement" and these examinations were often noted in Quarter
Session records. The actual documents can be extremely helpful for
genealogists as they often give a complete and recent history of the
individual or family. If the circumstances determined that the individual
or family was not financially fit to settle on the parish then a "Removal
Order" [as above - showing the order to move Edward Tritton and his
wife, Sarah, from Chislet to St. John's, Thanet] would be issued and
the named individuals sent back to their own parish of original settlement.
There could sometimes be very harsh treatment for women. If a woman
married an man from another parish and he happened to die before he
had obtained settlement rights in her parish, it was possible that
she and any family could be removed to his parish from the place she
had lived all her life. A lot might depend on the generosity of the
parish council.
Again, these documents were originally kept in the parish chest
and were often held for years in case the individuals tried to return
at a later date. Having the original certificates could avoid the
costs involved in another examination if the person was still not
wanted. Unfortunately, when the system finished many of these documents
were thrown away although some do survive. In my own case I discovered
a removal order for part of my own family that included the names
of the Father, Mother and all the children. Up until that time I had
not found a baptism anywhere for the eldest son. I have still not
found the baptism but the removal order definitely proves this connection.
Thanks to Judy Hopkins for sharing this document.
