General

Since the medieval period relief to the poor has played an important part in the development of society. It was not until the time of Elizabeth I that it was governed by a legal statute which determined who was eligible for relief and under what circumstances they would receive it. The surviving records can provide a fascinating insight into how ordinary people lived and the general movement of the population historically. Over a series of posts we will highlight some of the most commonly used poor law documents in our collection.

 

 

Poor Rate

Money was raised to support the poor of the parish by the charging of a local parish rate, or tax. The money raised was used by the Overseers to support the poor. This example is a copy of the first page from the Alnwick Poor Rate register of 1768.

 

 

It lists the names of those Alnwick residents eligible to pay poor rate. It provides some detail about their property and notes the rent and rates payable on the property. This information is then used to calculate how much poor rate is payable – the figure in the last column.

 

 

 

 

Overseers Accounts

The Overseer kept accounts of how money collected was spent. This page from an Account Book of 1786-1816 shows one of several references to Ann Mack within the volume. It would be possible to work through the volume and discover when Ann first received payment and then when payment was ceased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it is possible to locate vouchers or receipts relating to particular cases dealt with by the Overseers. Below is a copy of a receipt found in the Ellingham parish records recording expenses incurred in the delivery of a child to Ann Mack in 1802.

 

 

 

Removal Orders

The removal system was one way of ensuring that large numbers of the poor did not become dependent upon the parish and their ratepayers. Everyone was expected to have a legal parish of settlement. If the place where you lived was not your legal place of settlement and you were unable to support yourself and your family, you could be removed to your own parish. This is a copy of the removal order relating to Ann Mack in 1802.

 

 

 

On the date that the order was issued Ann was resident in Alnwick parish. The document states that Ann’s legal parish of settlement was Ellingham, an adjoining parish to Alnwick. Sometimes after a person was removed, they returned to where they had lived. Within our collection of removal orders there is a second one for Ann Mack issued in 1806, four years after this order was issued. Both request that Ann should be physically removed from Alnwick to Ellingham.

 

 

 

 

 

Bastardy Bonds

If a mother was unable to provide for her illegitimate child, the parish had to take financial responsibility for supporting it.  The mother was expected to reveal under oath to the Overseers the name of the child’s father. A bond was then drawn up and the father of the child was meant to agree to provide the ’lying in’ expenses of the mother as well as maintenance for the child in the future. In this way the Overseers tried to avoid yet more financial demands being placed on the parish. Below is a copy of the Bastardy Bond issued by the Overseers of Ellingham parish in relation to the illegitimate child of John Ridley and Ann Mack.

 

The child was unborn at the date the bond was issued and is therefore not named.  (In some bonds the child has been born and a name can be discovered.)  The father of the child is named as John Ridley, a labourer, of Westgate, near Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The names of two other men are given in the document – Richard Smart, farmer, of Westgate, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Joseph Hall, Blacksmith, of Newcastle Upon Tyne. These men stood as sureties to the bond so were responsible for supporting the mother and child if the father ran away or failed to pay support. Sometimes the bondsmen were relatives of the father of the child. Using Bastardy Bonds is one way to try and trace an illegitimate ancestor in a family, however not all bastardy cases resulted in the drawing up of a bond. Sometimes the case was settled without the involvement of the parish. Even when the parish was involved, many Bastardy Bonds have not survived.

I hope you as the reader will enjoy this blog. This is in Jean’s own words and retells the story of her family in 1915 & 1940, both dates that are remembered by Londoners.

I was born in London and lived there throughout the Second World War. My most vivid memory was of 7th September, 1940.

Our family were in Hackney, East London that Saturday for the wedding of my mother’s youngest sister. The bride and groom had both been born in Bartrip Street on 7th September, 1915. He, Fred, had been born in the early morning during a Zeppelin raid, my Aunt Doll was born that night during another Zeppelin raid. Fred’s father was later to be killed in France, while Doll’s father, my grandfather, was gassed in France, but came home to die. On their wedding day (and 25th birthday) we had the wedding reception between two air raids, for this was the day that the Blitz started.

My parents, brother and I were each in different air raid shelters during the air raids, but saw and heard wave after wave of German bombers, accompanied by Messerschmitt’s heading for the Docks a few miles away, and being chased by Hurricanes and Spitfires, but these were very much out-numbered. The drone of the aircraft engines, the sound of bullets, the thuds of the bombs and the crashing bangs from the anti-aircraft guns – my first experience of warfare. At 12 years, I was old enough to understand what was happening and I remember feeling my heart beating hard in my chest. It was frightening.

Eventually, we made our way home to Edmonton, North London some 20 miles as the crow flies from the now blazing docks. The huge ball of red fire on the horizon made a mockery of the blackout. As my Dad remarked at the time, you could almost read a newspaper in the street where we lived. I cannot describe nor can you imagine just how big a fire that was.

That of course, was only the first of many bombing raids. The City, the East End, Coventry, Cardiff, Liverpool and many, many other cities in Great Britain were to face heavy bombing.

P.S.
Fred joined the R.A.F. and was eventually shipped out to Northern India, stationed near Karachi in what is today, Pakistan. On his embarkation leave they realised that Doll was pregnant. It transpired she was having twins due on the 5th September – we all hoped they would be two days late! However, due to medical reasons they, Frederick and Patricia, were actually born on 5th August, 1942. Their Dad had to make do with photographs until he actually saw them on his return to the U.K. after VE Day.

BULLETS AND A RAT

I have many memories of events during WW2. One of them is the day Mum & I went shopping to the main shopping area, Fore Street, Edmonton. The “take cover” siren had gone, but frankly, you ignored that until the anti-aircraft guns started blazing or the German planes could be heard coming. One thing we all quickly learnt was to recognise engines – I could tell you whether it was a German bomber, Messerschmitt, Hurricane or Spitfire overhead even if I couldn’t see the plane. So when the “activity” started just before we got to the shopping thoroughfare, we went into Pymmes Park taking the path alongside the small brook that ran through the park and where there were many trees.

We found this huge oak tree and kept our eyes on the planes above keeping the tree between us and the bullets. Unfortunately, for us, there were several stone statues on plinths in that part of the park and the bullets were ricocheting off them making it even more difficult for us to avoid them! So there we were, circling the oak with eyes looking heavenwards and occasionally looking down to avoid the tree roots when we saw this huge white water rat come out of the brook and into a hole at the base of “our” tree!! We were devastated – a rat! Although, we had to keep going round the tree when we got to the hole – we ran!

Watching the planes – the Messerschmitt’s, Spitfires & Hurricanes weaving, diving and twisting while firing tracer bullets and the heavily laden bombers who were not so agile – it was really quite exciting and, to be honest, the really frightening – no terrifying – thing was that rat! We never did see it again and eventually the planes had passed over, we had not been hit (not even a near miss) so we were able to do our shopping and then go home.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Jean Wilkinson one of the Northumberland At War volunteers for writing this blog.

Well here we go, uncharted territory for the team at Northumberland Archives based at Woodhorn, Northumberland. Our blog will hopefully shed some light onto the mysterious and dusty world of Archives. Hopefully dispelling a few misconceptions along the way. Enjoy!