"The Welfare Parish" in the 18th Century Back to the Main Historical Society page

"The Welfare Parish" in the 18th Century

from Barwicker No.52
Dec. 1998



Before the workhouse became the main way of caring for those who could not fend for themselves, each parish was responsible for caring for its poor. From the parish accounts which we have from the 1730's onwards we are able to tell quite fully how the poor of the parish of Barwick-in-Elmet were treated.

The responsibilities of the parish for its poor were laid down by legislation enacted at the very end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Poor Law Act of 1601 brought to an end an unsatisfactory situation which forced people to become beggars and vagabonds who roamed the countryside. They were a grave menace to public order. A series of acts throughout the sixteenth century had failed to cure the problem.

The Poor Law Act of 1601 laid down a system which lasted for the next two hundred years based on the principle that the parish of one's birth was responsible for looking after one's welfare. Under the act parishioners were appointed by Justices of the Peace to serve as Overseers of the Poor for one year. The costs of administration were paid for by taxes raised in the parish by levies on every inhabitant.

In 1734 the Poor Rate was levied at the rate of «d in the pound based on the value of the inhabitant's property. It was the practice in this parish for four Overseers to be appointed. In 1743 one further Overseer was appointed. The appointment of as many as four Overseers probably reflects the geographical size of the parish (it included Roundhay at that time) rather than the scale of poverty.

We do not have any information on how the parishioners were appointed to serve. We know that it was mostly men who were selected as they would normally be the property owner or the lessee. We also know that some of the men were not able to sign their own names on the few occasions when actual signatures appeared in the Accounts Books. It could be that some volunteered to be Overseers but, as there was no stipend paid and only daily loss of earnings refunded, it is unlikely that parishioners rushed eagerly to become Overseers. As can be seen from some of the matters handled by the Overseers which are given in this article, it was not always a pleasant task.

The 1601 act was based on the concept that there were four conditions of poverty which required different approaches. From the Accounts we can find evidence of all four approaches being undertaken to deal with the welfare problems of the parish.

The four classes of pauper were: Children, Sick, Able and Idle.

Superficially, this act sets out an efficient and compassionate method for coping with the needy and for being harsh on those who could but would not help themselves. In practice, there were flaws in the system which will be pointed out in more detail below. In addition the implementation of the law was influenced by prevailing social attitudes to poverty. In the first years of the oldest Accounts Book in 1734 and 1735 we see the following entries:

      s  d 
1734   40 brass badges from York    1  0 
1735   Cloth badges 7d & John Waite for setting them on     1  1 
  Thred canvas and paper      1 
  Attending the badging of the poor       6 


This is reminiscent of Nazi Germany and the badging of the Jews and is clearly an indication of the attitude towards the poor at that time where those unfortunate to fall upon bad times were made to carry the stigma of public humiliation. Fortunately, there are no further records of this practice in the parish. It is interesting to note that probably just under 40 people in the parish (probably 1 in 20 to 25 - see Barwicker No. 6 page 38) were in receipt of poor relief.

The Act, being based upon the concept of one's parish being the responsible body for maintaining the poor, became inefficient in dealing with the migration of people as agricultural enclosures and industrialisation developed particularly from the latter part of the 17th century.

The accounts contain many references to Overseers taking individuals to Justices of the Peace and escorting individuals to other parishes. There were many poor passing through the parish as genuine travellers e.g. soldiers or sailors returning home. It fell to the Constable to pay them for a night's lodging and to see them on their way the next day.

The Treatment of Children

It was acknowledged that children could be orphaned or had parents who could never look after them. There was a system which enabled them to be apprenticed to trades so that they grew up to be self-supporting. While we know that there was a school in Barwick from the 1720's onwards, there is no record in the accounts of a child's school fees being paid from the Overseers' purses. We do have a list of Town Apprentices attached to the second Accounts book. It shows that from 1725 to 1755 twenty three pauper children were "put out" as "town prentices". We have no information as to how they were educated or apprenticed. A similar practice of sending orphans to the dominions to work on farms until quite recent times led to exploitation and abuse in many cases. A fictitious account of how the process worked and how it led to abuse is given in Edward Burlend's novel "Amy Thornton" which is clearly based on the author's observations in the early part of the nineteenth century.

The list of apprentices includes both boys and girls. It sometimes refers to the children as "Hagues Daughter" or "Dickinsons Boy". The list entries give the following detail: year, Master's Names, Prentices Names, Overseer's Names. It interesting to note that some of those listed as masters were in turn or had already been Overseers of the Poor. In the Barwicker No. 49 in the article The Jacobite Rising of 1745 it is recorded that a former Town Apprentice, Robert Lund, was arrested in the activities preceding the arrival of the Jacobite army in the north of England. Clearly, the apprenticeship had not made Lund a model member of the community.

The Sick

The 1601 Act laid down that the sick should be maintained in their own homes or in homes provided for them. It seems that this part of the act was carried out thoroughly and as far as we can see effectively. The parish registers record the bequest of William Milner of Leeds to the Township of Barwick of three cottages at Potterton, which he had bought from William Vevers for the use of the poor or, if not occupied by the poor, for the rent to support the poor.

In the year 1751 the parish received £14.10s.0d. in rents which were for the support of the poor. This covered about 40% of the cost of the Township of Barwick's Poor in that year. There is no record of such income in other parts of the parish. In the same year the parish paid £6.4s.0d. in rent on behalf of those who were too poor to pay it themselves. The parish also paid what we today would call sick pay to those too ill to earn a wage e.g. Accounts of William Taylor, Overseer of the Poor, 1751

To Widow Dolphin when sick  £0 - 1 - 0 
To Widow Ward when sick  £0 - 1 - 0 


This was equivalent to the amount paid to overseers for loss of one day's earnings.

There are references to the payment of doctor's bills for the poor. In 1739, it is recorded that £1.7s.1d. was paid to Mr Horncastle (a physician) for "the care of the Haytor Girl". In 1740, 5s.0d was paid for "Robert Lands Arm setting and curing".

In 1751, Joseph Bullock's accounts record:

Pay'd Doctor for Physick for Jph Holmes  £0 - 2 - 0 
A plaister for Susan Hair's Legg  £0 - 0 - 6 


It has not been possible to discover what is meant by the term "plaister". The cost of 6d seems too expensive for a plaster. It has been suggested that it might be a wooden leg (derived from the word pilaster - A rectangular column or pillar, especially. one projecting from a wall. Formerly also, the square pier of an arch, bridge, etc.).

Whatever this meant, the following year's accounts record the purchase of a wheel for Susan Hair. This is probably a spinning wheel rather than a wheelchair or some such device. A spinning wheel would enable someone with a wooden leg to earn some income and not be a burden on the Poor Rate. The Overseers also spent 2s 9d on a blanket for her.

Payments of £1-8-6 were made in 1740 on behalf of "Mary Savage when she was sick at Leeds". So care was provided even when the recipient was absent from the parish. However, in this case there is evidence that proof was needed that she was genuinely sick for the entry is followed by:

Going to the Justice with her 2s. Examination 1s   £0 - 3 - 0 


The Overseers also played a social role for those who were too feeble to look after themselves. We have an entry in 1751:

For washing & cleansing Mary Newby  £0 - 1 - 0 


This reveals that there was a regard for personal cleanliness in the eighteenth century contrary to the commonly held idea that cleanliness came in with the Victorians.

In addition to supporting those who were weak in the body, the Overseers tackled one problem which must then have been regarded as sick in the mind. In 1740, Thomas Bean charged for:

Going to Leeds about the cure of Heresy  £0 - 1 - 0 
To Mr Davenport for the cure of Heresy  £0 - 12 - 7 


We do not know who Mr. Davenport was (his fees were lower than a Physician's) or how he dealt with heresy. We do note that the Parish Constable bought a sheet that year "for Elizabeth Bell to do Penance in"; the two events are probably connected.

The Able

The act of 1601 provided that relief should be given until work was found or provided. The accounts give no direct evidence of this other than the steps taken to help those who had been sick such as Susan Hair (mentioned above). However, the annual accounts of all Overseers set out how much was spent every month on "Monthly Payments". The figures varied markedly from month to month within a year and from year to year. In 1735/6 the monthly payments made by three Overseers totalled £62.2s.5d. for the year but in 1736/7 overseers paid out £53.7s.7d. Examination of the accounts for the period from May 1735 to April 1737 showed large variations in monthly totals. The range covered from £4.4s.0d in October 1736, £4s.9s.0d in October 1735, £4.11s.0d. in April 1736 to £9.19s.0d. in April 1737. This variation shows that there was short-term poverty rather than a hard core of permanently unemployed. Those incapable of looking after themselves appeared to receive specific itemised payments.

The Idle

Under the Act the idle were to be compelled to work. Each county was required to establish a House of Correction to which those who refused to work were to be sent. It does not seem to have been a problem in this parish as only one entry refers to the House of Correction.

From the Cradle to the Grave.

No evidence has been found to show specific assistance to the newly born. However, there are items which showed that the parish did support the unfortunate women who had children out of wedlock. There was a Jane Hopwood whose name came up from time in the accounts and whose illegitimate children were baptised and recorded in the parish registers. Her final entries in the Parish Accounts are in William Taylor's accounts of 1751. These show the following item
Going to Leeds to get Licence for Jane Hopwood & charges  £0  4  6 
Paid for License(sic)  £1  7  6 
Paid for License(sic)  £1  7  6 
Wedding Dues  £0  15  0 
For Meat and Drink  £0  15  6 
To the Ringers  £0  1  0 
A Horse for John Hacksup  £0  1  0 
Attending the Wedding   £0  1  6 
A Pair of New Shoes for Jane Hopwood   £0  3  0 
Gave John Hacksup for Jane's Portion   £0  2  6 
To William Thompson for Carrying her Goods   £0  6  0 
My Self going with them & Charges   £0  2  6 


The parish registers record the following event:

John Hacksup of the parish of Fenton and Jane Hopwood of this parish by licence Oct. the 9th 


Thus we have evidence of the parish gladly paying £4.0s.0d. for a wedding with bells and feasting to pass over any potential future calls on its resources to the parish of Fenton.

Finally, the parish paid for the burial of the dead if they could not pay for their own burial as the following entry for 1740 shows:

To Eliz. Jordan when sick 7s Toward burying her 3s £ 0 10 0


Harold Smith

Back to the top
Back to the Main Historical Society page