Poor Law Settlement

[snowdrop]

I have a Poor Law settelemnt for a Josiah Grudgings and his family in Leicestershire, dated 1731/2. It is signed by the churchwardens and poor law overseer of Ratby acknowledging that they are legally settled in the parish. It is addressed to the churchwardens of Desford, a neighbouring parish. Josiah was a woolcomber and it seems that he moved villages where there was work.
My question is this: was he permanently resident in Ratby and they are sending this with him when he goes to work in Desford for the year?
Or, has he moved from Desford to Ratby and Ratby are taking over the responsibilty for him for the time he is there?
I've had conflicting advice as to which is the correct interpretation and it's not helped by the fact that nearly all the parish records for Ratby pre 1800 were destroyed in a fire!
Hope this makes sense and that someone can help me!

Thanks
Ruth

 

[p.risboy]

From Wikipaedia.

After 1662, if a man left his settled parish to move elsewhere, he had to take his Settlement Certificate, which guaranteed that his home parish would pay for his "removal" costs (from the host parish) back to his home if he needed poor relief. As parishes were often unwilling to issue such certificates people often stayed where they were – knowing that in an emergency they would be entitled to their parish's poor rate.


The Removal Act of 1795 was an Act of Parliament which modified the Settlement Act 1662, an Act which concerned when a pauper could receive Poor relief. The effect of the Removal Act was "that no non-settled person could be removed from a parish unless he or she applied for relief.



Steve.

 

[Guy]

Do you know when he moved to Desford.
Sometimes a Parish of Settlement (in this case Ratby) would acknowledge they were the parish of settlement and pay poor relief to the host parish if the illness was likely to be short term, rather than have the worker and his family returned home.
This benefitted everyone as the worker kept his job, the host parish did not have to pay poor relif and the parish of settlement only paid poor relief for a short period.
Cheers
Guy

 

[snowdrop]

Sorry Guy, I've no clue as to when he moved or even which of the two parishes he was living in originally, all I know is that he was born in Desford. But it's an interesting twist to the theory. I was of the same opinion as Steve but I have read an article written in a locally published book, on the history of the village of Ratby that suggests that, as his trade was in demand, it is possible that Ratby might have taken over responsibility for him for the year to encourage him to go to their village to work. Hence the settlement signed by them and addressed to Desford. The article was written by a retired history lecturer so I do feel I should hold some credence to it! Hence the confusion!!

Thanks
Ruth

 

[leefer]

http://family-tree.mike-turner.me.uk/5468.htm

Hi Ruth....you have probably seen this .....but just in case.....nice site.

 

[snowdrop]

Hi Leefer,

It's brill, thanks for that, no I hadn't seen it before, what a great web site! It is the same line of the Grudgings family as that of my husband's, with a common ancestor in Daniel, who was the great-grandson of the Josiah in the poor law settlement.
Next stop is to email him!... off I go!

Cheers

Ruth

 

[leefer]

Hi Leefer,

It's brill, thanks for that, no I hadn't seen it before, what a great web site! It is the same line of the Grudgings family as that of my husband's, with a common ancestor in Daniel, who was the great-grandson of the Josiah in the poor law settlement.
Next stop is to email him!... off I go!

Cheers

Ruth

Good luck

 

[Crooksie]

Ruth

Josiah Grudgings and Elizabeth Arnold were my 5G grandparents. Interestingly, my grandfather's second Christian name was Arnold.

Do you have any further information you would be willing to share? Daniel, born 1771 was my 4G grandfather.

Thanks and regards

Paul Crooks

 

[davelambert271]

hi paul

welcome to the forum

shortly after you make your third post you user name will turn green and further features of the forum will become available to you. One of these is the private message feature. You will then be able to contact Ruth this way if she does not see your post

dave

 

[snowdrop]

Hi Paul,

How interesting! I'm sure my hubby would be more than happy to share his knowledge. If you send me a private message with your email address, I'll pass it on to him.

Regards
Ruth

 

[Crooksie]

Hi Ruth

I need to post twice more before I have the ability to send a private message.

Regards

Paul

 

[Crooksie]

Dave

Thanks

Paul