Apart from the Vicar, the Rector or Curate other officials associated with the Parish produced records which are of use to the family historian.
At least two men in the Parish were appointed to be Church Wardens, one by the Vicar and one by the Parishioners. They were sworn in at Easter for a year. Their main job was the upkeep of the Church fabric and property and had to report to the Ecclesiastical Court, the Archdeacon or Bishop about the Church or even the Minister. Church wardens kept account books and vouchers which can provided interesting information about work carried out in the parish by villagers and tradesmen. Important fee information can be found in these records.
From 1572, the OOTP were started and later appointed by the Justices (1597/8). These men administered the Poor laws. The 1601 Poor Law Act, renewed in 1640 lasted until 1834. They had the responsibility for making work for the able bodied poor and administering sick relief, relieving the poor aged, providing the children of the poor apprenticeships and assisted the parish constable. They administered the tax on the people to pay for the poor and maintained the house of correction for vagrants and the poor house. Where they survive these records are quite extensive.
In the Parish they had to maintain law and order, supervised by the churchwarden and the JP. Their role was reviewed in 1842 and lasted until 1862. After 1757 the Parish ballot was administered for the local Militia and these produced considerable records and names. The Parish Constable had the power of arrest and custody and had to bring prisoners to the Magistrate. Constables accounts and vouchers should be sought for these actions. Militia papers, discharges, payments to families may be found in the Parish Records or with those of the Clerk of the Peace.
From 1555 the Highway Act Surveyors were appointed of the roads and bridges in the parishes. They made sure that people laboured to repair the roads and bridges from the stones picked up by the able bodied poor. From 1691 the Surveyors were appointed by the JP's. Some records are kept with the Highways accounts.
Apart from Baptism, marriage and burial records they also produced Glebe Terriers and Tithe documents. The Glebe Terrier covered the glebes, lands, fields, houses and tithes of land which were part of the benefice. It is useful in that it can mention the names of the neighbours of the benefice lands. The Tithe maps and Commutation details are useful for further information about our ancestors (CRO).
1. Parish Chest records can add important colour to the research of family history information and provide useful additional details which can give a clearer idea of the lives of our ancestors.
2. Records can exist in the Parish Records which can cast a light on the ill health or disabilities of our ancestors and even if they carried out or were victims of criminal activity in the Parish.
3. To find other Parish Records check the Record Office where the baptism, marriage and burial records are kept. In the Borthwick they are filed in the Parish Index under the Parish name. Although they do not exist everywhere they are still worth looking for.
4. The Vestry - also known as the Parish Council, chaired by the Parish Minister and made up of various worthy members of the Parish. It had acquired power over the government of the Parish, in conjunction with JP's. The closed meeting was the select governing body of the Parish whilst the open vestry meeting was of less importance and open to all inhabitants.
5. The Parish Clerk - Originally a minor Church clerical post the position was sometimes still subject to having to be approved by a licence from the Archbishop.
The Parish Clerk would enter the CMB's into a rough book which the vicar would copy into the Parish Register with the problem of errors and interpretation. He was the Vicars Secretary. accounts clerk, straight man and even bouncer. He would have to collect fees and wrote a list of banns for future marriages. As he was more of a social equal to the parishioners they could approach him as an intermediary to inform the vicar to visit the sick and the dying. One other of his functions was to lead the hymns and psalms in the services and carry out all sorts of jobs which helped the vicar. He was usually a local literate man.
6. There are two loan copies of Tate's Parish Chest in the Minster Library. Reading facilities are quite straight forward, but a charge of œ10 per annum is charged to borrowers recently. There is a new edition of Tate in print published by Phillimore but the book is regarded as a classic for this area of research.
7. As background reading I would recommend Peter Laslett's THE WORLD WE HAVE LOST, published by Routledge (earlier by Methuen) now into its third edition and well worth borrowing from the City Library. There is an excellent bibliographical list at the back for social trends. The book examines class, marriage, starvation, village community and many more useful background aspects of family history which have usually been ignored.
The Parish Chest, W.E. Tate