Government
There was not much change for many centuries in the way in which
towns and villages were governed.
The borough towns, which gained their charters back in the days of
King John, or King Henry III, had them confirmed by various kings
in later times; but the powers of the towns were not much altered.
The corporation of a borough was usually made up of men chosen by
the freemen; but, if the freemen did not admit many persons to the
freedom of the borough, the power of electing, in the course of
years, fell into the hands of a very few people.
This was what actually happened in a very large number of cases,
and at the end of the eighteenth century there were many old
boroughs which were governed by "close corporations"--the bulk of
the people living in the borough having no voice in the management
of the affairs of the town. All that was altered in the early part
of the nineteenth century. Many of the old boroughs lost their
privileges, as they had become such small unimportant places. All
other boroughs now have regular elections of town councillors by
the inhabitants each first of November. The councils elect the
mayor on each 9th of November.
The mayor, and some of the inhabitants of the borough, are also
magistrates and attend to police cases; while the town council
looks after matters connected with sewers, lighting, paving, and
cleansing the streets of the town. It has now also charge of
educational affairs in many of the big towns, a committee of each
county council being the educational authority in all other parts
of the country.
In London and large towns, where there is much police court
business, there are special magistrates, trained lawyers, who
attend to nothing else.
In country places, for centuries, the manor court governed the
manor; but gradually, and by Tudor times, most of the power of the
manor court, or court leet as it was sometimes called, had passed
into the hands of the Vestry. This consisted of the parish officers
and rate-payers in the whole parish. It was called the vestry
because its meeting-place was the vestry of the parish church, or
even the church itself.
[Illustration: _Police Officer and Jailer, early Nineteenth
Century. A scene from "Oliver Twist" (Charles Dickens)_]
The relief of the poor and the care of the highways provided the
vestry with most of its business. The churchwardens had special
care of the property of the church, but in Tudor times they were
also charged with the relief of the poor. To help them in this
work two overseers, at least, in each parish, were chosen every
year. All the rate-payers were liable to serve in turn if elected,
unless they could show a good reason for not serving. The elections
took place about Lady Day. The vestry fixed what rates were to be
made, and the overseers collected them. But the overseers had to be
admitted to their office, and all rates allowed, by two justices of
the peace, before they were legal.
It became necessary, as the poor law business increased, to have
constables to help the overseers in keeping an eye on strangers,
vagrants and beggars who came into the parish. These, too, had to
serve for one year. In big parishes they were assisted by a beadle,
and had, with the help of all the inhabitants in turn, to keep
watch and ward at night. Very unpleasant work they had to do in
towns and places just outside towns. In London, and in many other
towns also, to help the "watch" there were special officers called
"watchmen", whose duty it was to parade the streets at night at
regular intervals, and "call the hour"--"Past two o'clock, and a
frosty morning". One of their duties was to arrest any disorderly
characters whom they might come across on their rounds. But as
each watchman carried a lighted lantern that, together with the
noise he made, gave ample warning to that sort of people, who could
usually, without much difficulty, get out of the watchman's way.
When he did come upon the track of any of these gentry he would
"sound his rattle" as a signal for the "watch" to come to his
assistance, and, if they could, arrest the offenders. This duty of
watching and warding had to be carried out until towards the middle
of the nineteenth century, when our present system of police was
established. Beadles and constables had to see to the whippings,
which were so common, and to setting people in the stocks and the
cage; to moving sick and diseased wretches on to the next parish,
and other unpleasant duties.
The surveyors of the highways had to see that each person who was
liable did his share of the work of the highways, or paid for
having it done. But by far the most important business was that of
the churchwardens and overseers. They had to settle in what houses
the poor folk were to live, who were to look after them, what
allowance was to be made for them. The poor usually had their money
paid to them at church, monthly. Then the overseers had to see that
every able-bodied man was at work, often having to provide the
work, to place out apprentices, and to supply flax or wool for the
women and children to spin. Sometimes the poor were boarded out;
some of them lived in cottages, or in the poors' house which the
parish built. Then, too, these officers had to relieve beggars, and
persons passing through the parish.
This work of providing for the poor was very difficult and very
anxious, especially at the end of the eighteenth and in the early
part of the nineteenth century. It was quite a common practice for
big parishes to "farm out" the care of the poor to the highest
bidder. That is, a man would contract with the parish authorities
to look after the relief of the poor in that parish for a certain
sum of money per annum, for so many years.
Then poor law unions were formed, and union workhouses built, in
which the helpless poor might be better cared for, and vagrants and
wanderers find a night's lodging. These were looked after by Boards
of Guardians, especially elected for that purpose. We have not a
perfect plan yet, by any means, but much care and thought is being
given to this question, and many changes, which we hope will be
improvements in the administration of the Poor Law, are being taken
in hand. The difficulties of how to deal with the poor who, through
no fault of their own, cannot help themselves, and how to deal with
those who are lazy and will not work, are very great.
The work of the old vestries has now passed to the parish councils,
the district councils, and the county councils. The work is
important, and has much to do with the welfare of our towns and
villages. We must not expect that these bodies can do everything at
once, or that they will make no mistakes. More people now than ever
have a direct voice in the work of these various councils, and it
is the duty of everyone to take a real interest in their work, and
to strive to improve it in every possible way. If we know something
of the past history of our towns and villages it will help us to
form a right judgment concerning difficulties which have to be met
in the present, and so to act that those who come after us may be
able to go on building upon our work, that there may be nothing
to undo, nothing to blame, but that future years may say of our
times:--
"They knew how to work, and they worked on right principles." "Do
justly, love mercy, walk humbly."