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Archiver > UK-WORKHOUSE-HOSP > 2001-09 > 0999359290


From: "Colin Brown" <>
Subject: Re: [UK-W&H] Joseph NORMAN, overseer of the poor (1752)
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 16:53:25 +0100
References: <014201c12c11$d84ee5c0$6a93403e@pbncomputer> <000201c12d8a$a15c44c0$8797403e@buzz>


Dear Mary

Thank you so much for this information.

Colin

----- Original Message -----
From: "MaryH" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2001 3:59 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-W&H] Joseph NORMAN, overseer of the poor (1752)


> > I have a note taken at the Preston Records Office that Joseph NORMAN of
> Ormskirk, Lancashire was an overseer of the poor in 1752. Unfortunately I
do
> not have a source for this reference. Can anyone add to this information
or
> direct me to where I can find out more.
>
> Hi Colin,
> In 1752, he was most likely to be a Parish Overseer rather than a Union
one,
> although there were some early Unions called Gilbert Unions, but I have no
> indication in my notes that there was a Gilbert Union in or around
Ormskirk.
>
> To find out more you would need to look at the Parish records held at
> Lancashire Record Office at Preston. The Overseer was responsible for
> dishing out the money and benefits (such as bread) to the local poor. He
had
> to ensure they were eligible to receive poor relief and he had to keep an
> account of the money and benefits he handed out. He would have been a
member
> of the Parish Vestry which was a committee which looked after the
> administration of the Parish, collecting taxes, paying out relief,
probably
> maintaining a poor house, maintaining the church itself. If you are lucky
> there will be quite a few surviving documents written by Joseph and many
> others involving him in the day to day business of the Parish. It was not
> unusual for the Overseer to become embroiled in disputes over the amount
of
> money he doled out (usually the applicants wanted more!).
>
> An overseer of the poor would have been a respected member of the
community
> so he would have been a skilled tradesperson, businessman, landowner or
> similar. The book The Parish Chest by W E Tate (published by Phillimore)
> explains the role of the Overseer of the Poor.
>
> Its also worth seeking out any local history books of the area he lived in
> as Overseers are often mentioned in the histories.
>
> Good luck
> Mary Hallett - West Sussex
> Visit my Website at www.fourbears.worldonline.co.uk
> Researching -MILLS, HUMBLE, HICKS, HALLETT
> BARKAS - one name study
>
>
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