Volume 1

Annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners for England and Wales.

  • Board of guardians
Date:
1835-1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners for England and Wales. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    55/430 (page 43)
    The whole of the parishes of the county of Hertford have been formed into twelve unions. In the county of Norfolk, where proceedings have been re- cently commenced, sixty-three parishes have been included in two unions. ) In Wilts, two unions, comprising forty-five parishes, have been formed. In Middlesex, one union has been formed. In the county of Gloucester, thirty-seven parishes have been formed into one union. The following return shows our progress in the number of parishes united during each month up to this period :— MONTHS. Unions Parishes ; formed, united. 1834, December : . : 5 1 14 1835; January s se ° * . 2 44 #3 February ; . ° pigs 17 268 > 9 March “2 e ® se e ® 2 4 443 5 3 April e eo ® ® ® ] 3 2 ] 7 9 May e ° e ° ° ° 18 2 ] 9 »» June . . : , Pi ar 19 423 >? July ® ° ® 2 > e 18 338 112 2,066 St. Martin-in-the-Fields. : ditto ; 29 April, 1835, Battersea ‘ ‘ j : ditto ‘ 15 May, 1835, The complete statement of the pecuniary results fairly as- cribable to the new Act, or to our proceedings under its authority, could scarcely be made within the time in which it is desirable to present our Report. A considerable number of the present parish officers being unlettered men, their Returns are, as might be ex- pected, extensively defective. In requiring any Return from the 15,635 places at present managing their own poor, a considerable proportion of errors must be anticipated. For the completion of the Return relative to the condition of the several parishes, which we first called for from the parish officers, several thousand letters were required to obtain more correct answers than were first sent. The time occupied, including the additional letters required to correct mistakes and remedy neglect, in obtaining the Annual Return of Poor’s-Rates printed by the House of Commons, has been seldom less than twelve