New civil parish council (1896)

Post date: Feb 14, 2012 11:13:37 AM

The following extract from the Parish magazine of March 1896 shows the issues which arose on the separation of civil and ecclesiastical parishes, following The Local Government Act of 1894 enacted by Lord Salisbury's minority Conservative government, the price for Liberal Unionist support. Despite the vicar's wish that there be no election (to avoid expense), there were 13 nominations for the 9 councillors so an election was called, with some resulting confusion when some nominations were withdrawn. The vicar, Greville Livett, later wrote that the new council 'accurately reflected the wishes of the parish by a policy of inactivity'.

THE PARISH COUNCIL.

A meeting of the Council was held in the Girls' School on Friday the 14th. The business was interesting and (it goes without saying) it was carried out in a business-like way. The Clerk's salary was fixed; certain properties which are vested in the Council by the Local Government Act were formally seized; and the date of the Annual Parish Meeting was fixed for March 25th. The Local Government Board recently issued an Order that the new Parish Council shall be elected on the 9th. This will require a special Parish Meeting, and may on other grounds prove inconvenient. Our Parish Council intended that the nomination and the election (should a poll be demanded—and it is to be hoped that the parish will not be put to the expense of a poll—) should take place at the Annual Meeting on the 25th. One wonders what penalty would be incurred if the original arrangement were carried out in spite of the recent Order. The new Council does not actually replace the existing Council until April 15th.

The management of our Parochial Charities has been slightly altered under the provisions of the Parish Councils Act. These charities were originally vested in the Churchwardens and managed according to trusts by the Vicar and Churchwardens. The Vicar and Churchwardens therefore were the 'trustees' in the sense in which that expression is defined in the Act [75 (2)]. The Charity Commissioners have declared the Style Charity to be non-ecclesiastical, and the Wood or Lidsing Charity to be partly non-ecclesiastical. They also advised the Parish Council to elect additional trustees in place of the Churchwardens. The Council exercised their powers by appointing Messrs. R. H. Fremlin and W. Jude, who are the existing Churchwardens. The term of office of such trustees is four years, but one half (in this case one of the two), to be determined by lot, goes out of office at the end of two years, being however being then eligible for reappointment. The Vicar is not disestablished from the office of "trustee." In future, then it seems that our charities will be administered by three Trustees: the Vicar, ex-officio, and two additional trustees elected by the Council, one of them elected every two years. The accounts of these charities must be laid before the Parish Meeting, and the names of the beneficiaries published annually in such form as the Parish Council think fit.

Among other properties "the cage" was taken over by the Parish Council. One would like to know when the cage was built and when it was last used as a " lock-up." Any notes on the subject would be welcome by the Editor of the Parish Magazine.

The Council also asserted its right to the possession of the tithe map and old rate books, but that they should be left for the time being in the parish chest in the vestry in the custody of the Vicar and Churchwardens. It was decided that the parish chest—which has a brass plate bearing the following inscription :

1855.

Henry Stevens, Vicar.

John Beal Jude, )

Edward Goodwin, ) Churchwardens.

—was ecclesiastical property. One Councillor thereupon suggested that the chest ought to be called in future 'the Church chest.' Perhaps the Councillor will pardon our objection to his claiming a monopoly of the use of the word parish for civil purposes. Otherwise he ought to be consistent and in future call the Parish Church by the name of 'the Church Church '! There is absolute historical evidence the parishes had a strictly ecclesiastical origin. It was Church organisation which united neighbouring 'townships' of a 'hundred' or 'lathe' into a 'parish' for ecclesiastical purposes; and when in Norman times these townships became 'manors' they still for some time retained their distinct organisation for civil purposes. Later on parishioners found it convenient to adopt the parish as the civil as well ecclesiastical unit of division, and transacted civil as well as ecclesiastical business in vestry-meeting. Quite recently the legislature has given a special definition of the word parish as used in the Local Government Acts of 1888 and 1894, as being a place for which a separate poor rate is or can be made; but that does not abolish the common use of the word as applied to ecclesiastical and civil matters alike, nave and vestry of the church, the churchyard, and all the appurtenances thereof, including the chest are parish property, vested in the churchwardens, who are the ecclesiastical officers of the parish, one nominated by the Vicar and the other elected by the parishioners in vestry-meeting. The church-rate is a parish rate, and the fact that it is a voluntary and not as of old a compulsory rate does not deprive the parishioners, whether they pay the church rate or not, of their parochial rights. On some future occasion we will examine and explain these rights and the methods by which they may be enforced.

At the Council meeting the "Dumb Borsholder of Chart" was included in the "list of parish property" presented by the churchwardens and overseers, but the Parish Council wisely did not assert a claim to it as being civil property of the parish. It has been in the vestry for many years. There is no record of its having been presented to the parish, nor of its being placed in the vestry; but it may be said to be vested by prescription in the churchwardens, who therefore hold it and will continue to hold it on behalf of the parish. In the olden days it had nothing to do with the parish as a whole, but the manor of Chart in which Pizsin-well is situated. To this subject, too, it would be interesting to return on some future occasion.

G. M. L.