Piece
See MH 82/12
Catalogue reference: MH 82/49
Date: 1954 Sept 16-1956 Nov 15
See MH 82/12
Item
Folios 372-374. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster...
Catalogue reference: MH 12/14019/237
What’s it about?
This record is about the Folios 372-374. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster... dating from 29 June 1848 in the series Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and.... It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- MH 12/14019/237
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Date (When the record was created)
- 29 June 1848
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Description (What the record is about)
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- Content
- Folios 372-374. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster Poor Law Union, to the Poor Law Board. It concerns a complaint made to the Poor Law Board by Mr Simkiss [Thomas S Simkiss of Wolverhampton], District Auditor, about Henry Knowles, Collector of Poor Rates for Bewdley District. Enclosed is a copy of a letter from Knowles to the guardians responding to the auditor's complaint, which he had been informed of earlier by the Board, and to Kidderminster's request for an explanation, as directed by the Poor Law Board. Knowles' letter, dated 30 May 1848, states that he had been reported by the district auditor to the Board [letter of 18 May 1848] for neglecting the instructions in the order of accounts, for `unsatisfactorily collecting the rates' and that he had been cautioned at the previous audit for committing these irregularities. He was accused of not entering the correct dates in his Collecting and Deposit Book and for delays in paying the money collected to the treasurer. His explanations for the irregularities are: 1. The overseers [Kidderminster Union] frequently do not give more than a day or two's notice of the payments required to be collected and then the ratepayers refuse to pay. 2. The delays in paying over the money to the treasurer are explained by saying that it is more convenient to travel the three miles from Bewdley to Kidderminster once a month, rather than every week as expected, especially as sometimes he collects less than 20 shillings a week. 3. He admits that he is mistaken in a weekly, rather then a daily, entry in the Collecting and Deposit Book. 4. He feels aggrieved about the complaint, which, he implies, is more to do with weekly administration than the accuracy of his monthly accounts. He comments on the difficulties in extracting the rates from people who refuse to pay and the amount of time involved in collection for such a `small allowance'. Annotation: stating Knowles admits and explains most of the irregularities in contradiction to the `Accounts Order Certificates 8.9.10'. Recommendation that Knowles be called upon to resign, assuming that he did receive `a deliberate and thoroughly explained caution'. A copy of Knowles' letter to be sent to the auditor for further observations. Paper Number: 18745/1848. Poor Law Union Number 530. Counties: Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C10553665/
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Series information
MH 12
Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and...
See the series level description for more information about this record.
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
379,532 records
Within the department: MH
Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Health and successors, Local Government...
90,136 records
Within the series: MH 12
Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and...
443 records
Within the piece: MH 12/14019
Kidderminster 530. (Described at item level).
You are currently looking at the item: MH 12/14019/237
Folios 372-374. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster...
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