Piece
See MH 82/12
Catalogue reference: MH 82/49
Date: 1954 Sept 16-1956 Nov 15
See MH 82/12
Item
Folios 136-139. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster...
Catalogue reference: MH 12/14016/75
What’s it about?
This record is about the Folios 136-139. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster... dating from 9 Feb 1837 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 12/14016/75
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Date (When the record was created)
- 9 Feb 1837
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Description (What the record is about)
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- Content
- Folios 136-139. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster Poor Law Union, to the Poor Law Commission, acknowledging receipt of a letter of 31 January 1837 concerning the case of pauper, Benjamin Hughes, and the enclosed copy of a letter from William Passey. The guardians have investigated the complaint and various people have made statements at a meeting enquiring into the action of the relieving officer. Saunders encloses the following documents (details below): 1. A copy, from the records of the meeting, of the statements given by Mary Gibbons, Benjamin Hughes' landlady, William James Godwin, Hughes' former employer, and from William Passey, who had written to the Commission complaining about the lack of poor relief given to Hughes, a sick 72 year old man. 2. A copy of the resolution put to the guardians at the meeting [7 February 1837]. Saunders' letter reports the guardians' view of events as follows: Benjamin Hughes made his first application to the relieving officer on the day of a guardians' meeting [17 January 1837], therefore his case could not be heard [not being on the official list]. He 'did not appear to the Relieving Officer to require immediate attention [despite Passey saying in his letter that he and Hughes' former employer had told the officer twice during the previous week of his illness and lack of food]. Saunders' letter suggests that the relieving officer visited Hughes' lodgings after 17 January 1837 [Passey states it was 15 January] and that he was told by the landlady that Hughes normally worked every day, also that he was not asked by the landlady to supply relief for Hughes. The guardians admit that Hughes' name should have been put on the application list on 17 January 1837 but that it was omitted unintentionally by the relieving officer [Robert Wilkinson], because of the 'stress arising from a recent failure of a manufacturer by which about 60 men were suddenly deprived of employment'. When his name was put on the list for 24 January, the guardians ordered relief to be given, also a medical not for a doctor to visit. The doctor had diagnosed 'dropsy' and ordered 'a low diet such as gruel'. Saunders discredits William Passey's evidence, calling him 'an idle and drunken fellow', rude and in 'a state of intoxication' at the guardians' meeting. Finally, he apologises to the Commission for causing complaint but says of the relieving officer [Robert Wilkinson], 'I believe him to be a very humane and attentive person and most anxious faithfully to discharge the duties of his office'. The three statements, summarised below, are recorded in the document entitled 'Memorandums of Statements made before the Board of Guardians of the Kidderminster Poor Law Union on Tuesday the 7th February 1837 as to Benjamin Hughes'. 1. Mary Gibbons, of Blackhall Street [Kidderminster], where Benjamin Hughes lives, states that Hughes is a shoemaker who used to go out every day to do his work but that he had only managed to make three pairs of shoes since Christmas, due to illness, and had been too ill to do any work for the last two weeks. He 'lived on oatmeal and sometimes a 2d cake'. When the relieving officer had come the first time, he was ill in bed and the officer said he would let his parish know [Ludlow, Shropshire]. 2. William James Godwin, said that Benjamin Hughes had worked for him, 'at someone else's house' in Worcester Street [Kidderminster], for nearly two years and used to earn five to six shillings per week. Since Hughes had been ill he had been 'unable to do his work properly' and, in three weeks, had only earned 3s 3d in total, nothing at all for the last three weeks. 3. William Passey stated that Hughes' application to the guardians for poor relief had only been given the proper attention after they had received a letter from the Poor Law Commission [Passey's letter to the Commission not sent until 30 January 1837]. The document containing the resolution passed by the guardians on 7 February 1837 asserts that Robert Wilkinson, Relieving Officer, 'has not been guilty of wilful or intentional neglect towards Benjamin Hughes' but that pressure, due to the number of applications for poor relief at the time, caused him to omit to place Hughes' name in the 'application Book' when he first applied. They are generally satisfied with the conduct of Wilkinson as a Relieving Officer. Annotations: the guardians' explanations are considered satisfactory but the relieving officer should be admonished for not being more prompt in dealing with the application. Paper Number: 1122/C/1837. See also Paper Number: 780/C/1837. 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/C10563191/
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Series information
MH 12
Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and...
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Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
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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...
243 records
Within the piece: MH 12/14016
Kidderminster 530. (Described at item level).
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Folios 136-139. Letter from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster...
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