Nazeing, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes   Nazeing

Parish History
Nazeing, is a village and a parish in Epping district, Essex. The village is 2¼ miles E of the river Lea a on the boundary of Hertfordshire, 3 miles E of Broxbourne railway station, and 4¼ miles N W of Epping; and has a post-office under Waltham Cross.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Online images are available Seax - Essex Archives Online From the Essex Record Office

Poor Law Unions
Epping Poor Law Union, Essex

No volumes of vestry minutes have survived, but occasional minutes from 1683 onwards were entered in the overseers' accounts, from which the information in this paragraph is taken. The vicar usually took an active part in the vestry. The first minute, of 1683, is signed by Laurence Pocock (vicar 1682–7). The minutes were also signed by the vicar from 1699 on, and from 1701 to 1709 John Apperly not only wrote the accounts himself, but included more than usually detailed statistics of outdoor poor relief. George Manley (1721–52) signed intermittently, as also did Thomas Salt (1761–1805). From 1818 onwards the minutes were always signed by the vicar. Attendance at vestries, as indicated by the number of signatures appended to the minutes, was small in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, usually none but the parish officers signing. In 1784 16 signed but in 1816 only 10. From 1815 there was a parish clerk with a salary of £5.

Separate rates were levied by the churchwardens, surveyors, and overseers. A single constable's rate survives for 1687; from 1782 on the constables' bill was paid out of the overseers' accounts. In 1757 an unspecified amount was paid by the surveyors to the churchwardens for poor relief, and in 1811 the two surveyors, with the consent of the vestry, paid one of the churchwardens the surplus of their account, in part repayment of £26. Two overseers and two churchwardens were always appointed annually. Churchwardens often served for two or three years in succession; the overseers usually held office for one year only. A woman overseer was appointed in 1739 and again in 1802. In 1803 a perpetual overseer was appointed at a salary of £10. The surveyors were usually men of substance. James Bury of St. Leonards held this office in 1808–9 and William Palmer of Nazeing Park in 1811.

The parish poorhouse, often described as the almshouse, is first mentioned in 1687; in 1698 it was said to be on the Church Green. It remained in use until 1796, when the vestry decided to sell it and to buy from William Palmer the house formerly used by the School of Industry. The date of this transaction and Palmer's interest in it suggest that it was part of his plan for developing Nazeing Park, which involved the closing of the more easterly of the two lanes which ran north to Church Green. The old poorhouse may have stood in the area which soon after 1796 became the park. It was sold in 1796–7, probably to Palmer. The new poorhouse, formerly the school, was bought from him and in 1798 was vested in trustees for the parish. It stood on the east side of Betts Lane, near Nazeing Park. In 1840, after the formation of the Epping Poor Law Union, it was sold to George Palmer.

In 1740 a general vestry resolved that in view of the high cost of poor relief a workhouse should be built. It seems, however, that this was not done; the house and field of William Ricketts were bought, and a quit rent paid in 1742, but nothing more is recorded of the matter.

Stocks were being maintained by the parish as late as 1791, when they were repaired.

The poor rate rose gradually during the first half of the 18th century, the biggest increases coinciding with periods of war. It rose from £64 to £119 between 1705 and 1711, and fell to £90 in 1712. In 1741 and 1747 the rate reached peaks of £189 and £188 respectively. Between 1768 and 1773 it rose from £131 to £272 and thereafter more steeply to £794 in 1800. After many fluctuations it reached a new peak of £952 in 1819. After this it remained fairly constant at about £900. The rise in the rate during the Napoleonic wars, though marked, was much smaller than that in some other parishes, with similar population, in this part of Essex. This was probably due, at least in part, to the special schemes of relief devised by William Palmer (see below).

Outdoor relief was continuous. In 1711–20, for which period detailed accounts exist, some 15–20 persons were on constant relief, the number rising slightly throughout the period. In 1693 the vestry ordered that pauper children should be bound apprentice as in the past. In 1788 it was directed that children over 12 years old should be apprenticed to parishioners chosen by lot who were to accept them or pay fines. In 1804 this system was said to have worked well, and it was resolved to retain it.

During the Napoleonic wars special schemes of poor relief were devised. William Palmer gave loans to the poor for the purchase of livestock. (fn. 183) In 1800 the 'parish ground' was placed at the disposal of the poor for potato growing. This scheme, which was at first directed by William Palmer and the curate, Robert Auber, was still operating in 1825. In 1815 arrangements were made to sell coal to the poor at reduced prices; the main purpose of this appears to have been to prevent wood-stealing.

In 1836 Nazeing became part of Epping Poor Law Union.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

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