England Settlement Laws and Examinations - International Institute

Settlement
A person’s place of legal settlement was the parish that had the responsibility of caring for him and his family if they fell on hard times. It is neither necessarily the current place of residence nor the place of birth or baptism. From 1611 a newborn child was settled in his father’s place of settlement, but if the father had none then the child was settled in its parish of birth (Church, from 2. Bulstrode 351 (King’s Bench) in Mozley and Whiteley’s Law Dictionary). Any subsequent change of settlement for the father passed automatically to his wife and children. Women and small children suffered most under the laws of settlement as they could rarely acquire a settlement in their own right, but had to use that of their father or husband. Other events would confer settlement in a different place later on in life. Children as young as seven could be apprenticed and so start to gain their own independent settlement.

A new place of settlement would obtain upon the most recent of the following events:


 * An unmarried person had worked in the parish for one year as a servant to one person and received a full year’s wages. This was the most common way of gaining a new settlement (Cole), and some people gained several by working in different places, each one replacing the former.


 * Serving 40 days of an apprenticeship by indenture to a master in the parish.


 * By completing 40 days residence, after giving due notice in writing.


 * Renting a separate and distinct building worth £10 or more per year.


 * Payment of taxes and dues on property of an annual value of at least £10.


 * A woman married a man settled in the parish.


 * He had held a public office in the parish.


 * S/he was a legitimate child, under seven years, whose father lived in the parish.


 * By inheritance of or being given an estate in land of whatever value, provided that he lived on the estate for 40 days. However, this type of settlement claim could be voided by the person subsequently living more than 10 miles away.

The fact that settlement could be acquired by parish of birth explains the former alacrity with which pregnant unmarried women were removed from a parish before the birth of their illegitimate child, who otherwise would become chargeable to the parish. Happily the law was changed in 1722 so that bastards acquired their mother’s place of settlement wherever they were born. But see below for an example where they still removed an unwed pregnant woman!

The records concerned with establishing settlement contain much detail about a pauper’s life history, including type, length and conditions of work and for whom, and movement from place to place. The records can be entirely in manuscript or printed forms with details handwritten in the blank spots, and will be found as loose sheets in the parish chest, or with the county Justices of the Peace records. The reason so many have survived relies on the fact that they were prized documents—both by the family, who required them to prove their eligibility for relief, and by the parishes who needed to prove who was to pay for whom. The concept of settlement gradually fell into disuse with the New Poor Law, since paupers did not need to be removed to nearby parishes that were in the same union. It was formally abolished in 1948.

Settlement Examinations
These wonderful documents include much useful information, starting with a place of birth, date and place of christening, then their apprenticeship and/or employment history over many years, places where they had lived, army or navy service, marriage details, name of spouse and names and ages of children, and perhaps where they were born. The history will include why they are now destitute and seeking aid. The records may be found as loose sheets but some places have a settlement examination book.

Note that:


 * Hiring dates are usually given at certain statutes such as Michaelmas.
 * The term infant refers to any child under seven years of age.
 * The examiner was only interested in dependant children, thus those older than seven who had already gained their own settlements may not be declared by the examinant.

Settlement Examination of James Martin, Eling, Hampshire 1775

Settlement Examination of Ann Lowing, St. George in the East, Middlesex 1817

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Poor Law and Parish Chest Records offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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