Settlement Examination. What Does This Mean?

[linmey]

I have been looking up some parish records on the National Archives site and found a possible ancestor listed under the Settlement Examinations section. Please can anyone tell me what that means.
       Many thanks for your help. Linmey.

[behindthefrogs]

The settlement act of 1697 debarred strangers from residing in a parish unless they could produce a settlement certificate showing that they would be taken back by their home parish if they became in need of poor relief.  This didn't apply to people who had the money to purchase a property.

When removal became necessary the quarter sessions issued removal orders.  The records of these quarter sessions are often deposited at the local record office and may include the papers from the Settlement Examination of the people involved.

David

[linmey]

Thank you for that David. The parish records I was looking at were for Kimbolton in Hunts. which as far as I know only has one parish church, and the chap in question was born in Kimbolton. So were they just checking him out do you suppose to make sure he really was their responsibility?
   Many thanks  Linda.

[behindthefrogs]

It was a bit like today when they actually had to face paying poor relief.  They might even be looking at the status of his parents, where they were married, where he was baptised, and perhaps even whether they had settlement certificates from elsewhere.  Also involved was whether they had been in continuous emploment for more than a year in the parish.

This is why hiring fairs were held every year and employment was for a day less than a year.

Doesn't it sound like today, with our two year initial contracts, and immigration laws?  Except that then it all happened at the parish level.

David 

[linmey]

Thanks David. I believe they still celebrate the hiring fair in Kimbolton. Very interesting information. Do you think he may possibly not have been born in Kimbolton but just given this information on the census, because I have certainly never found him on the IGI but have to say I havnt looked any further than that yet.
   Best wishes  Linmey.

[behindthefrogs]

Have you actually looked at the settlement examination.  If you are lucky it may answer all the questions.  It sounds as though there wasn't a removal order if he remained in Kimbolton, or did he actually move elsewhere at that time?  In the latter case it might be worth looking for his baptism there.  He could still have been born in Kimbolton but have settlement elsewhere.  That depends on his parents' status.

David

[linmey]

Thanks David. No, I havnt seen the settlement, I only discovered it existed at the weekend, so that will be my next step.
    He obviously stayed in kimbolton as all his children were born there. The settlement is from 1827, which would have been when he was about 21 and just before he married. He married a local lass. There were lots of other Wagstaffs in the Kimbolton area but I havnt had time to tie them up yet. What you call a work in progress!
     Many thanks for all your help. Best wishes  Linda.

[behindthefrogs]

Since this was prior to 1834 the other place to look if you can find them is in the vestry minutes for the parish.  These will if they exist be either still at the church or more likely at the local record office.  I am not quite sure who carried out the examination.  It was at this time probably the vestry together with the overseer for the poor who would then present the case for removal at the next quarter sessions.

The quarter sessions appointed an overseer for each parish.

The other possibility, and I am starting to guess now, is that it was his impending marriage which caused the settlement examination.  I am not sure about the effect on settlement of a marriage and where the banns had to be called.  I think a wife adopted her husbands settlement after marriage but if he died it reverted back to her parish unless established by residence and employment.

David

[linmey]

Hello David,
                    My cousin is on the parochial church council at Kimbolton parish church, so she will be the one to ask. Many thanks for your help. I studied a lot about the structure of parish officialdom and provisions for the poor when I studied England in the 17th century. I didnt know how much it was all intact and working 2 centuries later.
       Thank you very much for your help. Best wishes.  Linda.