Poor Law Examination

[TinaRoyal]

Can anyone “translate” this Poor Law Examination of Ann Faraday from “St. Matthew Bethnal Green Examination Book 1867” ?

[horselydown86]

The lower section:

Ex(aminan)^t never &c, Dau(ghte)r of W^m Faraday
& Sarah his wife, He never &c to Ex(aminan)^ts
knowledge, Ex(aminan)^t was born in Hare
St. B. G., Elder Sister, Mrs
Wakelin No 3 Semple ^Park^ Street Bromley

B. G. = Bethnal Green

The meaning of never &c is that the person concerned (here, applies to both her and her father)  has never done anything to gain a Settlement in a particular parish under the Poor Law requirements.

She would inherit her father's settlement, if he had one, if she didn't have her own.

Do some research on Settlement and the Poor Law to see the requirements.  They varied during the C19th, so check you have the right information for the period of interest.

[philipsearching]

3 New King St. 3 nights
Charles St.
Hackney (??) 1 night
Been wandering about
for six months



(horselydown86 cracked the main text before me - I'll have to speed up!)

[horselydown86]

 I was about to post this when Philip's post came through.  It's mostly the same.
********************************************************************************************************

I'm not sure of the whole of the top section:

3 [?] King S^t 3 nights
Charles S^t [?]
Hackney R^d [?] 1 night
Been wandering about
for Six months


King St, Charles St and Hackney Road may be other workhouses.

[philipsearching]

Do some research on Settlement and the Poor Law to see the requirements.  They varied during the C19th, so check you have the right information for the period of interest.

A good site to start is http://www.workhouses.org.uk/ - plenty of interesting information

[TinaRoyal]

Thank you all for “translating” the Poor Law Examination of Ann Farraday, your help is much appreciated.

From my research and understanding, according to Webster’s Dictionary, “Examinant” can either mean the person who is being examined or the examiner.  In this case it is clearly Ann Farraday, the person being examined.

I am still confused however by the term, “never &c”.  The Latin for “&” is “et” which would make “&c”, “etc”, which obviously means “and other things”.  Nowhere in any Glossary of Legal Terms can I find the phrase “never etc”.  What exactly does this mean ?  I am thankful for horsleydown86’s explanation, but it would be helpful if someone could quote somewhere else where this phrase is used, so my simple mind can get a better understanding of it and its context.

The Examination doesn’t seem to reach any conclusion.  Would Ann have been allowed to stay in Bethnal Green, where she was born, or would she have been sent back to Rochdale, where her parents were born ?

[horselydown86]

I am still confused however by the term, “never &c”.  The Latin for “&” is “et” which would make “&c”, “etc”, which obviously means “and other things”.  Nowhere in any Glossary of Legal Terms can I find the phrase “never etc”.  What exactly does this mean ?

You are right that &c = etc.

The term never &c isn't a formal legal term or phrase.

It's just a shorthand expression to save the examiner the trouble of writing out in full that a person has never done one of the things which would gain them a Settlement.  Examiners would have need to express this finding on hundreds of occasions each month.

It's part of an informal "workhouse shorthand" which is found throughout workhouse records.  As far as I know "workhouse shorthand" was never formally codified (but I may be wrong).

Regarding your other question, sometimes the examination record is followed by the name of the parish to which the person is to be removed.  That doesn't appear to be the case here.

If the Register of Removal Orders is available for the workhouse, you can check for Ann there.

Start at the date of examination and work forward.

[Bookbox]

In a poor-law context, the Examinant is the person being examined, whatever Webster may say.

You have to appreciate that these are ‘rough settlements’ – notes that were jotted down by the clerk during the interview/examination. In this format they don’t have any legal significance. But if the pauper were to be removed to another parish/union under a magistrate’s order, the notes would be rewritten into a more formal statement, on a printed form, which would then be sworn before a magistrate (‘sworn settlement’).

In the item you’re looking at, no outcome is recorded because an interim enquiry had to be made of Ann Faraday’s elder sister, to support her statement and help determine her eligibility for relief. You will see the words See her in the margin, and Enquiry at the foot. There may have been a follow-up interview, which may or may not have been recorded.

By 1867 (after the passing of various Acts in the 1840s-1860s) Ann would have needed 12 months’ continuous residence within Bethnal Green in order to avoid removal to her parish of legal settlement. Have you found her in 1871?

[Bookbox]

There may have been a follow-up interview, which may or may not have been recorded.

On p. 358 of the same volume you will see there was indeed a follow-up:

Faraday Ann 16
See p. 252
Enquiry
/Re/

The last comment /Re/ implies that she was to be removed to another parish. Someone who was eligible for relief from Bethnal Green might be shown as Irre (= ‘irremovable’) or BG (= Bethnal Green).