Parish relief

[Peter Stenning]

On a record i have in the occupation column [Parish relief] What does this mean.
the parents are still living the farther listed as working Agr. Lab. age 61 wife aged 59 .
The son is aged 22.

REF IS -;

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=view&r=5538&dbid=6598&iid=SSXRG12_828_830-0249&fn=William&ln=Leggett&st=r&ssrc=&pid=10693215

Peter

[Christine in Herts]

Parish Relief was the olden day equivalent of the dole. It means that the person was unemployed and receiving money from the parish. When it was disputed whether or not the parish was liable to support a particular individual, then it was a court matter - and that's where Settlement Orders come in.

Christine

(PS - I'm open to correction on this?)

[moreducklings]

Parish Relief

Hi!

You should be able to find out more from the workhouse/ guardians of the poor records, (If they have survived), which are likely to be held in the record office relevant to the parish in which your relative was living.

Sometimes they are quite detailed and give the reason for providing relief - it might be money and/ or food - and sometimes you will find records of admission to the poorhouse either to provide work and in-relief (as opposed to out-relief, when the recipient lived at home).You might also find admissions for health reasons - workhouses tended to act as hospitals do now.

So, your record office is the next place to try!

I hope this helps.

[Olde Crone Holden]

Peter

I can't access your link, so am not sure what record you are looking at, but I presume a census return?

It would be quite unusual for a fit and healthy man to recieve what was called "out-relief" in those days, so I think you can assume your man was handicapped in some way, perhaps a broken leg or something more permanent. The normal thing would be for a fit and healthy man to be in the workhouse, not receiving out relief, which was normally only given to the pious poor, lol, such as elderly widows.

Settlement certificates were abandoned before 1841, and the union workhouse system became national, not parochial, so if your record is a census, settlement and removal orders do not apply. You may find something in the workhouse ledgers although I have personally never seen an out-relief register....that doesn't mean you won't, though!

OC

[Christine in Herts]

There's no indicator of disability in the last column, but it does have "parish relief" written into the occupation column - in a lighter pen, but, possibly, the same hand.

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

OC

I can't access your link, ...

I've found that you can get the whole link if you pretend you're going to reply by quoting the original. The link comes up in full, then, and you can copy-paste to your browser.

Christine