Settlements Records and Removal Orders

[Charney Jo]

Hi,

I have obviously googled, but can any of you lovely people please give me a dummy's guide?

My 4 times great grandfather, George Bessell, died in 1829 leaving his wife, Martha Bessell, and their 6 children. On Ancestry I can see Orders of Removal and Settlement Papers (both St Leonard, Shoreditch, London) dated 11 July 1829. Also Settlement Papers dated 7 Mar 1834, again Shoreditch (Martha had remarried and was now Martha Hamlin).

Both Settlement Papers reference the renting by George of ?9 Fan Street at £40 per annum.

Any insight into what the documents tell us would be very gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

[PhotoFamily]

Link?

"Generally, before money was given to a person in need, the parish (or civil) overseer determined the parish of settlement. Money was hard to come by, and was only given in cases where it was justified by settlement as well as indigence. The parish of settlement was not always the parish of birth, since there were ways a person could re-establish settlement in another parish. When a woman married, her husband's parish of settlement became her parish of settlement. For more information on settlement, see England and Wales Poor Law "

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/England_Poor_Law

So, removal/settlement was a way of moving a person/family to another parish so the other parish became responsible for support.

[PhotoFamily]

Oh, and - I've found poor law records that had wrong info, especially names/ages of children, so I keep an open mind about details when I'm reading them.

[teasie]

Its not really clear how much you already understand, but for London this is a good guide: https://www.londonlives.org/static/Settlement.jsp


The 1829 documents are the examination and removal for Martha and her children. As she was unable to financially care for herself or her children Martha had to undergo a settlement examination to determine which parish was responsible for them. You don't say where George died, but presumably it was within the parish of St Leonard Shoreditch as that's who carried out the examination.

The examination revealed that George had gained Settlement in the 'Liberty of Glasshouse Yard in the Parish of St Botolph without Aldgate" by virtue of having rented the house at No. 9 Fan Street, and had gained no alternative settlement since then. As his widow, Martha took George's settlement, as did their children (son Charles had not gained his own settlement). The family was therefore removed from St Leonard, Shoreditch to the liberty of Glasshouse Yard in the Parish of St Botolph without Aldgate.

When she remarried, Martha would have taken on the settlement of her new husband, although this isn't detailed in the 1834 examination (again in Shoreditch, and presumably St Leonard). The way I initially read it is that since their marriage her 2nd husband had not done anything to gain a settlement, but its not 100% clear. The examination covers her previous settlement by way of her first marriage, and says she did nothing as a widow to gain an alternative settlement.

[Charney Jo]

Thanks both.

PhotoFamily, I think I have been lucky as this is quite a good series of records and has the names and ages generally correct.

teasie thanks as well. So the Settlement papers mean that she was left without any money when George died? I don't understand why there was another examination in 1834 as her second husband was still alive (I don't have a date of death for him, but they had a few children after then). And the renting of No. 9 Fan Street - that address wasn't given on their daughter Edwina Hance's baptism during this time. He apparently took the house in Michaelmas 1822 until July 1825. Edwina Hance was baptised on 22 June 1824 and their abode on her baptism record is given as Castle Court, Fulwood Rents (this is the same address as her brother, who also had a daughter baptised on the same day - the entry above).

[teasie]

The examination says that she had become chargeable to the parish, so that's correct, she was left with no money to support herself and the children. , .

I don't know why there was another examination in 1834 either! Unfortunately many records haven't survived and so it can be quite difficult to piece together the full story. Perhaps her new husband was in the infirmary and temporarily unable to work, or perhaps he'd temporarily left in search of work.

As to the Fan Street address, again, we just don't know the full story. Women often stayed with family when they were about to give birth, so perhaps that's the explanation? We tend to forget that childbirth was an altogether riskier thing for women back then, with often no medical care other than untrained local women who became 'midwives'.

[Charney Jo]

Thanks for the reply. If we don't know, because we just don't know, that's fine. It's just if there's information there that I'm missing / not understanding, I just wanted to know. I know there are people that know more about Settlements than me, so thanks for letting me pick your brains.

Be warned, in 1826, George stopped being a school master and became an Excise Man. I am currently (rather impatiently) waiting for documents (6 sides of A3 apparently!) from the National Archives, so will probably be back for more questions about him.

[feilwitz]

Oh, and - I have come across unreliable law records weed seeds amazon online store containing incorrect information, particularly regarding the names and ages of children. Therefore, I remain open-minded about the details when I read them.