Poor Law
After 1662, if a man left his settled parish to move elsewhere, he had to take his Settlement Certificate, which guaranteed that his home parish would pay for his "removal" costs (from the host parish) back to his home if he needed poor relief. As parishes were often unwilling to issue such certificates people often stayed where they were – knowing that in an emergency they would be entitled to their parish's poor rate.
The 1662 Act stipulated that if a poor person (that is, resident of a tenancy with a taxable value less than £10 per year, who did not fall under the other protected categories) remained in the parish for forty days of undisturbed residency, he could acquire "settlement rights" in that parish. However, within those forty days, upon any local complaint, two JPs could remove the man and return him to his home parish. As a result, parish bosses frequently dispatched their poor to other parishes, with instructions to remain hidden for forty days before revealing themselves. This loophole was closed with the 1685 act (1 Jam II c.17) which required new arrivals to register with parish authorities. But sympathetic parish officers often hid the registration, and did not reveal the presence of new arrivals until the required residency period was over. As a result, the law was further tightened in 1692 (3 & 4 Will & Mar, c.11), and parish officers were obliged to publicly publish arrival registrations in writing in the local church Sunday circular, and read to the congregation, and that the forty days would only start counting from thereon.
Unfortunately, no documentation concerning settlement seems to have survived for Ellerton. However, there is some documentation among the records of Quarters Sessions that deal with settlement, bastardy, and the returns of pauper lunatics.
The following is a list of mainly Quarter Sessions documentation from the East Riding Archives in Beverley (and one at the beginning that deals with Almshouses), that relate to Ellerton folk:
Parish | Reference | Document | Date | Details |
Ellerton | NCH/46/2 | Almshouses | 1901-1925 | Accounts of Poorsland, Sir H Bethell's Almshouses, William Bethell, Thomas Wood's Dole charity, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/14/3 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1856 | John Carr, 29, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/15/3 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1857 | John Carr, 30, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/16/3 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1858 | John Carr, 31, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/17/4 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1859 | John Carr, 32, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/18/3 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1860 | John Carr, 33, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/19/4 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1861 | John Carr, 34, Ellerton |
Howden PLU | QAL/2/20/4 | Return of pauper lunatics | 1862 | John Carr, 35, Ellerton |
Ellerton | QSU/1/9/7 | Bastardy recognizance | 1807 | Session: 1808 Christmas; Father: Robert Nutt; Father's residence: Ellerton; Father's job: servantman; Surety: Richard Nutt; Surety's residence: Selby; Surety's job: labourer; Mother: Hepah Barnet; Mother's residence: Ellerton |
Ellerton | QSU/1/11/15 | Bastardy recognizance | 1809 | Session: 1810 Christmas; Father: John Carleton; Father's residence: Ellerton; Father's job: servant; Surety: John Clarke; Surety's residence: Ellerton; Surety's job: farmer; Mother: Catherine Mitchell; Mother's residence: Kilpin |
Thornton | QSU/1/11/15 | Bastardy recognizance | 1812 | Session: 1812 Easter; Father: William Beckitt junior; Father's residence: Thornton; Father's job: labourer; Surety: William senior Beckitt; Surety's residence: Thornton; Surety's job: cordwainer; Mother: Ann Dunglass; Mother's residence: Ellerton |
Holme upon Spalding Moor | QSU/1/28/3 | Bastardy recognizance | 1827 | Session: 1827 Midsummer; Father: Thomas Arnold; Father's residence: Holme upon Spalding Moor; Father's job: servant in husbandry; Surety: Joseph Graves; Surety's residence: Ellerton; Surety's job: farmer; Mother: Hannah Johnson; Mother's residence: Ellerton |
North Duffield | QSU/1/36/2 | Bastardy recognizance | 1835 | Session: 1835 Epiphany; Father: William Deighton; Father's residence: North Duffield; Father's job: labourer; Surety: [no details given]; Surety's residence: [no details given]; Surety's job: [no details given]; Mother: Hannah Penrose; Mother's residence: Ellerton |
Market Weighton | QSU/1/37/8 | Bastardy recognizance | 1836 | Session: 1836 Epiphany; Father: William Farmery; Father's residence: Market Weighton; Father's job: labourer; Surety: [no details given]; Surety's residence: [no details given]; Surety's job: [no details given]; Mother: Mary Taylor; Mother's residence: Ellerton |
Bubwith | QSU/1/37/64 | Bastardy recognizance | 1836 | Session: 1836 Michaelmas; Father: George Scott; Father's residence: Bubwith; Father's job: joiner; Surety: [no details given]; Surety's residence: [no details given]; Surety's job: [no details given]; Mother: Mary Thomlinson; Mother's residence: Ellerton |
Ellerton | QSU/1/40/35 | Bastardy recognizance | 1839 | Session: 1839 Easter; Father: Thomas Barker; Father's residence: Ellerton; Father's job: shoemaker; Surety: [no details given]; Surety's residence: [no details given]; Surety's job: [no details given]; Mother: Dinah Dales; Mother's residence: Foggathorpe |
Ellerton | QSU/4/112/4 | Removal order | 30 Sep 1826 | Removal order of Thomas Richardson the younger; from Bubwith to Ellerton. |
Ellerton | QSU/4/186/1 | Removal order | 7 Mar 1846 | Removal order of William Gowthorpe, Hannah his wife and their children George (10), Jane (8), Elizabeth (6), Samuel (3); from Ellerton to Harlthorpe; with examination papers |