ASPECTS OF CIVIL ADMINISTRATION AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN
NINETEENTH CENTURY KNOTTINGLEY
By Dr. TERRY SPENCER B.A. (HONS), Ph D.
Preliminary Draft May 2005
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE - KNOTTINGLEY SELECT
VESTRY
CHAPTER TWO - THE POOR LAW
CHAPTER THREE - KNOTTINGLEY POOR
LAW : INDOOR RELIEF
CHAPTER FOUR - KNOTTINGLEY POOR
LAW : OUTDOOR RELIEF
CHAPTER FIVE - CLAIMANTS AND
PAYMENTS
CHAPTER SIX - HUMAN DIMENSIONS
CHAPTER SEVEN - KNOTTINGLEY
WORKHOUSE
CHAPTER EIGHT - HEALTH AND
SICKNESS
CHAPTER NINE - DEATH AND BURIAL
CHAPTER TEN - LAW AND ORDER
A NOTE CONCERNING SOURCES
The principal source used for this study is the collection of Minute
Books of the Knottingley Select Vestry. The books are five in number and
are designated as follows: -
Book ‘A’ 25-5-1823 to 10-11-1840
Book ‘B’ 24-11-1840 to 4-3-1852
Book ‘C’ 18-3-1852 to 17-10-1861
Book ‘D’ 31-10-1861 to 3-11-1881
Book ‘E’ 24-3-1882 to 2-6-1919
Select Vestry minutes are less than a complete source of information,
providing names and decisions and affording a tantalising insight into
events at a particular period but often lacking precise details
concerning the financial and socio-political context which prompted
Vestry discussion and decisions arising from such considerations. Yet
despite this drawback the Minute Books reveal the varied duties of
parish officials and the multiple aspects of Poor Law administration
allied to the evolution of a system of local government within the
developing township of Knottingley during the nineteenth century.
Without this data our knowledge and understanding of the lives of our
forebears would be immeasurably poorer.
©2005 Dr. Terry Spencer