PARISH CHURCH ACCOUNTS, 1818. SOME time ago I had lent to me a book of MSS. relating to the Parish Church accounts of 100 years ago. It bears the words "to be carefully preserved by my sons," and has the signature appended of John Derby. It was one of the sons, Mr. Arthur Derby, of Crookesmoor Road, who was good enough to let me see this age-stained exercise book. The contents largely refer to a proposal in March, 1818, to levy a Church rate on the parish, and to have the wardens' accounts properly examined. It was decided that the committee should consist of 21 persons, 13 of whom should be "competent to act." This meeting of parishioners thereupon elected the committee as follows: Thomas Rawson, Esq., Messrs. John Scantlebury, W. Fisher, George Dalton, William Evatt, Joseph Bailey, Thomas Pearson, Ebenezer Birks, Thomas Morton, W. Hoyland, Thomas Dunn, W. Battie, James Wilde, William Harwood, George Robinson, George Bennet, Benjamin Colley, Joseph Senior, Edward Gurney, Thomas Cooper, and Benjamin Dickinson. Later a sub-committee was appointed to look over the wardens' accounts, and another for the "purpose of obtaining a legal opinion upon the several points connected with the legality of a Church rate being made upon the parish and the liability of the hamlets." Many meetings were held between the date already given and May 20th, 1818, the various resolutions passed being published by means of handbills, but it was not until this May meeting that anything definite was arrived at. On that date the sub-committee charged with the examination of the wardens' accounts reported that since 1812 "considerabie sums have been paid for sundries." The first such item was for £28 11s. 8d. A considerable part of the entries for the year were without dates, and "in casting a few lines in 1817 was found an error of £10 in favour of the church wardens." That particular account was passed at a vestry meeting in July, 1817, and "signed by a number of respectable persons." Committees of investigation in more modern times in such circumstances would scarcely have been so gentle. Between June 17th, 1814, and June, 1815, are a number of entries to the amount of £275 0s. 9d. without any dates, and "as there is an evident irregularity for want of dates your committee think it their duty to notice the same." .... "They likewise think it right to remark that the sum of £154 12s. 0d. was paid in 1816 and 1817 for stoves and chimneys, and different sums amounting to £105 1s. 6d, for green cloths and cushions. The committee merely add that the amount expended by the church wardens from May, 1808, to March, 1818, appears to be £5,220 or thereabouts." The committee appended "a list of what is considered by the church wardens to be current annual expenses to be provided by the Church rate, viz.:--Ringers £8 8s., Bellropes £4 4s., Peacekeepers £15 15s., Clothing for ditto £7, Sexton £24, Organist £21, Clerk £21, Candles £50, Wine £30, Parchment for Registers £15 15s., Toolhouse Rent £1 1s., Visitations £20, Coals £15 15s., Sundries £50, Total £283 18s. 0d." A faint pencil note on this page states that a threepenny Church rate on the parish would produce £600. A general meeting of the Committee was held in the Cutlers' Hall on September 18th, 1818, at which it was decided to call for production of the several bills and vouchers mentioned in the wardens' accounts. "And that Messrs. Dunn, Wilde, Robinson, Battie, Birks and Hoyland be a Committee to carry the resolutions into force, and further that this resolution be forwarded to the church wardens." In October, 1818, the Committee was informed that one of the gentlemen applied to under this resolution had declined to produce the vouchers because he disapproved of the previous conduct of the Committee," and it was resolved that such refusal be entered upon the minutes of the committee. At a Vestry Meeting held in the Parish Church on September 3rd, 1819, Mr. Samuel Revill in the chair, a proposition was moved and seconded that a rate of 2d. in the £ be levied upon the parish, and an amendment was put forward that the necessaries for the due performance of Divine service "ought to be defrayed by the pew-owners, who have excluded the rest of the parishioners from use of the church and claim an absolute and uncontrollable right to their pews, and that no rate shall be granted until the matter is settled." The amendment was put and carried unanimously. At a later meeting the proposed rate was again introduced, this time at a 1d. in the £, but again it was defeated through the adjournment of the meeting, three different gentlemen occupying the chair during the evening. Yet another meeting was held to settle the question and on May 5th, 1820, it was decided that current expenses amounting to £50 be defrayed by voluntary subscription. Then came the climax as, at a meeting of the Vestry held on January 25th, 1821, it was resolved that the church burgesses be respectfully requested to resume the payment of such expenses as are necessary for the services of the Parish Church, " in like manner as they were accustomed to do from time immemorial previous to the year 1808, and that the Church Wardens do wait upon the Burgesses with this resolution." The thanks of the meeting were accorded to the Vicar for the impartial manner in which he had conducted the business of the meeting. On May 9th, 1823--two years and more after the passing of this resolution--a meeting was held and a resolution passed to the effect that "as the Church Wardens are not in attendance, this meeting presumes that the Burgesses have agreed to pay all the necessary expenses of the church as requested by a former meeting of the inhabitants." On May 7th, 1824, another meeting was held at which a precisely similar resolution was passed to that of 1823, and on May 6th, 1825, just the same resolution appears--an old familiar friend by then. There is, however, a footnote reading, "as the Church Wardens had thought fit to close the Church against the meeting it was held in the church yard. How far the churchwardens are justified in this proceeding is a question for further consideration'" One other meeting of some historical interest remains before we turn the last page of this almost undecipherable minute book. It took place on April 30th, 1827, and recorded its "satisfaction at the proposals of several individuals to give subscriptions towards the fencing in of the new burial ground of the town, and considers that such a mode of doing it is far less objectionable than a rate as, at this time, a rate would fall very heavy on the lower classes who have sufficient to do to provide for each day its daily bread. And this meeting therefore recommends voluntary subscriptions for the purpose of fencing of the new burial grounds, and that the following persons form a Committee to wait on the parishioners and others to receive their subscriptions, when it is hoped that those persons who are in easy circumstances will make up the deficiencies of those who have nothing to spare:- the Church Burgesses, the Rev. Thomas Sutton, the Rev. Matthew Preston, the Rev.- Goodwin, the Rev. -- Vale, the Rev. -- Knight, the Rev. -- Best, and the Rev.-- Longston, Messrs. Samuel Roberts and Charles Brownell, churchwardens of St. Peter's, Messrs. Thos. Porter and J. Cam, churchwardens of St. Paul's, Messrs. -- Webster and Jno. Gaunt, churchwardens of St. James', and Messrs. J. Willey and George Ridge, churchwardens of St. George's." Mr. John Milner was chairman of that meeting. In 1848 an interesting Committee report was published from the Independant office on drainage of local churchyards. It was signed by Henry Boultbee, F.R.C.S., Henry Payne, M.R.C.S., John Webster and William Lee, these gentlemen having been elected on August 2nd, 1848, at a meeting of the Board for the repair of local highways. The enquiry owed its origin to the national dread of cholera. The following table was printed :- Area. Interments per an. Parish Churchyard 2 1 3 673 S. Paul's 1 0 38 202 S. James 0 0 27 37 S. George's 1 2 38 465 S. Philip's 1 0 0 159 S. Mary's 2 2 4 211 S. John's, Park 2 1 27 207 Total ... 11 1 17 1954 Interments also took place in Carver Street Chapel yard. Wet graves were very common in the clay of the Parish and S. Paul's yards. S. George's was a particularly bad case of this, and from all these yards strong and objectionable effluvia exuded into the surrounding streets and houses. S. Philip's was also bad, but was nearly in the country, so that the evil was not so great, and the gravel and sandy soil of S. Mary's yard prevented anything objectionable whatever. S. John's soil was disintegrated rock and the water shot off it at great speed, but from a public health standpoint S. John's was not bad.