RECENT EVENTS
MONDAY 25th APRIL 2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING followed by DAVID SCRIVEN: THE LAST YEARS OF THE OLD POOR LAW IN OSSETT 1800-1837.
At the Society’s Annual General Meeting, the officers and committee were re-elected and Ruth Nettleton was ratified as Chairman for another year. The meeting ended with a discussion of the Society’s future in the light of declining membership and poor attendance at talks.
In his introduction to the Old Poor Law, David began by saying that in 1837 a petition from Ossett was presented to the House of Commons. The petitioners wanted their township to keep the Old Poor Law rather than having to adopt the New Poor Law. Under the old system Ossett’s overseers of the poor made weekly payments to those paupers who lived in their own homes, while a much smaller number of paupers were maintained in the township’s workhouse near Flushdyke. The overseers also provided medical assistance to paupers, apprenticed their children, often to local cloth manufacturers, and ensured that the fathers of illegitimate children supported their offspring. Money to relieve the poor came from the poor rates which peaked during the years 1801-1802, 1812-1813 and 1813-1814 because of poor trade and high food prices during the French Wars. By the 1830s the township’s spending on poor relief had fallen and one of the arguments used by the petitioners in 1837 was that the adoption of the New Poor Law would increase rates while diminishing the reasonable comforts of the poor. Nevertheless, Ossett had to join the Dewsbury Poor Law Union and lost its independence as regards poor relief.
28th MARCH 2022. DAVID SCRIVEN: A YEAR IN THE WAKEFIELD MANOR COURT 1296 – 1297.
At the start of his talk, David explained that the manor of Wakefield was one of the largest manors in England. Although the building where the court held most of its meetings in Wakefield has been demolished, the bulk of its records for the period 1274 – 1926 have survived and are now kept in the Brotherton Library of Leeds University. At the end of the thirteenth century the lord of the manor was John de Warenne, earl of Surrey, a leading member of the nobility. While Surrey was campaigning in Scotland in 1296 -1297, his steward on the manor, John de Doncaster, was trying a wide variety of cases in its court. Some involved the enforcement of the manor’s bye-laws, including the earl’s rights over his villeins. Among other court business were numerous transfers of land from one tenant to another. Tenants also used the court to settle their own disputes over matters such as slander, land, assault and debt. One of those who brought an action was Amabel the Cowkeeper of Gawthorpe who unsuccessfully sued a servant, Alcok, for assault. Apart from presiding over the manor court, John de Doncaster, held the court leet. This criminal court dealt among things with the assize of ale. All of the brewers fined for not meeting the legal standards for the quality and price of ale were women, but this is not surprising as most brewers were women. Among the other offences which were reported at the court leet were thefts and a murder.
28th FEBRUARY 2022. RUTH NETTLETON: SMALLPOX IN OSSETT
In the first talk of the season, Ruth started by mentioning the monument to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in the gardens of Wentworth Castle. Lady Mary is remembered as a pioneer of inoculation against smallpox in the 1720s. Smallpox was a highly contagious and often fatal disease which caused a number of severe epidemics well into the twentieth century. Inoculation was superceded by vaccination, invented by Gloucestershire physician, Edward Jenner. This new procedure was made compulsory in the 1850s. However, in Ossett, as elsewhere in West Yorkshire, there was strong resistance to vaccination, although parents could be fined for non-compliance. From 1898, however, parents with a conscientious objection were able to purchase a certificate of exemption, something which some of Ossett’s inhabitants rushed to obtain. So, in 1903-4, it is not surprising that there was a significant outbreak in the area, particularly among schoolchildren. Ossett’s isolation hospital, at Storr’s Hill, which had been erected in 1895, was overwhelmed with cases. The Corporation had to provide extra accommodation in tents and Park House was then acquired for convalescent patients. After the epidemic, Park House was taken over by the Grammar School., whose old building, in the Market Place, was demolished to make way for the Town Hall.
At the Society’s Annual General Meeting, the officers and committee were re-elected and Ruth Nettleton was ratified as Chairman for another year. The meeting ended with a discussion of the Society’s future in the light of declining membership and poor attendance at talks.
In his introduction to the Old Poor Law, David began by saying that in 1837 a petition from Ossett was presented to the House of Commons. The petitioners wanted their township to keep the Old Poor Law rather than having to adopt the New Poor Law. Under the old system Ossett’s overseers of the poor made weekly payments to those paupers who lived in their own homes, while a much smaller number of paupers were maintained in the township’s workhouse near Flushdyke. The overseers also provided medical assistance to paupers, apprenticed their children, often to local cloth manufacturers, and ensured that the fathers of illegitimate children supported their offspring. Money to relieve the poor came from the poor rates which peaked during the years 1801-1802, 1812-1813 and 1813-1814 because of poor trade and high food prices during the French Wars. By the 1830s the township’s spending on poor relief had fallen and one of the arguments used by the petitioners in 1837 was that the adoption of the New Poor Law would increase rates while diminishing the reasonable comforts of the poor. Nevertheless, Ossett had to join the Dewsbury Poor Law Union and lost its independence as regards poor relief.
28th MARCH 2022. DAVID SCRIVEN: A YEAR IN THE WAKEFIELD MANOR COURT 1296 – 1297.
At the start of his talk, David explained that the manor of Wakefield was one of the largest manors in England. Although the building where the court held most of its meetings in Wakefield has been demolished, the bulk of its records for the period 1274 – 1926 have survived and are now kept in the Brotherton Library of Leeds University. At the end of the thirteenth century the lord of the manor was John de Warenne, earl of Surrey, a leading member of the nobility. While Surrey was campaigning in Scotland in 1296 -1297, his steward on the manor, John de Doncaster, was trying a wide variety of cases in its court. Some involved the enforcement of the manor’s bye-laws, including the earl’s rights over his villeins. Among other court business were numerous transfers of land from one tenant to another. Tenants also used the court to settle their own disputes over matters such as slander, land, assault and debt. One of those who brought an action was Amabel the Cowkeeper of Gawthorpe who unsuccessfully sued a servant, Alcok, for assault. Apart from presiding over the manor court, John de Doncaster, held the court leet. This criminal court dealt among things with the assize of ale. All of the brewers fined for not meeting the legal standards for the quality and price of ale were women, but this is not surprising as most brewers were women. Among the other offences which were reported at the court leet were thefts and a murder.
28th FEBRUARY 2022. RUTH NETTLETON: SMALLPOX IN OSSETT
In the first talk of the season, Ruth started by mentioning the monument to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in the gardens of Wentworth Castle. Lady Mary is remembered as a pioneer of inoculation against smallpox in the 1720s. Smallpox was a highly contagious and often fatal disease which caused a number of severe epidemics well into the twentieth century. Inoculation was superceded by vaccination, invented by Gloucestershire physician, Edward Jenner. This new procedure was made compulsory in the 1850s. However, in Ossett, as elsewhere in West Yorkshire, there was strong resistance to vaccination, although parents could be fined for non-compliance. From 1898, however, parents with a conscientious objection were able to purchase a certificate of exemption, something which some of Ossett’s inhabitants rushed to obtain. So, in 1903-4, it is not surprising that there was a significant outbreak in the area, particularly among schoolchildren. Ossett’s isolation hospital, at Storr’s Hill, which had been erected in 1895, was overwhelmed with cases. The Corporation had to provide extra accommodation in tents and Park House was then acquired for convalescent patients. After the epidemic, Park House was taken over by the Grammar School., whose old building, in the Market Place, was demolished to make way for the Town Hall.
