POOR RELIEF
No parish records are known to survive except the
registers. A few figures of poor
relief are available from Parliamentary returns but these are probably not very reliable. (fn. 22) In 1776 expenditure on poor
relief was £11. (fn. 23) For the three years 1783-5 the
average annual expenditure was £29. (fn. 24) By 1800-1 the
annual expenditure had risen to £150, but in 1802-3 it
was only £74. (fn. 25) Figures of expenditure on poor relief
alone are missing for the years 1803-11; the poor rates,
which also include administrative expenses and county
rates, rose from £91 in 1803-4 to £255 in 1810-11. (fn. 26)
The cost of relief rose from £174 in 1811-12 to £486
in 1819-20. (fn. 27) The cost for 1820-1 was, however,
only £144. (fn. 28)
There was a parish poorhouse by 1776. (fn. 29) In 1841
there were 'almshouses' belonging to the parish, situated
at Greenstead Green, opposite Greenstead House. (fn. 30)
These had probably been provided by the parish for
the accommodation of its poor: there is no evidence
that they were a privately endowed charity. They had
disappeared by 1873-4. (fn. 31)
In 1836 Greenstead became part of Ongar Poor
Law Union.
For an account of Petit's Charity see Stanford
Rivers.
Footnotes
| 22 |
The parliamentary returns can often be checked for parishes with
surviving poor law records; for other places in Ongar hundred they have been found inaccurate. |
| 23 |
E.R.O., Q/CR 1/1. |
| 24 |
Ibid. |
| 25 |
E.R.O., Q/CR 1/9. |
| 26 |
Ibid. |
| 27 |
Ibid.; Q/CR 1/12. |
| 28 |
Q/CR 1/12. A remarkable drop, if
the figure is correct; but it may be an error. |
| 29 |
Rep. Sel. Cttee. on Overseers Retns.
1777, H.C. Ser. 1, vol. ix, p. 350. |
| 30 |
E.R.O., D/CT 153. The almshouses,
apparently 4 in number, were in a terrace. |
| 31 |
O.S. 6 in. Map (1st edn.), sheet 1
(1873-4). |