LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In 1294 the Abbot of
Westminster claimed to hold all pleas in Staines and
its members which the sheriff held in the county
court, except for appeals and outlawry. (fn. 83) The claim
was made under a charter of 1265, which had granted
the abbey wide liberties. (fn. 84) Though this charter purported to be a renewal of an earlier one, it was
apparently only from the year 1265 that the abbot's
tenants at Staines and Yeoveney ceased to attend the
county courts. (fn. 85) In 1274 neither vill apparently
attended the hundred court. (fn. 86) From the late 13th
century to the early 16th the abbey held yearly views
of frankpledge at Staines, in addition to other courts
whose number declined from about a dozen at the
beginning of the period to two or three at the end. (fn. 87)
In the 14th century the tenants of Yeoveney attended
the Staines court and probably continued to do so
until the ownership of the two manors was divided
at the Dissolution. (fn. 88) Courts for Yeoveney continued
to be held until the 17th century, though by the later
part of it they dealt only with the conveyance of
copyhold. (fn. 89) The Staines court leet has survived to
modern times, and sessions were held in 1951 and
1954, (fn. 90) though as early as the 17th century it
occasionally met less than once a year, and its
business declined. (fn. 91) In 1764 the vestry appointed the
constables and headboroughs as the leet had not met,
and later they did so quite often without recording
the reason for their action. (fn. 92) In the same way, long
before the Metropolitan Commons Supplemental
Act, 1880, vested the regulation of the commons in
the local board, (fn. 93) the parish had tended to usurp the
manor's control of them. (fn. 94) The court leet, however,
has continued to appoint the moor-masters, and
virtually all its few duties are now concerned with
the commons. (fn. 95)
The lord of the manor had a prison in Staines in
1274, (fn. 96) and he may have had gallows there in the
15th century. (fn. 97) A new pillory and cucking-stool were
provided in 1335. (fn. 98) In 1430 the abbot failed to
maintain his stocks at Staines, but there were stocks
at Staines in the 16th century and as late as 1790. (fn. 99)
The lord's bailiff fulfilled many of the functions of
local government in the Middle Ages, and the
election of two constables at the view of frankpledge
is recorded in 1504. (fn. 1) By 1593 there were two constables and four headboroughs, who, though they
were appointed by the manor, had jurisdiction over
the whole parish. (fn. 2) The constables were superseded
when Staines became part of the Metropolitan
Police district in 1840: (fn. 3) some police had in fact been
stationed in the town for a year or two before this. (fn. 4)
The old parish cage, which stood on the west corner
of the High Street and Thames Street, was demolished about 1830, (fn. 5) and the present police station in
the London Road was built in 1885. (fn. 6) Other manorial
officers were the ale-tasters, who were still appointed
along with the constables and headboroughs in
1805. (fn. 7)
From 1615, and presumably earlier, the parish had
two churchwardens, two overseers of the poor, and
two or three surveyors of highways. (fn. 8) From 1615 to
1619 two men were also appointed to destroy noisome fowl. The annual vestry was generally attended
by six to a dozen people in the early 17th century,
and by rather more in the middle of the century.
From 1759, when two-monthly and then monthly
meetings became the rule, there were rarely more
than twelve persons present except when elections
were made or questions of policy discussed. The
vicar or his deputy generally attended the 17thcentury meetings: in the late 18th and early 19th
century he came less often and there seems to have
been no dominant member of the vestry. Nonconformist influence is perhaps apparent in the
occasional attempts to prevent sabbath-breaking
by the shop-keepers. Ad hoc vestry committees
were appointed from the 17th century, and committees for the workhouse and management of
the poor were frequent later. Poor relief was naturally
the vestry's chief preoccupation, though it also
maintained fire engines from the 18th century, and
a parish cage, stocks, engine house, and pound.
The pound, which stood near Pound Mill, was sold
in 1824 with the workhouse, but a new one was in
existence by 1895 beside the bridge leading over the
railway to the moor. (fn. 9) The vestry also supervised the
commons and protested vigorously when inclosures
were threatened in 1812, 1814, and 1819. It appointed
several minor officials including a bellman and
beadle.
The poor rates rose from about £40 a year in the
1640's to about £1,900 in 1821. Thereafter they
dropped to under £1,400 in the last years before the
new poor law came into force. (fn. 10) As early as 1630 an
attempt to restrict costs was made by a group of
parishioners who resolved that no one should let a
house without giving security, and in 1660 six persons
were appointed to notify the churchwardens and
overseers of new arrivals in the parish. In the mid17th century the rates were spent on weekly stipends,
occasional relief in sickness, clothes, shoes, medical
attention, and burial, and in apprenticing poor
children.
The overseers repaired the 'almshouses' on
several occasions in the 1670's. In 1760 the vestry resolved to convert the parish houses into a workhouse
to receive the poor: possibly this constituted an
addition to another workhouse, since one was
referred to in 1759. A new workhouse may have been
bought or built in 1774. Whether this happened or
not, the workhouse in use was enlarged a year later,
and altered so as to separate men and women in 1818.
A house at 'Hale Bridge' (fn. 11) which the parish had
formerly rented as a poorhouse was mentioned in
1818. At that time, and probably since 1774 or
earlier, the workhouse stood near Pound Mill,
while the parish also owned cottages at Shooting Off
(now Thames St.). In 1824 both properties were
sold and a new workhouse was built on Shortwood
Common. This was apparently still used by the
union in 1841 (fn. 12) but was sold in 1842.
From 1759 until 1834 the poor were generally
farmed. The workhouse-keeper was generally responsible for giving out-relief on the orders of the
vestry, as well as for managing the workhouse.
Deterrents from poverty were attempted on several
occasions: in 1775 it was resolved to set the poor to
work, and in 1785 oakum-picking and sack-weaving
were begun. By 1818 basket-making had been added.
In 1775 it was also resolved that no children over
five were to be relieved unless they were taken into
the workhouse, and in 1818 no out-relief was to be
given except in food, and even then those who kept
a pig were disqualified. In spite of this the numbers
in the workhouse continued to rise and reached 40
in 1815, in addition to those receiving out-relief. (fn. 13)
In 1834, although it was admitted that nothing could
be saved out of the average wages paid in the parish,
no relief was ever given to the able-bodied. (fn. 14) The
stringency of measures to discourage poverty is also
perhaps reflected in the vestry's resolution of 1790
to prosecute the workhouse master for causing the
death of a pauper by moving him out of the house.
A select vestry was formed as soon as the Sturges
Bourne Act was passed. It immediately used its new
powers to provide allotments for the poor, and also
appointed a salaried assistant overseer in 1820. In
1836 Staines was joined with twelve other west
Middlesex parishes to form the Staines union, (fn. 15) and
the vestry's business naturally fell off, but the parish
had already in 1832 adopted the Lighting and
Watching Act of 1830, and a burial board was
formed when the churchyard and Congregational
burial ground were closed in 1854. The board
opened its first cemetery in 1855. The rebuilding of
the church in 1828 (fn. 16) and of the bridge and surrounding area in 1828-32 were accomplished by boards
appointed under private Acts. (fn. 17) In 1872 another
local commission was appointed to clear the Market
Square area, build the Town Hall, and establish a
market, (fn. 18) but it was superseded by the local board
of health formed in the same year. (fn. 19)
The Urban District of Staines
Gules, a fess barry wauy of four pieces argent and azure, and thereon a representation of Staines Bridge in gold; in chief two swans proper facing one another, and in base a representation of London Stone gold between two seaxes erect, their blades sliver and their blades silver and their pommels and hilts gold. (Granted 1951.)
The local board, which became an urban district
council under the Local Government Act, 1894,
consisted of twelve members. (fn. 20) In 1930, when Ashford, Laleham, and Stanwell were added to the
district, the councillors were increased to 24. (fn. 21)
Some adjustments were made in the wards in 1956. (fn. 22)
The names of national
political parties were
first adopted by councillors within a few
years after the enlargement of the council, but
independents remained
in a majority until after
the Second World War.
The last independent
was defeated in 1949.
Since the Second World
War there has been a
Conservative majority. (fn. 23)
The council met fortnightly until 1897, and
since then has generally
met once a month. (fn. 24) In
1886 there were seven
committees, for the town
hall, commons, cemetery, highways, hospital,
finance, and drainage. (fn. 25)
The provision of a
sewerage system was the first major task confronting
the local board, and was finally accomplished in
1896: (fn. 26) its importance in the council's affairs is
reflected in the fact that 'general purposes' became
associated in the title of the drainage committee in
1897 and the two were not divided until 1930. (fn. 27) The
hospital committee was dissolved soon after it was
formed, without having provided a hospital. (fn. 28) In
1957 the council had ten committees, and two standing sub-committees. (fn. 29) By 1939 the enlarged urban
district contained 500 council houses, of which 94
were in Staines itself. Between 1947 and 1957 a
further 1,369 were built, of which only 2, which
were sold, were in Staines parish. (fn. 30)
In 1896-7 the council spent nearly £8,000, (fn. 31) and
in 1955-6 nearly £624,000, of which £525,000 went
to the county council and Metropolitan Police. (fn. 32)
Apart from those employed on the roads, cemeteries,
&c., the original staff comprised the clerk, surveyor,
and medical officer of health. By 1957 there was also
a treasurer, and the four principal officers had a
subordinate staff of about 100. (fn. 33) The local firm of
solicitors latterly known as Horne, Engall, and
Freeman provided the clerks to the select vestry,
local board, and council, as well as to most of the
other local bodies, from 1823 to 1946, when a fulltime clerk was appointed. (fn. 34) After the First World
War the town hall became too small for the council's
offices, which were transferred to buildings in
Clarence Street, given up in 1952, and in Bridge
Street. The surveyor's department moved to the
London Road in 1950 and the clerk's department to
no. 73, High Street in 1952. (fn. 35)
A school board of five members was formed for
Staines in 1885. It took over all the existing elementary schools, but did not build any new ones until
1896. Its functions were transferred to the county
council in 1902. (fn. 36)