LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In 1246 the Abbot of
Bec was exercising various liberties in his manor
of Ruislip, including view of frankpledge and the
assize of bread and ale. (fn. 19) During the 13th century
the single manorial court was attended by both free
and unfree tenants. The court met twice yearly
under the supervision of an itinerant steward who
toured Bec's English manors after Easter and again
about Martinmas. (fn. 20) Occasionally additional courts
might be held, usually during the summer months. (fn. 21)
Further informal meetings may have been held
under the lord's bailiff who is first mentioned in 1280
and who discharged many of the functions of local
government. (fn. 22) There were two bailiffs in the manor
by 1296. (fn. 23)
A curious case argued in the royal courts in 1305
seems to call in question the abbot's right to demand
suit of court from Ruislip freeholders. (fn. 24) The result
of the case is not recorded, but freeholders appear
to have continued to render suit until the end of the
14th century, when a separate court leet was
established. (fn. 25)
By 1300 the court was appointing reeves for
Ruislip and Northwood, a hayward, and a forester. (fn. 26) Four reeves were elected in 1394, but two of
them paid a fine for release, (fn. 27) and by 1334 some of
their duties appear to have been assumed by two
foresters. (fn. 28) Both of these seem to have presented
trespasses in the Ruislip court, but one of them also
held land in Ruislip of the lord of Harmondsworth
and presented trespasses on the Harmondsworth
land in Ruislip at the Harmondsworth court. (fn. 29) This
official was said to owe suit of court at Harmondsworth, but appears to have held a largely autonomous
position in Ruislip. About 1390 Richard Palmer, the
Harmondsworth forester, felled large amounts of
timber in abuse of his rights of housebote and firebote, and subsequently became involved in a series
of disturbances in the parish. (fn. 30) The Harmondsworth
forester is not mentioned again, but a forester, presumably the Ruislip official, had a room in the
manor-house in 1435, (fn. 31) and was said to be paid
5s. 2d. a year in 1442. (fn. 32)
Tenants on the Harmondsworth land in Ruislip
were generally bound to make suit of court at
Harmondsworth. (fn. 33) Occasionally, however, licences
were granted in the Ruislip court for Ruislip tenants
to live on Harmondsworth land on condition that
they continued to pay services to the lord of Ruislip. (fn. 34)
After the manor came into the possession of King's
College, Cambridge, in the mid 15th century, courts
leet and baron were held in no clearly defined
sequence, but rarely at less than quarterly intervals.
A franchise coroner was appointed by the college for
Ruislip and two other manors in 1455, (fn. 35) but there is
no evidence of his activities. Until 1565 leases of the
manor generally reserved the courts to the college,
but after this date, although there were continued
complaints of the exactions of lessees, (fn. 36) court perquisites normally accompanied grants of the manor.
During the 16th and early 17th centuries at least
two courts leet and baron seem to have been held
each year. (fn. 37) In 1693, however, the constables of
Ruislip had to petition quarter sessions for their discharge, since the lord of the manor had not held a
leet during the preceding year. (fn. 38) A court leet was
held annually during the 19th century, (fn. 39) and courts
continued to meet, with varying regularity, until
1925. (fn. 40)
There were stocks and a pillory at Ruislip in
1296. (fn. 41) The stocks were still in use in 1617. (fn. 42) Little
is known of the parish administration which superseded the manorial organization. By 1582 there were
two constables for the parish, (fn. 43) and by 1634, and
presumably earlier, two overseers of the poor and
two churchwardens. (fn. 44) During the early 17th century,
however, the lessee of Ruislip manor was responsible
for repairs to the pound in Eastcote Road. (fn. 45) Extensive alterations to the 'parish house' took place in
1616. (fn. 46) Full responsibility for the parish house was
assumed by the overseers from about 1670, and their
accounts for the late 17th century include payments
for flax and other materials for the use of the poor.
A scheme for schooling poor children seems to have
been discontinued about 1705, perhaps in consequence of a rapid increase in the sums laid out on
the poor. The poor-rates rose from about £50 a year
in the 1660s to more than £100 in 1709, and to £130
in 1711. (fn. 47) By 1776 the poor-rate was £477, and in
1803 £605. (fn. 48)
From the late 18th century, and presumably
earlier, the vestry was in effective control of the
parish. Records of the vestry are preserved, with
gaps in the earlier years, from 1787. (fn. 49) The vestry
seldom met more than five times a year, and there
were usually fewer than ten people present. Adjournments from the church to the 'Bell' or 'Black Horse'
at Eastcote were better attended. Vestry business
was concerned mainly with the provision of clothing
for the poor and the apprenticing of pauper children.
Cheap or free dwellings for poor families were provided in the almshouses in Eastcote Road on the
north side of the churchyard. The history of these
'church-houses' is obscure, but extensive alteration
of the old parish house in 1616 probably resulted in
its conversion into the small, two-roomed dwellings
which comprise the present almshouses. (fn. 50) During
the 18th century the almshouses seem to have been
used as a workhouse, and in 1776 they accommodated
about 30 paupers. (fn. 51) By 1787 this limited accommodation was inadequate and in 1789 the vestry
resolved to erect a workhouse on land taken from
the Common just north of Reservoir Road and
granted to the parish by King's College. (fn. 52) The parish
farmed out the administration of the workhouse to a
governor at an annual rent of £353. The appointment
of successive governors and the fixing of the annual
farm, which increased to 550 guineas in 1805 and to
£780 by 1810, provided the staple business of the
vestry during the first two decades of the 19th
century. Numbers in the workhouse during these
years fluctuated between 20 and 30. (fn. 53) After the 1834
Act the parish was included in the Uxbridge Union,
and in 1838 the inmates of the Ruislip workhouse
were removed to the union workhouse at Hillingdon. (fn. 54) The building was then sold, later converted
into flats, and after renovation in the early 20th
century became a private house. (fn. 55) It is approached
from Ducks Hill Road and is a red-brick structure
with a symmetrical front of two stories and five bays.
A plaque above the door is dated 1789 and gives five
names, presumably those of members of the vestry.
About 1820 a revival took place in the vestry, and,
until the ending of parochial responsibility for poor
relief, monthly meetings became the rule. No select
vestry was ever formed, and meetings were still
normally attended only by the vicar and parish
officers. The vestry dealt with removal and bastardy
cases and with the provision of outdoor relief. They
also regulated rights of pasture on common and the
poor's land. From 1820
poor labourers were permitted to cultivate potatoes
and vegetables on land at
Ducks Hill for the support
of their families. With the
ending of parochial responsibility for poor relief, vestry meetings again became
less frequent, and the appointment of officers was
their principal duty.
Urban District of Ruislip-Northwood
Argent, a hurst of oak-trees proper growing out of a grassy mount, and above them a roundel azure charged with a star of five points or; on a chief gules a silver mitre between two fleurs-de-lis or [Granted 1937]
After 1894 Ruislip became part of Uxbridge
R.D., and had a parish
council. In 1904 the parish
was separated from the
rural districts to form
Ruislip-Northwood U.D.
The council administered three departments in
1904, with a staff of five, some of whom were
part-time, and 15 manual workers. There were
four departments in 1962-those of the clerk and
solicitor, engineer and surveyor, treasurer, and
medical officer of health. These employed an indoor
staff of 154, and an outside staff of 280, increased
to 340 for seasonal work. With the exception of the
housing section of the clerk's department and the
health department at 76 High Street, Northwood,
the council's offices were in Oaklands Gate.
The number of standing committees varied from 3
in 1904 to 16, including two advisory committees, in
1962. In 1904 the rate was 2s. 2d. in the £, and had
risen to 10s. 4d. in the £ by 1929. The product of a
penny rate rose from £649 in 1929-30 to £6,010 in
1960-61. Between 1919 and 1962 almost 2,500
council dwellings were completed, 2,000 of them in
the period following the Second World War. There
were approximately 1,500 a. of open spaces and recreation grounds in 1953, including 72 a. of permanent
and temporary allotments. (fn. 56)
Nine councillors were elected in 1904, and by
1920, when the first warding of the District took
place, there were 15 councillors. The allotment of
councillors between wards was varied in 1929 and
again in 1936 when the South Ruislip Ward was
created. The number of councillors was increased to
24 in 1939 and to 27 in 1950. In 1954 the number of
wards was increased from 4 to 9 with 3 councillors
for each ward. (fn. 57) Since 1965 Ruislip and Northwood
have formed part of the new London Borough of
Hillingdon. (fn. 58)