LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Manorial government.
Manorial jurisdiction over the whole of
Edmonton, of which South Mimms formed a
berewick, seems to have originated before the
Conquest. (fn. 91) Although there are no records for the
capital manor before the 17th century, there are
references to 13th-century courts held at Easter (fn. 92)
and to an annual view of frankpledge in 1322. (fn. 93)
A court leet or view of frankpledge was held
annually on the Thursday in Whitsun week by
1359 (fn. 94) and views, together with a general court
baron, continued to be held at Whitsun until the
last court in 1861. (fn. 95)
In 1372 Adam Francis, in theory at least, held a
court every three weeks. (fn. 96) By the 16th century,
however, there was only one court other than the
general court, usually in December. (fn. 97) The frequency
of other courts, known as special courts baron, was
from the 17th century completely erratic. Only a
few met in the 17th century; there were many more
in the mid 18th century but by the 19th century
the Whitsun court alone was held, most tenurial
transactions being settled out of court. (fn. 98)
The court of Edmonton was probably originally
held at the demesne farm of Sayesbury, the 'court'
being described in 1280 as lying near Church
field, (fn. 99) before the farm was divided from the
lordship in 1571. (fn. 1) During the 18th century courts
were held at public houses, usually at the Bell or
Cross Keys, later at the Angel. (fn. 2) The only extant
court rolls for the capital manor are for 1693-5
and 1700 (fn. 3) but there is a complete series of court
books from 1661 until 1933 (fn. 4) and minute books from
1742 until 1844 (fn. 5) and a court leet book covering
the periods 1735-6 and 1745-1855. (fn. 6)
From 1661 (fn. 7) the special courts baron were
concerned wholly with tenurial business and the
courts leet chiefly with electing officials whose
presentments rarely appeared in the books.
Administration was based upon the division of
the manor and parish into wards, which may have
originated as tithings. In the mid 16th century
there were six wards: Fore Street, Bury Street,
Church Street, South Street, Bowes, and Winchmore Hill. (fn. 8) The last two had disappeared by 1650 (fn. 9)
and four wards (fn. 10) remained until well into the 19th
century. Each ward had its own constable and
headborough, both first mentioned in 1607, (fn. 11) and its
own aleconner. There was one parish constable
from 1785. The election of officials was last recorded in 1855.
Most courts leet were concerned with scouring
ditches especially in Edmonton marsh, impounding
stray cattle, and preventing encroachments on the
waste. (fn. 12) Stocks were mentioned c. 1548 (fn. 13) and 1609 (fn. 14)
and there were whipping posts in Angel Road. (fn. 15)
In 1714 a presentment was made at the leet court
on the subject of two watch-houses (fn. 16) but by then
criminal jurisdiction was generally left to the parish
or magistrates. Even scouring ditches seems to
have been the concern of the vestry rather than the
manor by 1748. (fn. 17)
There is no evidence for courts on the manor of
Bowes and Polehouse before the 16th century. In
1668 court rolls were extant from 1523-4 (fn. 18) and there
are still draft court rolls for 1536-42 (fn. 19) and court books
for 1669-1863. (fn. 20) Courts, (fn. 21) always a joint view of
frankpledge and court baron, were held once a year,
usually in May or June. (fn. 22) Manorial officials were
appointed: a constable, a taster of bread and ale, and
a headborough in the 1740s. There were stocks on
Southgate Green, which survived in 1973.
Occasional orders were made for scouring ditches
but most of the business was tenurial and after the
last court was held in 1863 settlements were made
out of court until the last copyhold tenement was
enfranchised in 1936. (fn. 23) In 1792 the chapter of
St. Paul's emphasized that they could hold courts
wherever they wished (fn. 24) and courts were apparently
held alternately at Bowes and Polehouse during
the 17th century.
John Blund held courts in 1281, (fn. 25) but there is no
evidence that his successors, the lords of Dephams
manor, or the holders of Willoughbies ever did so.
In 1328, in addition to 55 rent-paying tenants, the
canons of the Holy Trinity had ten tenants of the fee
of Peverel who owed suit of court, relief, and heriot
as well as rent. (fn. 26) The courts were held at Edmonton
twice yearly. (fn. 27)
In 1294 the abbot of Walden claimed view of
frankpledge and the assizes of bread and ale from
his men in several Middlesex parishes, including
Edmonton but, when challenged, he acknowledged
that his only liberties were in Enfield. (fn. 28) However,
there was a court (curia) of Walden in Edmonton in
the 13th century. (fn. 29)
Parish government to 1837. (fn. 30)
A churchwarden
was mentioned in 1389, (fn. 31) a parish clerk in 1417
and 1529, (fn. 32) and two churchwardens and two
oeconomi in 1580. (fn. 33) In the 18th century the churchwardens often served for two years. Overseers of the
poor, first mentioned in 1639, (fn. 34) were appointed at
the Easter vestry, one for each of the four wards. (fn. 35)
By 1834 there were two salaried assistant overseers. (fn. 36) Paid officials appointed in the 18th century
included the vestry clerk, who was usually the
schoolmaster, the sexton, and the steward and
beadle of the workhouse. The vestry instructed the
surveyors of the highways, of whom there were two
in 1683; (fn. 37) by 1835 there were four, one for each
ward. (fn. 38) During the 18th century the post was often
occupied by gentry who employed deputies. (fn. 39)
After the inclosure of Enfield Chase in 1777 two
salaried surveyors were appointed for the Edmonton
portion. From 1785 there was only one surveyor
but his salary was considerably higher.
The accounts of the churchwardens and overseers, which were submitted monthly to the vestry,
have not survived and there is no evidence that the
surveyors of the highways kept records. The
surveyors of the Chase had to present their accounts
in November and those for 1782-5 survived in
the vestry minute book. Vestry minutes for 1739-
48, 1782-98, and 1863-85 are extant; (fn. 40) those for
1798-1862 were given as salvage during the Second
World War. (fn. 41) The vestry minute book for 1739-48
contains minutes of the workhouse committee for
1732-7. There are also minute books of the later
workhouse committee for 1796-1801 (fn. 42) and 1827-30 (fn. 43)
and for the select vestry for 1831-5. (fn. 44)
The vestry probably existed before 1739 when the
minutes begin. In 1720 the poor-rate was made by
'the vicar, churchwardens, overseers and other
inhabitants'. (fn. 45) The workhouse committee or board
(1732-7), which derived its name from its meetingplace, seems to have been an early form of select
vestry. It consisted of the trustees of the workhouse, the vicar, churchwardens, overseers, and
parishioners probably elected at Easter. The
committee had wide powers over the parish officers,
charities, and church repairs, as well as poor-relief.
By 1739 the vestry was the main authority and the
workhouse committee which existed from 1741 was
concerned solely with the administration of the
workhouse. It consisted of a committee of three,
chosen monthly and enlarged in 1782 to consist of
the churchwardens, overseers, master of the workhouse, and two members (fn. 46) of each ward.
The vestry and the workhouse committees,
especially during the early 18th century, were
dominated by a few prominent inhabitants, like
Merry Teshmaker who was also active in the
manorial courts. (fn. 47) Teshmaker, Samuel Clarke of
Bush Hill, Samuel Tatem, who married the
daughter of John Huxley of Weir Hall, and Pierce
Galliard of Bury Hall were J.P.s and the committees
sometimes committed people to the parish watchhouse or to Bridewell. Dawson Warren (vicar
1795-1839) was very conscious of his rights (fn. 48) and
started legal proceedings in pursuit of his claim to
the chairmanship of the vestry. Although the
outcome is unknown, he was the dominant
personality in parish government in 1834. (fn. 49)
Poor-relief was administered by the workhouse
committee and the vestry with more humanity than
in neighbouring parishes. Considerable efforts were
made to give outdoor relief, in money or goods, and
paupers were committed to the workhouse only as a
last resort, although it was cheaper to keep them in
the workhouse than outside it. Pauper children were
apprenticed to tradesmen, mostly in Edmonton and
London but also to factories in Lancashire and to
the Hudson's Bay Co. in Canada. The latter
connexion was probably established through the
Lake family of the Firs; Sir Atwell Lake was a
governor of the company and it was in his honour
that Edmonton, Alberta, was named. (fn. 50)
A select vestry was formed in 1829 and, probably
under Warren's influence, the treatment of paupers
became harsher. Out-relief was refused to the ablebodied and emphasis was laid on economy. (fn. 51)
A poorhouse was erected on the waste in 1639. (fn. 52) A
workhouse was built in 1731-2 in Church Street,
west of Edmonton church and Latymer's school, (fn. 53)
and a new building was added in 1782. Numbers in
the workhouse at any one time ranged from 34 in
September 1791 to 142 in December 1800 but in
most years were 50-70; 1800 was exceptional in
averaging 110 inmates. (fn. 54) There was an average of
87 people in 1829, but there were complaints by the
managing committee of over-crowding, with 6
children to a bed. (fn. 55) The workhouse was run by a
salaried master or steward until 1737, when a new
master was paid a fixed amount for each inmate; in
return he was to have the profits of the workhouse
labour, the sale of mops made by the women, and
the wages of men employed by local farmers and
tradesmen. The committee and vestry supervised
the master, ordering the cleansing of the house,
the supply of new clothes, and the weekly diet. A
paid beadle, usually himself an inmate, assisted the
master and lived in the workhouse. A salaried parish
physician and apothecary was also appointed to look
after the workhouse and out-poor and to carry out
vaccinations.
The alms-houses and pension and apprenticing
charities eased the burden on the ratepayers of
Edmonton. (fn. 56) There was also some private relief,
such as the money given to 52 people in Southgate
ward by the owners of Minchenden in 1778. (fn. 57)
Nevertheless there were complaints in 1671, (fn. 58)
1720, (fn. 59) and 1749 (fn. 60) of unfair or excessive rating and
the poor-rate of 1733 was quashed. (fn. 61) The annual
poor-rate rose from 1s. in the £ in 1764-5 to 4s. in
1800 and 6s. 6d. in 1818-19. (fn. 62) In 1740 the vestry
paid out £433, of which £244 was spent on the
workhouse, and in 1775-6 £460 was spent on the
poor, out of a total raised of £847. (fn. 63) In 1797 £624
was spent on the workhouse. The amount spent on
the poor varied from £2,499 in 1803 to £4,561
in 1818; in 1836 it was £3,021. (fn. 64)
The church-rate, which was 6d. in the £ in
1818-19 and the highway-rate, variously 1s. or 9d. in
the £, (fn. 65) were not regular exactions but were raised
as circumstances required. In 1644 highways were
being repaired with the labour of parishioners (fn. 66)
but in 1698 by paid labour. The cost was met by a
rate levied in 1705. (fn. 67) There are highway-rate books
for 1830-1 and 1835. (fn. 68)
Local government after 1837.
Edmonton was
the geographical centre of Edmonton union,
created in 1837, and the board of guardians met
there. Edmonton workhouse was used for all the
able-bodied poor of the union until 1842 when a
new workhouse to house all adult paupers was built
in south Edmonton, on a site later occupied by the
North Middlesex hospital. (fn. 69)
For most of the 19th century local government
was divided among several bodies, although
membership often overlapped. At the time of the
cholera outbreak in 1853, the vestry appointed a
committee to consider the sanitary state of the
parish. (fn. 70) There was a watching and lighting
committee, presumably set up after the Act of 1833, (fn. 71)
and the overseers collected a lighting rate. (fn. 72) A
board of the surveyors of the highway was responsible
for the roads in the parish by 1841. (fn. 73) In 1837
Edmonton parish became a medical district within
the poor law union and in 1842 it was divided into
three, each with its own medical officer. (fn. 74)
Edmonton local board of health (fn. 75) was set up in
1850 under the Public Health Act of 1848. It
immediately replaced the highway board and took
over responsibility for street lighting under the
Local Government Act of 1858. It consisted of 12
members who met twice a month at the watch-house
in Church Street. Its salaried officials were a clerk, a
combined inspector of nuisances and surveyor, and
a collector of rates, who later received a percentage
of the collected rates in place of a salary. The board
was financed by a general district rate, although
sometimes there was a separate highway-rate.
Expenditure on highways was nearly always
considerably greater than on sanitary improvements.
There were many complaints about sewerage,
especially from Southgate, where in 1879 a petition
for separation from Edmonton was drawn up by the
leading landholders and signed by more than 500
people. (fn. 76) In 1881 Southgate was granted its own
local board and Edmonton local board was reduced
to 9 members. (fn. 77) Although the loss of the large
houses in Southgate deprived it of valuable rates, the
Edmonton board seems to have been more active
after the separation. Jerry-builders were vigorously
prosecuted during the 1880s. (fn. 78) During the 1880s and
1890s there were committees for the town hall,
cemetery, works, finance, farms, engines, sanitation,
and the library. (fn. 79) A town hall 'in municipal Perpendicular' was built facing Fore Street in 1884 and
enlarged in 1903. (fn. 80)
Southgate local board had 9 members, whose
first chairman was John Walker of Arnos Grove.
The board met twice a month in Ash Lodge and in
the village hall until 1893, when council offices were
erected to a design by A. Rowland Barker, a Southgate resident; (fn. 81) they were enlarged in 1914. (fn. 82)
Salaried officials were a clerk, treasurer, ratecollector, sanitary inspector, medical officer of
health, and a combined surveyor and engineer. (fn. 83)
Under the Act of 1894 the two local boards
became urban districts.
Edmonton local board
of health had used the
traditional wards of Bury
Street, Church Street,
and Fore Street. (fn. 84) There
had been proposals to
add two new wards,
Angel Road and Silver
Street, (fn. 85) and the new
U.D. was organized accordingly, with three
councillors for each of
the five wards. After an
inquiry in 1903 the
district again consisted of
three wards, with nine
councillors each. (fn. 86) In
1933 the area was divided
into Bury Street, Church
Street, Angel Road, and Silver Street wards, with
seven councillors for each. (fn. 87)
Borough of Edmonton.
Per pale wavy sable and azure, on a saltire or between two cogwheels in fess argent an open book proper bound gules edged gold [Granted 1937]
Southgate U.D. (fn. 88) had nine councillors in 1894
and twelve from 1900. In 1906 it was divided into
four wards: Middle, South, North-east, and Northwest. (fn. 89) Swimming baths and a refuse destructor
were erected (fn. 90) but the most important achievement
was control over the development of the area.
Although the number of houses increased eightfold
between 1881 and 1931, Southgate remained one
of the 'most agreeable of the northern suburbs', (fn. 91)
largely because of the council's regulations and its
acquisition of 287 a. of park-land. (fn. 92)
Southgate was incorporated in 1933, retaining its
four wards. The council, consisting of a mayor, 7
aldermen, and 21 councillors, was enlarged. (fn. 93)
Edmonton was incorporated in 1937, after which it
had four wards, a mayor, 8 aldermen and 24
councillors. (fn. 94) Southgate B.C. was consistently
dominated by opponents of the Labour party,
while Edmonton, at least after the Second World
War, was controlled by Labour councillors. (fn. 95)
Borough of Southgate.
Azure, a sun rising or; on a chief or a four-barred gate azure [Granted 1933]
In 1965 Edmonton and
Southgate were united
in Enfield L.B., created
under the London Government Act of 1963. (fn. 96)
The names of three
Edmonton wards, Angel
Road, Church Street, and
Silver Street, survived
among the 30 wards
of the new authority.
Edmonton and Southgate
town halls were retained
to house the borough
treasurer, architect, engineer and surveyor, area
housing and town planning offices. The education department was housed
in Church Street, Edmonton. (fn. 97)