LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In 1294 Humphrey de
Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, successfully
claimed view of frankpledge and infangthief in his
manor of Enfield from time immemorial. The abbot
of Walden also sustained his claim to certain rights
in Enfield, including view of frankpledge and the
assizes of bread and of ale, although he admitted that
he had never had a pillory or tumbril and that the
earl's bailiffs had always taken amercements of blood
and of hue and cry. (fn. 55) The abbots' rights derived
from a grant of 1248 by the earl's grandfather (fn. 56) and
their estate became Rectory manor, for which a court
leet was being held in the 18th century. (fn. 57) Courts
were being held for Enfield manor in 1324 (fn. 58) and a
court leet met annually after Michaelmas in 1363. (fn. 59)
Court rolls, however, survive only from 1618 to 1649
and from 1705 to 1850, during which period the
lord exercised view of frankpledge and the two
assizes. (fn. 60) In 1823 courts leet and baron met twice a
year at the Rose and Crown, Enfield Highway,
having formerly been held in a barn and then at the
King's Head. (fn. 61)
Thomas Durant claimed view of frankpledge in
the mid 14th century (fn. 62) on the estate which later
became the manor of Durants, for which a court
book records courts baron from 1689 to 1905. (fn. 63)
A court book for the manor of Honeylands and
Pentriches records courts baron from 1509 to 1909
and courts leet with view of frankpledge in 1785 and
1786. (fn. 64) Courts for the manor later known as
Worcesters were being held in 1412 (fn. 65) and court rolls
survive from 1599 to 1732, with an abstract from
1599 to 1759; (fn. 66) in 1823 courts baron were still held
at irregular intervals. (fn. 67)
By 1618 Enfield manorial court appointed a
constable, two capital pledges (later called headboroughs), and a bread-weigher and ale-taster
annually for each of the four wards or quarters of
the parish: Enfield Green, later called Enfield Town,
Bull's Cross, Ponders End, and Horsepool Stones,
later known as Green Street. (fn. 68) Quasi-criminal
jurisdiction was no longer exercised in the 17th
century but there were several presentments over
fencing, ditching, and pasturing animals, while the
court continued to mete out fines for offences
connected with the Chase. (fn. 69) In 1823 the officials
chosen at the court leet were a constable, two headboroughs, a brander, and an aleconner for the Town
quarter, a constable, a headborough, and a brander
for Bull's Cross quarter, and two headboroughs, a
brander, and a hayward for Green Street and
Ponders End, which by then had amalgamated. (fn. 70)
The office of aleconner had been revived in 1813,
when 20 shopkeepers were fined and 150 publicans'
pots were destroyed. (fn. 71) The proceeds from the fines
were invested and in 1885, when the office of
aleconner had again lapsed, a Charity Commissioners' Scheme directed that the annual income of
£5 be spent on maintaining Chase Green. (fn. 72) The last
manorial court was held in 1925. (fn. 73)
A pillory stood in the market place in 1646. (fn. 74)
Stocks were mentioned in 1682 (fn. 75) and still existed
east of the market place in 1876, by which date the
pillory had disappeared. (fn. 76) A cage at Enfield
Highway, with stocks attached, was dilapidated by
1833; (fn. 77) it was superseded by a building which may
have been the lock-up which stood on the south of
Brick Lane, near the junction with the Hertford
road, in 1868. (fn. 78) A watch-house at Enfield Town
replaced an older one in 1784 (fn. 79) and in turn was
replaced in 1830 by a watch-house east of the market
place, with a beadle's house attached, which had
been paid for out of King James's charity. (fn. 80) The
Enfield association was formed to preserve public
order in 1794, when 14 people volunteered as special
constables. (fn. 81) In 1798 the association met twice a
week in order to police the parish and in 1805 it was
offering rewards for information which would lead
to arrests. (fn. 82)
There were three churchwardens in 1481 (fn. 83) and
four in 1580. (fn. 84) In 1691 each of the four wards had a
churchwarden but in 1696 Green Street and Ponders
End wards were amalgamated. The churchwarden
for Enfield Green or Town ward was appointed by
the vicar, the others by the vestry. (fn. 85) Vestry meetings
were held monthly in 1616 (fn. 86) and were recorded in
order books which survive from 1671 to 1744 and
from 1797. (fn. 87) Meetings took place in a room at the
church and were still monthly in the early 19th
century, when they were usually chaired by the
vicar; prominent local landowners often attended
and numbers rarely fell below eight, sometimes
rising to twenty or more. (fn. 88)
A parish clerk was mentioned in 1524 (fn. 89) and an
overseer of the poor was appointed annually in 1580
for each of the four wards. (fn. 90) An irregular series of
overseers' accounts survives from 1750 to 1834 and
poor-rate books exist from 1740 to 1842. (fn. 91) During
the early 18th century a constable had special
responsibility for vagrants (fn. 92) and in 1750 there was
a beadle for Bull's Cross quarter. (fn. 93) In 1807 the
beadle, who was paid, had responsibility for the
whole parish (fn. 94) but in 1827 two paid assistants were
appointed and given uniforms. (fn. 95) An assistant beadle
for St. James's, Enfield Highway, was appointed in
1836. (fn. 96) Other officials included a sexton in 1807, (fn. 97)
a crier in 1798, (fn. 98) and a salaried apothecary and
surgeon in 1807. (fn. 99)
In 1630 Robert Curtis was paid for setting the
poor to work. (fn. 1) A workhouse at Chase Side was leased
from 1719 (fn. 2) and bought in 1740. (fn. 3) It had been
extended to include a school-room (fn. 4) by 1788 and a
pest-house by 1802. (fn. 5) The workhouse contained 60
inmates in 1826, when its state was said to be
'tolerable', (fn. 6) but in 1827 it made way for a new brick
building, also at Chase Side, (fn. 7) which later became
Edmonton union school. (fn. 8) The poor were farmed out
in 1765 to a contractor who would feed and clothe
the workhouse inmates and relieve the out-poor
when required by the overseers; all paupers were to
wear uniform and be badged. (fn. 9) In 1778 poor-relief
was said to be costly and complaints were made
about non-parishioners in the workhouse. (fn. 10) In 1802
a committee was set up to manage the workhouse,
which was to be inspected weekly, and new rules
were devised. (fn. 11) Conditions were still deplored in
1806, when 'rags and idleness' were prevalent, (fn. 12) but
had improved by 1813. (fn. 13) From 1806 poor boys and
girls from the workhouse were sent to work at a silk
factory at Sewardstone (Essex). (fn. 14)
There seem to have been no parish houses. (fn. 15)
Several charities helped to lighten the burden of
poor-relief, while common rights may have lessened
the demand for relief before inclosure. Thereafter
poor-rates could be supplemented by rents from the
parish's allotment out of the Chase and by the sale
of timber. (fn. 16) In 1775-6 £1,022 was raised from the
poor-rates, of which £857 was spent on the poor, (fn. 17)
and in 1831 the rates brought in £4,118. (fn. 18) Subscriptions were raised for a lying-in fund, to employ
a midwife, in 1797 (fn. 19) and to supply cheap bread
in 1799. (fn. 20) The Enfield philanthropic institution
was established in 1836 to relieve the deserving
poor. (fn. 21)
In 1784 there was a complaint of confusion at the
vestry meetings (fn. 22) and in 1802, after financial irregularities, the vicar was made treasurer and the vestry
clerk collector of rents, gifts, and poor-rates.
Accounts thenceforth were to be audited annually,
the overseers were to answer to a committee, and
attempts were made to limit expenditure at inns.
In 1803 the churchwarden for the Town quarter was
censured for profiteering over supplies to the workhouse and in 1806 the overseers were ordered to
collect the poor-rates more rigorously. By 1806,
however, it was claimed that the parish was out of
debt (fn. 23) and in 1808 its management of the poor was
said to have improved greatly. (fn. 24) In 1821 a select
vestry was established, meeting weekly or fortnightly
at the workhouse to supervise poor-relief. (fn. 25) In 1834
the vicar stated that it contained gentlemen,
farmers, and tradesmen, and had worked very
advantageously. (fn. 26)
A surveyor of the highways was mentioned in
1705 (fn. 27) and by the end of the 18th century there was
a surveyor for each ward. Highway-rate books
survive from 1801 to 1828. (fn. 28) A paid 'general
surveyor' for the whole parish, except the former
Chase, was finally appointed in 1824 (fn. 29) but the
surveyors' accounts were so unsatisfactory in 1833
that they raised fears of a return to the system of
unpaid surveyors. (fn. 30) Under the inclosure Act of 1777
the king's allotment, the lodges, and the allotments
to Trinity College, Cambridge, and the vicar of
Enfield became in 1778 a separate highway district,
called Enfield Chase district, with two surveyors
appointed by the duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 31)
After strong objections from the vestry, which
claimed that the parish was more populous than any
of the thirty poor-law unions already formed and
that the poor would suffer in too large a unit, Enfield
joined Edmonton union in 1836, (fn. 32) whereupon the
workhouse at Chase Side became the union school. (fn. 33)
A highway board was formed in 1841 under the
Highway Act of 1835, (fn. 34) and a local board of health,
under the Public Health Act of 1848, in 1850. (fn. 35)
Enfield became an urban district under the Local
Government Act of 1894, with three councillors
elected for each of four wards: Town, Chase and
Bull's Cross, Ordnance, and Green Street and
Ponders End. (fn. 36) Bush Hill Park ward and Hadley
Wood and Cockfosters ward were added before
1911. (fn. 37) Enfield U.D. was incorporated in 1955, by
which date it was the second largest urban district in
the country, with a population exceeding those
of 39 of the 83 county
boroughs. (fn. 38) The borough
had 10 wards: Bush Hill
Park, Cambridge Road,
Chase, Enfield Wash,
Green Street, Ordnance,
Ponders End, Town,
West, and Willow, (fn. 39) each
electing three councillors.
In 1965 the borough
became part of Enfield
L.B., under the London
Government Act of 1963.
Urban District (Later Borough) of Enfield.
Or, an enfield rampant gules; on a chief vert a bar wavy argent charged with a barrulet wavy azure [Granted 1946]
The local board met in
the Town until 1888,
when Little Park, Gentleman's Row, was bought
as council offices. (fn. 40) Land for a new town hall in
Church Street was purchased in 1902 (fn. 41) but the
U.D.C. remained at Little Park until 1961, when the
first part of a new civic
centre in Silver Street,
designed by Eric G.
Boughton, was opened. (fn. 42)
The uncompleted building was the administrative
centre of Enfield L.B. in
1971, when the old offices
in Little Park served as
the health department. In
1972 work began on extensions to the civic
centre, also designed by
Boughton and including
an eleven-storeyed tower
block. (fn. 43)
London Borough of Enfield.
Or, on a fess wavy vert, a bar wavy argent charged with a barrulet wavy azure, over all an enfield rampant gules [Granted 1965]
The Labour party
dominated Enfield B.C.
and at first, by a narrow
majority, controlled the
new London Borough. Conservatives gained control
in 1968 and retained it, with a much smaller
majority, in 1971. (fn. 44)