A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-Eastern Cambridgeshire). Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 2002.
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'Kennett: Local government', in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-Eastern Cambridgeshire), (London, 2002) pp. 465. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/p465 [accessed 19 April 2024]
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In 1274 the lord of the manor had view of frankpledge, the assizes of bread and of ale, and free warren. (fn. 1) Those rights continued to be exercised during the Middle Ages. (fn. 2) There are no court rolls for the later Middle Ages, but court books survive almost continuously from 1652 until 1899. (fn. 3) Although styled a view of frankpledge, the court mainly dealt with copyhold and freehold transactions. The amount spent by the parish on poor relief increased from £15 in 1775 to £35 in 1802, and then fourfold to £125 c. 1813-14. (fn. 4) Expenditure remained stable until 1820, but then declined to c. £100 during the early 1830s. All relief at Kennett was out relief: in 1804 permanent out relief was given to only four adults, to three children, and to two old people. In 1813 ten persons were receiving out-relief permanently, and four others occasionally. Between 1776 and 1816 the amount spent on each poor person doubled, but expenditure in the parish was far beneath the average for Staploe hundred. From 1836 onwards Kennett was included in the Newmarket poor-law union. (fn. 5)
Kennett was part of Newmarket rural district during the early 20th century, but in the late 20th has been part of the Fenland villages district in East Cambridgeshire. (fn. 6)