Leonard Stanley: Local government

A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 10, Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1972.

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'Leonard Stanley: Local government', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 10, Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds, (London, 1972) pp. 263-264. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol10/pp263-264 [accessed 17 March 2024]

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

A court roll of 1418 (fn. 1) and draft rolls and court papers for the periods 1670-1723 and 1740-69 (fn. 2) survive for the manor. In 1418 the court had the assize of bread and ale, and also claimed view of frankpledge, (fn. 3) as later. In 1673 and 1689 forestallers of the market were presented in the court. (fn. 4) The new market-house planned in 1619 was to have included a room for the sessions of the court, (fn. 5) but in the late 17th and early 18th centuries the thrice-yearly courts met at one of the inns. The court elected a constable, tithingman, and hayward; (fn. 6) c. 1708 it was said that the parish had two constables, one for each of two tithings called the Guilding and the Franchise, (fn. 7) which perhaps represented the manor and priory estates. The Prior of Stanley had the assize of bread and ale in the 13th century; (fn. 8) the court of the priory estate was mentioned in 1535. (fn. 9)

The parish had two churchwardens from 1498. (fn. 10) The accounts of the two overseers survive for 1652-1817, (fn. 11) and vestry minutes from 1819. (fn. 12) In the later 17th century some eight people received permanent relief each year; the cost of relief roughly doubled in the period. (fn. 13) Apprenticeships were made regularly by the parish officers during the late 17th century and early 18th. (fn. 14) In the later 18th century the sick poor were housed in the church house where they were treated by a local surgeon, Benjamin Wood. (fn. 15) In 1803 12 people were receiving permanent relief, (fn. 16) and in 1813 15 were receiving relief in a workhouse, (fn. 17) which had been built on Marsh Road; (fn. 18) in 1824 guardians and visitors for the workhouse were appointed. In 1822 three overseers, one salaried, were appointed, but between 1823 and 1825 and in 1829 the poor were farmed. In 1832 and 1839 parishioners were helped to emigrate. (fn. 19) Leonard Stanley became part of the Stroud Union in 1836, (fn. 20) and remained in the Stroud Rural District in 1967.

Footnotes

  • 1. Glos. R.O., D 1512.
  • 2. Ibid. D 225/M 2-3.
  • 3. Ibid. D 1512.
  • 4. Ibid. D 225/M 2.
  • 5. Trans. B.G.A.S. xliv. 256-7.
  • 6. Glos. R.O., D 225/M 2-3.
  • 7. Bodl. MS. Top. Glouc. C. 3, f. 174v.
  • 8. Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i. 180.
  • 9. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii. 419.
  • 10. Hockaday Abs. xxii, 1498 visit. f. 28.
  • 11. Glos. R.O., P 201/OV 2/1-2.
  • 12. Ibid. VE 2/1.
  • 13. Glos. R.O., P 201/OV 2/1.
  • 14. Ibid. D 225/R 3.
  • 15. Trans. B.G.A.S. xliv. 261-4.
  • 16. Poor Law Abstract, 1804, pp. 184-5.
  • 17. Ibid. 1818, pp. 156-7.
  • 18. Glos. R.O., Q/RI 89.
  • 19. Ibid. P 201/VE 2/1.
  • 20. Poor Law Com. 2nd Rep. p. 523.