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Croydon Parish Church Series
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Croydon Parish: Vestry Records

The Vestry was the governing body of the parish, largely concerned with civil (non-ecclesiastical) matters. It comprised an assembly of all male ratepayers. The `Select Vestry' (technically a Parish Committee) was a smaller and more manageable committee of 5-20 householders, which dealt with matters relating to the poor. It was established at the Vestry meeting of 9 June 1819, under powers granted by the Sturges Bourne Act 1819, 'for the care and management of the concern of the poor'.

Croydon Parish: Parish Officers' and Overseers' Minute Books

Initially referred to as the Meeting of Churchwardens and Overseers, but, after the first meeting, as the Parish Officers. The meetings dealt mainly with matters relating to the setting and collecting of parish rates, and the appointment of officeholders. From 1April 1899 onwards, the volumes contain minutes of Parish Overseers' meetings only. F or Overseers' Accounts, see PR1/1/3/1/1-9 and PR1/1/3/2/1-5.

Croydon Parish: Overseers' Records

The office of Overseer of the Poor was created by the Poor Law Act of 1597/8, and made obligatory by the Poor Relief Act of 1601. At least two individuals were appointed annually by the the vestry, charged with levying an agreed poor rate and distributing the money raised amongst the poor of the parish. Overseers' responsibilities for poor relief were transferred to elected Guardians of the Poor in 1834, and thereafter their role was reduced to assessment and collection of rates. The office was abolished by the Rating and Valuation Act of 1925.

Croydon Parish: Churchwardens' Records

Churchwardens were elected annually at the Easter Vestry. Their many duties included the maintenance of the church fabric; providing facilities for worship; helping to maintain the parish registers; reporting on parishioners who failed to attend church regularly or who committed 'moral' offences which were tried before the church courts; and ensuring that the Incumbent fulfilled his responsibilities.

Croydon Parish: Surveyor of Highways

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Croydon Parish: Wasteland Trustees Records

The Waste Lands Trustees (formally known as the Corporation for the Management of the Wastelands of the Parish of Croydon) were appointed under the terms of the Croydon Enclosure Act of 1797, to take responsibility for the various small but scattered parcels of land which came into the hands of the Parish. They first met on 2 May 1801. In theory, the Trustees were subsidiary to the Parish Vestry, but in practice they became the more powerful body. An Act of Parliament for Rebuilding the Court House and Butter Market House of 1806 empowered them to carry out this rebuilding, financed through the sale of some of the parcels of land in Norwood. The result was the new Town Hall (Courthouse and Cornmarket), completed in 1809; and the Butter Market of 1810. Thereafter, the Trustees were responsible for maintaining these buildings, for running the markets, and for various other matters, such as (in the early 1820s) paving the footpaths and causeways of the town. The Trustees consisted of the Vicar, Churchwardens, Overseers, and six inhabitants of Croydon. In their early years, they met at irregular intervals, but normally a few weeks apart. Meetings became gradually less frequent, and in January 1826 it was agreed that they should meet half-yearly: in fact, they more often met annually from then on. Their first meeting(s) was/were held in the Greyhound Inn, but from December 1801 they met in the Town Hall, except for the period when it was being rebuilt, 1807-1809, when they met either at the King's Arms or in the Vestry Room. In August 1805, the Trustees authorised the engraving of a common seal. As other local government bodies were established in Croydon, the Waste Lands Trustees became something of an anachronism. They were wound up in July 1869, and their property passed to the Local Board of Health.

Croydon Parish: Improvement Commissioners' Records

Croydon Improvement Commissioners were constituted by an 1829 'Act for lighting, watching and improving the Town of Croydon in the County of Surrey; for providing Lodgings for the judges at the Assizes holden in the same town and for other purposes relating thereto'. Twenty local people were appointed at a Public Vestry on 2nd June 1829, and the first meeting, at which the Vicar of Croydon was elected Chairman, was held on 11th June. The minutes of the Commissioners, which form a complete series, show their wide-ranging responsibilities. They provided lighting for Croydon's main streets, funded out of a specially levied rate, and organised the town's gas supply. They provided accomodation for Judges attending the Surrey Assizes, which were regularly held at Croydon, and were also responsible for the maintenance of law and order within the parish. They maintained the town gaol, and funded and equipped a small force of constables, headed by Superintendant of Police William Smith, until the formation of the Metropolitan Police Force in 1839. At various times, they also ran the local Fire Brigade, maintained public pavements and (at the meeting of 24th July 1829) compiled a list of street names, someof which were subsequently changed. During the 1840s, growing concern with public health was reflected in a growing number of compalints about open sewers, dung heaps and other public nuisances. In March 1848 the Commissioners were presented with a report on the sanitary condition of Croydon, which highlighted the lack of any proper sewerage or drainage system, and which resulted in the division of the parish into five sanitary districts, with a Commissioner appointed to each. Ultimately, however, the Commissioners were unable, or unwilling to instigate real change, and they were replaced by the Local Board of Health in 1849.

Croydon Parish: Rate Books

Church Buildings Rates - Under various Acts of Parliament, parishes were authorised to collect rates to pay for new church buildings. From 1828, Croydon collected rates to pay for two new chapels-of-ease, which opened in 1829: they eventually became the churches of All Saints, Upper Norwood, and St James, Croydon Common.\r\n\r\nChurch Rates - An Act of 1760/1 (1 Geo III) authorised the parish of Croydon to collect rates for repairing the parish church. A later Act of 1825 (6 Geo IV) authorised Croydon to collect rates to defray the expenses of the Churchwardens': these were also known as Church Rates.\r\n\r\nGeneral Purposes Rates - Under an Act of 1829 (10 Geo IV), Croydon was authorised to collect rates forlighting, watching and improving the town of Croydon . . . and for providing lodging for the judges at the Assizes . . . and for other purposes relating thereto'. These rates were sometimes known as Lighting Rates' until the late 1830s, and afterwards asGeneral Purposes Rates'. Only the town of Croydon (and not the outlying parts of the parish) appears to have been rated.\r\n\r\nHighways Rates - Croydon collected these rates under an Act of 1813/14 (54 Geo III), for the amendment and preservation of the public highways within England'.\r\n\r\nPoor Rates - Croydon was specifically authorised to collect these under an Act of 1825 (6 Geo IV), forbetter collecting and assessing the Poor and other Parochial rates in the parish of Croydon'.