The list of Churchwardens and Overseers is of considerable interest. It is headed, "The names of all the Churchwardens, Overseers of the Poore, and Overseers of the Highwayes in the yeare of our Lord 1639." In subsequent years the date only, e.g. 1640, is given. The only break in the list is during the Civil War. After the names of those elected for 1643 is written, "Thess was till 1648," and then follow the elections for the last-named year. The Constables are not mentioned as being elected, though obviously they had to submit their accounts for the criticism of the parish. It may be noted here that the word Churchwarden does not occur in any Methley will till 1584, in which year Richard Webster, "peinter," gave "unto the makinge of a faire tabernacle and couer to be maid of faire timber to couer the foote or place of Baptising wthin the Parish Church of Methelay to be maid after the best manner at the order and ouer sighte and appointment of Mr. Wiłłm Lacie Robte Laborne the younger and of the parson of Methelay the hole sum of iijs. iiijd. to be paid by myne executors unto the handes of the Church Wardens of the Parish Church of Metheley aforesaid." In order to bring the Churchwardens' expenses into some sort of a system we have divided them out into several sections, the description of which appears at the head of the columns of the schedule which follows. A glance at these columns will show how little expense was deemed necessary to maintain the fabric of the church, how very little was done towards cleansing and caretaking, what a large proportion of the total expenditure was absorbed by the bells and the clock, and that the most costly duty of the Churchwardens was to provide the bread and wine for the Communion. It might be expected that other sections, such as charity work, highways,' etc., would claim more of the finances of the village, but as suggested above, although the general introduction to these accounts, pages 236-71, state that the Churchwardens were charged with such work in this case, much of it in different places was undertaken by the Constables. There are a few instances of payments for apprentices; but no mention of education or of sanitary regulations occur. No notice of village festivities or interesting local events is to be found; but 1 Mending the "causey" was a favourite object of bequests in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 2 The schoolmaster of 1686 was earning a small sum outside of education duties. on the anniversaries of the Gunpowder Plot and the accession of Charles II the bells were rung, and the dates of the taking of Monmouth, the coronation of William III, and the Battle of Blenheim were commemorated officially in the same way. The bell-ringers appear to have charged only for these occasions, and to have rung their bells for the remainder of the year without wages. The personal names are well known in the district to the present day, though the foumardes and foxes have, we suppose, entirely disappeared, and from the small number of payments for the destruction of the latter, it may be assumed that the neighbourhood was already fairly well cultivated and populated. The reader will note with sympathy that in most cases the sums have been added up wrongly, and perhaps envy the Churchwardens their easy-going auditors. It will occur to him also that the total expenditure of the village through these officials was very small. It will have to be remembered however that the purchasing power of money has changed. For this reason two columns have been added to the scheduled analysis, in which Thorold Rogers' figures of the price of wheat by the quarter and of labour by the week are tabulated, thus giving some sort of a standard by which the amount of the village budget may be estimated. Little more remains to be said; the column of unclassified details contains sums of money allotted to persons for services which are unrecorded. For the rest, the commentator may leave the Churchwardens' accounts to tell their own simple story. The system of dealing with contractions and signs is as follows:— To expand all contractions, to rationalise the capitals, to avoid the repetitions of the symbols "ye" for "the" and "ff" for "f," but to leave the spelling as in each case the writer made it, and where these principles are in conflict, to print according to common sense. R 13 9 0 3 0 8 10 17 10 4 7 5 10 12 7 7 3 2 3 90 1 13 8 16 13 6 0 7 8 7 5 8 4 6 8 83 6 10 Average per year £8 6s. 8d. *In order to give some idea of the purchasing power of money, the figures in the two columns marked by an asterisk are extracted from A History of Agriculture and Prices in Englana, by J. E. Thorold Rogers, vol. v, p. 827. 1887 edition. The average of the week's wages is taken from the recorded payments made to the following workmen:-Carpenter, mason, pair of sawyers, and tiler, representing killed labour, and the labourer who acted as "help" to the above, together with the best agricultural labourer- these representing unskilled labour. Im. METHLEY, 1681-1705. The accompts made by James Pattyson and Richard Burton, Churchwardens for the parish of Methley for the yeare 1681. Received of the parish £ S. d. Paid at the Visitation to the Clark of the Courtt and for Paid to the head constable the 9 day of July for penson money. Aquittance for the same For going to Wakefeild with itt Laid downe for A Communion for Bred and Wine the 12 day of September: our Charges Pade to the Ringers the 25 of November ... ... 4 2 O ... Laide downe for bread and wine for a Sacramentt on ... ... Crismas day and for owne charges ... ... ... Paid for a pare of Indentures to Godfray Shan Pade to Abraham Hutchinson for the Register 1 Charles II. entered London May 29, 1660. ... 2 Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, November 5, 1605. The bells are still rung on May 29 and November 5, and the ringers' wages are paid on those days. Pade to William Stanfeild for looking to the Clock and 1682. O 17 10 An Accompt maid by Will. Roberts and John Webster, Church For the visitations book and the King's declaration2 The 29 of May for ringing ... ... Paid to the head Constable for the releife of p'soners ... ... ... September the 10 for Bread and wine for a Communion ... £ S. d. 。。。。8 8 8 8 8 8 8 ... OO For a booke binding belonging to the Church ... For Bread and wine att exemas 1 Sc. the writer. See above. 2"Now that his" (the King's) "end was accomplished, he no sooner saw the Exclusion Bill (i.e. of James from the succession) reintroduced into the Commons than he suddenly dissolved the Houses after but a month's sitting, and appealed in a royal declaration to the justice of the nation at large." Green's History of the English People (1894), vol. iv, p. 1427. 3 =vestry. See Century Dictionary, which quotes several instances of the use. |