New Index: Church Charities Book

A new index is now available at Steyning Museum. It is the Church Charities Book for 1828-1856. This book names all those individuals and heads of families in receipt of charitable ‘annuities’ distributed by the Church throughout this period in the White Horse and Church Mead areas of Steyning.

It is a fascinating document in terms of the way ‘paupers’ were classified. Indeed, in 1828 they were divided into 6 classes and allotted sums (in shillings and pence) as follows:

Class 1st – Persons having from 1 to 2 children (36 names) 2/6
Class 2nd – Those having from 2 to 4 children (22 names) 3/-
Class 3rd – From 4 children and upwards (32 names) 4/-
Class 4th – Widows (21 names) 3/6
Class 5th – Old and infirm (11 names) 3/-
Class 6th – The Poor in the Workhouse (10 names) 1/-

Interestingly, most widows were merely named as “Widow Smith” or “Widow Jones Senior”, their first names rarely being given. To our 21st century sensibilities, this suggests that widows were seen almost to have no identity of their own; only the identity of their husbands.

Most people were listed simply by the names of heads of families, with no commentary. There are only two exceptions. In one case, a widow’s surname is followed by the single word “dissatisfied”. It is not clear with what she is dissatisfied, but the assumption is that she would have preferred more money than she was given. In the only other case, the name of “Widow Greenfield” is followed by a note in brackets which shines a more kindly light than usual. The note simply explains that she was “considered as a widow, having received no assistance from her husband for many months past.” It seems that some things never change!

Many people were only considered to be paupers in need of charity in one or two years – perhaps they had fallen temporarily on hard times. Others were clearly dependent on the distribution of ‘annuities’ in most or all of the years recorded. From 132 pauper individuals or families in 1828, numbers fluctuated, but rose steadily over the period so that by the mid 1850s there were 194 poor parishioners/families benefitting from this support.

Distributions were managed and accounted for by successive Churchwardens, starting with John Kidd and Hugh Penfold in 1828. They were sometimes in cash and on other occasions in the form of basic items. For example, in 1831, there was no money given out, but every pauper family was given “one blanket and a rug to the value of 5/7” (five shillings and seven pence). In 1835, there was a distribution of “useful clothing”. In July 1847 all those in need received designated quantities of flour, from 2 to 4 gallons, with the exception that, “Those marked with an X, being paupers, were allowed by the Committee to receive cash instead of flour.” This amounted to 11 individuals, mostly widows. There were other years when the distribution was of bed-sheets, flour or bread.

In July 1850, all but the poorest recipients of charity were expected to pay a contribution of between 1/- and 2/6 for the blanket allotted to them that year. This clearly caused some consternation. “Those marked with X objected to receive the blanket by paying the amount allotted them by the Committee.” Even those in receipt of benefits were obviously becoming more vociferous – there were 27 crosses!