Part Four

Joel Carter a Man of Repute as Overseer, Churchwarden and Collector of Taxes

From the early 18th century the inhabitants of Harpford could be divided into yeomen and 'others', namely labourers.  There were no resident esquires or gentry until well into the 19th century.  Much of the land was owned by Lord Rolle but he lived elsewhere.  Another useful division of the parish was between the 'payers of Harpford’ and the 'receivers of Poor Relief ’.  The Carter’s were in the former group.

One of the difficulties in the parish was to find accommodation for the poor, and infirm.   The Church House adjoining the churchyard was used and called the Higher Poor House to distinguish it from the Lower Poor House, also known as Spears Cottage, or the Alms House. The overseers also rented Cross's, one of two cottages on the Tipton Road.  Another role of the overseers was to help those who could not find work in the parish. One old man was supplied with a horse, another with a shovel and a third with four apple trees.   A spinning turn was also acquired for the parish.  In 1831 there was an ambitious plan, called the 'Proposals', the aim of which was that for every ten acres owned the occupier was to provide one days labour at a rate of 1/- plus liquor, for one man every month and smaller landowners in proportion.  The overseer was to inform the employer and labourer in advance and the later was not to absence himself without permission.

Another idea in the 1830's was emigration.  An article in the Exeter Flying Post, 12th April 1832, reports on the Brig Oscar, which sailed for Quebec, Canada, leaving on 3rd April.  Among many other passengers there were 24 people from Harpford of whom 18 were assisted by the parish. The article notes ‘ the parish came forward in a very handsome and liberal manner providing them with sufficient clothes for two years, paying their passage, and providing for them during the voyage, and giving 2/- to each individual after the ship was under sail so that they were not destitute on arrival in a distant land; much praise is due to the humane feeling of Messrs Carters, the parish overseers, who accompanied them to Torquay and used the utmost exertion in directing every necessary comfort for the voyage’.  (In 1832 the Brig Oscar with Captian Banks, was registered with Lloyds – 184 tons, originally built 1810 in Southampton, port of survey Teignmouth.)  £100 was borrowed by the parish for this project.  As recorded in the parish account book, Mrs. Anna Carter, widow of Elias Carter was repaid in four equal installments.

Like their father, Joel and Thomas Carter, and later younger brother Robert Carter, all served from time to time as overseer, or churchwarden.  Their names often appear in parish records for example journeying on parish business to Exeter, Sidmouth, Bicton and so on.  Every month vestry meetings were held in "the body of the church, or porch or usual place".  Later meetings were held at the Exeter Inn, Newton Poppleford.  On these occasions it was agreed that each member should 'pay for his own ale'.  Vestry meetings were attended by three or six responsible parishioners, who examined the payments to the sick, grants of clothing and medical attendance and signed their various names under the accounts as being 'allowed by us'.  Once a year the accounts were audited at a public meeting of the payers of the church and poor rates.

The parish expenses rose from an average of £29 between 1730 and 1760 to an average of £127 between 1806 and 1830.  The average number of individuals who received poor relief each year between 1806 and 1830, was twelve.  Some names regularly appeared such as the England and Russell families, but in the early 1830s there is a new name, Susanna Dainer and family.  Nothing is known about them except that for a period they were lodged in Harpford with John Carter (Joel’s brother) who received 18/8d from the overseer’s accounts.  Susanna Dainer and family were supplied with two bed cords 3/- and an iron post 3/.  Mrs Anna Carter was paid 2/9d for making bed things and filling them.

Although the cases of sickness dealt with in the details of the account books are those cases of the poor, the need of relief from aches and pains can never be restricted to one class of society, and especially in a small community, if a nostrum or any device is known to have done a village character the world of good, the news is passed on to a suffering neighbour, however notable, and is quickly swelled or applied.  There has always been a village worthy ready to offer with complete confidence an opinion about the nature, cause and cure of a disability.  Of particular note in the account books are the midwives of the neighbourhood who had to be 'fetched and carried'.

After the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834 the poor, sick and infirm from the parish of Harpford were sent to the workhouse at Honiton where they lost contact with everybody and almost everything that they had known including any small kindnesses that they may have looked forward to in their native place.  Those on the fringe of poverty lost their sense of security, which the help of the local overseers gave them in times of sickness and unemployment.  At any moment they might find themselves on the road to Honiton. The overseer was replaced by a ‘guardian’, a more friendly word to describe a less friendly function.

After the removal of the poor to Honiton the Church House was no longer needed as a Poor House.  In 1863 it was unanimously resolved that it should be converted into a schoolroom and vestry.  The Lower Poor House, or Spears Cottage, was sold to Mrs. Anna Carter and the proceeds used to help equip the schoolroom / vestry.

Church of St Gregory the Great, Harpford with its 15th Century Tower
In the foreground the site of the Higher Poor House, which was later used as a schoolroom and vestry. The building burnt down in 1954.

This is one of a series of related articles. Click forward or back to jump to the next.

Researched by Anne Speight,  © 2009

SOURCE MATERIAL

Listed below

Rural Life In Victorian England.  G E Mingay
‘Harpford’.  Revd. H.R. Evans. The Devonshire Association for the  Advancement of Science,
Litrature and Art. Vol 101 (1969) pg 45-81.
‘Harpford Parochial Health Service 1730 – 1830’. Revd. H. R Evans. Devon and Cornwall Notes
and Queries 29, 7 (963) pg 201-205.
Harpford Overseer and Churchwarden Account Books
Exeter Flying Post - 12th April 1832

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