Vestry meetings

The Vestry Meeting had complete control over the town in all of its activities, both church and civil, far more than any of the individual local authorities today that cover county, district and parish, embracing all spheres of public life from the levying and collecting of taxes to the welfare of the individual.

We are able to understand the extent of this power by reading the reports of the meetings printed by the local newspapers at the time and such an account which appeared in the Stamford Mercury on Friday 5th April 1861 is a perfect example because it was also the annual meeting at which officials were appointed and a review of the year was presented to members and illustrates its many duties. I have made minor changes to the report to clarify names and places and to make it more easily accessible to the modern reader and have added explanatory notes where necessary but it remains basically as it originally appeared:

The annual Easter meeting was held [in the church] on Monday last, the Rev Joseph Dodsworth, Vicar of Bourne, in the chair. The first business was the appointment of churchwardens. The vicar, in reappointing Mr Thomas T Mawby, his warden, thanked him for the valuable assistance which he had rendered him. There appeared to be some difficulty in the collection of the voluntary instead of the church rate [the rating system at this time was under government review] and apparently they were not much nearer a settlement of the question by Parliament than they were some years ago. 

Mr John Leonard Bell [a solicitor, of West Street], who was complimented upon the courteous and efficient manner in which he had discharged the duties of the office of churchwarden during the past year, was unanimously re-appointed parish warden for the ensuing year. 

Officers of the Interior Drainage: Mr John Foster and Mr Joseph Grummitt were re-elected for the north fen and Mr Charles Phillips and Mr George Brudenell were also re-appointed for the south fen.

Collectors of the Black Sluice Drainage Rate: Mr William Bray and Mr Hugh Hobson were re-appointed. 

Pinders [an officer who impounded stray beasts]: William Crampton, Henry Parker, William Dames senior, Robert Lattimore and John Scotney were re-appointed and John Laxton was appointed an additional pinder for the hamlet of Dyke. 
Assessors: The churchwardens and overseers, and Messrs Henry Bott, Charles Spreckley, Robert Mason Mills, Henry Osborn and William Wherry, were appointed a committee to revalue new buildings and improvements for the purpose of parochial rateability.

Accounts: The annual accounts of the officer of interior drainage for the north and south fens were examined and passed. The expenditure in the south fen amounted to £119 18s. 11½d. and the receipts, including the balance in hand at the commencement of the year, amounted to £114 18s. 9½d., leaving a balance of £5 0s. 2d. due to the officers.

Constables’ Land [one of the town’s charities dating from 1770]: The balance in hand arising from this is £26 19s. 2d. which is handed over by the overseer to his successor. The fund being a sort of private account of the overseer, is available for purposes for which others are not: there appeared to be a unanimous opinion in favour of appropriating a portion of this money (about £15) towards putting down an iron palisading on the west side of the footpath through the churchyard, similar to the one on the opposite side.

Fire brigade: It appeared that there had been two fires during the last year and that there was a balance in hand of 2s. 6d. In connection with this matter, it was stated that three members who some time since withdrew from the force, refused to give up their hats and coats and the vestry recommended the committee to take the necessary steps to compel them to give up the property in their possession belonging to the brigade. 

Burial Board: The next business on the notice paper was to receive a report from the Burial Board in reference to an application for the vote of the vestry sanctioning the grant of a further sum of money for the purposes of the Burial Board. Mr John Bell, the Clerk to the Board, read the report from which it appeared that the income was adequate to the expenditure. In the year 1859, the last grant from the parish of £50 was made and £42 10s. 2d. of that sum was expended in labour in making gravel paths, &c., and in the purchase of shrubs. The balance of £7 9s. 10d. was applied towards the reduction of the bank debt which at that time amounted to about £50. During the last three years, the mortality had been below the average. In the year ending March 25th, there were only 49 interments. The income was £25 15s. 6d. and the expenditure £45 11s. 8d. The present liabilities of the Board amount to £61 14s. 6d. and it was estimated that an outlay of about £20 would be required for the purpose of re-building a portion of one of the walls, for laying a drain and for re-placing some of the shrubs which were killed by the severe weather. The sum of £60 was then unanimously voted by the vestry. This finished the business upon the notice paper.

Other business: Mr Henry Bott said that as this was the meeting at which several matters were usually brought forward, though not upon the notice paper, he wished to direct attention for a few minutes to a subject he thought would be admitted to be of some importance to the rising generation. He referred to the Grammar School and the piece of ground to the east side of it. The scholars attending that school were often seen playing on the unenclosed portion of the churchyard, two gravestones having been recently broken off, and several inhabitants had reason to complain of the boys playing in the streets in consequence of the want of a suitable playground. What was stated in reference to this piece of land in the will of the noble donor to whom the parish was indebted for the school he knew not, but looking at the doorway which opened out of the school on the piece of ground in question, he could not help thinking it very probably that sometime, perhaps many years ago, it was used as the playground for the scholars. As a garden, it could be of only small pecuniary advantage to any one and he hoped the vicar would take the subject into consideration with a view to its being attached to the school as a playground, for which by its position it seemed very suitable. Other gentlemen expressed their concurrence and the general feeling of the meeting seemed to be in favour of the suggested alteration. Mr Thomas Mawby, as the occupier of the piece of land, under the vicar, expressed his readiness to give it up for the purpose referred to and the vicar promised to take the matter into consideration. He hoped that if it were appropriated in the way suggested, the persons interested would put it into a proper state for a playground.

The meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman, who in replying, said he was glad to be able to state that altogether this was one of the most agreeable Easter Monday meetings at which he ever had the pleasure of presiding.