Folios 462-464. Letter from Charles Bond, Clerk to the Guardians of the Axminster Poor Law Union, to the Poor Law Commission, enclosing the minutes of a meeting of the guardians on 21 April 1838.
He reports that the main business of the meeting concerned the case of an able-bodied pauper, Malachi Apsey, of Chardstock parish, and several other similar cases all from the same parish.
He presumes that as the vice chairman of the board has today written to Mr Gilbert, the Commission will doubtless have received his report on the decision of the guardians.
Enclosed: extracts from the minutes of the meeting of the Axminster Board of Guardians, on 20 April, 1838. The board met to revise the out-relief list and to consider the cases of several able-bodied paupers with families, of the parish of Chardstock, that had been left by the committee for the decision of the board.
The first case was that of Malachi Apsey, an able- bodied man with a wife and five children, three of whom were under ten, receiving out-relief of 16 pounds of bread a week. A motion was proposed by Mr Farmer and seconded by Mr Honebon that Apsey be granted eight instead of sixteen pounds of bread a week, which the mover of the motion considered to be more of an advantage to the parish ‘than that afforded in the workhouse, and more desirable to the pauper’.
An amendment was proposed by Mr Harris and seconded by Mr Hillman, that a place in the workhouse should be offered for one of the children.
On a division, the original motion was carried by four votes, there being six votes for the amendment and ten for the motion.
The guardians then requested the clerk to list the guardians present and how each had voted and to include the details in the minutes, as follows:
For the Motion: N T Hill, Mr Bishop, Mr Honebon, Mr Vincent, Mr Farmer, Mr Dommett, Mr Hook, Mr Gillett [only 8 names given].
For the amendment: Sir John Talbot [President], Captain Charettie, Mr Hillman, Mr Edwards, Mr Harris, Mr Phippen
It was then moved by Captain Charrettie, that the clerk be asked to send copies of the minutes, including the decision on the case of Malachi Apsey and the above list to the Poor Law Commission, requesting their advice on the case, and that the meeting be adjourned until a reply had been received from them.
An amendment to this motion was then moved and seconded, proposing that the board should not adjourn; this amendment was carried.
The next case was that of Charles Chick, aged 48, an able-bodied pauper with a wife aged 41, and 7 children, all under 10. He received out-relief of 24 pounds of bread a week. It was moved and seconded that this amount of relief be continued. An amendment was then moved and seconded, that a place in the workhouse be offered to two of the children, but the amendment was defeated, and the motion carried, that is to continue the present amount of out-relief, the result of the division being the same as in the Apsey case, except that in Chick’s case, the Reverend W Conybeare’s name was added to the list of those who voted for the amendment, he having been absent for the first division.
‘Wait for Mr Gilbert’s report’ [William John Gilbert, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner].
Dated 23 April 1838. Paper Number: 3220/B/1838. Poor Law Union Number 76. Counties: Devon and Dorset.