When Hannah Waltho died in the summer of 1791, the Overseers’ accounts recorded far more than the cost of her funeral. Over the following five years they documented a family struggling to survive, a father’s controversial second marriage, an official investigation by the parish and, ultimately, the removal of two young children from their home as parish apprentices. Together, these records provide one of the clearest surviving pictures of how the Poor Laws affected an ordinary village family.
The Walthos were not newcomers to Armitage. Richard Waltho had been baptised in the parish in 1760, two years after his elder brother, suggesting that the family had already been established in the village for several decades. When hardship struck, the Overseers were not dealing with strangers but with one of their own parish families.
Richard Waltho married Hannah Cox at Hamstall Ridware in 1785, and their first two children, William and Jane, were baptised there. By 1791 the family had returned to Armitage, where they were already receiving parish relief. The Overseers’ accounts reveal how quickly the parish became involved as Hannah’s illness worsened:
- 9 May – Bread, sugar and other provisions for Hannah Waltho – 3s 6d
- 14 June – Paid Richard Waltho – 2s 0d
- 15 June – Paid John Robinson for Hannah Waltho’s coffin – 10s 0d
- Burial fees – 3s 6d
- 17 June – Paid Dorothy Waltho and her daughters for attending Hannah and laying out her body – 3s 0d
- 24 June – Paid Mr Woolley for bread, cheese and ale at Hannah Waltho’s funeral gathering – 5s 8d
- Three quarters’ rent for Richard Waltho – 18s 9d
- Clothing for Richard Waltho’s children – 12s 5d
Taken together, these entries show that parish relief extended far beyond handing out money. The Overseers provided food during Hannah’s illness, paid for her coffin and burial, helped with the family’s rent and ensured that William and Jane had clothing. They also paid Mr Woolley 5s 8d for bread, cheese and ale at Hannah’s “bear-in” – the funeral gathering held after the burial.
To modern readers it may seem surprising that a parish supporting an impoverished family would also pay for food and drink after a funeral. In eighteenth-century rural communities, however, this was an accepted custom. Relatives, neighbours and others who had attended the burial would gather afterwards to share modest refreshments. The gathering was not a celebration but an important social occasion, offering comfort to the bereaved and allowing the community to pay its respects. The cost of 5s 8d represented a substantial sum – well over half a labourer’s weekly wage – suggesting that a reasonable number of people attended.
The entries also reveal that the Overseers were not simply reimbursing Richard Waltho after the event. They were effectively managing the family’s crisis from beginning to end. They supplied food while Hannah was ill, arranged payment for those who laid out her body, paid for the coffin and burial, provided the customary refreshments after the funeral and then continued to support the surviving family with rent, clothing and weekly relief.
Richard was now left to bring up two young children alone. In January 1793 he married Rebecca Stubbs of Hamstall Ridware, perhaps hoping to restore some stability to family life. Instead, the remarriage created new complications. Their son Richard was baptised at Pipe Ridware later that year, even though the family continued to live in Armitage and receive parish relief. William and Jane were living with their aunt Dorothy, who received 1s 6d a week from the parish for looking after them.
By 1795 the Overseers had begun to question whether Armitage should continue supporting Richard’s enlarged household. They instructed solicitor Thomas Jackson to investigate the legality and circumstances of the marriage. His bill for £3 6s 4d records an extraordinary level of activity:
- Meeting Mr Harvey regarding Richard Waltho’s marriage.
- Travelling to Morrey to examine a witness.
- Interviewing Richard at Handsacre.
- Copying the Hamstall Ridware marriage register.
- Consulting the Revd Mr Kirk.
- Preparing papers for Counsel’s opinion.
- Paying postage, legal fees and the costs of obtaining advice.
This was far more than routine administration. The Overseers were attempting to establish whether Rebecca and her children should legally be supported by Armitage or by another parish. Their duty was not simply to help those in need but also to protect the parish ratepayers from liabilities that properly belonged elsewhere.
The surviving records do not reveal the outcome, and Hamstall Ridware’s parish accounts are not currently available. What is known is that Richard, Rebecca and their young son left for Birmingham, where another child was born. William and Jane remained behind in Armitage.
William, now nine years old, was considered old enough to become a parish apprentice. The Overseers selected John Neeld of Borsley in the parish of Aston, a whitesmith and jobbing smith, to take him. Before approving the arrangement they obtained a letter from Benjamin Treeth and Joseph Parry confirming that Neeld was “capable of instructing the boy in his business and is an honest man.” The Overseers also paid Neeld £6 6s to accept William, while the Indenture required him to provide the boy with “one good suit of cloaths for holidays” when his apprenticeship ended.
Two years later eight-year-old Jane followed a different path. She was apprenticed into the cotton spinning industry through a partnership of Robert Peel of Bury, Edward Dickinson of Dostall and Joseph Peel of Fazeley. Before leaving, she lodged with Sarah Mills, who was paid by the parish to care for her and make her clothing. The Overseers also bought Jane a hat, stockings and a handkerchief before she began her new life.
William disappears from the Armitage records after his apprenticeship. Jane’s story may have been very different. Although no marriage record has yet been found, the available evidence strongly suggests that she married William Morecroft around 1815. If correct, the little girl who left Armitage as a parish apprentice became the ancestor of the Morecroft family, whose descendants played a remarkable part in nineteenth-century village life. They developed the local brickmaking industry, were leading figures in Primitive Methodism, built both Primitive Methodist chapels, operated the village Post Office, established a bicycle manufacturing business and contributed to many other aspects of the community.
The Waltho story therefore ends on a note of unexpected hope. The parish records preserve the darkest years in one family’s history, but they also hint that hardship was not necessarily the end of the story. A child once supported by the parish may have gone on to become part of one of Armitage’s most influential families, reminding us that the line between poverty and prosperity was often far thinner than we might imagine.