Lot No: 8182

A 1793 Poor Law Parish indenture for an apprenticeship in husbandry, Little Dorrington, Devon. At this time State support for poor children was controlled by the Act of 1601, which had placed the burden on each parish, requiring it to elect Overseers of the Poor with power to levy a local poor rate. For children, the simple solution was that the parish officials - the Overseers and the Churchwardens - had absolute power to decide whether parents could maintain their children and if not, the duty to remove the child to the care and cost of any parishioner they may select who in the officials' absolute opinion, fell within the categories of clergyman, gentleman, farmer or trader. The means to do so was this indenture, subject to the consent of the local justices of peace. Until 1816 there was no minimum age, (which was then fixed at nine), and unlike voluntary trade apprenticeships and despite the wording, there was no requirement to teach a trade. Printed and manuscript document with various signatures and wax seal, apporx size 21 x 33cm.

Sale Price: £30.00