Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Suffolk County Poor Law

While at the Institute of Genealogy in Salt Lake City I learned that the inventories of parish records are online. These inventories include settlements, removals, taxes, bastardy records, etc. What is most interesting to know is that the names of people in these records are online. Unfortunately, the Record Office does not have any records for Badingham. They are adding records on a continuing basis so perhaps they will be added soon. A nearby market town, Framlingham, has an extensive collection of these records. Each person had a parish of settlement. This parish was responsible for taking care of the poor relief. Records were created that settled people in a parish or removed them from a parish they were not welcome in due to financial need. These records can offer details that you will not find anywhere else. If you find someone of interest you can order the document from the Suffolk Record Office. There is an excellent booklet on England parish poor law, 'The Handy Book of Parish Law.

No comments:

Post a Comment