Commercial Overprint Society of Great Britain

Vol. 1 No. 4; October 1, 2003

The Overseers of Bristol

by Lawrence Armitage


The stamp illustrated is the ordinary 1d of King Edward VII (S.G.219) overprinted "Overseers of Bristol". It was used for the stamp duty on a receipt to the value of £2 and above, as required by the Act of 1853 (17 Victoria c.59)

Documents, from the 1st September 1783 until the 1st October 1853, if subject to a duty, received an embossed stamp. The Stamp Act of 1853 with a flat rate duty of 1d, introduced an additional method of stamping such documents with an adhesive stamp. It was important that, where company staff were handed quantities of stamps to apply the stamp duty on documents, they were not diverted for personal postage or monetary use. An agreement was made between the Inland Revenue and the Postmaster General that such stamps could be overprinted with a "logo" for identification, and such stamps would not be accepted for postage.

Who were the Overseers?

The first laws to deal with vagrancy go back to 1388 (12 Rich.II c.7), but in 1556 (27 Hen.VIII c.25), the law placed the responsibility on parish authorities to raise monies required for the poor law relief from the parishioners by voluntary contribution. The most significant Act, which founded a system which was to endure for the next three hundred years was that of 1597 (39 Elizabeth I c.3) laying down the duties for the Overseer. The post was first created by an Act of 1572, and it was later further defined in 1601 (43 Elizabeth I c.2). This later Act made the poor law tax compulsory on the inhabitants of the parish, and required the appointment of Justices and up to four "substantial" householders to be appointed as unpaid Overseers.

The duties of the Overseers were to levy a rate of tax and keep an account of the sums collected and spent for an annual audit by the Justices. The monies collected were to be spent on tools and stock, to set the able-bodied adults and children to work, and to provide for paupers who were unable to provide for themselves. Poor children were to be apprenticed and houses built for the aged and disabled. If a single parish was unable to provide the necessary monies, the Justices could raise monies from a neighboring wealthy parish. Eventually parishes, by an Act of 1782 (22 Geo.III c.83), were incorporated in groups for greater efficiency.

An Act of 1819 (59 Geo.III. c.12) brought in further reforms, one of which was to give parishes the power to have salaried Assistant Overseers. The hope was that these officials would help keep down costs by creating a more efficient administration. Moreover, ever increasing demand for the services of Overseers who had been part-time, unpaid, possibly unenthusiastic, and sometimes corrupt, had rendered the current system unworkable. Some parishes had already started to employ full-time salaried officials for routine administrative duties.

The working of the law relied upon the honesty and humanity of the Overseers. However, it is recorded that too often the monies raised were not used to the benefit of the poor. The 1819 Act provided penalties for parishioners who refused to be taxed, and Overseers who failed to carry out their duties. To embezzle funds could mean a gaol sentence.

Due to the growing population with an ever increasing movement away from the countryside to towns, in time, parishes united further to form Unions in order to spread the burden of poor relief evenly and build workhouses. This was enacted by the Union Changeability Act of 1865. The Local Government Act of 1888 established County Councils followed by an Act in 1894 to create districts Councils. Parishes could elect, in rural areas with a population over 300, to become a Rural District Council. Overseers continued in their roll. However, by 1927, the post had become redundant and it was abolished, to be replaced by various local government officials operating Welfare State measures progressively introduced between the first Workman's Compensation Act of 1897 and the National Assistance Act of the 5th July 1948.


This article was orginally published in The Revenue Journal of Great Britain, June 1997.

Overseers of the Poor

by David Lane

Originating from the Poor Law of 1601, Overseers of the Poor were appointed in every parish to collect money from each householder and to distribute it to the paupers of the parish. Over the next 300 years other Acts of Parliament were passed to refine this system, and to set up the workhouses—those dreaded institutions so vividly portrayed in the works of Charles Dickens and other Victorian writers.

In the larger parishes the responsibility fell to the Parish Vestry—a committee of people who controlled parish affairs, including the administration of poor relief. In some parishes the system worked very well but in general the plight of paupers and the conditions they had to endure at the end of the 18th century were still terrible.

It was not until the sweeping social reforms introduced between 1909 and 1912 during Asquith's government that things began to improve. Churchill and Lloyd George particularly were instrumental in seeing into law various projects for cutting at the root of poverty.

Overseer and Vestry security overprints exist on QV and Edward VII stamps for use on Poor Rate receipts.

Examples:

Bradford
Overseers.
C. and O.



LAMBETH

(Churchwardens and Overseers)
Churchwardens
AND
Overseers
Parish of Lambeth
ISLINGTON VESTRY
ISLINGTON
VESTRY
LAMBETH



Overseers.
Manningham
Overseers
Overseers
of
Bristol
Overseers of
Bristol
Overseers
of
Everton.
Overseers
of Oldham.
OVERSEERS
T P T		 Block letters,
all-caps		 SG 219
OVERSEERS
OF
WAVERTREE
Overseers
West Derby
Received for
ISLINGTON
VESTRY
STREATHAM POOR RATE

This article first appeared in the Bulletin of The British Commercial Overprint Stude Circle, August 1989.

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