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The position of the Parish Vestry in society during the 16th century was the lowest tier of local government.

The Highways Act of 1555 laid responsibility for the King’s Highway upon the vestries who had to appointed a Surveyor and provide the labourers.

The Poor Law of 1563 required parishes to appoint Collectors of Charitable Arms followed in 1572 by the Office of Overseer of the power was appointed subject to the support of the local Justice of the Peace.

Parishes collected a poor rate and distributed amongst the poor. The General Workhouse Act of 1723 empowered parishes alone or in partnership with others to build a workhouse.

By 1832 the burden of the poor became too great and the Poor Law Act provided for parish unions and boards of guardians to build large workhouses which were made as unpleasant as possible to reduce costs by persuading the poor to avoid them. All of these functions were run by the vestry, made up of qualified ratepayers. 

Llantrisant’s home parish had the hamlets of town, Gelliwion, Castellau, Broviskin and Trane and each had their own overseer of the poor and all were answerable to the same parish vestry.

Some of the entries of the parish vestry minutes from 1771 illustrate the level of poor reliief they offered such as:

November 19th 1773
A pair of shoes for William Watkin’s wife
A waistcoat, petticoat, shift and pair of shoes for Morgan John’s wife
A blanket for Margaret Thomas
A shift for Zephaniah’s widow

February 4th 1793
Agreed to grant relief to Elizabeth Daniel and Jennifer Rosewall, iwith nine children, deserted by husbands John David and James Rosewall, miners

Under the Old Poor Law most relief was known a outdoor relief, such as payment to paupers. The amending Act in 1723 gave parishes the power to purchase buildings for use as a workhouse for able bodied paupers. Anyone refusing a place would lose any entitlement they had to receiving poor relief.

A vestry meeting was held on December 5, 1783 to “consult in regard of establishing a workhouse for the poor” at a time when vagabonds, prostitutes and thieves were rife in the town. 

The Parish Vestry minute said, “That a Workhouse be established in or near the Town of Lantriessent for relief for the Poor of the said parish Lantirssent and setting the said poor to work and so forth and further that: John Popkin of Talygarn, and Mr Evans Jones by appointed…and vestedwith full power… in behalf of.. the said parish to purchase, or rent, build or erect one or more House or Houses for the purpose aforesaid.”

The Vicar, churchwardens, overseers of the power, the portreeve, town clerk and thirteen local landowners and farmers were appointed trustees to superintend the workhouse and inspect accounts. The workshouse was to be built with contracts to John Popkin of Talygarn. Margaret Jenkin, a widow, was engaged as superintendent “to see the poor fed, put to work and to weigh and measure every article used in the said house.”

She had to record the sale of anything for which she was paid “£12 a year, fire, meat, candles and one room for her use, her wages to be paid weekly”. A male superintendent Thomas Jenkin, was paid an annual salary of £19 and Mr Evans Jones, shopkeeper received £5 as treasurer. They had to pay for their own tea, coffee or sugar however.

Many of the male paupers were press ganged during this time and forcibly conscripted into His Majesty’s Navy. On 4 February 1784 another meeting was called and Popkins was ordered to apply to Lord Cardiff and the burgesses of the town for land of one or more acres of the Graig Common “on which to erect the workhouse with all necessary conveniences”.

Landmarks

Joseph John

llantrisant
 

With the creation of the parish workhouse in 1783, provision was made against fraud and it was resolved hat “no person whatsoever make a job of this workhouse by buying any kind of necessaries for the use of the said house, of any relation, and that no overseer sell or buy of any brother officer any commodity for the said poor.”

One of the Overseers of the Poor was appointed to purchase supplies and he was to keep accounts while the other overseers were responsibly for checking his accounts. On the face of it everything sounded above board.

However, Joseph John, also known a Joseph John Philip, a carrier and butter merchant in the town, acted as Llanharan vicar Rev Gervase Powell’s agent and found himself embroiled in a feud between Rev Powell and Rev Robert Rickards of Llantrisant. It would be safe to say that Joseph suffered miserably as a pawn in their ongoing saga and was a victim of the circumstances surrounding the opening of the parish workhouse.

Joseph was authorized to borrow money from Rev Powell for building or purchasing another house for the purpose of opening a parish workhouse and eventually a new house seems to have been built or acquired on Yr Allt. This was the South Workhouse and was used until the late 1820s while the Swan Street “North Wokhouse” of four cottages was used until the death of Rev Powell in 1799.

Joseph acted somewhat dishonestly but his reputation was defended and his humane treatment of the poor was even commended. He borrowed more than he was authorised to do. The vestry agreed the sum of £120 but according to Rev Powell he loaned £430 accused Joseph of appropriating much of the money for his own use. The lease was cancelled an the unauthorised portion of the loan repudiated with the threat that if the Rev Powell refused to accept the repudiation and to hold Joseph responsible for the balance, then the parish would turn over to him both the new and old workhouses.

Questionably was Joseph John merely doing the bidding of Rev Powell who had an axe to grind because he did not become the town’s Portreeve when his brother died? Instead it was Rev Rickards who claimed the position under the authority of Lord Bute himself.

He bought Gwern y Moel Fach and let that to the parish at an exhorbitant rent of £28 per annum and bought corn for the workhouse “to the injury of the market since the paupers had formerly bought it locally whereas Joseph bought it cheaply elsewhere.” When the Workhouse Trustees examined the corn they found it was rotten. 

In May 1786 it was resolved by the Vestry that “Wheareas it appears to us on Inspection that the corn bought for the Workhouse by Joseph John is not fit to be kept for the use of the Poor, he is at Liberty to take to all the said Corn and to have a reasonably time to remove the same out of the workhouse, and we do hereby unanimously resind and make void the order of the vestry…ordering overseers of the poor to pay until the said Joseph John £12.4.19s."

Rev Rickards pursued Joseph in the courts and eventually he was sentenced to transportation. The Vicar appealed to the Court of Great Sessions for protection because he claimed Joseph had tried to “induce various people to blow him up, run over him with a wagon, startle his horse, or otherwise dispose of him”. 

Joseph John died in the Hulks in Portsmouth in July 1793.