18th Century Sandridge

At the end of the 17th Century and start of the 18th Century, the village of Sandridge’s state of poverty was worsening. In 1781, Sandridge won an appeal against George Tilcock, following the 1673 Act of Parliament where men could be sent back to the parish where they were born and raised. However, a case of the opposite effect happened in 1727, where John and Rebecca Laundy were forced to go to Sandridge. Due to rising poverty levels and lack of workers, the parishes would often try and reduce the amount of people by paying pregnant women to move away, to encourage workers to move in. Mr Pilgrim was an overseer of the poor (as a result of the Poor Act) of Sandridge on three occasions. First time he apprehended a village labourer for taking one trout 12p worth of goods from fishing on private property. Second time around he caught a man for not handing over enough money to pay for his tax, and yet later on he was caught with more money in his hand, months later the fine of £3.9.0 still had not been paid. He became an overseer for a third time as well. Because of the poor act, unmarried mothers were becoming more common, and as such the act forced the fathers to pay or marry the woman in question, such as Jeremiah Lattimore. In 1750, John Thrale became an overseer, and had to deal with the pregnancy of Mary Preline, who was an unmarried mother. Furthermore, around this era, labourers in the village were living in horrible degrading conditions.

Source: HALS Library, “Historic Sandridge Revisited” By Edward Giles and Richard William Thrale, Edited by Janet R Rose