Last updated on 20 September 2019
In March 2016 the Tollerton Village History Group acquired the Vestry Minute Book for Tollerton containing all entries between 1854 and 1935 – what a find!
The initial entry, in the Tollerton Vestry Minute Book is dated 27th March, 1854 and provides a brief introduction and a statement specifying that it should be kept by the Constables of the Parish and taken to all meetings.
Below is a scanned copy of this first page
This page shows the names of Benjamin Howard and Hodgkinson Morris as Overseers of the Parish. Benjamin Howard, born 1827, and Hodgkinson Morris, born 1802, were both farmers in Tollerton.
The early records in this Vestry Minute Book were very brief, essentially giving the place, time and date of the meeting and the names of those appointed to key positions such as church wardens, constable, overseer and surveyor.
Over time, and particularly from 1925 onwards when the annual Parochial Church Meeting was introduced, the records in this old Tollerton document became far more detailed, giving insights in to the state of the church building, repairs undertaken, the number of residents in the village and other matters of concern within the parish. The records also include some financial details from 1905 onwards, mainly whether there was a balance or deficit though the records suggest that more detailed accounts were presented at each annual meeting. Clearly the need for greater transparency is not a new phenomenon!
It is really interesting to see which residents held particular roles within the parish.
The entire book has been transcribed and split into sections for ease of reading since it is such a lengthy document. Within the transcriptions we have added some definitions of specific roles that we are not familiar with these days. The final 2 pages relate to some significant events where we have found a link to newspaper articles that give greater information about those events.
The sections are located below, from 1854 – 1935
Newspapers archives:
Disputed settlement of a pauper lunatic, 9 August 1855
Clergyman charged, 18 December 1917
The case against Mrs Prentice & Tollerton Rector’s Failure, 22 February 1918
Our sincere thanks go to the family of a former Tollerton resident for passing on this unique document to us and allowing us to share its content more widely