Poor Relief Act 1743
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1743 c. 38 |
(17 Geo. 2) C A P. XXXVIII.
'WHEREAS by reason of some Defects in an Act of Parliament made in the three and fortieth Year of she Reign of the late Queen Elizabeth , intituled,An Act for the Relief of the Poor , the Money raised for that Purpose is liable to be misapplied, and there is often great Difficulty and Delay in raising of the same;' For Remedy whereof, May it please your most Excellent Majesty, that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the twenty-fourth Day of June one thousand seven hundred and forty-four, the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor shall yearly and every Year, within fourteen Daysafter other Overseers shall be nominated and appointed to succeed them, deliver in to such succeeding Overseers, a just, true and perfect Account in Writing, fairly entred in a Book or Books to be kept for that Purpose, and signed by the said Churchwardens and Overseers hereby directed to account as aforesaid, under their Hands, of all Sums of Money by them received, or rated and assessed and not received; and also of all Goods, Chattels, Stock and Materials that shall be in their Hands, or in the Hands of any of the Poor, in order to be wrought, and of all Monies paid by such Churchwardens and Overseers so accounting, and of all other Things concerning their said Office; and shall also pay and deliver over all sums of Money, Goods, Chattels, and other Things as shall be in their Hands, unto such succeeding Overseers of the Poor; which said Account shall be verified by Oath, or by the Affirmation of Persons calledQuakers , before one or more of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, which said Oath or Affirmation such Justice or Justices is and are hereby authorized and required to administer, and to sign and attest the Caption of the same, at the Footof the said Account, without Fee or Reward; and the said Book or Books shall be carefully preserved by the Churchwardens and Overseers, or one of them, in some publick or other Place in every Parish, Township or Place; and they shall and are hereby required to permit any Person there assessed, or liable to be assessed, to inspect the same at all seasonable Times, paying six Pence for such Inspection, and shall, upon Demand, forthwith give Copies of the same, or any Part thereof, to such Person, paying at the Rate of six Pence for every three hundred Words, and so in Proportion for any greater or less Number.
II Penalty on Parish Officer's not accounting as this Act directs.
II. And it is hereby further enacted, That in case such Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor, or any of them, shall refuse or neglect to make and yield up such Account verified as aforesaid, within the Time herein before limited or appointed, or shall refuse or neglect to pay and deliver over such Sum of Sum of Money, Goods, Chattels and other Things in their Hands, as by this Act is directed; in either of the said Cases, it shall and may be lawful to and for any two or more Justices of the Peace, to commit him or them to the common Gaol, until he or they shall have given such Account, or shall have paid and yielded up such Monies, Goods, Chattels and other Things in their Hands as aforesaid.
III On an Overseer's dying, &c. Two Justices to choose another,
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any such Overseer shall die, or remove from the Place for which he was appointed, or become insolvent, before the Expiration of his Office, on Oath thereof made, it shall be lawful for two Justices of the Peace to appoint another Overseer in his Stead, who shall continue in Office until new Overseers are appointed; and if any Overseershall remove as aforesaid, he shall before such Removal deliver over to some Churchwarden, or other Overseer of the same Place, his Accounts verified as aforesaid, with all Rates, Assessments, Books, Papers, Sums of Money, and other Things concerning his Office, under the like Penalties as are inflicted by this Act on an Overseer refusing to do the same after the Expiration of his Office; and if any Overseer shall die as aforesaid, his Executorsor Administrators shall, within forty Days after his...
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