Finances and government of Canterbury early to mid-nineteenth century

FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY EARLY TO MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY EH.PANTON INTRODUCTION A previous paper1 gave an account of the local government of the City and County of Canterbury from 1700 to 1815, in the light of the financial circumstances of the City Authorities. This present paper carries that examination forward to the mid nineteenth century. From 1815 to 1835, Canterbury continued to be governed by a self perpetuating Burghmote, under a series of-Royal Charters. The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835,2 a sweeping measure which reformed municipalities throughout England and Wales, abolished the Burghmote system and substituted a more democratically elected Council with powers, jurisdiction and sources of income somewhat different from those of the Burghmote. The effects of that signal change in the finances and Government of Canterbury in the years from 1836 to the mid 1800s are examined. BURGHMOTE FINANCES 1815-35 In these years, the Mayor and Commonalty continued to draw income from market tolls, rentals of City properties, freemen's fees, and 'casual' (a catch-all word for any stray source of revenue) as main sources. Main reasons for expenditure .continued to be the salaries of officers and officials, upkeep of City properties and markets, interest payments on loans and mortgages, taxes, and 'casual' (again a catch-all 1 F.H. P anton 'The Finances and Government of the City and County of Canterbury in the 18th and early 19th centuries'. Arch. Cant., cix (1991), 191-246. 2 5 and 6 William IV C76 1835. 'An Act to provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales'. 25 F.H.PANTON word). A summary of the City Chamberlains accounts year by year is given at Appendix A (extracted from the Account Books).3 From this summary it can be seen that transactions were of the order of £1,500-£2,000 a year, and that the underlying trend was that of increasing debt. The Burghmote was forced from time to time to borrow money on bond or mortgage in order to keep its Chamberlain supplied with adequate cash balances. In 1815, there was a negative balance of £1961 8s. 6d., covered, of course, by the Chamberlain from his own resources, at interest. From 1817-1819 a total of £4,000 was borrowed from Hammonds Bank, Canterbury, to give a cash balance of £728 13s. 4d. in 1819. Further borrowings, to cover large items of capital expenditure, had to be made, and by 1828 total debt of the Burghmote amounted to £12,750. Interest payments on this amounted to £604 a year, a substantial percentage of the yearly expenditure. How this amount of debt had been incurred is not clear, but Burghmote minutes and contemporary sources throw some light on the matter.4 In 1824, for instance, it was estimated that the building cost of the New Corn Market, then under consideration, should not amount to more than £2780 7s. 6d., with the cost of purchasing premises and land for the market estimated at £1,576. In June 1824, the Town Clerk was paid £603 2s. lld. as the cost of procuring an Act of Parliament to authorize the erection of the market. The total estimated cost of the market was therefore in the region of £5,000. To raise the wind for this, Ald. Homersham was authorized to negotiate a loan with the Bank of England of up to £10,000 giving a list of City Estates as security. There is no evidence that this route to raise money was followed, and money was borrowed from local sources. By the time the opening of the New Corn and Hop Exchange (as it was formally named) was celebrated at a Dinner on Easter Tuesday 1825, the Burghmote had incurred some £7,000 in loans extra to the loan of £4,000 outstanding from Hammonds Bank in 1819, all from local people or associations (£2032 15s. 9d. in 3 per cent Consols from Sir C. Hunter, Bart; £3,000 from Moses Hare, and £2,000 from the Economic Fire Association). Additionally, the tolls of the market (let at £17 5 a year) were mortgaged in December 1825 for £2000 at 4½ per cent interest to Nathaniel Belsey. We may surmise from all this that the New Corn and Hop Market finally cost nearer £9,000 rather than the £5,000 estimated originally. No Chamberlain's account book seems to be available from 1828 to the end o f the Burghmote 's life in 1835. However, items of 3 Canterbury Cathedral Archives FIA 41-43. 4 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes 1818-1828. Canterbury Cathedral Archives AC. 12. 26 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY extraordinary expenditure noted in the Burghmote minutes in that period may be cited. In 1829, £991 9s. lld. was allocated for repairs to Abbot's Mill and £125 10s. for repairs to the Bath Estate (both properties at that time still on lease to the executors of Ald. Simmons [deceased 1807]). Expenses in 'Cleaning the River Stour within the walls of the City of Canterbury and the New Cut' at the direction of the Commissioners of Sewers amounted to £474 Os. ½ d. in 1828.5 An unexpected call on the Burghmote funds of significant size occurred in 1834.6 The Mayoral election on 14 September, 1832, produced a tie of 92 votes each to Ald. Edward Kingsford and Ald. Browne. A further vote, called swiftly on 15 September 1832, resulted in Ald. Sampson Kingsford defeating Ald. Edward Kingsford, and Ald. S. Kingsford was declared Mayor. Ald. Browne was not satisfied with these proceedings, and he brought an action against the Burghmote in High Court, asking for cause to be shown by what authority Kingsford exercised the office of Mayor. On 23 July, 1833, the Town Clerk was voted £150 to defend Mayor Kingsford. The action remained undecided throughout 1833, and on 10 December of that year - after Kingsford's term of office had ended - all proceedings were stayed, each party to pay their own costs. On 28 January, 1834, £400 was authorized to be borrowed to meet the Town Clerk's bill. Despite mounting debts throughout t h e years 1 8 1 5-35, t h e Burghmote's main capital asset, the portfolio o f properties, remained substantially unchanged.7 However, the possibility of selling some of the properties was plainly in the collective mind of the Burghmote when in 1828-29 they commissioned a survey of some 57 of their major holdings, with descriptions, locations, plans, dimensions, use, type of lease and tenant. s Most of these records contain beautifully executed water-colour vignettes of elevations of the properties in their setting. It is possible, for instance, from vignettes of properties backing onto the City wall to gain a clear picture of what the stretch of wall from St. George's to Northgate looked like at that time. In the event, no sale of properties by the Burghmote seems to have taken place, and the portfolio, together with the accumulated debt, was handed over to the new Council in 1836. (Appendix B gives a list of properties in the 1828 survey). The minutes of the new Council in 5 Ibid., 1 July-2 August, 1828. 6 Burghmote Minutes 1829-1835 AC. 13. Canterbury Cathedral Library. 7 See F.H. Panton, loc. cit., Apps. C, D, E, 222-36, for a full account of the Burghmote's properties. 8 Maps and Plans of City Estates 1828-1829. Folios 1-100 Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 27 F.H. PANTON February of that year include a s t atement of the Burghmote's indebtedness of £14,350.9 LAW AND ORDER 1815-35 During these years, administration of law and order remained in the hands of the Mayor, assisted by the Recorder and by those Aldermen who had served in the office of Mayor and were therefore Magistrates, rather than in the hands of the Burghmote as a body. 10 Some expenses connected with law enforcement continued to occur i n the Chamberlain's accounts, such as expenditure on the City Gaol, or the expenses of City officials attending Canterbury County Sessions. That there was some confusion about the attribution of law and order expenses is shown by a note in the Chamberlain's accounts for 1820-21: 'Paid Alderman Frend, County Treasurer, for extra constables and other items disallowed in the County Rate £72 3s. 4d.'. From then on, more items related to County Sessions figure in the Chamberlain's accounts. For instance, in 1823-24 under Casual Disbursements we find: 11 Paid Sergent two days October Session Paid Grand Jury January Session Town Sergent January Session more Mr. Littlejohn Dinner January Sessions Dinner Paid Grand Jury July Session July Session Dinner Town Sergent October Session Town Sergent Sessions Adjournment Grand Jury at adjourned Session £2 16s. 18s. £1 8s. £1 0s. £5 5s. 19s. £5 5s. £1 8s. 16s. 9s. In a previous article, 1 it was assumed that an account separate from the Chamberlain's was kept for expenditure on law and order in the County of the City of Canterbury and the reference above to Ald. Frend as County Treasurer confirmed that assumption. No account books specifically for law and order costs were to hand at the time of writing the previous article. However, an account book of the Treasurer of the County Stock for the years 1813-36 is now available for study. 12 It 9 Canterbury Council Minute Book·No. 1. 2 February, 1836. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 10 See F.H. Panton foe. cit., 208-11, for an account of law and order in Canterbury in the eighteenth, early nineteenth centuries. 11 City Chamberlain's Accounts FA44 I 823-1824, Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 12 Account of the Treasurer of the County Stock for the City of Canterbury and the County of the same, 1813-36 Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 28 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY would appear that until 1796, Ald. Halford, City Chamberlain for 33 years from 1790 to 1823, held the office as Treasurer of the County Stock as well as that of Chamberlain, since on the fly-leaf of the Account Book is the information 'At the General Session of the Peace holden in the Guildhall on the said City and County on Monday the eleventh day of July 1796, Richard Fre nd, Esquire, one of the Aldermen of the said City and County was appointed Treasurer, of the County Stock on the resignation of Richard Halford'. The account book records the regular receipt of County Rates, and contains details of the expenses of Canterbury County Sessions, held two or three times a year, together with expenses of the Gaol. At that time a penny rate for Canterbury (or those parts of it under the jurisdiction of the Mayor and Magistrates) raised £41 ls. In the twenty four years covered by the account book, 1813-36, a total of just over £20,000 of expenditure is recorded. In the earlier years, expenditure averaged about £500 a year, becoming somewhat gr.eater in later years. This expenditure was, in the main, met from the County Rate, which was imposed by Magistrates in Canterbury Sessions once or twice a year, as required, in amounts often as much as one shilling in the pound. However, about £3,500 of the expenditure went on enlarging (or perhaps, rebuilding) the Gaol, and this money was provided on loan from a number of sources, against the security of the County Rate. Contracts for the extension of the Gaol, next to Westgate in Pound Lane, were let in 1829, and the work completed in 1830. The land on which the extension was built was owned by the Burghmote. On 22 September, 1829, it was ordered by the Burghmote that land in Pound Lane 'be conveyed to the Magistrates for the purpose of alteration and addition to the gaol. . . and that. . . all expenses of the same be borne by the Magistrates'. In the Chamberlain's accounts for 1827 there are (later) notes against properties let in the names of William Clarke and Daniel Decaufour, to the effect that their buildings in Pound Lane had been pulled down and the land taken partly for additions to the Gaol. In subsequent years, these properties disappear from the Chamberlain's rentals. The account book of the County Stock records on 20 October, 1828, the purchase of land for the Gaol from William Clerk (£287 10s. 6d.) and on 12 Jan. 1829 from Decaufour (£200). Presumably these payments bought out Decaufour's and Clerk's leases of the land; the Burghrnote appears to have retained the freehold. The manner of financing the additions to and the rebuilding of the Gaol was the cause of some controversy in the City. Having recently incurred the expense of building the new Corn Market, and having by then increased their debts to some £12,000, the Burghrnote was not 29 F.H.PANTON prepared to take on an extra burden as a loan on its own assets. Nor would they have taken the course of raising a rate for the purpose. There is no evidence that the Burghmote had ever raised a rate, for any purpose, and it would seem that they interpreted their Royal Charters as not giving them the licence to do so. However, a strong body of opinion in Canterbury held that the Burghmote had no right to decide that the Magistrates (i.e. the Mayor, Recorder and those Aldermen who had served as Mayor and were therefore Magistrates) should bear the cost on the County Rate, already considered to be a great enough burden on the Citizens of Canterbury. A pamphlet of the time, written by G. Sandys at the request of dissidents, rehearsed all the arguments why the Burghmote should bear the cost from its.own resources. 13 Sandys summarized the many Royal Charters from which the Burghmote drew its authority and which defined its obligations, as backing to an argument that the Gaol was and always had been a responsibility of the Corporation. He further stated that in 177 4, the Justices began to collect and use the County Rate for Gaol expenses (inter alia) and that on 17 July, 1781, an Order of the Burghmote was made that ' ... money paid ... for returning the prices of Corn to the Mayor, the Window Tax for the Gaoler's House, the Gaoler's Salary, cleaning the County Hall, for repairs to the Gaol and the Gaoler's House and for the Constables attendance at the Sessions shall be from midsummer last be paid out of the County Rate of this City instead of out of Revenues belonging to the Mayor and Commonalty of this City'. Sandys denied the legal validity of that Order and produced arguments under several headings to show that legally it was for the Corporation to provide and maintain a gaol for the City.14 In the event Sandys and his supporters had no effect on the Burghmote's decision. As recorded in the Account book of the County Stock, a contract was let on 1 May, 1829, to Messrs. Lavender and Lancefield (an Alderman and a Common Councillor) and the magistrates paid for the work on the Gaol in stages borrowing money when required from organizations and individuals in £500 or £1000 13 C. Sandys 'An inquiry into the liability of the Corporation of Canterbury to maintain the Gaol of the City'. Printed and sold by R. Co legate, Kentish Chronicle Office 1828. 14 Sandys' arguments were, briefly: the Gaol had always belonged to the Mayor and Commonalty, who have custody of it; the appointment of the Gaoler rests with the Mayor and Commonalty and not with the Justicies or Sheriff; the Corporation have in fact provided and supported the Gaol; recent statutes relating to County Rates and Gaols have not transferred the Burthen from the Corporation to the City at large; and all rents etc. of the Corporation are there to be expended to Public as of the City. 30 FINANCE S AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY tranches. The total amount recorded as having been expended on the Gaol was nearly £3,500. Interest payments on the loans were regularly made, but only a few hundred pounds of Capital repayment was recorded before the County Stock book closed in early 1836. It would seem, therefore, that the bulk of the capital loan for the Gaol was not repaid from the County Stock, and, as we shall see, sales of City assets were eventually used to liquidate debts taken over by the new Council. The end result seems to have been that Sandys' view prevailed. MUNIC IPAL CORP ORAT IONS AC T 1835 15 This Act was the culmination and the consequence of a thorough Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into the ways in which Boroughs such as Canterbury and other types of local government in England and Wales conducted their affairs. Although the Commissioners visited and exhaustively questioned local authorities about their affairs, and produced in their report fascinating and detailed descriptions of how the business of local government was carried on, very few references to their work can be found in the Burghmote minutes. On 26 November, 1833, the Burghmote ordered that the City Chest be opened and Charters, etc., be produced to the Commissioners and that their investigations should be attended by the Recorder. In August 1835, when both Houses of Parliament had agreed to a Clause in the 'New Municipal Reform Bill' (then before them), which would abolish exclusive rights of trading (i.e. abolish the concept of the Freedom of the City), Ald. H. Cooper gave notice that in the event of the Bill not passing the session, he would move in the Burghmote that any person may trade in Canterbury without being obliged to become free of the City. Some members of the Burghmote, at least, were in support of one of the main proposals of the Act. 16 The Act was indeed swingeing in its condemnation of regimes such as that in Canterbury, and somewhat radical in its proposals to replace them. The Act stated that existing Corporations had 'not of long time been and are not now useful and efficient instruments o f local government'. All extant Charters, etc., inconsistent with the Act were repealed and the privileges (and the restrictions) of Freemen were abolished- 'every person in any Borough may make and keep shop . . . and use every lawful trade occupation mystery and handicraft. .. ' Self- 15 5 and 6 William IV C76 'An Act to provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales'. 16 Burghmote Minutes, AC. 13 Canterbury Cathedral Lib rary. 31 RH.PANTON perpetuating oligarchies of the old Boroughs were abolished. In their place Councils were established with Councillors and Aldermen elected for set terms of office by the voters in the Borough. The voting element in the new set up was the Burgess, who had to be an owner of property or inhabitant within the jurisdiction of the Borough, paying Poor and Borough rates. Burgesses were organized into wards for election purposes, the numbers of wards and Councillors calculated according to the number of inhabitants. The numbers of Councillors in a ward were to be divisible by 3, and each ward would have one Alderman to three Councillors. The Councillors and Aldermen elected a Mayor each year from among their number. The Act made provisions which attempted to clear up existing anomalies and inconsistencies in the old structures. The enforcement of law and order was clearly made a responsibility of the new Councils, through a Watch Committee appointed by the Council, with a full-time police force paid out of the rates. Provision was made for those parts of old Boroughs not governed by the Boroughs (of which there were a number of examples in Canterbury) to be brought within the Boroughs' jurisdiction for all purposes, including rates. Exemption was provided for some areas of Crown activity, such as military depots. The Act noted that it would be expedient for the powers vested in Trustees under Acts for Paving, Lighting and Watching, etc., to be transferred to the Body Corporate of the Borough, but made no definite order that that should be done. Mention of Poor Law Guardians was restricted to the fact that they should be used to establish and keep lists of Burgesses, and to collect Borough rates. All the assets and debts of the old Corporations were vested in the new Councils, and it was made lawful for the new Council to question in retrospect any transaction made before the hand-over, which may not have been bona fide. New Councils were authorized to form a Borough fund with strictly defined purposes, one of which was to pay off outstanding debts and bills of the Old Corporations. Councils were empowered to levy rates with all the powers of Magistrates in Quarter Sessions, and to apply such funds for the specified purposes only, such as salaries of Council officers, the compilation of electoral lists and the conduct of elections, and the prosecution, maintenance and punishment of offenders, maintaining Gaols, Houses of Correction, Corporate buildings and Police force. If the Borough fund more than met these calls, the remainder should be applied for the public benefit and improvement of the Borough (and not for the personal benefit of members of the Council). The strict rules as to the use of Council funds were plainly aimed at dubious practices of the old Boroughs, and other stipulations were made with this aim in mind. The custom of taking or allotting 32 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY commonlands and Public Stock for particular benefit of Burgesses or Freemen and not applying to public pur poses was forbidden. Councillors were not allowed to hold offices of profit within the gift of the Council, nor any interest in contracts or employment of the Council, except in lighting, water, or fire insurance. CITY AND BOROUGH OF CANTERBURY 1836 - On the 8th December, 1835, the Burghmote minutes recorded that the King in Council had approved proposals by the Revising Barristers to divide Canterbury, as a medium size town, into three wards (Westgate, Dane John and Northgate) instead of the six of the old Burghmote.17 The description of these wards included for the first time all those establishments i n the City, mainly ecclesiastical, over which Canterbury Burghmote had had no jurisdiction. To make quite certain that jurisdiction extended over all areas with the City boundaries, the Barristers judgement added that 'if any Chapelries, Chantries, Districts, Hospitals, Liberties, Precincts, Sanctuaries or other privileged places have been omitted, all such places shall be deemed to belong to the ward in which they are situated'. The Burghmote Minute Book's last entry was for 22 December, 1835, and the names of the 36 members of the last Burghmote were recorded. The first entry in the new Council minute book is dated 31 December, 1835, and records the names of the 18 newly-elected Councillors (Appendix C). Only six of the council were survivors of the old Burghmote. At the first meeting of the Council, 6 members were elected Aldermen, and some days later a further election in the wards produced a further 6 Councillors to replace those promoted Aldermen (Appendix C). George Neame was elected Mayor, and John Nutt continued in the office of Town Clerk. The Act had swept away many of the Courts formerly belonging to 11 Westgate Ward - St. Dunstan and St. Stephen's within, Holy Cross without, Holy Cross within, St. Peter's including Greyfriars, All Saints including East Bridge, St. Alphage including Black Friars, and St. Mary Bredin and the Borough of Staplegate. Dane John Ward - St. Mildred's including Old Castle Grounds, St. Margaret's, St. Andrew's, St. Mary Bredman, St. George the Martyr including White Friars, and those parts ofThanington, Nackington and Patrixbourne which are within the Borough. Northgate Ward- St. Mary Northgate including St. John's Hospital, St. Martin's, St. Paul including the Borough of Longport and St. Mary Magdelene, the vales of Christ Church and the Archbishops Palace, St. Gregory, the Precincts of the dissolved monastery of St. Augustine including the Almonry, and those parts of Littlebourne and Fordwich which are with the Borough of Canterbury. 33 RH.PANTON the old boroughs, including Canterbury County Sessions, but provision was made for Boroughs to petition for a restitution of such rights and powers. Canterbury Council did petition the King, and, by charter of William IV in 1836, the City and Borough of Canterbury was granted a separate Court of Quarter Session. 18 A Recorder and JPs were appointed (including the Mayor) and the administration of Justice was firmly established as part of the functions of the City Council; expenses being borne on the Borough Rates levied by the Council. At the same time, the Council constituted itself as a Watch Committee to oversee the setting up of a police force, also paid out of the rates, for the enforcement of law and order in the City and Borough. FINANCES OF THE COUNCIL 1836- The Burghmote handed over to the new Council outstanding loans amounting to £14,350, debts of £1011 16s. 6d., and a bill for expenses of the Revising Barristers of £150, a total debt of £15,611 16s. 6d. 19 At the same time, the new Council inherited the Burghmote's portfolio of properties, leased out to a variety of lessees for a variety of lengths of time. The Municipal Corporations Act enjoined the newly-created Councils, as one of their first tasks, to settle the debts and loans of the old Boroughs, and the Canterbury Council set about auctioning off Council property,20 having first obtained Treasury permission. From entries in the City Treasurer's Ledger,21 it would seem that by the end of 1839, £13,566 15s. 3d. had been realized from the sale of 35 lots (including A bbot's Mill at £3,500 and Kingsmead and land in Northgate at £1,040) and was used to discharge £11,778 19s. of loans and debts. The cost of these sales seem to have been about £800. (Appendix D) Entries in the City Treasurer's Ledger (which is a rough aide memoire of financial matters, rather than a formal record) indicate that the new Council's total income was little more than that of the old Corporation. For income, the Council was dependent on Borough Rates, tolls of Markets and rents of properties. The concept of Freemen had been abolished, so income from that source ceased. Although by 1s W. IV. 1836 Charter. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 19 Canterbury City Council Minute Book No . I. 2 February 1836. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 20 Council Minute Book No. 1 Schedule of Corporation Estates 5 March, 1839. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. 21 City Treasurer's Ledger 1836-55. Canterbury Cathedral Archives . 34 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY 1840 most of the debts and loans of the Burghmote had been paid off, the council still retained a sizeable portfolio of property, (Appendix E) which, together with the tolls of the Markets, brought in a yearly income of £1,144 (Butter, Fish and Flesh Shambles £309, Cattle £193, Corn £167, Rents c. £500). Rates were levied twice (and occasionally) three times a year, bringing in something over £2,000 a year (Appendix F). Of this, the majority was collected from parishes within the old City boundary, mainly through the Poor Law Guardians. The remainder was collected by the High Constable of Kent from parish areas outside the old City. In total, therefore, the yearly income of the new Council in its first years would seem to be about £3,300. The main items of expenditure were those concerning law and order: police, Canterbury County Sessions, gaol, amounting to about £1,700 a year. Salaries of council officers and officials totalled about £500 a year, leaving perhaps £1,300 for all other expenses, including upkeep of markets and properties. Other direct responsibilities of the Council in 1839 were basically no different than those of the Burghmote - as can be seen from the list of Committees that year, viz. Markets, Survey (estates), Finance, Dane John, Byelaws and Watch. In the 1850s the Council extended its responsibilities somewhat with the establishment of a Sanitary Committee, pursuant to a Nuisance Removals Act of 1855.22 While, therefore, the new style Council had income which could regularly be obtained and judged apposite to its responsibilities, nevertheless cash flow problems occurred, particularly in the early years before the debts of the Burghmote had been fully liquidated. A statement in the City Treasurer's ledger for part of the first year of the Council's existence (from January to September 1836) shows a total expenditure of £1510 15s. 6½d., income £1,706 8s. 3½d., credit balance £195 12s. 9d. However, the credit balance was only achieved by borrowing £200 from Hammonds Bankers. Accounts for the first full year, 1836/37, show that a total of £5708 3s. 9d. passed through the books. This was swollen on both sides of the account by a loan of £1,200 from the bankers, taken out and repaid in the year. (See Appendix G for a transcript of the Council's accounts for the three years 1836, 1836-37, 1837-38}. In later years, available records indicate that some instances of short term borrowing to meet urgent bills occurred. In June 1839, £500 was 22 In 1856/57 an attempt was made to establish a central cemetery for the City but this was abandoned at that time because the public were 'lukewarm, indifferent or opposed to it'. 35 EH.PANTON borrowed for 6 months. In 1847, with Treasury approval, £1,600 was borrowed to purchase the Philosophical and Literary Institute and establish it as a museum.23 Further sales of council properties in 1845 and 1853 took place to buttress council finances, realizing £2,430 and £4,443 respectively. The latter included the sale of the old Assembly rooms in the High Street, used as a bank, to the occupant (Hammond and Co.) for £3,505, and of the old Bath House (the Dolphin) for £403. PAVEMENT COMMISSIONERS The Municipal Corporations Act noted that it would be expedient for the powers of Corporations established under Acts for Paving, Lighting and Watching to be transferred to the new Councils, but made no firm direction on the point. No such amalgamation was achieved in Canterbury until 1866, and for thirty years the new Council and the Pavement Commissioners co-existed in an uneasy and overlapping relationship, from time to time coming into direct conflict.24 One of the first tasks of the new Council, however, was to take over from the Pavement Commissioners the watching of the City, and to set up a new police force. On 12 January, 1836, the Council obtained from Curteis and Kingford, solicitors acting as Secretary t o the Commissioners, details of the costs of watching and lighting the City. The following figures were given: Peace officers and watchmen, 1832 £326 4s. including the rent of 1833 £325 6s. the Watch House 1834 £342 15s. 6d. Lamp lighting 1832 £610 19s. 8d. 1833 £609 15s. Id. 1834 £615 3s. 6d. A committee of 7 was appointed to confer with the Commissioners about the hand-over of watching to a new police force, and by 7 March, 1836, a force of 12 constables, two inspectors and one superintendent was appointed, with wages of 18s., £1 and one guinea a week, respectively. The City Treasurer's Ledger shows that the cost of the 23 Mr Thomas Davey was appointed Exhibitor at a salary of £30 p.a. At the same time, rooms were let in the museum to the Mechanical Institute at £30 p.a. 24 For a description of the powers of the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners, see P.H. Panton 'Turnpike Roads in the Canterbury Area', Arch. Cant., cii (1985), 179-183 and 'James Simmons a Canterbury Tycoon', Arch. Cant., cv (1988), 221-6, and ref. 1. above, p. 207. 36 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY police in the period 1836-47 was in the region of £1,100 a year in the early years, reducing to about £900 in the later years - much greater than the amounts listed above for the watch organized b y the Commissioners. The Kentish Gazette w a s quick t o comment unfavourably on the setting up of the force - 'six policemen we think would have been amply sufficient to maintain order and execute the civil business of Canterbury; and looking at the depressed state of business in the City the most trifling profligate expenditure ought to be sedulously avoided' .25 After much deliberation by the Watch Committee, it was eventually decided in November 1841 to reduce the force by 1 Inspector and 3 men, reducing expenditure by £200 a year. The matter of responsibility for lighting the streets of Canterbury seemed to have taken longer to resolve, but was eventually left in the hands of the Commissioners. Presumably the Council was unwilling to add an extra burden of £600 a year to the Borough Rate. The question of responsibility for keeping the streets of Canterbury adequately paved does not seem to have arisen, and therefore remained as a burden on the Commissioners. In September 1836, however, the Council resolved that some streets in the suburbs, which had come under their jurisdiction, should be lighted in the same way as streets within the walls, and notice of that resolution was brought before the Commissioners. At the same time the Commissioners wanted to have appointed more Trustees to replace those los·t by natural wastage. The Paving Act required their replacement to be by election by the Courts Leet, the convening of which lay within the jurisdiction of the Council. Accordingly the Council was requested to convene the Courts Leet to elect 36 new Trustees, 6 from each of the 6 old Wards. The Council response to this request seems to have been less than satisfactory. On 6 February, 1836, they set up a Committee to meet the Commissioners about the Courts Leet, and the lighting of the suburbs. At first they felt no necessity to accede to it. However, having recognized that the lighting of streets, including the extra ones in which they had a direct interest, lay within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners, they prevaricated throughout 1837, first deciding to hold Courts Leet, and then not to hold them. By March 1839, the Council had decided that it was not expedient to convene the Courts Leet. In response, in 1840, the Commissioners began to promote a new Paving Act for Canterbury, which, inter alia, would provide for the election of Trustees on a rotational basis in open meetings, and not by 25 Kentish Gazette 26 January, 1836. 37 F.H. PANTON the Courts Leet. On 21 January, 1840, the Mayor called a public meeting to consider the intended application of the Commissioners for a new Act, and on 19 February 1841 the Council called for powers vested in the Commissioners to be transferred to the Council, authorizing a petition to be presented to the House of Commons praying that the Pavement Commissioners Bill should not be passed into law. The petition listed ten arguments for the transfer of the Commissioners' powers to the Council, but the main thrust i s adequately summarized i n the first argument: that the existence of two Governing bodies having distinct management and control in local matters is inconsistent with good order and resolution thereof.26 Neverthel ess, despite the force fully worded petition, the Commissioners new Act was passed into law on 21 June, 1841.27 The new Act also extended the borrowing limits of the Commissioners, who then took up the request of the Council to pave and light streets in the suburbs, and on the 22 June, 1846, resolved to borrow not exceeding £5,000 for that purpose. Thereafter, the two bodies continued to exist side by side until 1865, when the City Council, with the consent or acquiescence of the Commissioners, took the initiative under a Local Government Act of 26 The other arguments set out in the Petition were: that the Commissioners of the Pavement ... find it impossible to apply the provisions (of the Pavement Act) to the present State of the City, altered as it has been by the Municipal Act 5 and 6 William IV C76 and the Parochial Assessment Act. that the 75 section of the Municipal Act provided an easy and effectual mode for the Commissioners of the Parliament to relieve themselves of the difficulties in which they are now placed, and your petitioners are convinced that if such a course were taken the Council could carry out effectually all the provisions of the Present Acts for paving etc. that by the transfer of p owers of t h e Commissioners the expenses of two Establishments instead of one would be avoided. that since the 1835 Municipal Act the Commissioners have not, as they ought to have done, applied any part of the Rate in discharge of the debt contracted by them of upwards of £10,000 and which ought to have been long since reduced and not left a burden to inhabitants of the City. that the Paving Act cannot effectually be worked by the Commissioners, and granting them further powers would be keeping up an expensive authority incompatable with the Body Corporate and highly prejudicial to the City. that no possible benefit to the City could arise from the present Bill. that the Bill emanates from the Commissioners and not from the inhabitants generally and is (we hear) not even the unanimous wish of the Commissioners. that the Legislature has already provided a remedy for such matters. 21 4 and 5 Vic. Cap 66. This act did not solve the Commissioners' problems, and they had to procure a further amending Act 7 and 8 Vic C53, in 1844. See references in 22. 38 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY 1858, to take over the powers of the Commissioners and the two corporate bodies were merged. The reasons adduced for such action were similar to those advanced in 1841 as given above. By 1865, the debts of the Commissioners had been repaid or liquidated, and the transfer was therefore an easy one financially. GUARDIANS OF THE POOR Throughout the period under review the Guardians of the Poor continued to operate as a third Corporation in the City, with powers separate from the City Council and the Commissioners. Rates for three separate bodies were therefore collected within the City, though all three bodies used the established mechanisms of the Guardians for assessment and collection purposes. The Guardians continued to act as rate collectors and compilers of electoral rolls for the Council, and of collectors for the Commissioners, in those areas for which the Guardians had poor law responsibility. For areas within the City over which the Guardians had no responsibility, the Council appointed its own assessors and collectors, and for areas outside the old boundaries but now within the jurisdiction of the Council, the High Sheriff of Kent collected for the Council. In the main, the Guardians and the Council seem to have co-existed comfortably. However, there was at least one occasion on which the Guardians and the Council disagreed, and which required a law-suit to settle the argument. In May 1861, the nomination by the Council of Edward Godfrey Tottman as a pupil at the Blue Coat School (run by the Guardians but to which the Council had the right to nominate pupils) was rejected b y the Guardians on the grounds of the good circumstances of the boy's father and that other more deserving boys had applied. The Tow n C lerk ordered the nomination to be implemented, but the Guardians refused. In January 1862, a Chancery Suit on the matter was listed. In June 1862, judgement was given for the Council, on the grounds that the Council was not obliged to nominate Poor Boys receiving relief out of or actually chargeable to the rates, provided that the Boys selected were Poor Boys of the City of Canterbury. Costs were paid by the Guardians out of the rents of their lands, and Tottman was to be admitted forthwith. SUMMARY The Government of the City and County of Canterbury under Royal Charters by a self-perpetuating Burghmote continued until 1836 and the 39 EH.PANTON main business of the Burghmote continued to be the commercial life of the City. Its revenues were in the main derived from rents of properties and tolls of markets which it owned, together with fees for the admission of Freemen. The administration of Law and Order and the conduct of Canterbury quarter sessions was in the hands of the Mayor, Recorder and those Aldermen who had served in the office of Mayor and were therefore magistrates, rather than as a responsibility of the Burghmote as a body. No regular police force existed, although the six wards each appointed yearly a Constable and a Borsholder (both unpaid), by election in the Courts Leet (chaired by Aldermen), to regulate nuisances and maintain the peace in the Wards. Commissioners of the Pavement, a separate body set up under an Act of 1787, in addition to maintaining and lighting the streets, organized paid watchmen to patrol at night. Until 1836, the attribution of the cost of the County Sessions, financial responsibility for the running of the Gaol and the general administration of Law and Order was a matter of some doubt and controversy. From 1774 onwards, the major costs appear to have been borne by the Magistrates, who in Session regularly authorized the levying of a County Rate in Canterbury to defray these expenses, and their Treasurer kept accounts separate from the Chamberlain's Burghmote accounts. The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 swept aside antiquated and corrupt structures such as the Canterbury Burghmote, putting in their place Councils whose members were subject to election for set periods, with more closely defined powers and duties. The concept of Freemen was effectively abolished, and with it went the revenues derived from entry fees. An electoral role of Burgesses was established, of citizens of Canterbury who were property owners and or rate payers. The new Council taking over in January 1836 inherited the assets and debts of the old Burghmote. Debts amounted to more than £15,000 but the value of the substantial portfolio of properties more than covered the debt. One of the Council's first tasks was to auction off sufficient property to liquidate the debts; this they achieved by the early 1840s. Another task was to set up a full-time paid police force (initially a force of 15 men), subsuming the watch duties formerly organized by the Pavement Commissioners. By petition to William IV, the Council obtained a Charter in 1846 which re-established Canterbury as a County with its own Quarter Sessions. The financial responsibility for law and order and policing rested firmly with the Council, who were given powers to levy rates to defray these and other expenses. In the early years of its existence the new Council's income amounted to about £3,000 a year, about two-thirds of this from rates, 40 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY the remainder from rents of properties and tolls of markets. On the expenditure side, law and order (including police salaries, etc.) cost about £1,700, official salaries £500, leaving about £1,300 for all other expenses including upkeep of markets and properties. Apart from its greater direct responsibility for law and order, the responsibilities of the Council were basically no different than those of the old Burghmote, and the work was carried on by sub-committees on Markets, Survey (estates), Finance, Dane John, Byelaws and Watch. By the 1850s responsibilities were extended by the establishment of a Sanitary Committee. While the power to levy rates to match expenditure enabled the Council to manage its finances better than did the Burghmote, nevertheless, in the early years cash flow problems caused the Council to borrow from time to time quite large sums for limited periods. Then, too, much of the Council's costs were borne by a direct rate on Burgesses of the City, a fact that cannot have been welcomed by those paying the extra rates. The Council and the Pavement Commissioners with their somewhat overlapping responsibilities, and both with powers to levy rates, coexisted uneasily together, sometimes in open conflict. The Act of 1835 recognized that it would be advisable for two such bodies in one borough to merge, but made no direct instruction that this should be done. In 1841, the Council called for the powers vested in the Commissioners to be vested in the Council, on several grounds, the main one being that the existence of two Governing bodies having distinct management and control in local matters was inconsistent with good order. However, it was not until 1865 that the amalgamation was achieved, by which time the Commissioners had paid off or liquidated the debts of over £12,000 they had accrued in their early years. The responsibility for paving and lighting the streets then passed to the Council. The third Corporation in the City, the Guardians of the Poor, continued to operate independently throughout the period under review. In the main, there seems to have been little conflict with the City Council, except on one occasion in the early 1860s when a dispute over the election of a poor boy to the Blue Coat School had to be decided (in the Council's favour) in the High Court. For the period from 1836 to 1865, there were therefore three bodies levying rates, though the actual collection of the rates for all three was in the main undertaken by the Guardians. 41 F.H. PANTON APPENDIX A Canterbury City Chamberlain '.s Accounts Year Charge Discharge £ s. d. £ s. d. 1815-1816 1105 15 11 3048 8 1816-1817 1117 11 9 2927 11 5½ 1817-1818 3337 4 6 4527 4 6½ (Corrected to) 1818-1819 5475 0 4 4746 6 11½ 1819-1820 1895 19 3½ 1702 12 1 1820-1821 1805 5 8½ 1715 19 5½ 1821-1822 1499 5 4½ 1292 15 5½ 1822-1823 1843 1 7½ 1522 9 0½ 1823-1824 1715 4 3½ 1219 16 4½ 1824-1825 1631 17 8½ 1317 7 4¼ 1825-1826 1787 0 9½ 1572 16 11 1826-1827 4567 5 8 4718 7 1 1827-1828 2052 3 11 2777 14 4 APPENDIXB Some Canterbury City Estates, 1828-1829 Folio No. 1. Stables Buildings and Ground in St. Michael's Lane. [Sold to Mr William Bushell for £282 13s. 4d. in 1838] 3. Two Stables, Yard and Ground in St. Michael's Lane. [Sold to Grindle and Nixon for £44 14s. 6d. in 1841] £ -1942 -1809 -1189 -1201 728 193 89 207 320 495 314 214 -151 -725 5. Six Houses with Stables, Buildings and Land in St. Michael's Lane. [Sold to Grindle and Nixon for £282 3s. 8d.] Balance s. d. 12 2 19 8 19 10½ 8 10 13 4 12 1 6 3 19 4 12 7 7 11 10 4¼ 3 9 1 4 10 5 7. Four messuages and Two tenements, Buildings and Ground in St. Michael's Lane. [Sold to Grindle and Nixon for £162 10s. in 1841] 9. Messuage or Tenement Stable Coachhouse Buildings Garden and Land in St. Mary Magdelene and St. Paul. [Let for 30 years from 1814 for a fine of £110, rent £1 5s. 8d.] 11. T hree Houses, and Garden Ground situate in the Parish of St. Paul. [Sold to David Marten for £540 in 1846] 13. Two messuages or Tenement Stables Buildings and Gardens St. Paul's, adjoining Postern Way and Bridge into the Precincts. [Sold to Mr William Bean for £145, in 1838] 15. Eleven messuages part of Fifteen in Broad Street [Sold to Mr Geo. Buckley for £302 5s. in 1838] 42 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY 17. Four messuages part of the fifteen as above [Also sold to Mr Geo. Buckley, see 15 above] 19. Piece of Land or Garden in Broad Street, St. Mary Northgate [Sold to Charles Brocknell for £96 5s. in 1838] 21. Messuage or Tenement now divided into three Dwellings Buildings and Ground in Broad Street St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to Mr. Levi Lambourne £118 in 1836] 23. Three messuages or Tenement Outhouses and Land situate St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to the widow and children of Mr Charles Rook for £522 3s. 9d. in 1846] 25. Piece of Land in Duck Lane behind folio 23. [Sold to Mr William Bligh for £92 in 1842] 27. Two messuages and Tenements Buildings Yards Gardens Land St. Marr Northgate. [Sold to Mr. Robert Sankey with two other premises in 1845] 29. Messuage and Tenement Outhouses Buildin•gs yard Garden and piece of land in front. St. Mary Northgate. 31. Land and Garden Ground St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to Mr H. Parrett (see folio 41)] 33. Messuage, Tenement or Inn called Dolphin Outhouse Yard Garden Ground in St. Mary Northgate [Sold to Mr Henry Bond for £405 in 1853] 35. Piece of land or Garden Ground St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to Mr W. Davey for £200 in 1837] 37. Piece of Land and Garden St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to George Neame for £300 in 1838] 39. Piece of Garden Ground St. Peter's and the Tower adjoining the Garden. [Sold to Mrs. Elizabeth Parker for £400 in 1837] 41. Stables Buildings Yard St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to Mr C.H. Parrett for £165 in 1839] 43. Abbot's Mill and Premises. [Sold to William Cannon for £3,500 in 1840] 45. Two messuages, tenements Gardens and Land St. Mary Northgate. [Sold to Mr John Field for £120 in 1845] 47. Meadow Land Kings Mead. St. Mary Northgate, St. Stephen's Hackington. [Sold to Miss Harriett and Miss Jane Parker for £1,040 in 1837] 48. Two messuages, or Tenements and Gardens. St. Paul without below St. Mildred's Gate against the Town Ditch. [Sold to Mr Richard Philip Pearce for £195 in 1845] 43 P.H. PANTON 49. Messuage or Tenements and Garden St. Paul Broad Street. [Sold to Samuel Prentice for £115 in 1838] 50. Six Tenements, two with Garden, Half a water well. St. Mary Northgate, St. Paul's and St. Mildred's. [Let for 500 years from 1544 at 2s. 7½d. rent per year for the whole] 51. Messuage or Tenement Buildings and Garden St. Paul, St. Paul's Street. [Sold to George Neame for £180 in 1845] 53. Three Messuages Buildings Shops Yards Gardens in St. Paul's without. [Sold to Scudamore and Elsell for £424 in 1838] 55. Hop Oast and five Messuilges Yards Gardens St. Paul's Ivy Lane. [Sold to Henry Laming for £506 15s. in 1838] 57. Eight Messuages Yards, Gardens and Land in St. Paul's Love Lane. [Sold to Mrs. Ann Cozens £811 3s. in 1845] 59. Corner Messuage lately divided into three dwellings. St. Margaret's, Stour Street. [Sold to Mrs. Jemima Beasley £340 in 1838] 61. Four Messuages Yards Gardens St. Mildred's Stour Street. [Two sold to Mr John Lancefield 1839. Two sold to Julia Tyson 1836] 63. Meadow or pasture called Green Alley. St. Mildred's Church yard. [Sold to George Neame for £155 in 1857] 64. Ground in St. Mildred's, let with other premises for 500 years from 1544. 65. Garden Ground without the Postern Gate St. Mildred's, under the wall of the City, and parcel of Dyke. [Sold to James Castle £100 in 1837] 67. The Osier Ground called Little Britain St. Mildred's without the Walls. 69. Garden Ground called Black Dyke, adjoining Don John Field. [Sold to H. Cooper for £295 in 1839] 71. Timber Yard St. Mildred. [This land was Ovington Charity land and the rent was paid to the Charitable Trustees] 72. Two adjoining plots of land with frontage on St. John's Lane. [No further information other than total size about 140 ft.-160 ft.] 73. Messuage Divided into two Houses Built by J. Simmons on site of King's Mill. [Sold to Henry Cooper for £535 in 1853] 75. Two messuages and Gardens St. Mary Bredin Northside of Ridingate. [Sold to Mr Robert Sankey for £165 in 1837] 76. Messuage or Tenement Yard and Garden situate lying and being in the Parish of St. 44 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY George the Martyr in the City of Canterbury in a certain street called St. George's. [Sold to Mr John Callaway for £444 in 1845] 79. Messuage St. George's Street. [Sold to Mr John White supervisor of Trust for £189 6s. 8d. in 1842] 81. Messuage adjoining Fish Market and partly over same, and a piece of Ground adjoining in St. Margaret's Street. [Sold to James Read Reader for £161 5s. in 1838] 83. Four Messuages and the Ball or Assembly Room over the lower storeys; Banking House known as Canterbury Bank. [Sold Hammond, Plumptre, Furley, Holten and Furley for £3,505 in 1853] 85. Messuage and Garden St. Paul's without walls over against Town Ditch. On lease for 300 years from 1599. [after a court case in 1908, when Council's claim to the property was sold in 1937 to Invicta Motors] 86. Tenement, Sign of the Ship St. Martin's. Corner of road to Deal and St. Martin's Lane. [Estate had been purchased With Robinson's Charity money 1597, and was reconveyed to the Charity in 1840 after a law-suit] 88. The Guildhall. 89. 1, 2, 3, 4 Burgate Street. Two buildings each divided into two rooms or shops, adjoining entrance to the New Market Place, and the Arched Vaults or cellars under the same. [Premises converted in 1902 to a public urinal] 90. Three several vaults or cellars lying under the south-west end of the New Market Place. 91. Market House and Market Place St. Andrew and St. Mary Magdalene. 92. Fish Shambles, St. Margaret's Street. 93. Bull Stake or Butter Market. 94. Cattle Market. Outside the walls from St. George's to Ridingate. 95. The City Conduit. Cistern in round tower over wall. [Sold to Mr Banks and others 1845] 96. The Donjon Field. 98. City Pound. Church Lane 30 ft. from the corner of Northgate Church 23 ft. X 12 ft. against City Wall. 45 F.H.PANTON APPENDIX C Burghmote membership, 22 December, 1835 John Partridge, Mayor William Fuller Boteler, Recorder Aldermen Thomas De Lasant Richard Frend John Cooper James Sladden Brown Charles Pont Wm. Hamersham Henry Cooper Osborn Smoulton Edward Kingsford John Brent Sampson Kingsford I vacancy Common Councillors Thomas Tolbutt (Sheriff) John Nutt (Town Clerk) Thomas Hacker Samuel Powell William Sharp John Lancefield Edward Plummer James Delmar Henry Keen James Ridont John Weeks George White George Barnes James Read Reader John Thomas Peirce William Mercuries Baskerville Russell Whitehead Lavender John James Williamson George Dewell Keen William Philpott (Burgate) Richard Martin Mount William Philpott (Castle St.) Willoughby Marshall Smithson Council membership, 31 December, 1835 Henry Cooper Abraham Flint William Bowman John Weeks John Goulden George Neame Thomas Cooper William Goulden John Brent James Ridout James Delmar Thomas Williamson George Ash Edward Plummer William Masters Stephen Plummer William Philpott Samuel Joseph Benjamin Miette Councillors elected Aldermen, 31 December, 1835 Edward Plummer and William Masters (Westgate Ward) Henry Cooper and Abraham Flint (Dane John) John Brent and George Neame (Northgate) Appointed that Masters, Flint and Neame shall go out of office in 1838. Councillors elected in the room of those chosen Aldermen, 12 January 1836 Robert Avann and James Roberts (Westgate) Robert Sankey, William Philpott and Russell Whitehead Lavender (Dane John) Robert Schindler (Northgate) 46 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY APPENDIX D City Treasurer's Ledger, 1836-1855 City Estates Sold Total up to 1839 £13,566 15s. 3d. in 35 lots Including: Tower and Tenement to Dean J. Parker Kingsmead and Land in Northgate to D.J. Parker Abbot's Mill Black Dyke Used to repay: £ s. Bills of late Corporation 1,328 19 Mr T. White 500 0 Ridout and Palmer 400 0 Kent Fire Office 14 bonds 1,400 0 Miss Fox 550 0 Mr N. Belsey 1,000 0 Hammond & Co. Bankers 3,000 0 Mr Tandy 900 0 R. White 1,000 0 Kent Fire Office 900 0 Miss French 500 0 11,778 19 Total cost £12,537 0 7 (including the £11,778 19 7) APPENDIX E Canterbury Corporation Estates and Markets - 5 March 1839 d. 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Lessee Estate/Market Rent p.a. Hammond and Co. Ann Frend W. Haugham and wife Bank Estate in St. Andrew's. High Street to Fish Market. Wine Vaults and Premises St. Andrew's House and Garden in St. Paul's in occupation of G.M. Haswell 47 £ s. d. 250 0 0 60 0 0 5 12 8 £400 £1,040 £3,500 £295 Expiration March 1860 March 1859 March 1844 F.H. PANTON Lessee Estate/Market Rent p.a. Expiration £ s. d. William Sharp Building at Burgate. 10 0 0 Christmas 1848 Entrance of New Market. William Simmons House and Garden 14 0 0 March 1858 adjoining King's Bridge. Holdstock and Smith 3 Buildings and cellars 25 0 0 March 1842 at New Market John and Henry Osier Ground Little 5 0 Yearly Cooper Britain, St. Mildred's. Levy, Wootten Tolls of Buttermarket, 303 0 0 March 1840 and Smith Fish Shambles and new Flesh Shambles Smith and Levy Tolls of Cattle Market 193 0 0 Lady Day 1844 Philpot and other Corn Market Stands. A 167 8 6 January I 846 coal yard adjoining Abbot's Mill Bridge unoccupied. Markes Berry House called Ship and 0 0 4 March 1854 Garden at St. Martin's Hill on lease 257 years from March 1597. Nicholas Harrison House and Garden in Bridge Street, St. Paul's in occupation James White solicitor on lease for 300 years from 28 May, 1599 William Pembroke Two Houses and Gardens 0 1 0 17 September1844 in Broad Street for 99 years from 17 September, 1745. John Freeman Two tenements, two Gardens 0 2 7 2 July, 2044 half a water well one parcel ground in North Gate St. Paul's and St. Mildred's on lease for 500 years from 2 July, 1544 The Corporation have liberty to sell the following items John Furley House and Garden in 2 15 0 March 1861 St. George's Occupied as Fire offices Osmond Saffery House and Garden adjoining 1 5 0 March 1862 the above occupied as Phoenix Fire Office Thomas F. Cozens Eight Houses and Land in 2 0 0 March 1860 Love Lane, St. Paul's. 48 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY Lessee Robert Schindler John Reoke James Warren James Warren David Frampton Henry Cooper John Theed Estate/Market Rent p.a. £ s. d. House and Garden in 2 0 0 St Pauls Street in occupation of John Branford Three Houses and Gardens 24 0 0 adjoining Northgate Church Land in Duck Lane, Northgate, 2 10 0 in occupation of William Bligh. Several Houses and Gardens in 10 0 0 Northgate House called Dolphin and 30 0 0 Garden in N orthgate Two Cottages and Land adjoining the last mentioned premises and now unoccupied. Stables and yard adjoining the said Cottages and Land, now unoccupied. Black Dyke adjoining Dane 10 0 0 John Field in St Mildred's Two houses and gardens in 10 0 Northgate Street, nearly opposite Ruttington Lane Small ground rents varying from 2d. to 6d. TOTAL Of this, Market Tolls were plus plus TOTAL 6 8 0 1,144 8 9 303 0 0 193 0 0 167 8 6 663 8 6 Therefore, property rents were 1,144 8 9½ minus 663 8 6 TOTAL 481 0 3½ Total rentals authorized for sale 134 8 0 Total rentals remaining 346 12 3½ 49 Expiration March 1860 March 1853 March 1853 Lady Day 1860 Lady Day 1861 Christmas 1864 January 1860 F.H. PANTON Property sold by auction -18 March, 1848 Messuage St. George's sold to John Calloway Two pieces of land with messuages and buildings thereon sold to Anne Cozens A messuage and land in St. Paul's on lease to Schindler sold to George Neame Two messuages Garden Land in St. Mary Northgate on lease to John Field sold to Charles Goodwin Two tenements Garden in Broad Street, St. Paul's occupation of Isaac Hawkes and David Martin sold to David Martin Two tenements and Gardens in Broad Street, St. Paul's sold to R.P. Pearse Little Bretons. One rood one perch, St. Mildred sold to George Neame Tower or Building lately City Conduit in St. Michael's sold to John Gubbins TOTAL: Estates sold 1853 Bank/Assembly Rooms sold to Hammond and Co. Martin Estate in All Saints sold to H. Cooper Dolphin (Bath House) on lease to H. Bond sold to John Washington Davey All Saints St. Alphage St. Andrew St. George St. Mary Bredin St. Mary Bredman St. Margaret St. Martin St. Mildred St. Mary Magdalene St. Mary Northgate St. Paul TOTAL: APPENDIXF Borough Rate -March 1841 £ s. d. 28 7 7 56 10 2 69 17 7 100 15 9 88 1 11 30 8 9 46 9 0 22 14 7 89 14 9 32 10 10 86 11 10 100 13 8 Holy Cross Within Holy Cross Without St. Dunstan St. Stephens Nackington T hanington Staplegate St. Gregory Archbishop's Palace Christchurch St. Augustine Total 4d. Rate £1,007 ls. 8d. 50 £ s. d. 444 0 811 3 180 0 120 0 540 0 195 0 20 0 120 0 2,430 0 3,505 0 535 0 403 0 4,443 0 £ s. d. 11 10 II 40 0 2 53 5 2 4 14 8 5 2 6 6 6 0 3 19 8 32 12 5 11 16 4 17 18 9 9 15 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY APPENDIX G City Treasurer's Ledger, 1836 Dr T.L. Burch (as Treasurer) in account with the Council Income £ s. d. Expenditure £ s. d. Arrears of Corn Market 1835 6 6 0 Arrears of Corn Market One year's rent to 6 July 1836 159 19 6 rents to 6 July, 1836 14 14 0 Corn Market Stands Interest on Mortgate 369 9 6 D.J. Parker. Balance of subs. 20 17 0 Bonds and Notes for rebuilding Corn Market Poor Rates. Tithes. 29 8 0 Three quarters rent. Bull stake 227 5 0 Land Tax Fish and Flesh Markets ¾ rent 144 15 0 Sundry Bills for Improve- 46 7 9 Cattle Market 6 July, 1836 ment of Dane John Fields Rent of Abbot's Mill 100 0 0 Wages 15 January to 32 2 7 Half-year rent sundry 180 10 0 27 August 1836 persons due 6 May Police from 13 March to 406 11 Fines for Misdemeanour 8 1 6 24 August Trees sold by auction from 36 14 9 Contingent expenses Ditto 11 11 10 Dane John Field Clothing Ditto 160 10 5 Subs. for improving some 34 11 0 Fitting up Station House 68 8 0 Court of Guardians Constables at Sessions and 9 2 0 Borough Rate 350 0 0 Municipal Election Hammond and Co note of hand 200 0 0 St. Nicholas Hospital 6 13 4 High Constable on account of 192 6 4 half year fee Farm Rent Borough Rate Out Parishes Treasurer of County Stock 4 I 10 Inspector Weights and 5 2 2½ for prosecutor Measures Stamping Coals Candles Casual 36 18 11 Samuel Hacker for dilapidation 15 0 0 Disbursement Freemen Admission Stamp Duty 28 0 0 Revising Barristers as 73 10 0 per Treasury Account Stamps and Parchment for 28 2 Freeman Admissions City Seals 8 7 0 Treasurer and Town 10 12 6 Clerk Books 13 Sept. 1836. Examined and Stationery and Printing 2 13 8 Audited by Messrs. Town Clerk, Poll Clerks 77 s 3½ I.M. Davey Salaries and Allowances 103 15 0 Thos. Dorman } Auditors S. Wilkinson Member of the Council 1,510 15 6½ Balance in hand 195 12 9 1,706 8 3½ 1,706 8 3½ 51 F.H. PANTON City Treasurer's Ledger, 1836 and 1837 Income £ s. d. Balance in Hand 195 12 9 Rent for Corn Market 102 7 6 Stands One year's rent Bull Stake, 303 0 0 Fish and Flesh Markets One year's rent Cattle Market 193 0 0 Cash on security of two 992 0 0 years' rent of Bull Stake, Fish and Flesh Markets, sum of £55 16s. being allowed for interest One and a half years' rent 330 0 0 Abbot's Mill Rents of Estates 433 5 10 Fines for Misdemeanour 14 12 0 Treasury 18 10 3 do. on acc. of St Nicholas 13 6 8 Casual Receipts 37 3 9 Court of Guardians 1,521 16 8 Borough Rate High Sheriff Out-Parishes 249 9 7 Hammond and Co on loan 1,200 0 0 Weights and Measures 3 18 9 Legacy, estate late 100 0 0 John Havenden 52 Expenditure £ s. d. Interest on Mortgage Bonds 850 7 2 Pay ditto Market Loan £55 16 0 Poor Rate, Tithes, 30 12 4 Land Tax Terry, Gardener, wages and expenses Dane John Police wages Contingent and supernumeraries Clothing for Police Station House repairs and alterations Gas Company Rent of Station House Law expenses Coals and Gas Municipal Election Grant of Sessions Chamber Trusts Report Insurance Court of Guardians for help of prisoner Presenting address to Princess Victoria General Reports Alteration in Corn Market Repair of roads Casual Disbursement Printing, Stationery Advertising Stipends and Allowances Mayor, Recorder, Town Clerk, Treasurer, Clerk of Chamber Wages Town Sergeants etc Hammond and Co do. Loan repaid Gaol Expenses do. repairs do. surgeon Sessional Expenditures Clerk to Magistrates Clerk of the Peace 58 6 7 860 12 0 55 18 2 91 14 3 32 5 6 24 3 6 25 0 0 249 11 3 36 1 11 30 7 0 38 9 6 15 0 0 30 6 0 15 18 6 20 5 0 95 5 0 78 5 0 19 12 0 71 9 8 124 17 1 210 0 0 151 15 0 200 0 0 1,200 0 0 271 17 11 75 3 4 20 0 0 210 4 4 St. Nicholas Fee Farm Rent County Gaol 104 17 2 14 10 2 13 6 8 12 15 0 Rates let to sundry persons 49 4 1 Coroner 19 0 0 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY Income Cash received for Deposit and Purchase on Sale of Estates 20 Sept. 1837 Examined and Audited by l.M. Davey Thos. Dorman } Auditors S. Wilkinson Member of the Council £ s. d. Expenditure Purchase sum of £110 0s. lOd. 3% Consols. The late Mr Homersham legacy £ s. d. 100 0 0 Balance 145 6 1 5,708 3 9 5,708 3 9 1,725 0 0 1,725 0 0 By Moiety of Duty Bills of the Corporation Balance 32 3 6 1,378 19 7 303 16 11 1,725 0 0 City Treasurer's Ledger, /837 and 1838 Income £ s. d. Expenditure £ s. d. Balance in Hand 145 6 1 Interest on Mortgate Bonds 808 0 0 Abbot's Mill 220 0 0 Poor Rate 48 17 4 Rent for Corn Market 167 8 6 Paving Rate 10 14 0 Stands Maynard's Hospital 7 0 0 Rents of Estates 338 5 4 Charlotte Trusts Report 27 0 0 Fines for Misdemeanour 17 7 0 Tithes, Land Tax 13 0 9 Treasury on ale of 13 6 8 Terry, wages and 58 3 5 St. Nicholas Hospital expenses Dane John Casual Receipts 26 19 1 County Gaol for Insp. Weights and Measures 7 13 6 maintenance of prison 37 15 0 Dividends John Homersham 4 10 0 Town Clerk's Bill 52 7 10 legacy Insurance 29 3 0 53 F.H. PANTON Income £ s. d. Court of Guardians 1,608 10 11 Borough Rate High Constable Out Parishes 356 19 6 Balance due to Treasurer Total 625 15 0 3,532 5 7 Expenditure General Repairs Clothing Town Sergeants Casual Disbursements Printing, Stationery, Advertising Coroner Police wages Contingent and supernumerary Surgeon Clothing Police Rent of Station House Gas Rates returned to sundry persons £ s. d. 153 12 8 63 10 0 65 10 1 86 18 12 38 0 6 847 8 0 43 14 0 12 13 9 77 5 5 25 0 0 9 12 8 41 17 8 Sessional expenses 167 18 10 Sargents Salary 20 0 0 Gaoler Salary 60 0 0 Clerk of Peace 23 16 10 Prosecution at Maidstone 24 19 2 Clerk to Magistrates 69 19 0 Gaol expenses 221 17 10 St. Nicholas Fee Farm Rent 13 6 8 Mayor, Recorder, Town 221 17 10 Clerk, Treasurer, Clerk of Chamber Compensation to Coroner Clerk of Chamber, Sword Bearer, Town Sergeants, Crier, Weights Inspector 20 10 0 127 0 0 3,532 5 7 Balance in hand on Sale of Estates 363 I 6 11 Sale of Estates 3,352 8 10 3,716 5 9 Less Duty etc 324 2 6 Balance 3,392 3 3 (NO AUDITOR) 54