By Andrea King

Poor Law records for Mid Sussex can be traced back many years. In medieval times the very poorest in society were cared for in the parish where they lived or had a right of settlement and the church had a duty of care as laid down in the scriptures. Eventually the government stepped in with the 1601 ‘Act for the Relief of the Poor’. However, this meant the possibility of a different approach in less altruistic areas with some vagrants moved on to avoid anyone taking responsibility for them. An example is a movement order from Cuckfield to Anglesey.

“Memorandum that William Roberts, being taken as a vagrant person was whipt heere, according to the law in that behalfe, the xvith day of August 1618, and had a passe made thence to travayle to Llangefyne, Angelsey, Wales, and thirtye days allowed him to travalye thither.”

Some rural parishes had only a few elderly people to look after but the larger towns had much more of a problem. This was the basis of care for many years until the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the eighteenth century when each parish elected an overseer for the poor. These were men of standing in the area and they had the task of maintaining the families and setting them to work.

Funds for this initiative came from the levy of a poor rate on other inhabitants and eventually this led to the establishment of workhouses so that those in need of assistance were forced to live together.

To read more of Andrea’s article and to find out what the Parish of Cuckfield officially gave notice to its citizens regarding, pick up a copy of June’s Cuckfield Life and turn to page 38.
Cuckfield Museum

By Phillipa Malins

Cuckfield Museum may be closed at the moment but we are still coming across new and exciting discoveries thanks to thoughtful members of the public. Recently a remarkable album from the time of the First World War was shown to one of our Museum trustees.

The album belonged to Joyce Bevan of Woodcroft, now the Manor House in Manor Drive. Joyce would have been 15 when the album starts at the end of 1914. It takes the form of a photo album/scrapbook recording family events at the house where she lived but also other houses in the area which the family visited like Borde Hill, Copyhold and Colwood Park. Life seems to have continued in a fairly untroubled way with holidays in Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Wight but we also see the impact of the war on the village. There is a programme for an entertainment at The Queen’s Hall by the Post Office Rifles who were billeted in the village during the first winter of the War and little sketches by Joyce of soldiers dancing with young women adorn the pages. One of the most charming features of the album is the care and skill which have gone into compiling it. Decorations in the form of sketches, watercolour paintings and collage pictures surround the photographs and other mementoes. Another aspect of the War was the VAD Hospital in The Queen’s Hall and it seems that Joyce became a nurse – there is a wonderful little sketch on the hospital page of her sitting up in bed with her long plaits, yawning because it is 6.30am! There are photos of the nurses with their patients in the Hall, of great interest to the Museum.

The red leather bound album is in remarkable condition, still bearing Joyce’s initials E.J.B on the front. Local residents remember that she became Mrs Baines and lived at Barnsnape House. We hope this marvellous find will inspire others who might have overlooked treasures to get in touch!

More photographs of the scrapbook inside Cuckfield Life magazine and more information at www.cuckfieldmuseum.org

The poor in 18th & 19th century Cuckfield - Cuckfield History

Cuckfield Museum's WWI Woodcroft Scrapbook