A series of subsequent laws made Vestries responsible for extra functions like the care of the poor of the parish and the upkeep of roads. However, during the 19th century, Vestry functions were gradually eroded and finally the 1894 Local Government Act made provision for elected Parish Councils for villages that had a population in excess of 300. Vestry meetings became a thing of the past and the new Parish Councils were given additional powers some of which were(1):<\/sup> The 1894 Act(A1)<\/sup> gave Parish Councils the power to raise funds by precept on the Overseers’ income that was derived from money raised by a levy on agricultural land so income for Parish Councils was very limited. Consequently, we can see from the minutes of meetings that in order to pay for major projects Martham Councillors normally made a good case to Public Meetings and then asked for donations to pay for the project. What we would now call donations were called subscriptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Martham Parish Council became the guardian of several charities i.e. the Educational Charity, the Fuel Charity and the Poor Land Charity that owned 74 acres of land at Cess<\/a><\/em> that were listed in the 1812 Inclosure Award<\/a><\/em> as plot numbers 418A, 555, 567 & 573 as shown on the map below. The land was let to help raise money that was then used to support the poor and destitute \u2013 see Overseers below. Plot 573 included Common Farm which is mentioned frequently in the minutes regarding repairs and letting to a tenant farmer. Plot 418a was a small piece of land that is said to have had the Town House<\/a><\/em> on it which was used to house the poor before the workhouse was built at Rollesby. <\/p>\n\n\n The number of seats for each new Parish Council was based on its population. There was a great deal of competition for a seat on the new Martham Parish Council in 1894 and 24 people contested the eleven available seats.<\/p>\n\n\n At first, elections took place annually and new Councillors had to be elected at a Public Meeting in time for their annual year of service to begin on 15th<\/sup> April. The first Martham election took place at the Board School<\/a> <\/a><\/em>on 4th<\/sup> & 17th<\/sup> December 1894 and the results were published in the Norwich News on 22nd<\/sup> December 1894 as shown below. The winning 11 Councillors attracted a total of 1,080 votes between them against a total population of 1,177. Taking into account that the 13 people who missed out on getting a seat but also attracted support the overall percentage turnout was probably over 95% of the population which is an enormous number and indicates the popularity of the new arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n BLYTH, George William (1847-1929).<\/strong> Born at Caister-on-Sea, George married Louisa Green who was a Martham girl and they lived all their lives in Repps Road<\/a><\/em>. He was a bricklayer and builder at the time of his election but later became a market gardener and cow keeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BRACEY,<\/a><\/em> William James (1847-1922).<\/strong> Originally from Great Yarmouth, William was a very successful self-employed builder and brickmaker. He had relocated to Cess Road, Martham in the early 1890\u2019s. It is quite possible that William was the builder of Bracey’s Terrace, Cess Road, where he lived. In 1896 his son, William Jnr. was also elected to the Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FUTTER, Henry (1861-1938).<\/a><\/em><\/strong> Born into a lowly background, by 1894 Henry had become a respected carpenter, joiner and builder. He married Arletta Skoyles in 1880 and they lived in the village for the whole of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div> GRIMBLE, George (1846-1922):<\/strong> Born in Martham in 1846 George was a small-time farmer who lived for many years at what is today Brickfield Farm<\/a><\/em> in Staithe Road.<\/a><\/em> He was the father of William who was also a Councillor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GRIMBLE, William Frederick (1875-1940).<\/strong> William was born at Brickfield Farm,<\/a><\/em> Staithe Road.<\/a><\/em> He was the youngest of the first Parish Councillors. His parents were George & Emily and George ran the farm. William moved to Great Yarmouth before 1901.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JEARY, Herbert Wilson Snr (1866-1931).<\/a><\/em> <\/strong> Born in 1866, Herbert represented the fourth generation of butchers in his family. They had a long-established business in White Street<\/a><\/em>. In a long career he was also a Justice of the Peace, District Councillor and County Councillor.<\/p>\n<\/div> JOHNSON, Frederick Groom (1870-1927). <\/strong>Frederick was born in 1870 at Ormesby St Michael. By 1894 he was living with his widowed mother at Elmside House<\/a><\/em>, White Street<\/a><\/em> in Martham helping out with their large farm. In 1895 he married Eleanor, nee Playford who was from Potter Heigham. <\/p>\n\n\n\n LOVE, John (1850-1903). <\/a><\/em><\/strong>He was the Lord of the Manor in 1894 and lived at The Hall,<\/a><\/em> Hall Road. As such he was the largest landowner in the village at the time. He was originally from Crostwight, Norfolk where his family owned a substantial amount of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PYMAN, James Rix (1860-1899).<\/strong> Born at Scanning, James purchased a very successful grocer and draper business situated in White Street<\/a><\/em> that had been run for many years by the Linford family<\/a><\/em>. James took over the store in about 1884\/85 and called it Pyman\u2019s Store<\/a><\/em>. There are a number of lovely photographs of it that you can see by clicking HERE.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ULPH, William Gladstone (1868-1940). <\/strong>During 1894 William lived at Grange Farm, <\/a><\/em>Cess Road where he was a gentleman farmer of about 270 acres but he was not a local, having been born in Middlesex and died in London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n WARNES, William Grimson (1843-1929). <\/strong>William was born in Martham in 1843. At the time of the election in 1894 he lived at Damgate<\/a><\/em> and was a market gardener and farmer of about 20 acres. He was related to the very large Warnes and Watson families of Martham so perhaps he was able to draw on their support to help make him a winner in the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A list of all the Councillors who held office during the first five years of the Council can be seen at Appendix A1, which also gives their occupations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first meeting of Martham Parish Council was held on 2nd<\/sup> January 1895 when the new Councillors declared their Acceptance of Office. Meetings during this period were held at the former First School in School Road<\/a><\/em>, which at the time was called the Board School <\/a><\/em>because it was run by an elected Board as required under the Elementary Education Act 1870. The meetings were probably held there because the 1894 Act(1) <\/sup>required schools to provide a venue free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n The regulations under which Parish Councils operated were not very tight in the beginning and the influence of the Church was not easily diminished. In fact, in the early days, the Chairman would usually be the vicar and would at times be co-opted on to the Parish Council if he had not been elected. This is what happened at Martham and the Rev. George Merriman <\/a><\/em>chaired most of the meetings from 1894 until he died in 1905 but he did not have a vote. Statutory Parish Council meetings were held quarterly but there was so much business to be dealt with that meetings were held more or less monthly and some overran so that adjournment meetings had to be held a few days later to complete business. The Council played an important part in the community and in order to manage its many responsibilities appointed a number of sub-committees that looked after various matters like Charities, Allotments<\/a><\/em>, Footpaths<\/a><\/em> and Common Farm etc They also appointed working parties for one-off topics like pond cleaning, lighting and management of marshes and dykes. The sub-committees and working parties then reported to the Council meetings. In some ways this was a continuation of Vestry meetings and a small number of influential members retained control of what was going on. Over time, the sub-committees reduced in number and if anything more public meetings were held in order to gauge community wishes and gather volunteers. In addition to the Parish Council meetings, an open Public Meeting had to be held once a year at which Councillors were elected for one year, with the old Council retiring and the new Council coming into office on 15th<\/sup> April. This applied from 1894 until 1900 when the law changed(S2)<\/sup> and those elected from 1901 onwards enjoyed a term of three years. (Much later, in 1972(S3),<\/sup> the term of office became four years). Members of the public often used Annual Public Meetings to ask questions and suggest village improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n The recording of the minutes from 1894 to 1899 was carried out using three minute books. One book was used to record the main MPC meetings. A second book was used to record MPC Committee and occasional meetings and a third book was used to record Parish Meetings including both annual and special meetings. All three books had preprinted page numbers but they all started from No1 so sometimes things can get a bit confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no record of any Councillor giving up or moving away part way through his term of office. No ladies were elected to become a Councillor during the first five years of the Council even though the 1894 Act(A1)<\/sup> expressly allowed ladies to stand for election. In fact, the village had to wait about another 50 years before a lady was elected to become a Parish Councillor and she was Mrs Kate Adelle Francis <\/a><\/em>the local shopkeeper and businesswoman who was elected on 21st<\/sup> June 1949. There is a list of the minutes of meetings for the first five years of the Council in Appendix A2 but here is a copy of the minutes of the first Parish Council meeting held on 2nd January 1895.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources:<\/strong> \n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Local-Government-Act-1894.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Trustees-Poor-Lands-1812-maps-703x1024.jpg\")
Martham\u2019s First Election<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/First-election-results-Norfolk-News-22_12_1894.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe First Eleven Councillors were:-<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Henry-Futter-b1861.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Herbert-Wilson-Jeary.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nMeetings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Board-School-early-photo-300x179.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Minute-Book-233x300.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/1895.01.02-MPC-minutes-p4-579x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/1895.01.02-MPC-minutes-p5-905x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nKey Parish Council Events 1894 to 1899.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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An Overseer.<\/strong>
In 1894 the new Parish Councils became responsible for a wide range of functions, including the administration of the Poor Laws, which were crucial for the support of the poor and infirm. Overseers were responsible for the collection of the Poor Rate, which was a property tax based on the value of real estate. They ensured the Poor Laws were properly administered, including the provision of relief to those in need. They took action if Poor Rates were not paid and could impose fines in cases of failure to pay. They represented the Council to ensure it met its responsibilities for the proper operation of workhouses and managing the care of the inmates which in the case of Martham was a joint operation with the workhouse at Rollesby.
<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
S1. 1894 Local Government Act c.73 ss.5-10.
S2. The Parish Councillors (Tenure of Office) Act 1899.
S3. 1972 Local Government Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAppendix A – List of Councillors from 1894 to 1899<\/h3>\n\n\n\n