North Mymms Church 140 Years of History 1762-1901 - Chapter 2

This year the church was repaired (see note above - "Beer for the Workmen") and the accounts contain a list of the subscribers towards the cost; these were,

The Duke of Leeds (North Mymms Place) £21 0s 0d
Mrs. Sambrooke (Gobions) £12 12s 0d
John Cocks (Brookmans) £10 10s 0d
Charles De Laet (Potterells) £10 10s 0d
Rev. Mr. Webster (vicar) £5 5s 0d
Thomas Mawe (Steward to the Duke of Leeds) £1 1s 0d

The Duke of Leeds and Chas. De Laet carted the old lead to and from Hatfield, free - it was re-cast; but Mr. R. Lewis, the People’s Warden, made this entry:-

"June 4th. Putting up my Horse two days at Hatfield to weigh the Lead. £0 1s 0d."

By the end of October the repairs were evidently complete, for on October 25th is entered:- "Win. Hurril for fetching water to clean the Church l0s 10d." and though no record exists of the names of the workmen employed on the repairs by one of those strange twists of history we have an entry of those who cleared up after them. Betty Underwood was paid £1 2s 0d. "for cleaning the Church" and she was assisted by "John Hawke’s Daughter who received seven shillings."

As mentioned in the foreword , the Churchwardens and their assistants were responsible for everything in the parish. Thus in 1765 appears this entry: "Thomas Mawe, Churchwarren, Pd a Letter from the Hospital Concerning Law the Madman - 10 pence". (The hospital would be Bethlehem, usually known as Bedlam.)

The only other reference concerning "madmen" is for the year 1847 - October 11th:-

"Paid F. Hart Conveying J. Flacon Betthlem Hospital 10s 0d
"Paid W. Goulbourn expences for 3 persons to London 12s 6d

The two following items are given without any comment:-

"1765 Pd A Almanack and Chamber Pot for the Vestible 1s 0d
"1790 Dec 31. Chamber pot and Almanack 1s 3d

Here is another curious entry:-

"1767. Paid to a Man and woman sitting up all night watching the Vestry Chimney being a fire 5s 0d

In the year 1769 - 70 we find the Churchwardens paying: -

"Advertisement for a Schoolmaster "Paid for Post Letters from different Schoolmasters 17s 0d
"Paid for Post Letters from different Schoomasters 8s 5d

Probably this appointment was for the Parish Workhouse (letters were not prepaid at this period.)

by H.M. Alderman

Chapter 3 - Relief for the Poor and a Nation at War
Index - North Mymms Church 140 Years of History
Foreword - Why H.M. Alderman wrote the book.

Editor's Note: The text has been left as it appeared in H.M Alderman's original work. For those too young to remember pounds, shillings and pence, the currency set out above as it was before we changed to a decimal system for currency in 1967. It works out as follows. £1 = 20 shillings (s) and 1 shilling = 12 pennies (d). So £1 10s 0d = £1.50 today and 1s = 5p.