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Ancestry Daily News
6/10/2003 - Archive
Surveyor of the Highways
It was an undesirable and thankless task. From 1555 until 1835, according to
an Act of Parliament, every parish cared for its roads and had a Surveyor of
the Highways to monitor conditions, and arrange and supervise the work parties.
Needless to say, it wasn't easy to compel neighbors to spend several days a
year doing hard labor on local roads—even if it was the law.
Refusing to accept the post could result in a fine, which goes to show the unpaid
post was unpopular. Many parishes solved the problem by rotating the task around
among those eligible to serve. In the county of Essex, which has some very good
records, it is apparent that many surveyors were of high social standing. The
reason appears to be associated with access to gravel; the surveyor could dig
anywhere in the parish without asking permission. By being surveyor of the highways,
a landowner had some control over the source of gravel (Emmison, F.G. Catalogue
of Essex Parish Records, 1966).
Looking After Roads
Until 1555 the maintenance of local roads had been a manorial duty, but the
feudal system was on the way out and the parish was being assigned additional
responsibilities. The Tudor legislation required every parishioner to provide
four days of labor each year for each plough land in tillage or pasture that
he owned. Those who owned a draught of horses were required to make a similar
commitment and to make available a cart and two men. Later the four days of
labor was extended to six—no doubt a reflection of the state of the roads.
The free labor required that the men of the parish be organized and supervised,
and a record was kept of those who failed to contribute. All the work was done
under the supervision of the justices of the peace and therefore reports had
to be made to quarter sessions. In theory, the parish surveyor (or way warden
as he might also be known) was expected view the roads regularly, and schedule
and supervise labor. He maintained accounts and three times each year he was
required to "present" the state of the roads to the justices.
What happened in practice did not always conform to expectations. Many refused
to work; some went out to the roads but then spent the time begging from passersby;
some surveyors assigned work for their own personal benefit. In addition, the
justices did not actively look for problems; they assumed all was well unless
they heard otherwise (Tate, W. E. The Parish Chest. 1983). The condition
of the roads declined and by 1700 there was a serious problem.
The problem was resolved in part by the creation of "turnpike trusts"
to manage sections of roadway. The money collected from the users at the gates
paid for maintenance. The trust was usually authorized by an act of Parliament
because it needed to be incorporated in order to acquire land. The National
Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk)
holds many records relating to roads and their upkeep, or neglect, in records
of the courts (e.g., exchequer and the assizes) and in records of local government,
which eventually became responsible for the turnpike roads.
Records of the Parish Surveyors
There was no need to keep a permanent set of accounts unless the surveyor was
likely to be brought before the justices for failing to do his duty. When one
surveyor handed over to another, the records were destroyed once the new surveyor
had a grasp of the situation. It is also possible that the general neglect meant
that few records were kept.
These records are short on genealogical fact, but your ancestors no doubt took
their turn at work or served as surveyors. In addition, learning about local
roads may turn up useful clues about local travel and migration of labor. There
are some simple steps needed to survey the possibilities for a parish.
A keyword search for "England surveyor highway" on the Family History
Library Catalog CD produced 209 listings—a small proportion, but more than
I expected. Also, you can search according to a place name, checking under the
"church records" and "public records" topics. Next I experimented
with Access to Archives (www.a2a.pro.gov.uk/),
the common resource for records in archives across England. A search for "surveyor
of highways" generated a long list of record offices with links to descriptions
of the retrieved items.
The websites of county record offices are another place to look. In addition
to surveyors' records within parish chest collections, there may be the presentments
made to the justices at the courts of quarter sessions.
Have you tried to picture the environs of an ancestor? Records such as these
can add interesting details, and if you have contemporary maps or drawings you
begin to get a feel for what the parish was like. Also, these records are part
of what is known collectively as the "parish chest," and any serious
study of a parish should incorporate all of its components.
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing
in English and Scottish family history. She is the author of Your English
Ancestry (2nd ed, 1998) and Your Scottish Ancestry (1997) and she
is a regular contributor to several journals including Genealogical Computing.
Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor
for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University.
She teaches online for the family history program of Vermont College and has
lectured at conferences in Canada, the United States, and Australia. She is
president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
Sherry's MyFamily.com Class Schedule
Sherry will be teaching the following classes online at MyFamily.com.
For more information see the links provided:
Irish Research Class, 17 June 2003
http://ancestry.myfamily.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=3560&sourceid=831
English Family Trees, 19 June 2003
http://ancestry.myfamily.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=3567&sourceid=831
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