Overseers Accounts

The Overseers Accounts for the parish record the payments of money to the poor of the parish and the collections of the Poor Rate levied on property occupied by the better off of the parish.

 These accounts were made up by the men and one woman, Mrs Mary Aggas in 1727, who were elected by the parishioners at the Annual Parish Meeting.  In some years the election is witnessed by those present and the property holding qualification of the new Overseers is listed next to their names.

Loddon Overseers Accounts survive from 1720 to 1836, but there are gaps in the records.  The books are held at the Norfolk Record Office as PD 595/22 - PD 595/2.

The Accounts  provide information on property ownership and occupation. Sometimes the property is named, especially farms, mills and public houses

They also give an insight into the number of and reasons, for people being in receipt of assistance. Much more work needs to be done.

Names of Overseers found in the Accounts

The 1742-1743 extracts below are preceded with an explanation of the Poor Laws.

Extracts of the Overseers of the Poor Accounts 1742-1743 .

It is possible  to track the ownership of certain properties over a period of years.

Ownership of the Loddon Mills in the Overseers of the Poor Accounts