further increase in this respect. In this year there is a separate account in respect of eighteen allowances "paid to Volunteers' wives and familys" (sic). The annual expenditure by this time amounted to about £600.
By 1815 the "first month's" expenditure had risen to about £6$. There is a curious entry here, "Cash to R. H.'s family previous to their departure to New South Wales," the father having probably been transported.
In 1832 the poor-books come to an end. The total monthly expenditure for the first month, 1831-32, is £90 in respect of seventy "allowances" and fifty-seven "extraordinaries," and the total expenditure for the year £996. Forty-two rates were made at £23, 13s. 3½d. as against forty rates at £5, 0s. 6d. in 1786.
There are a few other items scattered about in the old books which have some interest for various reasons. In 1805 the parish had to pay a fine of £10, 18s. 6d. "for not providing a man for the army of reserve"—a severe penalty, indicating the tension of the times. Bastardy was increasing fast, and reached a maximum of nine allowances in a single month in 1829, and throughout there is a constant record of attempts to enforce maintenance upon putative fathers by attendance at sessions and elsewhere. Upon one occasion, £13 is paid "for a journey to Yorkshire to apprehend Francis Cotton on account of bastardy." We may doubt whether the journey repaid its expenses. Quaint expressions, the meaning of which is obscure to the writer, occur from time to time. Thus, very frequently, A. B. or C. D. "towards a turn." Perhaps some reader may be able to explain this. Some of the names appear upon the books almost from the cradle to the grave. Thus, one "Phebe Hains" appears about 1787, as "in distress, 1 shilling"; six
