LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Manor Courts and Manorial Officers
Hailey's inhabitants attended Witney manor court and
view of frankpledge from the Middle Ages until the
court's abolition in 1925, and by the 16th century collectively paid the court a fixed view of 10s. 6d. twice a year. (fn. 1)
A constable and a tithingman for Hailey were elected at
the Martinmas view in the 16th century, and still in the
18th; (fn. 2) a hayward was mentioned in the 1590s, perhaps
elected, as in the 18th century, at the Hockday court. By
the 16th century the hayward held a ¼-a. close by virtue
of his office, (fn. 3) and the field-name Constable's butts
suggests that land was also attached to the constableship. (fn. 4)
Parish Government and Parish Officers
Parish officers were elected in the late 16th century and
the 17th by Witney vestry, which Hailey inhabitants
attended, though after the opening of Hailey chapel in
1761 they may have been elected by a separate assembly
for Hailey. Two collectors or overseers of the poor were
appointed from 1613, and in the 1640s there were three
overseers, of whom one acted probably for Crawley. A
surveyor of highways for Hailey was appointed in 1582,
and throughout the 17th century two were appointed
annually. (fn. 5) Surveyors continued in the early 19th century,
and at inclosure in 1824 received 1½ a. for public graveland rubble-pits. (fn. 6) No other parish land was recorded until
the commons' inclosure in 1853, when the overseers and
church- or chapelwardens received 24 a. as labourers'
allotments, and Delly green and Woodgreen (together 4
a.) as recreation grounds. (fn. 7) A police constable living in
Hailey village by 1881 was appointed by the county
constabulary; a police house was built near the Delly End
road, west of Hailey village, after 1921, but closed in the
late 20th century and became a private house. (fn. 8)
Churchwardens
Hailey township owed rates towards repair of Witney
church, and a churchwarden for the township was
appointed by Witney vestry occasionally in the late 16th
century and regularly from the early 17th. (fn. 9) From 1761 a
proportion of the rate, agreed by Witney vestry, was allocated for upkeep of the newly built Hailey chapel, the
residue being returned to the Witney churchwardens at
the year's end; local expenditure included building
repairs, provision of communion-wine, and killing of
vermin. (fn. 10) A chapelwarden, distinct from the Hailey
churchwarden, was mentioned in the early 19th century,
appointed perhaps by a separate assembly or vestry
meeting for Hailey. (fn. 11) From around 1830 the Hailey
churchwarden refused to present accounts at Witney
vestry or to surrender the balance of the Hailey rate,
prompting threats of litigation; the dispute seems to have
been settled amicably in 1849, and from 1851 Witney
vestry granted Hailey £10 a year from the general parish
rate to help meet customary ecclesiastical charges. (fn. 12)
From the establishment of Hailey-cum-Crawley
parish in 1854 there were two churchwardens with joint
responsibility for Hailey and Crawley, though both
places remained liable for repair of Witney church, and
in the 1860s Witney vestry still appointed a Hailey
churchwarden. (fn. 13) By the 1890s the Hailey-cum-Crawley
churchwardens accounted to Hailey vestry, which in the
earlier 20th century occasionally appointed sidesmen
for Hailey as well as churchwardens. (fn. 14)
Local Government From 1894
Under local government reorganization in 1894 Hailey
became part of the newly formed Witney rural district, (fn. 15)
with a parish council of twelve which elected two
poor-law guardians and rural district councillors. The
parish land awarded at the common's inclosure in 1853
was vested in the new parish council, which sold some of
the labourers' allotments in 1908. Following the transfer
of Woodgreen and West End to Witney urban district in
1898 Hailey parish council was reduced to eight, electing
one guardian and rural district councillor; the boundary
change was strongly resisted by Hailey inhabitants on
the grounds that rural-district rates were considerably
lower than those in the town, even with a special parish
rate to pay for adoption of the Lighting Act in West End. (fn. 16)
The transfer also led to protracted uncertainty over
ownership of Woodgreen recreation ground, for which
Witney urban district council agreed to pay Hailey a
nominal rent of 20s. in 1922. The ownership remained
unclear in the late 20th century. (fn. 17)
In 1974 Hailey, like the rest of the former Witney
parish, became part of the new West Oxfordshire
district, its parish council continuing to exercise the
usual limited powers in the early 21st century. (fn. 18) For
ecclesiastical purposes the chapelry retained two
churchwardens following the reunification of Hailey
and Witney parishes in 1982, (fn. 19) though the office of parish
clerk, recorded from the 18th century, was abolished by
Hailey vestry in 1918. (fn. 20)
Poor Relief
Hailey administered its own poor relief by the early 17th
century, when it had its own overseers. (fn. 21) The township's
expenditure was greatly increased by its responsibility
for West End and Woodgreen, both effectively parts of
Witney: (fn. 22) in 1775–6 the overseers spent £209, and from
1783–5 an average of £245, rising to £1,025 in 1802–3
and to over £1,900 in 1818, before falling back to under
£700 in 1823–4. The parish rate of 10s. 9d. in 1802–3
was high for the area, though expenditure by head of
population (21s. in 1802–3, 36s. in 1818, and 12s. in
1824) was nevertheless lower than in Witney's other
townships. Sixty-three adults and 120 children (18 per
cent of the population) received permanent out-relief in
1802–3, when Hailey's poor relief was apparently
subcontracted, and another 23 received occasional
relief. From 1813 to 1815 between 10 and 12 people a
year excluding children received permanent out-relief,
and another 10 occasional relief.
A small workhouse, comprising two rented houses
with accommodation for forty, existed by 1775; it had 23
inmates in 1802–3 when £6 10s. was spent on workhouse
materials and £35 10s. was earned there. (fn. 23) A former
inmate was among paupers apprenticed probably from a
local charity in the late 18th century. (fn. 24) In 1813–15 there
were 18–22 inmates excluding children, and the workhouse remained open in 1819; (fn. 25) its site is not known.
From 1834 responsibility for Hailey's poor passed to
the Board of Guardians of the new Witney poor-law
union, though the township continued to appoint two
overseers. (fn. 26) As late as 1924 the clerk to Hailey parish
council served as assistant overseer, and in 1939 acted as
rate-collector. (fn. 27)