LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Profits of court were
received for Burghill manor in 1303, (fn. 24) and for
Robert de Sapy's portion of Westbury manor in
1337, (fn. 25) but no court rolls and no later reference to a
court on any of the divisions of Westbury manor
have been found. Court rolls for Rodley manor
survive for 1541, 1546, 1550-2, (fn. 26) 1716-30, and
1751-69, (fn. 27) and draft rolls and court papers for most
years between 1671 and 1840. (fn. 28) View of frankpledge,
pleas of vetitum namium, and assize of bread and ale
were among the wide range of liberties claimed by
the Earl of Lancaster on Rodley manor in the
1280s, (fn. 29) and two views of frankpledge were being
held each year in the early 15th century. (fn. 30) From
the late 17th century the court, combining a view of
frankpledge and a court baron, met twice a year in
spring and autumn, usually at one of the inns in the
manor; special courts baron dealt with admissions
to copyholds when required. (fn. 31) In the mid 16th
century pleas of trespass and covenant were heard,
assaults and bloodshed were presented, and the
assize of ale was enforced in the court; (fn. 32) there was
an isolated presentment of bloodshed in 1682, (fn. 33)
and in 1752 a plaintiff brought an action in the court
by writ of right. (fn. 34) Wrecks, which were the property
of the lord of the manor, were presented in 1692
and 1717. (fn. 35) The court elected tithingmen for Elton,
Rodley, and Adsett in the mid 16th century, (fn. 36) but
from the late 17th to the early 19th century it
elected four constables, for Rodley, for Elton, for
Cleeve, Adsett, and Stantway, and for Chaxhill and
Bollow; (fn. 37)
c. 1775, however, officers for those
tithings were called tithingmen. Of the tithings of
the parish outside Rodley manor, Upper Ley and
Northwood were then under one tithingman while
there was one each for Lower Ley and Boseley. (fn. 38)
Churchwardens' accounts survive for various
years in the period 1664-84, and for 1747-1811, (fn. 39)
overseers' accounts for 1666-93, 1709-28, 1749-72, (fn. 40)
and 1804-35, (fn. 41) and vestry minutes from the mid
18th century. (fn. 42) There were two churchwardens and
three overseers in the mid 17th century and later;
surveyors of the highways were appointed for each
tithing. (fn. 43) The usual forms of poor relief were
administered in the late 17th and earlier 18th
centuries. (fn. 44) The parish was apprenticing children in
1673, (fn. 45) and between 1700 and 1827 usually 5
children and sometimes as many as 10 were apprenticed each year. (fn. 46) The church house on the west side
of the churchyard was divided into several tenements for the use of the poor in 1675, (fn. 47) and in
1737 paupers were housed there and in several
other houses adjoining. (fn. 48) In 1789-90 the parish
built a workhouse, (fn. 49) and a manager was appointed
for it in 1792. In 1795 a Gloucester firm of pinmakers contracted to employ the paupers in the
workhouse for 7 years. (fn. 50) In 1803 the workhouse had
10 occupants, who earned £25 in that year, (fn. 51) and
in 1815 39 paupers were housed there. (fn. 52) An assistant
overseer was appointed from 1818, and a parish
doctor was retained from 1831. (fn. 53) The cost of relief
maintained a gradual increase from the late 17th
century but after the mid 18th century it rose
rapidly until c. 1818, after which it remained fairly
stable. (fn. 54) The number of people on permanent relief
remained at c. 70 during the first 35 years of the 19th
century but those on occasional relief numbered 102
in 1815 compared with 20 in 1803. (fn. 55) In 1835
Westbury was included in the Westbury Union, (fn. 56)
which bought the workhouse for its own use. (fn. 57) The
workhouse, which stands west of Westbury village
street, comprises a long three-story brick range,
apparently incorporating the original parish workhouse, and a larger brick range behind, evidently
built in 1874, (fn. 58) in which a chapel is included. The
buildings later housed a county council welfare
home, called Westbury Hall, which was closed in
1969. (fn. 59) A local board of health for Westbury was
formed in 1863, (fn. 60) and in consequence the parish
became an urban district under the act of 1894, (fn. 61)
but it was taken into Gloucester Rural District in
1935. (fn. 62)