Parish of St Werburgh
Derby 21 st Nov 1833

Sir,

Herewith I send you the diet table of this parish, as acted upon since December 1826: and also the alterations introduced therein, in June last"; and in giving my opinion upon the two options, I should say that I am at present favourable to the old system of weighing the vituals, I am aware that there is an objection to this system, in not being able to send the food to the paupers as hot as when it is cut for them, and delivered out immediately, but in my opinion, this objection is over ruled by the good arising both to the Governor of the Workhouse, and also to the parish, in the first case the Governor, under the weighing system, cannot be charged by the pauper, with favouritism having a rule to go by, and we are quite aware that some appetites would never be satisfied, and in the second case it is an advantage to the parish for I find, under the new system, more food is consumed, although you will I am pretty certain think with me that the weight of food allotted to each was amply sufficient; under the old system all the responsiblity is taken from the Governor; under the new every thing depends upon the management of the Governor, and he requires much more watching.

Perceiving you are making enquires so as to enable you to make a report and arrange plans for the better management of your own Parish I trust you will not deem me officious, overmuch, if I offer you my opinion upon some of the best means of conducting parish business, and in the first place I would commence with the Rates.

The Rates should be levied upon every person, as equally as possible, and when once levied they should be so arranged as to be collected by quarterly payments, for then the burden is born fairly, many people leaving houses quarterly; - as to the collection I would compel every inhabitant to pay so that all property, and not individuals, should bear its equal share, and for the advantage of the parish I would allow a compound upon small houses, similar to what I described to you at Derby; next --- and very important, a Committee of Gentlemen should be appointed to watch the Collector, that he does his duty and does not return houses void that are not so, a column being set apart in your rate Book for that purpose, and obliging him to make up his Book, and lay it before the Committee every quarter; next --- and most important is the managment of the outdoor poor, here everything depends on the parson, who has to deal with the Class of Men, the generality of which are of the most depraved and dissolute habits; I always take the names and ages of every fresh applicant, with that of his wife and children and enter them in a Book so that upon any future application I may know them and be able to ask what is such and such a child getting, and who working for; having obtained a knowledge of the earnings of the whole family I then give the man employment to make up the remainder; according to general rule this employment should always be of a hard description, such as paupers do not like to stop long at. The principal work we have here is gravel getting and breaking for the roads.

I give one shilling per yard for gravel getting and for breaking according to the family I have to relieve.

Say	Man, Wife & 4 children	2/- per yd earnt	12/-
	Man, Wife & 3 children	1/8 per yd earnt	10/-
	Man, Wife & 2 children	1/6 per yd earnt	9/-

and so on accordingly, when this is broken it is laid upon the roads, and if I had it to sell would be worth 5/- per yard, thus you see allowing me two shillings per yard to pay for tools, carting and wages of men to lay it on my parish roads and which brings it about neither profit nor loss; a strict enquiry should be kept up of the family earnings and bringing the partys often before the Vestry.

I do not like the Manchester plan of Ticketing paupers for a certain time, say 3 months, as I conceive the paupers will feel that ticket to be a license to them to receive the money whether they have occasion for it or not, and after the ticket is given no more enquiry is made until another application is made; next --- is the abominable expense of Bastardy, and here I am scarcely able to give an opinion, not being allowed in this place to know what would be the effect of my own opinions This much I would say that I would punish, as much as possible, the Father and Mother, but at the same time I would not starve to death the unoffending Infant.

I have thus given you my humble opinion, upon what I consider the principal management of Parish Business; for Laws, Rules, and plans are of no avail without they are properly managed and administered, and I shall feel most happy if the litttle I have been able to do should be and advantage in assisting your endeavours for the good of your parish. If you print your report I should be happy to receive one, and also a statement of your expenditure and management.