Vestry

A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies, which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquially as the "vestry". At their height the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fifth of the budget of the British government. They were stripped of their secular functions in 1894, and were abolished in 1921. For many centuries, in the absence of an incorporated city or town council, the vestries were the sole de facto local government and presided over communal fundraising and expenditure until the mid or late 19th century under local established Church chairmanship. They were concerned with the spiritual and physical welfare of parishioners and their parish amenities, both secular and religious, by collecting local taxes and taking responsibility for functions such as the care of the poor, the maintenance of roads, minor law enforcement, maintenance of the church building, etc. However, more serious punitive matters were dealt with by the manorial court and hundred court, or the Justices of the Peace. The functions could vary from parish to parish dependent on accepted custom and necessity, and the willingness of the community to fund them. This was because their power derived from custom and was only occasionally ratified by the common law or asserted in statute such as the Elizabethan Poor Law. Nonetheless, at the high point of their powers before removal of Poor Law responsibilities in 1834, the vestries spent not far short of one-fifth of the budget of the British government. During the 19th century, their secular functions were gradually eroded, and finally in 1894 the secular and ecclesiastical aspects of the vestries were separated in local government reforms, by the creation of civil parishes. The vestry's remaining secular duties have been performed in England since then by parish councils.