Eleventhly, of settlement by acknowledgment, &e. Of granting certificates. 1. Enactments, &c. Persons coming 1. Acknowledgment of Settlement by Certificate. The practice of granting certificates has been, in a great measure, put an end to by the 35 Geo. III. c. 101, which renders persons irremovable till actually chargeable, yet parish officers retain the power to certify as heretofore, and Abbott, C. J. in Rex v. Idle, 2 B. & A. 153, recognized the system of granting certificates as still existing, and seems to recommend the continued use of it, observing that "in many cases a labourer who might wish to come into a parish might not be able to obtain employment there, for fear that, by so doing, he might bring burdens upon the parish. But if he came with a certificate, that fear would be removed." And Bayley, J., in the same case, spoke to the like effect upon this subject, and as questions may also arise upon old certificates yet existing, the law upon this head cannot properly be omitted. It may be divided as follows: By 8 & 9 W. III. c. 30, s. 1, it is enacted, "Forasmuch as many poor persons chargeable to the parish, township, or place, where they live, merely for want of work, would in any other place where sufficient employment is to to inhabit in any be had, maintain themselves and families, without being burthensome to parish, are to bring with them a certificate under the hands of the churchwardens, &c., of the parish to which they belong. Explained by 9 & 10 W. 3, c. 11, and 12 Anne, stat. 1, c. 18, s, 2. swear to the execution of certifi Such witness to cates, &c., by 3 Geo. 2. c. 29, 6.8. any parish, township, or place, but not being able to give such security as will or may be expected and required upon their coming to settle themselves in any other place, and the certificates that have been usually given in such cases having been oftentimes construed into a notice in hand writing, they are, for the most part, confined to live in their own parishes, townships, or places, and not permitted to inhabit elsewhere, though their labour is wanted in many other places, where the increase of manufactures would employ more hands;" be it therefore enacted, that if any person or persons whatsoever, from and after the 1st May, 1697, shall come into any parish or other place, there to inhabit and reside, shall at the same time procure, bring and deliver to the churchwardens or overseers of the poor of the parish or place where any such person shall come to inhabit, or to any or either of them, a certificate under the hands and seals of the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of any other parish, township, or place, or the major part of them, or under the hands and seals of the overseers of the poor of any other place, where there are no churchwardens, to be attested respectively by two or more credible witnesses, thereby owning and acknowledging the person or persons mentioned in the said certificate, to be an inhabitant or inhabitants legally settled in that parish, township, or place, every such certificate, having been allowed of and subscribed by two or more of the justices of the peace of the county, city, liberty, borough, or town corporate, wherein the parish or place, from whence any such certificate shall come, doth lie, shall oblige the said parish or place to receive and provide for the person mentioned in the said Eleventhly, Of settlement by acknowledgment, &c. certificate, together with his or her family, as inhabitants of that parish, whenever he, she, or they shall happen to become chargeable to, or be forced to ask relief of the parish, township, or place, to which such certificate was given; and then, and not before, it shall and may be lawful for any such person, and his or her children, though born in that parish, not having otherwise acquired a legal settlement there, to be removed, conveyed and settled, in the parish or place from whence such certificate was brought. By 9 & 10 W. III. c. 11, reciting 8 & 9 W. III. c. 30, s. 1, and whereas some doubts have arisen upon construction of the said act, by what acts any person coming to inhabit or reside within any parish, by virtue of any such certificate as aforesaid, may procure a legal settlement in such parish, and whether such certificate did not amount to a notice in writing, in order to gain a settlement; for explaining thereof and of the said act, be it therefore enacted, "That no person or persons whatsoever, who shall come into any parish, by any such certificate as aforesaid, shall be adjudged by any act whatsoever to have procured a legal settlement in such parish, unless he or they shall really and bona fide take a lease of a tenement of the [(a) yearly] value of ten pounds, or shall execute some annual office in such parish, being legally placed in such office." By 12 Anne, s. 1, c. 18, s. 2, after reciting 8 & 9 W. III. c. 30, it is enacted, "That if any person whatsoever, who, upon or after the four-andtwentieth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and thirteen, shall be an apprentice, bound by indenture to, or shall, upon or after the said fourand-twentieth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and thirteen, be a hired servant to or with any person whatsoever, who did come into, or shall reside in, any parish, township, or place, in that part of Great Britain called England, by means or licence of such certificate, and not afterwards having gained a legal settlement in such parish, township, or place, such apprentice, by virtue of such apprenticeship, indenture, or binding; and such servant, by being hired by, or serving as a servant as aforesaid to such person, shall not gain, or be adjudged to have, any settlement in such parish, township, or place, by reason of such apprenticeship or binding, or by reason of such hiring or serving therein; but every such apprentice and servant shall have his and their settlements in such parish, township, or place, as if he or they had not been bound apprentice or apprentices, or had not been an hired servant or servants to such person, as aforesaid; any act or acts of parliament to the contrary notwithstanding." 3 Geo. II. c. 29, s. 8. To prevent disputes which often happen, touching the proof of certificates given by the officers of any parish or place, acknowledging any person or persons therein named, to be an inhabitant or inhabitants legally settled in such parish, town, or place, by virtue of an act of parliament made in the eighth and ninth years of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Third, and for making such certificates more effectual, be it enacted, "That from and after the twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and thirty, the witnesses who attest the execution of such certificates by the churchwarden or churchwardens, overseer or overseers, signing and sealing the same, or one of the said witnesses, shall make oath before the justices of the peace, who by the said act are directed to allow the same (which oath they are hereby authorized to administer) that such witness or witnesses did see the churchwarden or churchwardens, overseer or overseers, whose names and seals are thereunto subscribed and set, severally sign and seal the said certificate, and that the names of such witnesses attesting the said certificate are of their own proper hand-writing; which said justices of the peace shall also certify that such oath was made before them; and every such certificate so allowed, and oath of the execution thereof so certified, by the said justices of the peace, shall be taken, deemed and allowed, in all courts whatsoever, as (a) It is singular that this word is omitted by Cay, Pickering, Ruffhead, and Runnington, the most approved editors of the statutes. See note, Cald. 260. Eleventhly, Of settlement by acknowledgment, &c. 1. Enactments, &c. Indentures and certificates here tofore signed by two persons only, acting as church wardens, &c., valid. Prior decisions. Indentures and certificates of settlement valid, wardens, &c., not sworn in. duly and fully proved, and shall be taken and received as evidence, without other proof thereof; and that all certificates given in pursuance to the said act, before the said twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and thirty, shall be also taken and allowed in all courts as evidence, without other proof; provided the same are duly allowed by two justices of the peace, as by the said act is required." By 51 Geo. III. c.80, s. 1, after reciting, that "Whereas all certificates of the settlement of poor persons, which have been executed and signed by such two persons, purporting to be the churchwardens and overseers of such parishes; but, by reason that the said indentures and certificates have not been signed by distinct persons as churchwardens and other distinct persons as overseers, such indentures and certificates have been or may be deemed to be void," it is enacted, "That all indentures for the binding of parish apprentices, and all certificates of the settlements of poor persons, which have been heretofore executed and signed by two persons only, acting or purporting to act in the capacity of churchwarden as well as of overseers of the poor, and also all such indentures and certificates as shall hereafter be so signed, shall be considered as good, valid and effectual, as if the same had been executed and signed by distinct persons as churchwardens, and distinct persons as overseers of the poor, according to the said recited act; any thing therein or in any other act contained to the contrary thereof notwithstanding." Sect. 2. "That nothing in this act contained shall extend to do away or alter any decision which may have taken place in any court of law, respecting the binding of any parish apprentice, or the settlement of any poor person before the passing of this act." And by 54 Geo. III. c. 107, after reciting that whereas by 8 & 9 W. III. c. 30, it is enacted, "That persons coming to inhabit in any parish, townalthough church ship, or place, shall bring with them a certificate under the hands and seals of the churchwardens and overseers of the poor, or the major part of them, of some other parish, township, or place, thereby owning and acknowledging the person or persons, mentioned in the said certificate, to be an inhabitant or inhabitants legally settled in that parish, township, or place; and whereas divers parishes contain within themselves several townships, hamlets, or chapelries, each of which separately maintains its own poor; and whereas in such parishes the churchwardens are, for the most part, sworn into their offices as churchwardens of the whole parish, although in truth and in fact they act as churchwardens of the separate townships, hamlets, or chapelries, therein contained; and whereas divers indentures for the binding of parish apprentices, and certificates of the settlements of poor persons, have heretofore been signed and executed by a person or persons styling himself or themselves, and stated in such indentures and certificates, to be churchwarden or churchwardens, chapelwarden or chapelwardens, of the township, hamlet, or chapelry, binding such poor apprentices, or granting such certificate; and whereas such person or persons have not been sworn into the office of churchwarden or chapelwardens of such township, hamlet, or chapelry, but of churchwarden of the parish wherein such township, hamlet, or chapelry, is contained; it is therefore enacted, That all indentures for the binding of poor apprentices, and all certificates of the settlements of poor persons, which have been heretofore signed and executed, or which shall hereafter be signed and executed by a person or persons, who at the time of his or their signing and executing such indenture, or certificate of settlement, acted as churchwarden or churchwardens, chapelwarden or chapelwardens, of the township, hamlet, or chapelry, binding such poor apprentice, or granting such certificate of settlement, shall be deemed and taken to be as good, valid, and effectual, as if the same had been signed and executed by a person or persons actually sworn into the office of churchwarden or chapelwarden of such township, hamlet, or chapelry; provided always, that such person or persons shall have been duly sworn into the office of churchwarden of the parish wherein the township, hamlet, or chapelry, binding such poor apprentice, or granting such certificate, be contained, or into the office of churchwarden or chapelwarden of such township, hamlet, or chapelry." Proviso. Eleventhly, Of settlement by acknowledg ment, &c. Sect. 2. "That all indentures for the binding of poor apprentices, and all certificates of the settlement of poor persons, which shall have been heretofore signed and executed, or which may hereafter be signed and executed by the overseers of the poor of any township, hamlet, chapelry, or place, and the churchwarden or churchwardens, chapel warden or chapelwardens, acting 1. Enactments, for or appointed in respect of such township, hamlet, chapelry, or place, or &c. the major part of them, shall be deemed and taken to be as good, valid, and effectual, as if the said indentures and certificates had been signed and executed by such overseers and the churchwardens of the parish wherein such township, hamlet, chapelry, or place, is situate, or the major part of them." Sect. 3. "Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to alter, impeach, or affect, the settlement of any person, for whose removal any order of justices shall have been duly made before the passing of this act." Secondly-The Form of the Certificate and Allowance. We the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of the parish of Attested by Certain indencates of settlement declared tures and certifi valid. in the 2. The form of certificate. aforesaid. In in the county labourer, is an inwitness whereof we in the year of N. O. P. Q. IK.Overseers of the poor. We R. S. and T. U. esquires, two of his Majesty's justices of the peace in and for Justices' allowthe said county of do allow of the above written certificate. And we do ance. also certify, that N. O., one of the witnesses who attested the same, hath this day made oath before us, the said justices, that he the suid N. O. did see the churchwardens (a) Certificate acknowledging the pauper to be an inhabitant, without using the words "legally settled," has been held sufficient. Rex v. Hilperton, Eleventhly, Of settlement by acknowledg ment, &c. 3. Of the direction, &c. Certificate need the parish to which it is delivered. and overseers of the poor of the parish of aforesaid, whose names and seals are Thirdly-Of the Direction of the Certificate. The statute does not require any particular direction; and, therefore, if the certificate is not addressed at all, the omission will not vitiate. In Rex v. Lillington, 1 East, 438, Lord Kenyon said, A certificate need not be not be directed to directed to the particular parish to which it is delivered. But, he added, a certificate is not a transferable instrument from one parish to another; for then it would operate as a licence for vagrancy. That is, after it has performed its office in one parish, it cannot be taken to another for the same purpose; and so from parish to parish as often as the certificated person shall choose to remove himself. And in Rex v. Lubbenham, 4 T. R. 251, Lord Kenyon, C. J., said, there must be a particular parish in contemplation at the time of granting the certificate. [And see post, 684, 5.] But a particular parish must be intended. Rex v. St. Nicholas, in Harwich, 2 Stra. 1163. The pauper came into St. Nicholas, in Harwich, with a certificate from Woolverstone, addressed to the parish of Harwich, near Dover Court. The sessions were of opinion, as there was a mistake in the name of the parish in the address of the certificate, that Harwich could not be obliged to receive the pauper. But it was ruled they were, for it is not to be considered as a certificate to any particular parish, but as a general acknowledgment of his being a parishioner of Woolverstone, and is conclusive against them for all the world. A certificate was directed "To the churchwardens and overseers of the parish in city and parish of Holy Trinity, or any other parish in the city and county of Coventry," this certificate was held to be valid. Rex v. Lillington, (supra.) May be to parish of A, or any other county of 4. Of the signa- A certificate must and one overseer, where there are dens and two overseers, it is void. Fourthly-Of the Signature and Seals of the Certificate. The 8 & 9 W. III. c. 30, (ante, 662,) requires the certificate to be under the hands and seals of the churchwardens and overseers, or the greater part of them. Rex v. Tamworth, 3 Burr. S. C. 770. A certificate must be signed by a majority of church wardens and overseers, or it is void. Same point in Řez v. Margam, 1 T. R. 775. Rex v. Clifton, 2 East, 168. The appointment of one overseer alone for a township is bad in law, and a certificate granted by such overseer cannot four churchwar- avail; for, by the statute of Elizabeth, the churchwardens and not less than two substantial householders, are required to be nominated overseers. The statute of W. III. directs that it shall be made by the churchwardens and overseers, or the major part of them; or, where there are no churchwardens, by the overseers; and a certificate, like the present, is not granted by either one or the other of those descriptions of persons. The 13 & 14 Car. II. requires, at least, two persons to be appointed overseers for a township. Therefore, this latter statute requiring two to be appointed, and the statute of W. III. having required the certificate to be executed by the overseers, where there are no churchwardens, and there having been but one overseer appointed by the township, by whom this certificate was granted, I am of opinion this was void. Per Grose, J. So if signed by one overseer of a township. A parish certificate, purported to be granted in 1761 by A., the only churchwarden, and B., the only overseer of the parish: Held, that it must be taken to have been a good cer tificate, because In Rex v. St. Margaret's, Leicester, 8 East, 332. A certificate signed by two churchwardens, one of whom was sole overseer, was decided to be a nullity. To remedy which inconvenience, the 51 Geo. III. c. 80, s. 1, was passed; for which see ante, 664. Rex v. Catesby, 2 B. & C. 814. Removal of George Cox, from Badby, to Catesby. Case: The respondents produced a certificate dated the 10th of May, in 1761, stating that W. Goodman, the only churchwarden, and E. Webb, the only overseer of the parish of Catesby, did certify the parish of Badby, that they did acknowledge Thomas Cox to be settled in Catesby.—Bayley, J. Upon the principle established in several cases it seems to me that this is a good certificate. In Rex v. Hinkley, Lord Ellenborough and Le Blanc J., both say, that if any intendment can by law be made to support an indenture of apprenticeship, the Court must make that intendment. In that |