On the morning of Friday 3rd June 2022, a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Coffee Morning & Exhibition was held in the Village Hall. This included a special historical display, created by Alan Langley, Judy Hodgetts and Russell Burton, that featured past Royal Celebrations in the Village and details of 200 years of Parish Council (and its predecessors) Village support.
This page includes the content of the Parish Council Village Support section of the Exhibition. Please click the link below to open the page for the Royal Celebrations section of the Exhibition.
https://eastfarndon.org/platinum-jubilee-exhibition-royal-celebrations/
200 Years of East Farndon Village Administration
Over the years, the organisations responsible for village administration and support have changed, starting with the Vestry through to the current day Parish Council:
Before 1822, the organisation was known as the Vestry, from 1822 to 1894 the Select Vestry, from 1894 to 1977 the Parish Meeting and from 1977 to the present day, the Parish Council
Before 1822: The Vestry
By the Tudor period, an informal system of local government had evolved, whereby each parish ran its own affairs through a meeting of the ratepayers, those who had enough property to vote and pay rates, under the chairmanship of the rector, vicar or curate. These meetings were normally held in the church vestry.
Read the full pdf document by clicking the heading or the photo.
To see more photos with descriptions related to the history of the Vestry, please click this link: https://eastfarndon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Platinum-1-pictures-Overseers-Vestry-Select-Vestry.pdf
From 1822: The Select Vestry
It’s easy to imagine that in many towns and larger villages the Vestry meeting could be crowded and unwieldy. Because of this, there was a gradual change to the Select Vestry, a slimmed-down body like a cabinet, which might be able to come to decisions more easily. It was in 1822 that we find the first mention of a Select Vestry in East Farndon
Read the full pdf document by clicking the heading or the photo.
To see more photos with descriptions related to the history of the Select Vestry, please click this link: https://eastfarndon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Platinum-2-pictures-vestry-workshouse-MP.pdf
From 1894: The Parish Meeting
Over the closing 30 years of the 19th century, there was a gradual change from the days when the parish vestry was almost like the government of an independent republic to a more centralised and standardised method of local government across the country.
Read the full pdf document by clicking the heading or the photo
To see more photos with descriptions related to the history of the Parish Meeting, please click this link: https://eastfarndon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Platinum-4-pictures-1907-1938.pdf
From 1977: The Parish Council
The first meeting of the Parish Council, the successor to the Parish Meeting, was in July 1977, Cameron Fraser was elected Chair. Although he had not been in the village long, he had experience of a Parish Council from the village he had moved from. Bob Boucher was the Vice-Chair and Diane Ashby was the Clerk.
Read the full pdf document by clicking the heading or the photo.
To see more photos with descriptions of the history of the Parish Council, please click the following links:
https://eastfarndon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Platinum-5b-1977-The-Parish-Council.pdf
https://eastfarndon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Platinum-5c-1977-The-Parish-Council.pdf
Please click the link below to open a pdf document to view the past and present Chairs and Clerks of the East Farndon Parish Council:
You can also visit the current Parish Council home page on this website by clicking this link: https://eastfarndon.org/parish-council/
This website has a decicated set of pages covering the 2022 East Farndon celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. You can click this link for direct acces: https://eastfarndon.org/platinum-jubilee-celebrations/