This entry is extracted from the Belford Overseers' of the Poor account book, 1824 to 1836 . These books provided a record of families or individuals in the parish who received financial assistance from the church. Their need for this assistance may have resulted from someone losing a partner, or becoming too ill or too old to work. This particular entry relates to the amounts paid by individuals towards the maintenence of the poor within the parish. William Clark had to pay £5 4 shillings and 6 pence. This is equivalent to £190 by todays values. The Clark family were major landowners in Belford.
Many of the Belford parish records are deposited with Northumberland Archives Service. Previously they were kept at the church. For many years church records were stored in the Parish Chest. This tradition dates back to medieval times. The Chest would usually be found in the vestry and kept under lock and key. All church records would be stored there. For example, baptism registers, poor relief records and churchwardens accounts would all be found within the Chest.
