| Administrative History | By the Act of 17 Geo II c5 (1744), a justice of the peace could commit rogues, vagabonds and beggars to the house of correction and by means of a pass with an examination annexed, have them taken to their last legal place of settlement or to their place of birth. A duplicate of the pass and examination, signed by the justice, was to be sent by him to the next quarter sessions to be kept on record.
Earlier passes also survive under earlier legislation foreshadowing the procedures set out by the Act of 1744. It is possible that these were part of the sessions bundles, but all the passes were placed together in the 19th century and have been kept together here.
Passes were in effect removal orders addressed in the first place to the constable of the place where the vagrant had been taken into custody. Earlier surviving passes often relate to vagrants from other counties and their passes are addressed jointly to the constable (as above) and to the master of the house of correction within Derbyshire to whom the vagrant was to be committed by the constable. The master of the house of correction was then to commit him to the house of correction in the next county on the route back to his adjudged place of settlement. In later passes, the vagrant was handed over from constable to constable and the houses of correction were not referred to. Finally, the vagrant was to be delivered to the church or chapel wardens (ex officio overseers of the poor) and overseers of the poor in his place of settlement. The pass or examination may be receipted on the back to show that the vagrant has reached his destination.
The Act of 5 Geo IV c83 (1824) abolished passes except for removals to Scotland and Ireland, but there are none after 1809. |