From: [email protected] > Many thanks to all of you who replied - I now understand. This was > something I knew nothing about and previously assumed that people > moved about looking for work or through work or marriage purposes. I > fing this all quite fascinating. > > If this Joseph Garnett is the one I am researching i.e. Joseph Garnett > of Kimpton (is there a place called Kempton in Hertfordshire?) then > this is a puzzle as Joseph Garnett - which one I don't know as there > were a few of them in the family - owned a canvas weaving business in > Tring. I have the will. So maybe after staying in Kimpton/Kempton > Joseph's luck improved! > > Thanks again for all your kind help.> Never make the mistake of looking at family history with a mindset of modern values! Yes, our ancestors did move around looking for work but the poor laws were harsh and if they fell on hard times and had to apply for assistance, the parish in which they were then resident was very keen not to have to keep them if it could possibly help it. Thus, the parish officers instigated an examination before magistrates who determined which was the family's official parish of residence and they issued pieces of paper called Settlement Certificates. If a family were deemed to have an official Settlement in another parish, then they were removed to that place under a Removal Order. Settlements were obtained in various ways and you should be able to discover what these were with some simple Googling. Just enter "Settle Certificates" or some similar term. One method of obtaining a Settlement was by birth or a woman took her Settlement as her husband's birth place. This led to some very cruel treatments and the worst case I ever heard of was a poor woman in Battersea, South London, whose husband died and she was left destitute. He had a Settlement in Ulverston in the Lake District and the woman was ordered to be removed from Battersea to Ulverston, a place she had almost certainly never seen in her life. She was transported some 200 miles by constables and at each county boundary she had to be "signed for" and handed over to another constable. A genealogist friend of mine found all the bits of paper still together in Carlisle Record Office and was able to reconstruct the woman's journey. One of the best lectures I ever heard. In answer to your question, it almost certainly was KIMPTON, since I can't find a Kempton in Hertfordshire. -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE