Whichever size a goad was, I have no doubt that the builder did not lay four
acres of land with the cottage. If an earlier suggestion that a goad was a
rod, pole or perch, then the land was 2 by 8 perches of length or 16 perches
of square measure. 40 perches make one rood 4 roods make one acre. The
cottage thus had 0.1 acres.
On the other hand, the mischief that the stature was seeking to address was
the building of cottages that would be occupied by people who would have no
work and so would become paupers who would be a charge on the parish under
the Poor Law. I am sure I have seen reference to a cottage offending
against the 1589 Act, but this not being followed by a prosecution, because
the justices (at Quarter Sessions) considered that there was no shortage of
work for the cottager, in an area where there was an established local
manufacture. Furthermore there was a well-established system by which an
employer who wished to bring workers into a parish was required to sign a
bond to indemnify the parish against liability for the worker due to his
becoming a pauper; in effect the employer agreed that the worker would stay
on his pay roll.
Peter King
-----Original Message-----
From: From: Local-History list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Hideaki Inui
Sent: 27 May 2005 19:05
To: Peter Wickham King
Subject: Re: 'Goad'
On Thu, 26 May 2005 10:13:44 EDT, Michael Holland <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>According to the OED, to which all local historians should turn when
stumped
>for the meaning of an archaic word, a goad can mean the following.
>
>A measure of cloth equalling 41/2 feet (first used in 1482}
>
>A land measure equalling 9 feet (first used in 1587)
>
>Michael Holland
>
Legislation of 1589 made it illegal to erect cottages with 4 acre grounds
on commons and wastes . in my case(1630s), the ground assigned to errect a
cottage for a poor family was 2 goad in broadth and 8 goad in length. Any
help or ideas are always appreciated.
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