Jane Bounds - a Cuckney Mill apprentice
Under various Poor Law Acts anyone found outside their legal place of settlement, which was usually the place of birth, could be taken before the magistrates of the county and "examined". This could result in their removal back to the chargeable parish. This extract of the settlement examination of Jane Bounds, originally from Edmonton in Middlesex, outlines her life from birth to her employment at William Toplis and Company's mill at Cuckney and what happened when she left. It is dated September 1809 (reference: DD/4P/67/71).
See the removal order in more detail here [PDF 3006KB] 
See a transcript of the removal order here [PDF 20KB]
After earning wages at Toplis & Co for only a month Jane worked for a local farmer for just over a year for an annual wage of £3 before being hired by a tailor for another year. She was then employed by a widow for a year but, due to an argument, left one week before her time expired thus forfeiting her full wage and leaving her destitute at the mercy of the poor rate of the parish and requesting permission to remain settled in the area. It is interesting to see that Jane was unable to sign her name at the end of the document and could only put her mark.
