This year (1994) sees the centenary of the creation of Parish Councils in this country and to commemorate the formation of Froyle Parish Council in December 1894, we are publishing this booklet which will tell the story of some of the trials and tribulations of a small Parish Council in North-East Hampshire. But where did the whole idea begin?
Until well into the nineteenth century the most common form of local administration was the parish vestry. These were meetings of the male ratepayers which carried out the civic functions of a parish and which sometimes had authority in the expenditure of the church rate - they took their name from the fact that they originally met in the church vestry. Rates were levied for poor relief and the repair of highways. The Vestry appointed Churchwardens, Sexton, Overseers of the Poor, the Surveyors of the Highways and Constables
The last half of the century brought about a revolution in government. The Victorian Civil Service became a professional body, with people being employed on merit, rather than as a result of wealth, and the revolution spread outwards. The Local Government Act of 1888 established County Councils and in 1894 another Act transferred the civil functions of vestries outside London to the new Parish Councils and Parish Meetings. All county and parliamentary voters were given one vote each. In rural parishes, an open meeting, known as the Parish Meeting (to which all ratepayers and lodgers might come), would convene and elect a committee to govern. Those electors - including women - who had been resident for 12 months were eligible for election. It is important to remember that the right to vote in parliamentary elections was only given in 1867 to the working man in towns and the agricultural labourer had to wait until 1884 to receive his franchise. This new power increased the interest in the new forms of local government.
Froyle’s Parish Council was born at 6.30pm on Tuesday, December 4th 1894 in the Schoolroom in Upper Froyle - now a private house. The proceedings were minuted - as are all meetings - and so began a form of local government that would guide the fortunes of the village for the next 100 years.
This booklet must by necessity be only a glimpse of the work of the Parish Council. We have tried to select events that are memorable and sometimes amusing. The actual quotes from the books are printed in italic text. If you want to research further, the original Minute Books are held by the County Records Office at Winchester, and are available for anyone to read - we also have copies at Little Greystones.

Annette & Chris Booth, Autumn 1994