at the harvest of 1801 was looked forward to with
as great a degree of anxiety as ever the children of Israel looked for
a sight of the Promised Land!

What the memorable year of scarcity really was in a locality like this
is best understood by means of the poor rate.

The poor rate in Royston was very heavy during the previous twenty
years, averaging about six or seven shilling rates in a year. In the
old Parish Books are preserved all the rates made, and the months in
which they were made, for Royston, Herts., and from these entries it is
possible to trace the effect of the scarcity for each year. In 1796
there were ten shilling rates made, in 1797 nine, in 1798 (a more
favourable year than the others) eight, after which it went up with
bounds. In 1799 the rates rose to eleven, and in 1800 to eleven 1s.
rates and three of 2s. each, or 16s. in the pound. In 1801 the demands
became so pressing that to have collected the requisite amount in
shilling rates {61} would have necessitated the making of a fresh rate
almost every fortnight all through the year! The Overseers therefore
made out the rates in 2s. at a time, and for that memorable year of
scarcity eleven 2s. rates were necessary for the relief of the poor, or
a rate of 22s. in the pound! A shilling rate produced about L42 for
Royston, Herts., at that time (now it is about L200), and the total
amount of rate required for that single year was L944 15s. 2d., or more
than three times the average of even the scarce years of the two
previous decades! The Overseers for these memorable years were Thomas
Wortham and E. K. Fordham for 1800, and Joseph Beldam and John Phillips
for 1801.

In some places in Essex the rate was as high as 48s. in the pound for
the year 1801, or more than twice the amount of the rent of the
property rated!

The highway rates, levied upon the land to make up the tolls sufficient
to repair the turnpike road from Royston to Caxton, were in arrear for
1801 and the whole of the next year!

To understand the effect of the misery upon the whole of the people,
War had brought Napoleon to the front in a manner which caused many in
England to take a gloomy view of the future, and to express the opinion
that "the sun of England's glory is set"! While British ships were
upholding British heroism in the Mediterranean, the hungry mass of the
people at home were paying more attention to the sun in the heavens and
the promise of harvest. Happily th