Ancient laws define us as paupers

Administrators are bound by statute, not conscience

- by TOM THOMSON

MANY of us consider parish councils to be sleepy administrative bodies - issuing bin schedules, managing allotments, and signing off on minor planning applications.

But hidden beneath the surface is a legacy that stretches back centuries, one rooted in the Elizabethan Poor Laws, where parishes wielded legal power over the lives of the poor, the sick, and the dependent.

That power has never truly ended. It has simply switched lanes and changed names.

Today, local and parish councils continue to exercise powers eerily similar to their 17th-century predecessors: control over public records, taxation, licensing, and the presumption that individuals are wards not sovereign, living men and women, but administrable entities under the care of the state.

By investigating the historical framework of parish control, we can show that the registration of birth - originally a church function - had become the commercial foundation for civil identity.

This identity, crafted without full disclosure, presumed the living man or woman to be a dependent or pauper of the parish. That assumption has been built into modern governance.

In response, some people have initiated lawful corrections. Using a blend of common law, equity, General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and spiritual foundation, they have begun issuing notices:

• to the General Register Office, declaring their standing as executors and beneficiaries of their respective estates.

• to local councils, rebutting any presumption of wardship.