Most English Parish Councils have their own origins in the feudal system of rule put in place by William I after the Norman Conquest. The manor was inhabited by the Lord and his family, his employees, headed by a steward and the tenants who were all bound together by a series of obligations and services.
Assemblies, or committees, known as courts, regulated the life of the manor and were held regularly with tenants obliged to attend. The courts settled disputes and the officials, who were elected annually, could not be paid and so their role was a duty rather than profession.
Initially, the Lord of the Manor was the most important local dignitary, but gradually his role was assumed by the priest. As the Church gained power and wealth, the manor courts declined and the local focus of authority shifted from the manor to the parish church. The chancel of the church was sacred but the main body of the building served as a sheltered meeting place and parish hall. At this time attendance at church was normal, indeed enforceable, and the parson was religious advisor, school master and registrar. The tithe, an early local income tax on the produce of the land, was paid to the parson. Many meetings were held in the church, the hub of village life, and such meetings were known as vestry meetings. Early unemployment relief was administered by the church, and in 1601 the vestries began to levy a poor rate.
Over the years the committees dealing with the administration of these funds became notoriously corrupt. Reform was essential and the Poor Law Act of 1834 transferred most of the poor law administration from the parochial authority to an early system of local government, but by 1870 the system of local government had become so very complicated and unwieldy that it took 20 years of legislation and experimentation to sort it out.
The Local Government Act of 1894 which created Parish Councils caused uproar in a society where the squire, the parson and sometimes the school master were leaders of the village by virtue of birth, superior education and relative wealth. Parish Councils were regarded as an intrusion by their most influential parishioners.
The hierachical society of 1894 took many years to accept and adapt to the changes, which saw a shift of authority from the church to institutions of a civil origin, status and affiliations namely the Parish Meeting and Parish Council.
Until 1914, many Parish Councils were locally opposed, often derided and poor. Despite this, Government increased their functions and the work done by Parish Councils is now the oldest form of local government remaining in England.