§ MR. BAGGALLAY (Lambeth, Brixton), asked the President of the Local Government Board, If he could state who was vestry clerk and clerk to the Directors of the Poor of the parish of St. Pancras during the year 1885, and who holds those offices at the present time; is it the duty of the clerk to the Directors of the Poor to prepare, on behalf of the Directors, the lists of voters for the Parliamentary borough of St. Pancras; if not, with whom does that duty rest; and, were such lists prepared in 1885, in the office of the St. Pancras Vestry and by clerks acting under the control of the clerk to the Directors of the Poor; if not, by whom and where were the lists of voters, in fact, prepared?
§ THE PRESIDENT (Mr. STANSFELD) (Halifax)Mr. Gibbs was the Vestry Clerk and Clerk to the Directors of the Poor of the parish of St. Pancras during the year 1885, and these offices are held by him at the present time. From the information which I have received, I gather that the legal duty of preparing the lists of voters for the Parliamentary borough of St. Pancras devolves on the overseers, who are honorary officers. With regard to the preparation of the lists in 1885, the actual course adopted was, as I understand, this—the names of the persons who were qualified to be placed on the list of voters were marked in the rate book by the collectors. The overseers' list was corrected from the rate book thus marked, and this work was done in the offices of the Vestry by clerks and others specially employed and paid, some of whom were clerks on the regular staff. They were under the control of a chief clerk who, I am informed, has for 17 years past performed 1301 the duty of watching the annual list through the Press.