Parish Clerk - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition parish-clerk

Definition :

Parish Clerk. This office is of extreme antiquity--next indignity to the clergy, says Leland; but it is a temporal office, Lawrence v. Edwards, (1891) 2 Ch 72. He is now appointed by the incumbent and the parochial church council jointly. The remuneration and terms depended on the custom of the particular parish and on the agreement made with him--58 Geo. 3, c. 45; 59 Geo. 3, c. 134; 19 & 20 Vict. c. 104; 11 & 12 Geo. 5, No. 1. See note Key and Elph. Prec., 12th Edn., vol. i, p. 118. The Company of Parish Clerks is the most ancient in the City of London; yet they stand at the bottom of the list, and have neither livery nor the privilege of making their members free of the City. See 2 Steph. Com., 7th Edn. 700.

For the appointment of the clerk of the parish council under the Local Government Act, 1933 (23 & 24 Geo. 5. C. 51), see s. 114, ibid.