The Act of 1697
Following the Act of 1697, newcomers to a parish were permitted to stay as long as they wished provided they were in possession of a Certificate of Settlement. This document ensured that a person was entitled to stay until they became chargeable to the parish, in which case the home parish would pay the removal costs of the person who was then relocated back into the home parish. When such certificates were issued, in order to keep removal costs to a minimum, parishes would only allow their parishioners to move to nearby parishes.