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<p>A <b>vestry</b> was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a <a href="page.php?w=parish">parish</a> in <a href="page.php?w=England">England</a>, <a href="page.php?w=Wales">Wales</a> and some <a href="page.php?w=English_colony">English colonies</a>.  At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fifth of the budget of the British government. They were stripped of their secular functions in 1894 (1900 in London) and were abolished in 1921.</p>

<p>The term vestry</p><p>
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