Poor Law & Welfare

The Old Poor Law

The Poor Law was established by Acts of 1597 and 1601, and placed responsibility for the poor firmly in the hands of the parish. The 1601 Act ordered the appointment of overseers of the poor and their accounts often show payments made to the poor. Funds were derived mainly from the poor rate.

From the 17th century parishes were allowed to have a workhouse. However, they could be quite expensive and so, under Gilbert's Act of 1782, some parishes were allowed to combine into unions to build a workhouse and give outdoor-relief.

The New Poor Law

A Board of Guardians, chosen from local gentry, clergy and major tradesmen, controlled the unions. In turn they appointed permanent officers, mainly the relieving officer and workhouse master, to administer to the poor. They operated through a series of committees and most of the records produced are purely administrative with few references to individual cases. The Board of Guardians remained in existence until 1930 when local authority Public Assistance Committees replaced them.

For a list of sources for further study Click here.

Records relating to the old Poor Law are also likely to have survived in parish records. Parish records for the Wolverhampton area are held at Staffordshire Record Office.