Poor law union

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Poor law union
  • Also known as:
  • Poor law district
CategoryAd hoc board
Location
Rural sanitary district
Government
Subdivisions

A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland.

Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of

public assistance
to county and county borough councils.

England and Wales

The English Poor Laws[1] laid out the system of poor relief that existed in England and Wales[2] from the reign of Elizabeth I[1] until the emergence of the modern welfare state after the Second World War.[3] Historian Mark Blaug has argued that the Poor Law system provided "a welfare state in miniature, relieving the elderly, widows, children, the sick, the disabled, and the unemployed and underemployed".[4]

The functions of poor law unions were exercised by boards of

guardians, partly elected by ratepayers, but also including magistrates
.

Some parishes, many in the metropolitan area of London, were able to avoid amalgamation into unions because of earlier local acts that regulated their poor law administration. The

30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) allowed the Poor Law Board to include these parishes in unions.[5]

Until 1894 the guardians consisted of

justices of the peace along with other members elected by rate-payers, with higher rate-payers having more votes. JPs were removed and plural voting
stopped in 1894, but nobody actually receiving poor relief was allowed to vote.

Their areas were espoused for other functional districts, such as civil registration of all births, marriages and deaths which became law from 1837 and rural sanitary districts established in 1875.[6]

In 1894 rural districts and urban districts were set up based on the sanitary districts (and therefore indirectly on the unions). In 1930, under the Local Government Act 1929, the poor law unions were finally abolished and their responsibilities transferred to the county councils and county boroughs.

See also:
List of Welsh Poor Law Unions

Ireland

Main articles:
List of Irish Poor Law Unions

Under the

Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Service in 1948.[11]

Scotland

The

Poor Law in Scotland was reformed by the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845. Poorhouses (as workhouses were generally known in Scotland) were organised at parish level.[14] The Act permitted, but did not require, parishes to join to build and operate poorhouses. A union of parishes operating a single poorhouse was known as a Combination.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b "Encyclopedia: English Poor Laws". Eh.net. 7 May 2002. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  2. ^ "The Poor Law: overview". Victorianweb.org. 8 November 2002. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  3. ^ "British social policy 1601–1948". .rgu.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  4. ^ Blaug, Mark. "The Poor Law Report Re-examined." Journal of Economic History (1964) 24: 229–45
  5. ^ Poverty and Poor Law Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain, 1834–1914, David Englander (2013)
  6. ^ "The implementation of the Poor Law". Victorianweb.org. 12 November 2002. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  7. ^ "Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ^ "History & Heritage > Poor Law Union > Poor Law Unions and their Records > The Union". AskAboutIreland. An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  9. S2CID 163411266
    .
  10. ^ Nicholls, George (1856). A History of the Irish Poor Law: In Connexion with the Condition of the People. J. Murray. p. 423. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  11. ^ a b "History & Heritage > Poor Law Union > Poor Law Unions and their Records > The Establishment of the Poor Law System". AskAboutIreland. An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Browse > Census > 1871 > Ireland > Alphabetical index to townlands of Ireland, 1871". HISTPOP.ORG. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  13. ^ "27/05/1925: Adaptation Of Children's Act 1908 Order 1925". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  14. ^ Higginbotham, Peter. "The Workhouse in Scotland". The Workhouse Web Site. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  15. ^ Higginbotham, Peter. "Poorhouses in Scotland". The Workhouse Web Site. Retrieved 7 March 2011.

External links

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