Statute of Cambridge 1388
| Act of Parliament | |
 Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1872 | |
Status: Repealed | |
|---|---|
| Text of statute as originally enacted |
The Statute of Cambridge 1388 (
wapentake, city, or borough where he was living, without a testimonial, showing reasonable cause for his departure, to be issued under the authority of the justices of the peace. Any labourer found wandering without such letter, was to be put in the stocks until he found surety to return to the town from which he came. Impotent persons were to remain in the towns in which they were living at the time of the act; or, if the inhabitants were unable or unwilling to support them, they were to withdraw to other towns within the hundred, rape, or wapentake, or to the towns where they were born.[2]
It is often regarded as the first
poor law, for within its many restrictions each county "hundred" was made responsible for relieving its own "impotent poor" who, because of age or infirmity, were incapable of work. However, lack of enforcement limited its effect.[3]
Legacy
The act was extended to
Poynings' Law 1495 (10 Hen. 7
c. 22 (I)).
The whole act was repealed for
21 Jas. 1
. c. 28).
See also
References
- ^ "Timeline - Poor Laws, Workhouses, and Social Support". Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ Senior, Nassau. "Poor Law Commissioners' Report of 1834". Online Library of Liberty.
- ^ Workhouses.org Old Poor Law
Poor laws of the British Isles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Poor laws by territory |  Nantwich workhouse | |
| Old Poor Law | ||
| Relief systems | ||
| New Poor Law | ||
| Changes after 1834 | ||
| Decline and abolition | ||
| Other | ||
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