A report on English Poor Laws and Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601

Although many deterrent workhouses developed in the period after the New Poor Law, some had already been built under the existing system. This workhouse in Nantwich, Cheshire, dates from 1780.

The Poor Laws in the aftermath of the Black Death (pictured), when labour was in short supply, were concerned with making the able-bodied work. (also see: Sturdy beggar)

The Old Poor Law or Elizabethan Poor Law is sometimes referred to as the "43rd Elizabeth" as it was passed in the 43rd year that Elizabeth I (pictured) reigned as Queen.

Advertisement for builders to build a new Workhouse in north Wales, 1829

Nassau William Senior argued for greater centralization of the Poor Law system.

Infighting between Edwin Chadwick and other Poor Law Commissioners was one reason for an overhaul of Poor Law administration.

David Lloyd George, architect of the Liberal welfare reforms which were implemented outside of the Poor Law system and paved the way for the eventual abolition of the Poor Law.

Punch criticized the New Poor Law's workhouses for splitting mothers and their infant children.

The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, "43rd Elizabeth" or the Old Poor Law was passed in 1601 and created a poor law system for England and Wales.

- Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601

The first complete code of poor relief was made in the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597 and some provision for the "deserving poor" was eventually made in the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601.

- English Poor Laws

4 related topics with Alpha

Workhouse

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Institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment.

The 'Red House' at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk was founded as a workhouse in 1664.

"The workroom at St James's workhouse", from The Microcosm of London (1808)

Former Cleveland Street workhouse, London W1, photographed in 1930. It later became part of the Middlesex Hospital.

Contrasted Residences for the Poor (1836), by Augustus Pugin. He was critical of Kempthorne's octagonal design shown above.

The Carlisle Union Workhouse, opened in 1864, later part of the University of Cumbria

St Mary Abbots workhouse, Kensington, London

Dinnertime at St Pancras Workhouse, London, 1911

A group of children at Crumpsall Workhouse, 1895–97

Ripon Union Workhouse, completed in 1855, replaced an earlier Georgian era workhouse. It now houses a museum.

Thomas Allom's design for St Mary Abbots workhouse in Kensington, London, is noticeably different from those produced by Sampson Kempthorne a decade earlier.

Watling Street Road Workhouse, Preston, built in 1865–1868

Eventide: A Scene in the Westminster Union (workhouse), 1878, by Sir Hubert von Herkomer

The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601 made parishes legally responsible for the care of those within their boundaries who, through age or infirmity, were unable to work.

So keen were some Poor Law authorities to cut costs wherever possible that cases were reported of husbands being forced to sell their wives, to avoid them becoming a financial burden on the parish.

Out-door relief: Poor people coming to a workhouse for food, c. 1840

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

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Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey.

A "Poor Law Bastille": 1835 model design of a workhouse to hold 300 paupers...

... 'classified' (men, women, girls, boys) and segregated accordingly

One of the "Somerset House Despots": Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis, Chairman of Poor Law Commission 1834–39

It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Law of 1601 and attempted to fundamentally change the poverty relief system in England and Wales (similar changes were made to the poor law for Scotland in 1845).

Swing Riots

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The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising in 1830 by agricultural workers in southern and eastern England, in protest at agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions.

A letter threatening to burn Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, sent in 1830 and signed "Swing".

The rioters directed their anger at the three targets identified as causing their misery: the tithe system, requiring payments to support the established Anglican Church; the Poor Law guardians, who were thought to abuse their power over the poor; and the rich tenant farmers who had been progressively lowering workers' wages while introducing agricultural machinery.

Between 1750 and 1850 farm labourers faced the loss of their land, the transformation of their contracts and the sharp deterioration of their economic situations; by the time of the 1830 riots, they had retained very little of their former status except the right to parish relief, under the Old Poor Law system.

Nassau William Senior was an advocate of the centralization of the Poor Law system.

Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws 1832

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Group set up to decide how to change the Poor Law systems in England and Wales.

The writers of the report suggested radical changes to English Poor Laws:

A central authority to implement the policies and to prevent the variation that in practice occurred under the Old Poor Law.