The 'Poor Law Act 1601' was also known as the 'Elizabethan Poor Law', '43rd Elizabeth'
[1] 'Old Poor Law' after the passing of the
Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834. At the time of passing it was refered to as the '1601 Act for the Relief of the Poor'.
[2]
It formalised earlier practices of
poor relief distribution in
England and
Wales[3] and is generally considered a refinement of the
Act For the Relief of the Poor 1597 that established
Overseers of the Poor.
[4] The 'Old Poor Law' was not one law but a collection of laws passed between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The system's administrative unit was the parish, it was not a
collectivist or centralised government policy
[3] but a piece of legislation which made individual parishes responsible for
Poor Law legislation. The 1601 saw a move away from the more obvious forms of punishing paupers under the Tudor system towards methods of 'correction'.
Several amending pieces of legislation can be considered part of the Old Poor Law
[6]. These include:
★ 1662 -
Poor Relief Act 1662 (Settlement Acts)
★ 1723 -
Workhouse Test Act
★ 1782 -
Gilbert's Act
★ 1795 -
Speenhamland
Origins
Main articles: Origins of the Poor Law system
The origins of the Old Poor Law extend back into the fifteenth century with the decline of the monasteries and the breakdown of the medieval social structure. Charity was gradually replaced with a compulsory tax levied at parish level.
[2]
Main points of the 1601 Act
★ The
impotent poor were to be cared for in
almshouse or a
poorhouse. The law offered relief to people who were unable to work: mainly those who were "lame, impotent, old, blind"
★ The
able-bodied poor were to be set to work in a House of Industry. Materials were to be provided for the poor to be set to work
[8]
★ The
idle poor and vagrants were to be sent to a
House of Correction or even prison.
[2]
★ Pauper children would become apprentices.
Text of the Act
Reginae Elizabethae Anno 43 Chapter 2
Description
Relief under the Old Poor Law could take on of two forms
[10] -
indoor relief, relief in side of a workhouse, or
outdoor relief, relief in a form outside of a workhouse. This could come in the form of money, food or even clothing. As the cost of building the different workhouses was great outdoor relief continued to be the main form of relief in this period.
[10]
Relief for those too ill or old to work, the so called '
impotent poor', was in the form of a payment or items of food ('the parish loaf') or clothing also known as
outdoor relief. Some aged people might be accommodated in parish
alms houses, though these were usually private charitable institutions. Meanwhile able-bodied beggars who had refused work were often placed in ''
Houses of Correction'' (
indoor relief). However, provision for the many able-bodied poor in the workhouse, which provided accommodation at the same time as work, was relatively unusual, and most workhouses developed later . The 1601 Law said that poor parents and children were responsible for each other - elderly parents would live with their children.
The 1601 Poor Law could be described as '
parochial' as the administrative unit of the system was the
parish. There were around 15,000 such parishes based upon the area around a parish church. This system allowed greater sensitivity towards paupers, however this system also made tyrannical behavior from Overseers possible.
Overseers of the Poor would know their paupers and therefore be able to differentiate between the deserving and undeserving poor. The Elizabethan Poor Law operated at a time when the population was small enough for everyone to know everyone else, therefore people's circumstances would be known and the
idle poor would be unable to claim on the parishes'
poor rate.
The act levied a poor rate on each parish which Overseers of the Poor were able to collect. The who had to pay this rate were
middle-class home owners although the rate was at one time a type of income tax.
[2]
The 1601 Act sought to deal with 'settled' poor who had found themselves temporarily out of work - it was assumed they would accept
indoor relief or
outdoor relief. Neither method of relief was at this time in history seen as harsh. The act was supposed to deal with beggars whom were considered a threat to civil order. The Act was passed at a time when poverty was considered necessary as fear of poverty made people work.
In 1607 a
House of Correction was set up in each county. However this system was separate from the 1601 system which distinguished between the settled poor and 'vagrants'.
Criticisms of the 1601 Act
Implementation and variation
There was much variation in the application of the law and there was a tendency for the destitute to migrate towards the more generous parishes, usually situated in the towns. There was wide variation in the amount of poor relief given out. As the parish was the administrative unit of the system there was great diversity in the system. As there were no administrative standards parishes were able to interpret the law as they wished.
Some towns, such as
Bristol,
Exeter and
Liverpool were able to obtain by-laws which established their control onto several of the urban parishes within their jurisdiction. Bristol gained a private Act of Parliament in 1696 which allowed the city to create a 'manufactory' so that the profits from the paupers work could be used for maintenance of the poor relief system.
Outdoor relief
Outdoor relief continued to be the most popular form of relief for the able-bodied poor even though the law described that "the poor should be set to work". In 1795 the
Speenhamland system was introduced as a system of
outdoor relief - again there was variation within the system with some parishes subsidising with food and others with money. Some parishes were more generous than others - there was no uniformity to the system. The
Speenhamland system was popular in the south of England - elsewhere the
Roundsman and
Labour rate were used. The system was designed for a pre-industrial society,
industrialisation, a mobile population, a series of bad harvests during the 1790s and the
Napoleonic Wars tested the old poor law to breaking point.
Settlement
Main articles: Poor Relief Act 1662
The 1601 Act states that each individual parish was responsible for its 'own' poor.
Arguments over which parish was responsible for a pauper's poor relief and concerns over migration to more generous parishes led to the passing of the
Settlement Act 1662 which allowed relief only to established residents of a parish - mainly through birth, marriage and apprenticeship. A pauper applicant had to prove a 'settlement’. If they could not, they were removed to the next parish that was nearest to the place of their birth, or where they might prove some connection. Some paupers were moved hundreds of miles. Although each parish that they passed through was not responsible for them, they were supposed to supply food and drink and shelter for at least one night.
Individual parishes were keen to keep costs of poor relief as low as possible - there are examples of paupers in some cases being shunted back and forth between parishes.
The Settlement Laws allowed strangers to a parish to be removed after 40 days if they were not working - but the cost of removing such people meant that they were often left until they tried to claim
poor relief. In 1697 Settlement Laws were tightened when people could be barred from entering a parish unless they produced a Settlement certificate.
Affect on labour market
The Act was criticised in later years for its effect in distorting the labour market, through the power given to parishes to let them remove 'undeserving' poor. Another criticism of the Act was that it applied to rated land not personal or movable wealth - therefore benefiting commercial and business interests.
Cost
The building of different types of workhouses was expensive. The Workhouse Act of 1772 allowed parishes to combine and apply for a
workhouse test - where conditions were made worse than those outside.
The Act stated that workhouses, poorhouses and houses of correction should be built for the different types of pauper. However, it was not cost effective to build these different types of buildings. For this reason parishes such as Bristol combined these institutions so that the profits paupers made were plunged back into the maintenance of the system.
Reliance on the parish
The systems reliance on the parish can be seen as both a strength and a weakness. It could be argued it made the system for humane and sensitive - but a local crisis such as a poor harvest could be a great burden on the local
poor rate.
Variation from the system
The eighteenth-century workhouse movement began at the end of the seventeenth century with the establishment of the
Bristol Corporation of the Poor, founded by Act of Parliament in 1696. The corporation established a workhouse which combined housing and care of the poor with a house of correction for petty offenders. Following the example of
Bristol some twelve further towns and cities established similar corporations in the next two decades. Because these corporations required a private Act, they were not suitable for smaller towns and individual parishes.
Starting with the parish of
Olney,
Buckinghamshire in 1714 several dozen small towns and individual parishes established their own institutions without any specific legal authorization. These were concentrated in the South Midlands and in the county of
Essex. From the late 1710s the
Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge began to promote the idea of parochial workhouses.
Knatchbull's Act
Main articles: Workhouse Test Act
The Society published several pamphlets on the subject, and supported
Sir Edward Knatchbull in his successful efforts to steer the
Workhouse Test Act through
Parliament in 1723. The act gave legislative authority for the establishment of parochial workhouses, by both single parishes and as joint ventures between two or more parishes. More importantly, the Act helped to publicise the idea of establishing workhouses to a national audience. The Workhouse Test Act made workhouses a deterrent as conditions were to be regulated to make them worse than outside of the workhouse. However during this period outdoor relief was still the most popular method of poor relief as it was easier or administer.
By 1776 some 1912 parish and corporation workhouses had been established in
England and
Wales, housing almost 100,000 paupers. Although many parishes and pamphlet writers expected to earn money from the labour of the poor in workhouses, the vast majority of people obliged to take up residence in workhouses were ill, elderly, or children whose labour proved largely unprofitable. The demands, needs and expectations of the poor also ensured that workhouses came to take on the character of general social policy institutions, combining the functions of crèche, and night shelter, geriatric ward and orphanage.
Gilbert's Act
Main articles: Relief of the Poor Act 1782
Gilbert's Act was passed in 1782 to combat the excessive costs of
outdoor relief. It promoted indoor alternatives and allowed parishes to combine for the
impotent poor. However outdoor relief was still used to help to
able-bodied poor.
Overhaul
Industrialisation
The 1601 system was for a pre-industrial society, the massive population increases
[13] after the Industrial revolution strained the existing system. Mechanisation meant that unemployment was increasing, therefore poor relief costs could not be met.
French Wars
The
Napoleonic Wars occurred in (1792-1797),(1798-1801),(1805-1807),(1813-1814) and ended after the
Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The wars meant that there were periods of trade blockades on
Britain which prevented Britain from importing large amounts of
corn, therefore raising the price of
bread. The blocades coupled with poor harvests in 1813 and 1814 kept the price of bread artificially high.
After the war cheap imports returned. Many farmers went bankrupt because
poor rate remained high; farmers also had to pay war-time taxes. These bankruptcies caused rural workers to become unemployed and many that survived lowered their wages.
The
Corn Laws were passed by the
Tory government of
Lord Liverpool to protect British farmers. Imports could not occur until prices had reached 80 shillings a quarter. This aimed to prevent both corn prices and wages from fluctuating. However this kept prices artificially high and made more people claim
Poor relief, returning soldiers increased the pressure on the
Poor Law system. Further poor harvests in 1818 and 1819 meant that the costs of
poor relief hit £8m dring this period.
Corruption
In 1819 Select Vesteries were set up - these were committees set up in each parish whom were responsible for Poor Law administration. There were concerns over corruption within the system as contracts for supplying food and beer often went to local traders or these vestries.
Cost
The cost of the current system was increasing from the late 1700s into the 19th century. Although
outdoor relief was cheaper than building
workhouses the numbers claiming
outdoor relief increased. The increasing numbers of people claiming relief peaked after the economic dislocation caused by the
French Wars when it was 12 shillings per head of population. During this period strain was also put on system by an increasing population from 9 million to 14 million on the time period the graph shows.
A graph showing the amount the British
Poor Law system cost to rate payers. The cost of the system peaks after the
Napoleonic WarsUnrest
One reason for changing the system was to prevent unrest or even revolution.
Habeas Corpus was suspended and the
Six Acts passed to prevent possible riots. The
Swing Riots highlighted the possibility of agricultural unrest.
Intellectuals
''See main article
Opposition to the Poor Law''
Jeremy Bentham argued for a disciplinary, punitive approach to social problems, whilst the writings of
Thomas Malthus focused attention on the problem of overpopulation, and the growth of illegitimacy.
David Ricardo argued that there was an "iron law of wages". The effect of poor relief, in the view of the reformers, was to undermine the position of the "independent labourer".
Historiography
The Historian
Mark Blaug has defended the Old Poor Law system and criticised the Poor Law Amendment Act. Evidence to the 1937 Committee on the Poor Law Amendment Act also found some support for the existing system.
[14]
Reform
The
1832 Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws wrote a report stating the changes which needed to be made to the poor. These changes were implemented in the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.
See also
★
Poor Law
References
1. So called because the law was passed in the 43rd year of Elizabeth's reign
2. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?poorlaws/poorlaws.shtml
3. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/plintro.html
4. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/
5. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/plintro.html
6. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/settle.html
7. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?poorlaws/poorlaws.shtml
8. http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/historyf.htm
9. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?poorlaws/poorlaws.shtml
10. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html
11. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html
12. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?poorlaws/poorlaws.shtml
13. http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/hum/eng/classes/434/charweb/OLDPOORL.htm
14. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/oldplaw.html
External links
★
Vicrtorianwebs article on the 1601 Act
★
The text of the Act
★
A history of the Poor Laws
★
The Old Poor Law in England
★
British social policy, 1601-1948
★
Evidence of support for the old poor law system
★
An Educational game relating to the Elizabethan Poor Law
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
