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Ancestry UK

Popular Myths about the Workhouse

Myth 12 - Workhouses were funded by the government, based on the number of inmates they had.

Workhouses, and the poor relief system of which they formed a part, were always paid for by the local householders in each parish via a tax based on a valuation of their property. This tax, known as the poor rate, was administered by parish officials called overseers. The poor rate continued until 1925 when it was merged with charges for other local services and now collected by local districts or boroughs. This general rate was usually referred to by householders as "the rates".

Domestic rates in England and Wales were replaced in 1990 by the flat-rate per capita Community Charge, which was itself replaced in 1993 by the Council Tax, again linked to property valuation.

Poor rates receipt, 1923. © Peter Higginbotham

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