Ancestry UK

The Poor Law Bord

In 1847, following the Andover workhouse scandal and other bad publicity, reports of internal quarrels and divisions, together with a desire by the government to make the poor law administration more directly accountable to parliament, the Poor Law Commission was abolished and replaced by a new Poor Law Board, with George Nicholls as its permanent secretary for the first three years of its life.

In 1852, the Poor Law Board attempted to standardise the regulations relating to the provision of out-relief. In August, it issued an Outdoor Relief Regulation Order which, unlike previous orders on the subject, included restrictions relating to the sick, aged and widows. Following numerous protests from Boards of Guardians who felt their discretionary powers were being interfered with, a revised Order was issued in December. This reverted to dealing with able-bodied males, but extended the conditions under which out-relief could be given in such cases.

In 1865, the Union Chargeability Act shifted the cost of poor relief from the parish to the union — each parish now contributed to a union fund based on its rateable value not on the number of paupers it had. The union, rather than the parish, became the area of settlement and the period of residency required for irremovability was reduced to one year.

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