English Poor Laws

Although many deterrent workhouses developed in the period after the New Poor Law, some had already been built under the existing system.[1] This workhouse in Nantwich, Cheshire, dates from 1780.

The English Poor Laws[2] were a system of poor relief in England and Wales[3] that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s.[1]

English Poor Law legislation can be traced back as far as 1536,[4] when legislation was passed to deal with the impotent poor, although there were much earlier Plantagenet laws dealing with the problems caused by vagrants and beggars.[2] The history of the Poor Law in England and Wales is usually divided between two statutes: the Old Poor Law passed during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603)[5] and the New Poor Law, passed in 1834, which significantly modified the system of poor relief. The New Poor Law altered the system from one which was administered haphazardly at a local parish level to a highly centralised system which encouraged the large-scale development of workhouses by poor law unions.[6][better source needed]

The Poor Law system fell into decline at the beginning of the 20th century owing to factors such as the introduction of the Liberal welfare reforms[7] and the availability of other sources of assistance from friendly societies and trade unions,[7] as well as piecemeal reforms which bypassed the Poor Law system.[8] The Poor Law system was not formally abolished until the National Assistance Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 29),[citation needed] with parts of the law remaining on the books until 1967.[6]

  1. ^ a b "British social policy 1601–1948". .rgu.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Encyclopedia: English Poor Laws". Eh.net. 7 May 2002. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  3. ^ "The Poor Law: overview". Victorianweb.org. 8 November 2002. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  4. ^ G. R. Elton, "An Early Tudor Poor Law", Economic History Review, 1953
  5. ^ "The Poor Law". Institutions.org.uk. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  6. ^ a b Peter Higginbotham. "The New Poor Law". The Workhouse Web Site. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  7. ^ a b "English Poor Laws". EH.net Encyclopedia. Economic History Foundation. 7 May 2002. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  8. ^ Lees, Lynn Hollen. The Solidarities of Strangers: The English Poor Laws and the People, 1770–1948. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998