Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1864

Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1864^[1]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make Provision for distributing the Charge of Relief of certain Classes of poor Persons over the whole of the Metropolis.
Citation	27 & 28 Vict. c. 116
Dates
Royal assent	29 July 1864
Other legislation
Repealed by	Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1865
Status: Repealed

Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1865
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make the Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act perpetual.
Citation	28 & 29 Vict. c. 34
Dates
Royal assent	2 June 1865
Other legislation
Amends	Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1864
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875

The Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. 116) was a short-term piece of legislation that imposed a legal obligation on Poor Law unions in London to provide temporary accommodation for "destitute wayfarers, wanderers, and foundlings".^[2] The Metropolitan Board of Works was given limited authority to reimburse the unions for the cost of building the necessary casual wards, an arrangement that was made permanent the following year by the passage of the Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 34).^[3]

Most provincial Poor Law unions followed London's example, and by the 1870s, of the 643 then in existence, 572 had established casual wards for the reception of vagrants.^[4]