The Tudor Poor Laws established a system of poor relief in England and Wales, which centred on the ecclesiastical parish as provider and administrator. The earliest piece of legislation can be traced to 1536 when legislation was passed to deal with the impotent poor, and the system continued until 1834 when the Poor Law Unions and Union Workhouses were established (see the research guide on Poor Law Unions for further details on the later system).

The Legislation

Prior to the dissolution of the Monasteries in Tudor times, the monastic system had provided and cared for the needy, but following their dissolution, a statue of 1536 made the parish responsible for the care of their poor, with the office of Overseer of the Poor being established in 1572. Initially, it was intended that the relief of the poor would be funded by voluntary donations from parishioners, but this did not produce sufficient income and an act of 1597/8 permitted the Overseers of the Poor to levy a poor rate on parish householders. These provisions were consolidated by the Poor Law Act of 1601, a law which remained largely in force until 1834.

The System

At a basic level the system of poor relief was the levying of a poor rate, and the distribution by the Overseers of the Poor, of the income raised to the needy in the parish. Those in need could be the sick, unemployed or elderly, and medical treatment for paupers was also provided. The children of poor families could be found apprenticeships, and provision was also made for orphans and foundlings.

Poor relief was generally provided as ‘outdoor relief’ whereby those in need were provided with money, food, clothing and other goods, and who continued to live in their own homes. Work was often found for the able-bodied, such as nursing the sick, doing laundry or repairing the parish roads or bridges. ‘Indoor relief’ was also provided through parish Poor Houses or Workhouses.

Contributions of outdoor and indoor relief to parishioners can be found in the Overseers accounts, whilst details of the payment of Poor Rates can be found in the Overseers Rate books.

Settlement

The 1601 Act stated that relief would be provided to paupers by the parish in which they were legally settled, this Act asserted that someone gained settlement after they had lived in a parish for a month. This was revised by the Settlement Act of 1662, which stated that a person was only entitled to relief from a parish if:

• They held public office in the parish, or paid the parish rate
• They rented property in the parish worth over £10 per annum
• They were an unmarried person who had worked in the parish for a year
• You were a woman who had married a man of the parish
• You were a legitimate child, aged under 7, whose father lived in the parish
• You were an illegitimate child born in the parish
• You were apprenticed to a master in the parish
• You were a person resident in the parish for 40 days, after having given the parish authorities prior written notice of their intention to do so

The rules of settlement were strictly adhered to, and people were often forcibly ejected from one parish to another. Newcomers or the newly destitute could be examined as to their place of settlement. These settlement examinations often provide a wealth of information on an individual, their family circumstances and at times employment history. If the settlement examination showed that the person was legally settled in a different parish it was followed by a settlement order or a removal order, which directed the person or family to be ‘removed’ to their legal parish of settlement. Costs incurred in the removal of parishioners are also often recorded in Overseers Accounts.

The Poor Law system made it difficult for people to move parishes for legitimate reasons, such as to find employment, as there was high distrust of newcomers. The Settlement Act of 1697 introduced the system of settlement certificates, which were documents issued by the Overseers of the Poor to parishioners who were moving to another parish which certified that they would be welcomed back if they required relief.

Illegitimacy

An illegitimate child obtained legal settlement in the parish in which they were born, and it was often feared that they would become a charge on the parish in the future. Therefore, the Overseers often removed pregnant single women to a neighbouring parish prior to birth. This practice was curtailed by an act of 1732/3 which prohibited the removal of women whilst pregnant or in the first month after birth. A further act of 1743/4 stated that an illegitimate child’s parish of settlement should be that of the mother.

To prevent an illegitimate child becoming a charge on the parish the Overseers of the Poor wished to find out the name of the father so that he could contribute towards their maintenance. Any voluntary or compulsory payments made by a father to the Overseers of the Poor and subsequent payments by the Overseers to the mother, may be recorded in the Overseers Accounts.

An Act of 1576 introduced the system of bastardy examinations, whereby Justices could ‘examine’ or question the mother of an illegitimate child to ascertain who the father was. This examination was then often followed by a bastardy order, a document which ordered the father to pay for the upkeep of the child. If the father could not be found a warrant might be issued to locate him or find another family member who could make the maintenance payments on his behalf.

Apprenticeships

Most people learned a trade through apprenticeship, and from 1601 parish officers were given jurisdiction for arranging apprenticeships for orphans and for paupers’ children, as a way of relieving the burden on the parish for their upkeep. The children were often apprenticed from the age of 7 to local masters. In Somerset the typically trades were husbandry (farm work) and housewifery (housekeeping).

When a child was bound to their new master an apprenticeship indenture was signed by the Overseers of the Poor and the master, which names the child and at times provides a parent’s name, gives the masters name and parish, and the trade in which the child is to be apprenticed in. Most apprenticeships were for the term of seven years, although parish apprenticeships could continue until the child was aged 21. It was typical that the master would live in a neighbouring parish, so the settlement of the child would be transferred to that parish after their apprenticeship was served, in order to lessen any further burden on the original parish of settlement.

How to find the records

The majority of records relating to the parish system of poor relief can be found in the ecclesiastical parish collections (ref. D/P/*). As the Diocesan Record Office, the Somerset Heritage Centre holds the parish records of the parishes within the Diocese of Bath and Wells, which largely follows the pre 1974 county boundaries. The records of the Overseers can be found in series 13 (ref. D/P/*/13), although, at times some rates can be recorded in the Churchwardens account books (ref. D/P/*4/1). See the Research Guide on Parish Records for further details.

The survival rate of records differs between parishes, and for some few records of settlement, illegitimacy and apprenticeship have survived. For settlement papers records may be present in the parish a person was being removed from, but also in the parish they were being removed to. Indexes to the parish settlement and illegitimacy papers and the parish apprenticeship papers can be found in the searchroom.

The issue of settlement was often contested by another parish, and where this occurred then the case may then be referred to the Justices of the Peace and the case heard at the Quarter Session courts. In the same vein, if parentage of an illegitimate child was appealed or if the mother refused to be examined by parish officials, again this would be referred to the Justices of the Peace for hearing at the Quarter Session courts. Records of these appeals, including settlement examinations and orders and bastardy examinations and orders can be found in the Quarter Session rolls (ref. Q/SR) and in the Quarter Session Order books (ref. Q/SO). A catalogue for the Quarter Session rolls and a partial index to the Quarter Session Order books can be found on our online catalogue.

The gentry of Somerset also took an interest in the county’s poor, either in a philanthropic way, or by holding a position of office in the parish. Therefore, some records relating to the relief of the poor or the apprenticeship of children, can be found in the family and estate collection of the local landowner (see the Research Guide on Estate Collections for further details).

Parish Paw Law Legislation - A summary

1388 Statute of Cambridge

• Vagrancy forbidden and punished
• Impotent beggars to remain where they are, or to be returned to birthplace
• Every Hundred made responsible for its own poor

1494 Vagabonds and Beggars Act

• 'Vagabonds, idle and suspected persons' to be whipped or put in the stocks for three days and then sent out of town
• Beggars who could work are to be sent back to the Hundred where they last lived, was 'best known', or was born, and should remain there
• Beggars who could not work were to remain in their own Hundred, and are permitted to beg

1530-1531 Act

• Continuing legal distinction between those able to work (often called 'sturdy beggars' and those unable to work (the 'impotent poor')
• Impotent paupers are to be given licences by the magistrates to allow them to beg in certain areas
• Able bodied paupers forbidden from begging

1536 Act

• Individual parishes made responsible for caring for impotent paupers who had lived in the parish for three years or longer
• Pauper children aged 5-13 can be apprenticed by the parish
• Start of Poor Rates - churchwardens and clergy to 'gather and procure voluntary alms' every Sunday and holiday
• Private almsgiving forbidden - penalty was 10 times the amount given

1547 Act

• Persistent vagrants can be branded and sent into slavery

1549-1550 Act

• If not enough money was raised voluntarily, the collectors could call in the bishop to persuade parishioners to 'voluntarily' pay more

1552 Act

• Parishes are to start to register their poor

1562-1563 Act

• If not enough money raised 'voluntarily', the bishop could call in the magistrate to get parishioners to pay more, on pain of imprisonment

1572 Act

• Licences to beg revoked
• Post of overseer of the poor created
• Compulsory parish poor rates to be collected

1597 Act for the Relief of the Poor

• Overseers to be appointed by Justices of the Peace, who have to report to the Privy Council; duties of overseers laid out in law
• Three years' residence to qualify for poor relief reduced to one year

1597 Act for Erecting Hospitals, or Abiding and Working Houses for the Poor

• Hospitals can be founded by charitable gift, as long as they are endowed enough to provide an adequate yearly income

1601 (Old) Poor Law

• Overseers to maintain and set to work the poor of their parish
• 'Voluntary' rates replaced by a set rate

1609-1610 Act

• Houses of correction to be built
• Parish Constables should apprehend vagrants, mothers of illegitimate children and parents who abandon their children and send them to the house of correction

1662 Act of Settlement

• Every person becoming chargeable to the poor rate must be returned to their 'own' parish - unless he rents a tenement of £10 or more or can convince the local justices that no burden will fall on the parish from him being there
• After 40 days, you become legally resident
• If moving temporarily for work, you must bring a settlement/indemnity certificate
• Rogues, vagrants and sturdy beggars can be transported to the plantations

1685 Act

• Changes made to criteria for settlement

1691 Act

• Settlement criteria change again - the following give you settlement
• Serving a parish office
• Paying the parish rate
• Being apprenticed to a parishioner
• Serving a year in service, by contract (this does not count if you are paid by the week)

1694 Act

• Poor people can move around, if they have a settlement certificate from their 'home' parish

1724 Workhouse Test Act

• Parish officers can buy or rent workhouses to put the poor to work, and parishes can club together to do so
• People who refuse to enter the workhouse forfeit all relief

1732-1733 Act

• Any man found guilty of fathering an illegitimate child after 24 Jun 1733 to be sent to gaol unless he satisfies the parish that he will pay maintenance

1743-1744 Rogues, Vagabonds and other Idle and Disorderly Persons Act

• Arresting vagrants and sending them 'home' attracts a five shilling reward.
• Incorrigible rogues can be imprisoned for 6 months, then either sent home or impressed into the navy or army.
• Vagrants' children can be apprenticed by local justices.
• Bastard children or vagrant women get their mother's settlement rather than their parish of birth.

1782 Relief of the Poor Act (Gilbert's Act)

• No-one to be sent to a workhouse further than 10 miles from home.
• Workhouses are to be inspected.
• Orphan children and children with parents can be sent to a workhouse, but others may be boarded out (preferably with relatives).
• Children under 7 are not to be forcibly separated from their parents.
• Deserving paupers can be given relief to augment their wages.
• Forcing pregnant women to be removed without a justice's order leads to a £20 fine.

1794 Act

• paupers cannot be removed until they actually become chargeable, not just if they look like they will be.
• Paupers can be given outdoor relief [i.e. in their own homes, not in the poorhouse] if the Vestry agrees.

1832

The Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws is set up to look at the whole system of poor relief.

1834 Poor Law Amendment Act

• Parishes formed into Poor Law Unions, governed by Guardians (elected by voters)
• Relief only given in the workhouse - only the aged and infirm can get outdoor relief

See our research guide on The Poor Law for details on the post 1834 system.