The Tudor Poor Laws[1] were the laws regarding poor relief in Kingdom of England around the time of the Tudor period (1485–1603). The Tudor Poor Laws ended with the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601, two years before the end of the Tudor dynasty, a piece of legislation which codified the previous Tudor legislation.[2]
During the Tudor period it is estimated that up to a third of the population lived in poverty.[3] The population doubled in size between the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.[2] The earliest Tudor Poor Laws were very much focused on punishing beggars and vagabonds to deter idleness. For example, the Vagabonds and Beggars Act of 1495 passed by Henry VII decreed that idle persons should be placed in the stocks and then returned to the hundred where he last dwelled or was born.
The closing of the monasteries in the 1530s after the Protestant Reformation increased poverty as the church had previously helped the poor, both as an institution and by encouraging its parishioners towards Christian charity. However, the church reforms of Henry VIII marked a national shift, where philanthropy became increasingly secular, rather than meted out by the Church.[4]
The 1531 Vagabonds Act mandated that only licensed beggars could beg legally. Justices of the Peace had the power to license the "impotent" poor to beg.[5] In practice, this meant that only the elderly and disabled could beg and also prevented the able-bodied from begging.[2] A few years later, the 1536 Act for Punishment of Sturdy Vagabonds and Beggars was passed. This more severe law stated that those caught outside of their parish without work would be punished by being whipped through the streets. If caught a second time they could lose an ear and if caught a third time they could be executed.[3] However officers of the law were reluctant to enforce such a draconian provision.[6]
Additional poor laws were passed throughout the 16th century by Henry VIII's successors. King Edward VI passed the 1547 Vagabonds Act, which continued weekly parish collections for the poor.[7]
The Poor Act 1552 creating Registers of the Poor and parishes gained the power to raise local taxes through rates.[7] However, help was only available to those considered deserving of poor relief. The deserving poor were those who were willing to work but were unable to find employment as well as those too old, young, or ill to work. Beggars were not considered deserving of poor relief and could be whipped though the town until they altered their behaviour. In a further effort to control the poor, Mary I passed the 1555 Poor Act, requiring licensed beggars to display badges.[8]
Although the phrase "Elizabethan Poor Laws" is generally used to refer to the 1598 and 1601 poor laws passed by Queen Elizabeth I and subsequent statutes, Elizabeth I passed laws early in her reign that are a part of the earlier Tudor Poor Laws.[9] Her 1563 Act For the Relief of the Poor required all parish residents to contribute to poor collections, and further provided for the punishment of refusal to contribute.[10]
The 1572 Vagabonds Act provided comprehensive reform that would become the basis for the 1598 and 1601 Elizabethan Poor Laws. It provided additional structure for the registration of poor and parish collections. The 1575 Poor Act required that each parish had to have a store of "wool, hemp, flax, iron" so that the poor could be set to work.
References
November 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
Gareth Jones, History of the Law of Charity 1532-1827 10 (1969)
Sidney & Beatrice Webb, English Local Government: English Poor Law History Part 1, pg. 45
Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 59--60 (1990) 2 & 3 Ph. & M. c. 5
Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 18--19 (1990)
Sidney & Beatrice Webb, English Local Government: English Poor Law History Part 1, pg. 51
Poor Act 1552
The Poor Act of 1552 was a statute passed in England by King Edward VI.[1] It is a part of the Tudor Poor Laws.
The act designated a new position, "collector of alms," in each parish. It further provided that each parish would keep a register of all its licensed poor. The collector was to determine how much was needed to care for the poor of the parish and assess weekly amounts on residents. Therefore, under the assumption that all poor would be cared for, begging was completely forbidden.[2]
Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1597 was a piece of poor law legislation in England and Wales. It provided the first complete code of poor relief and was later amended by the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601, which formed the basis of poor relief for the next two centuries.
The Act established Overseers of the Poor.[1]
Overseer of the poor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Overseers of the Poor)
An overseer of the poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England.
England
In England, Overseers of the Poor administered poor relief such as money, food and clothing as part of the Poor Law system. The position was created by the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1597.
Overseers of the Poor were often reluctant appointees who were unpaid, working under the supervision of a Justice of the Peace. The law required two Overseers to be elected every Easter, and churchwardens or landowners were often selected.
The new system of poor relief reinforced a sense of social hierarchy and provided a way of controlling the 'lower orders'.[1] Overseers of the Poor were replaced in the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, and replaced with Boards of Guardians, although Overseers remained in some places as a method of collecting the poor rate.[2]
Duties
Overseers had four duties:
- Estimate how much poor relief money was needed in order to set the poor rate accordingly;
- Collect the poor rate;
- Distribute poor relief; and
- Supervise the poorhouse.[1]
Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Old Poor Law" redirects here. For the Old Poor Law which existed in Scotland between 1574-1845, see Old Scottish Poor Law.
The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the "Elizabethan Poor Law", "43rd Elizabeth"[3] or the "Old Poor Law"[4] was passed in 1601 and created a national poor law system for England and Wales.[5]
It formalised earlier practices of poor relief distribution in England and Wales[6] and is generally considered a refinement of the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597 that established Overseers of the Poor.[7] The "Old Poor Law" was not one law but a collection of laws passed between the 16th and 18th centuries. The system's administrative unit was the parish. It was not a centralised government policy[6] but a law which made individual parishes responsible for Poor Law legislation. The 1601 act saw a move away from the more obvious forms of punishing paupers under the Tudor system towards methods of "correction".
Several amending pieces of legislation can be considered part of the Old Poor Law.[8] These include:
- 1662 – Poor Relief Act 1662 (Settlement Acts)
- 1723 – Workhouse Test Act
- 1782 – Gilbert's Act
- 1795 – Speenhamland
Contents
- 1 Origins
- 2 Main points of the 1601 Act
- 3 Description
- 4 Criticisms of the 1601 Act
- 4.1 Implementation and variation
- 4.2 Outdoor relief
- 4.3 Settlement
- 4.4 Effect on the labour market
- 4.5 Cost
- 4.6 Reliance on the parish
Origins
Main article: Origins of the Poor Law system
The origins of the Old Poor Law extend back into the 15th century with the decline of the monasteries and the breakdown of the medieval social structure. Charity was gradually replaced with a compulsory land tax levied at parish level.[5]
Main points of the 1601 Act
- The impotent poor (people who can't work) were to be cared for in almshouse or a poorhouse. The law offered relief to people who were unable to work: mainly those who were "lame, impotent, old, blind".
- The able-bodied poor were to be set to work in a House of Industry. Materials were to be provided for the poor to be set to work.[9]
- The idle poor and vagrants were to be sent to a House of Correction or even prison.[5]
- Pauper children would become apprentices.
Text of the Act ReginaeElizabethae Anno 43 Chapter 2
Description
Relief under the Old Poor Law could take on one of two forms[10] – indoor relief, relief inside a workhouse, or outdoor relief, relief in a form outside a workhouse. This could come in the form of money, food or even clothing. As the cost of building the different workhouses was great, outdoor relief continued to be the main form of relief in this period.[10]
Relief for those too ill or old to work, the so-called 'impotent poor', was in the form of a payment or items of food ('the parish loaf') or clothing also known as outdoor relief. Some aged people might be accommodated in parish alms houses, though these were usually private charitable institutions. Meanwhile able-bodied beggars who had refused work were often placed in Houses of Correction (indoor relief). However, provision for the many able-bodied poor in the workhouse, which provided accommodation at the same time as work, was relatively unusual, and most workhouses developed later. The 1601 Law said that poor parents and children were responsible for each other – elderly parents would live with their children[citation needed].
The 1601 Poor Law could be described as 'parochial' as the administrative unit of the system was the parish. There were around 1,500 such parishes based upon the area around a parish church. This system allowed greater sensitivity towards paupers, but also made tyrannical behavior from overseers possible. Overseers of the Poor would know their paupers and so be able to differentiate between the "deserving" and "undeserving" poor. The Elizabethan Poor Law operated at a time when the population was small enough for everyone to know everyone else, so people's circumstances would be known and the idle poor would be unable to claim on the parishes' poor rate[citation needed].
The act levied a poor rate on each parish which Overseers of the Poor were able to collect. Those who had to pay this rate were property owners, or rather, in most cases, occupiers including tenants.[5]
The 1601 Act sought to deal with 'settled' poor who had found themselves temporarily out of work – it was assumed they would accept indoor relief or outdoor relief. Neither method of relief was at this time in history seen as harsh[citation needed]. The act was supposed to deal with beggars who were considered a threat to civil order. The act was passed at a time when poverty was considered necessary as it was thought that only fear of poverty made people work[citation needed].
In 1607 a House of Correction was set up in each county. However, this system was separate from the 1601 system which distinguished between the settled poor and 'vagrants'[citation needed].
Criticisms of the 1601 Act
Implementation and variation
There was much variation in the application of the law and there was a tendency for the destitute to migrate towards the more generous parishes, usually situated in the towns. There was wide variation in the amount of poor relief given out. As the parish was the administrative unit of the system there was great diversity in the system. Since there were no administrative standards, parishes were able to interpret the law as they wished. Some cities, such as Bristol, Exeter and Liverpool were able to obtain by-laws which established their control onto several of the urban parishes within their jurisdiction. Bristol gained a private Act of Parliament in 1696 which allowed the city to create a 'manufactory' so that the profits from the paupers' work could be used for maintenance of the poor relief system.
Outdoor relief
Main article: Outdoor relief
Outdoor relief continued to be the most popular form of relief for the able-bodied poor even though the law described that "the poor should be set to work".
Settlement
The 1601 Act states that each individual parish was responsible for its 'own' poor. Arguments over which parish was responsible for a pauper's poor relief and concerns over migration to more generous parishes led to the passing of the Settlement Act 1662 which allowed relief only to established residents of a parish – mainly through birth, marriage and apprenticeship. A pauper applicant had to prove a 'settlement’. If unable to, they were removed to the next parish that was nearest to the place of their birth, or where they might prove some connection. Some paupers were moved hundreds of miles. Although each parish that they passed through was not responsible for them, they were supposed to supply food and drink and shelter for at least one night.
Individual parishes were keen to keep costs of poor relief as low as possible and there are examples of paupers in some cases being shunted back and forth between parishes. The Settlement Laws allowed strangers to a parish to be removed after 40 days if they were not working, but the cost of removing such people meant that they were often left until they tried to claim poor relief.
Effect on the labour market
The Act was criticised in later years for its distortion of the labour market, through the power given to parishes to let them remove 'undeserving' poor. Another criticism of the Act was that it applied to rated land not personal or movable wealth, therefore benefiting commercial and business interests.[10]
Cost
The building of different types of workhouses was expensive.
Reliance on the parish
The system's reliance on the parish can be seen as both a strength and a weakness. It could be argued it made the system more humane and sensitive, but a local crisis such as a poor harvest could be a great burden on the local poor rate.
The Poor in Tudor England
Life for the poor in Elizabethan England was very harsh. The poor did not share the wealth and luxurious lifestyle associated with famous Tudors such as Sir Francis Drake. The main thing to remember about Tudor England is that the population doubles between the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. From about 2 million in 1520; to 4 million in 1600. Of the population 10% lives in towns, and half of this number is always in London.
Along with this comes unemployment and rapid price inflation. As rents and food prices rose in the countryside, many villagers were forced to leave their homes and come to the towns to look for work. However, they often could not find employment and ended up begging in the streets. A generous local monastery might have helped out before the Reformation but this would not have been available in the second half of Tudor England. During the 1530s, Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries results in, among other things, much Church land being put on the market, thousands of ex-monks being released into society and the end of career opportunities for well-off women who once lived in nunneries and monastic charity and welfare.
Tudor England saw a great increase in crime as for many it was the only way they could survive. Those who resorted to theft faced the death penalty if they were caught. Punishment was very severe for seemingly trivial cases because it was believed that any sign of the government being soft towards those who had broken the law would encourage others to do likewise. However, this belief also made criminals desperate as they would do anything to avoid capture – including murder.
The government in Tudor England became very concerned about the poor. There was a lot more of the poor than there were rich and there was always the potential for a Tudor version of the Peasants Revolt. In the towns and cities, finding a job was difficult but the same thing was occurring in the countryside where changes in the way farms worked lead to unemployment for many. There was the very real danger of trouble amongst the poor.
The poor were divided into three groups by the government:
The first were called Helpless Poor. These would include the old, the sick, the disabled and children. The elderly and the disabled received a sum of money and possibly some food each week. If they were unable to collect both, it would be delivered to their house. Children of the poor were given an apprenticeship paid for by the parish. In this way, the parish could expect to benefit from the child when they had grown up and learned a new skill. Boys were apprenticed to a master until they were 24 years old. If a girl could be found an apprenticeship, she would work with her mistress until she was 21. People who were thought to be 'Helpless Poor' were not considered to be a burden as the government believed that it was not their fault that they were in their position. Some parishes gave these people a licence to beg.