Punishment of Vagabonds and Beggars 1536 Henry VIII
1536 Anne Boelyn executed. Dissolution of the Monasteries commences following Henry VIII’s declaration of Supremacy over the Church… Doesn’t bode well for the poor and idle if that is how you treat the people you love…Trace what happens next in the plight of the poor and the evolution of the wlefare state. It all goes back a lot further than you might think….
Read MoreStatute Punishment of Beggars and Vagabonds 1531
Was Henry VIII and his rule kind to Beggars? How does this act reflect the longer timeline of legislative events that lead to our current day Welfare State and how far back do the roots go, a snippet in a series of linked posts, designed to piece together the evidence that led to the British Welfare State. With great relevance and resonance with our current and hard pressed economic climate…
Read MoreStatute of Cambridge 1388
The starting point the putting down by Richard II of the Peasants Revolt of imposing order and punitive conditions on the poor in what was to become known and codified as the Old Poor Law…follow this chronology and the related law provides a great source of information and the reason why our welffare state in the UK evolves as it does…
Read MoreUsing Poor Law Records for Family History
Using Poor Records to find all those intriguing connections in your family history
Read MoreWorkhouse Schools
More than 50% of those in Workhouses were children of the poor and often orphans. The Workhouse system was far from perfect but Workhouse schools at least offered some hope for a better educated and informed future. One of the turning points from Old Poor Law and bad ways to social reform and the fight for better rights for the unfortunate in society?
Read MorePoor Law Amendment Act 1834
The draconian Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 was to seal the fate and abject misery of many poor people through the majority of the19th century. Find out here the basis of the law and how it was implemented in Victorian Britain.
Read MorePoor Law England 1601
Reasons for implementation of Poor Law 1601
Read MoreReview of the Poor Law Act 1832
Poor Law in British History was just that ‘poor’ it gave little hope or respite and for hundreds of years adopted an approach which was draconian and punitive. In 1832 the Review of the Poor Law by Earl Grey should have been an opportunity for change and positive improvements in social justice and welfare but sadly at the close of the Georgian period such reform was still a long way off.
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