England

Edward VI and Vagrancy Act 1547 Poor Laws

VAGRANCY ACT

The Vagrancy Act 1547 was an uncaring response to a complicated social and economic situation after the death of King Henry VIII. The poor were penalized for a series of poor decisions by the Privy Council.

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London’s River, The River Thames

The River Thames, described as capturing all of Britains history in it’s waters, makes history again as the river upon which Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee

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Punishment of Vagabonds and Beggars 1536 Henry VIII

This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law

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….

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Statute Punishment of Beggars and Vagabonds 1531

This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law

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…

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Statute of Cambridge 1388

Statute of Cambridge
This entry is part 1 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law

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…

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Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Reforming Women
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part 5 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

Set in the stocks for even being suspected of being idle, puts in context ‘we don’t know just how lucky we are, part of the sequence of the Old Poor Law and certainly gives some insight into the plight of the poor and the conditions imposed on them by the ruling elite…

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