Poor Relief & Welfare

Anatomy Act 1832

Anatomy Act 1832
This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series Statutes of Law

Body Snatching could make your body worth more dead than alive and the Anatomy Act was one way of starting toa ddress this dreadful and workhouse Regime fuelled fear by legislating to protect the corpses of the poor, this act lasts into the 20th Century so it was certainly significant well-beyond it’s original foundation,,,

Read More

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….

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

Old Poor Law

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

The Old Poor Law was the codified series of statutes that predated the draconian Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the timeline of this law casts some light on the origins of welfare and the plight of the poor in England for many years. If you have any reason to want to better understand the basis of society during the 19th century then some reference to these legal orgins will be helpful.

Read More

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part 1 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law
This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Reforming Women

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 More