The Bristol Corporation of the Poor was the board responsible for poor relief in Bristol, England when the Poor Law system was in operation. [1] It was established in 1696 by the Bristol Poor Act. [2] [3] The main promoter of the act was a merchant, John Cary, who proposed "That a spacious workhouse be erected in some vacant place, within the city, on a general charge, large enough for the Poor, who are to be employed therein; and also with room for such, who, being unable to work, are to be relieved by charity." [4]
Upon establishment of the corporation the city aldermen chose four of the "honestest and discreetest inhabitants" from each of the twelve city wards to serve as "Guardians of the Poor". [5] This caused some resentment amongst the city churchwardens who had previously administered poor law funds and who withheld funds raised from the general rates. [6] The corporation raised funds by donation and established the first workhouse at a building called Whitehall, adjacent to the Bridewell. [7]
In 1698, the Corporation bought the former home of merchant Robert Aldworth who had left £1,000 in his will for the establishment of a workhouse. This building became known as St Peters Hospital, [2] and stayed in use until the 1830s. It was destroyed in the blitz during World War II. [8]
By 1826, the Corporation had acquired by donation a large number or properties and estates, bringing in a considerable income. [9] In 1836, following the passage of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, Bristol Corporation of the Poor along with other municipal charities was transferred to the Bristol Charity Trustees, which later became Bristol Municipal Charities. This enabled them to buy the site of the defunct prison in Stapleton, hence founding Blackberry Hill Hospital. [10]
The majority of the records of the Bristol Poor Law Union were destroyed during the Bristol Blitz. However, some of the records had been transcribed and published by the Bristol Record Society before that time. [11] Bristol Archives holds the surviving archives of Stapleton Workhouse and Clifton Workhouse (Ref. 30105) (online catalogue).
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged after the Second World War.
In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses. The earliest known use of the term workhouse is from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "we have erected wthn [sic] our borough a workhouse to set poorer people to work".
A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being.
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey denying the right of the poor to subsistence. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Relief Act 1601 and attempted to fundamentally change the poverty relief system in England and Wales. It resulted from the 1832 Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws, which included Edwin Chadwick, John Bird Sumner and Nassau William Senior. Chadwick was dissatisfied with the law that resulted from his report. The Act was passed two years after the Representation of the People Act 1832 which extended the franchise to middle-class men. Some historians have argued that this was a major factor in the PLAA being passed.
Southmead Hospital is a large public National Health Service hospital, situated in the area of Southmead, though in Horfield ward, in the northern suburbs of Bristol, England. It is part of the North Bristol NHS Trust. The 800-bed Brunel Building opened in May 2014, to provide services, which transferred from Frenchay Hospital in advance of its closure. The hospital site covers 60 acres (24 ha).
The Poor Relief Act 1601 was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, the "43rd Elizabeth", or the "Old Poor Law", was passed in 1601 and created a poor law system for England and Wales.
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of helping the poor. Alongside ever-changing attitudes towards poverty, many methods have been attempted to answer these questions. Since the early 16th century legislation on poverty enacted by the Parliament of England, poor relief has developed from being little more than a systematic means of punishment into a complex system of government-funded support and protection, especially following the creation in the 1940s of the welfare state.
Sir George Nicholls was a British Poor Law Commissioner after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act. He had been an Overseer of the Poor under the old system of poor relief.
Boards of guardians were ad hoc authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930.
St Peter's Church is a ruined church in Castle Park, Bristol, England. It was bombed during World War II and is now preserved as a memorial.
The Irish poor laws were a series of acts of Parliament intended to address social instability due to widespread and persistent poverty in Ireland. While some legislation had been introduced by the pre-Union Parliament of Ireland prior to the Act of Union, the most radical and comprehensive attempt was the Irish act of 1838, closely modelled on the English Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. In England, this replaced Elizabethan era legislation which had no equivalent in Ireland.
A House of Industry was a workhouse in Dublin, Ireland which existed from its establishment by an act of parliament in 1703, "for the employment and maintaining the poor thereof."
St Peter's Hospital, Bristol could be found to the rear of St Peter's church until it was destroyed in the Bristol Blitz in 1940.
Blackberry Hill Hospital is an NHS psychiatric hospital in Fishponds, Bristol, England, specialising in forensic mental health services, operated by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The hospital also offers drug and alcohol rehabilitation inpatient services, and is the base for a number of community mental health teams.
Chorlton Poor Law Union was founded in January 1837 in response to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, also known as the New Poor Law. It was overseen by an elected board of 19 guardians representing the 12 parishes in the area it served: Ardwick, Burnage, Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Chorlton with Hardy, Didsbury, Gorton, Hulme, Levenshulme, Moss Side, Rusholme, Stretford, and Withington, all in present day south Manchester, England.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which repealed the whole of 817 acts of Parliament, and portions of more than 50 others. It is the largest Statute Law (Repeals) Act which has been recommended by the Law Commission.
The Scottish poorhouse, occasionally referred to as a workhouse, provided accommodation for the destitute and poor in Scotland. The term poorhouse was almost invariably used to describe the institutions in that country, as unlike the regime in their workhouse counterparts in neighbouring England and Wales residents were not usually required to labour in return for their upkeep.
A Municipal hospital is a hospital under the control of a local government, as opposed to those run commercially, by some sort of charitable organisation, or by national or state governments.
The Heavitree Hospital (currently branded as the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Heavitree)) is a hospital currently operated by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, as a satellite site of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with its main site a short distance away at Wonford. The hospital started as the Exeter Workhouse, and was also known as the Exeter City Hospital.
Butcher, E.E., ed. Bristol Corporation of the Poor, 1696-1834. Bristol. Historical Association. ISBN 978-0-901388-07-0