Overseer of the poor

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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 such as the United States.

Contents

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 Poor Relief Act 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 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:

Vermont

Overseers of the Poor in the U.S. state of Vermont were often reluctant but elected, unpaid officers of the town. Towns were sometimes so small in population that a few applicants for aid could overwhelm the budget.

Frequent requests for aid could result in the applicant being sent to a county poor farm where residents were not only expected to work to support themselves, but often to support handicapped or elderly residents, as well. Sometimes the latter predominated, putting an insupportable burden on able-bodied residents.[ citation needed ]

Relief was obtained when the state took over welfare in 1968. [3]

See also

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workhouse</span> Institution for those unable to support themselves

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil parish</span> Territorial designation and lowest tier of local government in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poor Law Amendment Act 1834</span> United Kingdom poor relief law

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poor rate</span> Former type of property tax

In England and Wales the poor rate was a tax on property levied in each parish, which was used to provide poor relief. It was collected under both the Old Poor Law and the New Poor Law. It was absorbed into 'general rate' local taxation in the 1920s, and has continuity with the currently existing Council Tax.

Boards of guardians were ad hoc authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930.

The Scottish poor laws were the statutes concerning poor relief passed in Scotland between 1579 and 1929. Scotland had a different poor law system to England and the workings of the Scottish laws differed greatly to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 which applied in England and Wales.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil parishes in Cornwall</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parish (Church of England)</span> Lowest geographical unit of the church

The parish with its parish church(es) is the basic territorial unit of the Church of England. The parish has its roots in the Roman Catholic Church and survived the English Reformation largely untouched. Each is within one of 42 dioceses: divided between the thirty of the Canterbury and the twelve of that of York. There are around 12,500 Church of England parishes. Historically, in England and Wales, the parish was the principal unit of local administration for both church and civil purposes; that changed in the 19th century when separate civil parishes were established. Many Church of England parishes still align, fully or in part, with civil parishes boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish poorhouse</span> Scottish facility to support and provide housing for the needy

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The Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor or, as it is most generally known, the Jewish Board of Guardians, was a charity established by the upper class Jewish community in the East End of London in 1859. The board sought to provide relief for Jewish immigrants and soon became the central provider of relief for the Jewish poor in London.

References

  1. 1 2 "The 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law". www.victorianweb.org.
  2. Rees, Rosemary, Poverty and Public Health, 1815–1948, p3, ISBN   0-435-32715-1
  3. Fields, Michelle (25 October 2015). "Ledger Reveals Hidden Poor Farm History". The Vermont Standard. Retrieved 2 April 2018.