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 in the late 1940s.
The Poor Relief Act 1662 was an Act of the Cavalier Parliament of England. It was an Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom and is also known as the Settlement Act or the Settlement and Removal Act. The purpose of the Act was to establish the parish to which a person belonged, and hence clarify which parish was responsible for him should he become in need of Poor Relief. This was the first occasion when a document proving domicile became statutory: these were called "settlement certificates".
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.
The King's Printer is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers of the Crown, or other departments. The position is defined by letters patent under the royal prerogative in Canada and the United Kingdom.
The Parliamentary Papers Act 1840 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was passed in response to the case of Stockdale v Hansard where it was held that the House of Commons enjoyed no privilege as to publications under its authority circulated beyond Members of Parliament.
The Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, the first in a series of major reforms that led to the gradual separation of the Poor Law's medical functions from its poor relief functions. It also led to the creation of a separate administrative authority the Metropolitan Asylums Board.
Poor Law policy after the New Poor Law concerns the time period c. 1847–1900 after the implementation of the Poor Law Amendment Act until the beginnings of the decline of the Poor Law system at the start of the 20th century.
The following article presents a timeline of the poor law system in England from its origins in the Tudor and Elizabethan era to its abolition in 1948.
The Museums Act 1845, sometimes called the Museums of Art Act 1845 or the Museums of Art in Boroughs Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which gave the town councils of larger municipal boroughs the power to establish museums.
The Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed local authorities within the area of the Metropolitan Police District around London, England to use income from rates to protect and maintain common lands in their areas. It was amended by the Metropolitan Commons Amendment Act 1869.
The Summary Jurisdiction Act 1884 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Courtney Ilbert described this Act as an "expurgatory Act".
The two-volume Return of Owners of Land, 1873 is a survey of land ownership in the United Kingdom. It was the first complete picture of the distribution of land ownership in Great Britain since the Domesday Book of 1086, thus the 1873 Return is sometimes called the "Modern Domesday", and in Ireland since the Down Survey of 1655-1656. It arose from the desire of the Victorian governing landed classes, many of whom sat in the House of Lords, to counter rising public clamour about what was considered the monopoly of land.
The Admiralty, &c. Acts Repeal Act 1865 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Real Property Act 1845 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which regulated the transfer of land by sale.
The Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1864 was a short-term piece of legislation that imposed a legal obligation on Poor Law unions in London to provide temporary accommodation for "destitute wayfarers, wanderers, and foundlings". The Metropolitan Board of Works was given limited authority to reimburse the unions for the cost of building the necessary casual wards, an arrangement that was made permanent the following year by the passage of the Metropolitan Houseless Poor Act 1865.
Ministers' money was a tax payable by householders in certain cities and towns in Ireland to fund the local Church of Ireland minister. It was introduced in 1665, modified in 1827, and abolished in 1857. The cities and towns affected were Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Clonmel, and Kinsale. It was levied as a rate of up to one shilling in the pound on the property's rateable value. The valuation, to a maximum of £60, was done by commissioners appointed by the Lord Lieutenant. Churchwardens appointed by the local minister collected ministers' money on the quarter days: Christmas, Lady Day, St John's Day, and Michaelmas. The 1689 Irish Parliament, which the Catholic James II summoned during the Williamite War, abolished minister's money; after James lost the war, William and Mary's 1695 Parliament annulled the 1689 one. A 1723 act provided that, in Dublin, the same valuation could be used both for ministers' money and for calculating cess, a separate local rate used for public works and poor relief. Thereafter, cess rates were often expressed in terms of pence per shilling of minister's money.
