Law for The Poor

There was wide variation in the amount of poor relief given out. As the parish was the
administrative unit of the system there was great diversity in the system. Since there
were no administrative standards, parishes were able to interpret the law as they
wished. Some cities, such as Bristol, Exeter and Liverpool were able to obtain by-laws
which established their control onto several of the urban parishes within their
jurisdiction. Bristol gained a private Act of Parliament in 1696 which allowed the city to
create a 'manufactory' so that the profits from the paupers' work could be used for
maintenance of the poor relief system.
Outdoor Relief
Outdoor relief continued to be the most popular form of relief for the able-bodied poor
even though the law described that "the poor should be set to work". In 1795 the
Speenhamland system was introduced as a system of outdoor relief. Again, there was
variation within the system with some parishes subsidizing with food and others with
money. Some parishes were more generous than others so there was no uniformity to
the system. The Speenhamland system was popular in the south of England. Elsewhere
the Roundsman and Labor rate were used. The system was designed for a preindustrial
society, industrialization, a mobile population, a series of bad harvests during
the 1790s and the Napoleonic Wars tested the old poor law to the breaking point.
Settlement
The 1601 Act states that each individual parish was responsible for its 'own' poor.
Arguments over which parish was responsible for a pauper's poor relief and concerns
over migration to more generous parishes led to the passing of the Settlement Act 1662
which allowed relief only to established residents of a parish – mainly through birth,
marriage and apprenticeship. A pauper applicant had to prove a 'settlement’. If unable
to, they were removed to the next parish that was nearest to the place of their birth, or
where they might prove some connection. Some paupers were moved hundreds of
miles. Although each parish that they passed through was not responsible for them,
they were supposed to supply food and drink and shelter for at least one night.
Individual parishes were keen to keep costs of poor relief as low as possible and there
are examples of paupers in some cases being shunted back and forth between
parishes. The Settlement Laws allowed strangers to a parish to be removed after 40
days if they were not working, but the cost of removing such people meant that they
were often left until they tried to claim poor relief. In 1697 Settlement Laws were
tightened when people could be barred from entering a parish unless they produced a
Settlement certificate.
Effect on The Labor Market
The Act was criticized in later years for its distortion of the labour market, through the
power given to parishes to let them remove 'undeserving' poor. Another criticism of the
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