The Poor Relief Act
The unit of local government was an always had been the parish but within an ecclesiastical parish there could be more than one poor law parish usually reflecting ancient Manors or Chapelries. Everyone would have a parish of legal settlement an if relief was required it would be the responsibility of that parish to provide it. The parish was required to elect each Easter two "Overseers of the Poor" who were responsible for setting the poor rate, it's collection and the relief of those in need, these overseers should ideally be, "substantial householders" but in small villages the only practical qualification was to be a rate payer. In rural England where 90% of the population lived this was a fair and equitable system run by local people and administered by the local Justices of the Peace who were likely to be the Rector and local landowners. Following 1834 all this changed as parliament denigrated the system bit by bit in response to the growth of the large industrial towns and their very different problems.
Legal settlements were the overlying principle of poor relief, the qualifications for which were as follows :-
- To be born in a parish of legally settled parent(s)
- Up to 1662 by living there for 3 years . After 1662 you could be thrown out within 40 days and after 1691 you had to give 40 days notice before moving in.
- Renting property worth more than £10 per annum in the parish or paying taxes on such a property.
- Holding a Parish Office.
- Being hired by a legally settled inhabitant for a continuous period of 365 days. (most single labourers were hired from the end of Michaelmas week till the beginning of the next Michaelmas so avoiding the grant of legal settlement). By the time you were married, had proved your worth and gained experience then longer hirings were possible therefore changing legal settlement.
- Having served a full apprenticeship to a legally settled man for the full 7 years.
- Having previously been granted poor relief. This condition implied that you had previously been accepted as being legally settled and was usually only referred to in settlement examinations.
- Females changed their legal settlement on marriage, adopting their husbands legal place of settlement. ( If a girl married a certificate man in her own parish and he died, she would automatically be removed to his place of legal settlement along with any issue from the marriage).