Overseer of the Poor

The Overseer of the Poor ( German  Beaufsichtiger the poor ) was an in Elizabethan England and Wales created office which had the distribution of goods and shelter to the poor and their supervision mission. It was introduced with the Act for the Relief of the Poor in 1597 and lasted until the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.

tasks

The office of the Overseer of the Poor was initially introduced without a specific description of its tasks. This only changed in 1601, when the provisions of this office have been clarified with respect to: Every community has been committed to a year at Easter two Overseer by the churchwardens ( Church Warden to appoint). The Office was unpaid and the magistrate ( Justice of the peace assumed).

The regulations stipulated that the overseer should calculate and set the poor benefit rate for their community. The necessary funds had subsequently collect from wealthy citizens and either in kind paid or in the form of money to the needy. At the same time, the Overseers were in charge of the community poorhouse .

A distinction was made between indoor and outdoor relief : with the former, the overseer sought out the needy in their own homes, with the latter the poor came to the poor house to collect their rations.

The Overseer of the Poor was abolished with the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and replaced by the Boards of Guardians . in some municipalities, however, the office continued, but primarily to collect poor money from the wealthy.

References

literature

• George Nicholls: A History of the English Poor Law in Connection with the State of the Country and the Condition of the People. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2007. ISBN 1584776919 , pp. 212-215

Web links

• Marjie Bloy: The 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law www.victorianweb.org, November 12, 2002.