Poor Relief – Poor Law in Scotland 1845-1948
1845-1930
The Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 established parochial boards in civil parishes and a central Board of Supervision for the Relief of the Poor in Edinburgh.[1] The Board of Supervision, which oversaw the operation of the poor law and the parochial boards, consisted of the Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Solicitor General, the Sheriffs of Perth, Renfrew and Ross and Cromarty and three members appointed by the Crown – one of whom was paid. The parochial boards administered the poor law locally, were allowed to raise a poor rate and were required to appoint an inspector of poor. The system of poor rates spread more widely, although it was still not universal even in the 1860s. The parochial boards built poorhouses for those categories of paupers who did not receive ‘outdoor relief’, normally in the form of small weekly sums of money. More often parishes combined to build ‘combination poorhouses’. During the second half of the century government increasingly found it convenient to give added powers to parochial boards, such as the registration of births, deaths and marriages, and in particular public health. In 1894 parochial boards were abolished and replaced by wholly elected parish councils, and the Board of Supervision was replaced by the Local Government Board for Scotland.[2] Poor law responsibilities and other existing functions continued but public health responsibilities were increased after 1897 and in 1919 the functions of the Local Government Board for Scotland were transferred to the Scottish Board of Health.[3] This was then replaced by the Department of Health for Scotland in 1928, and re-organised in 1939 into the Scottish Home Department.[4]
The trade depression of the 1920s led to the abandonment of the rule that the unemployed were not entitled to poor relief.[5] Thereafter the civil parishes usually kept separate series of records of poor law applications, distinguishing ‘Ordinary’ applications for relief from those from the ‘Able-Bodied’.
The parish system had several inherent defects. One was a tendency for levels of relief to vary between different parish councils. Another was the level of disputes, often litigation, between parish councils as to which was responsible for the maintenance of an individual pauper or pauper family. Larger authorities were needed, partly to bring a measure of standardisation and partly to ensure that the burden of poor relief was spread more equitably.
1930-1948
In 1930 parish councils were abolished and instead the poor law authorities were the county councils, town councils of large burghs and the four counties of cities, acting through departments of public assistance (or public welfare).[6] In county areas the function was often delegated to district councils. Some town councils appointed a public assistance committee and public assistance officers, while some small burghs formed joint committees with the relevant district council. These poor law authorities maintained a system broadly similar to that of their predecessors until 1948, when the existing poor law was abolished and almost all of it replaced by a national system of welfare and benefit support.[7]
Records of parochial boards and parish councils are mainly held by local authority archives services but a few from East Lothian, Midlothian and Wigtownshire are held by the National Records of Scotland. The Board of Supervision and Local Government Board records are held by the National Records of Scotland.
Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
Public Assistance and Community Care, 1948-2002
Bibliography
Ferguson, Thomas, ‘The Poor, Welfare and Social Services’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M. R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956), pp. 177-94
Forbes, Kirsty M. and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘Records in the National Archives of Scotland Relating to Poor Relief, 1845-1930’ Scottish Archives, 8 (2002) pp. 9-32.
Groves, W. W. ‘The New Poor Law in Nineteenth Century Scotland, with special reference to Lanarkshire’ Scottish Archives, 8 (2002) pp. 43-56.
Levitt, Ian, ‘Living Standards 4: the Old and New Poor Laws’ in Oxford Companion to Scottish History, ed. by Michael Lynch (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 394-95
Paterson, Audrey, ‘The Poor Law in Nineteenth-century Scotland’ in The New Poor Law in the Nineteenth Century ed. by Derek Fraser (MacMillan Press, 1976), pp. 171-93
References
[1] Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c.83).
[2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 (37 & 38 Vict. c.58).
[3] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (25 & 26 Geo. V c. 32); Scottish Board of Health Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. V c. 97).
[4] Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. V c.34); Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Act 1939 (2 & 3 Geo. VI c. 20)
[5] Poor Law Emergency Powers (Scotland) Act 1921 (11 & 12 Geo. V c.64).
[6] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25).
[7] National Assistance Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. VI c.29).