Poor Relief and Welfare
The ways that people in poverty have been supported by various institutions in Scotland from medieval times until the present is a very large subject, which is of interest to a wide variety of researchers.
Supporting the poor was primarily a church responsibility from 1579 until 1845.[1] The Heritors and the Kirk Session of each parish administered a poor fund which was maintained through an assessment of the parish. Those eligible for poor relief had to have a close connection to the parish by birth or long-standing residence.
The Poor Law (Scotland) Act, 1845 followed this pattern and set up parochial boards in every parish with a Board of Supervision in Edinburgh. The parochial boards were allowed to raise a poor rate and were required to appoint an inspector of poor. Parochial boards were replaced by elected parish councils and the Board of Supervision was replaced by the Local Government Board for Scotland by the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1894.[2] The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 abolished parish councils and gave poor law responsibilities to the town councils of large burghs, the four cities and county councils.[3] The poor law was abolished in 1948. Thereafter central government operated a welfare system and local authorities provided support through what became social work services.
In addition to the statutory provision for poor relief, many burghs held various mortifications (charitable trusts) which covered a wide range of activities, including educational bursaries, but which often catered for specific groups of people in need. The Brown’s Mortification in Glasgow, for example, was a mortification for the relief of indigent persons named Brown.[4] The Mrs Bailie William Roger’s Widows Fund in Dundee supported 16 poor widows in 1853.[5] Local authority archives services may hold records of those administered by a town clerk.
Within each burgh a wide variety of trades including fleshers (butchers), baxters (bakers), and hammermen (candlestick makers) would charge craftsmen dues for the upkeep of ‘decayed members’, would buy oatmeal in bulk in time of drought for distribution, and would levy mortcloth (funeral pall) dues for the upkeep of widows and unmarried daughters of members of their respective crafts. Some of these records may be held by local authority archives services or may still be held by the clerk, usually a solicitor, of the trade involved if the trade continues.
Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000).
Related Knowledge Base entries
Public Assistance & Community Care 1948-2002
Poorhouses in Scotland in 1902 (list)
Bibliography
Cage, R. A., The Scottish Poor Law 1745-1845 (Scottish Academic Press, 1981)
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
Gordon, Anne, Candie for the Foundling (Pentland Press, 1992)
Haythornthwaite, J. A. (ed.), Scotland in the Nineteenth Century: An Analytical bibliography of material relating to Scotland in Parliamentary Papers 1800-1900 (Scolar Press, 1993).
National Records of Scotland, Tracing your Scottish ancestors: A guide to research in the National Archives of Scotland (Birlinn, 2020)
References
[1] Act for punishment of the strong and idle beggars and relief of the poor and impotent, 1579. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021),1579/10/27 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1579/10/27> [accessed 7 August 2021]. Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c.83).
[2] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 (37 & 38 Vict. c.58).
[3] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25).
[4] Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1859, 1860 (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1859) appendix p.68 <https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/archive/83903563> [accessed 7 August 2021].
[5] The Dundee Directory for 1853 (Dundee: A.M.Stephen and others, 1853) p.103 <https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/archive/87325848> [accessed 7 August 2021].
What is the difference between a poorhouse and a workhouse?
There were some differences between Scottish and English legislation regarding the funding and appeal system of the Poor Law, but there does not appear to have been any tangible difference between English ‘workhouses’ and Scottish ‘poorhouses’. It is not clear why the English, by and large, preferred the term ‘workhouse’ and the Scots, by and large, preferred ‘poorhouse’.
What do the terms ‘indoor relief’ and ‘outdoor relief’ mean?
‘Indoor relief’ meant admission to a poorhouse. ‘Outdoor relief’ meant another form of poor relief, usually a single or regular money payment, but sometimes outdoor relief was in the form of medicine, clothing or the payment of school fees.
What is meant by the terms ‘test case’ and ‘test ward’?
A ‘test case’ refers to an application for relief where the Inspector of the Poor suspected that the applicant could be supported by himself/herself or by his/her family. The applicant would be offered ‘indoor relief’ in the ‘test ward’ of a poorhouse. Those admitted to the test ward had to endure a tougher, more restrictive regime than those in other wards. The assumption was that many applicants would either refuse indoor relief in the test ward or, if admitted, would not endure the test ward for long: either discharging themselves or absconding.
Where should I look for information on poorhouses?
If you are interested in looking for the records of a particular poorhouse, you should contact each of the following, who might hold the records:
- your local authority archives service,
- your local health board archives (possibly within a university archives)
Bear in mind that substantial records do not survive for most poorhouses
A useful website is <http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Scotland/> [accessed 26 April 2024]. This website focuses mainly on poor relief in England but has helpful information about the Scottish law and systems.