Poor Relief – Board of Supervision and Local Government Board records

Two series of Board of Supervision minute books survive in the National Records of Scotland: minute books (HH23) and the chairman’s minute books (HH24), covering the period 1845 -1894. The chairman’s minute books are essentially rough copies of the board’s minute book series, and do not appear to contain any additional information. Each meeting begins with a sederunt (a list of those present) and then records how different cases, usually poor relief appeals, were disposed of, but do not show why the decisions have been made or any discussion surrounding them. They also note any business being brought to the Board by separate parishes, usually in the form of a letter. They are clearly arranged with parish names being underlined and later cases of individual paupers being numbered and coming at the end of the minutes. This facilitates research, as they are not indexed.

In addition, the Board of Supervision records contain a series of minute books to meetings of the Committee on Lunatic Paupers, 1845-62 (HH27). This contains information regarding disputed assessments, reports on major issues affecting some poorhouses particularly with respect to illnesses and epidemics. The minutes of the committee on lunatic paupers contains slightly more information on individuals.

The Local Government Board minutes and other records, also held in the National Records of Scotland, (HH2 and HH10) include public health matters as well as poor law information.

The minute books of the Board of Supervision and the Local Government Board are most useful for social and administrative historians. They are of limited use to local historians, as they require lengthy research (there are no indexes). They are not detailed enough for the family historian but their completeness as a series of records gives a good overview of the poor relief system.