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                  Poor Relief – General Registers of Poor

                  In 1865 the Board of Supervision introduced new General Registers of Poor and Children’s Separate Registers. The main change in the General Registers was that all references to an individual pauper were to be placed on the same form. This would lead to forms which are sometimes almost short biographies of paupers, with details about occasional contacts with the system over a period of decades. They will also give the religious denomination of the pauper and the names, ages and earnings of a husband or children, possibly even of brothers or other relatives. Apart from the basic record, they may include details of medical treatment, or more exceptionally family correspondence, newscuttings or even photographs.

                  These registers were not much altered following their introduction with only one significant change in the early 1920s which came from the introduction of a separate system of relief to the able-bodied. This led to two separate series of registers, sometimes marked ‘Ordinary’ and ‘AB’ (for able-bodied). The registers lasted until the end of the poor law in 1948.

                  Not all of these registers have survived, due often to poor storage conditions or to a lack of understanding about their importance.

                  Records which contain personal information about living individuals will be closed to the general public under data protection laws. Individuals have a right to access information about themselves.