Act for relief of poor

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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In medieval times public provision for the poor was organised by local parishes, which collected donations in the form of tithes for redistribution, a process controlled and organised by ecclesiastics in each parish. Lack of central regulation left this system open to abuse, and, as distrust of prelacy mounted surrounding the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, and the Church of England was restructured, this system was reformed. The first preliminary Poor Law was passed in 1536, obliging parish members to contribute to the fund. Legislation was passed in 1563 which transformed the donation into a legal obligation, and a subsequent act passed in 1572 further formalised the process.

The Act of Union of 1536 brought Wales under English jurisdiction, and in 1601 the Poor Law Act passed by

164 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Act for relief of poor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 May 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19, accessed 29 March 2024.]

19 Act for relief of poor 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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