Collection HABG - HACKNEY BOARD OF GUARDIANS

50.22 linear metres

HABG 1770-1939 Collection 50.22 linear metres Hackney Poor Law Union x Hackney Board of Guardians

Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.

The Hackney Poor Law Union was formed in 1836, consisting of the parishes of Saint John Hackney and Stoke Newington. The parish of South Hornsey was added in 1900. A parish workhouse already existed on Homerton High Street, this was gradually replaced with new buildings and was much extended. After 1930 the building became Hackney Hospital. The Union also managed a Children's Receiving Home on Sidney Road, near the workhouse. In addition, the Union used the Brentwood School District industrial school at Brentwood in Essex. After the School District was dissolved in 1885 the Union took over the school. They also opened cottage homes in nearby Ongar.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Records received with the records of the successor County Council.

Records of Hackney Poor Law Union, 1770-1939, including minutes of meetings of the Board of Guardians and various Committees; Guardians handbooks; standing orders; correspondence with the Poor Law Board, Local Government Board and Ministry of Health; orders of the Local Government Board; papers relating to property including contracts and deeds; settlement examinations and orders for removal; orders for the reception of lunatics; registers of lunatics; registers for the Hackney Union Workhouse, the Brentwood Branch Workhouse and the Sidney Road Receiving Home; registers of children including apprentices, children adopted by the Union, children at schools and institutions, children at the Brentwood School and at Chipping Ongar Children's Home; financial accounts and staff records.

In 11 sections: Board and Committees; Orders and Correspondence; Contracts and Deeds; Settlement and Relief; Lunatics; Workhouses and Institutions; Schools and Children; Finance; Staff; Plans; Miscellaneous.

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Copyright: City of London.
English

Fit

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

For more records relating to the Brentwood Industrial School see reference BSD.

For a detailed history see website 'The Workhouse' (http://www.workhouses.org.uk).

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. April to June 2009 Brentwood Industrial School x Hackney Branch Institution x St Faith's Hospital Hackney Poor Law Union x Hackney Board of Guardians Care of poor and aged People People by roles Lunatics Apprenticeship records Apprenticeship register Disadvantaged groups Information sources Disadvantaged children Documents Settlement records Settlement examinations Social services Social security Poor Law Poor Law union Social welfare Poor relief Poor Law boards of guardians Government Public administration Local government Local boards Boards of Guardians Health services Care Care of children Architecture Buildings Workhouses Hackney Union Workhouse , Homerton Hackney Cottage Homes , Chipping Ongar Hackney Union Children's Receiving Home Stoke Newington London England UK Western Europe Brentwood Essex Chipping Ongar Homerton Hackney Hackney (district) Europe

Records received with the records of the successor County Council.

Records of Hackney Poor Law Union, 1770-1939, including minutes of meetings of the Board of Guardians and various Committees; Guardians handbooks; standing orders; correspondence with the Poor Law Board, Local Government Board and Ministry of Health; orders of the Local Government Board; papers relating to property including contracts and deeds; settlement examinations and orders for removal; orders for the reception of lunatics; registers of lunatics; registers for the Hackney Union Workhouse, the Brentwood Branch Workhouse and the Sidney Road Receiving Home; registers of children including apprentices, children adopted by the Union, children at schools and institutions, children at the Brentwood School and at Chipping Ongar Children's Home; financial accounts and staff records.

In 11 sections: Board and Committees; Orders and Correspondence; Contracts and Deeds; Settlement and Relief; Lunatics; Workhouses and Institutions; Schools and Children; Finance; Staff; Plans; Miscellaneous.

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Copyright: City of London.

• English

• Latin

English

For more records relating to the Brentwood Industrial School see reference BSD.

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English