Hendon Parish

Poor rates were administered by parishes, and were levied to assist the poor of that parish. The duty of relieving the poor was given to parish overseers. The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act established Boards of Guardians which were responsible for the care of poor persons in a group of parishes, known as Poor Law Unions. Hendon Poor Law Union was formed in 1835, and comprised the parishes of Hendon, Harrow, Pinner, Edgware, Kingsbury, Great and Little Stanmore, and Willesden. A red-brick workhouse was built at Redhill, Edgware Road, in 1835 to hold 350 inmates; a union school for 150 children was erected near by in 1859 and the workhouse itself was extended in 1889.