Collection LABG - LAMBETH BOARD OF GUARDIANS

73.98 linear metres

LABG 1834-1930 Collection 73.98 linear metres Lambeth Poor Law Parish x Lambeth 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 Lambeth Poor Law Parish was formed in 1835, comprising just one parish, that of Saint Mary. Lambeth Parish had an existing workhouse on Princes Road (now Black Prince Road) which they continued to use. A new workhouse was constructed in 1871 on Renfrew Road. This workhouse briefly held the seven year old Charlie Chaplin along with his mother and elder brother. The workhouse later became Lambeth Hospital. The Union also managed an industrial school at Elder Road in Norwood.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Records received with the records of the successor County Council. Further records received in 1955 (AC/55/056).

Records of Lambeth Poor Law Union, 1834-1930, including minutes of the Board of Guardians; minutes of the Finance Committee and the Ladies Committee; correspondence with Government departments; orders and rule of the Poor Law Commissioners; Board of Guardians handbook; settlement examinations; orders of removal to and from other Unions; detention orders; registers of lunatics; registers from the Princes Road Workhouse, the Renfrew Road Workhouse, the Brook Drive Infirmary and the Home for the Aged Poor, West Norwood; registers of wives of interned aliens, First World War; registers of emigrated children; apprenticeship indentures; registers of apprentices and servants; registers of children at the Norwood Schools; financial accounts; staff records and building plans for Norwood Schools and Lambeth Infirmary.

In 9 sections: Board; Committees; Correspondence; Settlement and relief; Workhouses and Institutions; Schools and Children; Finance and statistics; Staff; Plans.

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

See H01/L for the Lambeth Hospital.

Lambeth Archives (Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, London SE5 9QY) holds further records for the Princes Street Workhouse.

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 England Norwood Croydon Lambeth Industrial School , Norwood Princes Road Workhouse Renfrew Road Workhouse , 1871-1922 x Lambeth Infirmary , 1876-1922 x Lambeth Hospital , 1922-1964 Lambeth Poor Law Parish x Lambeth Board of Guardians People People by roles Care of poor and aged Lunatics Disadvantaged groups Settlement records Disadvantaged children Settlement examinations Social security Social services Poor Law Educational institutions Schools Industrial schools Poor Law union Social welfare Poor relief Poor Law boards of guardians Surrey Information sources Documents Apprenticeship records Apprenticeship indenture Public administration Government Local government Local boards Boards of Guardians Health services Care Care of children Architecture Buildings Workhouses UK Western Europe Europe Lambeth (district) Lambeth London

Records received with the records of the successor County Council. Further records received in 1955 (AC/55/056).

Records of Lambeth Poor Law Union, 1834-1930, including minutes of the Board of Guardians; minutes of the Finance Committee and the Ladies Committee; correspondence with Government departments; orders and rule of the Poor Law Commissioners; Board of Guardians handbook; settlement examinations; orders of removal to and from other Unions; detention orders; registers of lunatics; registers from the Princes Road Workhouse, the Renfrew Road Workhouse, the Brook Drive Infirmary and the Home for the Aged Poor, West Norwood; registers of wives of interned aliens, First World War; registers of emigrated children; apprenticeship indentures; registers of apprentices and servants; registers of children at the Norwood Schools; financial accounts; staff records and building plans for Norwood Schools and Lambeth Infirmary.

In 9 sections: Board; Committees; Correspondence; Settlement and relief; Workhouses and Institutions; Schools and Children; Finance and statistics; Staff; Plans.

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

See H01/L for the Lambeth Hospital.

Lambeth Archives (Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, London SE5 9QY) holds further records for the Princes Street Workhouse.

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