Collection STPBG - SAINT PANCRAS BOARD OF GUARDIANS

91.78 linear metres

STPBG 1804-1932 Collection 91.78 linear metres St Pancras Poor Law Union x St Pancras 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.

Saint Pancras Parish first had a workhouse in 1777, which was rebuilt in 1802. The Parish adopted Hobhouse's Act of 1831 which provided for administration of the parish by an executive committee elected from the ratepayers and continued to operate in this way after 1834, only becoming a Board of Guardians in 1867. Further building work took place at the workhouse in 1881. The workhouse is now Saint Pancras Hospital. The Saint Pancras Union also built Highgate Infirmary, which they subsequently sold to the Central London Sick Asylum District. In 1868 construction began on an industrial school at Leavesden. The school later became Abbots Langley Hospital.

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/55/062).

Records of the Saint Pancras Poor Law Union, 1804-1932, including minutes of meetings and reports of the Board of Guardians and various Committees including Visiting Committees; administrative papers including deeds, agreements, year books and newspaper cuttings; orders and correspondence from government departments; settlement examinations; orders of removal to and from other Unions; medical certifications of lunatics; daily journals of the male and female insane wards; registers of lunatics; registers from Saint Pancras Workhouse, North Infirmary, South Infirmary and Belmont Workhouse; registers of children sent out as apprentices or servants; registers of children at Leavesden School; financial accounts and staff records.

Arranged into sections: Minutes of Board and Committees; Administration; Orders and Correspondence; Settlement and Relief; Lunatics; Workhouses and Infirmaries; Schools and Children; Finance and Staff.

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 the records of the London County Council, who took over Saint Pancras Board of Guardians institutions, see LCC. For the Highgate Hospital see H/NW/1/SP.

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 Disadvantaged children Settlement records Settlement examinations Social services Social security Poor Law Poor Law union Social welfare Poor relief Poor Law boards of guardians Information sources Documents Apprenticeship records Apprenticeship indenture Government Public administration Local government Local boards Boards of Guardians Health services Care Care of children Architecture Buildings Workhouses Disadvantaged groups Lunatics People by roles People Care of poor and aged St Pancras Poor Law Union x St Pancras Board of Guardians Saint Pancras Workhouse Saint Pancras Industrial School , Leavesden Camden London England UK Western Europe St Pancras Europe

Records received with the records of the successor County Council. Further records received in 1955 (AC/55/062).

Records of the Saint Pancras Poor Law Union, 1804-1932, including minutes of meetings and reports of the Board of Guardians and various Committees including Visiting Committees; administrative papers including deeds, agreements, year books and newspaper cuttings; orders and correspondence from government departments; settlement examinations; orders of removal to and from other Unions; medical certifications of lunatics; daily journals of the male and female insane wards; registers of lunatics; registers from Saint Pancras Workhouse, North Infirmary, South Infirmary and Belmont Workhouse; registers of children sent out as apprentices or servants; registers of children at Leavesden School; financial accounts and staff records.

Arranged into sections: Minutes of Board and Committees; Administration; Orders and Correspondence; Settlement and Relief; Lunatics; Workhouses and Infirmaries; Schools and Children; Finance and Staff.

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 the records of the London County Council, who took over Saint Pancras Board of Guardians institutions, see LCC. For the Highgate Hospital see H/NW/1/SP.

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