Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
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 Westminster Boards of Guardians were formed of several smaller Unions in the Westminster area which merged:
Saint George's Hanover Square Poor Law Union:
1789: Care and management of the poor vested in a body of Governors and Directors elected by the vestry of St George Hanover Square
1867: Superseded by a Board of Guardians for the parish
1870: Became part of Saint George's Union
Saint Margaret and Saint John Poor Law Union:
1851: Governors and Directors of the poor appointed for parishes of St Margaret and St John the Evangelist
1867: superseded by Board of Guardians for the united parishes
1870: became part of Saint George's Union
1875: Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter added to Saint George's Union
City of Westminster Poor Law Union:
1913: Saint George's Union amalgamated with the Strand and Westminster Unions to form the City of Westminster Union
Strand Poor Law Union:
1836: Union formed of the parishes of the Liberty of the Rolls, Saint Clement Danes, Saint Mary le Strand, Saint Paul Covent Garden and the Precinct of the Savoy
1837: Parish of Saint Anne added
1868: Parish of Saint Anne removed to form part of the Westminster Union, and the parish of Saint Martin in the Fields added
1913: Strand Union amalgamated with Westminster Union and Saint George's Union
Westminster Poor Law Union
1727: poor of parish of Saint James in the care of the Vestry Parochial Committee
1762: Governors and Directors of the Poor appointed
1868: amalgamated with parish of St Anne to form Westminster Union. NB Vestry of St James continued to elect Governors and Directors until 1889 when they were abolished
1913: Westminster Union amalagamated with Strand and St George's Union to form City of Westminster Poor Law Union
Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.