Woolwich Board of Guardians x Woolwich Poor Law Union

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 Woolwich Poor Law Union was founded in 1868 when the Lewisham Poor Law Union (parishes of Charlton, Kidbrooke and Plumstead) and the Greenwich Poor Law Union (parish of Woolwich) were merged. A workhouse was constructed in 1870 on Tewson Road on the south side of Plumstead High Street. It was first called the "Woolwich Union Workhouse", then in the 1920s the "Woolwich Institution", while the infirmary was renamed the "Plumstead and District Hospital". From 1899 the Union also managed the Goldie Leigh Children's Homes at Bostall Heath. This later became a hospital for skin conditions and a home for mentally disabled children.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.