Search -
Transactions of the Corporation of the Poor, in the City of Bristol, During a Period of 126 Years
Transactions of the Corporation of the Poor in the City of Bristol During a Period of 126 Years Author:James Johnson Subtitle: Alphabetically Arranged, With Observations, and a Prefatory Address to the Guardians of 1826 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1826 Original Publisher: Printed and sold by P. Rose Subjects: Bristol (England) Poor laws Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrat... more »ions and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: TRANSACTIONS CORPORATION OF THE POOR, IN T1IE CITY OF BRISTOL, During a period of 126 Years. STATE OF THE POOR IN BRISTOL, BEFORE THE PASSING OF THE BRISTOL POOR ACT, IN THE YEAR 1696. THE first legislative provision, by a general Assessment upon property, for maintenance of the Poor, was made under the Act of the 14th of Elizabeth, chap. 5. Before the passing of this Act, the poor depended wholly upon voluntary support, which, at that time, was found insufficient. The statute of the 43d of Elizabeth, chap. 2, enacts, " That the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of every Parish, or the greater part of them, shall raise weekly, or otherwise (by taxation of every inhabitant, parson, vicar, and other; and of every occupier of lands, houses, tithes impropriate, propriation of tithes, coal mines, or saleable underwoods, in the said parish) ; a convenient stock, of flax, hemp, wool, thread, iron, and other ware and stuff, to set the poor on work; and also competent sums for the necessary relief of the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other among them, being poor, as are not able to work; and also for the putting out poor children, apprentices." It is evident, by the provision of the aforesaid act, that the legislature never intended that any poor persons should be maintained at the public charge, who were able to work ; neither was it intended that poor persons, of any class, should be maintained by t...« less