Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Relief of the Poor Act 1782" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Relief of the Poor Act 1782

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for the better Relief and Employment of the Poor.
Citation	22 Geo. 3. c. 83
Dates
Royal assent	11 July 1782
Repealed	21 August 1871
Other legislation
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1871
Status: Repealed

The Relief of the Poor Act 1782 (22 Geo. 3. c. 83), also known as Gilbert's Act, was a British poor relief law proposed by Thomas Gilbert which aimed to organise poor relief on a county basis, counties being organised into parishes which could set up poorhouses or workhouses between them. However, these workhouses were intended to help only the elderly, sick and orphaned, not the able-bodied poor. The sick, elderly and infirm were cared for in poorhouses whereas the able-bodied poor were provided with poor relief in their own homes. Gilbert's Act aimed to be more humane than the previous modification to the Poor Law, the Workhouse Test Act. During the 1780s, there was an increase in unemployment and underemployment due to high food prices, low wages and the effects of enclosing land. This caused poor rates to increase rapidly, which wealthy landowners found unacceptable.

The Act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1871.

Attempts to pass legislation

Thomas Gilbert attempted to pass an act "for the better relief and employment of the poor" in 1765. Gilbert was a supporter of the 5th Duke of Bedford, which led to his act being blocked by Charles Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. Gilbert tried for 17 years to get his bill passed by parliament, eventually succeeding during Rockingham's second term as prime minister.

References

1. "1782 Poor Relief Act". 4 June 2011. (with link to the full text)
2. Polanyi, Karl (28 March 2001). The Great Transformation. Beacon Press. pp. 99—100. ISBN 9780807056431.
3. Bicheno J E An inquiry into the poor laws 2nd edn (R Hunter, London 1824), free in Google Books

External links

• Information on the Act

v t e Poor laws of the British Isles
Poor laws by territory	England and Wales Scotland Ireland Isle of Man	Nantwich workhouse
Old Poor Law	Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494 Tudor poor laws Poor Relief Act 1597 Poor Relief Act 1601 Poor Relief Act 1662 Relief of the Poor Act 1696 Poor Relief Act 1722 Relief of the Poor Act 1782 House of correction Overseer of the poor Poor rate Poor relief Buttock mail
Relief systems	Outdoor relief Speenhamland Labour Rate Roundsman Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor
New Poor Law	Royal commission (1832) Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 Less eligibility Workhouse Workhouse test Board of guardians Outdoor Labour Test Order Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order Poor law unions Opposition Book of Murder Scottish poorhouse
Changes after 1834	Poor Law Commission Poor Law Board Local Government Board Andover workhouse scandal Huddersfield workhouse scandal Union Chargeability Act
Decline and abolition	Liberal welfare reforms Royal Commission (1905–09) Majority Report Minority Report Interwar poverty National Assistance Act 1948
Other	Christmas Day in the Workhouse Historiography of the Poor Laws Timeline of the English poor law system Poor Relief Act List of poor law unions in England List of poor law unions in Wales List of Irish poor law unions

• Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1782
• Poor Law in Britain and Ireland
• Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament
• Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham