The 1563 Act for the Relief of the Poor is a law passed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

under

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. It is a part of the

Tudor Poor Laws The Tudor Poor Laws were the laws regarding poor relief in the Kingdom of England around the time of the Tudor period (1485–1603). The Tudor Poor Laws ended with the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601, two years before the end of th ...

. It extended the Poor Act of 1555. It further provided that those who refused, after exhortation by the bishop, to contribute to poor relief could be bound over to the

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and assessed fines.Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 60

References

{{Poor Law English Poor Laws Acts of the Parliament of England (1485–1603) 1563 in law 1563 in England