The Poor Act 1575 was 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 ...

and a predecessor to the Elizabethan Poor Laws. The 1575 act required

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

to create “a competent stock of wool, hemp, flax, iron and other stuff” for the poor to work on. It also created houses of correction where recalcitrant or careless workers could be forced to work and punished accordingly. The 1575 act built substantially on the

Vagabonds Act 1572 The Vagabonds Act 1572 was a law passed in England under Queen Elizabeth I. It is a part of the Tudor Poor Laws and a predecessor to the Elizabethan Poor Laws. The 1572 act provided that justices of the peace were to register the names of the " ...

, and combined, they formed the basis for the subsequent Elizabethan Poor Laws.Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 18--19

References

{{Poor Law English Poor Laws Acts of the Parliament of England (1485–1603) 1575 in law 1575 in England