The Poor Law Commission was a body established to administer poor relief after the passing of the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...

. The commission was made up of three commissioners who became known as "The

Bashaw Bashaw may refer to: Places ;Canada *Bashaw, Alberta ** Bashaw Airport ;United States *Bashaw, Wisconsin, a town *Bashaw, Burnett County, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community *Bashaw Township, Brown County, Minnesota Others *Mose Bashaw (1889–1 ...

s of Somerset House",The anti-Poor Law campaign
/ref> their secretary and nine clerks or assistant commissioners. The commission lasted until 1847 when it was replaced by a

Poor Law Board The Poor Law Board was established in the United Kingdom in 1847 as a successor body to the Poor Law Commission overseeing the administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The new body was headed by a President, and with the Lord President of ...

the

Andover workhouse scandal The Andover workhouse scandal of the mid-1840s exposed serious defects in the administration of the English 'New Poor Law' (the Poor Law Amendment Act). It led to significant changes in its central supervision and to increased parliamentary scru ...

being one of the reasons for this change.

Edwin Chadwick Sir Edwin Chadwick KCB (24 January 18006 July 1890) was an English social reformer who is noted for his leadership in reforming the Poor Laws in England and instituting major reforms in urban sanitation and public health. A disciple of Uti ...

, one of the writers of the 1832 Royal Commission hoped to become Commissioner but instead only got the post of Secretary. This caused clashes with the Poor Law Commissioners. This was one reason the Poor Law Commission was eventually abolishedthere was too much infighting within the organisation.

Powers

The Poor Law Commission was independent of Parliament. This made it vulnerable to criticism from those inside Parliament. In the parishes the commissioners were almost universally hated.Poverty and Public Health 1815-1948 by Rosemary Rees The Commission had the power to issue directives but there was no way to make parishes do what the Commission wanted them to do. The Commission however did have powers over dietaries for the workhouse and it could veto appointments to

boards of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

therefore making it difficult for the parishes that opposed it.

Implementation of the Poor Law

Edwin Chadwick, the Secretary to the Poor Law Commission, wanted the New Poor Law to be implemented at first in the north of England where, at that time, there were few economic problems: employment was high and food was plentiful. But the narrow base of the economy posed the problem that unemployment could fluctuate wildly. This made implementation of the Act difficult as it was a physical impossibility to build a workhouse which could hold the large numbers affected by cyclical employment. James Kay-Shuttleworth, an Assistant Commissioner supported the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act in the North and believed that pauperism was caused by the "recklesness icand improvidence of the native population nd thebarbarism of the Irish."

Poor Law Commissioners, 1834-1847

Powers

Implementation of the Poor Law

Poor Law Commissioners, 1834-1847

References

Further reading