The Hospitals for the Poor Act 1597 (39 Eliz 1 c 5) was an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

. It was enacted during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

and in force until the twentieth century. The Disabled Soldiers Act 1592 had permitted the bequest of lands and buildings to establish "houses of correction or abiding-houses" for the poor or for maimed soldiers, but as it had not been legally possible to establish a hospital without a specific royal grant, the Act had had limited effect. As such, this Act was enacted, allowing any person wishing to establish a foundation to create it by deed at the

High Court of Chancery High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

; such foundations would be permanent. However, a minimum endowment was required, sufficient to produce £10 per annum. The Act, which initially was to take effect for a span of twenty years, was later revived and made perpetual by the Hospitals Act 1623, and then remained in force until the whole Act was repealed by section 39(1) of, and Schedule 5 to, the

Charities Act 1960 A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ...

References

*''Select statutes and other constitutional documents illustrative of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I'', ed. by G. W. Prothero. Oxford University Press, 1913. Fourth edition. *''Chronological table of the statutes''; HMSO, London. 1993. 1597 in law 1597 in England Acts of the Parliament of England (1485–1603) {{statute-stub