The welfare of the vulnerable in the late 18th and early 19th centuries: Gilbert’s Act of 1782

Workhouses have long assumed a central place in studies on the poor laws. While we know that the majority of relief claimants were actually given outdoor relief in money or in kind from the parish pay-table, welfare historians have shown that many individuals entered workhouses during moments of both short and long-term need. This dynamic has a long history. The Elizabethan poor laws permitted parishes to find accommodation for ‘poor impotent people’ in addition to the requirement to ‘set to work’ their poor. By the end of the 17th-century, however, some cities had obtained their own ‘Local Acts’ which contained specific legislation designed for the specific welfare needs of that locale. Central to these Acts was the workhouse. The first Local Act was passed in 1696 for the Civic Incorporation of Bristol. Throughout the next couple of centuries both rural and civic incorporations were formed, usually consisting of a group of parishes sharing the same workhouse. These workhouses were run according to the specification of their Local Act, though in practice subsequent local decisions were just as important in determining relief policies.