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Poor Relief
Registers
Before 1845, under the old poor law, not
all parishes kept formal records of poor. The only references to
individual paupers, other than minutes of kirk sessions and heritors
authorising payments, may be financial accounts. Where registers
were kept, it was often the practice to have two rolls, a 'permanent
roll' for paupers who were expected to be chargeable for the remainder
of their lives, and a roll of 'occasional poor' for the others.
The Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 established parochial boards in
rural parishes and in the towns, and a central Board of Supervision
in Edinburgh. The forms of records created by the new poor law were
closely controlled by the Board of Supervision which had direct
oversight, both of the local inspectors of poor and of poorhouse
governors. At least some types of record were printed in Edinburgh
as volumes of blank forms, to the Board's specifications. Not all
the local boards used these forms, but even if they did not, their
records necessarily include the same information. The main record
types (other than the minutes of the board and its committees) were
those kept by the inspectors, in particular the Registers of Poor
and the Record of Applications for Relief.
Registers of Poor
General
Registers of Poor
Children's
Separate Registers
Applications
for Relief
Adoption
and other children's records
Miscellaneous
inspectors' records
Use of poor relief registers
Those with a special interest in the form
of these records are referred to the records themselves, normally
in local authority record offices, and also to the Annual Reports
of the Board of Supervision. The Appendix to the Fifth Report (1851)
lists the record series to be kept by poorhouses, and the Appendices
to the Tenth and Twentieth Reports (1855 and 1865) list the records
to be kept by inspectors, with illustrations of the formats of the
most important series. Not all the records referred to are available
for public access, or at least not as far forward as 1948. Local
authority adoption records will normally be closed, other than to
those having a personal interest in them. Access may be through
a counselling service provided by the Social Work Department. For
registers of poor and records of applications for relief, the practice
of authorities has not yet been standardised and closure periods
may vary.
Other Knowledge Base entries on poor relief
Poor Law before 1845
Poor Law after 1845
Registers of the
Poor
In the SCAN
Virtual Vault you can see examples of
poor relief records from Scottish archives.
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1.
What do the terms 'indoor relief' and 'outdoor relief' mean?
2.
What is meant by the terms 'test case' and 'test ward'?
3.
Where can I find parochial board, parish council and poor relief
records for a parish?
4.
Why might the information in a register of the poor contradict information
in other records?
5.
If poor relief registers do not survive for a parish, is it worthwhile
looking in parochial board/parish council minutes for information
on a pauper?
6.
I have seen the term 'General Register of the Poor' used. Does this
refer to a central register of the poor, kept nationally for the
whole of Scotland?
In the SCAN
Virtual Vault you can see examples of
poor relief records from Scottish archives.
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