IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): HABG
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: HACKNEY BOARD OF GUARDIANS
Date(s): 1770-1939
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 50.22 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Hackney Poor Law Union x Hackney Board of Guardians
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.
Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.
The Hackney Poor Law Union was formed in 1836, consisting of the parishes of Saint John Hackney and Stoke Newington. The parish of South Hornsey was added in 1900. A parish workhouse already existed on Homerton High Street, this was gradually replaced with new buildings and was much extended. After 1930 the building became Hackney Hospital. The Union also managed a Children's Receiving Home on Sidney Road, near the workhouse. In addition, the Union used the Brentwood School District industrial school at Brentwood in Essex. After the School District was dissolved in 1885 the Union took over the school. They also opened cottage homes in nearby Ongar.
Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of Hackney Poor Law Union, 1770-1939, including minutes of meetings of the Board of Guardians and various Committees; Guardians handbooks; standing orders; correspondence with the Poor Law Board, Local Government Board and Ministry of Health; orders of the Local Government Board; papers relating to property including contracts and deeds; settlement examinations and orders for removal; orders for the reception of lunatics; registers of lunatics; registers for the Hackney Union Workhouse, the Brentwood Branch Workhouse and the Sidney Road Receiving Home; registers of children including apprentices, children adopted by the Union, children at schools and institutions, children at the Brentwood School and at Chipping Ongar Children's Home; financial accounts and staff records.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
In 11 sections: Board and Committees; Orders and Correspondence; Contracts and Deeds; Settlement and Relief; Lunatics; Workhouses and Institutions; Schools and Children; Finance; Staff; Plans; Miscellaneous.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: City of London.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Records received with the records of the successor County Council.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
For more records relating to the Brentwood Industrial School see reference BSD.
Publication note:
For a detailed history see website 'The Workhouse' (http://www.workhouses.org.uk).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: April to June 2009