Poor Relief Act 1662 Totally Explained

Everything about The Poor Relief Act 1662 totally explained

The Poor Relief Act 1662 (13&14 Car. II c.12) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It was an Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom and is also known as the Settlement Act or, more honestly, the Settlement and Removal Act. The purpose of the Act was to establish the parish to which a person belonged (for example his/her place of "settlement"), and hence clarify which parish was responsible for him should he become in need of Poor Relief (or "chargeable" to the parish poor rates). Of particular note is that this was the first occasion when a document proving domicile became statutory: these were called Settlement Certificates.
After 1662, if a man left his settled parish to move elsewhere, he'd to take his Settlement Certificate, which guaranteed that his home parish would pay for his "removal" costs (from the host parish) back to his home if he needed welfare. As parishes were often unwilling to issue such certificates people often stayed where they were - knowing that in an emergency that would be entitled to their parishes poor rate. The Settlement Laws benefited the owners of large estates who controlled housing. Some land owners demolished empty housing in order to reduce the population of their lands and prevent people from returning. It was also common to recruit labourers from neighbouring parishes so that they could easily be sacked. Magistrates could order parishes to grant poor relief. However often the magistrates were landowners and therefore unlikely to make relief orders that would encase poor rates. The Settlement Act was repealed in 1834 (under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 which introduced the Union Workhouse), though not fully repealed until 1948.

Settlement terms

To gain settlement in a parish a person had to meet at least one of the following conditions:

Be born into the parish.
Have lived in the parish for three years before 1662.
Be hired for over a year and a day that takes place within the parish - (this led to short lengths of hire so that settlement wasn't obtained).
Hold an office in the parish.
Rent a property worth £10 per year or pay the same in rent.
Have married into the parish.
Gained poor relief in that parish previously.
Have a seven-year apprenticeship with a settled resident.

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