An Introduction to Poor Law Documents before 1834
by Anne Cole [FFHS 2nd edn]

This guide provides a brief introduction to the pre-1834 poor law and concentrates on describing the documents produced by the necessary processes, removal orders, settlement certificates, overseers accounts, churchwardens accounts etc. There is also a reminder that not only the poor feature in these records, those who administered the system are also recorded, thus a set of churchwardens accounts will include the names of successive churchwardens. Poor Law records are usually held in the relevant county record office, however if making a special trip it is wise to establish beforehand what a particular repository holds. (CMBH - Dec 2000)