Main Provisions of the Poor Law Act

The main provisions of the act were: -

• The division of the country into unions composed of electoral divisions, which in turn were made up of "townlands".
• The formation of a board of guardians for each union - the board consisting of elected and ex-officio guardians.
• The establishment of a central authority - the Poor Law Commissioners for England and Wales.
• A compulsory rate for the relief of the poor.
• The relief to be at the discretion of the guardians, and accordingly no poor person, however, destitute, to be held to have a statutory right to relief. A preference to be given to the aged, the infirm, the defective, and the children; after these had been provided for, the guardians to be at liberty to relieve such other persons as they might deem to be destitute, priority to be given to those resident in the union, in the event of the accommodation in the workhouse being insufficient for all.
• The relief to the limited to relief in the workhouse.
• The relief to be subject to the 'direction and control' of the Poor Law Commissioners, who, however, were prohibited from interfering in individual cases for the purpose of ordering relief. The Commissioners to make orders for the guidance and control of guardians, wardens, officers, the auditing of accounts, and for carrying the act into execution in all respects as they might think proper.