The Poor Law as a Political Institution

Abstract

Historical studies of the nineteenth century have committed the Poor Law to a non-political limbo. Political historians have assumed that politics was primarily concerned with parliamentary elections and have shown little interest in Poor Law affairs, except perhaps when they impinged on the wider political stage. Social historians interested in poor relief have concentrated heavily upon social administration and have ignored political dimensions. Yet the Poor Law was a vital political institution, granting to those who directed affairs in their own community great powers and much patronage. The office of guardian was an elective one and it was therefore a potential source of political conflict. Poor Law policy was frequently controversial and was therefore a potential source of political contention. To fail to appreciate the political aspect of poor relief is to misunderstand the role of the Poor Law in Victorian society.