Record

Hierarchy Browser Number8001/3/3/6
TitleQuarter Sessions Poor Law
DescriptionThe Poor Law was administered by the Quarter Sessions, and its remit included workhouses for the poor, asylums for the lunatics, maintenance of illegitimate children, and removal of poor people to their home parish.

In 1702 the Corporation pulled down the Foregate and the following year erected a workhouse under the authority of 44 Guardians of the Poor. The initial outlay and running costs caused the Guardians to incur such debts that they were unable to maintain the poor in the workhouse. The poor were returned to their parishes and the building was taken over by the Hop Market and its warehouses.
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