The Poor Laws in Ireland, Scotland and Wales

The Poor Laws in Ireland, Scotland and Wales

In 1838 the Poor Laws were extended into Ireland, although a few poorhouses had been built before that time. The workhouses were supervised by a Poor Law Commissioner in Dublin. The Irish Poor Laws were even harsher on the poor than the English Poor Laws; furthermore, the Irish unions were underfunded, and there were too few workhouses in Ireland. As a result, the Irish Potato Famine became a humanitarian catastrophe.


Scotland launched its own Poor Law system in 1579. As the Act of Union which united England and Scotland did not alter Scotland's legal system, the Scottish Poor Law system did not disappear after 1707. Reforms similar in intent to the English reforms of 1834 were made in 1845. The English Poor Laws applied in Wales.

Poor Law Policy 1847-1900

Commission replaced with a Board

After 1847 the Poor Law Commission was replaced with a Poor Law Board. This was because of the Andover workhouse scandal and the criticism of Henry Parker who was responsible for the Andover union as well as the tensions in Somerset House caused by Chadwicks failure to become a Poor Law Commissioner.

Union Chargeability Act

The Poor Law had been altered in 1834 because of increasing costs. The Union chargeability Act was passed in 1865 in order to make the financial burden of pauperism be placed upon the whole unions rather than individual parishes. Most Boards of Guardians were middle class and committed to keeping Poor Rates as low as possible