A comparison of the law of poor removals and chargeability in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with suggestions of a plan of assimilation, and a remedy for hardships now caused by removals.

Abstract

The law of poor removals had its origin in what was properly called the law of settlement. It is now a part of the law of chargeability of districts to support their own poor, and is in fact part of the machinery by which such chargeability is enforced. The ancient law of settlement which allowed people of humble rank to be removed to the place of their birth or settlement, for fear they might become a charge on the rates of the district they came to, was introduced into England and Wales in the reign of King Charles II, and its main provisions continued in force until 1795, and in one class of cases until 1834. The law of chargeability of districts to support their own poor has existed in Scotland since 1579; in England and Wales since 1596; and in Ireland since 1838. The difference of this law in different portions of the United Kingdom forms an important element of the present poor removal question.