IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): CHBG
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: CHELSEA BOARD OF GUARDIANS
Date(s): 1834-1931
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 34.3 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Saint Luke's Chelsea Poor Law Parish x Saint Luke's Chelsea Board of Guardians
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.
Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.
Between 1837 and 1841 Chelsea parishes belonged to the Kensington Poor Law Union. In 1841 a separate Board of Guardians was constituted for the parish of Saint Luke's, Chelsea. In 1843 a workhouse was constructed on Britten Street, which was further extended in 1860 and again in 1902.
Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Saint Luke's Chelsea Poor Law Parish, 1834-1931; including minutes of meetings of the Boards of Guardians; minutes of various Committees; Union year books; notices of motions; index to standing orders; correspondence with and orders from Government departments including the Ministry of Health; estimates, agreements and contracts for construction and maintenance work; orders of removal to and from other Unions; orders of removal of Scots and Irish persons; settlement examinations; bastardy orders; outdoor relief books; registers of lunatics; registers for the old and new workhouses on Britten Street; registers of deserted women and children; registers of patients at hospitals; registers of apprentices; registers of children at Kensington and Chelsea District Schools; financial accounts and staff records.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
In 10 sections: Board and Committees; Order and correspondence; Contracts and Agreements; Settlement and Relief; Lunatics; Workhouses and Institutions; Schools and Children; Finance; Staff; Miscellaneous.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: City of London
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Records received with the records of the successor County Council. Further accession in 1955 (AC/55/056).
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
For the records of the London County Council, who took over Chelsea Board of Guardians institutions, see LCC.
Publication note:
For a detailed history see website 'The Workhouse' (http://www.workhouses.org.uk).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: April to June 2009