IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): LCC/WE/CW
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: WELFARE DEPARTMENT: CASUAL WARDS
Date(s): 1923-1951
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 2.02 linear metres
Name of creator(s): LCC | London County Council x London County Council
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
In 1948 the poor law, after an existence of almost 350 years, was abolished. Those among the poor whose financial needs were not met by national insurance were given material help by the National Assistance Board. Local authorities were delegated some responsibilities by the Board, for example the provision of reception centres for the temporary accommodation of vagrants and persons without a settled way of life. In addition the National Assistance Act, 1948, required local authorities to make residential provision for the blind, disabled, elderly and infirm. However, under the Act these services were not to be provided free as a kind of official charity. Persons receiving help were to pay according to their means, even if their means were no more than a retirement pension. The Council's responsibilities in all this related therefore to the provision of establishments of various kinds. At the end of the Second World War there were public assistance institutions (formerly the old workhouses), three lodging houses, and, left over from wartime activities, the rest centres and rest homes. The Welfare Department was responsible for the organisation and management of the various residential homes, temporary homes and institutions for the assistance of the poor.
Casual wards provided temporary board and lodging for vagrants. After the war they were replaced by reception centres.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the London County Council Welfare Department, 1923-1951, relating to casual wards in Chelsea, Hackney, Lambeth, Northumberland Avenue, Paddington, Poplar, Southwark, Saint Pancras and Woolwich. Please note some files may be closed for Data Protection purposes.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Arranged alphabetically by location of ward; LCC/WE/CW/CH: Chelsea to LCC/WE/CW/WO: Woolwich.
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:
Acquired with the records of its parent body, the London County Council. Additional accession of case files received in 1955 (AC/55/078, AC/55/095).
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
For further information on the history of the LCC please see Achievement: A Short History of the London County Council by W Eric Jackson (1965), LMA Library reference 18.0 1965, The London County Council 1938, LMA Library reference 18.7 SER 4, and The Youngest County: A description of London as a county and its public services, 1951, LMA Library reference 18.0 1951.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: April to June 2009