ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses upon the introduction of Poor Law loans. After examining the importance of poor relief in structuring the moral economy of early modern England, it goes on to discuss the economic, intellectual and social contexts in which relief on loan was introduced. It is argued that the introduction of loans was not only consistent with the wages fund theory critique of poor relief, but it was also consistent with concerns among many political economists with the character of the labouring poor. The chapter discusses the contents of the 1817 Select Committee report that recommended the introduction of relief on loan, the Act to Amend the Laws for the Relief of the Poor 1819 that enacted loans of poor relief and the use of loans during the latter years of the Elizabethan Poor Law.
