ABSTRACT
The problem of rural poverty persistently engaged the mind and conscience of English society from the reign of George III to that of Victoria. In the 1770s the relief available to those in need either took the form of charity or it stemmed from laws passed under Elizabeth I in 1598 and 1601. The Bastardy Act of 1733 had effected one significant change in the relief system. The apprenticeship of pauper children, as provided under the 1598 and 1601 Acts, was a method used by overseers to ease relief burdens. If relief were for any reason withheld by parish officers, an aggrieved applicant had the right to present his case to local magistrates. To a growing number of critics the relief system had become a costly way of perpetuating pauperism. The stigma of pauperism was inculcated from an early stage, and only those who could manage in no other way resorted to Poor Law assistance.
