The Settlement Act of 1662

Since the introduction of the poor law of 1601, the relief of the poor was the responsibility of the local parish. Some parishes provided more relief than others and this generosity made them vulnerable to exploitation by those seeking poor relief. Some people seeking relief abused the system by moving into these more generous parishes provoking objection from the rate payers. Eventually, this brought about the introduction of the Poor Relief Act of 1662 also known as the Settlement Act.

The Settlement Act was designed to establish the parish to which a person belonged. Strangers moving into into the parish could be removed under the terms of the law if they were considered to be ‘likely chargeable to the parish’. Churchwardens or Overseers of the Poor were able to make a complaint to Justices of Peace within forty days of the arrival of a stranger into the parish. If the Justices of the Peace considered the newcomer would at some stage need provision of poor relief then the person would be removed by law from the parish to the last legal place of settlement. The last place of legal settlement was determined by considering the places where the person:

1. was born,
2. was a householder,
3. had previous lived on a temporary basis,
4. had been a servant or an apprentice.

If the stranger was a tenet of property paying rent of £10 or more each year, or was paying tax on such property, then he would be permitted to stay. If he could prove to the Justices of the Peace that he would not require any poor relief at anytime then he would again be allowed to stay. However, the chances of the poor being able to meet either of these conditions were very slim indeed.

The law is often associated with a reduction in the mobility of labour as the unemployed were discouraged from leaving their birth parish in order to seek work. The Act did permit the unemployed to move into other parishes for seasonal work, such as the harvest, provided they had a certificate issued by their settled parish stating that they were an inhabitant of the parish with a dwelling where their family resided. The certificate would be valid for a year after which they were required to return home. Should they fall ill then they would also have to return home. Anyone who refused to do so, or returned to the parish from which they were removed, faced a spell in the House of Correction or the Workhouse where they would be given work.

As the law, like so many, was open to interpretation, parishes probably made selective use of it so those considered to be economically undesirable, such as men with large families, single women and older workers, could be prevented from entering the parish. The Overseers of the Poor would move a single pregnant woman on to another parish just before the birth, or pay a man from another parish to marry her, in order to avoid granting her illegitimate child a right of settlement in the parish.

1691 Act

The Poor Law Act of 1691 gave further criteria for determining the place of settlement. To qualify for a new place of settlement, a person could be considered if they had worked continuously for a year in the new parish. To avoid the granting of new places of settlement, employers only hired their employees for 364 days, one day short of a full year, or they would include holiday time and so break the continuous period of employment. Likewise, if employees did not like their new parish, they would resign their positions before the year was complete to avoid being trapped there.

1697 Act

Following the Act of 1697, newcomers to a parish were permitted to stay as long as they wished provided they were in possession of a Certificate of Settlement. This document ensured that a person was entitled to stay until they became chargeable to the parish, in which case the home parish would pay the removal costs of the person who was then relocated back into the home parish. When such certificates were issued, in order to keep removal costs to a minimum, parishes would only allow their parishioners to move to nearby parishes.

1795 Act

The Act of 1795 extended the protection that the settlement certificate offered to everyone. However, if they were to return to their place of settlement in order to claim poor relief. Again, single women who were pregnant were excluded from this right as their support was considered to be too expensive.

Further Reading

A Place of Legal Settlement by Anne Cole. Originally published in Lincolnshire Family History Society Magazine, 12(1), and Cheshire Ancestor, 31(3). Reproduced on the GENUKI web site