EAN 9780752456652

From the sixteenth century onwards many laws were enacted to provide support for the poor and needy, and some parishes established poor houses in which to look after their homeless. In 1834, with the creation of the Poor Law Commission, the whole of England and Wales was formed into Unions of parishes, and each Union built its own workhouse. The workhouses gained a reputation for cruelty in the eyes of the public, yet this system of social security was not abolished until the creation of the NHS in 1948.