Act For The Relief of The Poor 1601

Act For The Relief Of The Poor 1601

The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the "Elizabethan Poor Law", "43rd Elizabeth" or the "Old Poor Law" was passed in 1601 and created a national poor law system for England and Wales.

It formalised earlier practices of poor relief distribution in England and Wales and is generally considered a refinement of the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597 that established Overseers of the Poor. The "Old Poor Law" was not one law but a collection of laws passed between the 16th and 18th centuries. The system's administrative unit was the parish. It was not a centralised government policy but a law which made individual parishes responsible for Poor Law legislation. The 1601 act saw a move away from the more obvious forms of punishing paupers under the Tudor system towards methods of "correction".

Several amending pieces of legislation can be considered part of the Old Poor Law. These include:

• 1662 – Poor Relief Act 1662 (Settlement Acts)
• 1723 – Workhouse Test Act
• 1782 – Gilbert's Act
• 1795 – Speenhamland