Poor Law Commission and successors: Paid Officers Department and Metropolitan Department:...

MH 9

1837-1921

The registers are arranged in alphabetical order of geographical district, and then under the various categories of staff, including administrative, workhouse, infirmary, school, medical and relieving staff.

Numbers given in the piece description are the first page of each section, within a large volume.

Public Record(s)

English

• Local Government Board, Metropolitan Department, 1871-1884
• Local Government Board, Paid Officers Department, 1871-1919
• Poor Law Board, Metropolitan Department, 1867-1871
• Poor Law Board, Paid Officers Department, 1847-1871
• Poor Law Commission, Paid Officers Department, 1834-1847

37 volume(s)

Topics

Poverty

This department exercised the supervision vested in the Poor Law Commission andPoor Law Board over appointments, salaries, superannuation and conditions of employment of poor law officers, teachers in poor law schools, medical officers of health, sanitary inspectors and public analysts. Until 1884 these functions in relation to London were performed by the Metropolitan Department.

The department was originally established by the Poor Law Board on the passing of the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867, mainly to reorganise the poor law authorities in London in accordance with the act, but it was responsible for the whole range of services provided by poor law unions and parishes, the sick asylum districts and the Metropolitan Asylum Board, including asylums, infirmaries and ambulance services, within the metropolitan district.

It was wholly independent of the Poor Law, Paid Officers and Audit Departments and of the Medical and Public Health Departments except in the field of vaccination, and was served by its own inspectorate for both general and medical purposes. A body of visiting officers under the direction of a superintendent was employed to report on vagrants in the metropolitan casual wards. In 1884 the department was dissolved and its functions divided among the other departments dealing with similar work outside the metropolis.