Overton Poor Law to 1848

In 1686, the Overton vestry authorised a poor-house in the parish, which continued until the rapidly rising costs of poor relief resulted in a new House of Industry which opened in about 1800. The inmates made sacking but the income did not result in any reduction in the poor rates.

Operating under Gilbert’s Act of 1782, the overseers also paid outdoor relief for food, clothes and shoes, widows’ pensions, arrears of rent, money for those who were ill and could not work, for funerals and graves, travel to the county hospital and relief for poor travellers on the road.

In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act abolished outdoor relief and deterred the able-bodied from seeking relief in workhouses. The Overton poor rates dropped by half.  The Overton House of Industry became part of the Whitchurch Union and was closed in 1848.