Interesting Facts and Information about Elizabethan England and The Poor Law, the Acts of Acts of 1552, 1563, 1572, 1576 and 1597 related to provision for the poor on a parish basis whilst the 1601 Poor Law created a National system to provide for the poor. Opening section of the 1601 Act. 1601, the 43rd year of the reign of Elizabeth I, saw the passing of An Acte for the Reliefe of the Poore (43 Eliz. It created a system administered at parish level, paid for by levying local rates on rate payers. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Law of 1601 and attempted to fundamentally change the poverty relief system in England and Wales. Since it was found to relieve the symptoms of the problem, though not the causes (Burchell), it was made permanent in 1640. The late Elizabethan Poor Laws contained a series of measures that addressed how assistance should be given to the kinds of poor people we have considered in previous chapters. The creation of the first Elizabethan Poor Law or The Poor Law of 1601 made this evident. In 1832, Earl Grey, the Prime Minister, set up a review of the Poor Law Act of 1601. The Poor Law of 1601 was implemented in response to a series of economic pressures. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 formalized earlier practices of poor relief contained in the Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597 yet is often cited as the beginning of the Old Poor Law system. This article is part of our larger resource on the Tudors culture, society, economics, and warfare. In 1601 An act of Parliament called The Poor Law was passed by Parliament. Unfortunately it was not about making life better for the poor but more about making it harder, if that were possible. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 required each parish to select two Overseers of the Poor. The Elizabethan Poor Law is a collection of laws serving human rights by distribution of relief goods for the poor. The 1601 Poor Relief Act. I c.2) which, although it was essentially a refinement of the 1597 Act, is often cited as marking the foundation of the Old Poor Laws. Taxpayers at the parish elected a board of overseers to administer the law. The Overseer of the Poor was under the supervision of the Justice of the Peace. The result of the review was a report that came to the following conclusions: The Act brought together all the measures listed above into one legal document. The important Poor Law enacted in 1601 was really a re-enactment of the 1597/8 law with slight amendments, and was actually considered a temporary measure. The 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law continued with further adaptations -- for example the 1662 Settlement Act, Gilbert's Act (1782) and the Speenhamland system of 1795 -- until the passing of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act and formed the basis of poor relief throughout the country for over two centuries. After the Reformation, England was a very different country. The Old Poor Law of 1601 passed under the reign of Elizabeth placed a tax on property with the proceeds being administered by the local parish for the benefit of the poor. The monasteries could be many things to the people, they were a spiritual place, a school, a hospital and a provider of care to the poor and destitute. The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey.