Great Britain Historical Database : Economic Distress and Labour Markets Data : Poor Law Statistics, 1859-1939

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><p>The <span style="font-style: italic;">Great Britain Historical Database</span> has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on <a href="https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/gbhdb/" target="_blank">A Vision of Britain</a> webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.</p><br><p>These data were originally published by the Poor Law Board, later renamed the Local Government Board, and cover England and Wales. They were computerised over many years by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project. They form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales.</p>

<p>The county-level data appeared in the Board's Annual Reports, while the union-level data appeared in their Returns to Parliament, within British Parliamentary Papers. The tabulations are always for the 1st of January and 1st of July. The original tables contain many columns, so two kinds of transcriptions have been made. Those labelled "full" include all columns but only for selected dates, while the other transcriptions cover all available dates but are generally limited just to total numbers of paupers and numbers of able-bodied male paupers, as the closest approximation to unemployment.</p>

<p>Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.</p>
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For the second edition (February 2024), the data was updated and extended to 1939, and former study 3713 was incorporated<br><br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR><br><p>- Total and able-bodied pauperage in all Poor Law Counties in England and Wales, July 1859 to January 1919.</p>
<p>- Total and able-bodied pauperage in all Poor Law Unions in England and Wales, July 1859 to January 1912 (Returns to Parliament discontinued in WW1).</p>
<p>- All available categories of pauper (indoor/outdoor, able-bodied/not able-bodied/lunatics, men/women/children) in all Poor Law Counties in England and Wales, for January and July in 1860, 1863, 1866, 1868 and 1879 only.</p>
<p>- All available categories of pauper (indoor/outdoor, able-bodied/not able-bodied/lunatics, men/women/children) in selected Poor Law Unions in England and Wales, for January and July in 1860 to 1871. The selected unions always include all unions in Lancashire and sometimes cover a transect linking Lancashire with Norfolk.</p>
<p>- All available categories of pauper in selected Poor Law Unions in England and Wales, for July only from 1907 to 1911. The selected unions include all unions in London ('The Metropolis'), Lancashire and Durham plus selected major urban unions.</p>
<p>- Poor law statistics for all poor law unions from 1920 to 1930, then for Administrative Counties and County Boroughs from 1931 to 1939 (Data for 1920 and 1921 have a different format, which is fully included in a separate file).<br>
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本摘要版权归英国数据服务中心（UK Data Service）及数据集采集版权所有者所有。

<i>大不列颠历史数据库（Great Britain Historical Database）</i>系正在推进的大不列颠历史地理信息系统（GIS）项目的组成部分。该项目旨在追溯英国南北差异的形成历程，并提供英国次县级尺度人文地理格局的综合视图。有关该项目的更多信息可查阅「英国之景（A Vision of Britain）」官网相关页面，用户可在线浏览该数据库的文档系统。

本数据集最初由济贫法委员会（Poor Law Board）发布，该委员会后更名为地方政府委员会（Local Government Board），数据覆盖英格兰与威尔士地区。大不列颠历史地理信息系统项目耗时多年完成了该数据集的数字化工作。本数据集属于大不列颠历史数据库的组成部分，该数据库收录了多类地理定位统计数据，其遴选标准为追溯英国南北差异的形成历程，并提供英国次县级尺度人文地理格局的综合视图。

县级层面的数据刊载于该委员会的年度报告，而济贫法联盟（Poor Law Union）层面的数据则收录于其提交至英国议会文件（British Parliamentary Papers）的《议会呈报表》中。所有制表数据的统计时点均为每年1月1日与7月1日。原始表格包含多列指标，因此本次共完成两类转录工作：标注为「完整」的转录版本涵盖全部列指标，但仅包含部分选定时点的数据；另一类转录版本覆盖所有可获取的时点，但通常仅统计贫民总人数与成年男性贫民人数，以此作为失业状况的近似替代指标。

请注意：本数据集未收录个体姓名相关信息，因此无法用于个人家族史研究。

2024年2月发布的第二版对数据集进行了更新与扩充，将数据时限延伸至1939年，并纳入了原研究3713的相关内容。

<b>核心研究主题</b>：

- 1859年7月至1919年1月期间，英格兰与威尔士所有济贫法郡的贫民总人数与成年男性贫民人数。
- 1859年7月至1912年1月期间，英格兰与威尔士所有济贫法联盟的贫民总人数与成年男性贫民人数（一战期间议会呈报表停止发布）。
- 仅1860、1863、1866、1868及1879年的1月与7月，英格兰与威尔士所有济贫法郡下各类可获取的贫民统计指标（院内/院外贫民、成年/非成年贫民/精神病人、男性/女性/儿童贫民）。
- 1860年至1871年的1月与7月，英格兰与威尔士部分选定济贫法联盟下各类可获取的贫民统计指标（院内/院外贫民、成年/非成年贫民/精神病人、男性/女性/儿童贫民）。选定的济贫法联盟始终包含兰开夏郡（Lancashire）所有联盟，部分时段还覆盖了连接兰开夏郡与诺福克郡（Norfolk）的样带区域。
- 1907年至1911年每年7月，英格兰与威尔士部分选定济贫法联盟下各类可获取的贫民统计指标。选定的济贫法联盟涵盖伦敦（「首都」）、兰开夏郡与达勒姆郡（Durham）的所有联盟，以及部分大型城市联盟。
- 1920年至1930年所有济贫法联盟的济贫统计数据，以及1931年至1939年所有行政郡与郡级自治市（County Boroughs）的济贫统计数据（1920年与1921年的数据格式存在差异，相关内容已完整收录于独立文件中）。