The Board of Guardians - Procedures

Dunshaughlin Poor Law Union - 02.05.1846 - Weekly Meeting i

The weekly procdure of a Guardians board meeting is presented using 2 May 1846 as an example. The inmates were tabulated in their various categories, the Master's provisions books were checked and orders specified. Accounts and medical reports were checked. Correspondance from the Poor Law Commission was read into the record and Guardians' responses and instructions were recorded.

Dunshaughlin Poor Law Union - 02.05.1846 - Weekly Meeting i

Dunshaughlin Poor Law Union - 02.05.1846 - Weekly Meeting i

The weekly procdure of a Guardians board meeting is presented using 2 May 1846 as an example. The inmates were tabulated in their various categories, the Master's provisions books were checked and orders specified. Accounts and medical reports were checked. Correspondance from the Poor Law Commission was read into the record and Guardians' responses and instructions were recorded.

Enlarge image

The Board met weekly in the Boardroom of the Workhouse, usually on a Monday or Tuesday beginning their meetings at 11 o' clock in the mornings. A new board was elected in March or April each year, although only slight changes in personnel are to be seen over the first ten years.

The meetings usually began with a roll call of the Guardians then the minutes of the previous meeting were read and signed.

The Treasurer's Book of receipts and Payments was examined for the week, note was taken of the money lodged by the Rate-Collectors.

The Master's Provision Book and his estimates for the coming week were then examined.

The medical officer's weekly report was recorded. Then there was the report of the Master, which included any trouble or controversy among the inmates.

Correspondence from the Poor Law Commissioners was read to the meeting and finally the number of admissions for the week into the House was made known to the Guardians.

Any person seeking relief was subject to a means test and required to give up any land they may have owned as a precondition of entry. After that, apparently, the formality was for a "ticket" to be signed by three rate-payers and Parish Warden; this latter position seems to have been an honorary one and all such wardens were appointed by the Board of Guardians. The prospective pauper then presented the ticket at the house to gain admittance.

In February 1843 a number of guardians objected to this system because it took a certain amount of power from the Board, but there is no record of its being changed at any time.