A Handy Book for Guardians of the Poor Being a Complete Manual of the Duties of the Office, the Treatment of Typical Cases, with Practical Examples, etc., etc. Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century Series

George C. T. Bartley KCB (1842?1910) spent twenty years as a civil servant, becoming Assistant Director in the Art and Science Department, before standing for election as a Conservative MP. He was elected in 1885 as the Member for Islington. He was a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster, and also founded the National Penny Bank. Bartley had a keen interest in social issues, particularly poverty and education, and he wrote several books on these subjects, as well as numerous penny pamphlets aimed at improving the lives of the working class. Published in 1876, this book was based on Bartley's experiences as a Guardian of the Poor - an administrator for the Poor Law of 1834. It was written as a practical guide for anyone wishing to become involved in administering poor relief under the terms of the Poor Law.

Preface; Part I. General: 1. The election; 2. First experience; Part II. Special Evils Consequent on Relief and their Treatment: 3. The habit of dependence on the Parish and its treatment; 4. The habit of indolence and its treatment; 5. The want of thrift and its treatment; 6. The habit of deception and its treatment; 7. The habit of children neglecting their parents and its treatment; Part III. Out and In-door Relief in Ordinary Cases: 8. Sickness and its treatment; 9. Widows and their treatment; 10. Deserted wives and their treatment; 11. Drunkenness and its treatment; 12. Extravagant paupers and their treatment; 13. Imposture in illness and its treatment; 14. The spread of contagious diseases and its treatment; 15. Non-resident cases and their treatment; 16. Casuals and their treatment; 17. Illegitimate births in the workhouse; 18. Miscellaneous in and out-door relief experiences; Part IV. Anomalies and Peculiarities of Poor-Law Relief: 19. Rich paupers; 20. Honest paupers; 21. Weekly receipts from the Parish, from alms, etc.; 22. Periodical exodus from the workhouse; 23. Injudicious advice; 24. Domestic pauper life; 25. Paupers' creches; Part V. Permanent Remedial Measures: 26. The workhouse schools; 27. Education of the children of out-door paupers; 28. The rigid investigation of each application for relief; 29. The harmonious co-operation between charity and legal relief; 30. Relief on loan; Part VI. Miscellaneous: 31. Ex-officio Guardians; 32. Women as Guardians of the Poor; 33. Conferences of Poor-Law Guardians; 34. Foundlings; 35. Guardians as contractors or sub-contractors in the supply of goods to the Parish; 36. The keeping of pigs in workhouse grounds; 37. Increases in salaries and wages; 38. The Law of Settlement; 39. The treatment of blind, deaf and dumb, lame, deformed, idiotic, imbecile, insane, and other permanently afflicted classes of the poor; 40. Conclusion. The second election.