| Description | With the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, all of the local poor were subject to relief within the workhouse, including the children of those unable to support themselves. However, later changes to legislation catered for the separate treatment of children, and Boarding Out Committees were formed. These were responsible for moving orphaned and illegitimate children out of the workhouse into separate homes, where foster parents were paid a weekly allowance for their maintenance. Following discussions by the Union's General Purposes, Farm, House Visiting and Stores Committee, Aston adopted the procedure in 1880, with the committee being formally created in 1881 (see GP AS/2/1/28). This move followed on from an 1870 Local Government Board Order (see GP AS/1/1/2), which laid down formal guidelines for a practice that had been used previously in a number of Unions across the country.
The volumes contain the minutes of the committee, which in places include detailed information on the children boarded out by the Guardians, their family background, and the names and addresses of the foster parents. In some instances, more detail is given on individual cases. |