Charity organization; Housing -- England -- London; Poor -- England -- London; Working class -- Dwellings
After the combination of volunteer and official agency had thus been
arranged, which was in the winter of 1872-3, the Guardians directed
the relieving officer who is in charge of the St. Mary's Poor Law
District, to send me daily a list containing the name of each applicant
from that district, with his address, ages of family, and nature of
application.[8] I send out the information at once to the visitor in
whose court the applicant resides, with a blank form[9] on which she
may report any facts bearing on the character and circumstances of the
family, which appear to her to be such as the Poor Law authorities
ought to know. She can report by giving a summary of the information
contained in her district-book, and return the form at once, or she can
re-visit the applicant and give later information in addition if she
deems it necessary. She sends her report to me, and I forward it to the
relieving officer, who uses it as he may see fit. In many instances
it gives information which the relieving officer might not otherwise
possess, as, for instance, that an applicant is in receipt of money
paid by the visitor, or known by her to be paid by local charity. In
other cases the report gives clues for further investigation by him, as
where it mentions the existence of grown-up sons and daughters who may
be able to give help.[10] After the weekly meeting of the board, I am
informed of the decision arrived at in each case, by a list sent to me
similar to that furnished to every Guardian. These particulars I send
to the visitors of the courts where applicants reside, and they are
entered in the several district-books. The average number of applicants
in the Poor Law District of St. Mary's is forty-five weekly, and the
number of visitors engaged in the work is thirty-five. The number of
visitors has doubled during the last year, so that we have subdivided
all the larger courts and streets. Additional clergymen are coming into
active co-operation with us, and some few gentlemen have come forward
to act as visitors. These may all be considered hopeful signs that the
movement is gaining ground.
It will be seen from this outline, that in St. Mary's district there
are four agencies employed in the endeavor to administer relief to the
necessitous in the wisest and most really helpful way: the Guardians,
with their relieving officer, the Charity Organization Society, the
Relief Committee, and the District Visitors. These four agencies are
connected and brought into efficient co-operation by the referee,
who directs and superintends the visitors, attends the meetings of
the Charity Organization Society, and of the Relief Committee, and is
the medium through which the Board of Guardians acquire information
otherwise inaccessible to them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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