The importance of the Poor Law Parliamentary Papers can be fully appreciated once it is realized that (1) the ‘welfare state’ developed as a gradual extension of the system of poor relief, (2) the establishment of poor law unions had an important bearing on the subsequent development of local government. After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 there was little fundamental change on the statute books in relation to the relief of poverty during the nineteenth century. Eighteen volumes of the Irish University Press Poor Law set of parliamentary papers are devoted to the 1834 reform and its aftermath. The report of the Royal Commission which recommended the reforms takes up eleven volumes and the remaining seven comprise the extensive select committee reports on the operation of the new law. The laws of settlement and removal are the subject of a further seven volumes of the series.
Set Price £4,345 / $7,156 (if volumes are bought individually) Discounted Price for Complete Subject Set of 30 Volumes £3,900 / $6,425
