Subscribers to the poor relief fund, Halifax, 1826

A list of subscribers to the fund for relieving the distress of the poor in the township of Halifax

Both before and after the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834, the nation's poor were helped by charity at least as much as through the agency of the poor law, old or new. This document lists those who contributed towards the relief of poverty in a year of severe economic slump. Across manufacturing districts, prices obtained for manufactured goods fell, wages were cut and workers lost jobs, at the same time as food prices reached particularly high levels. Unrest spread throughout the country - so donors in Halifax were no doubt concerned about public order as well as individual suffering.

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