Regional and local divergence in welfare provision in England and Wales, 1776–1815

This article uses the township-level data on welfare expenditure and provision gathered by parish officers in England and Wales at three points between 1776 and 1815 to illuminate regional and local differences during the period. These data have been linked to geographic information system (GIS) mapping systems, facilitating the mapping of parish/township level welfare data across a wide range of variables. Appropriate linkage to the 1801 and 1811 census data and the 1815 income tax property valuations also permits new village-level estimates of the prevalence, affordability, and typology of welfare provision. The results challenge current hypotheses about regional differences in how the Poor Law was administered.