Parish Children and Workhouses

The subtitle to Oliver Twist is The Parish Boy's Progress. When the first Poor Law passed in the sixteenth century, it fell onto the Church of England to support all of its poor, including orphans (Allingham). The Settlement Act of 1662 created workhouses where many of the poor were housed in exchange for work ("Poor").

Works Cited

Allingham, Merryn. "The Rise of the Orphanage." Merryn Allingham, https://merrynallingham.com/19th-20th-century/the-rise-of-the-orphanage/. (also image source)

"Poor Laws." Oliver Twist: A Virtual Casebook, http://twist2012.weebly.com/poor-laws-poverty--labor.html#:~:text=In%20….