The Undeserving Poor

The treatment of Mary Thompson emphasises the importance of good behaviour when applying for poor relief in Scotland

An Irishwoman called Mary Thomson applied for poor relief in Glasgow in 1921, after her daughter had married and left home. Mary told the inspector of the poor that she was destitute, with her daughter having previously supported her for five years. The application notes her children’s details, the fact that her first husband had died in Belfast, and the fact that her second husband had passed away in Canada some 14 years before. Mary was briefly admitted to the poorhouse, and then provided with outdoor relief.

However, a year later her case notes recorded that her second husband visited the parochial board’s office, and reported that he had in fact left his wife because of her drinking. He refused to provide any support for her, was prosecuted and sentenced to three months’ hard labour. Further investigations were then made into Mary, and the authorities discovered that she had been prosecuted twice in 1916 and 1919 for breach of the peace, again in 1919 for assault by stabbing, and in 1917 for keeping a brothel, for which she was imprisoned for 30 days. The report further added that her daughter Sarah was “known in every police office in the city as a prostitute”. As such, Mary was no longer deemed a fit recipient for outdoor relief.

The records show Mary was again prosecuted for running a brothel in 1922, as was another daughter in 1924. However, by 1927 she had evidently satisfied the inspector that she had changed her ways, and was thus admitted to the poorhouse.