Pauper Inmates Discharge and Regulations Act 1871

The Pauper Inmates Discharge and Regulations Act 1871 was an Act of the British Parliament which related to the Poor Law system. The Act stated that if a pauper had not left a workhouse in the past month then it was possible to detain him for 24 hours after he had given notice that he wished to leave, however the period of detention increased for the inmates who left more than twice in the past two months could be detained for 72 hours.^[1][2]

There's no evidence that this stopped Paupers from discharging themselves furiously although it limited the number of times they could leave in one week. Potentially the strongest discipline against these Paupers was the guardian's increasing powers to take their children away from them especially after The Children Act of 1908, but guardians who cared more about economy did rarely adopted this strategy unless the children were abused physically or neglected.^[3]

References

1. http://www.institutions.org.uk/poor_law_unions/the_poor_law1.htm#Government%20Reforms%20from%201906
2. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8613878&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0025727300010930
3. Margaret A. Crowther (1983), The Workhouse System, 1834-1929: The History of an English Social Institution, Routledge, 208-209