Vagabonds Act 1547

The Vagabonds Act 1547 (1 Edw. VI c. 3)was a statute passed in England by King Edward VI. It provided that vagabonds could be enslaved for two years and continued weekly parish collections for the poor.^[1] The enslaved vagabonds were to be fed bread and water or small drink and were allowed to be worked by beating, chaining, or other methods the master may choose.^[2] Vagabond slaves were allowed to be bought and sold just as other slaves.^[3] Also, should no private man want the vagabond slave, the slave was to be sent to their town of birth and be forced to work as a slave for that community.^[4] Vagabond children could be claimed as "apprentices" and be held as such until the age of 24 if a boy, or the age of 20 if a girl.^[5] Should they attempt to escape this apprenticeship, they were subject to enslavement for the remainder of the apprenticeship.^[6]

It was repealed in 1550 by an act which reinstated the 1531 Vagabonds Act.^[7]

Footnotes

1. Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 59--60 (1990)
2. C.S.L Davies, Slavery and Protector Somerset: The Vagrancy Act of 1547 534 (1966)
3. C.S.L Davies, Slavery and Protector Somerset: The Vagrancy Act of 1547 534 (1966)
4. C.S.L Davies, Slavery and Protector Somerset: The Vagrancy Act of 1547 534 (1966)
5. C.S.L Davies, Slavery and Protector Somerset: The 1547 Vagrancy Act 536 (1966)
6. C.S.L. Davies, Slavery and Protector Somerset: The Vagrancy Act of 1547 536 (1966)
7. 3 & 4 Edw. VI c. 16

References

Davies, C.S.L. "Slavery and Protector Somerset: The Vagrancy Act of 1547." The Economic History Review 19, no. 3 (1966). 533-549. Accessed May 2, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2593162