On this day in Yorkshire

Poor law problem: Liversedge couple stranded in Isle of Man since 1926

February 2, 1928

Dewsbury Board of Guardians decided yesterday to investigate the case of an elderly Liversedge man and his wife who went for holiday to the Isle of Man in September, 1926, were unable to return in consequence of the wife’s illness, and are now applying to the Douglas authorities for poor law relief.

The Clerk (Mr. E.T. Tunnicliffe) said the couple were said to have a weekly income of 16s, including the husband’s old-age pension, and to living with a daughter, a lodging house keeper. The wife was certified unable to travel, but the Douglas Poor Law Authority wrote that they would have no option but to remove the couple from the island if the Dewsbury Board did not accept responsibility for any relief that might granted them.

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Mr Tunnicliffe explained that non-resident poor law relief applied only to England and Wales, and there was no legal authority for paying it to people in the Isle of Man, though cases were known where that had been done.

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