Vagabonds Act 1572

{{Short description|Act of Parliament of England}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox UK legislation

|short_title=Vagabonds Act 1572

|type=Act

|parliament=Parliament of England

|long_title=An Act for the Punishment of Vagabonds, and for the Relief of the Poor and Impotent.

|year= 1572

|citation= 14 Eliz. 1. c. 5

|territorial_extent=England and Wales

|royal_assent=30 June 1572

|commencement=24 August 1572{{efn|The Feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle.}}

|replaces={{ubli|Vagabonds Act 1530|Vagabonds Act 1549|Poor Act 1562}}

|repeal_date=28 July 1863

|amends=

|amendments={{ubli|Poor Act 1575|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1584|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1586|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1588|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1592|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1597|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1603|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1623}}

|related_legislation={{ubli|Poor Act 1575|Vagabonds Act 1597}}

|repealing_legislation=Statute Law Revision Act 1863

|status=Repealed

|original_text=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915519&seq=680

|}}

The Vagabonds Act 1572 or the Vagabonds, etc. Act 1572{{cite web |url=https://vlex.co.uk/vid/vagabonds-etc-act-1572-861264623 |title=Vagabonds, etc. Act 1572 |website=vLex |url-access=subscription}} (14 Eliz. 1. c. 5) was an act of the Parliament of England under Queen Elizabeth I. It is a part of the Tudor Poor Laws and a predecessor to the Elizabethan Poor Laws.

The act provided that justices of the peace were to register the names of the "aged, decayed, and impotent" poor to determine how much money was required to care for them. The justices of the peace would then assess all inhabitants of the parish for their keep. Overseers of the poor would periodically conduct "views and searches" of the poor. Those refusing to contribute to poor relief would be confined to the gaol.Sidney & Beatrice Webb, English Local Government: English Poor Law History Part 1, pg. 52

Justices of the Peace were allowed to license beggars if there were too many for the parish to provide for. Any unlicensed vagabonds were to be whipped and burned through the ear.Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782, p. 60 It further provided that any surplus funds could be used to “place and settle to work the rogues and vagabonds.”

Combined with the Poor Act 1575 (18 Eliz. 1. c. 3), the act formed the basis for the subsequent Elizabethan Poor Laws.Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 18—19

The act was an incentive for itinerant playing companies to find sponsors who could provide them with a permanent play house and thus avoid prosecution as vagabonds.{{cite book |editor-last1=Dobson |editor-first1=Michael |editor-last2=Wells |editor-first2=Stanley |date=2001 |title=The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tRajFq8EnEEC&pg=PA257 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=257 |isbn=978-0198117353}}