Centering Women in Jamaica's Poor Relief Administration: The 1930s

Abstract

At the centre of the Jamaican Poor Relief Administration were Inspectors of Poor [sic], appointed to monitor and administer relief to applicants throughout the island. Acting on behalf of the Board of Supervision and the Parish Councils, these civil servants protected the financial interests of the government while also representing the needs of applicants for relief. Many Inspectors of Poor, through their daily interactions, developed criteria of poverty through which they were able to identify those whom they thought took advantage of the loopholes in the system. In May 1932, Acting Inspector of Poor, Mr. D. Phillips alerted the Town Clerk of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation of his encounter with two women who attempted to defraud the Poor Relief Office. Using poor relief records of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, I explore conflicts between poor relief officers and paupers, more specifically women, to assess the ways in which women engaged and navigated the bureaucracy of the poor relief system. I contend that women on poor relief operated in communities through which they shared their aid and navigated the complex bureaucracy of the Jamaican poor relief system. In addition, I argue that poor relief records are a rich archival source from which we can engage emerging areas of research such as poverty, family, and childhood.