The Poor Relief Act is an ancient piece of legislation dating back to 1601 in the time of Elizabeth I and is now referred to as part of the 'Old Poor Law'. Under this system the roll of overseer of the poor was established to raise money locally through the poor rate and then administer poor relief to the community. One way of reducing this burden on local finances was to find work for those who could, and children without one or both parents, or born out of wedlock and with no means of support fell into this bracket. These became known colloquially as the Blackburn bastardry records. Closely allied to the church as the centre of local administration it was the job of the churchwarden along with two overseers to find suitable apprenticeships for these children. The agreements were pre-prepared allowing spaces for names, dates, and details of the apprenticeships to be added by hand. An initial sum was paid from the poor relief to the new master, in return for them taking full responsibility for them until the age of 21. We see from these examples how society viewed these children at the time.

All parties witness that the churchwarden and two overseers (named) have put, placed, and bound [name of child] who is a poor boy or girl belonging to Blackburn as an apprentice to [the named other party] and with him / her to co-habit and dwell after the manner of an apprentice until they attain the age of 21. [Named other party] shall receive in consideration the sum of [an amount] in pounds and shillings of lawful money of Great Britain and will acquit and discharge the Churchwarden and overseers of responsibility for the child. In return [the named other party] shall teach and instruct [name of child] in the trade or occupation of [name of trade]. In addition find and provide for them all manner of apparel, and wholesome sufficient meat, drink, washing, and lodging during the term.

These agreements also state that the apprentice shall faithfully serve their master, keeping their secrets, obeying their lawful commands, not frequent alehouses, taverns, or evil company, and not partake in any unlawful games (gambling). The apprentice is not allowed to marry, to do damage to their masters property or stand by while others do damage, not allowed to leave until the end of the term, and to treat all members of their masters family with the same deference and respect.