The old City of London comprised more than 100 parishes, most of which were tiny and lay inside its ancient walls. A few oTimf the within-the-walls parishes operated workhouses prior to 1834, as did some of the newer City parishes just beyond ("without") the walls. Several of the latter also had portions which lay within the county of Middlesex. Most of the information below is based on the following sources:

• An Account of Several Workhouses... published in 1732 — this is abbreviated here as ASW.
• The 1776 parliamentary Abstract of Returns Made by the Overseers of the Poor — abbreviated as ARMOP.
• Tim Hitchcock's 1985 study The English workhouse: a study in institutional poor relief in selected counties, l695-l750. — abbreviated as TEW.
• Pigot's Metropolitan Guide (c.1820) — abbreviated as PMG.

Separate pages describe the early City of London Corporation of the Poor and the post-1834 City of London, East London and West London poor law unions.