As the town of Birkenhead grew, it became necessary to establish it as a separate union from the Wirral Union in 1861(?). When the Poor Law changed in 1834 (I think) it was necessary for Parishes to look after their own poor and needy, paid for out of Parish Rates. As the Poor Laws changed over the course of the nineteenth century, the poor and destitute could only receive assistance by entering the workhouse (there were some parishes who resisted these changes for as long as they could and continued outdoor relief, but this couldn't last forever). As the demand for more places in the workhouses grew, the poorer parishes could not keep up with the increase in spending (larger workhouses, more staff etc). There were some horrendous incidents reported by the few inspectors there were, and so parishes were grouped together so that each parish had a more realist chance of raising the required money from the parish rates. This grouping of parishes was called the Union, hence Birk! enhead Union. I don't know about other countries, but in Britain we always paid council rates, now called community rates. The poorer the community, the less rates received by the council. Pretty much the same as the nineteenth century with the parish rates. Hope I haven't confused matters even more! Best wishes, Helen