In order to claim a pension, several criteria had to be met:
A claimant had to be over seventy years of age;
Had to be a British subject for at least twenty years;
If he had claimed parochial relief in the year previous (1908) he was disqualified from claiming;
If the applicant had habitually failed to work for the maintenance of himself and any family, he was disqualified;
A person convicted of a crime and imprisoned, without the option of paying a fine, was disqualified from receiving a pension for ten years after his release.