1832-1846 Society Flashcards
Social Developments
What was the population growth from 1801-1851?
10.5 million - 20.8 million
Give some examples of urbanisation:
- 1831, populations of Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester stood at 200,000
- 1851, about 60 towns had this size
- By 1846 almost half of the population lived in urban areas
What were the problems with urbanisation?
- strains on urban structures e.g. hospitals and schools
How did the upper classes live in towns?
- segregated themselves into large houses or terraced houses
How did the lower classes live?
- back to back overcrowded housing
- primitive sanitation
- family all in one room
What health problems arose as a result of living conditions?
- Health conditions worse in cities like Glasgow and York
- Exeter 1832= 28,000 population, and 1,000 had cholera
- endemic infections: typhus, whooping cough
- Half of all children died before they were 5
- High death rates and infant mortality rates
- church grave yards overflowing
- absence of public infrastructure
How were conditions in cities not all bad?
- magnificent public buildings: town hall in Birmingham 1834
- Liverpool Medical Institution 1837
- museums built
Why was Glasgow a good representation of the two sides to new towns?
- vibrant culture, industrial wealth
- worst housing conditions in Europe
What were the effects of immigration and internal migration?
- flow of people from countryside, often being evicted by a landlord
- Irish settled in urban centres due to the famine, becoming railways builders (navvies) and textile operatives
- problems in towns often stemmed from transferred standards of their poverty from rural areas
How did urban transport develop?
- ‘parliamentary train’ 1844, intended to improve workers lives
- but limited possibilities for public transport, many walked
- workers had to live near factories, long hours and inflexibility of hours
- confined WC to polluted urban back to back housing
- Transport facilities often privately owned: Glasgow 1845, first horse drawn omnibus used for clerical workers
How did lives change for rural workers?
- wages of agricultural labourers fell by 30% in early 1800s
- Perhaps offset by easier access to fresh food and tied housing
How did the Poor Law impact urban workers?
- periods of unemployment for workers often
- new Poor Law 1834, meant poor could no longer depend on parish
- many went away from their parish of birth
- outdoor relief was chaotic and overstretched
- charitable organisations kept them from starvation
How did crime increase un urban cities?
- Poverty and desperation encouraged crime and social disorder
- easier to commit in a large, overcrowded city
- MCA attempted to improve administration
- Metropolitan Police Act but crime spiralling
How did Public health develop in industrial centres?
- Edwin Chadwick’s Report ‘The sanitary conditions of the Labouring Population’ in 1842
- Peel’s Conservative gov rejected report
Why did many workers reject the Ten Hour Act?
- reduced overall wages coming into the household
What were wages like for urban workers?
- three quarters of weekly wages spent on food and bread
- level of wages fell slightly between 1832-1846
What was the Plight of Handloom Weavers?
- couldnt compete with machines
- e.g. West Riding weavers in Yorksire whos wages dropped
- some only earning about 25 shillings
- A report from the Select Committee on Handloom Weavers 1835 suggested different living
Where living standards improving?
- for railway workers
-due to the rapidly expanding industry - could rely on a steady wage
What does GNCTU stand for?
Grand National Consolidated Trade Unions
Who began them?
Robert Owen
What was the intention of these Unions?
- reduce ability of employers to threaten job loss for striking
- fight against economic crisis and unemployment ]
- payed a shilling membership
- ran by a central Grand Council
- idea of workers control terrified the government
What did skilled labourers do?
- begin their own local branches
- thought themselves superior to unskilled rabble
What was the impact of the GNCTU?
- Employers drew up ‘The Document’ for workers to swear they were not members of the union
- Members of unions may have to appear in front of magistrates
- 1837 trade recession, many workers could not afford membership
- many turned to political Chartism
Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs?
- agricultural workers in 1834 had taken an illegal oath
- were prosecuted and transported to Australia for 7yrs
- campaign by William Lovett (future leading Chartist) led to them pardoned and allowed to return to Britain
What was the Rochdale Pioneers and Cooperative Movement?
- based on Owen’s ideals
- skilled labourers
- 1844, bought goods at wholesale and sold them for profit
- members shared the profits
- 100 stores by 1850
- formed the Cooperative Wholesale Society in 1863
What was the emergence of Friendly Societies?
- Act of Parliament 1973, granted them legal status if they were non-political
- promoted self improvement and self-help
- regarded themselves as God-fearing, respectable, WC people
How were these Societies helpful?
- members paid basic welfare payments, so if a husband died his wife and children would be protected
- numbers of members soared to 1.5 million by 1846
- 1842, Peel made them more legitimate, by appointing a Paid Register for administration
- was a symbol of Victorian WC respectability
- distance from unskilled workers who could never afford the subscription and had no security in hard times
