3.3 Old Poor Law Flashcards
Who was responsible for looking after the poor until 1834
Philanthropist
Parish
Overseers
What was the poor rate
A compulsory tax to provide relief for the poor
Who appointed the parish members responsible for relief
Justices of the peace
Who would be an overseer of the poor
Lord of the manor
Churchwardens
Farmers
What did the settlement act of 1662 say
The parish responsible for the pauper was the one you were either born, married, served an apprenticeship or inherited property
A strength of of the old poor law
People were given …
A chance to work
Give a weakness of the old poor law
Funded …
By tax this could cause resentment from the tax payers
Who is someone who would be considered deserving poor
Poor thought no fault of their own
Eg sick or children
Who would be considered undeserving poor
Those whose poverty was the result of some sort of perceived moral failure such as drunk ness or prostitution
When was the old poor law replaced
1834
Impotent poor
Paupers who could not look after themselves even when times were good eg disabled
Idle poor
Those who refused to work and continued a life of begging or crime
Able-bodied poor
Paupers who wanted relief but were able to work
A strength of the old poor law
The overseers were being …
Replaced yearly so if someone wasn’t doing a good job then the poor had a chance of getting someone who could look after them better
A strength of the old poor law
They can distinguish …
Genuine need
A strength of the old poor law
People trusted …
The parish
A weakness of the old poor law …
unprofessional looked …
After them so they wouldn’t have much knowledge on how to care for the paupers
A weakness of the old poor law …
Local …
Crisis - bad harvest the whole parish would suffer
A weakness of the old poor law …
settlement Act is …
Confusing as it’s unclear where paupers should go
A weakness of the old poor law …
it’s up to the parish to decide….
Who gets relief and how much they get
Indoor relief is help for the poor…
Provided inside with in a house / institution
eg workhouses
2 administrative changes William sturges-bourne made
Set up a new voting system - upper class had more say on how the poor rate was spent Added a clergymen - who decided who was deserving and undeserving poor
3 administrative changes Thomas Gilbert made
Able bodied poor were excluded from workhouses
Overseers were replaced by guardians
Guardians had to submit annual records to show poor relief expenditure (Gilbert records)
Outdoor relief is help for the poor …
Provided by people outside of institutions (within the community) eg giving money, subsiding wages , food etc.
What are the 3 systems of outdoor relief
Speenlham system
Roundsman system
Labour rate
What was the speenlham system
It was an allowance system, it subsidised low wages
Eg by giving food depending on the number of people in the family
Strength of the speenlham system
It was all over the south and east of Britain
It provided full employment in the north
Weakness of the speenlham system
It never got legal backing so it was abandoned by 1815
What is the roundsman system
It was a system that employed able bodied paupers
For the work they did they would receive wages
Successes of the roundsman system
The work they had done helped them get relief as they were paid wages
It employed able bodied - helped them find work
Weakness of the roundsman stystem
The farmers were corrupt and started exploiting the paupers
What was the labour rate
It employed able bodied paupers and got rid of corruption in the roundsman system
Strength of the labour rate
Stopped farmers being corrupt
Weaknesses of the labour rate
Only 20% of parishes used it
Reasoned the old poor law was opposed
Cost
The population was increasing
The quality of indoor relief was deteriorating
Not applied consistently across the country
When was the swing riots
In 1830
Why was there swing riots
Workers were losing their jobs to machines
Consequences of the swing riots
400 transported to Australia
644 imprisoned
19 put to death
The ending of the wars with France cause a greater …
Demand for poor relief as soldiers were struggling
Between the years 1817-1819 poor relief expenditure had reached …
£8 million a year
In cookham Berkshire they adopted …
Aggressive policies to lower cost and lower paupersim
In Gloucestershire the introduced rigorous …
Reform this decreased the number of propers from 977 to 125
In Gloucestershire what reforms did they make
Made workhouse conditions worse so only the desperate would seek admission
In Nottinghamshire relief expenditure …
Was below the national average inn1820-1823
What did reverend J T Bletcher want to do
He wanted to combine 49 parishes into 1
What did George Nichols claim
The allowance systems helped poverty to continue
What is utanitarianism
The greatest happiness for the greater number of people
What do thomas Malthus argue
That the poor law made the situation worse because it encouraged paupers to have more children so that they could claim more relief
David Ricardo introduced the …
Iron law of wages
What is the iron law of wages
This is the belief that the poor rate and wages came out the same fund
What did Thomas Paine think the rich should do
They should be taxed more to help with the poor relief
What did Robert Owen create
His own community were he was responsible for employment and accommodation
Everyone would share profits
