Britain Booklet 5 Flashcards
What is the definition of living in poverty?
When your standard of living is below the national average
What is the definition of pauperism?
Anyone who is gaining poor relief
What were the Elizabethan poor laws, 1601?
Parishes now had to care for the old and sick
First poorhouses were used
Outdoor relief now introduced however it was taken advantage of
What were the laws of settlement, 1662?
Designed for keeping the poor in one area to enforce them working in workhouses
What was Knatchbull’s Act?
More workhouses constructed and basically forcing people into them
Increasing the amount of people in workhouses
What was Gilbert’s Act?
More workhouses constructed with more funding so more people could fit in them
Attempts to improve the conditions of workhouses for the and and infirm
What was the Speenhamland system?
Employers took advantage of the scheme and paid less
Wages topped up to the value of 3 loaves of bread, 4 1/2 if they had a family
Never nationalized
Only topped up to 4 1/2 loaves, which covers nothing else
By how much had the population increased by in England and Wales in 1801 since the Elizabethan poor laws?
The population was officially nine million, more than double since the Elizabethan poor laws
What 2 reasons increased the cost of poor relief in the 18th and 19th century?
The French wars from 1793-1815
Poor harvests in the early 19th century
How much money was spent on poor relief from 1814-1818?
It averages around £6.4 million from 1814-1818
During the years after the French Wars, how much of Britain’s GNP was spent on poor relief?
2%
What is utilitarianism?
Greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
Between 1802 and 1803, what percentage of people were receiving poor relief in the north and south?
North: 10%
South 23%
What was the Royal Commission?
The Royal Commission was setup by 9 commissioners including Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadwick. They aimed to find information about the workings of the poor law and recommendations for its improvement.
When was the Poor Law Amendment Act (PLAA)?
1834
What did the PLAA do?
Created a poor law commission, made up of three commissioners based in London given a wide range of powers to regulate the Poor Law.
Under the old Poor Law, each of the 15,000 parishes had been responsible for the poverty relief in their area, now the PLAA amalgamated parishes into groups of about 30
How expensive was it to open a workhouse in Banbury?
£6200
How much was it estimated that indoor relief cost more than outdoor relief than?
50-100%
By 1862, how much did it cost to keep a pauper in indoor relief compared to outdoor relief?
Indoor relief: 4s 8d
Outdoor relief: 2s 3d
What was the Andover workhouse scandal?
Workhouse in Andover with terrible working conditions where inmates were abused
Inmates were so hungry they were eating raw flesh of animal bones, eating the bone marrow in the bone
M’Dougal, the master of the workhouse had been assaulting female residents
Inmates were given reduced rations so McDougal could buy extra food for his family
What positive impacts came after the Andover workhouse scandal?
The events at Andover were well publicised by critics of the new poor laws, including John Walter, editor of the Times, who covered it in great detail
After the scandal, groups such as the Workhouse visiting society were created (1858) and they performed unofficial checks on workhouses
The Poor Law Commission was abolished and the Poor Law Board was introduced, this meant control over the Poor law was brought under government control
What negative impacts came after the Andover workhouse scandal?
In spite of the scandal, workhouses remained a central feature of poor provision, Between 1851 and 1866, another 100 workhouses had been built to add to the 402 built following the 1834 PLAA
What are 3 examples of jobs in a workhouse?
Rockbreaking
Rope picking
Bone breaking
When was the Andover workhouse scandal?
1845
What did Thomas Carlyle do?
His work ‘Past and Present’ published in 1843, drew attention to the growing class divide within Britain, by describing the workhouses as Poor Law Prisons
Well read by middle class reformers and his words
What did Henry Mayhew do?
Empirical work - Produced a 4 volume work which cataloged in more than 2 million words the experiences of Britain’s poor
Showed how insufficient wages made people dependent upon poor relief
Forced middle class Victorians to consider an alternative about how to treat the poor and let to growth in charity work
What did Elizabeth Gaskell do?
Another author who contributed to the growing awareness of poverty
Her book “Mary Barton” published in 1848 is her best known work, and it describes the lives of the working class and their difficult existence amid the smoke stacks of Manchester
Offered a realistic impression of the poor classes in Britain
How many soldiers returned home at the end of the Napoleonic Wars?
400,000
Which charity was set up to determine deserving and undeserving poor and when?
Charity Organisation Society, 1869
By 1776, how many poorhouses were there with how many inmates in each?
2000 and 20-50
Where was there another workhouse scandal following Andover and when?
Huddersfield, 1848
Which act provided medical facilities for paupers and when?
Metropolitan Poor Act, 1867
Name two individualists
Thomas Malthus, Ricardo Townsend
Name two utilitarians
Chadwick and Bentham
