Britain: Poverty Flashcards
1
Q
When was the Gilbert’s Act?
A
1782
2
Q
What did the passing of the Gilbert’s Act allow?
A
Allowed parishes to group together to support a poorhouse
3
Q
When did Joseph Townsend publish ‘Dissertations on the Poor Laws’?
A
1786
4
Q
Who published ‘Dissertations on the Poor Laws’?
A
Joseph Townsend
5
Q
When did Bentham first expound his ‘happiness principle’?
A
1789
6
Q
When was the Speenhamland welfare system adopted?
A
1795
7
Q
When was the Poor Employment Act passed?
A
1817
8
Q
What did the Poor Employment Act do?
A
Granted public money to employ poor in public works
9
Q
When was the Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries passed?
A
1818
10
Q
What did the passing of the Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries do?
A
Allowed committees to judge relief claims
11
Q
When was the Act to Amend the Laws for Relief of the Poor passed?
A
1819
12
Q
When was the Royal Commission on Poor Relief established?
A
1st February 1832
13
Q
When was the Poor Law Amendment Act passed?
A
1834
14
Q
When was the Poor Law Commission created?
A
1834
15
Q
Which Act created the Poor Law Commission?
A
Poor Law Amendment Act
16
Q
When did the Royal Commission publish their report on poor relief?
A
1834
17
Q
When did ‘The Times’ speak out publicly against the poor law?
A
30th April 1834
18
Q
In 1834 which newspaper spoke out publicly against the poor law?
A
‘The Times’
19
Q
When did the Poor Law Commission begin work in southern England?
A
1835
20
Q
When was the General Prohibitory Order passed?
A
1836
21
Q
What did the passing of the General Prohibitory Order do?
A
Forbade outdoor relief
22
Q
When was the Registration Act?
A
1836
23
Q
What did the Registration Act do?
A
Required registration of births, deaths and marriages
24
Q
When was the Andover workhouse established?
A
1836
25
When was the first part of Oliver Twist published?
1837
26
When did the Poor Law Commission begin work in the industrial north?
1837
27
When did the Huddersfield Board of Guardians refuse to elect a clerk for the Union?
1837
28
When were the riots in Bradford?
1837
29
What did the Huddersfield Board of Guardians refuse to do in 1837?
Refuse to elect a clerk for the union
30
When was a General Prohibitory Order set aside for Lancashire and Yorkshire?
1838
31
For which areas was a General Prohibitory Order set aside for in 1838?
Lancashire and Yorkshire
32
When were the riots in Dewsbury and Todmorden?
1838
33
When was the Anti-Poor Law movement defeated?
1839
34
When was the Outdoor Labour Test Order passed?
1842
35
What did the passing of the Outdoor Labour Test Order do?
Allowed outdoor relief for workers during economic decline
36
When did Thomas Carlyle publish 'Past and Present'?
1843
37
Who published 'Past and Present'?
Thomas Carlyle
38
When was the Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order passed?
1844
39
What did the passing of the Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order do?
Ended outdoor relief for able-bodied poor (tried to be better than the General Prohibitory Order)
40
When was the Andover scandal?
1845
41
When was the Poor Law Commission replaced by the Poor Law Board?
1847
42
What was the Poor Law Commission replaced by in 1847?
Poor Law Board
43
When did Charles Dickens and Angela Burdett-Coutts open Urania Cottage?
1847
44
Who did Charles Dickens open Urania Cottage with?
Angela Burdett-Coutts
45
Who did Angela Burdett-Coutts open Urania Cottage with?
Charles Dickens
46
When was the Huddersfield workhouse scandal?
1848
47
When was 'Mary Barton' by Elizabeth Gaskell published?
1848
48
Who published 'Mary Barton' in 1848?
Elizabeth Gaskell
49
What did Elizabeth Gaskell publish in 1848?
'Mary Barton'
50
What was the most common mode of support parishes offered?
Outdoor relief
51
What was outdoor relief?
The practice of giving money, food or clothes (rather than placing in workhouse)
52
c1785 what was the main facility used to administer poor relief?
Parishes
53
What idea was poor relief c1785 centred around?
Local responsibility --> local parishes administered and responsible for
54
Why was there inequality in the poor relief given c1785?
Manner of relief not specifically determined by government - up to parish and so depended on the goodwill of that parish
55
When was the Speenhamland system created?
1795
56
How did the Speenhamland system work?
Tied the value of relief to the cost of bread prices
57
Though the Speenhamland system was very popular (particularly in the South) it was not the only system adopted. What other notable alternative was there?
Roundsman
58
How did the Roundsman system work?
Sold labour of paupers to local employers at a reduced cost --> difference made up by local parish from the Poor Rate
59
Who generally administered the different outdoor relief systems?
Overseers of the Poor
60
What was the role of Overseers of the Poor?
To collect and distribute Poor Rate; generally administered the outdoor relief systems
61
Describe and explain how successful was poor relief 1785-1834
Not very
Massively limited by huge inconsistencies
Magnified by growing population --> more demand for relief
Industrialisation and mechanisation --> reduced employment opportunities, particularly in season-dependent rural areas
Napoleonic Wars --> increased pressure, drove up price of bread
62
On average, how much was spent on poor relief in Britain in the years 1814 and 1818?
£6.4 million
63
Between 1802 and 1803, what percentage of the north received poor relief compared to the percentage of the south?
10% north vs 23% south
64
What did the 1832 Poor Relief Royal Commission set out to do?
Investigate the existing system and establish whether changes were needed
65
As part of gathering 'scientific' data, the Royal Commission sent out questionnaires. How many did they send out, and who to?
Parishes
| 15000
66
What percentage of questionnaires received a response?
10%
67
What were the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Poor Relief?
Removal of outdoor relief completely
More use of punishing workhouses to act as a deterrent
Grouping of parishes to manage workhouses more effectively
Creation of a central board to implement and oversee this new system
68
What did the provisions of the new Poor Law (Poor Law Amendment Act) involve?
Setting up of a central authority (Poor Law Commission) to oversee the new legislation
Grouping together of parishes
--> establish w/in each a workhouse that would be the main source of relief (deterrent, 'less eligibility'
Discouraging outdoor relief for the able-bodied poor
69
What was the role of the Poor Law Commission?
To oversee the new legislation passed by the Poor Law Amendment Act
Appointed boards of local men as governors of the unions to be responsible for the running of the new larger workhouses
70
How did the Poor Law Amendment Act change the use of workhouses?
Gilbert Act - workhouses only to house those unable to take care of themselves
New Poor Law - main means of relief
Intended to act as a deterrent
71
What was meant by the idea of 'less eligibility'?
Idea of making poor relief deliberately harsh so only the most destitute and unable to help themselves would apply for it
72
The Poor Law Commission organised the 15,000 existing parishes into how many larger unions?
600
73
Who were the 'guardians of the Poor Law'?
New Poor Law version of Overseers of the Poor
Responsible for finding funds to build any new workhouses required
Responsible for the running of the new larger workhouses
74
Funds raised by the Poor Rate led to the building of how many workhouses by 1839?
350
75
The Banbury workhouses built in 1835 was to house how many people?
300
76
How much did the 1835 Banbury workhouse cost?
£6,200
77
What were vagrant inmates made to do in 'The Spike' workhouse in Guildford?
Break stones for road building
78
What were inmates made to do the Newbury workhouse in Berkshire?
Operate the processes involved in textile manufacture (ran a swollen interest)
79
Economic historian George Boyer estimated the cost of indoor relief to be what percent more expensive than outdoor relief?
50-100%
80
What did the Poor Law Commission do in Yorkshire and Lancashire in 1838?
Sanction the use of traditional poor relief methods should the need arise
81
Briefly, how successful was the New Poor Law? Explain your answer
Not very tbh
Outdoor relief continued in many parts - cheaper than indoor relief
Meant to be centrally organised but responsibility of delivering relief = at discretion of local guardians
In North, resisted workhouses as poverty = more cyclical/dependent on global economy fluctuations
Lots of opposition
82
What did William Pitt try and do in 1796?
Get the Speenhamland system adopted nationally
83
What year did William Pitt try and get the Speenhamland system adopted nationally?
1796
84
Why did the Tories oppose the Poor Law Amendment Act?
The Whigs passed it
Objected to centralised nature - undermined existing independence of local magistrates
Paternalistic nature - system ignored 'poor unfortunates'
85
Where did opposition to the New Poor Law initially begin?
Rural areas e.g. East Anglia and other southern counties
86
When were the violent riots in the parish union of Ampthill, Bedfordshire against the New Poor Law?
May 1835
87
How many took part in the 1835 Ampthill riots against the New Poor Law?
300 to 500
88
What did the 1835 Ampthill rioters demand?
'Money or blood'
89
The 1835 Ampthill riots in Bedfordshire against the New Poor Law resulted in what?
4 men being arrested
The Riot Act being read out (empowered authorities to use punitive measures to regain order, absolved them of any criminal charges if people were injured or killed in doing so)
90
'Money of blood' riots took place in Ampthill parish union in Bedfordshire. Where else did these riots take place?
East Kent
91
How many attacked Bulcamp workhouse in Suffolk in December 1835?
Around 200
92
When was the Bulcamp workhouse in Suffolk attacked?
December 1835
93
How effective were the southern riots in 1835 and why?
Not very - by 1836, workhouse system generally well established
Riots not very well organised and not united
94
What was the 'Book of Murder'?
A piece of anti-Poor Law propaganda that claimed the workhouses were designed by the government to systematically kill off portions of the population
Entirely fictitious but did help the cause
95
Andover was so cruel a number of paupers deliberately committed crimes in order to go to prison to escape. How many did this?
61
96
What did some paupers at the Andover workhouse do in order to escape?
Deliberately commit crimes in order to be sent to prison
97
How many workhouses were built between 1851 and 1866?
100
98
How many workhouses were built in the immediate years after 1834?
402
99
When was the Workhouse Visiting Society established?
1858
100
What happened at Huddersfield workhouse?
Exposed during a typhus outbreak, where the ill were made to share lice-ridden infirmary beds w/ the dead for weeks
Soiled linen wasn't changed for up to 9 weeks
101
What did the Workhouse Visiting Society do?
Undertook unofficial checks on workhouses
Distributed extra food
Gathered info which could be used to tailor care
102
When was the Charity Organisation Society set up?
1869
103
What was the role of the Charity Organisation Society?
To distinguish b/w deserving and undeserving poor and recommend best means of getting deserving back on their feet
Sought targeted approach and rejected practice of excessive assistance (detrimental)
