Government, Self Help & Charity Flashcards
What was the position of the poor law commission?
By the mid 1840s opposition to the PLAA had mainly died down
Prevailing orthodoxy remained largely unchanged
Why was the Andover workhouse seen as the model example?
The Andover union in Hampshire had been help up as being the model of post 1834 poor law administration, it has been praised in the annual report of the poor law commissioners
- Outdoor relief had been abolished
- there was a strict dietarary code
As a result, inspections became few and far between
In what year was who appointed to master of the workhouse?
1834 — Colin M’Dougal
What caused them to send someone to investigate Andover?
Reports suggested that all was not well at Andover, as a result, the commissioners ordered Henry Parker to investigate
What discoveries were made by Parker?
The rumours in the press were true
- sexual abuse of female paupers by M’Dougal and his son
- serving less food than was laid down by the worst dietary (forcing starving paupers to suck marrow from the bones they were crushing for fertiliser)
What did the poor law commission do in response to Parker’s findings?
Attempted to extricate themselves by:
- sacking M’Dougal as workhouse master
- blaming Parker for not identifying the issue (they made his job impossible by reducing number of assistant commissioners from 21 to 9)
- sacking Parker
- issuing an order forbidding bone crushing
How did Parker respond?
- he wrote a well argued pamphlet explaining his position
- Parker gained the support of Chadwick, who was keen to undermine his superiors
What were the key issues of the poor law commission?
- the independence given by parliament to the commission was largely due to the need to implement the poor law amendment act efficiently
- envisaged that these powers would be temporary
- the 1834 act limited the life of the commission to 5 ears
- by 1839, the commissions power were renewed on an annual basis
Why was the commissions contract not extended beyond 1847?
- Andover revealed abuses of the workhouse system and lack of willingness to of the commission to identity and deal with such matters
Why was the poor law commission replaced with the poor law board? & how were they similar/different?
- Intended to remove the arrogance, hypocrisy of the poor law commission and make it linked to the government
- president now an MP, 2 secretaries & several cab ministers on board, now tied to the government
- George Nicholls appointed permanent secretary of the poor law inspectors (replaced assistant commissioners) increased them from 9 to 13
Evidence that a balance between outdoor and indoor relief was achieved by the poor law board?
- 1852 - tried to incarcerate able-bodied paupers in workhouses
Evidence balance between indoor and outdoor relief was not achieved by the poor law board?
- In 1852, the poor law board made an attempt to incarcerate all the able bodied poor paupers in workhouses by issuing a general order forbidding outdoor relief — failed, many of the guardians used all available loopholes (most common being sickness in the family) to continue giving outdoor relief
- Poor rates were rising, cost-conscious guardians preferred the cheaper alternative of outdoor relief, for example in East Anglia in 1860, it cost 3s 5 1/2d a week to keep a pauper inside a workhouse compared to 1s 9d to give that same pauper outdoor relief
- in 1846 there were 1,300,000 paupers of which 199,000 were in workhouses
- 1860s crop failure in the US led to crisis in Lancashire cotton mills, thousands of workers needed short term outdoor relief
Why did the poor law board change the way they dealt with paupers?
- divisions of different types of paupers sounded like a good idea, it was expensive
- after 1846, the poor law board increasingly initiated different approaches to different categories of the poor
What measures were introduced to deal with children under the poor law board?
- The poor law schools act 1848 allowed for poor law unions to combine to provide district schools, children learned in schools often a fair distance from the workhouse
- Foresters’ education act 1870 — the board schools were set up, guardians were encouraged to send pauper children to those to encourage them to mix with children outside the workhouse, act established a system of school boards to build and manage elementary (ages 5-13)
1850s — some boards of guardians abandoned the idea of larger schools in favour of smaller, onsite ones, boys were taught a trade and girls domestic skills
What measure were introduced to deal with the sick under the poor law board?
- Metropolitan poor act 1867 — organised London into asylum districts to provide specialist mental hospitals
- From 1852, a poor person who could no pay for medical treatment or medicine automatically qualified for outdoor relief
- 1860s, pauper workhouses, seperate from workhouses were set up, these provided the only medical care that many poor working class families could access
What and when was the parliamentary reform act?
- PRA 1867, extended voting qualifications to include householders, doubled the electorate from 1 million to 2 million men, allowed ‘respectable’ working class men to vote
What impact did the PRA 1867 have on poor law policy?
- laws would reflect the needs to majorly working class population — farrier poor laws
- greater democracy, in 1868, poor law board was empowered to combine small parishes into gig ones for the purpose of electing guardians
- new legislation that affected housing and public health was dependent upon local authorities, government decided not to keep the poor law seperate from this, 1871, replaced with the local government board
What is meant by a charitable organisation?
Institution or business that falls category of a non-profit organisation
What was the makeup of the COS?
- founded in 1869
- powerful organisation — mps, rich, army, professionals and church attended its inauguration meeting
Aims of the COS?
- Cooperation with poor law authorities to set boundaries between them and charities
- organise work of charities to better their efforts
- ensure the deserving received relief
What were key strengths of the COS?
- by 1880, the COS had established practices and procedure when visiting poor families
- believed charity was a gift and should be given to the deserving poor
- intellectual supporters of the COS were listened to, gave evidence to enquires on social issues
What were friendly societies?
Groups of friends, neighbours and workers would pay a weekly subscription and would be entitled to payment in a time of need
Successes of friendly societies?
— By 1870, the Manchester unity of Oddfellows (biggest friendly society) had 434,100 members and the next biggest the ancient order of foresters had 361,735 members
— fulfilled aims of the PLAA, fewer paupers dependent on government help
— by 1877, registered membership reached 2.7 million
— after 1846, required to register with registrar of friendly societies, giving legal protection of funds
— companionship
How were friendly societies not effective?
— many charged an entry fee and expected weekly contribution (6d a week was the average) poorest workers could not afford this
— some societies fined members who missed payment
— some refused membership for those over 40, suffering from illness, or in dangerous occupations such as mining
— financial mismanagements caused conflicts
Trade unions?
— expanded rapidly from the 19th century
— industrialisation was established and workers were willing to fight, negotiate for improved working motions and higher pay
— many trade unions were skill/job based such as the Amalgamated society of Engineers which was founded in 1851, were amalgamations of smaller unions, members could afford a weekly subscription of around 1s — more benefits, for example ASE offered benefits for sickness and death
How did cooperatives form?
In 1844, a group of Rochdale weavers started the Rochdale society of equitable pioneers with 28 weaver paying 1pound each by way of a subscription, the money was used to rent a shop and buy in, and sell on, good quality goods to working class families
— cooperative shop were owned by their members
— in 7 years, there were 130 shops spread throughout the north of England
— by 1880, there were close to 1 million co-op shareholders
How did Samuel smiles challenge the prevailing orthodoxy?
— He was a supporter of the cooperative society and became secretary to the Leeds parliamentary reform association, this supported the six points of the people’s charter
What were some weaknesses of the COS?
— Their methods were resented by the poor
— Had branches in towns but was not a national organisation
— branches failed to recruit enough volunteers or raise enough funds
— many rejected for being ‘undeserving’ poor
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