Poorhouses, Workhouses And Houses Of Correction Flashcards
What was the impotent poor?
- sick, old, infirm, mentally ill - were able to be looked after in poorhouses or almshouses (indoor relief)
How would able bodied poor receive relief?
- able bodied poor who wanted relief were to be set to work in ‘workhouse’ while they continued to live at home
What happened to those who refused to work?
those who refuse to work and continued a life of begging + general vagrancy were to be punished in ‘house of correction’
What happened to pauper children?
pauper children to be apprenticed to a trade so that they could support themselves when they grew up
What were the initial divisions of institutions?
- ‘poorhouses - impotent poor’ ‘workhouses- able bodied poor’ ‘houses of correction - idle poor’ didn’t work
Why did this not work?
- it wasn’t cost effective for each parish to provide for paupers in this way
What did those those considering reform of poor laws range from?
- people driven by humanitarian motives to ameliorate the lot of the poor, those who sought to reduce burden on ratepayers
Why would urban parishes combine
- urban parishes i.e Exeter, Hereford, Gloucester, Plymouth had combined for purpose of workhouse building
How many workhouses and places were there by 1780
by 1780, 2000 workhouses throughout England + Wales providing 90,000 places for paupers
What was a Significant feature of amalgamation of parishes?
- Significant feature of amalgamation of parishes was transfer of authority away from parish overseers to elected + appointed guardians of poor
Who did overseers tend to be?
- overseers tended to be local farmers and tradesmen; guardians drawn from ranks of magistrates, gentry and upper ranks of tenant farmers
When was the Gilbert’s act
- 1782
What was the intention of the Gilbert’s act?
- provide more humane method for relief of poverty than that of 1723 Workhouse test act
What was occurring during 1780s
-increase in under and unemployment in rural areas due to high food prices, low wages and effects of closure
- agricultural laborers hard hit and claimed on poor rates for survival
- as result poor rates increased rapidly - unacceptable to landowners
What did the legislation make
- made provision for groups of parishes to form unions so they could share cost of poor relief through ‘poor houses’
Why were poor houses established, and who were they for?
- established for looking after only the old, sick and infirm
What relief were able bodied paupers excluded from, and what did they receive instead?
- explicitly excluded from poor houses
- instead either they were to be provided with outdoor relief or employment near their own homes
How many parishes had merged by 1834
- 900 parishes had merged to form 67 unions across the country
What did the act also require
- also required that parishes should provide accurate figures on both poor law expenditure and charitable payments to poor during previous 3 years
What do the so called ‘Gilbert returns’ show
- shows the close connection in the minds of the reformers between public and private charity and represent attempt to legilaste on basis of quantifiable data - something that represents a break from localism and informality og old ways
When was the sturges Bourne acts introduced
- 1818-19
- sometimes called select vestries act
Why was the act for the regulation of parish vestries passed 1818
- in attempt to introduce more accountability into selection of parish committees
What did this set up?
- set up plural voting system for each parish vestry, depending on rateable value of property
