Poverty and Pauperism Flashcards
Define poverty
The state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support; condition of being poor
Define pauperism
General term for being poor, but also means anyone in receipt of poor relief
When was Elizabethan Poor Law in place?
1601
How many parishes in England and Wales under the Elizabethan poor law?
15 000
How many poor houses by 1776, with how many inmates in each?
2000 poorhouses
20-50 inmates in each
When was the Law of Settlement? What did it do?
1662
When was the Law of Settlement? What did it do?
1662
Aimed to stop the poor moving around. Had to have a ‘certificate of good character’ to move
When was the Knatchbull’s Act? What did it do?
1722
Encouraged the building of workhouses and withdrawing of relief from those who refused to join them - deterred claiming relief
When was Gilbert’s Act? What did it do?
1782
Allowed parishes to group together to build workhouses -aimed to make the workhouse a refuge for the old and infirm rather than the undeserving
What and when was the Speenhamland system?
1795
Allowance system set up to subsidise low wages - would depend on the price of bread and the number of children a labourer had - in response to economic downturn from war with France
How many loaves of bread were used to top up wages under the Speenhamland system? How many if the worker had a family?
3 loaves
4.5 if a family
When was the Speenhamland system abolished?
1834
What did Thomas Malthus say about the Speenhamland system?
“increased population without increasing food for its support”
What 2 acts formalised the system of poor rates, whereby taxes were collected and distributed Poor Relief under the Justice of Peace?
1818 Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries
1819 Act to Amend the Laws for Relief of the Poor
What were the general feelings towards the poor in society?
Some believed there would always be poverty and it had to be accepted, whilst others blamed the poor for their own poverty due to a weakness in character. Developed deserving and undeserving poor. Culture of dependence was seen as a social evil as it increased laziness and needed to be tackled
What Act was introduced and when, to make public money available to employ able-bodied paupers in public works?
Poor Employment Act
1817
% of GNP spent on poor relief expenditure between 1815-33? What did this amount to each year?
2%
£5.7 million per year
Whose wage theory became popular amongst the middle calss?
Ricardo’s wage fund- suggested there was a fixed fund at any given time for wages
How much did the cost of poor relief decrease by from 1819-23 to 1824?
From 11s 7d to 9s 2d
What could the poor not pay funds into?
Private pensions
% of people who received poor relief in the North and South between 1802-03?
10% in the North
23% in the South
Which 2 individuals greatly supported the idea of individualism?
Physician and vicar of Pewsey Joseph Townsend and Thomas Malthus
What does individualism believe in?
For the general improvement of society, there was a need for a number within the population to feel the hardship that poverty brought
What policy did Townsend criticise in what?
Policy of poor relief in his 1786 Dissertation on the Poor Laws
Why did the idea of individualism grow in popularity?
As industrialisation continued the opportunities for employment expanded and these opening solidified the notion that pauperism was the result of laziness and a general desire among some to live off the generosity of others, rather than take advantage of the chances of work
Which 2 individuals supported the idea of collectivism?
Thomas Paine and Robert Owen
What policy on Welfare did Paine outline in his book the ‘Rights of Man’?
-Pension provision for those over the age of 50
-Child benefits in the form of £4 per year for each child under 14, for 250,000 destitute families
How did Paine and Owen differ slightly in their argument?
Paine felt that it was not the fault of the people themselves but rather the failure of government to support them adequately
Owen promoted the idea that people would help themselves if given the chance. His belief was that character was built through a person’s circumstances, no placing sole responsibility on government
Who set a model community in Saltaire and when, in response to the idea of collectivism?
Sit Titus Salt
1848
Who supported the view of utilitarianism?
Jeremy Bentham and Edwin Chadwick
What does utilitarianism believe in?
Belief that human nature was motivated by only two things: pleasure and pain
What did Bentham introduce to measure solutions to the needs of the poor? When?
Happiness Principle in 1789
What did Bentham propose the establishment of, which would be entrusted with the responsibility of the country’s’ poor? When?
National Charity Company
1796
What did the National Charity Company idea offer for workhouses in 1834?
-Offered a clear blueprint for the reform of the poorhouses
-Inmates would be put to work to pay for their maintenance and also provide a profit for the company shareholders - idea that on leaving they would want to improve themselves
When was the Royal Commission established?
1st February 1832
How many commissioners on the Royal Commission? Which 2 notable individuals were part of it?
9 commissioners
Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadwick
Aim of the Royal Commission?
Find information about the workings of the Poor Law and recommendations about its improvements
How many parishes were sent questionnaires by the Royal Commission? How many were actually returned?
15 000
10% returned
Why did people criticise the methods of the RC?
-Questions phrased awkwardly
-Claimed Senior began writing up the report before the data was collected
Why did the government support the RC?
-Stated the current Poor Laws were inadequate in its provision
-Caused excessive costs due to a lack of a national system
-Many took advantage of the existing system
What did the RC recommend?
-Remove outdoor relief
-Use of punishing workhouses
-Group parishes to manage workhouses
-Creation of a central board to implement a new national system
How much was poor relief in 1817 and 1831?
1817 = £9.7 million (due to economic slump)
1831 = £7 million (still very high)
When was the Poor Law Amendment Act introduced?
1834
What was the principle of less eligibility?
Workhouses were designed to be less appealing to discourage applicants, making conditions less appealing than those enjoyed by the poorest of labourers
What were people deemed to have failed if they refused to accept workhouse life?
‘Failed the workhouse test’
What was the central board called who created the PLAA?
Poor Law Commission
How many made up the Poor Law Commission?
3 commissioners based in London
Edwin Chadwick
How many made up the Poor Law Commission?
3 commissioners based in London
Edwin Chadwick was secretary to the Commission
Supported by 9 assistants
What were parishes under the PLAA amalgamated groups of?
Groups of 30
How many workhouses were built after the PLAA?
402 workhouses
How much did it cost per week to keep a pauper in a workhouse compared to using Outdoor Relief by 1862?
4s 8d in a workhouse
2s 3d with Outdoor Relief
Which historian estimated how much more workhouses cost over outdoor relief? What was this?
George Boyer
Workhouses cost 50-100% more than outdoor relief
How much did it cost to open a workhouse in Banbury, for how many people?
£6200 for 300 people
Where was opposition to the new PLAA so great that they were allowed to resort to old poor law methods? When?
Yorkshire and Lancashire
1838
Why did many simply ignore the PLAA?
-Came under huge opposition due to the cost and it was not applied consistently across the country
-People didn’t feel it was applicable to them
-Outdoor Relief was more effective and cheaper
Which Conservative paper came out against the PLAA, when and debated against which other paper?
The Times
30th April 1834
Against the Chronicle
Why was there so much Tory opposition to the new PLAA?
-Some objected out of partisanship as the measure was passed by the Whigs
-Some objected to the centralised nature of this new system, particularly the co ordination of the new legislation by Boards of Guardians
-Undermined the existing independence of the local magistrates
-New system was a callous one which ignored the ‘poor unfortunates’ who had not had the same advantages as the best in society
Which radical politician opposed the Act because they believed it removed the ‘right’ to relief by making those claimants for it seem like criminals?
William Cobbett
When and where were there riots in protest to the PLAA?
1835
East Anglia and southern counties
When and where was there a violent riot involving how many people?
May 1835
Ampthill in Bedfordshire
300-500 people
How many were arrested in Ampthill?
4
What were these types of riots known as?
‘money or blood’ riots
Where did other riots occur?
East Kent
Bulcamp, Suffolk - mob of 200 attacked workhouse in December
Who mainly organised opposition in the North towards the PLAA?
MP Michael Sadler and Richard Oastler
Why was opposition in the North so effective?
-Experience through reformers made it more organised in its challenge
-Played on emotive fears of the population
-Alliance between the working and middle classes
How many did Richard Oastler lead to smash down gates of a workhouse in the North?
6000-8000
How many attended a demonstration against the poor law in May 1837? Where?
200 000 attended
Peep Green, Leeds
When was Andover built?
1836
Who was the chairman under Andover?
Reverend Christopher Dodson
Who was the master of the Andover workhouse?
Ex sergeant major Colin McDougal
When did the Andover Scandal emerge?
1845
Who reported the Scandal to whom?
Guardian Hugh Mundy informed Ralph Etwall, who was the MP of Andover - raised in House of Commons
What was life like in the Andover workhouse?
-All unmarried mothers had to wear a yellow stripe out of shame
-Underfed
-McDougal assaulted female residents
-Bone crushing was a job which was unpleasant and unhygienic
-Inmate eating raw flesh from animal bones due to starvation
-Punishment could be spending a night in the mortuary
When was the Huddersfield Scandal?
1848
How many children occupied one room in Huddersfield?
40 per 1 room
How much food was there for how many inmates?
Only enough for 27 of the 150 inmates
For being 10mins late to 2 meals how many lashes would someone receive?
39 lashes
For being idle what punishment would someone receive?
Month on the tread-mill
What society was created in 1858? What did they do?
Workhouse Visiting Society
Carried out unofficial checks on workhouses and added t the argument of better treatment of the poor
When was the Poor Law Commission abolished? What was it replaced by?
1847
Replaced with Poor Law Board - control under the government
Which editor, of which paper criticised the Andover Scandal in great detail?
John Walter of the Times
Which non-Conformist churches believed poverty should be dealt with in a different way?
Methodists and Calvinists
Which journalist published how large a work, called what in 1849, concluding what?
Henry Mayhew
4-volume work in 2 million words called London Labour and the London Poor
Concluded wages were too low for many to deal with the fluctuations in the economy - challenged belief that poverty was a result of idleness
How many more workhouses built between 1851-66?
100 workhouses
Changes made to the workhouse system following the Andover Scandal were aimed of doing what?
Less a desire to help the poor but more to secure middle-class interests and avoid riots and discontent amongst the working class
What were Gilbert unions?
Areas that had already amalgamated their parishes for poor relief under the 1792 Act, but now refused to be bought into the new system
What were select vestries? What Act was involved?
Parishes that had established poor relief communities brought in under the Sturges Bourne Act 1819
How many parishes with what size population were incorporated in the Poor Law Union? When?
14 000 parishes
Total population of 12 million
1840
How many parishes with what population remained outside the Poor Law Union system?
800 parishes
2 million population
When was the Outdoor Labour Test Orders introduced?
1842
What did the Outdoor Labour Test Orders do?
-Allowing the use of outdoor relief for able-bodied workers during times of economic decline
-Attempts to prevent this saw vehement opposition from local boards who felt their local sovereignty was being infringed upon
When was the Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order introduced? What did it do?
1844
Ended the provision of outdoor relief
When was the Outdoor Relief Regulation Order introduced? What did it do?
1852
Limited the availability of outdoor relief to such a great extent that even the sick and the infirm struggled to get any outdoor relief
When was the Metropolitan Poor Act introduced? What did it do?
1867 - after Lancet Medical journal investigation
Demanded that medical facilities be separate from the workhouse itself and provided for the creation of the Metropolitan Asylum Board that took over the responsibility of caring for the sick paupers
Who wrote Oliver Twist and when? What was the aim?
Charles Dickens
1837
Aimed to raise awareness of the conditions the poor lived in, an increased support for them
What self-help book was published in 1859? What was the aim?
Samuel Smile’s Self Help book
Suggested the poor had to help themselves - rugged individualism
Who described workhouses as ‘Poor Law Prisons’? When? What was its aim?
Thomas Carlyle in his work ‘Past and Present’
1843
Aimed to show the growing class divide within Britain. Wanted spiritual growth of Britain
Who wrote ‘Mary Barton’ and when? What was its aim?
Elizabeth Gaskell
1848
Highlighted the poverty and living conditions of the poor, particularly in Manchester
Who was the richest woman in England? How much did she inherit?
Angelina Burdett-Coutts
Inherited £1.8 million
What hospital was set up for poor women and when?
Urania
1847
Who founded the Charity Organisation Society and when?
Helen Bosanquet
1869
What did the Charity Organisation Society do?
-Aimed to ensure that the ‘deserving’ got back on their feet
Concern was not one of the poor’s wellbeing, but a people concern that welfare was only targeted to the most ‘deserving’
-Belief that poor relief was actually increasing poor people’s dependency on the state
-Showed that the ‘less eligibility doctrine’ was still prominent in society
