Poverty and Pauperism 3 Flashcards
1
Q
Give one reason why the middle-classes supported the Poor Law Amendment Act?
A
cost to the local ratepayer, attitudes towards the poor/working class, ideas of self help
2
Q
Give one reason why the middle-classes opposed the Poor Law Amendment Act?
A
victorian values, christian ethos/evangelism, popular literature, reports into poverty, middle-class responsibility to the w-c/poor
3
Q
When did the Huddersfield scandal happen?
A
1848
4
Q
What was the Huddersfield Workhouse Scandal? Give 2 points.
A
ill people sharing beds with dead bodies, lice-ridden beds, typhus outbreak
5
Q
What provision did the Metropolitan Poor Act of 1867 provide?
A
Separate medical facilities for inmates
6
Q
Which prominent pressure group leader opposed the Poor Law Amendment Act because of the way it treated labourers?
A
Richard Oastler
7
Q
Why was the anti Poor Law Amendment movement successful in the north of England?
A
The role of Oastler and Sadler, the industrial north was different to the type of work in the south
8
Q
Why did the local officials invoke the Riot Act in 1835 in Bedfordshire?
A
Because there was a violent riot opposing the Poor Law Act of 1834 involving 300-500 people
9
Q
What happened to the workhouse at Bulcamp in Suffolk in 1835?
A
Attacked by a mob of 200
10
Q
Why was the Poor Law more effectively implemented in the south despite opposition to it?
A
Industrial north different to agricultural south
Poor rate in the north lower because more people were employed
The workhouse system didn’t suit the cyclical nature of employment in factories/mills
11
Q
Where workhouse care long or short?
A
Provided long and short term care
12
Q
How often and when did the young people use the workhouse?
A
Catered for as a temporary shelter in times of crisis – moved in and out maybe several times a year depending on employment, harshness of winter etc
13
Q
Vagrants and the workhouse
A
. Considered less deserving
. Given overnight accommodation in a ‘casual ward’
. Only admitted in evening and given bread and water
. Lowest of low and beyond redemption
. Aimed to get rid of them ASAP in morning.
14
Q
Elderly and the workhouse
A
. Provided for until death
. Tended to be mainly old men – old women could be of domestic use to families and so kept on in families more often
15
Q
What % of workhouse admissions were children?
A
25-40%
16
Q
Children and the workhouse
A
. Long and short term
. Some with able bodied parents, others abandoned or ill
. Could spend entire childhood there with the prospect of being ‘found’ work as an apprentice
17
Q
Single women and the workhouse
A
Windows, abandoned wives, single mothers and prostitutes who could not claim outdoor relief
18
Q
Mentally ill and the workhouse
A
Increasing common as century progressed
19
Q
What was the first workhouse to be built after 1834?
A
Abingdon Workhouse
20
Q
What groups was the workhouse designed to segregate?
A
. Infirm Men
. Able bodied men over 17
. Boys 7-15
. Infirm women
. Able bodied women over 15
. Girls 7-15
. Children under 7
21
Q
Why did segregation happen at workhouses?
A
. Allowed each class to be appropriately provided for
. Deterrent as it split up families, prevented ‘moral contagion’
. Paupers beginning to lose identity and be treated as units
22
Q
What was less eligibility?
A
British government policy passed into law in the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
23
Q
What did less eligibility state?
A
Conditions in workhouses had to be worse than conditions available outside so that there was a deterrence to claiming poor relief
24
Q
Why was less eligibility hard to operate?
A
Life outside for the poorest of labourers was terrible – hard for an institution to match them let alone make them worse
25
What did children receive a basic provision of?
Education
26
What did parent relinquish when they entered the workhouse?
Responsibility for their education
27
What was better in the workhouse than outside?
Medical attention
28
What did inmates become which made it hard to cope outside?
Institutionalised
29
When did the ability to integrate with the outside after staying in the workhouse become easier?
Education Act 1870 when their education was put under elementary system
30
What did meals have to be taken in before 1842?
In silence
31
How many diets could guardians choose from and what were they designed to do?
6 prescribed diets to sustain life but be as boring as possible
32
What did workhouses not allow at mealtimes?
Cutlery
33
How was the food served
Weighed in front of the paupers which was done on purpose to delay serving and make food cold
34
Give some examples of food served in the workhouse
. Bread and cheese
. Brith
. Meat
. Hasty pudding
35
What were jobs supposed to do for inmates?
Rehabilitate and restore them to outside workforce
36
What did women do in the workhouse?
Worked to maintain it - laundry, kitchen, childminding
37
If economical work could not be found then what type of work was given?
Monotonous work e.g. smashing limestone and chopping wood, grinding animal bone for fertilise
38
What were workhouses like socially?
. Often rowdy places with verbal and physical abuse and riots
. Instances of bullying, blackmail and sexual abuse
39
How did the staff maintain order?
System of rewards and punishments
40
What minor things could you be punished for in the workhouse?
Being in wrong part of building, cheek, working too slow
41
What clear limits were set out by the Commission for workhouse discipline?
. Women could not be beaten
. Reduced rations common punishment
. Punishment cells for minor offences
. Often tailored e.g. night in mortuary
. Could be rewarded with clean jobs, pocket money and extra food
42
How much notice did paupers need to give that they were leaving?
3 hours
43
When did parliament limit the number of times paupers could leave a workhouse?
1871
44
On entry to the workhouse what happened to pauper families?
Given a medical inspection and split up
45
Until what age did mothers spend with their children?
7
46
At what age were children apprenticed in the workhouse?
9
47
What did workhouse inmates wear?
Uniforms which often didn’t fit
48
What were men allowed to do once a week?
. Razor to shave
. Bath
. Observed to deny privacy
49
What else did workhouse inmate not have?
Personal possessions - no expression of individuality
50
Clerk in workhouse
Delt with budgets and building works
51
Master and matron in workhouse
. Underpaid and overworked
. Had a lot of power but not up to job
. Master dealt with discipline and running of WH
. Matron dealt with females and domestic arrangement
52
Medical officer and nurse in workhouse
. Low pay and low status
. Supply own drugs and bandages
. Masters did not follow their advice on special diets
53
Teacher in workhouse
. Worried teaching paupers to reach as they might read chartist pamphlets
. Many teachers illiterate
54
Chaplain in workhouse
. Poor curates trying to make more money
. Read prayers and preached a sermon on Sunday
55
Labour master in the workhouse
In charge of workers doing stone breaking, Oakham picking, wood chopping
56
Cook in workhouse
Inmates cooked but a cook was used in larger workhouses
57
Issues with workhouse staff
Poor quality as pay and conditions were poor
58
Prison medical officer vs workhouse medical officer wage
. Prison MO - £220
. WH MO - £78 + long hours, few holidays
59
Prison governor vs master and matron of a workhouse wage
. Prison governor - £600
. Matron + Master - £80 between them
60
What did paupers become trapped in?
A cycle of poverty
61
Why was the workhouse good?
. Stopped underclass exploiting the state
. Discouraged laziness
62
Why were workhouses bad?
. Inhumane conditions
. Deserving poor punished - not their fault
. Only 20% of inmates able bodied
. Expensive to build
63
Who did the workhouse mostly appeal to?
Middle class
64
Why would the aristocracy be against the workhouse?
. Lived morally
. Had a closer working relationship with poor
65
Was the work house system cheaper than the old methods of dealing with the poor?
No - parishes took out big loans to build the workhouse
66
Did commissioners want to create a system of deliberate cruelty?
No - they claimed that their centralised and regulated system protected paupers from the abuses of the old system
67
What do some historians view the workhouse as?
Institutionalised cruelty
68
In Cuckfield in Sussex when faced with the workhouse or nothing what % accepted the workhouse?
11%
69
What was there a decline in after 1834?
Pauperism not necessarily poverty
70
How did the workhouse go against Victorian values?
Men and women were strictly segregated including married couples
71
What time did the inmates have to get up and go to bed?
. Up at 5am
. Bed by 8pm
72
Food in workhouses vs independent labourers
More food eaten in the workhouse but less than for prisoners
73
What did paupers do in Andover because they were so undernourished?
. Eating the marrow and rotting meat on the bones they had been set to crush
. Children ate raw potatoes for the pigs
74
What was the maser like at Andover?
. A drunk
. A bully
. Beat up children
. Sexual abuse of female inmates
75
What happened to the master of Andover?
He was forced to resign but received no further punishment
76
Was the Andover Scandal normal?
Extreme and untypical
77
Apart from physical cruelty what did the workhouse inflict?
Psychological cruelty
78
Who was the master of Andover?
Colin McDougal
79
What did the master and matron of Andover keep to a minimum and how did the guardians feel about this?
Kept expenditure and food rations to a minimum to the approval of the Guardians
80
What did the inmates Andover workhouse eat their food with?
Their fingers
81
What were the Andover inmates denied at Christmas compared to other inmates?
Denied extra food and drink provided elsewhere
82
Who raised the issue about Andover and how did the other guardians react?
One of the Guardians Hugh Mundy but was not supported by his fellow Guardians
83
What did Hugh Mundy do after his fellow Guardians did not support him?
Took the matter to his local MP who mentioned it to parliament
84
What happened after Andover was raised in parliament?
. Home Secretary expressed disbelief and instigated an inquiry
. Henry Parker, the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner responsible for the Andover union, was despatched to investigate
85
What did McDougal do when the investigation started?
Resigned as Master
86
How much could old bones be bought for?
20 shillings a ton and the ground bone dust fetching up to 23 or 24 shillings a ton
87
At Andover what did not often happen to babies and why?
Babies born in the workhouse were rarely baptised as this cost a shilling a time
88
When was the Select Committee's report investigating Andover published?
1846
89
What did the Select Committee's report investigating Andover criticise?
. Virtually everyone involved
. The McDougals
. The Guardians who had failed to visit the workhouse
90
After Andover what action was taken against the Commissioners?
No direct action
91
What happened as a result of the report?
. Led to its abolition the following year when the Act extending its life was not renewed
. In its place, a new body, the Poor Law Board, was set up, which was more accountable to Parliament
92
When did Andover gain attention and what did it bring to public attention?
1845 - brought the darker side of the new public regime to public attention
93
When was Andover established
1836
94
What would happen at Andover if a couple tried to talk to each other?
Isolated in a purpose built cell
95
Between 1837 and 1846 how many inmates were sent to prison and why?
61 paupers as they deliberately tried to escape
96
In 1847 due to Andover what was dissolved and what replaced it?
PL Commission dissolved and replaced by Poor Law Board - brought it under government control
97
After Andover what was performed on workhouses?
Checks - extra food distributed, better treatment of sick and elderly
98
By 1862 how much did it cost to keep a pauper in the workhouse vs give them outdoor relief?
. Workhouse - 4s8d
. Outdoor relief - 2s3d
99
How much did it cost to build a workhouse?
£6,200
100
Who was reluctant to build workhouses?
The north
101
What was sanctioned in Yorkshire and Lancashire due to opposition to the poor law?
The use of traditional methods like outdoor relief
102
Which political party rejected to the PLA act and why?
Tories as it was passed by the Whigs
103
What did the Tories object to in the new system?
It’s centralised nature
104
What were Tories fearful regarding the PLA act?
The increasing role of government in affairs
105
What type of morality did the Tories believe in?
Paternalistic sense of morality
106
Who mostly organised opposition to the PLA act?
Tory radical reformers such as MP Michael Sadler
107
Who gave a speech opposing the PLA from a religion stance?
Richard Oastler - believed new poor law was anti-Christian
108
North vs London
North was far from London, has little in common, travel was slow, big geographical divide
109
What happened to workhouses in the north?
Stood empty as economic downturn due to greater industrialisation
110
What happened in a parish union on Bedfordshire?
A violet riot of 300-500 people demanding ‘money or blood’
111
What did a growth in middle class affluence give rise to?
A stronger feeling of Christian charity
112
What developed as formal outdoor relief ended?
Charity work and other philanthropic enterprises
113
What did charities focus on?
Poverty causes
114
What was the Outdoor Labour Test Order
Exempted people from workhouses who were only out of work in a recession
115
What order was passed in 1852?
The outdoor relief regulation order
116
When was the outdoor relief regulation order passed?
1852
117
What was the outdoor relief regulation order?
Limited the provision of relief for the sick and infirm
118
What was the purpose of charitable intervention?
Furnish the poor with skills
119
Who protested against outdoor relief being continued?
Board of Guardians who felt their powers were being infringed by the state
120
What did charity work allow affluent women to do?
Participate in public affairs despite restrictive attitudes
121
What did the role of women within charity contribute towards?
Their political acceptance after 1918
122
What did Angela Burdett-Coutts do?
Found pauper children employment in the military
123
Who found pauper children employment in the military?
Angela Burdett-Coutts
124
What did Angela Burdett-Coutts co found with Charles Dickens?
A hostel for poor women who has turned to prostitution and funded education projects for Britains poorest children
125
Rehouse Visiting Society
Collected information on the experiences of the poor - allows formal approach
126
What did solid information allow a rejection of?
The patronising ‘do-gooder’ mentality
127
What medical journal carried out an investigation in 1865?
‘The Lancet’
128
What did the medical journal ‘The Lancet’ investigate?
The quality of medical care in London workhouses
129
What did the medical journal ‘The Lancet’ investigate lead to?
The passage of the Metropolitan Poor Act in 1867
130
What did the Metropolitan Poor Act in 1867 demand?
. That medical facilities be separate from the workhouse itself
. Provided for the creation of the Metropolitan Asylum Board that took over the responsibility for caring for sick paupers
131
Charity Organisation Society 1869
Purpose to distinguish between deserving and undeserving and to then recommend the best means to help the deserving get back on their feet
132
What did Thomas Caryle publish and when?
‘Past present’ in 1843
133
What did Thomas Caryle’s ‘Past and present’ draw attention to?
The growing working class divide and the plight of the workers calling workhouses ‘poor law prisons’
134
What was Thomas Caryle interested in?
The spiritual growth of the country - ‘spiritual rebirth’ where people appreciate each other
135
What did Thomas Caryle think the rich and poor had lost touch with?
One another in the worship of money
136
What did Henry Mayhen do?
Investigate into poverty and produced a four volume work
137
What did Henry Mayhen challenge?
The idea that idleness was the source of poverty
138
What issue did Henry Mayhen highlight with low wages?
Workers could not set money aside for times of hardships
139
What did Henry Mayhen publish?
London Labour and London Poor
140
What did Henry Mayhen’s ‘London Labour and London Poor’ encourage?
New thinking and in the immediate term there was a growth of charity in the workhouse
141
Empiricism
Something based on evidence rather than logic or theory
142
Who was a celebrated opponent of the new poor law?
Charles Dickens
143
How did Charles Dickens experience poverty?
Forced into working in a shoe blacking factory at 12 after his parents entered the workhouse due to debt
144
When was Oliver Twist written?
1938
145
What did Oliver Twist do?
Popularised the workhouse as a place of despair
146
What else did Dickens publish showing the hardships of poverty?
‘Hard Times’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
147
How were Dicken’s novels published?
Serial novels so were cheaper and more widely read
148
Apart from Andover where else was there a workhouse scandel?
Huddersfield
149
Elizabeth Grashell
Contributed to the growing awareness of poverty through her novels
150
Mary Brown
In offered a realistic impression of the experience of the poorer classes
151
Samuel Smiles
Offered the answers and was a social reformer, briefly a Chartist
152
What was Samuel Smiles greatest influence?
. ‘Self help’ in 1859
. The importance of industry placing individual determination to improve oneself as the most important element
153
What backdrop was ‘Self Help’ published under?
When Britain experienced prosperity, epitomised the optimistic spirit
154
How many copies had ‘self help’ sold by the end of the century?
250,000 copies
155
If the poor were offered a chance to improve themeselves most would..
Take it and work hard
