Poverty and Pauperism

Question 1

What 5 government policies were introduced in the 17th and 18th centuries regarding poor relief?

Answer 1

• Elizabethan Poor Act 1601
• Laws of Settlement 1662
• Knatchbull’s Act 1722 (Workhouse Act)
• Gilbert’s Act 1782
• Speenhamland System 1795 (not a law)

Question 2

What did the Elizabethan Poor Act 1601 do?

Answer 2

• belief that unemployed posed a threat to law and order
• the state took responsibility for those who couldn’t support themselves, by making the 15,000 parishes in England and Wales responsible for orphans, old and sick
• poorhouses built for the deserving poor, 2,000 of these by 1776 with 20-50 inmates
• undeserving poor to receive outdoor relief paid by landowners rates

Question 3

What did the Laws of Settlement 1662 do?

Answer 3

• designed to stop the poor moving around
• a place of settlement was somewhere you were born or lived for 3 years
• overseers could remove people they thought would become an applicant for poor relief
• workers could only move with a “certificate of good character”

Question 4

What did Knatchbull’s Act 1722 do?

Answer 4

• encouraged the building of workhouses and the withdrawal of relief for those who refused to join one
• aimed to reduced the amount of able bodied who were not at work, acting as a deterrent to claiming relief by abolishing outdoor relief

Question 5

What did Gilbert’s Act 1782 do?

Answer 5

• allowed parishes to group together to build a workhouse (more cost effective), in response to the rising costs of poor relief and enclosure (loss of common rights for agricultural labourers)
• Gilbert aimed to make the workhouse a place of refuge rather than a place of punishment

Question 6

What did the Speenhamland System 1795 do?

Answer 6

• an allowance system to subsidise low wages dependent on the price of bread and the number of children the labourer had
• wages were topped up to the value of 3 loaves of bread
• made in response to the shock of the french revolution (feared unrest in Britain) and economic lows caused by the war with France

Question 7

What are the two ways in which poverty can be defined?

Answer 7

• absolute poverty - lack of an income to provide for basic human needs e.g. food
• relative poverty - people who are poor but have enough to survive but cannot afford luxury items

Question 8

How were poor people categorised?

Answer 8

• deserving poor - people who become impoverished at no fault of their own despite being honest and hard working (e.g. low wages)
• undeserving poor - people who were poor due to factors under their own control e.g. laziness

Question 9

Who administered poor rates before 1834?

Answer 9

“Overseers of the Poor” - collected taxes for the poor laws and distributed Poor Relief under the authority of the local Justice of the Pease (JP)

Question 10

Which Acts formalised the poor relief system at the start of the 19th century?

Answer 10

• 1818 Act for the Regulation of Parish Vestries
• 1819 Act to Amend the Laws for Relief of the Poor (which created parish committees, elected by rate-payers, to distribute poor relief, aiming to reduce costs from lenient JPs)

Question 11

How was poor relief before 1834 ineffective?

Answer 11

• inconsistent (each parish acted independently and ran different systems meaning there was no co-ordinated national response)
• Speenhamland System was ineffective

(too expensive)
- growing population that had doubled in 1801 since the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601 meant more poor relief had to be given

• industrialisation meant a reduction in employment opportunities as machines reduced numbers of workers needed, increase in labour-saving machinery meant rural workers became poorer
• low employment rates up until 1834 saw increase in amount needed to cover poor relief (particularly in rural areas) and failure to provide for the poor resulted in riots and discontent
• following the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Britain suffered an economic slump and thousands of soldiers returned home and were unable to find work - money spent on poor relief averages £6.4 million 1814-1818

Question 12

Why was the Speenhamland System (1795-1834) ineffective?

Answer 12

• series of poor harvests in early 1800s and French Wars 1793-1815 when cost of living increased due to increased price of bread (as no foreign imports) - meant more poor relief needed especially in the Speenhamland system which linked relief directly to the price of bread
• speenhamland system didn’t give farmers incentives to pay good wages, nor the worker to earn higher wages, and families didn’t restrict the number of kids they had (in fact gave incentives to have more kids)
• Swing Riots in 1830 most prevalent in counties that adopted the Speenhamland System as farmers gave lower wages, knowing they would be topped up

Question 13

Why did Magistrates introduce the Speenhamland System?

Answer 13

introduced due to increase in price of bread from poor harvests and lack of imports due to the war with France, which meant workers couldn’t afford bread
- magistrates feared uprising as had been seen in the French Revolution 1789

Question 14

Why was the Speenhamland System not used in the north?

Answer 14

higher employment as more industry located north, less reliance on subsistence farming

Question 15

Why was the Speenhamland System (1795-1834) ineffective?

Answer 15

• very expensive due to a series of poor harvests in early 1800s and French Wars 1793-1815 when cost of living increased due to increased price of bread (as no foreign imports) - the system linked relief directly to the price of bread so more relief had to be given
• speenhamland system didn’t give farmers incentives to pay good wages, nor the worker to earn higher wages, and families didn’t restrict the number of kids they had (in fact gave incentives to have more kids) - meaning population increased without increasing the limited food supply as families had more children to gain a larger allowance
• the Swing Riots in 1830 were most prevalent in counties that adopted the Speenhamland System as farmers gave lower wages, knowing they would be topped up
• only a short term solution to famine and starvation, did nothing to improve the situations people were in

Question 16

How did attitudes to the poor change towards the end of the 18th century?

Answer 16

• a more cynical attitude emerged toward the end of the 18th century, people were less sympathetic
• two views emerged: resigned pity that there would always be poverty in society, and belief that poverty was due to weakness in character which placed blame on the poor (despite a long history of caring for those in financial distress)
• many regarded poverty as a necessary state to encourage hard work
• culture of dependence on relief seen as a social evil as it made people lazy and took away their self-reliance
• these views led to the distinction between deserving and undeserving poor

Question 17

Why did attitudes towards the poor change towards the end of the 18th century?

Answer 17

• these views emerged due to industrialisation which caused rapid developments in society e.g. the growth of the middle class, there was a fear that fortunes would disappear as quickly as they’d been made so people tried to find reasons for poverty in order to separate themselves from the poor

Question 18

What did the government pass in 1817 which shows the growing distinction between deserving and undeserving poor?

Answer 18

Poor Employment Act 1817 - made public money available to employ able-bodied paupers (undeserving poor) in public works e.g. road building

Question 19

How many people received poor relief in the north compared to the south and how much were average wages at this time?

Answer 19

(between 1802-1803)
10% in north
23% in south
average wage of 12s per week

Question 20

What was the Royal Commission?

Answer 20

• established in 1832, consisting of nine commissioners including Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadick
• aimed to find information on the workings of the Poor Law and recommend improvements
• gathered evidence “scientifically” including questionnaires to 15,000 parishes - only 10% of which were returned
• received criticism as questions were phrased misleadingly and claimed that the report began being written before all data was collected
• findings of the report appealed to the government, stating current laws to be inadequate in the effectiveness and excessive cost as it wasn’t a national system meaning many could take advantage by lowering wages
• the Royal Commission recommended the removal of outdoor relief, use of punishing workhouses as deterrents, grouping parishes together and the creation of a central board to implement the new system across the country

Question 21

What was the Royal Commission and when was it established?

Answer 21

• established in 1832, consisting of nine commissioners including Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadick
• aimed to find information on the workings of the Poor Law and recommend improvements

Question 22

How did the Royal Commission gather evidence for its report on the workings of the Poor Law

Answer 22

• gathered evidence “scientifically” including questionnaires to 15,000 parishes - only 10% of which were returned
• received criticism as questions were phrased misleadingly and claimed that the report began being written before all data was collected

Question 23

What did the Royal Commission find?

Answer 23

• findings of the report appealed to the government, stating current laws to be inadequate in the effectiveness and excessive cost as it wasn’t a national system meaning many could take advantage by lowering wages

Question 24

What did the Royal Commission recommend as a result of its findings?

Answer 24

• recommended the removal of outdoor relief
• use of punishing workhouses as deterrents of claiming poor relief
• grouping parishes together to manage workhouses effectively
• the creation of a central board to implement the new system across the country

Question 25

Why did the government set up the Royal Commission and act on the Poor Laws?

Answer 25

• criticism in terms of cost
• criticism in terms of corruption
• Speenhamland System was having negative consequences on the attitudes of the poor

Question 26

Why had concerns about the Poor Laws been growing since 1815?

Answer 26

• concern had been growing since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 as ratepayers became increasingly agitated at the cost of poor relief, they had expected poor rates to reduce post-war - however initial total cost rose £5.7 million (1815) - £7.9 million (1817)
• taxpayers were angry with this, especially farmers who had been paying more due to high wheat prices which gave them larger incomes, and post-war wheat prices were declining
• poor law cost increased every year from 1823 onwards due to poor harvests

Question 27

How were some poor law administrations corrupt?

Answer 27

e.g. Poor Law work was often given to local tradespeople rather than open to all

Question 28

What were Select Vestries and why were they corrupt?

Answer 28

• Act of Parliament in 1819 allowing parishes to set up Select Vestries (committees that could employ assistant oversees to supervise Poor Law administration)
• 20% of parishes adopted this by 1827
• Select Vestries were corrupt e.g. in 1832, 11/20 members of the Morpeth Select Vestry had a vested interest in the sale of beer, generous relief payments were often spent in the pub
• the number of Select Vestries had declined by 1832 suggesting this problem was not solved

Question 29

What were the financial and ideological pressures for change in the Poor Laws by 1834?

Answer 29

• cost of maintaining the old poor law became prohibitive
• Ricardo’s “wage fund theory” became popular, suggesting a fixed fund for wage and if workers wanted to increase wages it would be at the expense of others wages

Question 30

How much was poor relief expenditure post-war

Answer 30

poor relief expenditure reached 2% of GNP during these years
(soldiers now unemployed, industry associated with the war effort now in decline, workers laid off during downturns of the economy)

Question 31

What was the “wage fund theory”?

Answer 31

Ricardo’s “wage fund theory” suggested a fixed fund for wage and if workers wanted to increase wages it would be at the expense of others wages - popular among middle class

Question 32

What is an example to illustrate the improved economic situation in the 1820s?

Answer 32

cost of poor relief per head was 9s 2d in 1824 compared to 11s 7d between 1819-23

Question 33

What was the individualism attitude towards the poor?

Answer 33

• e.g. Thomas Malthus
• belief that growing population is the issue of poverty,
• too much food is given to workhouses to those who are not as “worthy”
• giving poor relief creates a dependency and destroys the independent spirit of the working class
• the parish are supplementing too much and parish laws should be abolished
• belief in the wage fund theory (that money spent on relief was taking from the employer, a fixed wage should be introduced and if workers wanted to increase wages it would be at the expense of others wages)

Question 34

What was the collectivism attitude towards the poor?

Answer 34

• e.g. Thomas Paine, Robert Owen
• increase in poverty believed to be due to mechanisation and consequences of the war
• Paine believed it to be gov responsibility to provide provisions - should pay pensions for those over 50 and child benefits of £4 per year for 250,000 families
• Owen believed people will help themselves if given the chance, a need for change in policies e.g. providing training for children of the poor, a positive environment is needed to encourage the poor

Question 35

What was the utilitarianism attitude towards the poor?

Answer 35

• e.g. Edwin Chadwick
• belief that human nature was motivated by pleasure and pain
• the poor need to work to lift themselves out of poverty, no labour is too hard
• giving provisions provides no sense of hardship or loss
• proposed National Charity Company in 1796 - responsible for poorhouses which would be based on panopticon prison model, inmates would work to pay for maintenance and any profits would go to shareholders, individuals will be motivated to better themselves on exit
• influenced the findings of the Royal Commission

Question 36

“What were the reasons for the reform of the Old Poor Law in 1834?”

Answer 36

• rising cost of the Poor Rate
• Ideological pressures/attitudes to poverty
• failures of the Old Poor Laws
• growth of industrial towns

Question 37

What was the Andover workhouse scandal?

Answer 37

• Andover workhouse followed the instructions and regulations issued by the poor law commissioners in London
• in 1845, reports leaked out that the inmates were so hungry that they were eating raw flesh from animal bones while working in the bone crushing house
• one of the guardians of the house informed the local MP who raised the issue in the House of Commons, the Times carried news of the scandal and an investigation was ordered
• inmates were systematically underfed, M’Dougal (master of the workhouse) abused workers, gave extreme punishments, reduced rations for inmates so he could buy extra food for his family - was eventually forced to resign but received no further punishment

Question 38

What were the positive impacts of the Andover workhouse scandal on national opinion in 1845?

Answer 38

• the events were well publicised by critics of the new Poor Law including the editor of The Times
• exposed abuses in the workhouse system, created a greater sense of social responsibility among the public
• brought out views already in society that poverty should be dealt with differently e.g. non-conformist churches
• changed the way in which the system was administered e.g. in 1847, the Poor Law Commission was abolished and Poor Law Board introduced (bringing control of the Poor Law into government hands)
• led to the creation of groups e.g. Workhouse Visiting Society in 1858 which carried out unofficial checks on workhouses

Question 39

In what ways did the Andover workhouse scandal have limited impact on national opinion in 1845?

Answer 39

• conditions didn’t immediately improve e.g. there was another scandal in Huddersfield 1848
• any changes made were more due to middle-class interests and to avoid riots among the working class
• workhouses remained a central feature of provision - another 100 built between 1851-66
• attitudes of contempt in regards to the poor remained
• middle classes disassociated with the working class, many believed the principles of the new Act in 1834 should be maintained

Question 40

What did Mayhew do for attitudes toward the poor post-1834?

Answer 40

Mayhew’s “London Labour and the London Poor” in 1849 suggested wages to be too low, challenging the belief that poverty was the result of laziness

Question 41

What did the Poor Law Amendment Act (PLAA) of 1834 do?

Answer 41

• new workhouses to be built wherever necessary
• creation of a central authority known as the Poor Law Commission - made up of 3 commissioners given powers to regulate the poor Law - Chadwick was made secretary of this
• started the amalgamation of parishes into groups of around 30, each managed by a board of guardians (responsible for the running of workhouses) to be elected by ratepayers
• Commissioners must give a report annually regarding how well the Act is working
• Assistant Commissioners may be appointed
• no Commissioners to be part of the House of Commons
• Commissioners given the power to create rules concerned with looking after the poor e.g. in the running of workhouses
• legal to help the elderly or sick without incarcerating them
• outside relief to able-bodied paupers to be restricted and eventually abolished

Question 42

What was the aim of the PLAA?

Answer 42

• aimed to discouraged applicants into workhouses by making them seem less appealing - known as the principle of less eligibility
• aimed to make those who failed the workhouse test not entitled to any poor relief

Question 43

How was the PLAA 1834 unsuccessful?

Answer 43

• outdoor relief often continued - workhouses were expensive to run so this was often a cheaper option
• loopholes meaning local guardians could act contrary to the law e.g. they often granted relief to those with houses even though the law stated otherwise
• by 1838 the Commission allowed the use of old Poor Law methods (e.g. outdoor relief) due to opposition from Yorkshire and Lancashire to indoor relief
• large opposition to the abolition of outdoor relief in rural areas as the Poor Rate was consistently higher due to employment instability
• did not reduce the issue of pauperism, there was no marked reduction in poverty in the years following the Act
• inconsistency of the law meant many paupers ignored the changes and felt the law was not applicable to them

Question 44

How much did it cost to keep a pauper incarcerated compared to outdoor relief?

Answer 44

by 1862 it cost 4s 8d to keep a pauper in an institution but 2s 3d to provide outdoor relief per week

Question 45

How much did it cost to open a workhouse at Banbury?

Answer 45

£6,200

Question 46

Why did the north resist creating workhouses following the PLAA?

Answer 46

• growing industry meant there was employment and guardians didn’t want to build expensive workhouses given that poverty worked in cycles based on seasonal employment and fluctuations in the economy
• when the economy was strong, the Poor Rate was lowered as there were jobs available
• cost seemed excessive in the north where it might be empty for much of the year when the economy was good

Question 47

What were Gilbert Unions and Select Vestries following the PLAA?

Answer 47

• Gilbert Unions (areas that had already amalgamated in 1792 Act and refused to be brought into the new system)
• Select Vestries (parishes that had established local poor relief committees in 1819 Sturges Bourne Act)

Question 48

What were the changes brought about by the PLAA?

Answer 48

• 14,000 parishes with population of 12 million were incorporated into the Poor Law Unions (by 1840) - only 800 parishes remained outside the system
• Labour Test Orders introduced in 1842, stating poor relief could be given to able bodied in return for parish work e.g. stone breaking - Commission ruled that this relief should be paid partly in form of food/fuel rather than just money (however many continued to ignore the orders)

Question 49

Who opposed to the PLAA?

Answer 49

• government (opposed to expense of workhouses - Tories rejected centralised nature, wanted rugged individualism)
• poor people (reduction of outdoor relief meant they had little support)
• southerners (employment in the south meant they were susceptible to workhouse admission)

Question 50

In what ways did people oppose the PLAA?

Answer 50

• The Times newspaper owner: John Walter - claimed the law undermined the principle that people should govern themselves and power of commissioners was too large with too much authority
• some claimed that purpose of workhouse was to drive down wages by forcing labourers to take alternative employment e.g. Commissioners planned to move unemployed labourers in the north to factory towns 1835
• guardians believed they were already running a good system, authorities in urban areas believed new workhouses would be too small, others thought they would remain empty

Question 51

What are some specific examples of opposition to the PLAA?

Answer 51

• rural england saw disorder e.g. Amersham Union, Buckinghamshire 1835 mob opposing Chesham workers moving to new workhouse in Amersham
• resistance particularly bad in northern factory towns - 10 hour movement mobilised to block attack on the poor, unemployment rose in 1837 - increased threat of inside relief - Huddersfield mob of 8000 threatened to take down building of local board
• Bradford - protest 1837 stopped by open fire of troops
• Anti-Poor Law Association had 38 committees by 1838
• 200,000 attended demonstration in Leeds 1837
• Todmorden saw determined resistance under radical MP Fieldon who closed down own factory in protest at guardian election and refused to pay own poor-rates

Question 52

Which individuals were involved with the growth of self-help and charity?

Answer 52

• Dickens
• Smiles
• Carlyle
• Mayhew
• Gaskell

Question 53

How did Dickens bring about a growth in charity/self-help?

Answer 53

• forced into shoe blacking at age 12 when family entered workhouse
• sought to give value to the poor
• published novels in periodicals e.g. Christmas Carol, Hard Times - so anyone could afford - raised awareness/honesty about conditions

Question 54

How did Smiles bring about a growth in charity/self-help?

Answer 54

• social reformer involved in Chartism
• provided answers to PLAA criticisms that appealed to middle class
• published Self Help 1859 placing individual determination to improve oneself
• sold 250,000 copies
• provided framework for groups e.g. Charity Organisation Society

Question 55

How did Carlyle bring about a growth in charity/self-help?

Answer 55

• ‘Past and Present’ 1843 - drew attention to class divide bu describing workhouses as ‘poor law prisons’
• interested in spiritual growth of country and used the poor as an example of how removed people were from eachother
• well read by middle class reformers

Question 56

How did Mayhew bring about a growth in charity/self-help?

Answer 56

• 4 volume work with 2 million words on the experiences of the poor
• challenged the dominant view that idleness was the source of poverty, showed insufficient wages made people dependent on relief
• caused middle class to consider alternative ways to treat the poor and led to growth in charity work

Question 57

How did Gaskell bring about a growth in charity/self-help?

Answer 57

• ‘Mary Barton’ 1848 contributed to growing awareness of poverty and difficult existence in Manchester
• realistic impression of poor

Question 58

What laws were passed in the 1860s regarding the poor?

Answer 58

1867 Metropolitan Poor Act (required separate medical facilities for workhouses)
1869 Charity Organisation Society