Poverty: Government Legislation

Question 1

What was the one piece of legislation regarding poverty passed in the reign of Henry VII?

Answer 1

1495 Vagabonds and Beggars Act

First Tudor attempt to deal with the poor. Punishments for vagrancy were introduced and vagrants were to be sent to their home parishes.

Vagabonds, the idle, and suspicious people were to be set in stocks for 3 days and 3 nights with no sustenance but food and bread, then sent out of town.

Question 2

What were the weaknesses of the 1495 Vagabonds and Beggars Act?

Answer 2

No provision for remedying the problem, just moving offenders from town to town

Made no distinction between the two classes of vagrant: those who chose to beg despite other options and those genuinely seeking employment - both were categorised as vagabonds

Didn’t account for a third category of vagrant: the impotent poor, who were unable to support memselves because of illness, disability, or old age

Spared pregnant women and the extremely sick, but made no provision to help them

Treated poverty as a crime to be punished, rather than a social ill to be alleviated

Question 3

What legislation addressing the poor was passed in Henry VIII’s reign?

Answer 3

1530 Royal Proclamation
1531 Vagabonds Act
1535 Draft Bill
1536 Act

Question 4

What did the 1530 Royal Proclamation rule?

Answer 4

Described idleness as the ‘mother and root of all vices’ and ordered that whipping should replace the stocks as punishment for vagabonds

Question 5

What did the 1531 Vagabonds Act do?

Answer 5

Replaced 1495 act

Distinguished between impotent poor and sturdy beggars by giving the old, the sick, and the disabled licenses to beg

Question 6

What were the weaknesses of the 1531 Vagabonds Act?

Answer 6

Aside from giving them licenses to beg, no further provision was made for the impotent poor

All able-bodied unemployed were treated alike - failure to acknowledge that a man may wish to work but be unable to find employment

Those genuinely seeking had to choose between starving or breaking the law by begging

Question 7

Why was the 1531 Vagabonds Act a landmark piece of legislation?

Answer 7

First act to distinguish between different categories of poor

Question 8

Who wrote the 1535 Draft Bill?

Answer 8

William Marshall

Question 9

What ideas did the 1535 Draft Bill put forward?

Answer 9

Recognised there was insufficient work available for all men - wanted to tackle this through a programme of public works on roads, forts, harbours, and rivers.

Noice to be given of any available jobs and in the mean time the unemployed to be set to work at reasonable wages.

Impotent poor to be maintained in their parishes.

Scheme to be directed by the ‘Council to Avoid Vagabonds’ and funded by a tax on income and capital.

Question 10

What was the fate of Marshall’s 1535 Draft Bill?

Answer 10

Never came into effect - rejected by Parliament

BUT, Henry VIII publicly lent his support to the bill

Question 11

What were the terms of the 1536 Act?

Answer 11

Responsibility for the impotent poor was put on municipal authorities

Question 12

What were the shortcomings of the 1536 Act?

Answer 12

Measure was Iess sweeping than the 1535 Draft Bill

Still relied on voluntary donations to finance poor relief

Question 13

What continuity was there between the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII?

Answer 13

All unemployed able-bodied people were grouped together and treated alike

Motivation for finding solutions to poverty was still fear of disorder and unrest, not a desire to genuinely improve people’s quality of life

Due to failure of 1535 Bill (which proposed funding through a tax on income), poor relief was still reliant on voluntary donations

Question 14

What change was there between the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII?

Answer 14

Beginning of recognition that the able-bodied poor were not necessarily vagrants of their own accord and that there was simply not enough work for everyone

Indication of more progressive attitudes - Henry VIII voiced public support for the 1535 Draft Bill

Quality of poor relief diminished due to the dissolution of the monasteries

Question 15

What legislation addressing the poor was passed in the reign of Edward VI?

Answer 15

1547 Vagabonds Act
1550 Act
1551 Poor Act

Question 16

How did the 1547 Vagabonds Act approach vagrancy?

Answer 16

Attempted to suppress vagrancy using extreme punishments

Anybody found to have not worked in 2 years was to be branded with a ‘v’ and enslaved for two years.

Those who attempted to run away were punished with lifelong slavery or, upon a second attempt, execution.

Question 17

Why was the 1547 Vagabonds Act unsuccessful?

Answer 17

Inadequately enforced due to lack of administrative machinery

JPs reluctant to administer such extreme punishment

Question 18

Why was the 1547 Vagabonds Act unsuccessful?

Answer 18

Inadequately enforced due to lack of administrative machinery

JPs reluctant to administer such extreme punishment

Question 19

What did the 1550 Act do?

Answer 19

Replaced the 1547 Act, admitting that the proposed punishments had been overly harsh, and reverted to similar measures as in the 1531 and 1536 Acts.

Vagabonds were to be whipped as a deterrent and sent to their home parish

Question 20

What did the 1551 Poor Act do?

Answer 20

Made town and parish authorities responsible for appointing two ‘collectors of alms’

Those appointed were to ‘gently ask’ for contributions. Those who refused could be ‘gently exhorted’ and upon further refusal could be referred to the bishop

Question 21

What continuity was there between the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward?

Answer 21

Continuation of attitude that vagabonds should be punished

Reversion back to terms of 1531 and 1536 Acts - legislation similar to that in Henry’s reign

Contributions towards poor relief were still technically voluntary, and people got away with not paying them

Question 22

What change was there in Edward VI’s reign?

Answer 22

Introduction of extreme punishments for vagrants - step back in terms of treatment of the poor

BUT this was followed by a recognition that harsher punishment was not the way to go about solving the problem - positive development which informed future policy

Greater pressure put on people to make contributions towards poor relief through ‘persuasion’ by the collectors of alms or intervention by the vicar, churchwarden, or bishop

Question 23

What legislation did Mary I pass addressing poverty?

Answer 23

Didn’t do much in respect to poverty and vagrancy.

Only legislation passed regarding this was in 1555 when she reinstated licensed begging.

Beggars had to wear badges in order to be easily seen by the authorities and the public -not intended to humiliate the old and infirm beggars but rather to shame their more fortunate neighbours into donating additional alms to support their local poor

Question 24

What change was there in Mary I’s reign?

Answer 24

No substantial government legislation tackling poverty, BUT Mary did tackle oneof the underlying issues behind poverty by reducing inflation.

She created recoinage plans (combatting inflation caused by debasement) and drafted a book of revenue, significantly improving customs rates

Question 25

What legislation addressing poverty and vagrancy was passed in Elizabeth I’s reign?

Answer 25

1563 Alms Act
1572 Vagabonds Act
1576 Act for the Relief of the Poor
1598 Act for the Relief of the Poor
1598 Act for the Punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars

Question 26

What did the 1563 Alms Act do?

Answer 26

Took first steps towards a compulsory rate for poor relief (system of voluntary contributions proved inadequate). Continued refusal could lead to being brought before justices and faced imprisonment.

Distinguished between 3 different categories of poor:

1. The ‘Deserving Poor’ - the old, young, and sick: provided with ‘outdoor relief’ in the form of clothes, food, or money
2. The ‘Deserving Unemployed’ - those willing and able to work but unable to find employment: provided with ‘indoor relief’ in the form of being cared for in almshouses, orphanages, and workhouses. The sick were cared for in hospitals and and apprenticeships were arranged for the young
3. The ‘Undeserving Poor’ - those who chose a life of crime or begging: given harsh punishments eg. being beaten through the streets until they arrived at their own parish

Question 27

What were the weaknesses of the 1563 Alms Act?

Answer 27

Size of contribution made was up to the individual and no provision was made for assessment

Question 28

What change and continuity did the 1563 Alms Act represent?

Answer 28

Change:
Formal recognition that some able-bodied poor weren’t unemployed by choice
Further provision made for the deserving poor outside of simply giving them licenses to beg
Steps taken towards a compulsory rate for poor relief

Continuity:
Maintained harsh punishments for the undeserving poor
Size of contribution up to the individual

Question 29

What did the 1572 Vagabonds Act do?

Answer 29

First measure to give an adequate definition of vagrants - all able-bodied men without land or master who would neither accept employment nor explain the source of their livelihood

Exempted properly licensed returning soldiers and sailors, harvest workers, and servants whose masters had dismissed them or died

Licensed begging in parishes where relief could not be provided.

Compulsory for everyone who owned land in the parish to contribute to the relief of the poor in their parish. provided for assessment of compulsory weekly contributions.

Anyone over 14 found begging without a Iicence would he whipped though the streets, have a hole bored through their ear, and even be executed.

Under 14 s caught begging without licence where merely whipped

Children of convicted beggars aged 5-14 were put to service in honest occupations

Question 30

What was the weakness of the 1572 Vagabonds Act?

Answer 30

Insufficient administrative machinery - only new office established was Overseer of the Poor.

Quality of execution of this position was doubtful as the overseer was unpaid and could not refuse the office. The act was administered entirely at local level so no mechanism was created to oversee the work of Iocal officials.

Doubtful that the act was even put into effect as it was passed in a period of good harvests

Question 31

What did the 1576 Act for the Relief of the Poor do?

Answer 31

Gave the able-bodied who had suffered loss of possessions and those with particular needs licenses to beg

Ruled that all large towns were to provide a store of wool, hemp, flax, or iron so that the idle poor could be put to work and earn honest wages

persistent beggars to be sent to Houses of Correction, of which there would be 2 per county

Towns required to find work for the unemployed

Question 32

How did the 1598 Act for the Relief of the Poor tackle vagrancy?

Answer 32

Begging forbidden

4 Overseers of the poor appointed by JPs - duty to provide stocks of material for the able-bodied, dispense mong, clothes, and food to the aged and infirm, supervise the parish poor house, and collect the poor rate from property owners

Families of the ‘impotent’ encouraged to provide for them

All pauper children to be apprenticed until 24 (m) or 21(f)

Encouraged private endowment of facilities for the poor

Question 33

What triggered the 1598 Acts?

Answer 33

A series of bad harvests

Question 34

How did the 1598 Act for the Punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars change punishment of vagrants?

Answer 34

Ear-boring ended

Sturdy beggars to be whipped through the streets and returned to their birthplace or the last place they lived (parallels with 1563 Act) and subsequently sent to a House of Correction or prison until a job was available

Dangerous rogues banished or sent to the galleys

Question 35

What did the 1601 Act for the Relief of the Poor do?

Answer 35

Made the 1598 Poor Law, which had previously been temporary, permanent.

This is what became known as the Elizabethan Poor Law

Question 36

What continuity from previous poor legislation was there in the Elizabethan era?

Answer 36

1572 Act implemented harsh punishments for vagrants, similarly to the 1547 Act during Edward’s reign

Lack of enforcement of Acts meant that towns often found it easier to revert to previous legislation
eg. 1601 Poor law established complex machinery to deal with the poor, but it was rarely invoked by towns as it was a hassle to set up and was expensive so towns reverted to traditional methods of whipping vagrantes and sending them to their place of origin

Deterrence rather than reform was still the strategy adopted by local officials to discourage beggars. Attitude was still that if punishment was seen to be severe in a certain locality it would attract less beggars

Question 37

What change was there in the Elizabethan era?

Answer 37

Introduction of harsher punishment in the form of legal action in 1563 for those who avoided contributions towards poor relief

Recognition of able-bodied men who were unemployed through no fault of their own

1572 Act: Made contributions to poor revier compulsory AND gave the first adequate definition of vagrants

1601 Poor Law comprehensively provided relief for the poor based on their classification:
Impotent poor cared for in an almshouse or poorhouse
Able-bodied poor set to work in a house of industry
Idle poor sent to houses of correction

Question 38

What were the weaknesses of the Elizabethan poor laws?

Answer 38

Established such complex machinery that local towns found it easier and less expensive to revert to previous legislation and traditional methods such as whipping and returning vagrants to their home parish

Existence of private charity meant that the Poor Law was only invoked in emergency situations eg. plague and economic distress

Disincentive to operate the poor rate - the more efficient a town’s charitable services became, the more beggars and vagrants would be attracted