Poverty: Municipal Action

Question 1

Why did London experiment with poor relief?

Answer 1

Poverty was the worst here in the entire country

Faced with a large influx of beggars so were forced to go above and beyond government measures

Question 2

How did London anticipate poverty legislation?

Answer 2

Impotent poor were allowed to beg within limits - anticipated measures of the 1531 law

Began to collect poor relief from houses in 1533

First town to implement compulsory poor relief payments in 1547, 16 years before any legislation mentioned it (contributions only made compulsory in 1572)

Question 3

What hospitals were established in London?

Answer 3

St Bartholomew - Sick
St Thomas - Sick
Christ’s - Children
Bethel - Insane
Bridewell - Sturdy beggars

Question 4

What were the failures of the London poor relief system?

Answer 4

Unorganised funds

No attempt to completely forbid begging

Quality of relief in hospitals actually attracted more beggars to the city instead of reducing their numbers

Question 5

Why was municipal action in London influential?

Answer 5

Showed the government if this system worked

Inspired other towns to adopt similar measures:
Corn stock - Bristol, Canterbury, Norwich
Licensing of beggars - Lincoln, Ipswich, Gloucester, Cambridge, Norwich, York

Question 6

What early action did London take to deal with poverty?

Answer 6

Provided grain for the poor whenever there was a bad harvest

Able-bodied people forbidden to begin the city early in Henry VIII ‘s reign

Officer appointed to keep beggars out of the city

Question 7

When and why did provincial schemes for poor relief start appearing?

Answer 7

Generally not undertaken until mid-Iate C16 in response to:
- Population rise
- Increase in prices
- Debasement of coinage
- Successive failure of harvests

Question 8

How did the Ipswich scheme resemble London’s?

Answer 8

Was closest in the country to that of London’s

Poor were surveyed and licensed

Compulsory tax in place

All-encompassing municipal hospital erected (House of Correction, hospital for the old, training school for the young)

Question 9

How did the Cambridge scheme resemble London’s?

Answer 9

poor surveyed and impotent supported from regular contributions

BUT no hospital until 1578

Question 10

How did the York scheme resemble London’s?

Answer 10

Based its system around the building of 3 hospitals under municipal management

Able-bodied were set to work

Question 11

How did the Lincoln scheme resemble London’s?

Answer 11

Citizens forbidden from giving aims to unauthorised beggars in 1543

Young people set to work by being placed with clothiers for 8 or 9 years

Question 12

When did Norwich’s experiments take place?

Answer 12

1570-80

Question 13

What was Norwich’s system of dealing with the poor like before 1570?

Answer 13

In 1531 only had 5 beggars

Dealt with itinerant beggars the same way as all other cities - whipped and given a passport to return to their place of origin

Rigorous settlement regulations prevented people remaining in the town

First provincial town to enforce compulsory poor relief contributions in 1549 - response to Kett’s Rebellion

Regularly provided grain from Danzig in times of food shortage

Question 14

Why had vagabonds become a considerable problem in Norwich by 1570?

Answer 14

Census revealed there were over 2300 poor in the city

Locals were so generous in almsgiving that those normally prepared to follow an occupation found begging more profitable

Vagabonds were so well supplied with food that they threw surplus into the streets

Vagabonds were disease-ridden so were a source of physical as well as moral contagion

Concern that the poor could be easily drawn into rebellions e.g. Northern Earls which had happened the previous year

Question 15

Why did the generosity of the merchant class worsen the problem of poverty in Norwich?

Answer 15

Drew itinerant beggars to the town

The census showed that almost 60% of the houses containing the city’s poor belonged to freemen of the city
- The fact that people were willing to rent their houses out this way, against the city’s rules on the subied, made the city worried that the generosity of the merchant class was making it difficult to prevent beggars settling in the city
- Undermined the existing poor law system

Question 16

What did the 1570 Norwich census show?

Answer 16

Building workers were undergoing a period of difficulty - more than half were unemployed at the time

No household was entirely without income and many of the unemployed had some monetary contribution made by their wives/ children or alms

~ 2/3 men were in at least temporary employment at the time

All poor had shelter of some kind, either in civic/church property or private property

Question 17

Why did the Norwich poor law system survive when many of its contemporaries did not?

Answer 17

Adequately financed - Compulsory donations were tripled

No tolerance of begging - prevented the system being undermined

System was consistently applied throughout the decade 1570-80

Question 18

How was the poor relief fund system reformed in Norwich?

Answer 18

Compulsory donation tripled and everyone who was capable of contributing was expected to do so

People were assessed on capability to pay mostpeoplepaid small amounts but all city aldermen had to pay 1 shilling/week and the Bishop of Norwich was assessed for the maximum amount

The wealthiest parishes often had the largest amounts of donations and the lowest numbers of poor, so were expected to provide for other parishes as well
- St Peter Mancroft had 111/22 contributor/poor ratio so contributed to 6 other parishes
- 9 of the Norwich parishes supported the less fortunate areas

Annual poor relief income stabilised at around £500 per year. This was maintained through the decade

Numbers were sufficiently high that surplus was stored and used in times of need - used to help temporary ‘ pensioners’ who suffered sickness or broken limbs to prevent them from begging (early form of unemployment/sickness benefit)

Question 19

Which poor law officials were appointed in Norwich?

Answer 19

Mayor took on role of Master of the Bridewell

4 aldermen responsible for 4 main wards (administrative areas) of the city

Bridewell had resident balife and two wardens

Minor officials e.g. deacons

Question 20

What was the role of deacons in Norwich?

Answer 20

Recorded all names of the poor. Those unable to support themselves Living in the city less than 3 years were sent away

Responsible for ensuring everyone capable of work did so, punishing those who remained idle

Kept track of the poor with insufficient alms so they could be provided for

Question 21

How did the Bridewell in Norwich work?

Answer 21

Purchased in 1565 and turned into the city’s house of correction

12 vagabonds to be noused in the Bridewell for at least 21 days where they worked from 5am-8pm in the summer and 7am-6pm in the winter

Half an hour given for lunch, those who refused to work were given no food

Useful deterrent: vagrants feared the Bridewell so much that they found it preferable to seek normal employment

Question 22

How were women and children beggars dealt with in Norwich?

Answer 22

‘Select women’ chosen to take care of them. These were responsible for seeing that they worked but also teaching them skills in reading and writing - meant that 1 in 10 poor children received at least a basic education

Other young people sent to St Giles’s Hospital to be educated by the bailiff and his wife - provided them with clothes, meat, and drink and ensured they went to church on Sundays

Question 23

How was the Norwich poor law scheme developed through the decade?

Answer 23

1574: All unemployed men to assemble at the Market Cross at 5am every day with tools of their trade and wait for an hour in the hope of being employed

Further laws passed to prevent the housing of vagrants

Government dealt with complaints that artisans were losing profits by appearing on juries by giving them a wage of twopence per man

1576: All affluent newcomers were to be brought before the mayor to assess their assess their ability to contribute to the relief of the poor

Question 24

How did Norwich provide medical assistance for the poor?

Answer 24

Reserve fund drawn on regularly for the temporarily incapacitated _ in 1580 a lame boy was supplied with a joint of mutton or veal twice a week as well as being treated by a surgeon
/
Medical staff improved - in 1573 appointed Richard Durrant as the ‘municipal bonesetter’

Question 25

How did the Norwich poor system influence nationwide poor legislation?

Answer 25

Norwich poor system gained national acclaim for its efficacy

Archbishop of Canterbury asked for details of their methods

John Aldrich, founder of the system, was invited to sit on a parliamentary committee discussing poor relief in 1572

Consequently, the act passed in 1572 incorporated several aspects of the Norwich scheme

Question 26

What impact did the plague of 1579-80 have on the Norwich poor system?

Answer 26

Official records of the poor stop

BUT:
Poor officials continued to be appointed
Bridewell remained operative
Poor relief was still collected through C17 and beyond