The Old Poor Laws and Pressure for Change Flashcards
What year was the Elizabethan Poor Laws?
1601
How many parishes were there in England and Wales?
15,000
In the Elizabethan Poor Laws who received indoor relief?
Deserving Poor
In the Elizabethan Poor Laws who received outdoor relief?
Able-bodied: undeserving
By what year were there 2000 workhouses?
1776
How many inmates did workhouses have in 1776?
20-50
In the Elizabethan poor laws who decided who got relief?
1 overseer
When were the Laws of Settlement?
1662
What were the Laws of Settlement designed to do?
Stop poor people moving around
What was a persons place of settlement?
Where you were born or lived for 3 years
When was the Speenhamland system?
1795
What was the Speenhamland system?
An allowance system that subsidised low wages
What did the allowance in the Speenhamland system depend on?
The price of bread and how many children you had.
What were the wages in the Speenhamland topped up to?
The value of 3 loaves of bread (4.5 for a working family)
What is absolute poverty?
The lack of income to provide for basic needs e.g. food, clothes and shelter etc.
What are the two classifications of poverty?
Absolute and Relative
What is relative poverty?
People who are poor but still have enough to survive - can afford basic needs
Who were poor rates administered by?
‘Overseers of the Poor’
How did ‘Overseers of the Poor’ distribute poor relief?
Under the authority of the local Justice of the Peace (JP)
In 1801 what happened to the population since the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law?
More than doubled.
Between 1814 - 1818 how much money was spent on poor relief?
£6.4 million
Why did poor relief increase in the early 19th century (2 reasons)?
1) Due to a series of poor harvests 2) The French Wars from 1793-1815 rose the cost of living.
Between 1802 and 1803, what % of the north received poor relief?
10%
Between 1802 and 1803, what % of people in the south recieved poor relief?
23%
What was the approx. wage during 1802 and 1803?
12s per week
When was the Royal Commission established?
1st February 1832
How many commissioners did the Royal Commission have and name 2?
9 - Nassau Senior and Edwin Chadwick
What did the Royal Commission send to the 15,000 parishes?
A questionnaire
How many questionnaires that were sent to Parishes were returned?
10%
Why were the Royal Commission criticised?
1) Many of the questions were phrased awkwardly
2) It was claimed that Senior began writing the report before the data had been collected in
What did the Royal Commission suggest?
- The removal of outdoor relief
- The use of punishing workhouses to act as a deterrent to those seeking relief
- Grouping parishes together to manage workhouses effectivley
- The creation of a central board to implement the new system across the country.
How much was poor relief in 1815?
£5.7 million
How much was poor relief in 1817?
£7.9 million
How much was poor relief in 1831?
Nearly £7 million
What were the causes of bad conditions for agricultural workers in 1794?
- Encolsure of land
- Food prices rising
- Population rising - reduced stability
- 1793 declaration of war with France stopped grain imports
What are 3 possible reasons for Berkshire magistates introducing the Speenhamland system?
- They needed to look after the workers
- Trying to stop revolutionary ideas
- Cheaper than poor relief
When was the Poor Employment Act?
1817
Which 2 individuals were prominnet in the individualism attitudes?
Thomas Malthus
Joseph Townsend
Which 2 indivduals prominent in the collectivism attitude?
- Thomas Paine
- Robert Owen
Which 2 individuals were prominent in the utilitarianism attitude?
- Jeremy Bentham
- Edwin Chadwick
During the French wars what percentage of the country’s GNP was spent on poor relief?
2%
After 1824 how much did poor relief cost per head compared to the cost of poor relief per head between 1819 and 1823?
- 1824: 9s 2d
- 1819 - 1823: 11s 7d
