To what extent was the provisions of the PLAA a real departure from poor relief in the years 1785 to 1834? Flashcards
How should this question be approached?
Pick out themes that were wrong with the old Poor Law and then the continuity or change due to the PLAA 1834
What are the four factors used to assess the change?
1) Money
2) Extent of Provision
3) Impact on Paupers
4) punishment/support
How much did it cost to keep a Pauper in a workhouse vs how much for outdoor relief?
It cost 4s 8d /week to keep a pauper in a workhouse, but only 2s 3d for outdoor relief.
Why was cost so important when determining relief?
Guardians concerned with keeping costs low for their parish
What did Historian George Boyer say?
It cost 50-100% more for indoor relief than outdoor relief
How much did it cost to open Banbury workhouse?
£6200
How many people did Banbury workhouse house?
300
Which historian estimated that it cost 50-100% more for indoor relief than Outdoor relief?
George Boyer
Where was the cost of Outdoor Poor Relief a particular impediment?
North of England where guardians resisted spending large amounts of money.
What is the main difference between the PLAA and previous poor provision?
The main difference is the punishment through the workhouses and the idea that poverty was the fault of the poor person.
What fact shows that there was significant change due to the number of workhouses built immediately after the PLAA?
402 workhouses built immediately afterwards
Which areas had particularly big opposition?
Lancashire and Yorkshire
The opposition in Lancashire and Yorkshire was so great that what happened in 1838?
1838 the Poor Law Commission allowed the use of old Poor Law methods should the need arise
What did the fact that the law was not consistently applied across the country mean?
many paupers felt that they were exempt from it and tried to influence sympathetic guardians
What, in the north of england, meant that it was ill suited to workhouses?
Cyclical unemployment
What about workhouses was at odds with cyclical unemployment?
The permanency of the workhouses did not fit the cyclical unemployment of the region, for the brief times that there was high unemployment, Outdoor relief was still the most effective option.
How many parishes in the old system?
15 000
What did the PLAA do to the 15 000 old administrative parishes?
Amalgamate them into groups of 30
Where was the PLAA best implemented?
Southern counties
What happened to Speenhamland?
Abolished by parliament in 1834
What did people do in a workhouse in Guilford?
Crushed stones for roadbuilding
What, other than stones, were paupers made to do in the workhouse?
Crush animal bones
In one workhouse, paupers were so hungry that they did what?
Eat bone marrow from the bones that they crushed
In return for work, what would paupers get?
they would get bed, a diet of bread, cheese and gruel
What did workhouses make everyone wear?
all inmates wear the same uniform
What happened to families?
separated men from women and often this would lead to families becoming separated if they left the poor house.
What utilitarian principle were the workhouses formed on?
less eligibility
Name a utilitarian who was on the royal commission for the PLAA?
Edwin Chadwick
What did the 1782 Gilbert Act do?
It allowed workhouses to exist but before 1834 they could only be for those unable to take care of themselves
