paupers and pauperism

• what was the origin of the poor law?

  orignated from the 1601 Elizabeth Poor Laws
• what was the Poor rate?

  tax leived at parish level and used to provide relief for the parish poor
• who were 'paupers'?

  poor people who recieved benefits from the state
• why did people believe that the system was failing to cope by the early 19th century?

  • cost of the poor relief had risen to £4 million
  • pressures placed on poor law due to napoleonic war
• under the Elizabethan system , who was responsible for administrating the Poor law?

  the parish - unpaid , professional administration

  • 1,500 parish members
• what was the role of the parish?

  • give relief to the poor
  • collect taxes in order to provide relief
• who was the overseer of the poor?

  • usually churchwardens or landowners
  • responsible for administrating poor relief in their parish
  • levied a Poor rate and supervised it distribution
• what were the advantages of the parish administrating relief to the poor?

  • local needs would be met apprioitaly
  • laid foundations for immense diversity in practice
• disadvantages of the parish administrating relief to the poor?

  any local crisis such as poor harvests could place an almost intolerabale burden on locally raised finances
• what is indigence?

  inability of individual to support themselves
• how did attitudes towards poverty begin to change in the late 18th and early 19th centuries?

  poverty was regarded as both inevitable and necessary as only through fear of poverty , people could work
• who were the 'deserving poor'?

  those poor enough (though no fault of their own), worthy of help and support
• who were the 'undeserving poor?'

  those in poverty due to some moral failure such as prostitution. Help of this group included punishment and improvement
• why did so many think the undeserving poor were a problem?

  if too many people recevied help then they wouldn't work. Some may even be attracted to the idea of not working and claim poor relief
• what were the settlement laws?

  the parish in which a person was born in was responsible for paying their poor rates , regardless of where they moved it
• what was 'removal'?

  when people were removed from a parish and subsequently their poor rate was removed too
• list 4 problems with the settlement laws:

  • wasn't applied consistently or from place to place
  • caused tension between overseers of different parishes
  • wasn't in the best interest of parishes
  • too many people moving , urban parishes were more overrun compared to rural ones
• what was outdoor relief?

  relief given outside of workhouses or other institutions
• who was outdoor relief available to?

  able-bodied
• what was indoor relief?

  relief given through workhouses
• what were the three systems of outdoor relief?

  Speenhamland

  Roundmens

  Labour Rate
• what was the Speenhamland System?

  workers given enough money that matches price of bread
• what was the Roundsmen system?

  workers sent to a farm and did enough work that matched the hours needed to earn their poor relief
• what was the labour rate?

  ratepayers employed Pauper Labourers

  • paid them at rate set by parish , exempt from paying poor rates into general fund
• how were the impotent poor and able-bodied poor treated under the Elizabethan Poor Laws?

  Impotent poor: provided with indoor relief. Able-bodied poor: put to work in workhouses.
• what problems were there in achieving treatment of impotent poor and able bodied poor under the Elizabethan Poor Laws?

  • too expensive
  • not cost effective for parishes to provide for Paupers with indoor relief
• what had Parishes done in practice?

  joined together to create more workhouses for the poor
• where had parishes experimented with parish unions to pay for workhouses?

  1780 - 1/2 of Parishes in Suffolk
• why did the Poor Laws come under growing pressure in the late C18?

  considerable amount of people needing poor relief and parishes found it difficult to cope
• when was Gilbert's Act introduced?

  1782
• what changes did Gilbert's Act introduce?

  parishes combined together to join unions and provide relief

  • only impotent poor should occupy workhouses , able-bodied should find work
• what were the reasons behind the Gilbert Act?

  ending of American war of independance in 1782 , left many soldiers unemployed

  • enclosure of open fields = left many in long-term rural unemployment
• how many Parishes had joined Gilbert's Unions by 1834?

  924
• what changes did the Sturgess-Bourne Act introduce?

  • changed the way select Vestries voted
  • occupying land worth less than £50 = 1 vote up to £25 , a man had up to 6 additional votes
• How did the second Sturgess-Bourne Act categorise the poor?

  deserving and undeserving
• what was the workhouse test?

  it tested whether a person's request for relief was genuine. Only destitute allowed those who failed the test.

  • Anyone who wanted to get poor relief MUST enter a workhouse
• what were the financial pressures for change in the years 1780-1834?

  • soldiers returning back from war tried to get their jobs back , poor relief skyrocketed
  • removals = conflict over who paid poor relief
  • poor harvests = rural poverty increase. Competition with foreign imports (cheaper) forced farmers to lower their prices
• when were the swing riots?

  1830
• what were the swing riots?

  urban protests over agricultural discontent. Destroyed machinery to give farmers back their job
• why did the swing riots increase pressure for reform of the poor law?

  • violent in nature
  • serious threat of revolution