POVERTY AND PAUPERISM: Why were some people dissatisfied with the treatment of paupers by 1834?

There was much variation in the application of the law and there was a tendency for the poor to migrate towards the more generous parishes, usually situated in the towns. There was wide variation in the amount of poor relief given out. As the parish was the administrative unit of the system there was great diversity in the system. Some cities such as Exeter, Liverpool and Bristol even managed to obtain laws which allowed them to establish control many of the urban parishes within their jurisdiction. Bristol even managed a private act of parliament in 1696 which allowed the city to create a 'manufactory' so that the profits from the paupers work could be used for maintenance of the poor relief system.

Due to all this the cost was rising, low wages were given, larger wages/allowances were being demanded because low wages were given, employers were being threatened.

The cost of Poor Relief was rising rapidly, it had risen to nearly £8 million. This is four times the amount it had been in 1785. The Swing Riots was also had a major impact and expressed the feelings of paupers. It was an uprising by the rural workers of the arable south and east of England in 1830.

Following years of war, high taxes and low wages, farm labourers finally snapped in 1830. These farm labourers had faced unemployment for a number of years due to the widespread introduction of the threshing machine and the policy of enclosing fields. With fewer jobs, lower wages and no prospects of things improving for these workers the threshing machine was the final straw, rioters smashed the threshing machines and threatened farmers who had them, the object that was to place them on the brink of starvation.

These riots added to the strong social, political and agricultural unrest in the 1830's. The 'Swing' riots were a big influence on the Whig Government, leading to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. Controversy has been persistent among historians about the diffusion of the Swing events and whether they indicated a larger incipient class consciousness.

Like I said previously at the time the treatment of the poor was still based on the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law. This was not enough to cope with the rising population and migration of people from rural to urban areas.

Paupers increased day by day because people who were able to work claimed relief needlessly.

Many pauper were dissatisfied because parishes were too busy thinking about themselves they didn't really care about feeding the poor, they saw this as an opportunity to get rich, for example when Bristol gained a private act of parliament to create a 'manufactory' so that the profits from the paupers work could be used for maintenance of the poor relief system, I don't think that was there actual objective rich people just wanted to get richer and keep the poor relief as low as possible but they couldn't totally ignore the poor because the population was rapidly on the up which meant so was the poor relief. In 1819 Select Vestries were set up - these were committees set up in each parish whom were responsible for Poor Law administration because there were concerns over corruption within the system as contracts for supplying food and beer often went to local traders or these vestries.

Problems like these brought about Gilbert's Act which was passed in 1782 to combat the excessive costs of outdoor relief. It promoted indoor alternatives and allowed parishes to combine for the impotent poor. However outdoor relief was still used to help to able-bodied poor.

I think the base of the problems was the authority of the parishes which was abused together with other things discussed above.

By

Omair Hussain