There was also of course the fear that the economic and social conditions of the poor and vagrants would spread to the contemporaries surveying them. It was a question of out of sight out of mind as during the 1550’s vagrants were often whipped and sent home. Constantly moving the problem on allayed concerns but did nothing about the problem.
c) To what extent was the Elizabethan response sympathetic to the problem of poverty and vagrancy?
Up until the 1560’s legislation regarding poverty and vagrancy had largely been very un-sympathetic. Legislation such as the 1495 vagrancy law and the 1547 vagrancy law was very punitive. However, from the 1560’s onwards policy towards the poor and vagrants was largely more enlightened. By 1598 all the small acts of the 1590’s had been codified under the act for the relief of the poor. This was streamlined in 1601, it was much enlightened and indeed much more sympathetic towards the problems of Poverty and vagrancy. It was so good it stayed on the statute book until 1834.
Much of the ideas to deal with the poor and vagrants in Elizabethan times cam e from John Aldrich who had been the mayor of Norwich. He came up with a number of enlightened schemes. However, other MP’s thought that poor law legislation could be used for other reasons. Indeed Paul Slack states that “poor law legislation was not always done from the goodness of parliaments heart”. Instead many MP’s used the poor laws as a means of social control, the government sometimes pushed legislation to have some control over their population. The Puritans in parliament during the 1590’s argued poor relief should be dependent on attendance at church. These views can be seen as very un-sympathetic as they were in no way trying to relieve the real problems of Poverty and vagrancy only trying to exert more control over the Elizabethan subjects. However, by 1576 the poor law had changed, no longer just a relief of poverty or a suppression of vagrancy it sought to help those seeking a job through the creation of work schemes and the import of raw materials. From this time the poor law legislation generally came from orders in council called edicts or proclamations. These often took the form of printed books of orders for example the 1578 actions to be taken in times of plague and the 1586 actions to be taken in times of dirth and bad harvest. These orders and new legislation were generally a lot more sympathetic as they were often coupled with coercion to pay a poor rate, they actually did something about the problem of poverty and vagrancy in Elizabethan times.
The small acts of the 1590’s took many ideas from the urban experiments, which had been carried out throughout England in Elizabethan times. London was the largest urban experiment, by Elizabethan times it was well established and acted as a model for other cities. London was the first city to have a compulsory poor rate it also had the well-established Bethlehem hospital and the first Bridewell. Factors such as these suggest a sympathetic response to the problem of poverty and vagrancy in Elizabethan times. Other cloth trading cities such as Ipswich, York and Lincoln also often had very sympathetic solutions to the problems of poverty and vagrancy. For example the 1569 survey and licensing of the poor in Ipswich in order to receive a poor rate. Ipswich also had a hospital, a house of correction and a youth training scheme. York had three hospitals and also brought in raw materials for the poor. Lincoln also brought in raw materials for the poor, beggars were licensed by the master of beggars. All of this suggests a much more sympathetic era than that of the previous hundred years.
One of the leading cities in local legislation, sympathetic and helpful towards the poor was Norwich. From 1549 Norwich implemented compulsory contributions to the poor and from 1557 had a permanent grain stock with which to feed the poor. From the 1570’s 2,300 people were classified as poor, begging was forbidden and an organisation to deal with the poor was established. In 1570 the poor rate trebled. However, the poor were not allowed to languish. A Bridewell was established for vagrants to work in, St. Giles hospital was established as well as a school to educate the young poor. From 1574 all the unemployed could gather in the Market Square between certain times each day with the tools of their trade to find employment. However, being unemployed in Norwich did no guarantee the easy life. Norwich records recall the “terror of Bridewell” by all accounts it acted as a good deterrent to vagrancy. Norwich certainly had a very thorough scheme to deal with paupers and vagrants, which involved lots of people. However, Norwich was no soft touch the poor rate was not free money, the unemployed were given work and the young were given apprenticeships. This can be seen as sympathetic and helpful as it was helping the people help themselves which was very enlightened of the Elizabethan period.
Individuals in the Elizabethan period also became increasingly charitable and indeed sympathetic towards the poor and vagrants. Merchants in particular gave more than any other group. Their contributions to the relief of the poor rising from £29,737 in the period 1480 to 1540 to £68,479 during the period 1561 to 1600. The merchants may have been giving more than any other group because they simply knew of and saw first hand the problems that were caused by and presented to paupers and vagrants mainly because they lived in the cities where the paupers and vagrants were. The Rich ruling elite on the other hand tended to give far less as they tended to live in the country and did not see the problems that poverty and vagrancy caused. However, the overall trend was that contributions to social rehabilitation and the relief of the poor generally rose in Elizabethan times presenting a picture of greater sympathy and compassion towards vagrants and the poor.
d) Was the poor law legislation of the Tudor period aimed more to relieve than to suppress poverty and vagrancy?
Pre 1495 the population of England was back up to pre Black Death levels, with fewer jobs and opportunities it became evident that poverty and vagrancy would become a problem. However, up until this time relief of the poor still existed not through a legislative process but through the charity of great houses, monasteries and nunneries. Changing economic and social policy meant that there were fewer large houses giving charitably and with the dissolution of the monasteries meant the state had to get involved and bring in legislation to help the poor and vagrants.
The vagrancy law of 1495 was a very punitive law, it made it very hard for vagrants. This type of law was typical of the early Tudor period, it set about not to help the vagrants but to suppress them. The law set about to punish vagrants and threaten them into getting a job, this did not relieve poverty and vagrancy but certainly suppressed it. The 1531 poor law was the first law to distinguish between paupers and vagrants. This law was more sympathetic and certainly had the relief of paupers and vagrants in mind. However, it proved not to be very effective. Paupers were given a licence to beg whereas vagrants were whipped and sent home to the parish of their birth. This legislation can also clearly be seen as suppressive as it did nothing to ease the numbers of vagrants, it just moved them on and licensed a few beggars maybe as a token gesture.
However in 1535 a real effort to relief the poor and vagrants looked like it might be made. William Marshal introduced the poor law bill, which unfortunately never became law. It suggested the introduction of public work schemes to build roads, harbours, bridges and other projects. Each parish was to have a list of available jobs for the unemployed to apply to. The scheme was to be funded by income tax, pauper children were to be apprenticed and special offices for the law were to be appointed for each parish. This was a very balanced, enlightened scheme clearly with the relief of the poor and vagrants in mind. However, it never got of the ground, instead the 1536 poor law act was introduced. This was a watered down version of Marshal’s bill, which ignored the public works scheme funded by income tax perhaps because it would mean MP’s and members of the council giving up money. Such ideas such as pauper children being taught a trade and contributions being collected by the church warden were incorporated. This may suggest an act in favour of the relief of the poor and vagrants but it still ignored vagrants, clearly suppressing them and outlawed begging further suppressing the poor
The 1547 vagrancy act was very suppressive, it introduced suppressive measures such as the vagrant being made a slave to the informant for two years, the slave could then be sold or bequeathed. The slave would have to perform any task or risk being whipped and runaway slaves could be enslaved for life. This act clearly aimed to suppress rather than relieve especially as convictions for vagrancy led to branding with a V on the chest or ultimately hanging. This act was repealed in 1550, as it could not be enforced. The 1552 poor law ended freelance begging and instead implemented a certain amount of coercion to make taxpayers contribute to the maintenance of the poor. This was perhaps the first step towards legislation in Elizabethan times with relief of the poor and vagrants in mind rather than their suppression.
From the 1560’s and 1570’s poor law legislation tended to be more aimed towards the relief of the poor and vagrants than their suppression. The legislation mainly came from committees in parliament often headed by John Aldrich, the former mayor of Norwich. Although such legislation is often used to exert a certain amount of control over the population it is generally a lot more sympathetic and relieving than that of the early Tudor period.
By 1576 poor law legislation included the import of raw materials and the creation of work creation schemes. This type of legislation was not however a free ride, it was not particularly concerned with the relief or the suppression of the poor and vagrants but to help them help themselves. The 1578 and 1586 printed council edicts included practical measures that could be taken in time of dirth, bad harvest or plague. In Elizabethan times coercion to pay was also stronger, those with money had to pay the poor rate and failure to do so was punishable with imprisonment.
In the 1590’s there were many small acts that also presented relieving measures the suppression of the poor and vagrants was passing as more practical measures were being introduced. All these small acts were codified in 1598 and then streamlined in 1601 into the Tudor poor laws. These acts were fair and stayed on the statute book until 1834. The suppressive early Tudor times were gone and the more forward looking Elizabethan times present new relieving, forward thinking solutions to help the poor and vagrants help themselves.
John Fuller