The Old Poor Law and the Poor in Essex: Local Variation And" Making
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For some must push and some must pull John Daniel Thompson McAllister, 1827 University of Alberta The Old Poor Law and the Poor in Essex: Local Variation and "Making Shift" in the Long Eighteenth Century by Deanna Bullock D A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Department of History and Classics Edmonton, Alberta Spring 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-45725-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-45725-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Abstract The Old Poor laws provided a uniform set of laws throughout England, but in fact there was large variation in their administration from parish to parish. This means that different areas experienced different effects under the same laws. In practice, parishes were fairly autonomous in matters of poor law relief and decision-making, and the poor experienced widely differing levels of relief and they responded differently to their marginal status and prospects. This indicates that the relationship of greatest importance for the poor was not with the laws themselves, but with the local overseers of the poor who administered on the basis of their knowledge of the law and local social norms and expectations. Historians are not yet able to make national characterizations of England's poor law administration as there are not enough local studies which examine enough of the pieces which are key to completing such a broad picture. We must focus attention on local norms, local decision-making, and local responses by the poor to these regimes (namely the behaviours known as 'making shift') before such characterizations can be pursued. This study looks at seven Essex parishes to illustrate these points. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter One - The Acts and the Administration 21 Chapter Two - Membership and Identity 40 Chapter Three - Essex Parishes of Study 69 Section Two - Making Shift 76 Chapter Four - The Labouring Poor: Employment, Gifts, Relief and Consumption 77 Conclusion 107 Bibliography US Appendix A 124 List of Illustrations Figure Page 1. Removal Order for Ephraim Hunwick - Earls Colne, 1792 D/P 209/13/2 3 2. Settlement Examination Great Coggeshall 1707 D/P 36/3/1 48 3. Map of Essex 68 4. Workhouse Accounts - Colne Engaine 1701 and 1752 D/P 193/12/8 97 1 Introduction - The Old Poor Laws Compassionate societies the world over have long struggled with the problem of the poor, and English society of the Tudor and Stuart period was no exception. The 'Old' Elizabethan Poor Law of the late sixteenth century had a dual mandate. Its first mandate was to outline the acceptable treatment and maintenance of the poor of the realm. This mandate grew and evolved over the centuries under different monarchs and pressures. The second mandate, which also found itself under constant revision and reinstatement by statute, detailed penal actions created to deal with rogues and vagabonds, who were generally from the poorer part of society. These dual mandates of the 'Old' poor law grew from statutes which were written pertaining to these two groups of poor in English society. These statutes outlining the acceptable treatment of the poor eventually grew to encompass where a person could reside and when they could move. Statutes were passed during the seventeenth century which required that a person or family who moved from one parish to another had to meet specific legal requirements. These requirements applied to all, but worked to separate the poor from all others. When these requirements were met, the person or family was allowed to settle and given membership in the new parish. Those who did not meet the requirements were reviewed before a council of parish members to determine if they had the perceived desirability or social credit that would allow them to be an asset to the parish community. Ephraim Hunwick was one such person whose mobility caused him to come under the jurisdiction of the poor laws and thus the review of the parish council. Ephraim was born on September 7,1769, in Coggeshall, Essex, England. He married Ann Raven 2 of Earls Colne, Essex, in Earls Colne on December 25,1791. Shortly thereafter, on March 9,1792, the newly married couple was given an order of removal by the Justices of the Peace and the Overseers of the Poor in the parish of Earls Colne. Whereas Complant has been made by you ... That Ephraim Hunwick Labourer and Ann his wife did lately come to inhabit in the said parish of Earls Colne not having gained a legal Settlement there, nor produced any Certificate owning them to be settled elsewhere, and that the said Ephriam Hunwick and Ann his wife are likely to be chargeable ... As they were to be removed from the parish of Earls Colne, where they had just been married, to the neighbouring parish of Pattiswick, it is clear that the parish council of Justices of the Peace and Overseers of the Poor did not believe that Ephraim had gained a legal settlement in their parish, even though this was Ann's parish of christening.1 Many unanswered questions arise from this removal order. Why was this couple removed? What laws justified the removal? And what were the circumstances of Ephraim and Ann that they came under the legal review and jurisdiction of the parish council? If Ephraim was born in Coggeshall and married in Earls Colne, why was he removed to Pattiswick? The most common occupation for men in Essex at this time was that of an agricultural labourer. If Ephraim was an agricultural labourer, how would this type of employment affect his social credit or his perceived desirability as a community member? Additionally, extant removal records for Earls Colne show a total of four removals being issued in the year 1792 compared with the ten that took place during the 1 As Ann was christened in the parish of Earls Colne in 1770, along with her two siblings later in the decade, I have assumed for the purposes of this paper that she was also born within the legal parish boundaries of Earls Colne. 3 (Otckis el Kcmo?*l,j To thi Churchwardens and Qptrfem of the Poor of the j4*fi<**/?- of &r-*& (i'•.»/?t? —- in the , to remove; anJ% To the Cmrcmn^dent and Over/sun of the Pear ef tbt ?t,>i,'.-tA - - ef t't&&.mtr'd. the 'st,"^'j ^t-r^y i*/^/»" **V' , t® receive and absy* HBREAS Complains has been m-itls by you tlie Charcl^,. :>^Xl w wardem audi Ovciitcjsut' i&£ Ptjarof th* Uul ^j** * *V <%"" Of y?«-*^5 ffisrAne j*„'/)fi# ,*#***'•*£•. anto us/^iogf Monies ate Jwrcumo fci and Seals nHnted being two of 4m J$aj<JuyJjs juftke* of die i*eace in and (or the faid arid one of/6s of the Q«ov«ak*/lhat /'^^^^^ $$£*?-*******,£ <C^* ^*5*« /„©-•? ** s* S) £•£** J>f .At *' did latelMometo inhabit i» the laid Am *'- ,$*>•/'** ~. <. - not Wmng gained a legal Settlement there, nor produced any Certificate owning SJi,yi • so be ieukd eifewhere, am! tint the laid /X.*/»,» /.'r,. *%«*t4t'(~f£ **.?*& t &>jri •/***'*:*^s-y'r **/** •— -— «—~- —, ~~~, 5 ~" i^iiltetyjo be chargeable to the laid "We the laid juttfces upon due, Ptoof made thereof, as well upon tiie I?*amisutirmof thciaid «<y£ /f*,-< ^*>* •i&~-^**-,^.r<-'^ ui»n Oath, as ottietwiie, nnd/tifsewife upon due CunGdcntiofl tad of the PreraHcs, do adjodgi the l»»e to be_trt)e s and we do likewifc adjudge, that tire lawiul Settlement of //,'„. - - ^—tne&id J°yi/tj&t* *,< j^n*''"**""*1 /I**?* f*Ji j^**f* •it'/-A --«{ *&>.&*<!'•"* in ,^,/.*iy-„ - - - «f <V«'< - - •— We do. 5«> r* <** ft ftom out of vourfaid /,* t,'/ /'.^-^ A\?6'&>'- « to thafaid f,ixi<t•?* - - of irMfn^tt'* r-* — ana d //£. ,™f. «, todefivcrto the Cltunrfiwittdens and Oveffetrs of the l*o»t there, or to lome, or tine of them, together with this our Order, or a true Copy thereof: And we tlu alio hereby re quire vott the feid Chun-hwardera and Owrlecrs of the 1'ooc of d«fail/,.»/«VX-- o( .«f*^«* --to receive andpio«defor XA* ,,, —• «Jokibttun* or jour,- A/t t*'*•/*.- .