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Sumbler Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Keele University December 2016 i Contents page Abstract ii Primary Sources iii Abbreviations iv List of Illustrations iv List of Tables iv List of Appendices vii Acknowledgements viii Map of Shropshire Poor Law Unions and Incorporations 1836 ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Shropshire and the Standard of Living of Shropshire Agricultural Labourers in the Middle Decades of the nineteenth Century 52 Chapter 3 The Domestic Life of Shropshire Workhouse Children 87 Chapter 4 Education in Shropshire Workhouses 144 Chapter 5 Medical Services in Shropshire Poor Law Unions 201 ii Chapter 6 Child Employment and Shropshire Unions 238 Chapter 7 Shropshire Poor Law Unions and Out-Relief 268 Chapter 8 Conclusion - Child Poverty in Victorian Shropshire: Children and the Shropshire Poor Law Unions - 1834-1870 342 Appendices 351 Bibliography 378 Child poverty in Victorian Shropshire: children and the Shropshire Poor Law Unions 1834 - 1870 Abstract This thesis examines the lives of poor children living in Shropshire between 1834 and 1870. They lived in three different environments: in the workhouse, as part of a labourer’s family, or as part of a family in receipt of out-relief. The standard of living of the families of agricultural workers, the predominant form of employment in most of Shropshire, was very low, with wages too low to provide adequate levels of nutrition. iii Families in receipt of out-relief had an even lower standard of living than those of agricultural labourers, because levels of out-relief were lower than labourers’ wages. This thesis also examines the life that children led if they were inmates of the workhouse. Children in the workhouse received an education, the quality of which varied across the county, but was very good at the Bridgnorth workhouse school, latterly known as South East Shropshire District School. Poor children living at home would have had limited opportunity for education because of the cost. Medical care was organised by the Poor Law Union for indoor and outdoor paupers, and provided free. It was not provided for independent families. Apprenticeships were satisfactorily organised by the Shropshire Unions, though some apprentices were inappropriately placed in mines. Amounts of out-relief differed across Unions with those Unions committed to the use of the workhouse ungenerous in their payments when compared to Unions taking a positive view of out-relief. For poor children, life in the workhouse, despite its disadvantages, provided greater material benefits than a childhood spent in a poor labourer’s family or in a family on out-relief. Major Primary Sources used National Library of Wales: William Day Papers. Shropshire Archives: Poor Law Union Minutes, Medical Records, Application and Report Books, and workhouse records are under the general heading of PL. The National Archives: MH 12: Poor Law Union Correspondence with Poor Law Commission and Poor Law Board iv MH 27: Poor Law Administration Department, Correspondence between Poor Law Board and District Schools MH 32: Correspondence between Commissioners and Inspectors Abbreviations Shropshire Archives: SA The National Archives: TNA List of Illustrations Illustration 1 Ludlow Union Workhouse, late nineteenth century 112 Illustration 2 Ludlow Union Workhouse, ground floor plan 115 Illustration 3 Ludlow Union Workhouse, first floor plan 116 Illustration 4 Ludlow Union Workhouse plan, 1903 117 List of Tables Table 2.1 Poor Rates in Shropshire Parishes 1821/1831 62 Table 7.1 Weekly totals of outdoor relief paid by Ludlow Union in the periods immediately adjacent to Christmas 1836-1840 283 v Nature of Applicants for Relief: Table 7.2 Bitterley – Quarter ending Michaelmas 1840 288 Table 7.3 Bitterley – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 289 Table 7.4 Diddlebury – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 289 Table 7.5 Diddlebury – quarter ending Lady Day 1840 290 Table 7.6 St. Laurence, Ludlow – Midsummer to Christmas 1840 290 Nature of Applicants for Relief from a Family Perspective: Table 7.7 Bitterley – Quarter ending Michaelmas 1840 291 Table 7.8 Bitterley – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 292 Table 7.9 Diddlebury – Quarter ending Lady Day 1841 292 Table 7.10 St. Laurence, Ludlow – Midsummer 1840 to Christmas 1840 293 Nature of Request for Relief: Table 7.11 Bitterley – Quarter ending 29 September 1840 295 Table 7.12 Bitterley – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 296 Table 7.13 Diddlebury – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 297 Table 7.14 Diddlebury – Quarter ending Lady Day 1841 298 Table 7.15 St. Laurence, Ludlow – Quarter Midsummer to Christmas 1840 299 vi Results of Relief Applications: Table 7.16 Bitterley – Quarter ending 29th September 1840 300 Table 7.17 Bitterley – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 301 Table 7.18 Diddlebury – Quarter ending Christmas 1840 301 Table 7.19 Diddlebury – Quarter ending Lady Day 1841 302 Table 7.20 St. Laurence, Ludlow – Quarter Midsummer to Christmas 302 Table 7.21 Payments to families and children in Madeley Union – 1830s, 1840s, 1850s and 1860s 320 Table 7.22 Payments to Families and Children in Atcham Union – 1830s, 1840s and 1850s 327 Table 7.23 Payments to Families and Children in Ludlow Union – 1830s, 1840s, 1850s and 1860s 334 vii Appendices Appendix 1a 1841 Shropshire Workhouse Population Appendix 1b 1851 Shropshire Workhouse Population Appendix 1c 1861 Shropshire Workhouse Population Appendix 2 Rooms in Ellesmere Workhouse, 18561 Appendix 3 1835 Dietaries, Dietaries Nos. 1 and 2 Appendix 4a Dietary for Children from 2 to 5 Appendix 4b Dietary for Children from 5 to 9 Appendix 5 Duties of Chesterfield Workhouse teachers from Monday to Saturday Appendix 6 Grades of Teacher Appendix 7 Education Inspections of Shropshire Workhouse Schools Appendix 8 Rules of Apprenticeships 1 National Archives, MH12/9938, Poor Law Inspector Doyle to Poor Law Board, writing about Ellesmere Workhouse, 19th January 1856. viii Acknowledgements There are many people to thank for helping me complete this thesis. I would like to give particular thanks to my supervisors, Drs. Nigel Tringham and Alannah Tomkins for their guidance. Other members of the School of History at Keele have also offered valuable help. There is a very collaborative ethos at the Shropshire Archives and staff and amateur historians have all been ready to help me find key pieces of information, and shown an interest in my work. This thesis would not have been completed without the patience, understanding, keyboard and information technology skills and attention to detail exhibited by my wife, Avril. ix 1 Chapter One Introduction Shropshire in the middle decades of the nineteenth century was a large and predominantly agricultural county. In addition to agriculture there was lead mining at Stiperstones, quarrying in many parts of the county and coalmining and iron works around Coalbrookdale. It is situated in the West Midlands and surrounded by the counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Hereford and Worcester, Powys and Clwyd. It is the largest inland county of England covering an area of 1,347 square miles. The timescale of the thesis runs from 1834 until 1870. The first date was chosen because the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 was a watershed piece of legislation heralding the end of the Old Poor Law and the beginning of the New Poor Law, which changed both style and substance of poor relief with the widespread introduction of workhouses and attempts to limit out-relief. The New Poor Law combined central organisation with implementation of poor relief by locally elected Guardians, operating through Poor Law Unions. The end date of 1870 was chosen because that year also marks a watershed moment in the treatment of the poor with the Crusade against Out-Relief which limited the number of the poor relieved at home. This chapter outlines the historical background to the Poor Law Amendment Act, the economic factors contributing to rural poverty, the evolution of the vocabulary used to identify the poor, examines the writing of historians centring on the subject of this thesis, outlines the precise meaning of terms like ‘childhood’ and ‘poverty’ as they 2 impact on this thesis. Finally, this chapter identifies key questions about the lives of poor children, which successive chapters will seek to answer. This thesis developed from background knowledge of the New Poor Law in Shropshire and a wish to research the impact of the legislation on poor children. There are many works on childhood, with references to the childhood of the poor and some books devoted to the New Poor Law contained sections relating to children. Crompton’s Workhouse Children stands out among these as particularly devoted to poor children’s experiences.2 As this Shropshire thesis developed, however, it became important to investigate poor children’s experiences not only in the workhouse, but also on out-relief and as part of poor but ‘independent’ families and this led to comparisons between these sets of experiences. While, like Crompton, this thesis concentrates on the experiences of poor children, it also recognises the role that was played by successive central administrations. The New Poor Law in Shropshire is also best understood by reference to the national picture, ‘national as it pertains to England and Wales’.