DOCSLIB.ORG

The Introduction and Operation of the New Poor Law in Suffolk 1834-70

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Introduction and Operation of the New Poor Law in Suffolk 1834-70 The Introduction and Operation of the New Poor Law in Suffolk 1834-70 Angela Miller A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD History Department University of Essex January 2020 Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge the help and patience of my supervisor, Peter Gurney, for his constant support, positive criticism and helpful suggestions in the production of this thesis. In addition, my former M.A. supervisor, and now friend, Dr. Jane Pearson, has shown a continued interest in the development of this work and I owe her a debt of gratitude I can never repay. 2 Abstract This thesis examines the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 into Suffolk between the years 1834-71. It looks at the poor law system as it was immediately prior to this time and the increasing difficulties it faced in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It also examines contemporary ideas on population growth, such as those popularised by Malthus, as well as those of Utilitarians and Noetics, all coalescing to bring about the change of 1834. It compares the situation in Suffolk with that in the rest of the country, looking specifically at the Houses of Industry and their adaptability to the new system and the particular impetus given by Dr. James Kay as Assistant Poor Law Commissioner in the county of Suffolk to achieving their conversion to Union workhouses. It examines the power structures surrounding the New Poor Law, particularly the relationship between the local Boards of Guardians and the central Poor Law Commission (and later Board.) It also looks at the power structures within the workhouse. In the early days of the workhouse, relations proved particularly volatile, as few real structures of policy had been included in either the Poor Law Commission’s report or the eventual act. The work goes on to examine how such issues as discipline, medical treatment and education therefore actually worked out in practice. 3 Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction Page 1 Chapter 2 – The poor law in transition nationally Page 29 Chapter 3 – The poor law in transition in Suffolk Page 58 Chapter 4 – Power and authority in the workhouse Page 102 Chapter 5 – Discipline in the workhouse Page 139 Chapter 6 – The development of a poor law medical service Page 165 Chapter 7 – Poor law policy on education Page 233 Chapter 8 – Conclusion Page 270 Bibliography Page 281 4 Chapter 1 Introduction The idea for this study was first born in 1992. At this time, I was Head of History at Orwell High School in Felixstowe teaching an A level course known as AEB 673. The syllabus consisted of an outline study and a methodology paper, in addition to a personal study of three thousand words, using both primary and secondary sources. Suffolk was enlightened enough to make provision for these A level students in its record offices at Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds and through employing an extremely knowledgeable local historian, Clive Payne, to further facilitate the work of the students. It was through the weekly half day trips to the Ipswich Record Office with my students, that I became aware of the wealth of largely untouched material on Suffolk workhouses, which some of them made use of. I hoped, at some time in the future, to make fuller use of this wealth of material. This time has now come! The need for local studies to refine our view of national practice in relation to the New Poor Law has long been acknowledged and during the 1960s and 70s a large number were undertaken as student theses. 1 Only by such studies, are we able to gain a nuanced understanding of the ways in which the New Poor Law was interpreted, 1 D. Marshall, ‘Revisions in Economic History’: The Old Poor Law, Economic History Review, First series VIII 1937/8 cited in Alan Kidd, Economic History Review, Second series XL 3 1987. The Webbs also recognised the need for such studies to supplement their own monumental work. A comprehensive list of student theses exists in Derek Fraser, The New Poor Law in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1976), p.203-4. 1 confirming or denying generalisations. As Steven King has pointed out, such studies have shown that ‘those who sojourned (in?) the workhouse did not always find it crushing and isolating’ as scandals such as that at Andover might lead us to believe.2 Indeed, attesting to the work of Karen Rothery, Richard Talbot, Peter Jones and others, King goes on to state that the ‘most striking feature of the New Poor Law from 1834 …… was the variability of practice.’ Only by numerous local studies can that variability be discovered. In terms of modern studies, historians such as David Green have shown the importance of examining the local situation in terms of experience and agency of the poor.3 In addition Steven King also argues that there are important aspects such as that of personality of guardians and other personnel, which can best be reached by local studies. Concerns such as these have probably led to the large number of post graduate studies, though I also suspect that as in my own case, manageability and readiness of access to sources also proved attractive. A number of other factors can be used to make a strong case for a study of Suffolk. Much has been made of the opposition to the New Poor Law in the north of England and it seems important to highlight that in the east too.4 The county is also unusual in having a large number of incorporated Unions which as will be shown in this study had 2 Steven King, ‘The New Poor Law. Regional and Local Perspectives. Thinking and Rethinking the New Poor Law.’ Local Population Studies 99 (2017). 3 David Green, Pauper Capital (Farnham, 2010). 4 Felix Driver in Power and Pauperism examines opposition in Yorkshire and Lancashire with particular reference to Huddersfield whilst the works of Nicholas Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement 1834-44 (Manchester, 1971) and John Knott, Popular Opposition to the 1834 Poor Law (London, 1986) are wholly devoted to looking at reaction to the New Poor Law throughout the country. 2 a considerable impact on the structure and nature of the new Unions.5 Suffolk, in its presence and influence of Dr. Kay as Assistant Poor Law Commissioner also fulfils Steven King’s view of the ‘importance of personality’ as being most accessible through local studies.6 Overwhelmingly however, the case exists for a study of Suffolk in that, although some references are made to Suffolk in existing literature, no comprehensive study of New Poor Law practice exists for the county. 7 This study now aims to fill these gaps. Though it relies to a large extent on local primary sources, it is no antiquarian study but one which sets Suffolk at the heart of the national situation, by first examining both the national and local context which gave rise to the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.8 It goes on to look at the conflict between central and local government brought about by the shift in control of pauperism which this act theoretically entailed. This is indeed a central feature of the study, pervading as it does all aspects of lives of the paupers. The study then goes on to look at key aspects of life in the workhouse shown here through examination of such issues as, power and authority, discipline in the workhouse, education and medical services. It also aims to take up a more recent concern of historians, in looking at how inmates of the workhouses negotiated and 5 J.M. Shaw, The development of the Poor Law local acts1696-1833, with particular reference to the Incorporated Hundreds of East Anglia. (UEA 1989). Unpublished PhD thesis. 6 King, Local PopulationStudies 99 (2017). 7 Mainly Anne Digby, Pauper Palaces: The Economy of the Poor Law in Nineteenth Century Norfolk (London, 1978) but also Anthony Brundage, The Making of the New Poor Law 1832-1839 (New Brunswick, 1978) and Nicholas C.Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement 1834-44, (Manchester, 1971) in reference to the riots in Suffolk. Peter Gurney, Wanting and Having: Politics and Liberal Consumerism in England 1830-70 (Manchester, 2014). 8 For the arguments surrounding antiquarianism and local history see J.D. Marshall, The Tyranny of the Discrete (Aldershot, 1997). 3 influenced their own treatment.9 Such issues have been chosen as being pre-eminently those which concerned the guardians as shown in their minute books, particularly in the terms of their financial cost. Any study based largely on the Guardians’ minute books must therefore necessarily involve a study of them. Though larger scale works exist for both the study of medicine and education, and discipline and authority figure in virtually all studies of workhouses, this study gives the more nuanced approach particular to local studies.10 The year 1870 provides a natural ending to the period in terms of the constraints of length and time of a PhD study and by the fact that the Poor Law Government Board, a new controlling body of the New Poor Law, exercised much greater control from 1871. The issues examined are largely dictated by the primary materials available, mainly Board of Guardians’ minute books, but also correspondence between Assistant Poor Law Commissioners, the Poor Law Commission (later Board) and Poor Law Unions held at the National Archives(M12 and M32). This is further supplemented by reference to local newspapers and parliamentary papers and reports as well as secondary literature on the issues of discipline in the workhouse, medical treatment and education, comparing and contrasting the situation in Suffolk, where possible, with that elsewhere.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 'Great Inhumanity': Scandal, Child Punishment and Policy Making in the Early Years of the New Poor Law Workhouse System S
    ‘Great inhumanity’: Scandal, child punishment and policy making in the early years of the New Poor Law workhouse system SAMANTHA A. SHAVE UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN ABSTRACT New Poor Law scandals have usually been examined either to demonstrate the cruelty of the workhouse regime or to illustrate the failings or brutality of union staff. Recent research has used these and similar moments of crisis to explore the relationship between local and central levels of welfare administration (the Boards of Guardians in unions across England and Wales and the Poor Law Commission in Somerset House in London) and how scandals in particular were pivotal in the development of further policies. This article examines both the inter-local and local-centre tensions and policy conseQuences of the Droxford Union and Fareham Union scandal (1836-37) which exposed the severity of workhouse punishments towards three young children. The paper illustrates the complexities of union co-operation and, as a result of the escalation of public knowledge into the cruelties and investigations thereafter, how the vested interests of individuals within a system manifested themselves in particular (in)actions and viewpoints. While the Commission was a reactive and flexible welfare authority, producing new policies and procedures in the aftermath of crises, the policies developed after this particular scandal made union staff, rather than the welfare system as a whole, individually responsible for the maltreatment and neglect of the poor. 1. Introduction Within the New Poor Law Union workhouse, inmates depended on the poor law for their complete subsistence: a roof, a bed, food, work and, for the young, an education.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poor Law of 1601
    Tit) POOR LA.v OF 1601 with 3oms coi3ii3rat,ion of MODSRN Of t3l9 POOR -i. -S. -* CH a i^ 3 B oone. '°l<g BU 2502377 2 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Chapter 1. Introductory. * E. Poor Relief before the Tudor period w 3. The need for re-organisation. * 4. The Great Poor La* of 1601. w 5. Historical Sketch. 1601-1909. " 6. 1909 and after. Note. The small figares occurring in the text refer to notes appended to each chapter. Chapter 1. .Introductory.. In an age of stress and upheaval, institutions and 9 systems which we have come to take for granted are subjected to a searching test, which, though more violent, can scarcely fail to be more valuable than the criticism of more normal times. A reconstruction of our educational system seems inevitable after the present struggle; in fact new schemes have already been set forth by accredited organisations such as the national Union of Teachers and the Workers' Educational Association. V/ith the other subjects in the curriculum of the schools, History will have to stand on its defence.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Parish : Stanton
    1. Parish : Stanton Meaning: Homestead/village on stony ground 2. Hundred: Blackbourn Deanery: Blackburne (–1972), Ixworth (1972–) Union: Thingoe (1836–1907), Bury St Edmunds (1907–1930) RDC/UDC: (W. Suffolk) Thingoe RD (–1974), St Edmundsbury DC (1974–) Other administrative details: Possible union between the parishes of Stanton All Saints and Stanton St. John the Baptist 17th cent. Blackbourn Petty Sessional Division Bury St Edmunds County Court District 3. Area: 3,319 acres (1912) 4. Soils: Mixed: a. Slowly permeable seasonally water-logged fine loam over clay b. Deep fine loam soils with slowly permeable subsoils and slight seasonal water-logging. Some fine/coarse loams over clay. Some deep well drained coarse loam over clay, fine loam and sandy soils 5. Types of farming: 1086 14 acres meadow, wood for 18 pigs, 2 cobs, 3 cattle, 28 pigs, 52 sheep, 30 goats 1283 517 quarters to crops (4,136 bushels), 72 head horse, 244 cattle, 112 pigs, 395 sheep* 1500–1640 Thirsk: Wood-pasture region, mainly pasture, meadow, engaged in rearing and dairying with some pig keeping, horse breeding and poultry. Crops mainly barley with some wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops and occasionally hemp. 1818 Marshall: Course of crops varies usually including summer fallow in preparation for corn products 1937 Main crops: Wheat, barley, oats, turnips 1969 Trist: More intensive cereal growing and sugar beet. 1 * ‘A Suffolk Hundred in 1283’, by E. Powell 1910. Concentrates on Blackbourn Hundred. Gives land usage, livestock and the taxes paid. 6. Enclosure: 1350–1600 Evidence suggest early enclosures in southern sector 1785 1st enclosure bill rejected by freeholders Note: 75% of parish enclosed by 1780’s 1800 831 acres enclosed under Private Act of Lands 1798 ‘Opposition to Enclosure in a Suffolk Village’, by D.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Southampton Research Repository Eprints Soton
    University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES School of Social Sciences Poor Law Reform and Policy Innovation in Rural Southern England, c.1780-1850 by Samantha Anne Shave Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2010 i UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Doctor of Philosophy POOR LAW REFORM AND POLICY INNOVATION IN RURAL SOUTHERN ENGLAND, c.1780-1850 by Samantha Anne Shave Recent analysis in poor law history has uncovered the experiences of individual relief claimants and recipients, emphasising their role in the welfare process. The literature has, however, tended to draw a false dichotomy between understanding the experiences of the individual poor and understanding the administration of the poor laws. This thesis deploys a ‘policy process’ understanding of social policies, a concept developed in the social sciences, to understand the processes driving social policies under the poor laws.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poor in England Steven King Is Reader in History at Contribution to the Historiography of Poverty, Combining As It Oxford Brookes University
    king&t jkt 6/2/03 2:57 PM Page 1 Alannah Tomkins is Lecturer in History at ‘Each chapter is fluently written and deeply immersed in the University of Keele. primary sources. The work as a whole makes an original The poor in England Steven King is Reader in History at contribution to the historiography of poverty, combining as it Oxford Brookes University. does a high degree of scholarship with intellectual innovation.’ The poor Professor Anne Borsay, University of Wales, Swansea This fascinating collection of studies investigates English poverty in England between 1700 and 1850 and the ways in which the poor made ends meet. The phrase ‘economy of makeshifts’ has often been used to summarise the patchy, disparate and sometimes failing 1700–1850 strategies of the poor for material survival. Incomes or benefits derived through the ‘economy’ ranged from wages supported by under-employment via petty crime through to charity; however, An economy of makeshifts until now, discussions of this array of makeshifts usually fall short of answering vital questions about how and when the poor secured access to them. This book represents the single most significant attempt in print to supply the English ‘economy of makeshifts’ with a solid, empirical basis and to advance the concept of makeshifts from a vague but convenient label to a more precise yet inclusive definition. 1700–1850 Individual chapters written by some of the leading, emerging historians of welfare examine how advantages gained from access to common land, mobilisation of kinship support, crime, and other marginal resources could prop up struggling households.
    [Show full text]
  • Government and Social Conditions in Scotland 1845-1919 Edited by Ian Levitt, Ph.D
    -£e/. 54 Scs. S«S,/io SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY FIFTH SERIES VOLUME 1 Government and Social Conditions in Scotland Government and Social Conditions in Scotland 1845-1919 edited by Ian Levitt, ph.d ★ EDINBURGH printed for the Scottish History Society by BLACKWOOD, PILLANS & WILSON 1988 Scottish History Society ISBN 0 906245 09 5 Printed in Great Britain ^ e ia O' >40 PREFACE A work of this kind, drawing on material from a wide variety of sources, could not have been possible without the active help and encouragment of many people. To name any individual is perhaps rather invidious, but I would like to draw special attention to the assistance given by the archivists, librarians and administrative officers of those authorities whose records I consulted. I would hope that this volume would in turn assist a wider understanding of what their archives and libraries can provide: they offer much for the history of Scotland. I must, however, record my special thanks to Dr John Strawhorn, who kindly searched out and obtained Dr Littlejohn’s report on Ayr (1892). I am greatly indebted to the following for their kind permission to use material from their archives and records: The Keeper of Records, the Scottish Record Office The Trustees of the National Library of Scotland The Archivist, Strathclyde Regional Council The Archivist, Ayr District Archives The Archivist, Edinburgh District Council The Archivist, Central Regional Council The Archivist, Tayside Regional Council Midlothian District Council Fife Regional Council Kirkcaldy District Council
    [Show full text]
  • Records of the Sudbury Archdeaconry.
    267 RECORDS OF THE SUDBURY ARCHDEACONRY. BY VINCENT B. REDSTONE, H. TERRIERSAND SURVEYS. Constitutions and Canon,Ecclesiastical, issued in 1604, contain an injunction (No. 87), " that a T HEtrue note and terrier of all the glebe lands, &c., . and portions of tithes lying out of their parishes—which belong to any Parsonage, Vicarage, or rural Prebend. be taken by the view of honest men in every parish, by the appointnient of the Bishop—whereof the minister be one—and be laid up in the Bishop's Registry, there to be for a perpetual memory thereof." This injunction does not fix the frequency with which the terriers were to be procured by the Bishop, and, consequently, existing docu- ments of that• character are not to be found for any definite years or periods. It is evident by the existence of early terriers in .the keeping -of the Registrar for the Archdeacon of Sudbury, that such returns were made by churchwardens along .with their presentments• before the year 1604. The terriers at Bury St. Edmund's commence as early as 1576, whilst those in the Bishop's Registry at Norwich, date from 1627.. It is unknown from what circumstances the Archdeacons' Registrars became i)ossessed Of documents which the above mentioned canon dis- tinctly enjoins should be laid up in the Bishop's Registry. In the Exchequer 'there is a terrier of all the glebe lands in England, made about the eleventh year of the reign'of Edward iii. The taxes levied upon the temporal . v VOL. xi. PART 3. 268 RECORDS OF THE possessionSof the Church in every parish throughout the Diocese (see Hail ms.
    [Show full text]
  • Market Weston
    1. Parish : Market Weston Meaning: Possibly market homestead/village west of another or homestead west of village market 2. Hundred: Blackbourn Deanery: Blackburne (–1932), Ixworth (1972- ) Union: Thetford RDC/UDC: (W. Suffolk) Brandon RD (1894–1935), Thingoe RD (1935–1974), St Edmundsbury DC (1974–) Other administrative details: Area known as Weston Hindle transferred to Thelnetham (1886) Blackbourn Petty Sessional Division Thetford County Court District 3. Area: 979 acres (1912) 4. Soils: Mixed: a. Slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged fine loam over clay b. Deep fine loam soils with slowly permeable subsoils and slight seasonal waterlogging. Some fine/coarse loam over clay. Some deep well drained coarse loam over clay, fine loam and sandy soils 5. Types of farming: 1086 10 acres meadow, wood for 14 pigs, 3 cobs 18 pigs, 130 sheep, 1 mill, 2 cattle 1283 222 quarters to crops (1,776) bushels), 41 head horse, 158 cattle, 121 pig, 215 sheep* 1500–1640 Thirsk: Wood pasture region, mainly pasture, meadow, engaged in rearing and dairying with some pig-keeping, horse-breeding and poultry. Crops mainly barley with some wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops and occasionally hemp 1818 Marshall: Course of crops varies usually including summer fallow as preparation for corn products 1937 Main crops: Wheat, barley, oats, turnips 1969 Trist: More intensive cereal growing and sugar beat 1 * ‘A Suffolk Hundred in 1283’, by E. Powell 1910. Concentrates on Blackbourn Hundred. Gives land usage, livestock and the taxes paid. 6. Enclosure: 1818 106 acres enclosed under Private Act of Lands, 1815 7. Settlement: 1958 Moderately sized development spaced along Barningham – Hopton road to east of B.1111 (also Barningham-Hopton).
    [Show full text]
  • Bad Nursing? Workhouse Nurses in England and Finland, 1855–1914
    Bad Nursing? Workhouse Nurses in England and Finland, 1855–1914 Johanna Annola Abstract This article discusses workhouse nursing in England and Finland by analysing the ways in which local-level poor law records reflect the contemporary understandings of bad nursing. The article shows that in England, the workhouse system was established long before the emergence of the principles of medical nursing in the 1850s, which is why the evolution of workhouse nursing is long and versatile. In Finland, by contrast, these two developed simultaneously at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which explains the attempts to combine professional nursing with workhouse management from the beginning. Local-level records show that in both countries the definition of ‘good nursing’ and ‘bad nursing’ – in other words the expectations associated with a nurse’s duties and her ethical principles – changed over time as nursing became more medicalised and professionalised. However, the local poor relief agents were often slow to adopt new ideals and practices, and instead tended to stick to their own understandings of nursing. Both in England and Finland pauper nurses remained a common phenomenon well into the twentieth century. 1 Introduction Workhouses were first established in England and Wales after the passing of the Workhouse Act of 1722/1723. These institutions were gradually replaced by new workhouses, which were established by Poor Law Unions after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The main purpose of a nineteenth-century workhouse was to exclude the able-bodied poor from receipt of poor relief: paupers were no longer to be granted relief while out in the community but were placed in the workhouse, where they were required to earn their keep.1 The overall conditions in a workhouse were to be harsh enough so that the paupers would prefer to earn their living instead of resorting to poor relief.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Parish: Hadleigh
    1. Parish: Hadleigh Meaning: Heather covered clearing (Ekwall) 2. Hundred: Cosford Deanery: Peculiar jurisdiction of Archbishop of Canterbury (- 1847), Sudbury (1847-1864), Sudbury (Eastern) (1864-1884), Hadleigh (1884- ) Union: Cosford RDC/UDC: (W. Suffolk) Hadleigh U D (part 1894-1896, entirely 1896- 1974), Part Cosford R D (1894-1896), Babergh D.C. (1974) Other administrative details: Charter of Incorporation as Borough granted (1618), gave government to mayor 7 aldermen and 16 burgesses Surrendered its incorporation charter (1685/6) Local Government Board took control of town administration (1869) Hadleigh Town Council led by mayor (1974) Cosford Petty Sessional Division Hadleigh County Court District 3. Area: 4,301 acres land, 17 acres water (1912) 4. Soils: Mixed: a) Slowly permeable calcareous/non calcareous clay soils, slight risk water erosion b) Deep well drained fine loam, coarse loam and sandy soils, locally flinty and in places over gravel. Slight risk water erosion. 5. Types of farming: 1086 3 mills, 24½ acres meadow, 3 cobs, 14 cattle, 154 sheep, 20 pigs 1500–1640 Thirsk: Wood-pasture region, mainly pasture, meadow, engaged in rearing and dairying with some pig-keeping, horse breeding and poultry. Crops mainly barley with some wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops and occasionally hemp. 1 5. Types of farming (cont’d): 1818 Marshall: Course of crops varies usually including summer fallow as preparation for corn products 1937 Main crops: Not recorded 1969 Trist: More intensive cereal growing and sugar beet 6. Enclosure: Record of enclosure of Aldham and Boyn Commons (belonging to Hadleigh) (1729) 20acres at Hadleigh heath reputedly enclosed (1832) 7.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Parish: Bardwell
    1. Parish: Bardwell Meaning: Bearda’s spring or brim/bank of spring 2. Hundred: Blackbourn Deanery: Blackburne (–1972), Ixworth (1972–) Union: Thingoe (1836–1907), Bury St Edmunds (1907–1930) RDC/UDC: (W Suffolk) Thingoe RD (–1974), St Edmundsbury DC (1974–) Other administrative details: Blackbourn Petty Sessional Division Bury St Edmunds County Court District 3. Area: 3,173 acres (1912) 4. Soils: Mixed: a. Fine loam over clay soils, slowly permeable subsoils, slight seasonal waterlogging. Some calcareous/non calcareous slowly permeable clay soils. b. Slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged fine loam over clay. c. Shallow well drained calcareous coarse loam and sandy soils over chalk rubble. Slight risk water erosion. d. Deep permeable sand and peat soils affected by ground water. Risk of winter flooding and wind erosion near river. 5. Types of farming: 1086 2 parts of mill, 11 acres meadow, wood for 8 pigs 1283 953 quarters to crops, 89 head horses, 456 cattle, 202 pigs, 1313 sheep* 1500–1640 Thirsk: Wood-pasture region, mainly pasture, meadow, engaged in rearing and dairying with some pig- keeping, horse-breeding and poultry. Crops mainly barley with some wheat, rye, oats, peas, vetches, hops and occasionally hemp. Also has similarities with sheep-corn region where sheep are main fertilising agent, bred for fattening, barley main cash crop. 1818 Marshall: Wide variations of crop and management techniques including summer fallow in preparation for corn and rotation of turnip, barley, clover, wheat on lighter lands. 1937 Main crops: Wheat, barley, oats, turnips 1969 Trist: More intensive cereal growing and sugar beet. 1 * ‘A Suffolk Hundred in 1283’ by E Powell (1910).
    [Show full text]
  • EH.Net Encyclopedia English Poor Laws
    EH.Net Encyclopedia: English Poor Laws http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/boyer.poor.laws.england English Poor Laws George Boyer, Cornell University A compulsory system of poor relief was instituted in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. Although the role played by poor relief was significantly modified by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Crusade Against Outrelief of the 1870s, and the adoption of various social insurance programs in the early twentieth century, the Poor Law continued to assist the poor until it was replaced by the welfare state in 1948. For nearly three centuries, the Poor Law constituted "a welfare state in miniature," relieving the elderly, widows, children, the sick, the disabled, and the unemployed and underemployed (Blaug 1964). This essay will outline the changing role played by the Poor Law, focusing on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Origins of the Poor Law While legislation dealing with vagrants and beggars dates back to the fourteenth century, perhaps the first English poor law legislation was enacted in 1536, instructing each parish to undertake voluntary weekly collections to assist the "impotent" poor. The parish had been the basic unit of local government since at least the fourteenth century, although Parliament imposed few if any civic functions on parishes before the sixteenth century. Parliament adopted several other statutes relating to the poor in the next sixty years, culminating with the Acts of 1597-98 and 1601 (43 Eliz. I c. 2), which established a compulsory system of poor relief that was administered and financed at the parish (local) level.
    [Show full text]