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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g BU 2502377 2 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties.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. History will never lose its romance and its fascination for the antiquary: can we plead for it that it has a special value in the educational curriculum which can be supplied by no other subject^ ? Can we learn from it anything that will guide us in dealing with questions of present moment ? A study of Poor law History certainly leads us tfcanswer these questions in the affirmative. !Phe Poor law deals with a peculiarly 'human 1 problem, and if it does nothing else, the history of our efforts to tackle this problem should teach us a great deal of Psychology which cannot fail to be helpful for future experience. Poor law History illustrates the fact that owing to changing circumstances 'the stepping-stone of one age becomes the stumbling-block of another.' Yet just as clearly it seems to illustrate the complementary truth that though circumstances change, certain principles remain true. Putting this in logical form, we may say that the major premises remain con­ stant, and our problem is to fit our minor premise, the circumstances, into its appropriate major. An old proverb tells us that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and we have come to realise that the individuals and elements which go to make a nation are so close­ ly bound together that the prorerb may apply in this case. All is not well with a nation, however rich and powerful it may appear, if a canker is eating at its root. The nation has always to guard against a danger lest the lowest stratum of its members, those who are destitute of the means of sub­ sistence, become a canker of this kind. Perhaps no branch of our history more clearly illustrates the gradual growth of our English institutions and the difference in the attitude, of statesmen of different periods to problems of government, than that which deals with the evolution of the Poor Law, our attempt to meet this danger. Who are the 'poor 1 to whom this law has reference? In this connection, we must guard against an ambiguity in the use of the word 'poor.' The Eeport of 1834 pointed out that it is applied not only to 'those unable to labour or unable to obtain for labour the means of subsistence," but also to "those who in order to obtain a mere subsistence are forced to have recourse to labour." The relief of the destitute poor is the legitimate object of the 'Poor law, 1 but the 'poor' in the second sense of the word are outside its scope. We shall see what evils and confusion arose when Misguided 2. public sentiment led the Poor Law authorities to extend their relief measures to the able-bodied labouring poor. P T.W.Fowle, in his Manual on "The Poor Law"^ remarks that "legal provision for the relief of the destitute establishes a system whereby persons are not obliged unless they choose, to provide themselves with the means of subsistence, while those who work for their own living are compelled to maintain those who will not or cannot support themselves." How are we to explain this apparent anomaly? Putting aside the question of "the rights of every peaceful and obedient member of society to the means of subsistence" as a matter which the community of which he is a member must decide, we find that nations which do not acknowledge this right have made legal provision for the relief of the destitute and presumably they have reasons for so doing. In England, as in other countries, the State first framed Poor Laws in the interests of decency and public order, for "when we come to a class of society wanting the common necessaries of life and so not subject to the ordinary restraints, it nay be expedient to supply gratuitously the wants of even able-bodied persons if it can be done without creating crowds of additional applicants." Whatever may be the opinion as to the equity of a claim to a 'natural right 1 to the means of subistence, it is an "admitted maxim of social policy that the first charge on land must be the maintenance of the people reared on it." Poor Law legislation was devised to remedy certain plain and growing evils which endangered the existence of society. It would 3. however, be creating a f^ls> impression, did '«e not add that the framers of those statutes which can lo-^itirately lay claim to the nar^ of "ioor Laws," \vere influenced "by hui.anitaricn motives as '.veil as "by considerations of utate policy, '-e can trace the growth of L. feeling that it is wron?; to punish with frightful penalties vagrancy an:] ber *in~ and even cri:,,c, unless the authority v;hich icrposes the penalties makes an effort to provide the necessities, lack of which was lar-ely a cause of the evils. The Government alco '_-rew conscious of the fact that the ignorance and neglect of the nation i:i the pa;ro ha* been responsible for the r-rowth oi* conditions in v:hich the seeds 01 rau\:erisr.: and crime foun a fruitful soil. When the state had admitted its dut t; to provide raintenance for the indigent and had cc^-ed u on that aaL.ission a ne\v difficulty arose, because it v/as foun. that, though the assistance itself was a real boon to the recipient, the results of relying on that assist HOG \vere usually evil. i The evil recults of relying on i3tate aid ere fairly apparent. It is a croat ter. tati: i to ;he idle and shiftles: to p-et "sonethinT for nothing", -he really destitute who receive otcte ai tend to fall back en that aid arain. There is loss inducement to honest labour if gratuitous aid is r^iven at the e:: ense of the worker to those v;ho v;ill not or cf.nnot \vork. A spirit of selfishness ani inhui a.'iiity tends to be engendered when the care of destitute relatives and friends can be turned ovor to the State. There are also grave dangers in interference with the norr-ial course of trade ani e:;nloyi ont anc! we shall see that the^e dangers became acute v^hen sentimentality, instead of 4. a knowledge of the true principles of political economy ^be­ came for a ti: e the basis of Poor law Administration. We have said that the legitimate object of a fPoor law, 1 which would bo better named a 'Destitution 1 or 'Public Assistance 1 law, is the relief of the destitute. This is its first object. A second must be to prevent the evils and abuses arising out of a State provision for the destitute, and it has been laid down as a cardinal principle of this prevention that "the condition of the pauper ought to be less eligible than that of the independent labourer." " A third object has of late become increasingly important. The most hopeful part of the Poor law Authorities' work is that which deals with pauper children. These children have to be taught and trained to support themselves and to become useful and independent citizens. 6 Mcholls states that Poor law Legislation, reflecting the circumstances of the periods when it arose, exhibits four phases. "First, the suppression of vagabondage and violence was aimed at - nepcfc, this suppression conjointly with some relief for the destitute by means of charitable or enforced contributions - then, the relief of poverty and want as well as destitution, from whatever cause the one or the other may have arisen - and lastly, the relief of destitution and vrant in such a manner that, whilst effective for that object, it shall not weaken the incentive to independent exertion on the part of individuals or of the labouring classes and the public generally." Writing about half a century later than the author whom we have just quoted, we may add that of late years we have recognised the complication of the Poor law problen and its olose connection 5.
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