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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses The Outcast Dead: Health and Diet of London's Post-Medieval Poor (1540-1853) SHIELDS, BRITTNEY,KATHLEEN How to cite: SHIELDS, BRITTNEY,KATHLEEN (2016) The Outcast Dead: Health and Diet of London's Post-Medieval Poor (1540-1853), Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11415/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 THE OUTCAST DEAD HEALTH AND DIET OF LONDON’S POST-MEDIEVAL POOR (1540-1853) 29 JUNE 2015 BRITTNEY KATHLEEN SHIELDS Department of Archaeology Durham University For the degree of MPhil Brittney Shields THE OUTCAST DEAD Abstract This thesis integrates osteological and historical evidence to examine the effects of the workhouse on inmates in 19th century London and to assess whether the 1834 change to the English Poor Laws led to a deterioration in health. The initial foundations of the English Poor Laws were enacted in 1601 by Elizabeth I, and were largely unchanged until 1834. Welfare issues under the Old Poor Laws were managed parochially where paupers either received a monetary allotment or received shelter in the Parish workhouse. The new legalities of the New Poor Laws sought to create a nationalised system of welfare, which culminated with the Union workhouse. The aspects of daily life that were influenced within the institution included extraneous physical labour and changes to diet and the living conditions, whilst instilling the ‘virtues of the independent labourer’. It is hypothesised that the effects of the New Poor law would have exposed inmates to episodes of dietary deficiencies and infectious disease, detectable in the osteological record. This was investigated utilising published osteological data for five Post-Medieval London cemeteries (n=1,271) and four associated historical registers of burials (n=5,184), which date from before and after the 1834 Poor Law. Nutritional analysis of seven workhouse diets and historical workhouse admission records, were also analysed. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this study has demonstrated that there was a detrimental impact of this change to the Poor Laws on the health of London’s paupers. Inmates of the union workhouses would have been subsisting on a starvation diet, and as a result metabolic conditions, joint disease, cribra orbitalia and trauma increased in prevalence in the later 19th century cemeteries. 1 Brittney Shields THE OUTCAST DEAD Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... 6 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. 10 Dedication ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Historical Sources and Archaeology ............................................................................................ 13 1.2 Research in Socioeconomic Status .............................................................................................. 14 1.3 Previous Research on Workhouses- Historical ........................................................................... 15 1.4 Previous Research on Workhouses- Archaeological ................................................................... 16 1.5 Brief Overview of Post-Medieval England .................................................................................. 17 1.5.1 Living Standards ................................................................................................................... 17 1.6 Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 18 1.7 Thesis Layout ............................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2 Historical Background .......................................................................................................... 21 2.1 Important Early Statutes Regarding the Poor ............................................................................. 22 2.1.1 The End of Feudalism and the Great Plague ........................................................................ 22 2.1.2 The Provision of Outdoor Relief ........................................................................................... 22 2.1.3 Vagrancy and Begging .......................................................................................................... 23 2.2 The Foundations of the Old Poor Laws ....................................................................................... 24 2.2.1 The Establishment of the Workhouse.................................................................................. 25 2.2.2 Key Points: The Old Poor Laws ............................................................................................. 27 2.3 Change in Public Opinion of the Poor ......................................................................................... 27 2.3.1 Old Poor Laws and the Poor ................................................................................................. 27 2.3.2 Changing Perceptions of the Poor ....................................................................................... 28 2.4 Factors Leading Toward Poor Law Reform ................................................................................. 30 2.5 The Creation of the New Poor Laws ........................................................................................... 32 2.5.1 Key Points: The New Poor Laws ........................................................................................... 35 2.6 Gender and Poverty in the 19th century ..................................................................................... 36 2.7 Change in Medical Care Available within the Union Workhouse ............................................... 36 2.8 Treatment of Children in the Poor Laws ..................................................................................... 37 2.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 39 2.9.1 Key Points ............................................................................................................................. 39 2 Brittney Shields THE OUTCAST DEAD Chapter 3 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 41 3.1 Rationale behind Site Selection .................................................................................................. 42 3.1.1 Historical Background for Cemeteries Relating to the Parish (Old Poor Laws) ................... 43 3.1.2 Historical Background for the Records Relating to the Union (New Poor Law) .................. 48 3.1.3 Historical Background for the 19th Century Independent Labourer Cemetery .................. 52 3.1.4 Historical Sources to Study Workhouse Admission and Discharge ..................................... 54 3.2 Methods of Osteological Data Collection ................................................................................... 56 3.2.1 Pathological Conditions Recorded ....................................................................................... 58 3.3 Historical Data Collection ............................................................................................................ 72 3.4 Surviving workhouse dietaries (Parish and Union) ..................................................................... 73 3.4.1 Methods for studying the diets of the workhouse .............................................................. 76 3.5 Potential Issues & Biases ............................................................................................................. 80 3.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 4 Results .................................................................................................................................
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