Poverty, public health and the state of Britain c1780-1939 (Depth 3)

The Government, Self-help and Charity, 1847-80

To what extent did Central Government control of poor relief change in the years 1847-80?

Significance of the Andover Workhouse Scandal

The Andover Workhouse

• A 'model' workhouse - managed to abolish outdoor relief and maintained a strict diet
• Andover was used as an example to show how successful the 1834 Act could be - several reports praising the running of the workhouse
• M'Dougal and his wife were appointed in 1837 - were trusted so no visits took place until 1845
• Henry Parker (Poor Law assistant) investigated workhouse - due to claims of poor conditions and abuse
• Investigation discovered rumours to be true - sexual abuse, served barely enough food to survive, paupers had to eat the meat and marrow from bones
• Resulted in: M'Dougal was sacked, Parker blamed for not discovering problems sooner (even though reduced assistants from 21-9 = job impossible to cover) and sacking Henry Parker
• Parker wrote a pamphlet criticsing the Poor Law Comission - gained support from Chadwick

Problems with the Poor Law Comission

• The comission had too much power and Parliament didn't need to intervene  - get away with more and would implement only the stuff that would benefit them
• Scandal revealed the lack of willingness of the Comission to detect and correct problems with workhouses
• Treatment of Henry Parker - alarmed those who knew how assistants should be treated in problematic situations

The Poor Law Board, 1847-75

• In 1847, the Poor Law Comission was replaced with the Poor Law Board - done in order to tie it closer to the govt
• Had cabinent ministers on the board with an MP being president
• Some original members of the Poor Law Comission kept their jobs

Indoor relief vs Outdoor relief

• By 1847, outdoor relief seemed impossible to abolish - it was much cheaper than indoor relief (3s 5d > 1s 9d)
• In 1852, Poor Law Board issued an general order banning all outdoor relief to the able bodied poor, if they needed help they'd have to go into the workhouse - failed, guardians continued to issue outdoor relief even when told to stop
• Public Work Acts of 1863, issued by Poor Law Board went against principle of 1834 Act as it gave outdoor relief to able bodied paupers

Treatment of Paupers after 1847

• 1834 Amendment Act stated that workhouses should follow principle of less eligbility to deter able bodied and be sympathetic towards non able bodied - hadn't happened due to cost of providing different relief for different groups
• There was a belief that pauper children needed different treatmet and education so that they didn't become adult paupers
• 1848 Poor Law Schools Act - provide district schools away from workhouse + industrial schools to learn a trade
• By 1850s, parishes moved away from district schools to smaller ones in workhouses
• By 1860s, some children were sent to live with working class families
• Illness main cause of poverty - before 1847 very little poor relief money (£150k out of £34.5m) was…