4: Changing attitudes towards the poor 1834-70

Question 1

when was the Andover workhouse scandal?

Answer 1

1845

Question 2

When was the Andover workhouse established and what was it like?

Answer 2

established 1836
Had a notorious reputation for discipline under Colin McDougal

Question 3

4 things that happened at the Andover workhouse (pre-scandal)

Answer 3

1. separated men and women
2. eating with fingers
3. compulsory uniforms
4. long working day crushing animal bones for fertiliser

Question 4

what job was done at the andover workhouse and why was it done?

Answer 4

Crushing animal bones for fertiliser, because it was a useful and profitable service

Question 5

What happened at Andover 1837-46?

Answer 5

61 paupers were sent to prison having deliberately committed crimes to escape the workhouse.

Question 6

at the Andover workhouse, the inmates were so hungry that..

Answer 6

they would eat any meat left on the bones they crushed, or break the bones to suck the marrow out.

Fights would often break out over meat.

Question 7

At the Andover workhouse, the year before the scandal, what happened?

Answer 7

in 1844, there were rumours about the meat eating practice, but the guardians did little to investigate and only voted to ban bone crushing during hot weather.

Question 8

how did the scandal come about in the public eye?

Answer 8

local farmer and Poor Law Guardian, Hugh Mundy, took his concerns to his MP. His MP, Wakely, asked the Home Secretary about the rumours in 1845 which launched a full scale investigation.

Question 9

who found the allegations at Andover to be true after an investigation?

Answer 9

Henry Parker - a Poor Law Commissioner.

Question 10

Other than the allegations at Andover being true, what else did the investigation find?

Answer 10

that McDougal, the owner, was also abusing the female inmates.

Question 11

how was the Poor Law Commission treated after Andover?

Answer 11

attacked by the public, press and parliament for failing to supervise its institutions.

Question 12

2 positive impacts that came after Andover scandal?

Answer 12

1. in 1847, the Poor Law Commission was dissolved and replaced by a government board.
2. Marked a shift in the national opinion of poverty - social responsibility.

Question 13

reality of Andover impact - not so positive?

Answer 13

The workhouse still remained at the centre of poor relief - most common relief system in the 1800s.
Between 1851-66, 100 more workhouses were built. Yes, they came under closer scrutiny, but only after additional scandals (e.g. 1848 Huddersfield).

Question 14

Andover was not the only scandal. Give another example.

Answer 14

1848 Huddersfield

Question 15

a longer term impact of the Andover/other workhouse scandals

Answer 15

the Workhouse Visiting Society was set up in 1858 to make unofficial checks on workhouses.

Question 16

who was charity mainly organised by

Answer 16

the MC who were motivated by social conscience.

Question 17

the growth of charity meant the end of..

Answer 17

outdoor relief - as in 1844, the government restricted it only for the sick and infirm.

Question 18

Charity directly challenged the popular belief of

Answer 18

Victorian individual responsibility and self-help

Question 19

how was charity linked to women?

Answer 19

allowed affluent women to participate in public affairs despite restrictive gender roles.
Charity was seen as an embodiment of maternal qualities.

Question 20

Key individual for charity: Angela Burdett-Couts

Answer 20

• increased opportunities for pauper children by finding them jobs in the military
• co-founded a hostel for poor women who had turned to prostitution (with Charles Dickens)

Question 21

what was the main activity of Victorian charity

Answer 21

collection of statistics - groups such as the Workhouse Visiting Society allowed a more organised approach to relief to come about as they collected information on WC experiences.

Question 22

The Lancet investigation

Answer 22

Charity. In 1865, the medical journal did an investigation into the quality of medical care in the workhouses. This led to the 1867 Metropolitan Poor Act, which demanded that medical facilities be separate from the workhouse and paved the way for specialised care for the poor/sick.

Question 23

Self-help was not a new concept, but

Answer 23

developed as part of industrialisation - men were achieving great wealth as a result of their own efforts.

Question 24

self-help was embodied in which organisation?

Answer 24

the 1869 Charity Organisation Society, which was formed to distinguish between the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor, and recommend solutions to the ‘deserving’ poor on how to get back on their feet.

Question 25

What did the Charity Organisation Society aim to do?

Answer 25

be objective and only grant assistance to the genuine cases after rigorous investigation. This is because it rejected the practice of excessive assistance, reflecting the growing fear that charity only encouraged higher levels of dependence.

Question 26

name the 5 individuals who challenged attitudes

Answer 26

thomas carlyle, henry mayhew, elizabeth gaskell, charles dickens, samuel smiles

Question 27

Thomas Carlyle’s views

Answer 27

Was critical of industrialisation and said that the rich and poor were growing more divided in this “worship of money”. He said workhouses were “Poor Law Prisons” and his work was well read by MC worried about social stability.

Question 28

name of Thomas Carlyle’s work specificially

Answer 28

1843 Past and Present.

Question 29

name of Henry Mayhew’s work specifically

Answer 29

London Labour and London Poor

Question 30

Henry Mayhew’s views

Answer 30

he did the first study on poor relief by a private individual and focused on wages - employers’ low wages provided insufficient funds to save for cases of future unemployment. He said that the poor were unable to earn their way even if they wanted to.

Question 31

Elizabeth Gaskell’s most famous work

Answer 31

the novel Mary Barton 1848 wrote about the WC lives amid the smoke stacks of Manchester

Question 32

Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels in general

Answer 32

they acquired a lot of interest as they offered a realistic impression of the WC experience without challenging the established order.

Question 33

Charles Dickens and his early life

Answer 33

firsthand experienced poverty - he worked in a shoe blacking factory aged 12 and his parents had been in the workhouse for debt.

Question 34

Charles Dickens had a strong..

Answer 34

social conscience and sought to give a voice to the poor.

Question 35

Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)

Answer 35

published serially 1837-9 Popularised the image of the workhouse as a place of twisted charity.

Question 36

Charles Dickens’ novels in general

Answer 36

Reminded readers that poverty existed around them (e.g. A Christmas Carol, Hard Times) with a common theme being the struggle of the poor. His novels were widely read, especially as they were serialised, which allowed people to pay as little as a shilling for each monthly instalment.

Question 37

Who was Samuel Smiles as a figure?

Answer 37

social reformer who wanted to unite the interests of the MC and WC.

Question 38

Samuel Smiles’s book

Answer 38

1859 Self Help - placed individual determination to improve oneself as the most important element of success.

Question 39

How many copies did Self Help 1859 sell?

Answer 39

by 1900, 250,000 copies.

Question 40

What did Self Help 1859 challenge?

Answer 40

the charity dependency and reflected Britain’s industrial economy and Victorian ideology.

Question 41

how was self-help more attractive financially?

Answer 41

in 1862, to keep a person in a workhouse for a week, it cost the ratepayers 4s8d. By supporting them ‘outside’, it cost less than half. Self-help considered opportunities for the WC more important than excessive charity.