Poverty And Pauperism

Question 1

Self help definition

Answer 1

A belief in the importance of peoples own abilities and determination to help themselves become successful

Question 2

What book presented the idea of self help

Answer 2

Samuel Smiles book “self help” in 1859

Question 3

Pauperism definition

Answer 3

Being poor in general and anyone who is a recipient of state provided relief under the poor laws

Question 4

Parish

Answer 4

Small territorial areas divided around Anglican churches

Question 5

Poor relief

Answer 5

Assistance given by government or charities to alleviate the impact of poverty usually through the provision of shelter, food or clothes

Question 6

When was the Elizabethan poor law passed

Answer 6

1601

Question 7

When was the poor employment act passed

Answer 7

1817

Question 8

When was the poor law amendment act passed

Answer 8

1834

Question 9

When was the Andover workhouse scandal

Answer 9

1845

Question 10

How many poorhouses where there by 1776

Answer 10

More than 2000 each containing 20-50 inmates

Question 11

When was the speenhamland system passed

Answer 11

1795

Question 12

What was the Speenhamland system

Answer 12

a method of giving relief to the poor, based on the price of bread and the number of children a man had.

Question 13

What was the average cost spent on poor relief between 1814 to 1818

Answer 13

£6.4 million

Question 14

Between 1802 and 1803 what percentage of people received poor relief in the north and the south

Answer 14

North- 10%

South- 23%

Question 15

In the early 1800’s what was the average pay a week in the north

Answer 15

12 shillings a week

Question 16

What was the Royal Commission and when was it established

Answer 16

Established on 1st of Feb 1832 and it had 9 commissioners including Nassau Senior and Edwin and Chadwick who sought to make recommendations for the improvement of the poor law system

Question 17

What did the royal commission suggest should be changed about the poor law ( 4 things )

Answer 17

• removal of outdoor relief altogether
• use of more punishing workhouses as an deterrent to those seeking relief
• the grouping together of parishes so they could manage workhouses better
• the creation of a central board to implement and over see the system

Question 18

What were attitudes towards the poor

Answer 18

That the poor were indolent ( idle and lazy) and it was believed it was their fault they were poor

Question 19

What was a “progressive opinion” in regards to poverty and what individuals had it

Answer 19

Thomas Paine and Robert Owen- they thought the government should provide welfare support and had sympathy for the people and didn’t think it was their fault. Owen believed people would better themselves if given the opportunity to do so through education

Question 20

What is utilitarianism and who believed it

Answer 20

Jeremy Bentham- believed in anything that provided the “greatest happiness for the greatest number,”

Question 21

What was the cost of the poor law between 1815-1834

Answer 21

Poor relief expenditure approached 2% of GDP and didn’t dip below £5.7 million

Question 22

How did the improved prosperity of the 1820s see a decline in expenditure on poor relief

Answer 22

After 1824 the cost per head was 9s 2d compared to 11s 7d between 1819 and 1823

Question 23

What does “less eligibility” mean

Answer 23

The concept of deliberately making poor relief harsh so that only the most destitute and those truly desperate could apply for it

Question 24

How did parishes change after the poor law commission

Answer 24

Organised 15000 existing parishes into 600 larger unions

Question 25

How much did the workhouse in Banbury cost? What year? And how many people

Answer 25

£6,200, 1835, 300 people

Question 26

By 1862 how many did it cost to either keep a pauper in an institution or not

Answer 26

4s 8d to keep a pauper in an institution, only 2s 3d for outdoor relief

Question 27

How much did the economic historian George Boyer estimate indoor relief was more expensive than outdoor relief

Answer 27

50 to 100% more expensive

Question 28

What was the riot act

Answer 28

A piece of legislation that was passed in 1714 which allowed local authorities to declare groups of 12 or more an illegal assembly.

Question 29

How did the Times newspaper show its opposition to the Poor Law

Answer 29

It came out publicly against it on 30th April 1834 and ran an ongoing debate on the legislation with the morning chronicle

Question 30

Who was the master responsible for the Andover regime

Answer 30

Colin McDougal

Question 31

What was the Andover scandals

Answer 31

Inmates were starving where they eat the bone marrow they were required to crush and the guardians were cruel and punished for slight mistakes in their work

Question 32

How many workhouses had been built between 1851 and 1866 and how many had been their post 1834

Answer 32

100 and this was in addition to the 402 which had been constructed in the immediate years after 1834

Question 33

Philanthropy

Answer 33

A general concern for the welfare of others usually characterised by donations of money or other resources aimed at helping people.

Question 34

When was the Charity Organisation Society formed and what was this purpose

Answer 34

1869 and it’s purpose was to distinguish between the deserving and underserving poor and then to help the deserving poor from the best means