Sin, Organized Charity and the Poor Law in Victorian England

237 Pages·1995·12.117 MB·English

by  Robert Humphreys (auth.)

SIN, ORGANIZED CHARITY AND THE POOR LAW
IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
Sin, Organized Charity
and the Poor Law in
Victorian England
Robert Humphreys
Department of Economic His tory
London School of Economics and Political Science
© Robert Humphreys 1995
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995 978-0-333-63379-3
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the tem1s of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WI P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published in Great Britain 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-39434-0 ISBN 978-0-230-37543-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230375437
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
04 03 02 OJ 00 99 98
First published in the United States of America 1995 by
Scholarly and Reference Division,
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-12755-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Humphreys, Robert.
Sin, organised charity, and the poor law in Victorian England I
Robert Humphreys.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-12755-8 (cloth)
I. Charity Organization Society (London, England)-History.
2. Charities-Great Britain-History-19th century. 3. Poor laws
-Great Britain-History-19th century. I. Title.
HV245.H88 1995
361.7'63'09421 09034---{lc20 95-14318
CIP
To Paul and Adrienne
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables X
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xii
Introduction
2 The Poor Law Crusade against Outdoor Relief 14
The 1834 Poor Law Amendment 14
Poor Law administrative changes, 1834-1869 17
National development of the crusade 21
3 The Provincial Crusade: Results and Reactions 29
The selection of Poor Law unions for analysis 29
Anti-outdoor relief unions and their specific rules 32
Results of the crusade in anti-outdoor relief unions 36
Unions adjacent to provincial centres with a society
practising methodological charity 41
Discussion on the mixed responses to the crusade 44
4 Victorian Ideology, Early Attempts to Organize Charity,
and the Beginnings of the Charity Organisation Society 50
Reforming ideas, the persistence of outdoor relief and
the formation of the COS 51
Early attempts to organize charity 55
The formation and development of the London Charity
Organisation Society 59
5 The Emergence of Provincial Charity Organisation
Societies and Responses, I870-I890 64
The development of provincial Charity Organisation
Societies 64
The provincial COSs and Poor Law guardians 83
Relationships with other charities 87
The COS and the clergy 90
Provident dispensaries 93
Relationships with the London COS 95
vii
Vlll Contents
6 The Activities of Provincial Charity Organisation
Societies, 1870-1890 101
Categorization of applicants and comparative relief values 102
Dividing the deserving poor from the undeserving 110
Methods of COS relief to the deserving 114
Exceptional distress 130
The undeserving: cautionary procedures 133
Lack of COS volunteers 136
Organizational finances and administration costs 138
7 Ideological Change in Late Victorian Britain: The
Response of the Provincial Charity Organisation
Societies and the Local Government Board 144
COS adherence to principles 144
Changing circumstances and attitudes 146
The COS and the LGB: objectives and achievements 159
Discussion 164
Summary and conclusions 171
Appendix General Notes on Poor Law and Organized
Charity Data 175
Notes 177
Bibliography
Archive collections 204
Unpublished theses 207
Parliamentary Papers 208
Nineteenth-century publications and pamphlets 209
Contemporary newspapers and magazines 211
Secondary sources 212
Index 220
List of Figures
2.1 Numbers of outdoor paupers per 1000
population (England and Wales 1849-1869) 19
2.2 Direct expenditure on paupers (England and
Wales 1849-1869) 20
2.3 Metropolitan outdoor adults (excluding lunatics,
the insane, etc.) (1860-1869) 21
3.1 Paupers: England and Wales (average of daily
counts 1870-1889) 30
3.2 Brixworth Poor Law union (average of
1 January and 1 July day counts 1870-1890) 37
3.3 Brixworth outdoor paupers (average of
1 January and 1 July day counts 1870-1890) 38
3.4 Manchester Poor Law union: outdoor paupers
and workhouse inmates (1870-1890) 39
3.5 Manchester Poor Law union: adults on outdoor
relief (1870-1890) 40
3.6 Manchester Poor Law union: out-relief-adults
and children (1870-1890) 40
3.7 Birkenhead Poor Law union: outdoor paupers
and workhouse inmates (1870-1890) 42
6.1 Organization chart for medium-size COS 103
6.2 Procedure recommended for Provincial Charity
Organisation Societies following receipt of an
application 113
ix
List of Tables
2.1 Adult able-bodied paupers in receipt of relief in
England 1872 23
2.2 Outdoor relief and outdoor paupers in England and
Wales 1861-70 25
6.1 Numbers relieved annually and value comparisons
between provincial COSs and Poor Law unions 105
6.2 Annual values of Poor Law outdoor relief and the
annual values of relief provided by a nearby COS to
the average deserving applicant 107
6.3 Percentages of total applicants who were assisted,
not assisted and referred by various provincial societies 115
6.4 Types of relief provided by provincial Charity
Organisation Societies 117
6.5 Manchester and Salford DPS Convalescent Home,
Southport: number of admissions and their categorization 128
6.6 Birkenhead COS Provident Department: details of
deposits 129
6.7 Manchester and Salford DPS: Savings Department
details 130
6.8 Provincial COSs: annual income and administrative
expenditure 139
X
Acknowledgements
There are so many good people who I should acknowledge but regretfully
can here only touch briefly on a few. I am particularly thankful for the
long-term kindness and encouragement of Paul Johnson. His constructive
support and ever perspicacious comments have been the main pillar of
strength throughout the research leading to this book. My grateful thanks
also to Eddie Hunt for his scholarship and helpful advice during my
research.
The enthusiastic erudition passed on by other members of the
Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics and
Political Science during many stimulating discussions must also be
gratefully acknowledged. For their unflagging camaraderie I must
especially record my gratitude to Dudley Baines, Max Schulze, Kirtida
Parikh, Mary Morgan, Francesca Carnevali, Peter Howlett, Tim Meldrum,
Linda Sampson, Ann Morris and Wendy Willson. The many whose names
I have ungraciously omitted remain in my appreciative thoughts.
Since becoming involved in economic history I have been moved by
the generous and patient help ever available from my numerous contacts
whether in universities, libraries, public record offices or other learned
institutions. My grateful thanks to them all.
August 1994
xi