The Poor in England, 1700-1900: An Economy of Makeshifts

296 Pages·1.701 MB·English

by  Alannah Tomkins, Steven King

king&t jkt 6/2/03 2:57 PM Page 1
Alannah Tomkins is Lecturer in History at ‘Each chapter is fluently written and deeply immersed in
the University of Keele. primary sources. The work as a whole makes an original
contribution to the historiography of poverty, combining as it T The poor
Steven King is Reader in History at
Oxford Brookes University. does a high degree of scholarship with intellectual innovation.’ h
Professor Anne Borsay, University of Wales, Swansea e
in England

p
This fascinating collection of studies investigates English poverty
o
between 1700 and 1850 and the ways in which the poor made
o
ends meet. The phrase ‘economy of makeshifts’ has often been 1700–1850
r
used to summarise the patchy, disparate and sometimes failing

strategies of the poor for material survival. Incomes or benefits i
n
derived through the ‘economy’ ranged from wages supported by
An economy of makeshifts
under-employment via petty crime through to charity; however,
E
until now, discussions of this array of makeshifts usually fall
n
short of answering vital questions about how and when the poor
g
secured access to them. This book represents the single most
l
significant attempt in print to supply the English ‘economy of a
makeshifts’ with a solid, empirical basis and to advance the n
concept of makeshifts from a vague but convenient label to a d
more precise yet inclusive definition.

1
Individual chapters written by some of the leading, emerging
7
historians of welfare examine how advantages gained from 0
access to common land, mobilisation of kinship support, crime, 0
and other marginal resources could prop up struggling –
households. They consider how the balance of these strategies 1
might change over time or be modified by gender, life-cycle and 8
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geography. A comprehensive introduction summarises the state
0
of research on English poverty, and a thought-provoking
conclusion makes valuable suggestions for the direction of future
research.
King
This book will be crucial for historians of social life and welfare,
and
of interest to researchers working on eighteenth and nineteenth
century England and will be useful to undergraduates seeking Tomkins
guidance on the historiography of poverty.
Eds
Edited by
Stephen King and Alannah Tomkins
Cover illustration: A Charity Ball – Dancing for
the Millionby George Cruickshank. From The
Comic Almanack(1838). Reproduced by courtesy
of the Director and Librarian, the John Rylands
University Library of Manchester (R47504).
The poor in England
1700–1850

The poor in England
1700–1850
An economy of makeshifts
edited by Steven King and Alannah Tomkins
Manchester University Press
Manchester and New York
distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave
Copyright © Manchester University Press 2003
While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester
University Press, copyright in individual chapters belongs to their
respective authors, and no chapter may be reproduced wholly or in
part without the express permission in writing of both author and
publisher.
Published by Manchester University Press
Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK
and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
Distributed exclusively in the USA by
Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10010, USA
Distributed exclusively in Canada by
UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall,
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for
ISBN 0 7190 6159 8 hardback
First published 2003
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Typeset in Baskerville and Stone Sans
by Carnegie Publishing Ltd, Lancaster
Printed in Great Britain
by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and Kings Lynn
Steven King: for L. and a Baldon picnic
Alannah Tomkins: for Liam and Edward

Contents
Contents Contents
List of tables page viii
List of figures ix
Acknowledgements x
1 Introduction Alannah Tomkins and Steven King 1
2 ‘Not by bread only’? Common right, parish relief and
endowed charity in a forest economy, c. 1600–1800
Steve Hindle 39
3 The economy of makeshifts and the poor law: a game
of chance? Margaret Hanly 76
4 ‘Agents in their own concerns’? Charity and the economy
of makeshifts in eighteenth-century Britain Sarah Lloyd 100
5 Crime, criminal networks and the survival strategies
of the poor in early eighteenth-century London
Heather Shore 137
6 Pawnbroking and the survival strategies of the urban
poor in 1770s York Alannah Tomkins 166
7 Kinship, poor relief and the welfare process in early
modern England Sam Barrett 199
8 Making the most of opportunity: the economy of
makeshifts in the early modern north Steven King 228
9 Conclusion Steven King and Alannah Tomkins 258
Index 281
vii
List of tables
List of tables List of tables
2.1 Population and hearth tax exemption in three
Northamptonshire parishes 43
7.1 Kinship density in six West Riding towns 206
7.2 Kinship density over time in six West Riding towns 207
7.3 Bequests in West Riding wills 209
7.4 Kinship density and poor relief spending 210
7.5 Kinship density, pensions and receipt of relief 211
7.6 Poor relief recipients and kinship links 212
7.7 Kinship typologies amongst those on relief 215
7.8 Kinship characteristics of non-ratepayers 217
7.9 Kinship connections of charity recipients 218
viii
List of figures
List of figures List of figures
2.1 Annual poor relief expenditure in three Geddington
Chase parishes 56
3.1 Map of Lancashire 81
6.1 Map of York 174
6.2 Pledges accepted by George Fettes 179
6.3 Pledges and redemptions by the Beeforth family 189
7.1 Length of time on relief and kinship depth 213
7.2 Payment type and kinship links in Bramley 214
8.1 Monthly pension payments in seven north-west
townships 232
8.2 Vestry decision-making in three north-western
townships 233
8.3 Charity and poor law expenditure in four
north-western communities 238
8.4 Pension payments in early nineteenth-century Cowpe 246
8.5 Community-level economy of makeshifts in Cowpe 247
ix