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WELFARE PROVISION IN OXFORD DURING THE LATTER STAGES OF THE OLD POOR LAW, 1800–1834*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2009

RICHARD DYSON
RICHARD DYSON*
Affiliation:
Oxford Brookes University
*
Department of History, Oxford Brookes University, Tonge Building, Headington Campus Oxford, OX3 0BPrdyson@brookes.ac.uk
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Abstract

While recent research in the English context on the so-called ‘economy of makeshifts’ has demonstrated the importance of alternative welfare options outside of the poor law, less work has been conducted on the situation in larger towns and cities. This article seeks to remedy this imbalance by examining the different welfare systems available in one city, Oxford, during the early nineteenth century. Poor law provision in the city, while extensive, was significantly less per capita than in rural parts of Oxfordshire. There was a high degree of charitable provision, not only from the continued survival of endowed charity, but also from the creation of newer subscription charities. The contribution made by charity to medical provision for the poor was especially significant, as was the role of emergency subscriptions in alleviating short-term economic and other crises. With such a varied range of assistance, traditional assumptions concerning the importance of the poor law in urban areas may require revision, with implications not only for the scale and measurement of poverty, but also for the ways in which both poor and wealthy alike managed and negotiated the supply of welfare.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 943 - 962
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank Professor Steven King of Oxford Brookes University for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this article and the staffs of the Oxfordshire Record Office, Oxfordshire Health Archives, Centre for Oxfordshire Studies, and Bodleian Library for providing the relevant source materials.

References

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16 S. King, ‘Making the most of opportunity: the economy of makeshifts in the early modern north’, in King and Tomkins, eds., The poor in England, pp. 228–57, at p. 238. See also Broad, J., ‘Parish economies of welfare, 1650–1834’, Historical Journal, 42 (1999), pp. 985–1006CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

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19 What work that has been attempted has focused on larger cities. See Smith, R., ‘The relief of urban poverty outside the poor law, 1800–1850: a study of Nottingham’, Midland History, 2 (1974), pp. 215–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar; G. B. Hindle, Provision for the relief of the poor in Manchester, 1754–1826 (Manchester, 1975).

20 M. J. D. Roberts, ‘Head versus heart? Voluntary associations and charity organisation in England, c. 1700–1850’, in Cunningham and Innes, eds., Charity, philanthropy and reform.

21 A. Crossley, ed., Victoria county history of Oxfordshire (VCH Oxon), iv:Oxford (Oxford, 1979), pp. 245–8.

22 Ibid., p. 50.

23 F. Hill, Georgian Lincoln (Cambridge, 1966); N. M. Herbert, ed., Victoria county history of Gloucestershire, iv:Gloucester (Oxford, 1988).

24 VCH Oxon, iv, pp. 208–12; Census of England and Wales 1801, British Parliamentary Papers (BPP) 1802, vii; Census 1831, BPP 1833, xxxvi.

25 VCH Oxon, iv, p. 211.

26 Municipal corporations boundaries: report of commissioners, part 3, BPP 1837, xxviii, p. 11.

27 R. Dyson and S. King, ‘“The streets are paved with idle beggars”: experiences and perceptions of beggars in nineteenth-century Oxford’, in B. Althammer ed., Bettler in der europaischen Stadt der Moderne (Frankfurt, 2007), pp. 59–89; R. Dyson, ‘Who were the poor of Oxford in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?’, in Gestrich, King, and Raphael, eds., Being poor in modern Europe, pp. 43–68, at p. 48.

28 VCH Oxon, iv, pp. 182–3; Bodleian Library (Bodl.), MS Top. Oxon. d.252, minutes of the general committee for the relief of the poor in Oxford, 1830–40.

29 W. Thwaites, ‘Oxford food riots: a community and its markets’, in A. Randall and A. Charlesworth, eds., Markets, market culture and popular protest in eighteenth-century Britain and Ireland (Liverpool, 1996), pp. 137–62; Oxford City Archives, C/FC/1/A1/07, Council act book ‘G’, 1788–1813, fos. 152v-153. Removal orders were used to send paupers back to their original parish of settlement. See Landau, ‘The regulation of immigration’, p. 542.

30 Innes, ‘“The mixed economy of welfare”’, pp. 147–9.

31 VCH Oxon, iv, pp. 343–8.

32 Abstract of returns relative to the expence and maintenance of the poor, BPP 1803-4, viii, pp. 400–7; Abstract of answers and returns relative to the expense and maintenance of the poor in England 1813, 1814, 1815, BPP 1818, xix, pp. 354, 360.

33 K. Williams, From pauperism to poverty (London, 1981), pp. 37–43; D. Eastwood, Governing rural England: tradition and transformation in local government, 1780–1840 (Oxford, 1994), p. 142.

34 Report from His Majesty's commissioners into the poor laws in England and Wales: town queries, BPP 1834, xxxv, p. 194.

35 See K. D. M. Snell, Parish and belonging: community, identity and welfare in England and Wales, 1700–1950 (Cambridge, 2006), pp. 264–5.

36 While regional variations in levels of pauperism have been studied, relatively little work has been done on urban–rural differences. See Williams, From pauperism to poverty, pp. 149–50.

37 F. M. Eden, The state of the poor (3 vols., London, 1797; repr. 1963), ii, p. 592; Report from His Majesty's commissioners for inquiring into the state of the poor laws, appendix A, part 1, BPP, xxviii (1834), p. 899; Town queries, 1834, p. 194. For other workhouse examples, see King, Poverty and welfare, pp. 160–4.

38 Dyson, ‘Who were the poor’, pp. 49–51.

39 Smith, ‘Ageing and well-being’, pp. 84–5.

40 Town queries, 1834, p. 194.

41 Ibid.; Eden, The state of the poor, pp. 592–3; Bodl., Vet. A5 a.32 (1), The accounts of the house of industry, Oxford, 1805–1806.

42 Report from His Majesty's commissioners, 1834, p. 988. For similar findings, see King, Poverty and welfare, p. 162.

43 Oxfordshire Record Office (ORO), MSS D.D. Par. Oxford St Clements b.16–17, overseers' accounts, 1830–1; MSS D.D. Par. Oxford St Giles b.32, overseers' accounts, 1824–32. Removals, county rates, and other administrative costs have been excluded.

44 Bodl., G.A. Oxon. c.127, Receipts and disbursements of the Corporation of Guardians of the Poor of the Eleven United Parishes, 1826–7; Bodl., G.A. Oxon. c. 50 (131), Receipts and disbursements, 1833–4.

45 King, Poverty and welfare, pp. 155–6.

46 Payments in kind accounted for 30 per cent of all casual expenditure in the two parishes in 1800, 20 per cent in 1830.

47 Receipts and disbursements, 1833–4.

48 R. Dyson, ‘The nature of urban poverty: an Oxford case study c. 1760–1835’ (Ph.D. thesis, Oxford Brookes, 2007), pp. 179–80. For other examples, see S. King, A Fylde country practice: medicine and society in Lancashire, circa 1760–1840 (Lancaster, 2001), pp. 34–41.

49 Oxford University and City Herald (OUCH), 8 Sept. 1827.

50 See K. D. M. Snell and J. Millar, ‘Lone-parent families and the welfare state: past and present’, Continuity and Change, 2 (1987), pp. 387–422; Ottoway, S., ‘Providing for the elderly in eighteenth century England’, Continuity and Change, 13 (1998), pp. 391–418CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Williams, S., ‘Poor relief, labourers’ households and living standards in rural England c. 1770–1834: a Bedfordshire case study', Economic History Review, 58 (2005), pp. 485–519CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

51 Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. c.476, visiting book of the St Giles Benevolent Society 1823–35.

52 Dyson, ‘The nature of urban poverty’, p. 164.

53 Again, research on levels of generosity has largely focused on regional differences. See, for example, King, Poverty and welfare, ch. 9.

54 Report from select committee on poor-rate returns, BPP 1822, v, pp. 136, 139.

55 Abstract of returns, 1803–4, pp. 406–7; Account of the money expended, BPP 1835, xlvii, pp. 338, 341. Population totals taken from Census 1801; Census 1831.

56 See Taylor, J. S., ‘A different kind of Speenhamland: non-resident relief in the industrial revolution’, Journal of British Studies, 30 (1991), pp. 183–208CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

57 OUCH, 19 Oct. 1833.

58 See M. Overton, Agricultural revolution in England: the transformation of the agrarian economy, 1500–1850 (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 171–88.

59 Dyson, ‘Who were the poor’, p. 47.

60 For an exception see Gorsky, Patterns of philanthropy, p. 57.

61 For rural examples, see Eastwood, Governing rural England, p. 123.

62 J. Curthoys, ‘“To perfect the college …”: the Christ Church almsmen 1546–1888’, Oxoniensia, 60 (1995), pp. 379–95; Tomkins, The experience of urban poverty, pp. 92–6; 32nd report of the commissioners for charities, part 2, BPP 1837–8, xxvi, p. 657.

63 6th report of the commissioners for inquiring concerning charities, BPP 1822, ix, pp. 379–462. Educational charities have been excluded, as they did not directly relieve the poor. Loan charities have also been omitted, as they were generally given to wealthier artisans and freemen.

64 Ibid., pp. 401–3, 462; 32nd report charities, p. 657.

65 Curthoys, ‘“To perfect the college …”’, pp. 383, 388; Tomkins, The experience of urban poverty, p. 93.

66 6th report charities, pp. 387, 432, 446–7.

67 Dyson, ‘The nature of urban poverty’, p. 193.

68 Tomkins, The experience of urban poverty, p. 84.

69 ORO, MSS D.D. Par. Oxford St Giles c. 11, Eynsham charity accounts 1798–1854. In the same year there were only 105 people in receipt of poor relief, though some of these also received the Eynsham charity: ORO, MSS D.D. Par. Oxford St Giles b.32, overseers' accounts, 1824–32.

70 6th report charities, pp. 379–462; 32nd report charities, pp. 655–9; Curthoys, ‘“To perfect the college …”’, p. 383; Tomkins, The experience of urban poverty, p. 93; Poor-rate returns, 1822, pp. 136, 139.

71 Gorsky, Patterns of philanthropy, pp. 56–8.

72 6th report charities, pp. 401–3, 446–7.

73 Tomkins, The experience of urban poverty, pp. 109–10.

74 Roberts, ‘Voluntary associations’, pp. 68–73; Morris, R. J., ‘Voluntary societies and British urban elites, 1780–1850: an analysis’, Historical Journal, 26 (1983), pp. 95–118CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

75 See A. H. T. Robb-Smith, A short history of the Radcliffe Infirmary (Oxford, 1970).

76 Bodl., G.A. Oxon. b.179, The state of the Radcliffe Infirmary, 1771–73, 75, 77, 80–81; Oxfordshire Health Archives (OHA), RI 1 A2, Radcliffe Infirmary annual reports, 1820–9. For the support offered to the poor by other infirmaries, see Tomkins, The experience of urban poverty, pp. 135–41.

77 Robb-Smith, Radcliffe Infirmary, pp. 25–6.

78 OHA, RI 9 A1/1/1, Radcliffe Infirmary admission register, 1812–15.

79 VCH Oxon, iv, p. 360.

80 Bodl., MS Eng. Misc. c.153 (119–20), Report of the Oxford Medical Dispensary 1814 (Oxford, 1815).

81 Bodl., G.A. Oxon. c.47 (150), Report of the Oxford Medical Dispensary 1831 (Oxford, 1832).

82 Bodl., G.A. Oxon. b.113 (92), Rules and accounts for the Lying-in Charity in Oxford for Poor Married Women (Oxford, 1822).

83 Bodl., G.A. Oxon. c.38 (1), Oxford Society for the Relief of Distressed Travellers: statement of the views of the society (Oxford, 1814), pp. 1–2.

84 Bodl., G.A. Oxon. c.38 (2), Oxford Society for the Relief of Distressed Travellers: annual report 1817 (Oxford, 1817), p. 2; OUCH, 24 Jan. 1829.

85 Oxford Society for the Relief of Distressed Travellers, 1817 report, p. 3; Dyson and King, ‘Beggars’, p. 71.

86 Bodl., Per. G.A. Oxon. 8o 487, Oxford Benevolent Society, 3rd–68th report (Oxford, 1826–90); ORO, Morrell xii/b/2, Accounts of the St Giles's Benevolent Society, 1831.

87 Oxford Benevolent Society, 1826 report.

88 ORO, Morrell xii/b/2; Oxford Benevolent Society, 1833 report. Poor relief expenditure in the United Parishes for 1831 was £6,297, St Giles's £1,091: Account of the money expended, 1835, p. 341.

89 Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. c.476, fo. 134.

90 Ibid., fo. 127.

91 OUCH, 24 Nov. 1827.

92 Ibid., 19 May 1827.

93 A clothing and coal fund were mentioned in the bad winter of 1830: Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. d.252, fo. 41.

94 Roberts, ‘Voluntary associations’, pp. 72–3.

95 See, for example, Jaxkson's Oxford Journal (JOJ), 3 Feb. 1776.

96 Emergency subscriptions were known to have been set up in the years 1795, 1800–2, 1809, 1811, 1813–14, 1816, 1819–20, 1830, and 1832. See Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. e.213, minutes relating to a soup kitchen and other Oxford charities, 1772–1837; MS Top. Oxon. d.252; JOJ, 14 Dec. 1816.

97 JOJ, 3, 17, and 24 Jan. 1795; Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. e.213, fos. 4–5.

98 Ibid., fos. 7–9.

99 Ibid., fo. 26.

100 Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. d.252, fo. 9.

101 JOJ, 31 Jan. 1795.

102 Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. e.213, fos. 17–18. In 1811 the population of Oxford (including St Clement's) was 13,419: Census 1811, BPP 1812, xi.

103 Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. d.252, fos. 10, 35, 40, 44, 47.

104 Bodl., MS Top. Oxon. e.213, fo. 14.

105 In the nearby town of Banbury, Eden calculated that a family of four used nine quartern loaves a week; a family of six, eighteen loaves: Eden, The state of the poor, pp. 585–6.

106 King, ‘Making the most of opportunity’; Broad, ‘Parish economies of welfare’, p. 995.

107 JOJ, 6 Feb. 1830.

108 See Archer, The pursuit of stability, pp. 163–75.

109 The National Archives, London, PROB 11/1704/15.

110 Dyson and King, ‘Beggars’, p. 72.

111 I. Ker and T. Garnall, eds., The letters and diaries of John Henry Newman, i:1801 to 1826 (Oxford, 1978), pp. 177, 198, 269–70.

112 See T. Sokoll, ‘Negotiating a living: Essex pauper letters from London, 1800–1834’, and J. Boulton, ‘“It is extreme necessity that makes me do this”: some “survival strategies” of pauper households in London's west end during the early eighteenth century’, in Fontaine and Schlumbohm, eds., Household strategies for survival, pp. 19–46 and 47–69.

113 See Broad, ‘Parish economies of welfare’, pp. 1002–5.

114 32nd report charities, part IV, BPP, 1839, xiv, pp. 349–99; Account of the money expended, 1835, p. 113.

115 Hill, Georgian Lincoln, pp. 70–1, 173–4, 178, 280–1.

116 W. Page and J. W. Willis-Bund, eds., Victoria county history of Worcestershire, iv (London, 1924), pp. 415–16; 19th report charities, BPP, 1828, xi, pp. 489–540; 22nd report charities, BPP, 1830, xii, pp. 251–278; 23rd report charities, BPP, 1830, xii, pp. 547–70. Average annual poor relief expenditure in Worcester during the 1820s was £3,833: Poor-rate returns, 1822, p. 194; Account of the money expended, BPP 1825, iv, p. 234; Account of the money expended, BPP 1830–1, xi, p. 225; Account of the money expended, 1835, p. 218.

117 12th report charities, BPP, 1825, x, pp. 161–76; A. Crossley, ed., VCH Oxon, x, Banbury hundred (Oxford, 1972), pp. 126–7; JOJ, 20 July 1822; Poor-rate returns, 1822, p. 135; Account of the money expended, 1825, p. 170; Account of the money expended, 1830–1, p. 157.

118 9th report charities, BPP, 1823, ix, pp. 536–40; Poor-rate returns, 1822, p. 159; Account of the money expended, 1825, p. 196; Account of the money expended, 1830–1, p. 185.

119 Dyson, ‘Who were the poor’, p. 48.

120 Roberts, ‘Voluntary associations’, p. 74.

121 Innes, ‘The “mixed economy of welfare”’, p. 145. For the attractions of one parish, see Hill, Georgian Lincoln, p. 163.