Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- Preface
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY: POOR RELIEF IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE BEFORE 1597
- CHAPTER II POOR RELIEF IN CAMBRIDGE DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
- CHAPTER III POOR RELIEF IN WISBECH DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
- CHAPTER IV POOR LAW ADMINISTRATION IN THE RURAL AREAS DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
- CHAPTER V WAGE PROBLEMS. THE PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT OF THE POOR. FIRST PHASE OF THE MOVEMENT
- CHAPTER VI HOUSING PROBLEMS AND PAUPER LABOUR IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. THE ISLE OF ELY AND THE STATUTE OF 1723
- CHAPTER VII THE WORKHOUSE MOVEMENT IN THE TOWNS OF CAMBRIDGE AND ROYSTON, 1723–1785
- CHAPTER VIII THE WORKHOUSE MOVEMENT IN RURAL CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 1723–1785
- CHAPTER IX THE URBAN WORKHOUSES OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 1785–1834
- CHAPTER X THE RURAL WORKHOUSES OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 1785–1834. PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS OF 1804 AND 1834
- CHAPTER XI SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL, 1660–1834
- CHAPTER XII PAUPER APPRENTICESHIP
- CHAPTER XIII BASTARDY
- CHAPTER XIV RELIEF OUTSIDE THE WORKHOUSE, 1660–1782
- CHAPTER XV RELIEF OUTSIDE THE WORKHOUSE, 1782–1834
- CHAPTER XVI CONSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL POLICY
- CHAPTER XVII CONCLUSIONS
- APPENDIX
- MS. Sources and Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Places
- Index of Special Subjects
- Plate section
CHAPTER XV - RELIEF OUTSIDE THE WORKHOUSE, 1782–1834
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- Preface
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY: POOR RELIEF IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE BEFORE 1597
- CHAPTER II POOR RELIEF IN CAMBRIDGE DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
- CHAPTER III POOR RELIEF IN WISBECH DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
- CHAPTER IV POOR LAW ADMINISTRATION IN THE RURAL AREAS DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
- CHAPTER V WAGE PROBLEMS. THE PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT OF THE POOR. FIRST PHASE OF THE MOVEMENT
- CHAPTER VI HOUSING PROBLEMS AND PAUPER LABOUR IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. THE ISLE OF ELY AND THE STATUTE OF 1723
- CHAPTER VII THE WORKHOUSE MOVEMENT IN THE TOWNS OF CAMBRIDGE AND ROYSTON, 1723–1785
- CHAPTER VIII THE WORKHOUSE MOVEMENT IN RURAL CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 1723–1785
- CHAPTER IX THE URBAN WORKHOUSES OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 1785–1834
- CHAPTER X THE RURAL WORKHOUSES OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 1785–1834. PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS OF 1804 AND 1834
- CHAPTER XI SETTLEMENT AND REMOVAL, 1660–1834
- CHAPTER XII PAUPER APPRENTICESHIP
- CHAPTER XIII BASTARDY
- CHAPTER XIV RELIEF OUTSIDE THE WORKHOUSE, 1660–1782
- CHAPTER XV RELIEF OUTSIDE THE WORKHOUSE, 1782–1834
- CHAPTER XVI CONSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL POLICY
- CHAPTER XVII CONCLUSIONS
- APPENDIX
- MS. Sources and Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Places
- Index of Special Subjects
- Plate section
Summary
DEVELOPMENTS, 1782–1796
The increase in expenditure upon poor-relief between 1776 and 1785 was clearly marked in every district of Cambridgeshire. It was to “casual” charges, moreover, that an ever larger proportion of the poor-rate was devoted, and among those to whom irregular payments were thus made were steadily growing numbers of men and women who must obviously have been temporarily unemployed or under-employed. The sum of 2s. 6d. per week, for example, allowed to a blind man by the parish of Histon in 1740 could barely have supported him unless he were living with relatives, but the grants of 1s., 1s. 6d. and 2s. made at the same time to various other men must clearly have been insufficient for complete maintenance. It was evidently expected that these small doles would be eked out by casual employment. Here in essence, therefore, was the system of supplementing wages out of the rates. Gilbert's Act of 1782 recognised the hardship endured by poor folk unable to obtain the all-necessary addition to their parish doles, and gave legal sanction to the principle of aiding the able-bodied out of the rates, without requiring them to enter the workhouse, should insufficient employment be available.
Although no Gilbert Unions were formed in Cambridgeshire, it was from about this date that magisterial interference on behalf of the able-bodied poor began to be of more frequent occurrence.
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- Treatment of Poverty in Cambridgeshire, 1597–1834 , pp. 189 - 219Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1934