Conservative discourse about the Poor Laws at the turn of the nineteenth century was not purely theoretical. British policies toward the poor in the nineteenth century were deeply informed by the conservative work ethic. This chapter will consider the New Poor Law of 1834, a welfare reform for England and Wales, the Irish Poor Law Act of 1838, and British policy toward famine relief in Ireland during the potato blight and its aftermath, from 1845 to 1852. In each case, the results were disastrous for the poor. These consequences, which were known and welcomed by proponents of the conservative work ethic, illuminate how this ethic functioned ideologically, rationalizing systematic suffering behind masks of progress and paternalistic beneficence.