PAP 047

The Poet and The Paupers

VIII.047


For the able-bodied poor, however, the workhouse was not widely favoured during the 18^th century. Sir William Young, M.P. for St. Mawes, Cornwall, expressed the most serious criticism in 1796: “The (Workhouse) Contractor, as a condition of relief by food, ejects the man and his family from his cottage and brings them to the workhouse, where the helpless and hopeless increase misery to desperation. Indolence, a carelessness of life and character, and progressively a loss of feeling for the little wretches who no longer look to him for support, oppress and vitiate the poor man’s heart. Finally, he leaves his wife and children a lasting burden on the parish, to go – he knows not whither; to do – he knows not what. The overseer having made his contract for the year, cares not to know how many he sends to the poor house; thence the contractor, overburdened, too often connives at the petty larcenies of his poor for supplemental support. In the woods and turnip fields are the forsaken children educated.”[5] With the declaration of war against France in 1793, food prices rose alarmingly, from 43s. for a quarter of wheat in 1792 to 126s. in 1812. However inured we may be now to inflation, before 1800 such a rate was unheard of; but higher food prices put money into the farmers’ pockets, increased the rents they could afford to pay to the gentry who owned the land they farmed, and benefitted the Clergy because the Church received as tithes one-tenth of every man’s produce. In the North and Midlands, industrial manufacturers profited from war orders and could afford to pay higher wages to their workmen, whilst their never satisfied demand for more labour kept up wages in surrounding agricultural areas as well. Shopkeepers, artisans and professional people were able to raise their own charges to keep abreast of rising food prices. The only people who truly suffered were the poor, especially the agricultural poor in Southern England, where no competition for their services came from industry. The condition deteriorated sharply. The Justices in most counties had to take action. What they did was to apply some variation or other of what was popularly called the Speenhamland Act.

For the able-bodied poor, however, the workhouse was not widely favoured during the 18^th century. Sir William Young, M.P. for St. Mawes, Cornwall, expressed the most serious criticism in 1796: “The (Workhouse) Contractor, as a condition of relief by food, ejects the man and his family from his cottage and brings them to the workhouse, where the helpless and hopeless increase misery to desperation. Indolence, a carelessness of life and character, and progressively a loss of feeling for the little wretches who no longer look to him for support, oppress and vitiate the poor man’s heart. Finally, he leaves his wife and children a lasting burden on the parish, to go – he knows not whither; to do – he knows not what. The overseer having made his contract for the year, cares not to know how many he sends to the poor house; thence the contractor, overburdened, too often connives at the petty larcenies of his poor for supplemental support. In the woods and turnip fields are the forsaken children educated.”[5]

With the declaration of war against France in 1793, food prices rose alarmingly, from 43s. for a quarter of wheat in 1792 to 126s. in 1812. However inured we may be now to inflation, before 1800 such a rate was unheard of; but higher food prices put money into the farmers’ pockets, increased the rents they could afford to pay to the gentry who owned the land they farmed, and benefitted the Clergy because the Church received as tithes one-tenth of every man’s produce. In the North and Midlands, industrial manufacturers profited from war orders and could afford to pay higher wages to their workmen, whilst their never satisfied demand for more labour kept up wages in surrounding agricultural areas as well. Shopkeepers, artisans and professional people were able to raise their own charges to keep abreast of rising food prices. The only people who truly suffered were the poor, especially the agricultural poor in Southern England, where no competition for their services came from industry. The condition deteriorated sharply. The Justices in most counties had to take action. What they did was to apply some variation or other of what was popularly called the Speenhamland Act.

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