"We might be trusted": Female poor law guardians and the development of the New Poor Law: The case of Bolton, England, 1880-1906

International Review of Social History

Volumn 49, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 27-46+189

  King, Steven ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 2442714835     PISSN: 00208590     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0020859003001354     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. P. Thane, "Introduction", in idem (ed.), The Origins of British Social Policy (London, 1978), pp. 11-20. The New Poor Law had been introduced primarily as a means of combating perceptions of ever-increasing numbers of able-bodied poor.
2. We know little or nothing about the operation of the Welsh New Poor Law. This issue is explored in S.A. King and J. Stewart, "The History of the Poor Law in Wales: Under-Researched, Full of Potential", Archives, 36 (2001), pp. 134-148. For a review of the earlier historiography of the English New Poor Law, see S.A. King, Poverty and Welfare in England 1700-1850: A Regional Perspective (Manchester, 2000), ch. 8.
3. We know little or nothing about the operation of the Welsh New Poor Law. This issue is explored in S.A. King and J. Stewart, "The History of the Poor Law in Wales: Under-Researched, Full of Potential", Archives, 36 (2001), pp. 134-148. For a review of the earlier historiography of the English New Poor Law, see S.A. King, Poverty and Welfare in England 1700-1850: A Regional Perspective (Manchester, 2000), ch. 8.
4. Contrast, for instance, King, Poverty and Welfare in England 1700-1850, with K. Williams, From Pauperism to Poverty (London, 1981).
5. Contrast, for instance, King, Poverty and Welfare in England 1700-1850, with K. Williams, From Pauperism to Poverty (London, 1981).
6. G. Finlayson, Citizen, State and Social Welfare in Britain 1830-1990 (Oxford, 1994).
7. See E.W. Martin, "From Parish to Union: Poor Law Administration 1601-1865", in E.W. Martin (ed.), Comparative Developments in Social Welfare (London, 1978), pp. 25-56, and F. Driver, "The Historical Geography of the Workhouse System in England and Wales, 1834-1883", Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), pp. 269-286.
8. See E.W. Martin, "From Parish to Union: Poor Law Administration 1601-1865", in E.W. Martin (ed.), Comparative Developments in Social Welfare (London, 1978), pp. 25-56, and F. Driver, "The Historical Geography of the Workhouse System in England and Wales, 1834-1883", Journal of Historical Geography, 15 (1989), pp. 269-286.
9. P. Wood, Poverty and the Workhouse in Victorian Britain (Stroud, 1991).
10. M.E. Rose, "The Crisis of Poor Relief in England 1860-1890", in W.J. Mommsen (ed.), The Emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany, 1850-1950 (London, 1981), pp. 50-70, and D. Fraser, "The English Poor Law and the Origins of the British Welfare State", in ibid., pp. 9-31. Also E.P. Hennock, "Poverty and Social Theory in England: The Experience of the 1880s", Social History, 1 (1976), pp. 67-91, and D. Thomson, "The Welfare of the Elderly in the Past: A Family or Community Responsibility?", in M. Pelling and R.M. Smith (eds), Life, Death and the Elderly: Historical Perspectives (London, 1991), pp. 194-221.
11. M.E. Rose, "The Crisis of Poor Relief in England 1860-1890", in W.J. Mommsen (ed.), The Emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany, 1850-1950 (London, 1981), pp. 50-70, and D. Fraser, "The English Poor Law and the Origins of the British Welfare State", in ibid., pp. 9-31. Also E.P. Hennock, "Poverty and Social Theory in England: The Experience of the 1880s", Social History, 1 (1976), pp. 67-91, and D. Thomson, "The Welfare of the Elderly in the Past: A Family or Community Responsibility?", in M. Pelling and R.M. Smith (eds), Life, Death and the Elderly: Historical Perspectives (London, 1991), pp. 194-221.
12. M.E. Rose, "The Crisis of Poor Relief in England 1860-1890", in W.J. Mommsen (ed.), The Emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany, 1850-1950 (London, 1981), pp. 50-70, and D. Fraser, "The English Poor Law and the Origins of the British Welfare State", in ibid., pp. 9-31. Also E.P. Hennock, "Poverty and Social Theory in England: The Experience of the 1880s", Social History, 1 (1976), pp. 67-91, and D. Thomson, "The Welfare of the Elderly in the Past: A Family or Community Responsibility?", in M. Pelling and R.M. Smith (eds), Life, Death and the Elderly: Historical Perspectives (London, 1991), pp. 194-221.
13. M.E. Rose, "The Crisis of Poor Relief in England 1860-1890", in W.J. Mommsen (ed.), The Emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany, 1850-1950 (London, 1981), pp. 50-70, and D. Fraser, "The English Poor Law and the Origins of the British Welfare State", in ibid., pp. 9-31. Also E.P. Hennock, "Poverty and Social Theory in England: The Experience of the 1880s", Social History, 1 (1976), pp. 67-91, and D. Thomson, "The Welfare of the Elderly in the Past: A Family or Community Responsibility?", in M. Pelling and R.M. Smith (eds), Life, Death and the Elderly: Historical Perspectives (London, 1991), pp. 194-221.
14. For a well-balanced discussion of the issue of risk, see R. Floud, The People and the British Economy, 1830-1914 (Oxford, 1997).
15. For general surveys, see D. Roberts, Victorian Origins of the British Welfare State (New Haven, CT, 1969); M.E. Rose, The English Poor Law 1780-1930 (Newton Abbot, 1971); R. O'Day and D. Englander, Mr Charles Booth's Inquiry: Life and Labour of the People in London Reconsidered (London, 1993).
16. For general surveys, see D. Roberts, Victorian Origins of the British Welfare State (New Haven, CT, 1969); M.E. Rose, The English Poor Law 1780-1930 (Newton Abbot, 1971); R. O'Day and D. Englander, Mr Charles Booth's Inquiry: Life and Labour of the People in London Reconsidered (London, 1993).
17. For general surveys, see D. Roberts, Victorian Origins of the British Welfare State (New Haven, CT, 1969); M.E. Rose, The English Poor Law 1780-1930 (Newton Abbot, 1971); R. O'Day and D. Englander, Mr Charles Booth's Inquiry: Life and Labour of the People in London Reconsidered (London, 1993).
18. L. Hollen Lees, The Solidarities of Strangers: The English Poor Laws and the People, 1700-1948 (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 231-232; Williams, From Pauperism to Poverty.
19. L. Hollen Lees, The Solidarities of Strangers: The English Poor Laws and the People, 1700-1948 (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 231-232; Williams, From Pauperism to Poverty.
20. The language of skills and housekeeping was used by women as a means of reducing the hostility of husbands and policy-makers to public work, effectively portraying such roles as a natural extension of their role as home-makers. Some of the key documents on the extension of women's public roles are provided by P. Hollis (ed.), Women in Public: Documents of the Victorian Women's Movement (London, 1979).
21. Policy in Poor Law unions was formulated by a "board of guardians", with each district electing individual "guardians" to the position for a fixed term of office.
22. By 1895, there were 802 female guardians in England, with 86 in London and further 70 in Lancashire.
23. C. Roberts, The Radical Countess: The History of the Life of Rosalind, Countess of Carlisle (Carlisle, 1962).
24. See L. Twining, Recollections of Life and Work (London, 1893). Also J. Perkin, Victorian Women (London, 1993), p. 217.
25. See L. Twining, Recollections of Life and Work (London, 1893). Also J. Perkin, Victorian Women (London, 1993), p. 217.
26. For more on these weaknesses see M.A. Crowther, "The Workhouse" in T.C. Smout (ed.), Victorian Values (Oxford, 1992), pp. 183-195; P. Thane, "Government and Society in England and Wales, 1750-1914", in F.M.L. Thompson (ed.), The Cambridge Social History of Britain (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 1-62; R. Humphreys, Sin, Organised Charity and the Poor Law in Victorian England (Basingstoke, 1995).
27. For more on these weaknesses see M.A. Crowther, "The Workhouse" in T.C. Smout (ed.), Victorian Values (Oxford, 1992), pp. 183-195; P. Thane, "Government and Society in England and Wales, 1750-1914", in F.M.L. Thompson (ed.), The Cambridge Social History of Britain (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 1-62; R. Humphreys, Sin, Organised Charity and the Poor Law in Victorian England (Basingstoke, 1995).
28. For more on these weaknesses see M.A. Crowther, "The Workhouse" in T.C. Smout (ed.), Victorian Values (Oxford, 1992), pp. 183-195; P. Thane, "Government and Society in England and Wales, 1750-1914", in F.M.L. Thompson (ed.), The Cambridge Social History of Britain (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 1-62; R. Humphreys, Sin, Organised Charity and the Poor Law in Victorian England (Basingstoke, 1995).
29. See A. Digby, "Victorian Values and Women in Public and Private", in Smout, Victorian Values, pp. 195-217.
30. P. Hollis, "Women in Council: Separate Spheres, Public Spaces", in J. Rendall (ed.), Equal or Different: Women's Politics 1800-1914 (Oxford, 1987), p. 198.
31. For an excellent elaboration of these views, see L. Davidoff, World's Between: Historical Perspectives on Gender and Class (London, 1995). Also A. Digby and J. Stewart (eds), Gender, Health and Welfare (London, 1996).
32. For an excellent elaboration of these views, see L. Davidoff, World's Between: Historical Perspectives on Gender and Class (London, 1995). Also A. Digby and J. Stewart (eds), Gender, Health and Welfare (London, 1996).
33. M. Crowther, The Workhouse System 1834-1929 (London, 1981), p. 78; J. Lewis, Women and Social Action in Victorian and Edwardian England (Aldershot, 1991), p. 204.
34. M. Crowther, The Workhouse System 1834-1929 (London, 1981), p. 78; J. Lewis, Women and Social Action in Victorian and Edwardian England (Aldershot, 1991), p. 204.
35. See P. Hollis, Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government 1865-1914 (Oxford, 1987); P. Levine, Feminist Lives in Victorian England (Oxford, 1990); A. Summers, "A Home From Home: Women's Philanthropic Work in the Nineteenth Century" in S. Burman (ed.), Fit Work for Women (London, 1979), pp. 33-64; J. Liddington and J. Norris, One Hand Tied Behind Us: The Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement (London, 1985).
36. See P. Hollis, Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government 1865-1914 (Oxford, 1987); P. Levine, Feminist Lives in Victorian England (Oxford, 1990); A. Summers, "A Home From Home: Women's Philanthropic Work in the Nineteenth Century" in S. Burman (ed.), Fit Work for Women (London, 1979), pp. 33-64; J. Liddington and J. Norris, One Hand Tied Behind Us: The Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement (London, 1985).
37. See P. Hollis, Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government 1865-1914 (Oxford, 1987); P. Levine, Feminist Lives in Victorian England (Oxford, 1990); A. Summers, "A Home From Home: Women's Philanthropic Work in the Nineteenth Century" in S. Burman (ed.), Fit Work for Women (London, 1979), pp. 33-64; J. Liddington and J. Norris, One Hand Tied Behind Us: The Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement (London, 1985).
38. See P. Hollis, Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government 1865-1914 (Oxford, 1987); P. Levine, Feminist Lives in Victorian England (Oxford, 1990); A. Summers, "A Home From Home: Women's Philanthropic Work in the Nineteenth Century" in S. Burman (ed.), Fit Work for Women (London, 1979), pp. 33-64; J. Liddington and J. Norris, One Hand Tied Behind Us: The Rise of the Women's Suffrage Movement (London, 1985).
39. For an overview and the best recent study see E.T. Hurren, "Labourers are Revolting: Penalising the Poor and a Political Reaction in the Brixworth Union, Northamptonshire, 1875-1885", Rural History, 11 (2000), pp. 37-55.
40. See, for instance, the general discussion of the role of female Poor Law guardians in E. Pankhurst, My Own Story (London, 1914), though note also concerns over the provenance of this book.
41. Lancashire was the English county that had presented the most problems to the initial process of implementing the New Poor Law after 1834. Unionization was contested and slow, relations between boards of guardians and the central authorities were generally strained, and guardians throughout the county showed a remarkable reluctance to finance an effective Poor Law prior to 1850. For more on the early years of the New Poor Law, see A. Digby, Pauper Palaces (London, 1978); N.C. Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement 1834-1844 (Manchester, 1971); E.C. Midwinter, Social Administration in Lancashire 1830-1860 (Manchester, 1969); P. Harling, "The Power of Persuasion: Central Authority, Local Bureaucracy and the New Poor Law", English Historical Review, 81 (1992), pp. 30-53.
42. Lancashire was the English county that had presented the most problems to the initial process of implementing the New Poor Law after 1834. Unionization was contested and slow, relations between boards of guardians and the central authorities were generally strained, and guardians throughout the county showed a remarkable reluctance to finance an effective Poor Law prior to 1850. For more on the early years of the New Poor Law, see A. Digby, Pauper Palaces (London, 1978); N.C. Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement 1834-1844 (Manchester, 1971); E.C. Midwinter, Social Administration in Lancashire 1830-1860 (Manchester, 1969); P. Harling, "The Power of Persuasion: Central Authority, Local Bureaucracy and the New Poor Law", English Historical Review, 81 (1992), pp. 30-53.
43. Lancashire was the English county that had presented the most problems to the initial process of implementing the New Poor Law after 1834. Unionization was contested and slow, relations between boards of guardians and the central authorities were generally strained, and guardians throughout the county showed a remarkable reluctance to finance an effective Poor Law prior to 1850. For more on the early years of the New Poor Law, see A. Digby, Pauper Palaces (London, 1978); N.C. Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement 1834-1844 (Manchester, 1971); E.C. Midwinter, Social Administration in Lancashire 1830-1860 (Manchester, 1969); P. Harling, "The Power of Persuasion: Central Authority, Local Bureaucracy and the New Poor Law", English Historical Review, 81 (1992), pp. 30-53.
44. Lancashire was the English county that had presented the most problems to the initial process of implementing the New Poor Law after 1834. Unionization was contested and slow, relations between boards of guardians and the central authorities were generally strained, and guardians throughout the county showed a remarkable reluctance to finance an effective Poor Law prior to 1850. For more on the early years of the New Poor Law, see A. Digby, Pauper Palaces (London, 1978); N.C. Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement 1834-1844 (Manchester, 1971); E.C. Midwinter, Social Administration in Lancashire 1830-1860 (Manchester, 1969); P. Harling, "The Power of Persuasion: Central Authority, Local Bureaucracy and the New Poor Law", English Historical Review, 81 (1992), pp. 30-53.
45. There were never less than five female guardians. While this number might seem small, it has to be related to the number of guardians who regularly attended board meetings. Since female guardians attended much more consistently than most men, their influence on policy was more powerful than a simple exposition of numbers might suggest.
46. See W.E. Brown, Robert Heywood of Bolton, 1786-1868 (Wakefield, 1970). Though not central to this piece, the early life of Mary Haslam can be traced in considerable detail through the yearly diaries of Robert Heywood. See BRO ZHE/71/1-51, "The Diaries of Robert Heywood 1818-1868'. There are close parallels between the early history, education, and career of Mary Haslam and that of Emmeline Pankhurst; both had a liberal philanthropic upbringing and were elected as Poor Law guardians in 1894.
47. See W.E. Brown, Robert Heywood of Bolton, 1786-1868 (Wakefield, 1970). Though not central to this piece, the early life of Mary Haslam can be traced in considerable detail through the yearly diaries of Robert Heywood. See BRO ZHE/71/1-51, "The Diaries of Robert Heywood 1818-1868'. There are close parallels between the early history, education, and career of Mary Haslam and that of Emmeline Pankhurst; both had a liberal philanthropic upbringing and were elected as Poor Law guardians in 1894.
48. See BRO ZHA/17/11, "A Word Picture of My Life, by Mary Haslam".
49. I b i d.
50. None of the Bolton female guardians were as active as Louisa Twining or Jenny Foster Newton, Poor Law guardian for Richmond at thirty-six, but Mary Haslam in particular provides records somewhat richer than any other collection of which I am aware. See T. Deane, "Late Nineteenth-Century Philanthropy: The Case of Louisa Twining", in Digby and Stewart, Gender, Health and Welfare, pp. 122-142.
51. The fact that the committee included the wives of some of the biggest ratepayers in the town may have smoothed their passage, but this was also the case in many other places where hostility was more marked.
52. Unless otherwise stated, the empirical narrative data which follows is drawn from BRO ZHA/17/17, "Diary of a Female Poor Law Guardian", which also includes minutes of the workhouse visiting committee. Limitations of space mean that only a brief review of the richness of the Haslam archive (including travel diaries, personal diaries, and an autobiography) can be undertaken.
53. For discussion of the "prescribed list of subjects" on which workhouse visiting committees were allowed to comment to guardians in Sussex, see J.M. Coleman, Sussex Poor Law Records: A Catalogue (Chichester, 1960), p. 18. There were no such restrictions in Bolton, and the WHVC continued in the town throughout the 1890s, forming a powerful axis when aligned with female guardians.
54. See P. Thane and G. Bock (eds), Maternity and Gender Policies: Women and the Rise of the European Welfare State, 1880s to 1950s (London, 1991).
55. BRO ZHA/17/17, "Diary of a Female Poor Law Guardian".
56. See Deane, "Late Nineteenth-Century Philanthropy".
57. BRO Bolton Journal, 8 December, 1894.
58. Contrast this election strategy with the low-key campaigns which Hollis in Ladies Elect believed were mounted by women candidates, or the very confrontational campaigns waged by activists in Chorlton Union.
59. See Hollis, Women in Public.
60. Contrast this experience with the generalizations of Hollis in Ladies Elect.
61. For guidance on disentangling the accounts to produce the discussion which follows, see M.Crowther, "The Later Years of the Workhouse 1890-1929", in Thane, The Origins of British Social Policy. All of the figures deployed here were drawn from BRO GBO/14/1-9, "Financial Statements of Bolton Poor Law Union".
62. Thane, "Introduction", p. 2.
63. BRO ZHA/17/17, "Diary of a Female Poor Law Guardian".
64. BRO GBO 14/9, "Financial Statements".
65. See BRO HBO/1/4/1, "Bolton Royal Infirmary: Medical Committee Minutes", and BRO HFA/1/1, "Register of Patients Admitted to Farnworth Infectious Diseases Hospital". Also BRO GBO/5/18, "Deaths in Bolton Workhouse 1896-1903".
66. See BRO HBO/1/4/1, "Bolton Royal Infirmary: Medical Committee Minutes", and BRO HFA/1/1, "Register of Patients Admitted to Farnworth Infectious Diseases Hospital". Also BRO GBO/5/18, "Deaths in Bolton Workhouse 1896-1903".
67. See BRO HBO/1/4/1, "Bolton Royal Infirmary: Medical Committee Minutes", and BRO HFA/1/1, "Register of Patients Admitted to Farnworth Infectious Diseases Hospital". Also BRO GBO/5/18, "Deaths in Bolton Workhouse 1896-1903".
68. More widely, while the stigma of the workhouse may have remained, there is accumulating evidence that out-relief in particular came to be written into peoples' expectations in welfare terms by the later nineteenth century. See P. Mandler (ed.), The Uses of Charity: The Poor on Relief in the Nineteenth-Century Metropolis (Pennsylvania, PA, 1990); J. Robin, "The Relief of Poverty in Mid Nineteenth-Century Colyton", Rural History, 1 (1990), pp. 193-218.
69. More widely, while the stigma of the workhouse may have remained, there is accumulating evidence that out-relief in particular came to be written into peoples' expectations in welfare terms by the later nineteenth century. See P. Mandler (ed.), The Uses of Charity: The Poor on Relief in the Nineteenth-Century Metropolis (Pennsylvania, PA, 1990); J. Robin, "The Relief of Poverty in Mid Nineteenth-Century Colyton", Rural History, 1 (1990), pp. 193-218.
70. See T.S. Ashton, Economic and Social Investigations in Manchester 1833-1933 (Manchester, 1946).
71. BRO, Bolton Journal, 7 July 1901.
72. BRO ZHA/17/17, "Diary of a Female Poor Law Guardian".
73. As with the BWHVC, female Poor Law guardians represented some of the most economically secure family groupings in Bolton. All of them held property in their own right, and reports of dinner parties in the Bolton newspapers suggests that these women were active in courting the public opinion of some of the most influential members of the local community. However, there is also evidence that they "sold" reform to the wider populace through the newspapers and through their support for the Bolton Society for the Return of Women Guardians. By 1900 there were nine female guardians and their combined economic power had been diluted.
74. For more on this, see A. Digby, "Poverty, Health and the Politics of Gender in Britain 1870-1948", in Digby and Stewart, Gender, Health and Welfare, pp. 67-90.
75. BRO ZHA/17/17, "Diary of a Female Poor Law Guardian".
76. The contrast with the picture of hostility mounted by Hollis, Ladies Elect, could not be more starkly drawn. The question of the representativeness of Mary Haslam is addressed below.
77. Nor was gender itself unproblematic. Female guardians did not always view issues in the same way and there were also tensions between working- and middle-class women. The Bolton Association for the Return of Women as Poor Law Guardians was formed in 1897 with an implicit brief to encourage women of the labouring classes to become guardians.
78. Rubinstein, Before the Suffragettes, p. 167.
79. See F. Driver, Power and Pauperism: The Workhouse System 1834-1884 (Cambridge, 1993).
80. Liddington and Norris, One Hand Tied Behind Us. We should not, of course, forget that this area of Lancashire was also the focus for much in the way of alternative welfare structures. The Settlement Home Movement, for instance, was very active in Liverpool.