{"id":2196,"date":"2021-01-29T09:30:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T09:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=2196"},"modified":"2021-01-28T11:25:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T11:25:49","slug":"2196","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2021\/01\/29\/2196\/","title":{"rendered":"Poor relief and charity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public enquiries often draw our attention to collections we haven\u2019t focused on before. Last year, we received a request to copy a selection of letters to the Blandford Overseers of the Poor, asking for parish relief. This is a fascinating record of those in a difficult position in the past, which we\u2019ll take a closer look at in this blog.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was poor relief?<\/h2>\n

But first, let\u2019s work out the basics. Poor relief in supported provided by the local parish to those who were unable to support themselves. Generally, this was through the supplement of wages, but could also include the provision of food, clothing, or accommodation. Until the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, this system was managed individually by each parish, and it was up to the churchwarden and the overseer of the poor to decide how poor relief was implemented.<\/p>\n

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PE-BF\/OV\/13\/1<\/a>: 16 April 1810<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inequal rulings<\/h2>\n

This leads to disparate approaches to caring for those in poverty. Each overseer of the poor would make a distinction between the \u201cdeserving poor\u201d and the \u201cidle\u201d. The ill, elderly, and orphaned were considered to be worthy of parish support, but those that were able to work and chose not to were labelled \u201cidle\u201d, and applications for relief were denied. Obviously, this objective system could quickly lead into an abuse of power \u2013 local grudges, recent marriages, or large parish donations might swing an unscrupulous overseer, whilst some could be over-zealous in their denial of care. Anne Weakford, an invalided mother of three young children, wrote to the parish following a denied application:<\/p>\n

\u201cI thougt man hart was more softer there I beg you will send us som thing to healp us<\/em>\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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PE-BF\/OV\/13\/1<\/a>: 5 November 1799<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why poor relief?<\/h2>\n

Among the letters to Blandford parish, there are many reasons why parishioners needed to apply for support. The most common was that they were unable to work as a result of injury or illness:<\/p>\n

\u201cmy family being Large and my wife Lying ill so Long and my misfortune in Lameing myself … have brought me be hind hand with my house rent … Except I have not the money to pay<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

– John Breday, 25 March 1746<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Others wrote that they couldn\u2019t find enough work, especially during the winter or when the weather was bad.<\/p>\n

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PE-BF\/OV\/13\/1<\/a>: 25 March 1746<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those who couldn\u2019t write had to ask others to appeal for them. Henry Woolfrys wrote on behalf of his tenant Henry Fold in 1744, and included a character assessment to support his friend\u2019s claim:<\/p>\n

\u201cbut I assure you Gentlemen it is not any ways Throw Jolness but by affliction a bout a Year ago … if your as so Charitablely disposed to pay this poor mans Rent pleas to Send your money by his one hand to me<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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PE-BF\/OV\/13\/1<\/a>: 26 March 1744<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Travelling for work<\/h2>\n

Poor relief was provided by a person\u2019s \u201chome\u201d parish \u2013 that is, the parish they were born and raised in. Many letters in the Blandford overseer\u2019s collection are from other parishes in Dorset, or even as far afield as Bristol and London. Christian Horlock of Golden Lane, London, wrote to his home parish of Blandford in 1780:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorey that necessity obliges me to Trouble you with these [lines]… letting him kno the destressed situation me and my Family should be in if we had not some Relief from the Parish for I am so very lame that I cannot do anything to help soporte my Family<\/em>\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Ryves Almshouses, Salisbury Street, Blandford \u00a9\u00a0Mike Searle\u00a0–\u00a0geograph.org.uk\/p\/3964978<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those whose wages couldn\u2019t cover their needs, or who had been temporarily invalided, might receive wage relief from the parish instead. However, if those who couldn\u2019t work would have to return to their parish, where they would be accommodated in either an almshouse or workhouse. Parents who couldn\u2019t support their children had to decide between leaving their family to return to the workhouse themselves, or sending the children instead:<\/p>\n

\u201cif you will not relive us we must send the children home for we are not able to manetan them without some help\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

– Mrs Mullet, Bristol<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

—<\/p>\n

These records show us how the local community and government tried to support those in need. It also highlights the lengths people will go to care for themselves. None of the applications are casual \u2013 each one is written from a desperate position where the author is fighting for themselves. As Anne Weakford wrote,<\/p>\n

\u201cI shall come as soon as I am able to ride for I will not bide here and starve.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you want to read more, a previous blog looked at the implications of the Poor Law system for one family, as discovered from one letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public enquiries often draw our attention to collections we haven\u2019t focused on before. Last year, we received a request to copy a selection of letters to the Blandford Overseers of the Poor, asking for parish relief. This is a fascinating record of those in a difficult position in the past, which we\u2019ll take a closer… Read more Poor relief and charity<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[82,266,268,109],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2196"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2203,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions\/2203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}