The Impact of Sturges Bourne's Poor Law Reforms in Rural England

Abstract

A B S T R A C T . England was blighted by frequent agricultural depressions in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Recurrent crises brought poor law reform to the parliamentary agenda and led to the passage of two non-compulsory pieces of legislation, Sturges Bourne's Acts of  and . These permissory acts allowed parishes to 'tighten up' the distribution of poor relief through two vital tools: the formation of select vestries, and the appointment of waged assistant overseers. Whilst previous studies have tended to represent the legislation as a failing reform in the dying days of the old poor law, we know remarkably little about the relief practices deployed by parishes operating under the auspices of Sturges Bourne's Acts. This article starts by detailing the genesis of the reforms before considering the provisions of the acts and their rates of adoption in rural England. Focusing upon administrative records from Wessex and West Sussex, the article proceeds to examine the inspection of relief claimants, and judgments made as to their 'character and conduct'; the general measures taken to reduce outdoor relief; and their alternative strategies for allocating relief. It is argued that the reforms re-drew the distinction between 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor, ultimately changing individuals' and families' entitlement to relief under the old poor laws.

Economies and Strategies of the Northern Rural Poor: the Mitigation of Poverty in a West Riding Township in the Nineteenth Century

“…After the French wars, national relief expenditure rose steeply. 32 However, Sturges Bourne's legislation may have 'achieved its stated objective in reducing relief costs': 33 the trend, despite rising in the 1820s and 1830s, was an overall fall in poor relief costs between 1820 and 1850 ( Figure 3). This fall, and the major troughs and peaks of expenditure, were mirrored in Rigton, despite the township's non-adoption of the New Poor Law (Figure 4).…”

The Loes and Wilford Poor Law Incorporation 1765–1826: ‘A Prison with a Milder Name’

“…Shaw is conscious of the volume's place within the wider historiography and claims for its importance within this are largely justified. Despite its local focus, the volume offers more than morsels and anecdotes, sitting firmly within a call for a re-evaluation of the importance of Old Poor Law enabling legislation on poor law practice and policy within its own context rather than as a footnote to the 1834 New Poor Law (Jones and King, 2015;King, 2000;Shave, 2013 and2017). In this sense, the volume sits alongside recent analysis, which has tried to contextualise pre-1834 enabling legislation within appropriate framings, for example, Shave's (2013 and2017) work on the 1782 Gilbert's Act and the 1818 and 1829 Sturges Bourne's Acts.…”

“…Despite its local focus, the volume offers more than morsels and anecdotes, sitting firmly within a call for a re-evaluation of the importance of Old Poor Law enabling legislation on poor law practice and policy within its own context rather than as a footnote to the 1834 New Poor Law (Jones and King, 2015;King, 2000;Shave, 2013 and2017). In this sense, the volume sits alongside recent analysis, which has tried to contextualise pre-1834 enabling legislation within appropriate framings, for example, Shave's (2013 and2017) work on the 1782 Gilbert's Act and the 1818 and 1829 Sturges Bourne's Acts. Therefore, Shaw's work helps move away from a monolithic reading of the Old Poor Law towards a more nuanced understanding of the diversity and complexity of the English poor law landscape of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.…”