SIN, ORGANIZED CHARITY AND THE POOR LAW IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND Sin, Organized Charity and the Poor Law in Victorian England Robert Humphreys Department of Economic His tory London School of Economics and Political Science © Robert Humphreys 1995 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995 978-0-333-63379-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the tem1s of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published in Great Britain 1995 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-39434-0 ISBN 978-0-230-37543-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230375437 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 04 03 02 OJ 00 99 98 First published in the United States of America 1995 by Scholarly and Reference Division, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-12755-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Humphreys, Robert. Sin, organised charity, and the poor law in Victorian England I Robert Humphreys. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-12755-8 (cloth) I. Charity Organization Society (London, England)-History. 2. Charities-Great Britain-History-19th century. 3. Poor laws -Great Britain-History-19th century. I. Title. HV245.H88 1995 361.7'63'09421 09034---{lc20 95-14318 CIP To Paul and Adrienne Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables X Acknowledgements xi Abbreviations xii Introduction 2 The Poor Law Crusade against Outdoor Relief 14 The 1834 Poor Law Amendment 14 Poor Law administrative changes, 1834-1869 17 National development of the crusade 21 3 The Provincial Crusade: Results and Reactions 29 The selection of Poor Law unions for analysis 29 Anti-outdoor relief unions and their specific rules 32 Results of the crusade in anti-outdoor relief unions 36 Unions adjacent to provincial centres with a society practising methodological charity 41 Discussion on the mixed responses to the crusade 44 4 Victorian Ideology, Early Attempts to Organize Charity, and the Beginnings of the Charity Organisation Society 50 Reforming ideas, the persistence of outdoor relief and the formation of the COS 51 Early attempts to organize charity 55 The formation and development of the London Charity Organisation Society 59 5 The Emergence of Provincial Charity Organisation Societies and Responses, I870-I890 64 The development of provincial Charity Organisation Societies 64 The provincial COSs and Poor Law guardians 83 Relationships with other charities 87 The COS and the clergy 90 Provident dispensaries 93 Relationships with the London COS 95 vii Vlll Contents 6 The Activities of Provincial Charity Organisation Societies, 1870-1890 101 Categorization of applicants and comparative relief values 102 Dividing the deserving poor from the undeserving 110 Methods of COS relief to the deserving 114 Exceptional distress 130 The undeserving: cautionary procedures 133 Lack of COS volunteers 136 Organizational finances and administration costs 138 7 Ideological Change in Late Victorian Britain: The Response of the Provincial Charity Organisation Societies and the Local Government Board 144 COS adherence to principles 144 Changing circumstances and attitudes 146 The COS and the LGB: objectives and achievements 159 Discussion 164 Summary and conclusions 171 Appendix General Notes on Poor Law and Organized Charity Data 175 Notes 177 Bibliography Archive collections 204 Unpublished theses 207 Parliamentary Papers 208 Nineteenth-century publications and pamphlets 209 Contemporary newspapers and magazines 211 Secondary sources 212 Index 220 List of Figures 2.1 Numbers of outdoor paupers per 1000 population (England and Wales 1849-1869) 19 2.2 Direct expenditure on paupers (England and Wales 1849-1869) 20 2.3 Metropolitan outdoor adults (excluding lunatics, the insane, etc.) (1860-1869) 21 3.1 Paupers: England and Wales (average of daily counts 1870-1889) 30 3.2 Brixworth Poor Law union (average of 1 January and 1 July day counts 1870-1890) 37 3.3 Brixworth outdoor paupers (average of 1 January and 1 July day counts 1870-1890) 38 3.4 Manchester Poor Law union: outdoor paupers and workhouse inmates (1870-1890) 39 3.5 Manchester Poor Law union: adults on outdoor relief (1870-1890) 40 3.6 Manchester Poor Law union: out-relief-adults and children (1870-1890) 40 3.7 Birkenhead Poor Law union: outdoor paupers and workhouse inmates (1870-1890) 42 6.1 Organization chart for medium-size COS 103 6.2 Procedure recommended for Provincial Charity Organisation Societies following receipt of an application 113 ix List of Tables 2.1 Adult able-bodied paupers in receipt of relief in England 1872 23 2.2 Outdoor relief and outdoor paupers in England and Wales 1861-70 25 6.1 Numbers relieved annually and value comparisons between provincial COSs and Poor Law unions 105 6.2 Annual values of Poor Law outdoor relief and the annual values of relief provided by a nearby COS to the average deserving applicant 107 6.3 Percentages of total applicants who were assisted, not assisted and referred by various provincial societies 115 6.4 Types of relief provided by provincial Charity Organisation Societies 117 6.5 Manchester and Salford DPS Convalescent Home, Southport: number of admissions and their categorization 128 6.6 Birkenhead COS Provident Department: details of deposits 129 6.7 Manchester and Salford DPS: Savings Department details 130 6.8 Provincial COSs: annual income and administrative expenditure 139 X Acknowledgements There are so many good people who I should acknowledge but regretfully can here only touch briefly on a few. I am particularly thankful for the long-term kindness and encouragement of Paul Johnson. His constructive support and ever perspicacious comments have been the main pillar of strength throughout the research leading to this book. My grateful thanks also to Eddie Hunt for his scholarship and helpful advice during my research. The enthusiastic erudition passed on by other members of the Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science during many stimulating discussions must also be gratefully acknowledged. For their unflagging camaraderie I must especially record my gratitude to Dudley Baines, Max Schulze, Kirtida Parikh, Mary Morgan, Francesca Carnevali, Peter Howlett, Tim Meldrum, Linda Sampson, Ann Morris and Wendy Willson. The many whose names I have ungraciously omitted remain in my appreciative thoughts. Since becoming involved in economic history I have been moved by the generous and patient help ever available from my numerous contacts whether in universities, libraries, public record offices or other learned institutions. My grateful thanks to them all. August 1994 xi