Poor relief and community in Hadleigh, Suffolk, 1547-1600 / Marjorie Keniston McIntosh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McIntosh, Marjorie Keniston.

Series:

Studies in regional and local history (Hertfordshire, England) ; v. 12.

Studies in Regional and Local History ; volume 12.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poor--Services for--England--Hadleigh (Suffolk)--History--16th century.

Poor.

Poor--England--Hadleigh (Suffolk)--History--16th century.

Poverty--England--Hadleigh (Suffolk)--History--16th century.

Poverty.

History.

Poor--Services for.

Hadleigh (Suffolk, England)--History--16th century.

Hadleigh (Suffolk, England).

England--Hadleigh (Suffolk).

Physical Description:

188 pages.

Place of Publication:

Hatfield : University of Hertfordshire Press, 2013.

Summary:

At the cutting edge of 'the new social and demographic history', this book provides a detailed picture of the most comprehensive system of poor relief operated by any Elizabethan town. Well before the Poor Laws of 1598 and 1601, Hadleigh, Suffolk - a thriving woolen cloth center with 2,500-3,000 people - offered a complex array of assistance to many of its residents who could not provide for themselves: orphaned children, married couples with more offspring than they could support or supervise, widows, people with physical or mental disabilities, some of the unemployed, and the elderly. Hadleigh's leaders also attempted to curb idleness and vagrancy and to prevent poor people who might later need relief from settling in the town. Based upon uniquely full records, this study traces 600 people who received help, including their family situation, and explores the social, religious, and economic considerations that made more prosperous people willing to run and pay for this system. Relevant to contemporary debates over assistance to the poor, the book provides a compelling picture of a network of care and control that resulted in the integration of public and private forms of aid. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The context of poor relief in Hadleigh 9

Hadleigh's physical setting and neighbourhoods 9

The estimated population and demographic information 16

Economic life 19

Religion 30

Town government 36

2 Hadleigh's system of assistance 40

Officers and decision-making 40

The forms of aid, in-kind distributions and services 44

Financing poor relief 48

3 Recipients of relief and their households 63

Individual recipients of assistance 63

Recipient households and family relationships 75

A sample year: individuals and households in 1582 80

4 The care and training of poor children 83

Aid while living at home 84

Short-term boarding in another household 85

Assistance when entering service or apprenticeship 88

Training and discipline in the workhouse 90

Granted to a different family or expelled from Hadleigh 100

5 Aid to ill, disabled and elderly people 106

Care for people who were ill or disabled 106

Help for old people 110

6 Why? 119

The impact of Rowland Taylor and opposition to him, 1544-54 119

Relations between clothiers and workers 127

Worry about control and cost, 1576-85 130

Civic identity, civic competition 135

The ongoing influence of Christian social teachings 141.

ISBN:

1907396926

1907396918

9781907396915

OCLC:

840162111

Publisher Number:

99956552597