Navigating the Old English poor law : the Kirkby Lonsdale letters, 1809-1836 / edited by Peter Jones and Steven King.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Jones, Peter (Historian), editor.

King, Steven, 1966- editor.

Series:

Records of social and economic history ; new ser., 62.

Records of social and economic history ; new series, 62

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poor--Correspondence.

Poor.

Poor--England--Kirkby Lonsdale--Social conditions--19th century.

Poor laws--England--History--19th century.

Poor laws.

Public welfare--England--History--19th century.

Public welfare.

History.

Social conditions.

Kirkby Lonsdale (England)--History--19th century.

Kirkby Lonsdale (England).

England.

England--Kirkby Lonsdale.

Genre:

Correspondence.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

387 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2020.

Summary:

This edition of over 600 letters written by or for the poor in the early nineteenth-century Cumbrian town of Kirkby Lonsdale provides a unique window onto the experiences, views and conditions of a much-neglected group in English society. At the most human level, these letters are replete with sickness and suffering, the inability of mothers and fathers to fulfil their basic roles, claims that people were starving and naked, writers who were at death's door and those who were homeless and desperate. 0The letters also provide a sense of the emotional landscape of those who have largely escaped the attention of historians of emotion. Here we find anger, suffering, gratitude, hopelessness, fear, humiliation and humility, largely in the words and voice of those who experienced such emotions. And above all we find agency - a group of poor people and their advocates who were willing and able, indeed saw it as their right, to challenge those who administered welfare and attempt to shape a system0which notionally at least afforded them no power. Here, then, are ordinary lives played out on a canvas that will be appealing to a wide readership.

Contents:

The Kirkby Lonsdale Letters, 1809-1836 p. 41

1 Bainbridge, letters 1-16 p. 43

2 Beck, letters 17-56 p. 54

3 Boothman, letters 57-103 p. 75

4 Garlick, letters 104-137 p. 101

5 Garnett, letters 138-165 p. 118

6 Gill, letters 166-179 p. 132

7 Grime, letters 180-232 p. 141

8 Hail, letters 233-247 p. 165

9 Hodgson, letters 248-277 p. 173

10 Kitchen, letters 278-289 p. 190

11 Langhorn, letters 290-320 p. 197

12 Lowry, letters 321-336 p. 216

13 Moore, letters 337-358 p. 226

14 Nelson, letters 359-448 p. 236

15 Pearson, letters 449-181 p. 285

16 Robinson, letters 482-509 p. 302

17 Sill, letters 510-525 p. 318

18 Thistlethwaite, letters 526-545 p. 328

19 Wilson, letters 546-565 p. 343

20 Winder, letters 566-599 p. 355.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780197266816

0197266819

OCLC:

1233239710