Writing the lives of the English poor, 1750s-1830s / Steven King.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

King, Steven, 1966- author.

Series:

States, people, and the history of social change ; 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Poor.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (324 pages).

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019.

Summary:

From the mid-eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century, the English Old Poor Law was waning, soon to be replaced by the New Poor Law and its dreaded workhouses. In Writing the Lives of the English Poor, 1750s-1830s Steven King reveals colourful stories of poor people, their advocates, and the officials with whom they engaged during this period in British history, distilled from the largest collection of parochial correspondence ever assembled. Investigating the way that people experienced and shaped the English and Welsh welfare system through the use of almost 26,000 pauper letters and the correspondence of overseers in forty-eight counties, Writing the Lives of the English Poor, 1750s-1830s reconstructs the process by which the poor claimed, extended, or defended their parochial allowances. Challenging preconceptions about literacy, power, social structure, and the agency of ordinary people, these stories suggest that advocates, officials, and the poor shared a common linguistic register and an understanding of how far welfare decisions could be contested and negotiated. King shifts attention away from traditional approaches to construct an unprecedented, comprehensive portrait of poor law administration and popular writing at the turn of the nineteenth century. At a time when the western European welfare model is under sustained threat, Writing the Lives of the English Poor, 1750s-1830s takes us back to its deepest roots to demonstrate that the signature of a strong welfare system is malleability.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Tables and Figures

Preface

Acknowledgments

Starting Points

Welfare, Power, and Agency

Points of Navigation

Contexts and Yardsticks

Mundane Articles

Official Receptions

Finding Words

History and Fiction

Rhetorical Structures

A Rhetorical Spectrum

Anchoring Rhetoric

The Rhetoric of Character

The Rhetoric of Dignity

Rhetorics of Life-Cycle and Gender

Self and Meaning

Identity and the Pauper Self

Process and Agency Reconsidered

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780773556515

0773556516

9780773556508

0773556508

OCLC:

1080219119