THE DEVELOPMENT OF POOR RELIEF IN LANCASHIRE, c. 1598–1680

Healey, Jonathan

doi:10.1017/s0018246x10000191

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…By this point the region was starting to implement a functioning system of poor relief under the terms of the 1601 statute, and this welfare spending may have favoured females. 64 Of 229 named adult recipients of poor relief in rural south Westmorland in 1637, 45.5 per cent were female. 65 Those named were almost certainly usually household heads, whereas perhaps 10-20 per cent of all households were headed by females.…”

Section: J O N a T H A N H E A L E Ymentioning

confidence: 99%

Famine and the female mortality advantage: sex, gender and mortality in northwest England, c. 1590–1630

Healey

2015

Cont. Change

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Studies of modern famines have found disproportionately high mortality amongst adult men. The most commonly suggested root of this ‘female mortality advantage’ is biological, and it seems to be strongest when starvation is the main cause of death. The present study is the first to investigate the phenomenon in an early-modern society. Looking at the famines of 1597 and 1623 in northwest England, it finds some evidence for a female mortality advantage in 1623, but that this was concentrated in the first 12 months of the crisis (after the 1622 harvest). The female advantage was also much greater in north Lancashire and Westmorland than it was in the wealthier western Lancashire plain. Together this supports the idea that there was actual starvation during the 1623 crisis, at least in these areas at these times. There are, however, some reasons to suppose that the most mortal phase of the crisis, around the winter of 1623–1624, took place at a time when food was becoming more widely available, and hence should be attributed to diseases that followed the famine.

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Section: J O N a T H A N H E A L E Ymentioning

confidence: 99%

Famine and the female mortality advantage: sex, gender and mortality in northwest England, c. 1590–1630

Healey

2015

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“…One area of government of longstanding interest to economic historians is social welfare, and there have been a string of studies of poverty this year. Two articles by Healey discuss poor relief in Lancashire. In the Historical Journal he describes the gradual implementation of the poor law, with even the remotest parts of the county implementing formal poor relief by the later 1630s.…”

Section: University Of Cambridgementioning

confidence: 99%

Review of periodical literature published in 2010

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The Economic History Review

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

Shave

2013

Hist. J.

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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.

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF POOR RELIEF IN LANCASHIRE, c. 1598–1680

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Famine and the female mortality advantage: sex, gender and mortality in northwest England, c. 1590–1630

Famine and the female mortality advantage: sex, gender and mortality in northwest England, c. 1590–1630

Review of periodical literature published in 2010

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

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