tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17916503413019247452024-03-06T05:57:05.823+00:00Society and belief in EnglandA history of English society from the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century.Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-2595485345376835162017-03-08T20:07:00.001+00:002017-03-08T20:07:56.959+00:00Victorian life and leisure<span style="font-size: large;">In addition to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, have consulted the following books for this post:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Judith Flanders, <i>Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain</i> (London Harper Perennial, 2007)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ruth Goodman, <i>How to be a Victorian</i> (London: Penguin, 2013)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">G. R. Searle, <i>A New England? Peace and War 1886-1918</i> (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">F.M.L Thompson, <i>The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Britain, 1830-1900</i> (Fontana 1988)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77kVvbNg1cp5I4e5EaJWB8krceorD3NZeLO8f8i7gObqlGuO8Mh9AkeAqZKT-AOSp-xdx6-gElbdvDEOOv-LDDEKqf3O8Gl14R-fY2ZWTZ-xa-PX50qtnS8IKzJdAEB1i8KRb9dG7yKcY/s1600/325px-Blackpool_Tower_Drawing+1893.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi77kVvbNg1cp5I4e5EaJWB8krceorD3NZeLO8f8i7gObqlGuO8Mh9AkeAqZKT-AOSp-xdx6-gElbdvDEOOv-LDDEKqf3O8Gl14R-fY2ZWTZ-xa-PX50qtnS8IKzJdAEB1i8KRb9dG7yKcY/s1600/325px-Blackpool_Tower_Drawing+1893.jpg" width="108" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A drawing of Blackpool Tower<br />
1893, the year before it opened</td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Living standards</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Between 1882 and 1899 prices fell while wages rose, bringing about an improvement in average real wages of over a third, and increasing the disposable income of the housewife. The better-off working-class families were able to purchase a more varied range of foodstuffs, including meat as well as bread. Alcohol consumption was falling from over 15 per cent of the family budget in 1876 to under 9 per cent in 1901. Health also improved, as most communities now had access to clean water, though TB remained the main killer of the adult population.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The demon drink</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">During the nineteenth century drinking habits changed dramatically. In the eighteenth century taverns and inns were places where all classes drank, if not necessarily together and public business was transacted. By the 1850s no respectable middle-class man would enter a public house. Propertied men had their clubs and the middle-class home was increasingly comfortable. But <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_movement">the pub</a> was a great attraction for the working man, providing him with comradeship and conviviality away from his small, crowded home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beerhouse_Act_1830">budget of 1830</a> the duty on beer was abolished and beer remained duty-free until Gladstone’s 1880 budget. This meant that any ratepayer, on payment of an annual duty of two guineas, could obtain direct from the excise a licence to sell beer on or off the premises. The prevalence of cheap beer gave a spur to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beerhouse_Act_1830">temperance movement</a> - the word ‘teetotal was coined in 1834 - but drink remained of central importance in the popular culture. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45xBy4o600aJKtV8KsPqJQqRZuKqNWyx0v3FHSZskFo-sbi-OGqc0KOla2rBPtZuA0_ejnSijb5jGj6ab1wwcdV65LV5K5ewvgNedhU0NBRvqNYs3zzpdjKC-VFB6EhCAjJlIsYsydwuf/s1600/Farriers_Arms_pub_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1466879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45xBy4o600aJKtV8KsPqJQqRZuKqNWyx0v3FHSZskFo-sbi-OGqc0KOla2rBPtZuA0_ejnSijb5jGj6ab1wwcdV65LV5K5ewvgNedhU0NBRvqNYs3zzpdjKC-VFB6EhCAjJlIsYsydwuf/s200/Farriers_Arms_pub_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1466879.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Farriers' Arms, Rotherhithe<br />
a Victorian beer-house</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The licensing act of 1872 made all drinking houses, beer-houses as well as public houses, subject to magistrates’ approval. By this time the number of beer-houses had peaked at around 50,000, declining to about 40,000 by the end of the century. They were distinct from the older and more respectable ale-houses. Publicans were seen as solid citizens, the owners of beer houses as disreputable and possibly criminal. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The act of 1830 allowed beer houses to open on weekdays from four in the morning until ten at night, with two short drinking periods on Sunday afternoon and evening. This was a novelty as public houses were able to stay open as long as the publicans chose. From 1854 similar legal restrictions were applied to public houses. The new curb on drinking led to <a href="http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/118/bh-118-026.html">riots in Hyde Park in 1855</a>, after which the government increased Sunday drinking times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The 1872 Act slightly reduced Sunday drinking time and introduced statutory weekday closing times for all public houses alongside those that already applied to beer houses. Again there were massive protest, and the police were called out in Ashton and Maidstone. One of the first acts of Disraeli’s government, elected in 1874, was to reward the publicans with an extra half hour on the day. The Tories were now identified as the party of the brewers. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRqGmKVnVSmH7jcwJzlKSj2soe7pFyv3GdTfquiR2KjOsTDgYCuteceZJVOJEQW2y6GUTyhG2Rf8ZgEtLUAHyTGiHwBSUiuVku08UjnkbnJbvF-RIJOgcjv-1t6S3Rw7Y7Ge462Tp7u5K/s1600/Band_of_Hope_Member%2527s_Card_1870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRqGmKVnVSmH7jcwJzlKSj2soe7pFyv3GdTfquiR2KjOsTDgYCuteceZJVOJEQW2y6GUTyhG2Rf8ZgEtLUAHyTGiHwBSUiuVku08UjnkbnJbvF-RIJOgcjv-1t6S3Rw7Y7Ge462Tp7u5K/s1600/Band_of_Hope_Member%2527s_Card_1870.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Band of Hope member's card, 1870<br />
The temperance movement was increasingly<br />
associated with the Liberal and the Nonconformists</td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Patterns of work</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">n many respects the early Victorian work pattern followed that of pre-industrial Britain. The average working day could be up to twelve hours long, but individual working days varied in length. Sunday was usually a day of rest for most people. The old habit of keeping ‘Saint Monday’ persisted and people often turned up late for work on that day, while working long hours on Thursday and Friday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As the century progressed, working hours became more regular and workers were fined or even dismissed for turning up late on Mondays. Even so, as productivity increased the trend was towards a shorter working week and the Saturday half day became more common. The pattern of the week changed, as the workers exchanged the relatively leisurely Mondays for free time on Saturday afternoons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The rise in living standards and the increased availability of leisure led to the creation of a distinctively organised ‘leisure industry’ that transformed many areas of social life.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Bank holidays</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1871 the Liberal MP <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lubbock,_1st_Baron_Avebury">John Lubbock</a> drafted the Bank Holiday Bill, which declared that certain days throughout the year were official holidays (when banks and offices closed). This introduced the first secular day of leisure in British History, popularly called <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/10265638/Heres-to-a-happy-St-Lubbocks-Day.html">St Lubbock’s Day</a> in his honour. The intention was to provide relief for over-worked bank clerks and other white-collar employees, and initially they were not popular with the manual workers who claimed that their pay was being docked by enforced leisure. However the bank holiday became established and by the 1890s half a million Londoners each year took advantage of it to visit the coast or the countryside. The speed of railway transport now meant that people could quickly travel to the seaside, and seaside resorts expanded and changed their character. </span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The seaside</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">At the beginning of the nineteenth century seaside holidays were for the wealthy few. (See <a href="https://penandpension.com/2016/03/08/the-serious-business-of-sea-bathing/">here</a> for the reasons for the popularity of sea-bathing in the eighteenth century.) Resorts such as Brighton, Weymouth and Scarborough grew up to cater for genteel society in pursuit of the fresh air that was thought to be the key to good health. These early seaside holidaymakers entered the sea through bathing machines. The men usually bathed naked but the women wore special garments to preserve their modesty. From the middle of the century the machines were replaced by bathing huts, small wooden sheds on wheels, fitted with a set of steps at the front. Aided by a ‘dipping woman’, the bathers descended the steps into the sea. From the start of the 1870s, however, naked bathing was discouraged and men were forced to cover up. Men and women now bathed together. At the same time other amusements were developing as promenades were built, and bandstands became popular. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The creation of bank holidays and the availability of cheap railway fares brought <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/seaside_01.shtml">a further change to the seaside</a>, as new resorts like Skegness and Blackpool sprang up, and new amusements and facilities catered for working-class people. By the end of the century there were as many as forty-eight large coastal resorts with a combined population of 900,000. In the 1890s two million trippers visited Blackpool. In response the middle classes sought to isolate themselves from the new ‘vulgar’ resorts: Margate had its exclusive quarter in Cliftonville, Blackpool in Lytham St Anne’s. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYApG6MjD9Gx0f4jV_NLVX8YJZfz1Q9TxkqJ7VjbOVNT3k6ddOIs6zPjfO5lJRTfT3wU9meU1lsoN7AyvflD3S_T2dY39DQOnLFpJmccs6smRYEC_Y7oVqYzVEMB66RGYdTAFB_SxK1cPv/s1600/IndianLounge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYApG6MjD9Gx0f4jV_NLVX8YJZfz1Q9TxkqJ7VjbOVNT3k6ddOIs6zPjfO5lJRTfT3wU9meU1lsoN7AyvflD3S_T2dY39DQOnLFpJmccs6smRYEC_Y7oVqYzVEMB66RGYdTAFB_SxK1cPv/s1600/IndianLounge2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Indian Lounge<br />
Blackpool Winter Gardens</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Blackpool and Southend offered a range of new attractions for their working-class clientele, making sea bathing less important (though it was still popular). In 1878 the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Gardens,_Blackpool">Blackpool Winter Gardens </a>opened, and attraction that combined music hall, variety and dancing.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAM28dA8-tBBToGTOs9aTbcrWEsnANIZmYb41EM54Pg1wOVMAvrViLsEVEfcbE3anTZ-L0obREKwMr4JdCQbj2Qh1J-Me__xEkkZPFYMlfjD4WQXchv_D3Rb-TIwksGczAFH505ku9uEV7/s1600/Blackpool_Tower_Top_Lift_1895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAM28dA8-tBBToGTOs9aTbcrWEsnANIZmYb41EM54Pg1wOVMAvrViLsEVEfcbE3anTZ-L0obREKwMr4JdCQbj2Qh1J-Me__xEkkZPFYMlfjD4WQXchv_D3Rb-TIwksGczAFH505ku9uEV7/s1600/Blackpool_Tower_Top_Lift_1895.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top lift, Blackpool Tower, 1895</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool_Tower">Blackpool Tower</a>, built at a cost of £290,000, was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. Modelled on the Eiffel Tower, it rises to 518 feet. When the tower opened, 3,000 customers took the first rides to the top. Tourists paid sixpence for admission, sixpence more for a ride in the lifts to the top, and a further sixpence for the circus. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Music halls</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The music hall originated in the ‘free and easies’, communal amateur sing-songs attached to public houses. There was often a token piano to aid the singing, and increasingly professional singers were brought in. One of the best known of these saloons was the <a href="http://spitalfieldslife.com/2010/11/12/in-out-the-eagle-tavern/">Eagle or Grecian</a> in the City Road.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICRDa78iusK5K3YQSaxsHcK9Jzd_z6NZkOfoCWgRQ4QOlS-gsIwUZhApOvp1Og5phKoKoUbLEtGDWU9020RsFdEPipxBeryIBH7UC7JoYS0Fp5R63_7xvXuEEn-zhd0H2gYEKH6FAp2Z4/s1600/Eagle_Tavern_in_1841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICRDa78iusK5K3YQSaxsHcK9Jzd_z6NZkOfoCWgRQ4QOlS-gsIwUZhApOvp1Og5phKoKoUbLEtGDWU9020RsFdEPipxBeryIBH7UC7JoYS0Fp5R63_7xvXuEEn-zhd0H2gYEKH6FAp2Z4/s1600/Eagle_Tavern_in_1841.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Eagle Tavern, c. 1841</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">From 1832 it advertised a garden, an orchestra and dancing. By 1837 it had been remodelled with a pit and boxes and performed a wide repertoire from comic songs to Rossini overtures. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXE80QsLaGJRpS1Pe5YQlDBM3zkwl4RyrVPMCKZkJdGjZ7u3y0G3fVZ1uIbLYrOe6DybTd47gFtZAjbX4V-Y5OHTswo7iSLdswkj5YaUcmfxX2Yx_W3iPUmuncomQG_3Bt7CpDC9MsgFCW/s1600/Canterbury_Hall_circa_1856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXE80QsLaGJRpS1Pe5YQlDBM3zkwl4RyrVPMCKZkJdGjZ7u3y0G3fVZ1uIbLYrOe6DybTd47gFtZAjbX4V-Y5OHTswo7iSLdswkj5YaUcmfxX2Yx_W3iPUmuncomQG_3Bt7CpDC9MsgFCW/s1600/Canterbury_Hall_circa_1856.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Canterbury Music Hall<br />
c. 1856<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Theatres Act of 1843 ruled that theatres could no longer serve alcohol. This loosened the link between music halls and public houses and led to the creation of purpose-built music halls. It is generally accepted that Charles Morton’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_Music_Hall">Canterbury Music Hall</a> in Lambeth, opened in 1852 as an extension to the Canterbury Arms tavern, was the first purpose-built music hall. </span><span style="font-size: large;">It seated 700, with an admission charge of sixpence, and a refreshment stall inside. In 1860 Morton leased the Boar and Castle tavern in Oxford Street, and on its site built the Oxford Music Hall, ushering in the age of the grand music hall. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">From the 1870s music halls became increasingly elaborate as supper tables gave way to fixed seating and grand stages with proscenium arches, with the performers increasingly professionals hired from outside. From pub sing-songs, they had become theatres and had lost their connection with alcohol. By the 1880s many of the halls became grouped into profitable theatre chains across the whole country. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">By the early 1890s about 45,000 people were crowding into London’s thirty-five biggest halls. Theatres like the London Palladium, which opened in 1885, catered for all classes, including the Prince of Wales who was an enthusiastic patron of music halls. In some halls the prices ranged from sixpence<i> </i>to two guineas. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The music hall created its own stars. In 1866 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Leybourne">George Leybourne </a>became famous with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_Charlie_(song)">‘Champagne Charlie’</a>. The song celebrated the life of the ‘swell’ – the flashy clothes and women, the broad check suits and the expensive drinks of the man about town. </span><span style="font-size: large;">He has been seen as the lower-middle-class young man with the ‘cheek’ to ape his betters.</span><span style="font-size: large;">He earned £1, 500 a year and his lifestyle came to fit his song. He dressed as a 'swell' offstage and his copious public consumption of champagne was paid for by a wine merchant to advertise his wares. He died indebted, possibly from cirrhosis of the liver, in 1884.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1885 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Lloyd">Marie Lloyd</a> became famous with her song ‘The Boy I love is up in the Gallery’. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Some of her most famous songs were grounded in the reality of poverty. ‘My Old Man’ is about a wife forced to do a moonlight flit because her husband cannot afford to pay the rent. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF846s5UFX6nfRMCzY8_rZp9QZ6P_z4tvp_PnyVLyl1EEmv-LlGnY286BUpG2cdYMTUZHGASojamVtqkMKF_Ts1-8zmexSlWrKX9nUVT3Jbe23pWKREH-klZnemACd_YQaQp0-y_A-vTec/s1600/Marie_Lloyd_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF846s5UFX6nfRMCzY8_rZp9QZ6P_z4tvp_PnyVLyl1EEmv-LlGnY286BUpG2cdYMTUZHGASojamVtqkMKF_Ts1-8zmexSlWrKX9nUVT3Jbe23pWKREH-klZnemACd_YQaQp0-y_A-vTec/s1600/Marie_Lloyd_02.jpg" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marie Lloyd on stage<br />
in the 1890s<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Football</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Cheap and efficient transport made a major contribution to the development of spectator sports, especially football. The Football Association was founded in 1863 and the FA Cup in 1871-2. By the 1880s special trains were laid on for ‘away’ games. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The original purpose of organized football was to enable former public-school pupils to play one another when they met at university or in ‘old boy’ matches. The game then diversified, spreading through the industrial cities, often promoted by the churches or employers. Aston Villa, Fulham and Barnsley originated with a church or chapel, while Arsenal, Liverpool, Coventry City, Manchester City and West Ham began as works’ teams. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUhkvJjyGujGeYWzFqOma1fVZ4KPG_DwVyPuYuCLyBeUeUjY_NflzTewgX9yz1OrcHMbDy92SHBi3s2-g1HjNiSomfDRk6LKLbZGylb_0332NsoqNBUn7lOSvtdAuigM8pcQ-MUbalzvy/s1600/RoyalEngineers1872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUhkvJjyGujGeYWzFqOma1fVZ4KPG_DwVyPuYuCLyBeUeUjY_NflzTewgX9yz1OrcHMbDy92SHBi3s2-g1HjNiSomfDRk6LKLbZGylb_0332NsoqNBUn7lOSvtdAuigM8pcQ-MUbalzvy/s1600/RoyalEngineers1872.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Royal Engineers FC<br />
1872</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As early as the late 1870s the game was breaking away from the control of the elites. In August 1877 the working-class members of the football club attached to Christ Church, Bolton, broke with the local vicar and made their way to a nearby pub, where they founded Bolton Wanderers. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">At first it was difficult for the teams to find somewhere to play. Many towns set aside public land for matches. The bigger clubs then restricted access to matches by enclosing the playing area and charging entrance fees. The standard charge was 6d for big matches, a sum within the budgets of better-paid workers. The money enabled the clubs to buy players, many of them from Scotland. The logical consequence of these developments was the institution of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Football_League">Football League</a> in the 1888-9 season. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Initially the referee controlled the game with a flag, but after the invention of Joseph Hudson’s cylindrical Airfast whistle, which became widely used among the police, it became popular with referees. In 1889 goalposts acquired nets, when a Liverpool engineer, John Brodie, persuaded the FA to try them out. Pitch markings took their modern form in 1902.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">By the end of the century, therefore most of the features of the modern game were established. Within thirty years football had changed its nature from a game controlled by ex public-schoolboys to a professional institution, financed by business and ticket receipts, while to the dismay of many of the early promoters of the game, the number of spectators greatly exceeded the number of players. The former public-school pupils had by this time lost interest and turned their attention to Rugby Union, while, following the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rugby_league">‘great schism’ of 1894</a> the northern working classes followed Rugby League.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Shopping</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The rise in real wages, seen in the growing popularity of holidays, gave large sections of the working class a surplus. This was not a large sum of money for individual households, but collectively it created a revolution in retailing. Cheap imported foodstuffs transformed shopping habits. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The multiples:</b> The late 1870s saw the emergence of multiple stores such as <a href="http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/lipton/index.php?a=eb06">Lipton's</a> and Home and Colonial, which through bulk purchases, were able to undercut many small shopkeepers. Unlike the earlier Co-operative movement, they operated with the profit motive, but like the Co-operative they sold goods at fixed prices and refused credit. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Lipton’s shops stocked a limited range of goods – bacon, ham, butter, eggs, and cheese. His goods were cheap because of the rapid turnover, low profit margins and low overheads. In 1889 Lipton's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipton">entered the tea market</a>. They owned the tea-estates in Ceylon, and their tea was sold in identically branded packets at all their retail stores. They were able to slash the price of tea from between 3s and 4s per pound to between 1s. 2d and 1s. 9d. Their slogan was 'Direct from the tea gardens to the tea pot.' </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">More than any other store, Lipton's symbolised the growth of mass retailing. Thomas Lipton had started off with a single shop in Glasgow. By 1898 there were some 250 more or less identical shops throughout the United Kingdom. In the same year Lipton was knighted by the Queen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The department stores:</b> Department stores can be dated to the late eighteenth century, but they began to flourish in the middle of the nineteenth century when all British cities had flourishing department stores. By 1900, London, Glasgow and Liverpool were the three largest shopping centres in the country.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1856 David Lewis set up his store in Liverpool at a time when the Crimean War and the development of the American Midwest was bringing big business to the port. In 1864 he began to sell women’s clothes, followed by shoes, perfumery, layettes, umbrellas and patent medicines. In 1879 he added a tobacco department and in 1880 school slates, watches, stationery, books and sheet music. He bought up his rival, the Bon Marché, and became one of the most successful department-store entrepreneurs of the nineteenth century. Other stores were equally innovative. Whiteley’s of Paddington included an estate agent and a hairdresser’s. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Glasgow’s most successful store was Wylie and Lockhead, which began business as an undertaker's and then diversified. In 1855 it installed the first lift. The store introduced the novel idea of ‘flats’ where areas were decorated as if they were individual rooms in a private house.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Gordon_Selfridge">Gordon Selfridge</a> opened his store in 1907 he was therefore building on over a century of innovation.</span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The rise in real living standards in the second half of the nineteenth century made it possible for working-class people to enjoy a greater range of leisure activities than any preceding generation. As entrepreneurs responded to demand, leisure became big business. Rising middle-class incomes and an improved transport system helped create the department store, which offered a range of products under one roof and transformed the experience of shopping</span>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-60297767188668495772017-02-28T14:00:00.001+00:002017-02-28T14:04:39.336+00:00Women and employment<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-APVzVVdJdfeekQ5dS3FGxI388Ja4XJMoRBqW34D-IK5FZIdkaehxRUI_4iLKu6KQ_CFM6PXPUyiSFC-J18qoBUkeZ49gU6OngcH2XPF1giCnibTh5T3GLNDnvUpttvFGqAj7myn5Bo/s1600-h/Cullwick.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">How depicted?</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The standard images of Victorian women are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Angel_in_the_House">'angel in the house'</a>, the factory girl, and the domestic servant (and possibly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Nursing_in_the_United_Kingdom">Florence Nightingale's nurses</a>). Women in Victorian art are usually portrayed as wives subordinate to their husbands and rarely in paid employment. (The exception here is the series of photographs the barrister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Munby">Arthur Munby</a> took of the domestic servant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Cullwick">Hannah Cullwick</a> – whom he subsequently married – and other working-class women.) You can read about his extraordinary relationship with Hannah <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1029618/A-slave-love.html">here</a>. His revealing photographs are held by Trinity College, Cambridge, and some of them can be viewed <a href="https://trinitycollegelibrarycambridge.wordpress.com/tag/hannah-cullwick/">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_chVYezM6AtWwDiOAq323TUwHwXv_tFGzwci454jUPOd1TNtYu0wzLs5MJMgzvFPzPAzyvNQOZZTiZQFrtYO0pA_JpTB5fuW131pL-dZ0DQGUDgitCGY1Vgrq6CL6pqKm5mtVRn_7wO8/s1600/article-0-005DA30600000258-803_306x423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_chVYezM6AtWwDiOAq323TUwHwXv_tFGzwci454jUPOd1TNtYu0wzLs5MJMgzvFPzPAzyvNQOZZTiZQFrtYO0pA_JpTB5fuW131pL-dZ0DQGUDgitCGY1Vgrq6CL6pqKm5mtVRn_7wO8/s1600/article-0-005DA30600000258-803_306x423.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hannah Cullwick (1833-1909)<br />
Servant and barrister's wife<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Elizabeth Gaske</span><span style="font-size: large;">ll’s <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Barton">Mary Barton</a></span> portray</span><span style="font-size: large;">s the life of a Victorian working girl. Significantly, she is confronted with severe family problems – an aunt driven to prostitution, a father on strike, and she is threatened with seduction by the employer’s son.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Moralists fretted about female employment. Ashley (Lord Shaftesbury) believed married women should not work outside the home. The social researcher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Mayhew">Henry Mayhew</a> highlighted the dangers of underpaid needlewomen turning to prostitution. The world outside the home was often seen as a dangerous place for women.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Census information</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The 1851 census was the first to record occupations, both male and female, in any detail. It gave a total of 2.8 million women and girls over the age of ten in employment out of a female population of 10.1million, forming 30.2 per cent of the workforce. This is almost certainly an underestimate - perhaps by as much as a third. The census showed that women were clustered into certain occupations.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Domestic service took by far the greatest number - 905,000, not including 145,000 washerwomen and 55,000 charwomen. (In 1871 – the peak year – 46 per cent of occupied women were in domestic service.) The majority of domestic servants worked in small households – we must rid ourselves o</span><span style="font-size: large;">f the <span style="font-style: italic;">Downton</span> image! A frugal middle-class household, like that of Thomas and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Welsh_Carlyle">Jane Carlyle</a>, might only employ one servant. Mrs Carlyle had great difficulty keeping her servants and often had to do the household tasks herself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJNe9yTWwzzM5ElOVGthBHOPaNITXah2FZTTDe_smCmxCnsREQQAaLNyN7z9p4UbwQF6Sj_QrdP-MtpM4-3inUZV6rRDZEdPALlfqS839BJRI6iYEMZhNwEyqZyJv0RE8a887w-xJug0X/s1600/400px-Jane_Baillie_Carlyle_%2528ne%25CC%2581e_Welsh%2529_by_Samuel_Laurence_detail+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJNe9yTWwzzM5ElOVGthBHOPaNITXah2FZTTDe_smCmxCnsREQQAaLNyN7z9p4UbwQF6Sj_QrdP-MtpM4-3inUZV6rRDZEdPALlfqS839BJRI6iYEMZhNwEyqZyJv0RE8a887w-xJug0X/s200/400px-Jane_Baillie_Carlyle_%2528ne%25CC%2581e_Welsh%2529_by_Samuel_Laurence_detail+%25281%2529.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jane Welsh Carlyle<br />Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The next largest group of women in employment was the textile workers, closely followed by those in the clothing trades, most in workshops or outwork.</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;">The overlap between home and work continued to be one of the themes of women’s lives, whether they were engaged in rural industries such as straw-plaiting or working in the ‘sweated trades’ of the great urban centres. A good example of this is the previously all-male tailoring trade. Rising demand for army and navy uniforms and for clothes of all kinds led to a new form of putting out – middlemen employed workers, mainly women, to mass-produce garments in their own homes or workshops. This eventually destroyed the control of male tailors. But the great disadvantage for women was that wages were constantly driven down.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dundee was one of the great areas of female employment as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Dundee#Industrial_revolution">jute mills</a> sought to fight off Indian competition by using low-paid female labour. It was described as a city of ‘over-dressed, loud, bold-eyed girls’. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were almost three women to every two men in the city between the ages of twenty and forty-five and a third of all heads of houses were women.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is also the unrecorded work - seasonal agricultural work, outwork, casual domestic work such as washing, and working in family businesses. An ‘occupation’ was generally perceived as the work performed by a male head of household or a single unmarried person.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Women and change</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The history of women’s work in the second phase of industrialisation is very different from that of men’s work. In the later nineteenth century heavy industries expanded: iron and steel, shipbuilding, transport. These industries did not provide work for women but for skilled male craftsmen, who began to build a trade-union movement. The <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/about-tuc/union-history/history-tuc-part-one-1868-1899">TUC </a>met for the first time in 1868, representing primarily the interests of the skilled crafts, who campaigned for the ‘family wage’. In this kind of movement women had virtually no place. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1875 Henry Broadbent, union official and later (from 1880) ‘Lib-Lab’ MP for Stoke-on-Trent, told the TUC that the goals of the labour movement included the conditions where </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘wives and daughters would be in their proper sphere at home, instead of being dragged into competition for livelihood against the great and strong men of the world’.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">This was not merely an ideology. Industrialisation probably reduced the female presence in the formal job market. Official returns in the second half of the nineteenth century show a small decline in the proportion of women in the occupied work force from 34.1 per cent in 1861 to 31.15 in 1891. The majority of these working women were young and unmarried. In many sectors of the economy - such as the Huntley and Palmer biscuit factory – a formal marriage bar operated. Even in the Lancashire textile industry, working mothers were a minority. This is a reflection of the growing prosperity of working-class families. The family wage, though low, was sufficient to allow the mother (called ‘mum’ from the 1880s) to remain at home – a place which could be a place of power for her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the following decades, however, more women entered the labour market. By 1911 there had been a significant build up of women working in various branches of engineering: 128,000 – more than the numbers engaged in agriculture and horticulture.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But the most momentous change in the female labour market was the growth of middle-class posts – in teaching, retailing, office work, and nursing. The majority of the teachers in the Board Schools created by the 1870 Education Act (see later post) were women. Though less qualified, they constituted 75 per cent of the 230,000 teachers listed in the 1901 Census.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Another great catalyst for change was the typewriter, which took off in the 1880s. The first Remington model was sold in 1878 and by 1890 65,000 Model IIs were being sold. This drew women into the hitherto exclusively male clerical occupations. The new position of telephonist was dominated by women from the start. (Bell delivered his first telephone message in 1876.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Post Office was another major employer. The writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Thompson">Flora Thompson</a>, the author of <i>Lark Rise to Candleford</i>, began work as a sub-postmistress in 1891. However, women had to be dismissed from the Savings Bank Department because of male opposition. By 1900 women were 20 per cent of all white-collar workers, earning on average 25-30s a week.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Women were paid much less than men even when doing the same jobs, something demanded by both employers and unions. For example, shop assistants earned about 65 per cent of men’s income. But the real problem lay in the notion of a ‘woman’s rate’ (amounting to little more than 10-12s a week, or else a fixed percentage of male earnings. For most girls the best route to advancement still lay though making a ‘good’ marriage. It has been estimated that 10 per cent of working-class females married into middle-class families.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Textiles</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">From the mid 1820s the mechanisation of weaving (the application of steam power to the power loom) brought women in large numbers into textile factories. (They had already entered such factories earlier as a minority of spinners.) Worsted followed after 1835, wool after 1850, hosiery from the 1850s, and women’s work of seaming and finishing from the 1850s. The timing of the entry by women into factory production varied greatly.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This shows that the character of the female labour force in these industries was quite diverse. Throughout, it remained influenced by the assumptions of the family economy - women’s work was less skilled and poorly paid. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the Lancashire cotton factories, the majority of employed women were young single women, with a minority of poorer married women. The married woman factory worker was the target of much condemnation from observers of the factory system. However the mothers of small children were probably only a small proportion of the overall factory workforce. Where alternatives existed, married women were more likely to do work which could be done at home. It was only where there were no alternatives that she would enter factory employment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Until 1891 most women in work were employed as domestic servants.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Women’s work was often informal and casual and is therefore poorly recorded in the censuses.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">In some occupations, women were replacing men. New technology also created job opportunities for women.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">However, rising working-class incomes union pressure for the ‘family wage’ kept many women in the home.</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-54041163494057426842017-02-22T19:53:00.002+00:002017-02-22T19:53:11.556+00:00Women and education<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVbx7Jfxcg94OuTiSnci3NnGz6t5ltPxWBbuLLPQ0XM2GcVMQ0B-MnYZjy2VI284Vet1FVYg0TMlcoHyJdaz7OazUPVX9tzp1L_AwKnRMUJu0Fbeqv11Tt2I0NCMW20YEs4KiyjvPqHzES/s1600/Frances_Mary_Buss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVbx7Jfxcg94OuTiSnci3NnGz6t5ltPxWBbuLLPQ0XM2GcVMQ0B-MnYZjy2VI284Vet1FVYg0TMlcoHyJdaz7OazUPVX9tzp1L_AwKnRMUJu0Fbeqv11Tt2I0NCMW20YEs4KiyjvPqHzES/s200/Frances_Mary_Buss.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances Mary Buss,<br />
pioneer of girls' education<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">From the 1870 Act working-class girls received the same education as boys. It was among the wealthier social groups that educational provision differed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Boarding schools</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Eighteenth-century boarding schools usually aimed to take girls for no more than a couple of years during their mid-teens. They were housed in the proprietress’s own home. Their prospectuses advertised that they taught modern languages, music, dancing and painting. They varied in quality and by the mid-nineteenth century they were widely thought to be inadequate. However, there were some excellent schools. One of these was the Miss Franklin's school at Coventry, where <a href="http://www.georgeeliot.org/about-george-eliot/childhood.aspx">George Eliot</a> (Marian Evans) was a pupil. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Governesses</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The census of 1861 lists 24,770 governesses living in England and Wales. </span><span style="font-size: large;">While boarding schools could charge £70 - £80 p.a., a governess might cost as little as £25 p.a. (though her upkeep included board and lodging). This put governesses within the reach of families of relatively modest means.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The reform of the education of middle-class girls began in the 1840s, stimulated by a variety of factors, including the rising wealth and expectations of the middle class, the belief that the mother as the first educator of her children needed a sound education and an increase in the number of middle-class unmarried women.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1847 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_College,_London">Queen’s College in Harley Street</a> became the first institution in the world to grant academic qualifications to women. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaEVjGg64wbt9M9KWrVf9hxk4ClpFiQv56HXibyDQLr4KS8Tt-JgXIoRSstjrYcn9caxmxbHIdw1U8R7ecLqcpks2az0CVrgDXvgjjPhVEYlf3_p6QfXc4GOeJJE4b2RO7VPNHEqx3aEU/s1600/428px-Dorothea_Beale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVaEVjGg64wbt9M9KWrVf9hxk4ClpFiQv56HXibyDQLr4KS8Tt-JgXIoRSstjrYcn9caxmxbHIdw1U8R7ecLqcpks2az0CVrgDXvgjjPhVEYlf3_p6QfXc4GOeJJE4b2RO7VPNHEqx3aEU/s200/428px-Dorothea_Beale.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothea Beale<br />
Wikimedia Common</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">1850 saw the foundation of the North London Collegiate School by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Buss">Miss Frances Buss</a> (1827-94); in 1854 Cheltenham Ladies College was founded; the second principal was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Beale">Miss Dorothea Beal</a>e (1831-1906). In </span><span style="font-size: large;">1871: Maria Grey set up the National Union for Improving the Education of Women. In </span><span style="font-size: large;">1872 the Girls’ Public Day School Trust established.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Universities:</b> There were tremendous obstacles, both social and cultural in the way of higher education for women. In 1849 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_College_(London)">Bedford College</a> was founded by the Unitarian, Elizabeth Reid). This was the first university for women in the United Kingdom.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1879 the Victorian entrepreneur and philanthropist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Holloway">Thomas Holloway</a>, founded a university for women at Egham in Surrey. It was officially opened in 1886 by Queen Victoria as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Holloway,_University_of_London">Royal Holloway College</a> and became a member of the University of London in 1900.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuLrFuWKVxfgNv8lsxgbh026sa7LdNEeZiQquMtscpXWfI4TDPHG3qmp3TRDeymdhQJ3wll1CaScJ_MpwCNswrO0OlDVjYSNyq5pr2Ym9oo41VnDv49_5LLspDQuDN-glAFmJ6XCV5WiY/s1600/Royal_Holloway_Building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuLrFuWKVxfgNv8lsxgbh026sa7LdNEeZiQquMtscpXWfI4TDPHG3qmp3TRDeymdhQJ3wll1CaScJ_MpwCNswrO0OlDVjYSNyq5pr2Ym9oo41VnDv49_5LLspDQuDN-glAFmJ6XCV5WiY/s1600/Royal_Holloway_Building.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The statue of Thomas and Mary Holloway<br />
Royal Holloway<br />
University of London</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Opposition to the higher education of women was much more intense at Oxford and Cambridge. In the early 1860s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Davies">Emily Davies</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Bodichon">Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon</a> (Florence Nightingale's cousin) founded a college at Hitchin, where the initial five students took exactly the same Cambridge exams as the men (the Little-Go followed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripos">Tripos</a>). In May 1872 the articles of association for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girton_College,_Cambridge">Girton College</a> were founded, and Emily Davies was nominated Secretary. In October 1873 the students arrived at a half finished building.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Others contested the Girton argument that the women should take the same exams as the men. At Leeds in 1867 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Clough">Anne Jemima Clough</a> (1820-92) helped establish the North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Education of Women. The Council developed the system that came to be known as ‘university extension’ - a lecture programme for women and special university-based examinations which would give an entry into teaching. When she became the first principal of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newnham_College,_Cambridge">Newnham College</a> (1871) she was prepared to accept special provisions for women. As a result, Newnham attracted more students than Girton - though Emily Davies also insisted that they had sold the pass.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1879 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville_College,_Oxford">Somerville College</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Margaret_Hall,_Oxford">Lady Margaret Hall</a> were founded at Oxford. In 1884 Oxford voted to admit women to examinations but not degrees.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The resistance to the higher education of women came from a number of groups including (a) doctors who insisted that female students’ health would suffer from serious study (b) parents who feared that their daughters’ lives would be radically transformed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But in spite of these arguments, higher education for women expanded. In 1878 London University admitted women to degrees on the same terms as men and none of the newly chartered universities, such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_University_of_Manchester">Victoria University of Manchester</a>, drew sexual distinctions. By 1900 there were 1,476 full-time female students in England and another 1,194 in Scotland and Wales – to say nothing of the hundreds enrolled in teachers’ training colleges. Yet in 1881 women at Cambridge University were allowed only to sit the degree examinations on the same terms as men, but not be awarded degrees.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1890, there was a great sensation when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Fawcett">Philippa Fawcett </a>was ranked above the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrangler_%28University_of_Cambridge%29">Senior Wrangler</a> - but she was not awarded the honour! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Avn0Ah_j1hNt-shH6P0ldqIU8UWCskYWszKccQK9J2gtHJ_ihELmEw5JJte09ZsW_V_66l4SEx68Df5wpGNJ6uKAJepB7nRBNZzlKYxCEjerm1irEuZ0cunA6psBSHJ3kYkkin-LXIeW/s1600/Phillipafawcett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Avn0Ah_j1hNt-shH6P0ldqIU8UWCskYWszKccQK9J2gtHJ_ihELmEw5JJte09ZsW_V_66l4SEx68Df5wpGNJ6uKAJepB7nRBNZzlKYxCEjerm1irEuZ0cunA6psBSHJ3kYkkin-LXIeW/s200/Phillipafawcett.jpg" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philippa Garrett Fawcett<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">(In 1897 the proposal to admit women to degrees was rejected. It was only in 1947 that women in Cambridge were awarded degrees on the same terms as men.) Three years late Alice Cooke became the first woman to be appointed to a university teaching post – at Owen’s College, Manchester.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Conclusion</span></span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries most middle-class girls were educated at home. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">A small number of elite schools began to give girls a more formal education on the lines offered to boys. By the end of the nineteenth century most universities accepted them on the same terms as man.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">However, this type of education was available only to the privileged few. There was still considerable opposition to higher education for women.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-76559641304076592017-02-20T15:18:00.005+00:002017-02-20T15:18:23.658+00:00Life in the Victorian workhouse<span style="font-size: large;">See <a href="http://www.historyextra.com/article/premium/history-life-victorian-workhouse">here</a> for a fascinating account of workhouse life.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-22580125088943911382017-02-15T15:30:00.000+00:002017-02-15T15:30:01.527+00:00How to be a domestic goddess (even if you can't cook)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwso2KSBoHBoM1PIKGyT78a5ea2qY1Y9pZOAw8hf-96JYIZfZvzASfL4Moz4XNRc8KIgsMaxrmMyCq1E88Jrpv_4lqNapkD2ueJzHkp1aPlXxrFESTPXw0laPbMzt013FS6jJIIuIR7P4t/s1600/Isabella_Mary_Beeton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwso2KSBoHBoM1PIKGyT78a5ea2qY1Y9pZOAw8hf-96JYIZfZvzASfL4Moz4XNRc8KIgsMaxrmMyCq1E88Jrpv_4lqNapkD2ueJzHkp1aPlXxrFESTPXw0laPbMzt013FS6jJIIuIR7P4t/s200/Isabella_Mary_Beeton.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isabella Mary Beeton (1836-65)<br />Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.mrsbeeton.com/">Here </a>you can access the complete text of Isabella Beeton's <i>Book of Household Management</i>. You now have no excuses. Get cooking!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOO-X4P5QkZC-2Kp-bYIrQjlMqib1sHnItXR5S1uQAMoxO3PVUhmFnMRp2exLFA29ydljkOIOp-8K2cDLXYWFREkDMgdeCOjIczx40fD55UkBBRYM-uRd7AlOo82O6cGSUMOIPjcskoM/s1600-h/Beeton_title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOO-X4P5QkZC-2Kp-bYIrQjlMqib1sHnItXR5S1uQAMoxO3PVUhmFnMRp2exLFA29ydljkOIOp-8K2cDLXYWFREkDMgdeCOjIczx40fD55UkBBRYM-uRd7AlOo82O6cGSUMOIPjcskoM/s320/Beeton_title.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On the other hand, Mrs Beeton herself couldn't cook. Her first recipe for a Victoria sponge left out the eggs. This fascinating nugget of information (together with more of the same) comes out in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jun/02/guardianhayfestival2006.books">Kathryn Hughes' biography</a>.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-20278837607236564422017-02-14T17:49:00.000+00:002017-02-14T17:49:19.155+00:00Women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Property</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The legal status of English women was defined by the centuries’-old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law">common law</a>, a system built up by custom, precedent and legal judgement as well as statute. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Under the common law English women took their husbands’ names – a practice that was not found in Scotland or the rest of Europe. </span><span style="font-size: large;">But the common law also gave <i>some</i> women rights not available on the Continent.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Contrary to popular belief, English common law never stated that wives were the property of their husbands - even if many men might have acted as if this were the case! Wife-sales happened from time to time but they were never legal and were often simply an unofficial, mutually-agreed divorce. See <a href="http://bjws.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/wife-selling-in-england-17c-18c-early.html?spref=fb">here</a> for more details.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Before 1882 the law made a clear distinction between married and unmarried women. An unmarried woman or a widow was a 'feme sole' with the right to own property and make contracts in her own name. She had the same legal freedoms as a man. However a married woman was defined as a '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverture">feme covert'</a>. She took her husband's name in marriage and by the end of the eighteenth century the term 'Mrs' was coming to describe a married woman only, and the usage 'Mrs John Smith' to describe a married woman was becoming customary. See <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/cultural-capital/2014/09/mistress-miss-mrs-or-ms-untangling-shifting-history-women-s-titles">here</a> for more information. See here for <a href="https://claphamsect.com/2015/05/28/mrs-miss-and-mrs-man/">my blog post</a> on the subject. A married woman could not own separate property or enter into contracts and if she had any debts her husband was answerable for them (this was a mixed blessing for men!). The status of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverture">coverture</a> was defined by the jurist William Blackstone:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">'By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing.'</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The marriage portion:</b> Women from the propertied classes were expected to bring a ‘portion’ to their marriages, an arrangement that was legally drawn up, signed and witnessed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dower:</b> From at least the twelfth century the common law had sought to protect widows by granting them a third of their husbands’ estates during their lifetimes. By the eighteenth century dower was being replaced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jointure">jointure</a>, usually a sum of money, secured by settlements that over-rode the common law right to a third of the property.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnBdrEBCFplkT3S58-PyAFNl67ap3fNLPHqr4RgbW2hSCCoPQwO61bQcn9PyNFV5oTGa31NVeNShUUnwXqY61MgwrmEZpcZ6PEuUliJrVEhH2L7bWf0tN-fKQI8VxzHHfk-bYxSaF2Ire/s1600/791px-William_Hogarth_038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnBdrEBCFplkT3S58-PyAFNl67ap3fNLPHqr4RgbW2hSCCoPQwO61bQcn9PyNFV5oTGa31NVeNShUUnwXqY61MgwrmEZpcZ6PEuUliJrVEhH2L7bWf0tN-fKQI8VxzHHfk-bYxSaF2Ire/s1600/791px-William_Hogarth_038.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Hogarth 'Marriage-A-la-Mode'<br />
The Contract<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Married women often had more independence than the common law allowed. Among propertied families, </span><span style="font-size: large;">it was usual for the families of the prospective bride and groom to draw up a <a href="https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Marriage_Settlements_in_England_and_Wales">marriage settlement</a>, according to the rules laid down by the Court of Chancery. This involved putting some of the wife’s jointure into a trust so that their husbands had no power over it. It also gave the married woman an income, often known as pin money. For example, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgiana_Cavendish,_Duchess_of_Devonshire">Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire</a>, had pin money of £4,000 a year. In his will William Wilberforce left a sum of money to his daughter-in-law 'for her own separate and peculiar use and benefit', and tied it up in a trust so that his unsatisfactory son could not touch it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Many estates were held under what was known as <a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/deedsindepth/settlements/description.aspx">‘strict settlement’</a>. This was a system designed to secure that estates were not sold off or divided up. Landed property was entailed – held in trust - so that the owner was, in effect merely a life-tenant (like Mr Bennet in <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>). The terms could only be altered when the heir came of age. He and the estate owner could then combine to ‘cut off’ the entail so that land could be mortgaged and more generous portions allocated to daughters or younger sons. Once this was done the estate would be re-entailed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Marriage and the family</span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0Ua9XkSj8uIVUIey6IOSY2RlkylqZLx1SvOPhRTR0nLubCkWPqKYM_z3AGsWGIgLzfj_g59nfSM3ZUN0Y6zhYoq43FjO-yPDZkcx7b83BYykz-NCp97f5Kr1wohhknc4MrR4AloEKBxi/s1600/Caroline_Norton_(1808-77)_society_beauty_and_author_by_GH%2C_Chatsworth_Coll..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0Ua9XkSj8uIVUIey6IOSY2RlkylqZLx1SvOPhRTR0nLubCkWPqKYM_z3AGsWGIgLzfj_g59nfSM3ZUN0Y6zhYoq43FjO-yPDZkcx7b83BYykz-NCp97f5Kr1wohhknc4MrR4AloEKBxi/s1600/Caroline_Norton_(1808-77)_society_beauty_and_author_by_GH%2C_Chatsworth_Coll..jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caroline Norton, writer and<br />
granddaughter of Richard Brinsley<br />
Sheridan; she secured the right of mothers<br />
to sue for custody of their<br />
young children.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Child custody:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> The case of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Norton" style="font-weight: normal;">Caroline Norton</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> highlighted the disabilities women suffered in the family. When her marriage broke up she lost the custody of her young children and in response to her plight parliament passed the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custody_of_Infants_Act_1839" style="font-weight: normal;">Custody of Infants Act</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> in 1839. This permitted a mother to petition the Court of Chancery for custody of her children up the age of seven and for access in respect of the older children. In 1873 the age was raised to sixteen. </span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Divorce:</b> Up to 1857 divorce was only available to husbands, who were able to divorce their wives for adultery (the only ground for divorce until the twentieth century). This was done in three stages: </span><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The aggrieved husband obtained a divorce (i.e. separation ‘from bed and board’ in a church court. This enabled the couple to live apart but they were not free to remarry.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The husband then sued the wife’s lover for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_conversation">‘criminal conversation'</a> in a common law court.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">If the husband wanted a divorce which permitted him to marry he secured a private divorce bill in the House of Lords. If this passed the Lords, the bill moved to the Commons and when the bill received the royal assent, the couple were divorced, both being free to remarry.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghW93B5FhX_ybnL1vz7fOrW4gqu_LHaaP5IQFWJQsUqrqnwM9oal0-MgK7TGCTUBj2_7GPcfCr-L46nMsRH5OICSdi0AVmxyZZ6AsDbee8lo2ao7YSqjNdwveM9jBHDbvaQMj38A70Y0oU/s1600/Effie_Gray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghW93B5FhX_ybnL1vz7fOrW4gqu_LHaaP5IQFWJQsUqrqnwM9oal0-MgK7TGCTUBj2_7GPcfCr-L46nMsRH5OICSdi0AVmxyZZ6AsDbee8lo2ao7YSqjNdwveM9jBHDbvaQMj38A70Y0oU/s200/Effie_Gray.jpg" width="169" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Effie Ruskin, née Gray</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span>n 1854 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effie_Gray">Effie Ruskin</a> secured an annulment from her husband, John. But this was on the grounds of non-consummation; the marriage had never been valid in the first place. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1857 Parliament passed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrimonial_Causes_Act_1857">Matrimonial Causes Act</a>, which for the first time allowed a wife to divorce her husband. The Act created a new Court of Divorce and Matrimonial Causes to hear and decide civil actions for divorce. A husband could petition for divorce in the sole ground of adultery. A wife could not divorce for adultery alone but also had to cite <i>in addition</i> cruelty, desertion, incest, rape, sodomy or bestiality. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the first year of the Act there were three hundred divorce petitions, 40 per cent of them coming from wives. But the Act was a dead letter for the poor. A man like Stephen Blackpool in Dickens's <i>Hard Times</i> would not have been able to afford to divorce his wife. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Leaving the matrimonial home: </b> Traditionally English common law supported a husband who attempted to recover a runaway wife. However in the case of Regina v. Leggat in 1852 a husband was refused a writ of habeas corpus to force his wife back into the family home. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The key ruling came in the case of Regina v. Jackson in 1891. A wife left her husband for another man. The husband kidnapped her as she was leaving church and took her home. When the case came to the Court of Appeal, the Lord Chancellor overturned an earlier judgement in the Divisional Court, saying the husband had no right to detain the wife against her will. He assed that if a husband ever had the legal right to beat his wife, that entitlement was now obsolete. Following this ruling it was established</span><span style="font-size: large;"> that a husband cannot legally detain his wife in his house.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Victorian property legislation</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">The Act of 1870 allowed married women to own their own wages and earnings, certain investments, and property inherited as next of kin of an intestate. They were allowed to inherit personal property of a value of less than £200 under a deed of will but no more. But from the late 1870s a string of judicial decisions showed that the act was not working as intended. In particular a magistrate in Manchester ruled that a wife could not sue her husband for stealing her property even when they had received a judicial separation. </span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women's_Property_Act_1882">Married Women’s Property Act of 1882</a> altered the common law doctrine of coverture to include the wife’s right to own, buy and sell her separate property. The courts were forced to recognise a husband and a wife as two separate legal entities, in the same manner as if the wife was a 'feme sole'. Married women could own stock in their own name, they could sue and be sued. They were responsible for their own debts, and any outside trade they owned was subject to bankruptcy laws.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Ideology and practice</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ideology, as well as the convenience of men, lay behind the legislation that discriminated against women. For centuries both the Bible and the classics had taught female subordination. By the eighteenth century some of the earlier misogynistic language was moderating, but women were still kept in their place by the prevalent ideology of separate spheres: the man's was public, the woman's was private. From the end of the eighteenth century the ideology of domesticity stressed the importance of women - and even the necessity of improving their education, but at the same time argued that their place was in the home.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Few women openly questioned this ideology (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft">Mary Wollstonecraft </a>being the most conspicuous critic) but nevertheless, through philanthropy some of them were managing to find roles outside the home. Hannah More founded Sunday schools, wrote conduct books and campaigned against slavery. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Fry">Elizabeth Fry</a> worked among prisoners. Florence Nightingale established nursing as a profession. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Butler">Josephine Butler</a> courageously championed the rights of prostitutes. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Hill">Octavia Hill</a> worked to improve housing. But it is interesting that Butler was the only one of these philanthropic women who came to believe that women should have the vote. Both Nightingale and Hill were strongly opposed!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLcn6y0zExmjvcXHuyJSljFhawQLlv2Hf59c7H58PnoJjHIpCU9LOcm3sjIXVbispbz0rWDV7LrVy30PYSb3NGrEp1BRqg-eBUWXA-zuMMUnouHz65PfGt8f-v0QxNMzz2xG5Ko67NeQZZ/s1600/Josephine_Butler_-_portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLcn6y0zExmjvcXHuyJSljFhawQLlv2Hf59c7H58PnoJjHIpCU9LOcm3sjIXVbispbz0rWDV7LrVy30PYSb3NGrEp1BRqg-eBUWXA-zuMMUnouHz65PfGt8f-v0QxNMzz2xG5Ko67NeQZZ/s1600/Josephine_Butler_-_portrait.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine Butler 1828-1906<br />
Her campaign to repeal the<br />
Contagious Diseases Acts led<br />
her to believe that women<br />
should be given the vote.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The nineteenth century saw women gain significant rights. Married women could own their own property and had the right to leave the matrimonial home. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">But women still lagged behind men in status, job opportunities, and marital rights. Most women were economically dependant on men and the divorce law discriminated against them. They were not thought worthy of the vote.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">This discrimination was due in part to the ideology of separate spheres, which asserted that it was inappropriate for women to enter the public sphere. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">However, a growing number of philanthropic women mounted an implicit challenge to this ideology, though most did not consider themselves feminists.</span></li>
</ol>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-48878248564966544962017-02-08T07:04:00.000+00:002017-02-08T17:51:29.061+00:00Education<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlDBdEN06nKrXJh4HiCWTb7rBbE7xtaWhHyQSkoLldPuRht6cIzaaU2wMFxwAq74KtmvyhBlxvGbusU3BfiHPYs01RKYff7eWk2afrVPlW9jgxJ5YUjBYNimvl9wskKYjK7f4YVFFfZyl/s1600/1908mixedmaths-cable-street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlDBdEN06nKrXJh4HiCWTb7rBbE7xtaWhHyQSkoLldPuRht6cIzaaU2wMFxwAq74KtmvyhBlxvGbusU3BfiHPYs01RKYff7eWk2afrVPlW9jgxJ5YUjBYNimvl9wskKYjK7f4YVFFfZyl/s1600/1908mixedmaths-cable-street.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maths class at the Cable Street<br />
Board School</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Eric J. Evans (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Forging of the Modern State</span>, 3rd edition, p. 290) has written:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘The spectre of an irreligious, overcrowded, and brutalized working class herded together in monstrously multiplying towns … haunted more than the humanitarian reformers’ and educational reform became an urgent question.'</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">By the early 1830s about one and a half million pupils were enrolled in schools – and these schools were extremely varied.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Educational provision comprised:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"> a handful of public schools for aristocrats and the upper middle classes, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">a number of endowed grammar schools in the older towns, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">private instruction, often run by clergy from their own homes,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday schools</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">charity schools. </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">There were various kinds of charity schools, ranging from the large foundations of the 1690s to small village establishments. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some charity schools catered for middle-class children whose parents could not afford anything better. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The most notorious is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowan_Bridge_School">Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge</a> in Lancashire, attended by Charlotte Brontë and her two elder sisters. It was renamed Lowood and described in vivid and unforgiving detail in <i>Jane Eyre</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dame schools continued to be popular with working-class parents. They were cheap and the hours were flexible. Judging from working-class autobiographies, the quality varied greatly. Some did little more than child-minding, others gave a thorough grounding in reading and spelling, with sewing and knitting for the girls.</span> </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhDFADz_KfcCJ5b2h-YF5Hx3r2cfbIMQUMJ8uDZuuYQJUpS8D9mh5jG-vn2wH29oMTFlw6wBTUI8dvsj4h9EabEh2k1OAcz5KZnCk1Ia3XNcaRo2BFK7bqX417rUjM1db7FKXC7CJveWR/s1600/dame_school2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhDFADz_KfcCJ5b2h-YF5Hx3r2cfbIMQUMJ8uDZuuYQJUpS8D9mh5jG-vn2wH29oMTFlw6wBTUI8dvsj4h9EabEh2k1OAcz5KZnCk1Ia3XNcaRo2BFK7bqX417rUjM1db7FKXC7CJveWR/s1600/dame_school2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An idealised depiction of a<br />
dame school<br />
From the BBC</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The voluntary schools</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The charity schools had largely been subsumed by two bodies: the (Nonconformist) <a href="http://www.bfss.org.uk/">British and Foreign Schools Society </a>(founded in 1808) and the (Anglican) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Society_for_Promoting_Religious_Education">National Society for Educating the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church</a> (founded in 1811). For more about the Anglican National Schools, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_school_(England_and_Wales)">here</a>. The schools taught according to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitorial_System">monitorial system</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Sw0GZ1b9isHdCXNvBp4oFzgm4KQmgy2OKXThlQIhHog8UQSqqpwaJHH3STKqsTbdEINWEEW6WR-FyejGHaW4p6LpXl5R0FxwUsGRQwQEZKc_SoCOk_pp2Vo_kA__r3vbDsEz3J7PPYcG/s1600/NorthchurchStMarysSchool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Sw0GZ1b9isHdCXNvBp4oFzgm4KQmgy2OKXThlQIhHog8UQSqqpwaJHH3STKqsTbdEINWEEW6WR-FyejGHaW4p6LpXl5R0FxwUsGRQwQEZKc_SoCOk_pp2Vo_kA__r3vbDsEz3J7PPYcG/s1600/NorthchurchStMarysSchool.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Northchurch St Mary's School, Hertfordshire<br />
A National School constructed in 1864<br />
Creative Commons Attribution <br />
Share-alike license 2.0</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, at least two million children were untouched by the system. As late as 1840 probably a third of all children never attended a day school, and by the middle of the nineteenth century about 30 per cent of men and 45 per cent of women could not sign marriage registers.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">State education: the first moves</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Politicians became increasingly concerned at the lack of educational provision, but at the same time many of them were wary of state involvement in education, which was seen as a step towards centralisation. In 1833 the Radical MP <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Arthur_Roebuck">John Arthur Roebuck</a> tried to establish compulsory education between the ages of 6 and 12 with school fees supplemented by a state grant. This failed but as a derisory compensation, a small parliamentary grant of £20,000 was set aside. However, the money would only go to religious societies that could first raise half the necessary cash for school building themselves and this benefited the Anglican National Society. The proposals were extremely modest but it was the first time that public money had been spent on education even if the grant was less than the cost of the royal stables! </span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Religion was a constant bone of contention. Very few MPs were prepared to argue for a wholly secular education but most Whigs believed that religious education should be non-denominational. In 1839 Lord John Russell, the Leader of the Commons, established an entirely lay Committee of the Privy Council on Education to administer the annual grant to the schools of the two societies: grants were to be awarded only on submitting to state inspection but no stipulation was made as to religious teaching. Its first secretary was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Phillips_Kay-Shuttleworth">Sir James Kay Shuttleworth</a> (1804-77), who became the foremost educational administrator of the 19th century.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Committee also proposed an increase in the state grant to £30,000 and the establishment of a teacher training college and a model school providing non-sectarian education. But this was fiercely opposed by a pressure group of young High Churchmen, who succeeded in watering down the proposals. The result was that in order to get state inspection accepted, the government had to abandon the college and model school and later to agree that all inspectors of National Society schools should be appointed at the discretion of the Church and operate on its instructions. The two archbishops were to be in overall control. The creation of state schools would have to wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
In 1839-40 Kay-Shuttleworth was one of the founders of <a href="http://www.marjon.ac.uk/about-marjon/history/">St. John's College, Battersea</a>, which was the first training college for schoolteachers in England. It was run on firmly Anglican lines.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Inspectors and the curriculum</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1846 the government established the ‘certificated teacher’ system. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In schools that received Treasury funding, t</span><span style="font-size: large;">eachers had to be recognised by the state and schools were to be inspected. A small number of well-educated gentlemen were employed to inspect and report on the schools that received the government grant. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In 1851 the poet Matthew Arnold became an inspector for the Nonconformist schools in the Midlands.</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1859 the Liberal politician Robert Lowe became Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education in Lord Palmerston's ministry. His ‘revised code’ of 1862 introduced something like a national curriculum. He insisted on payment by results, and made an examination in 'the three R's' the test for grants of public money. This very narrow, functional view of education had already been satirised in Dickens' <i>Hard Times</i> (1854).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The 1870 Education Act</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Second Reform Act of 1867 that gave the vote a substantial number of working men led to a rethink on education. As Robert Lowe grudgingly put it, </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">'We must see to it that our new masters learn their letters.' </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">The success of the Prussian army, with its comparatively well-educated private soldiers, in the wars of the 1860s was another argument for extending education.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In February 1870 an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_Education_Act_1870">Elementary Education Bill</a> was introduced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edward_Forster">William Edward Forster</a>, the Vice-President of the Council, which aimed at providing for the first time a national system of primary education. He proposed to set up new directly elected local authorities called School Boards, which would have the power to direct their own schools, which would be paid for by the local rates. But the bill was designed to supplement voluntary and denominational effort in education not supersede it. The Board Schools would ‘fill in the gaps’ and provide education where there were no church schools. The boards had the power to pass bye-laws for compulsory attendance (so-called ‘permissive compulsion’), assist existing schools, and pay fees for poor parents.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Initially, Forster proposed to give the boards the power to decide religious instruction. But this ran into heavy opposition from Nonconformists, who opposed any use of the rates to support denominational schools. In the end, after much wrangling, the ‘Cowper-Temple’ clause excluded denominational catechisms and formularies from rate-aided schools. This meant that there were now two types of schools: local authority schools funded by the rates, and denominational schools funded by central grants.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For the London School Board, set up in 1871 see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_Board">here</a> and <a href="https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/the-london-school-board-no-equally-powerful-body-will-exist-if-power-is-measured-by-influence-for-good-or-evil-over-masses-of-human-beings/">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcKMuwQVKnaVG5G33jObjrjsexK37Qa6Y9eZ70yDwuxxkpSzBRdA_oqDqxqilu9oMfaIayKoO22rdIt4I1M9GaacaGEF3JeV9I7gH5ZnfqbleLzGjK2H5xLyPuCQ8eNcFz3L__NEBOA1d/s1600/Schoolboardoffices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcKMuwQVKnaVG5G33jObjrjsexK37Qa6Y9eZ70yDwuxxkpSzBRdA_oqDqxqilu9oMfaIayKoO22rdIt4I1M9GaacaGEF3JeV9I7gH5ZnfqbleLzGjK2H5xLyPuCQ8eNcFz3L__NEBOA1d/s1600/Schoolboardoffices.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The offices of the London School Board<br />
on the Victoria Embankment<br />
before demolition in 1929.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The ‘Board Schools’ were a conspicuous feature of late-Victorian and Edwardian education. The majority of schools were still voluntary schools, but it was a steadily declining majority. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Fees</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">For some years after 1870 a controversy raged round clause 25 in the act which enabled local authorities to pay the fees of needy children at denominational schools. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The clause was thought by Nonconformists to give an unfair advantage to church schools in places where board schools did not exist - especially in the rural districts. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In 1891 the remaining fees were effectively abolished for pupils at voluntary and board schools alike, making education free for the first time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Compulsion</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Once the school boards were established, particularly in the big towns, many of them took the compulsory powers allowed them by the 1870 Act, so that by 1873 40 per cent and by 1876 50 per cent of the population was under compulsory powers, 84 per cent in boroughs. Even Tory squires and parsons in the rural areas now felt that more general powers to compel attendance were necessary to keep voluntary schools in rural areas in business. In 1876 the employment of children under ten was forbidden. In 1880 schooling was made compulsory up to the age of 10. In 1893 this was raised to 11 and in 1899 to 12.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">'Beacons of the future'</span></h3>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">‘Look at those big, isolated clumps of building rising up above the slates, like brick islands in a lead-colored sea." "The board-schools." "Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wise, better England of the future.’ '</span>The Adventure of the Naval Treaty', from <i>The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes</i> (1892)</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">School boards were abolished by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Act_1902">Education Act of 1902</a>, which set up local education authorities (LEAs) responsible for both primary and secondary education. Education for all types of schools was now funded by the rates, much to the anger of many Nonconformists who found themselves helping to pay for Church schools. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The nineteenth century saw dramatic changes in the provision of education, especially for the poor.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">After 1870 the state became a major player, setting up school boards. By 1900 education was free and compulsory for children up to age 12. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">This was part of a Europe-wide trend for mass education.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<br /></div>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-23098072864426895482017-02-08T07:03:00.000+00:002017-02-08T07:03:53.635+00:00Cholera epidemic<span style="font-size: large;">This is a very interesting <a href="http://mycandles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/looking-for-mr-cholera.html?utm_content=buffer0040f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&m=1">blog post</a> on the 1831-2 cholera epidemic, with some amusing contemporary caricatures. </span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-48189329485914965952017-01-31T11:26:00.000+00:002017-01-31T11:26:07.020+00:00Victorian religion<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSgR3tGC0729ak6CV_VRZcK70otRj2bSQZ5wBo4PTD1Hags6qtsDGZ318G99fEXb5MSv4s642Wbt54aEwiDz107o3nGkA7ZB3udWxNfhR3FSAd19k_H_xcN2pd2CgnLcRPk7JG71d4z-X/s1600/St.Mary%2527s_chancel_-_geograph.org.uk_-_880162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSgR3tGC0729ak6CV_VRZcK70otRj2bSQZ5wBo4PTD1Hags6qtsDGZ318G99fEXb5MSv4s642Wbt54aEwiDz107o3nGkA7ZB3udWxNfhR3FSAd19k_H_xcN2pd2CgnLcRPk7JG71d4z-X/s320/St.Mary%2527s_chancel_-_geograph.org.uk_-_880162.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chancel of St Mary's Morthoe, Devon: a Victorian<br />restoration of the medieval interior<br />Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />‘Never was Britain more religious than in the Victorian age. Contemporaries agonized over those who did not float upon the flood of faith. We marvel at the number who did.’ Theodore Hoppen, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mid Victorian Generation </span>(Oxford, 1998), p. 425. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">See <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/index.html">here</a> for a very comprehensive site - much better on this subject than Wikipedia!<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3i19tOyvFElwPhubL0XypD5-9UxIbd4b14HgNmMRmOWFeE3OUxUtWc7gMhyphenhyphenJm6HErSDY0jFSs0NxxfiU4cAZT6iygxIMetAkB9tPKRBZsLd5cXaCcOKNUN07CzhhWPPiBomFNqcpVT8Gf/s1600/27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3i19tOyvFElwPhubL0XypD5-9UxIbd4b14HgNmMRmOWFeE3OUxUtWc7gMhyphenhyphenJm6HErSDY0jFSs0NxxfiU4cAZT6iygxIMetAkB9tPKRBZsLd5cXaCcOKNUN07CzhhWPPiBomFNqcpVT8Gf/s1600/27.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Victorian religious philanthropy</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> From wwwVictorianweb.org</span></td></tr>
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<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold;">The denominations</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Within the British Isles there were two established churches, the Church of England (Anglican) in England and Wales and the Church of Scotland (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism">Presbyterian</a>) as well as a number of other denominations. In Wales Protestant Dissenters were a clear majority. Until 1869 the Anglican Church was established in Ireland though three quarters of the population were Catholic and half the remainder Presbyterian. In Scotland Presbyterianism dominated though since 1843 it had been split between the mainstream Church of Scotland and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Church_of_Scotland_(1843%E2%80%931900)">Free Church of Scotland</a> (the 'Wee Frees').</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">'Papal aggression'</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">From the 1840s Irish immigration was changing Britain, adding a new Catholic population to the existing older Catholic families. From being a religion of rural country gentry, Catholicism was rapidly becoming a religion of the urban poor in centres like London and Liverpool.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In October 1850 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Wiseman">Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman</a> issued a pastoral letter announcing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalis_Ecclesiae">reintroduction of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales</a>. He himself was to be Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. The press and the public reacted with outrage to what was dubbed 'papal aggression' and the government of Lord John Russell <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_Titles_Act_1851">introduced a bill </a>to make Catholic ecclesiastical titles illegal. (Queen Victoria's reaction was much more measured and sensible.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXkSym3V2s0MJg09B2nWTkkTlAcXYDHumhrsQecdVp4ZNws3D08Hvdl3WAm5emCApAtJI6JiqCmALff4D7LfV-8yVw8B_mikOrziKO6PaWrj2sN7benYSBP1Qm15PZD_6WGNarCwXjrL5/s1600/454px-Punch_guy_fawkes_pope_1850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXkSym3V2s0MJg09B2nWTkkTlAcXYDHumhrsQecdVp4ZNws3D08Hvdl3WAm5emCApAtJI6JiqCmALff4D7LfV-8yVw8B_mikOrziKO6PaWrj2sN7benYSBP1Qm15PZD_6WGNarCwXjrL5/s200/454px-Punch_guy_fawkes_pope_1850.jpg" width="151" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Punch, November 1850<br />The Pope as Guy Fawkes<br />Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But in spite of this reaction, the Catholic hierarchy was restored and the ecclesiastical census (see below) recorded that on 30 March 1851 about a quarter of a million Roman Catholics attended mass in England and Wales.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The Census</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">On Sunday 30 March 1851 a r<a href="https://archive.org/details/censusgreatbrit00manngoog">eligious census</a> was undertaken, quite separately from the normal census, which attempted to count the number of ‘attendances’ at places of worship and the extent of the seating accommodation provided. The returns are in the National Archives and can be viewed <a href="https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8993">here</a>. The report generated great excitement at the time (21,000 copies were sold) and has provided great confusion ever since. In 1854 the statistician in charge, Horace Mann, published his tabulation of the results, which tried to make sense of the raw data and yet are agreed to have been unsatisfactory. This means that historians are still debating the usefulness of the census.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">His formula calculated the number of <i>attendants</i> at worship as distinct from the total number of <i>attendances</i>. It was agreed that some people attended worship more than once on census day. His formula took the total morning congregation plus half the afternoon and one third of the evening congregations. This was considered to be disadvantageous to Nonconformists whose highest turnout was in the evening. His formula for calculating irregular attenders was equally controversial. He doubled the figures for Anglican and Roman Catholic attenders and increased Nonconformists by two thirds, by means of sweeping assumptions, to make the number of attendances yield the number of individual persons who attended - which cannot be done.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The census forms themselves have been criticised. There were different forms for different denominations. The Church of England form asked for details of income and endowments, the others did not. There was insufficient information on the form to convey all the necessary information and there was confusion in the distinction between total figures for the general congregation and for Sunday scholars. This led to inconsistent results.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As with all large-scale surveys there were problems with incomplete and duplicated returns. Some were actually completed and signed before census day. The return did not ask for details of mid-week services.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Each census form was completed by a different person applying different interpretations and it is quite clear that estimated figures were used in most cases.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The English and Welsh census dealt two shocks to the mid-Victorian psyche: </span><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">half the population (18 million) had stayed at home </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">just under a quarter of the population worshipped with the Church of England.</span></li>
</ol>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mann’s pessimistic analysis (‘a sadly formidable portion of the English people are habitual neglecters of the public ordinances of religion’) was accepted by contemporaries and has coloured much of the historical treatment. But compared with parts of continental Europe the proportion of church-goers was high.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Index of Attendance reveals distinct regional, denominational and class differences. </span><span style="font-size: large;">It is not always easy to correlate the figures with class, as the occupations of churchgoers were not included in the census. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_Methodism">Primitive Methodists</a> had a large working-class following; the Congregationalists and Baptists mainly middle-class. But only the Roman Catholics attracted solid working-class support. The census showed (predictably) that they were strongest in Lancashire.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Too much focus on denomination obscures the fact that many people attended the services of more than one religion. The census returns revealed that in bad weather some people went to the nearest place of worship.</span><br />
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<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Popular religion</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">(a) The survival of 'superstition':</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">For many people religion meant something very difficult from the tenets propagated by the clergy, and what might be called semi-pagan beliefs played a powerful part in popular beliefs, especially in rural Britain. Labourers were the chief bearers of superstition, with farm and domestic servants the most superstitious. A parson in North Yorkshire found much local interest in holy wells, magical cures and witchcraft. Villagers might go to the parish church on Sunday mornings and to the Methodists in the afternoon, but then put up a straw doll or a horse shoe over the door. Belief in ghosts appears to have been widespread in rural areas.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">(b) rites of passage:</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Figures for attendance at church provided only part of the picture. Many, who otherwise had no formal contact with the Church of England, used the church for baptism, churching, confirmation, marriage, of burial. These services probably constituted the church’s greatest parochial achievement in the Victorian period.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churching_of_women">‘Churching’</a> was particularly popular among women of all social groups. It was associated with ancient ideas of ‘uncleanness’ and ‘luck’. Some people believed that in the short term the churching ceremony would prevent another conception; in Lambeth it was thought to prevent a future miscarriage.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Confirmation usually took place between the ages of 14 and 19. Confirmations were transformed by the railways, which allowed the bishop to travel round his diocese as never before in Christian history. Energetic bishops like Samuel Wilberforce spent considerable time in travel. Bishops were now able to confirm candidates in smaller numbers, which made the service more reverent. They were generally held in the evenings, because employers often refused to allow time off. Confirmations were accompanied by treats and festivities usually organized by the clergy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">During the 1830s the marriage law was altered in two important statutes:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Lord Lyndhurst’s Marriage Act (1835) prohibiting the marriage between a man and his deceased wife’s sister;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">the introduction of civil marriage (1837). </span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: large;">Lyndhurst’s Act remained on the statute book until 1907 and clerical opposition to its repeal was intense. Civil marriage made a greater impression in the towns than the countryside. Most couples continued to be married in the Church of England.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Burial was an increasing problem in mid-nineteenth-century London, as coffins piled up with no space for burial and the bones of the dead were used in the building of new streets. The Public Health Act (1848) and the Cemetery Acts (1852, 1853) led to the closure of some overcrowded churchyards and the opening of new cemeteries at some distance from the centres of population.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the countryside space was not a problem but the question of a new burial ground was a potential strain on relations with Nonconformists, particularly if they were asked to contribute to its purchase by means of church rate. Until 1880 if there was not a Dissenters’ graveyard in a country parish, Nonconformists were forced to bury their dead according to the Prayer Book. This could lead to skirmishes at the graveside.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Nevertheless, rites of passage put the Church of England in an advantageous position. It was the ‘default’ church of the nation and most turned instinctively to its rituals. But the Nonconformist churches also had their rituals and ways of deepening solidarity. Methodists in particular, appealed to respectable working men. They had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governance_of_the_British_Methodist_Church">class meetings</a>, love feasts, and popular hymns, and allowed for lay leadership in a way impossible within the Church of England. Whereas the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesleyan_Methodist_Church_(Great_Britain)">Wesleyans</a> (tending to comprise artisans and shopkeepers) were more establishment-minded, the Primitives undermined social deference, creating ‘a religious counter-culture, with its own values, activities, and community’.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Changes in services</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Changes came slowly to old-fashioned country parishes and the Victorian novels generally reflect the old ways of worship rather than the new.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">(a) Music: </span><span style="font-size: large;">In 16th and 17th century worship music played very little part. The only music was the unaccompanied singing of metrical psalms and the congregation left the responses to the clerk. Music began to assume a larger role in worship during the 18th century, with <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/person/Watts_Isaac">Isaac Watts’s hymns</a>, though these were only sung in Nonconformist churches. In the parish churches, however, musical provision increased with the formation of the village bands in the gallery or the special pew. The normal band consisted of two clarinets, a bassoon, a violoncello, and sometimes a small flute. Puddletown in Dorset had eight players in the west gallery. Thomas Hardy was descended from two generations of church players. At Steepleton church in 1879 the orchestra consisted of a shoemaker who played the bass viol and his mother who sang the air. The bands were sometimes rumbustious and irreverent. Part of the problem was that they were often independent groups who traveled round the country offering their serices to different churches or chapels.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It took time for music in churches to change, and the schoolmasters of the National Society probably did more than the clergy to create choirs. Their colleges, especially St Mark’s, Chelsea, offered a training in music. Starting gradually in the 1840s, choir practices became more common. During the 50s and 60s, if the vicar was a high churchman, the choir was put into the chancel, and then or later clothed in surplices. However, the movement for better music was retarded because many villages were unable to provide an organist; instead they bought a barrel organ with a small repertory of tunes and a tone inferior to that of the clarinets which it replaced.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Congregational worship slowly made its way, and Anglican congregations increasingly imitated the Dissenters in singing hymns. During the 1850s and 1860s over 400 collections were published in England alone. The result was often chaos until the publication of the Anglican <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymns_Ancient_and_Modern">Hymns, Ancient and Modern</a></i> in 1861.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">(b) Harvest Festival:</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the country a new service took root, the harvest festival. This arose after the starvation year, 1842, when public authority issued a form of thanksgiving for the good harvest. Country parishes celebrated harvests with beer and drunkenness, and the clerical strategy was to divert their parishioners with a church service followed by a dinner of beef and plum pudding and beer.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">(3) Appearance:</span> </b></span><span style="font-size: large;">Under the influence of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Pugin">A. W. N. Pugin </a>and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Camden_Society">Ecclesiological Society</a> the churches </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3EXsPKrGsj9a8ZtGZbZsV7sqOwu9QWIIp3DhVEGQNHIxo5BBoHajZ6SBBwA7SevP-yS1PI0etRNMVOUO3KN6IvK5zpjwQjMNwOBcMM2nhRYDSeA945AadJAeU7labeB3p9CXGm6nK7g/s1600-h/Augustus_Welby_Northmore_Pugin00.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309809727607234418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3EXsPKrGsj9a8ZtGZbZsV7sqOwu9QWIIp3DhVEGQNHIxo5BBoHajZ6SBBwA7SevP-yS1PI0etRNMVOUO3KN6IvK5zpjwQjMNwOBcMM2nhRYDSeA945AadJAeU7labeB3p9CXGm6nK7g/s200/Augustus_Welby_Northmore_Pugin00.jpg" style="float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 138px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A. W. N. Pugin<br />
1812-52<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">started to look different. Both favoured the Gothic style and aimed to recreate the atmosphere of medieval churches by emulating their designs. Many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancel">chancels </a>were rebuilt (with much destruction of medieval structures). Ecclesiologists recommended that the altar should be raised above the level of the nave by the introduction of chancel steps. They also favoured the separation of the chancel and the nave by laced screens. There was no place now for the old three-decker pulpit and this was generally replaced by a pulpit and lectern on either side of the altar. Churches were also cleaner and more decorous and were unlocked on weekdays. Sermons were more frequent but shorter; clergy increasingly preached their own sermons rather than using those of other people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Most parish churches of 1830 contained large box pews, lockable and controlled by the pew opener. Private territory for the middle class thus filled the main body of the church and left the poor on benches at the back. But as churches were restored the great eighteenth-century pews gradually disappeared.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzE7GMZ32R6-4N88fSACnaTSNR4-_zXwQxspItJXCqYkWnEXvKXEjGrXtzq0_vSBPbM4KNkt6aV_-nzI3o7dZGJOiPNrZ1XGaKZFi6aEDreAFdZcS5RT4rgEdppt3lFQXv9d1Y3gvRSfm/s1600/800px-St_Pauls_Church_Birmingham_pews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzE7GMZ32R6-4N88fSACnaTSNR4-_zXwQxspItJXCqYkWnEXvKXEjGrXtzq0_vSBPbM4KNkt6aV_-nzI3o7dZGJOiPNrZ1XGaKZFi6aEDreAFdZcS5RT4rgEdppt3lFQXv9d1Y3gvRSfm/s200/800px-St_Pauls_Church_Birmingham_pews.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional box pews, St Paul's, Birmingham<br />Public Domain<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">(d) Anglican Ceremonial:</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the early nineteenth century there was very little symbolism or ceremony in Anglican churches. Candles were used solely to provide light. Anglican clergy normally wore white surplices for reading the liturgy and for celebrating communion, and put on black gowns to preach. Even at the end of the century clerical vestments had been introduced in only 10% of churches, and candles on altars in only 25%.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Movement">Tractarians </a>tried to introduce new rituals it was often in the face of fierce opposition. In 1845 there were ‘surplice riots’ in Exeter during which clergy who wore white surplices rather than black gowns for preaching were pelted with rotten eggs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>(e) The Mothers' Union:</b></span> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sumner">Mary Sumner</a> (1828-1921), the daughter-in-law of the bishop of Winchester publicised a meeting for mothers in her husband’s parish in 1876. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In 1885 the Mothers’ Union received formal recognition.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Reaching the unchurched</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The second half of the nineteenth century saw many attempts to <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimC4FQBA2sfK2JwDhFQXymckV-JPtxcfx-n20jlL-ne57RInhvfh3T5ZKVwYW0KuTgEYQE4vy0qaxwlpfIwLkTcBJAXv-m_WShuP49H6zZ_foznJhjs9MG-t7y4H9gKne5ELceJ9GJ9DBA/s1600/Williambooth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimC4FQBA2sfK2JwDhFQXymckV-JPtxcfx-n20jlL-ne57RInhvfh3T5ZKVwYW0KuTgEYQE4vy0qaxwlpfIwLkTcBJAXv-m_WShuP49H6zZ_foznJhjs9MG-t7y4H9gKne5ELceJ9GJ9DBA/s1600/Williambooth.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'General' William Booth<br />
1829-1912<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
reach the poor, one of the more successful (or less unsuccessful?) being the <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/sa1.html">Salvation Army</a>, founded in 1865 by William Booth, a former Methodist minister, and his no less formidable wife, Catherine. The main goals of his organisation were street preaching, personal evangelism and practical philanthropy. Catherine became a powerful preacher in her own right. His book <i>In Darkest England </i>advocated overseas colonies as the ultimate solution to Britain's acute social problems.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWH0xLQ2v0p52colEUQFq6fs4upjjmZjIKe5Ym-xKba03CaVY0Ojf-5krltCd7wCqvs2fSk6MrfCa0coWi-cGmNsDDo1CUEV5Luv0VrzYHwtRtHGhABgt3T2ul_xREgE21vhN4fFUTeep/s1600/William_Booth%252C_In_Darkest_England_and_the_Way_Out%252C_1890%252C_Cornell_CUL_PJM_1104_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWH0xLQ2v0p52colEUQFq6fs4upjjmZjIKe5Ym-xKba03CaVY0Ojf-5krltCd7wCqvs2fSk6MrfCa0coWi-cGmNsDDo1CUEV5Luv0VrzYHwtRtHGhABgt3T2ul_xREgE21vhN4fFUTeep/s320/William_Booth%252C_In_Darkest_England_and_the_Way_Out%252C_1890%252C_Cornell_CUL_PJM_1104_01.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Booth's remedy for social problems: the<br />farm colony and emigration.<br />Cornell University</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Sunday schools and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragged_school">ragged schools</a> were another way of reaching the working classes. Millions of children attended Sunday schools, with the 1890s being the peak decade of attendance.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Though Victorian intellectuals agonised over religious doubt, the period is now seen as the last great age of faith in Britain. ‘Measured in terms of active membership of worshipping bodies, the British people constituted a rather more religious society in the Edwardian period than they had done a century before.’ José Harris, <i>Private Lives, Public Spirit: Britain 1870-1914</i> (1994)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The changes brought about by industrialisation and the growth of the working classes brought new challenges to the churches, and they all tried to respond to the new situation. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The period saw major changes in church practices and architecture.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-31002314596762915822017-01-24T16:03:00.003+00:002017-01-24T16:03:41.247+00:00Factory reform<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquxsGtDlQTId_rktn113MngdT8FfuEgQvXujV1uHHHPzgdOZkPo4OtCOysWsGnOMnnwAsBaL1bmALlradMpz7OP3hswbqcwUQhCIHauQ9FjJmeuIJ5p3_cFQo6dK7bBFSgOeoQjiNP4yh/s1600/Scene_from_Factory_Boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquxsGtDlQTId_rktn113MngdT8FfuEgQvXujV1uHHHPzgdOZkPo4OtCOysWsGnOMnnwAsBaL1bmALlradMpz7OP3hswbqcwUQhCIHauQ9FjJmeuIJ5p3_cFQo6dK7bBFSgOeoQjiNP4yh/s1600/Scene_from_Factory_Boy.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female and child labour<br />
in factories</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Industrialisation: the human cost</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Industrial Revolution is associated above all with machinery. The machines undoubtedly speeded production and reduced the price of goods to the consumer. But they were expensive to install and the best way to pay for them was to keep them going for as long as possible. This led inevitably to a long-hours culture, with factories often operating fourteen hours a day six days a week. The transitions must have been painful for the first generation of industrial workers. There were also huge implications for the health of these workers.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SD8HsMzUlqkcJGstMQmLfB6GMs4x3VQsbg2ldA4ZAOffY5_3p1iKdNaMHn1U8gUrjYkdw8DgQY5Xg2ng9NVa1ZEkk68DQaqQwZV246z3K4vbjsoInoHs2n-N_bTD49pOoM4bmy1meekx/s1600/Dean_Clough_Mills_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SD8HsMzUlqkcJGstMQmLfB6GMs4x3VQsbg2ldA4ZAOffY5_3p1iKdNaMHn1U8gUrjYkdw8DgQY5Xg2ng9NVa1ZEkk68DQaqQwZV246z3K4vbjsoInoHs2n-N_bTD49pOoM4bmy1meekx/s1600/Dean_Clough_Mills_10.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dean Clough Mills,<br />
Calderdale, Yorkshire<br />
One of the carpet<br />
factories built 1841-69<br />
Public domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Industrialisation is also associated with child labour though it did not invent it, as child labour had been an essential aspect of the pre-industrial economy. In the early eighteenth century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Defoe">Daniel Defoe</a> thought it admirable that in the vicinity of Halifax scarcely anybody above the age of 4 was idle. What was new was the element of <span style="font-style: italic;">regimentation</span>, with children working from 12 to 14 hours a day.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Factory reform</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">By 1830 the complacent assumption that the factory system did not need reform was being undermined. But the question stirred deep passions and unlikely political alliances. Prominent reformers included paternalist factory masters, political radicals, and Evangelical clergy. Opponents, most notably the Association of Master Manufacturers, were influenced by the free-market doctrine of ‘</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" s=""><span style="font-size: large;">political economy</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">’ and argued against moves which they said would undermine competitiveness overseas as well as infringing the freedom of the labour market. They were supported by influential Whig landowners and by voices within the Whig cabinet. ‘Political economists’ argued that the adult male was a free agent and that the state should not intervene in his conditions of work. This forced reformers to concentrate on the plight of those they deemed to be vulnerable – women and children.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1802 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Robert_Peel,_1st_Baronet">Robert Peel the elder</a> (father of the Victorian prime minister) had sponsored <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_and_Morals_of_Apprentices_Act_1802">an act </a>to protect pauper apprentices assigned to cotton, woollen and some other mills by the Poor Law authorities. In 1825 <a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRhobhouse.htm">John Cam Hobhouse</a> sought to restrict the employment of children under 16 to 11 hours a day. His bill was mutilated by Sir Robert Peel the younger acting in concert with the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, but a twelve-hour limit was secured.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In October 1830 the movement for factory reform revived with an open letter to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Leeds Mercury</span> from the Yorkshire land agent and paternalistic Tory, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Oastler">Richard Oastler</a> (1789-1861) who spoke of </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘thousands of little children ... sacrificed at the shrine of avarice, without even the solace of the negro slave’.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">Within a few months thousands of operatives and sympathetic tradesmen had organised themselves into short Time Committees. In March 1832 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Thomas_Sadler">Michael Sadler</a> (1780-1835), linen merchant and Tory MP introduced a ten-hours bill to limit the working day for all people under 18.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some of the bill’s opponents argued that the larger factories had already implemented the proposed reforms and that the legislation would disproportionately disadvantage smaller manufacturers, many of them reliant on water power, therefore based in rural areas where labour recruitment was more difficult. However the select committee appointed to consider the factory question was dominated by Sadler’s parliamentary allies and, not surprisingly it produced a damning litany of abuses and industrial accidents. These were published in polemical Sadlerite journals such as <span style="font-style: italic;">The British Labourer’s Protector and Factory Child’s Friend.</span> However, the over-emotional tone did not help the reformers’ case.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">When Sadler failed to win a seat in the 1832 election the parliamentary leadership of the reformers passed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Ashley-Cooper,_7th_Earl_of_Shaftesbury">Lord Ashley</a>, the evangelical heir to the earldom of Shaftesbury. In February 1833 his Ten Hours Bill was set aside by a majority of one, and a Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem. The frenzy of agitation in Yorkshire had convinced the Whigs that some sort of factory act was inevitable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Commission gave the masters an opportunity to state their case. They accepted that children needed protection, but argued that their opponents’ true intentions were the reduction of the working week for adults, contrary to all commercial sense and the requirements of the free market. But it also heard harrowing case-studies from hundreds of witnesses.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The Factory Act</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The eventual Report came down on the side of the economic arguments of the manufacturers, but it accepted that children needed protection from those masters who overworked them. The result was the 1<a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1833-factory-act/">833 Factory Act</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The<a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/19thcentury/overview/factoryact/"> Act</a> was only a partial victory for Ashley and Sadler and it applied only to textile factories. Factory children were declared to be ‘rapidly increasing’, and it was agreed that (unlike adult men) they were not free agents. A case for some state intervention was advanced while the general inadvisability of the state’s interfering with conditions of work was upheld.</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The employment of children under 9 was prohibited except in silk factories;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Children aged from 9 to 12 were to work a maximum of 9 hours a day and no more than 48 hours a week;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Youths from 13 to 18 to work a maximum of 12 hours a day and no more than 69 hours a week;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Children from 9 to 11 (later raised to 13) were to have two hours of compulsory education every day;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The first four factory inspectors were appointed.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: large;">In practice the Act was widely evaded. The schools often taught very little and manufacturers were averse to filling in the necessary forms. (No change there, then!) On the rare occasion when they were fined, the fines were set very low. Age regulations were widely evaded, sometimes with active parental connivance. Because large factories were more amenable to inspection, there was probably a shift of business to smaller workshops and therefore a possible increase in sweated labour.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The Mines Act</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Nevertheless, the very operation of the Act brought abuses to light. The state was changing. The <a href="http://anglais.u-paris10.fr/spip.php?article88">Mines Act of 1842</a> follo</span><span style="font-size: large;">wed a Royal Commission into mining conditions, which revealed <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/history/ashley.html">harrowing work conditions</a> that also offended Victorian notions of modesty. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The Act prohibited women and girls and boys under 10 from being employed underground. Inspectors of mines were appointed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cci3RHOPoi3H4eit15-dAEB2IZvles9PjDGJh-_t_De-odgU_UTTMBptpv5dfAVB2talO35kFBRIFphQDEcd7OBuWvtMzzdzLiK6nB2eTWey1q11H0rx5CqvIapT-4WZG4BVQxtmajcb/s1600/coalmines1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cci3RHOPoi3H4eit15-dAEB2IZvles9PjDGJh-_t_De-odgU_UTTMBptpv5dfAVB2talO35kFBRIFphQDEcd7OBuWvtMzzdzLiK6nB2eTWey1q11H0rx5CqvIapT-4WZG4BVQxtmajcb/s1600/coalmines1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This depiction of a young girl pulling a truck shocked<br />
Victorian humanitarian sentiment but also<br />
Victorian morality.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/IR1844.htm">Factory Act of 1844</a>, introduced by the Tory Home Secretary, Sir James Graham, applied to textile factories and laid down that women and youths and girls between 13 and 18 were not to work more than 12 hours a day. Hours of work for children under 13 were reduced from 9 to 6.5 hours. By this time adult females were also defined as ‘unfree agents’.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1847 the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factories_Act_1847">Ten Hours Act</a> was passed, restricting the hours of women and young persons. It was guided through Parliament by the mill owner, John Fielden, and the Yorkshire Tory squire Busfield Ferrand, against a background of agitation which recalled the great excitements of 1832-33. By this time the injunctions of the Act were already commonplace as a trade recession had already reduced the hours of work in northern mills. When the economy picked up, mill owners were able to avoid the intentions of the new statute by the use of gangs, relay systems and shifts.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Whig and Tory governments were slowly extending the role of the state into areas that were previously the concern of private industry. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">But it was a halting process and adult males remained outside the legal protection of the Acts.</span></li>
</ol>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-25646742819266129092017-01-24T16:03:00.002+00:002017-01-24T16:20:00.561+00:00Public health<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7EKxIcE-8-oDBOCqt01jMQfldaAQyGtIN4o8QgUMbJ2Hv_btDeJ-EiDO-_IM9CaVw2_ekOYaYqHL4LPqZdtB-gXX6qIpndJ0m6-78i6qEhxNQ0b3B4_tH6aYL7FY8JbgMc4ZUEJQr1j0/s1600-h/SirEdwinChadwick.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288235372515628306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7EKxIcE-8-oDBOCqt01jMQfldaAQyGtIN4o8QgUMbJ2Hv_btDeJ-EiDO-_IM9CaVw2_ekOYaYqHL4LPqZdtB-gXX6qIpndJ0m6-78i6qEhxNQ0b3B4_tH6aYL7FY8JbgMc4ZUEJQr1j0/s200/SirEdwinChadwick.jpg" style="display: block; height: 200px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 160px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir Edwin Chadwick (1800-90)<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Dirt and disease</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">It was in the 1830s and 1840s that the links between dirt and disease were conclusively established, though ignorance of bacteriology meant that the reasons for the link remained unknown. Dr James Kay (later <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_James_Kay-Shuttleworth,_1st_Baronet">Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth</a>) established that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhus">typhus</a> was a major killer in areas of poor hygiene.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Knowledge about the state of towns was greatly enhanced by the establishment of the civic registration of births, marriages and deaths in 1837. The first Registrar-General was a London doctor, William Farr, and one of his earliest decisions was to require doctors to cite cause of death. In 1838 Farr published a table of deaths which showed that deaths from fevers, smallpox, consumption, pneumonia stood at 8-9 per thousand in the rural counties while in Lancashire and Middlesex they were 18 and 29 respectively.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Public health legislation was the biggest breach in the dyke of laissez-faire ideology. The state <span style="font-style: italic;">had </span>to have a role.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">In 1831 Britain was in the grip of a <a href="http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/p-health/cholera3.htm">cholera epidemic</a>, which entered Sunderland from the Baltic. Between 1832 and 1846 only two pieces of central legislation were passed on specific aspects of public health:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">T<a href="http://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/1832chol.html">he Cholera Act (1832)</a> enabled the Privy Council to make orders for the prevention of cholera provided that any expense incurred should be defrayed out of money raised for the relief of the poor by the parishes and townships. Powers lapsed at the end of 1834.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccination_Act">The Vaccination Act (1840)</a> made inoculation illegal and provided vaccination free of charge on the poor rates. </span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1842 Chadwick, now converted to state intervention, published his famous <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/history/chadwick2.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Classes.</span></a> His findings were confirmed by two reports in 1844 and 1845 published by the Health of Towns Commission. These led to the growth of a new type of social science based on epidemiology and to a new interest in public health. Chadwick wrongly held to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory_of_disease">miasma theory</a> that was widely held before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiology">development of the science of bacteriology</a>. Like most of his contemporaries, he believed that disease was due to</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘pollution of the air by the retention of ordures and refuse’</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">However he was right to stress the importance of hygiene and to lay down detailed plans for sewers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Huge difficulties still lay in the way of an integrated plan for public health. The most important of these was localism– the belief that central intervention was a form of dictatorship.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A second problem was the proliferation of contending agencies for refuge collection, water supply, drainage &c, many of which remained in private hands.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The third problem was the reluctance of middle-class ratepayers to pay for services.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/towncountry/towns/tyne-and-wear-case-study/about-the-group/public-administration/the-1848-public-health-act/">Public Health Act of 1848</a> established a General Board of Health to furnish guidance and aid in sanitary matters to local authorities, whose earlier efforts had been impeded by lack of a central authority. The board had authority to establish local boards of health and to investigate sanitary conditions in particular districts.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Two Victorian heroes</span></h3>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kgS7dEpydimBLMqoe2yXTotzxp3po2O_BPCo32cfohpS17PDUtNfBimNllzek3FqDvkk0btFCXcf6sJ7OTxmd2EUM1LLtt7mCI48Ui7s5A-2yExh9kKqnGzReNlk5v3sxAfqqQ5j16_I/s1600/John_Snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kgS7dEpydimBLMqoe2yXTotzxp3po2O_BPCo32cfohpS17PDUtNfBimNllzek3FqDvkk0btFCXcf6sJ7OTxmd2EUM1LLtt7mCI48Ui7s5A-2yExh9kKqnGzReNlk5v3sxAfqqQ5j16_I/s1600/John_Snow.jpg" width="123" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">'John Snow', Licensed under CC BY 4.0 v<br />
ia Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">For the physician John Snow's discovery of the link between cholera and polluted water see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow_%28physician%29">here</a>. Snow has been hailed as the founding father of epidemiology.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is a fascinating discussion on the discovery of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrio_cholerae">cholera bacillus </a>here. The discovery was a European, not a purely British, achievement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stink">'Great Stink' of 1858 </a>was a sign of how polluted the Thames had become. For Joseph Bazalgette's work in constructing sewers see <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bazalgette_joseph.shtml">here</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bazalgette">here</a>. Bazalgette and Snow have to be ranked among the greatest benefactors of humanity. They are heroes who deserve to be better known.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN59f4LttDyizsjn1tV5lhFeBHrvRhTQRyMbNs-Z2jHjH-QviigBETPGj8kqI7yUyeKduRcILMi_1UI2jm4ZGNo0PcTMmAelNxroMYg_2Gv7mHvfzbc6McAU2FpayIqamHOPJA345sAW5X/s1600/800px-The_Octagon,_Crossness_Pumping_Station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN59f4LttDyizsjn1tV5lhFeBHrvRhTQRyMbNs-Z2jHjH-QviigBETPGj8kqI7yUyeKduRcILMi_1UI2jm4ZGNo0PcTMmAelNxroMYg_2Gv7mHvfzbc6McAU2FpayIqamHOPJA345sAW5X/s1600/800px-The_Octagon,_Crossness_Pumping_Station.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Octagon, Crossness Pumping Station<br />
Belvedere<br />
Licensed under Creative Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The state gradually became more interventionist and took on new responsibilities to regulate work conditions and lay down the rules for public health.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">However, many of the new measures were piecemeal. Most workers were not protected by legislation and vested interests stood in the way of a systematic reform of public health.</span></li>
</ol>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-39392315380037437542017-01-16T17:44:00.000+00:002017-03-21T09:29:14.594+00:00The new Poor Law and the workhouse<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6KDs8oQ2w_XDArW77VzQusXsdZCQAnZct4DYCT7YiuGXJpp2Z4Q-nahiOcy1Te9-TpvdQBz-gkKSmqSbFxKf3nz1_pqoS2ivTEr9drXaYHIj6JZMMElRNcCpA-qFCE9LB2V_tqD0sJ9Ax/s1600/Hubert_von_Herkomer_1878_-_Eventide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6KDs8oQ2w_XDArW77VzQusXsdZCQAnZct4DYCT7YiuGXJpp2Z4Q-nahiOcy1Te9-TpvdQBz-gkKSmqSbFxKf3nz1_pqoS2ivTEr9drXaYHIj6JZMMElRNcCpA-qFCE9LB2V_tqD0sJ9Ax/s1600/Hubert_von_Herkomer_1878_-_Eventide.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">‘Eventide’ by Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1878) <br />
Licensed under Public Domain <br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is a fantastic and comprehensive site (though a bit cluttered by ads) <a href="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/">here</a>. There is also a good summary on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse#">Wikipedia</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The Poor Law in the eighteenth century</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The origins of the poor law go back to a series of sixteenth-century statutes that culminated in the Act of 1601. These were dealt with in <a href="http://historyofenglishsociety.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/early-modern-english-society.html">my earlier post</a>. There is a good blog post on poverty and the eighteenth-century poor law <a href="https://penandpension.com/2016/02/16/the-complicated-lives-of-the-poor-part-1/">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The origins of the workhouse can be traced back to the Poor Law Act of 1576, which encouraged the setting up of Houses of Correction where the idle and disorderly could be punished and set to work. Towards the end of the seventeenth century some workhouses were started in individual parishes, and in large towns special authorities known as Guardians of the Poor ran Houses of Industry.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1723 the Kentish MP, Edward Knatchbull, <a href="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/poorlaws/1722intro.shtml">put forward a bill</a> that authorised the setting up of workhouses by individual parishes or groups of parishes without the need to obtain a special Act of Parliament. This gave a considerable impetus to the spread of workhouses. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/poorlaw/gilbert.htm">Gilbert’s Act of 1782</a> aimed to organise poor relief on a county basis, with each county being divided into large districts. These unions of parishes could set up a common workhouse which was to be used only for the aged and infirm and for children, not for the able-bodied. In practice, however, workhouses were often used to relieve the able-bodied. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The distribution of relief was carried out by a paid guardian in each parish supervised by a visitor, both officials being appointed by the justices of the peace. This represented a major shift of power from the parish to the landed gentry.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">By 1834 more than 15,000 parishes in England and Wales were grouped into about 600 unions, which were run by boards of guardians elected by local ratepayers. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Many of these pre-1834 union workhouses survive, such as the one at <a href="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Nantwich/">Nantwich</a> in Cheshire, built in 1780.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucgvcpgmnuRGDuvvlud_bkRJ_MwpeAGzSOwniEulSctBYYOaN5fdLJIUHzzHR23pQfBO1S2mpdjPY1K4jX6x09mn7Cs18TMVTD0Zp7xl8B86qlC_AeOg0Nw-VgCcp9vPzhvFR0u6av3AV/s1600/Workhouse_Nantwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucgvcpgmnuRGDuvvlud_bkRJ_MwpeAGzSOwniEulSctBYYOaN5fdLJIUHzzHR23pQfBO1S2mpdjPY1K4jX6x09mn7Cs18TMVTD0Zp7xl8B86qlC_AeOg0Nw-VgCcp9vPzhvFR0u6av3AV/s1600/Workhouse_Nantwich.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The workhouses had three functions, in part contradictory; places of punishment, places of refuge, and places of employment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The end of the old Poor Law</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">By the end of the eighteenth century the Poor Law was beginning to break down, unable to cope with the multiple crises of the rise in population, the growth of the industrial towns, the displacement of much of the rural population because of enclosure and the strains caused by the war with France. </span><span style="font-size: large;">As poor rates increased spectacularly, reform of the existing poor law seemed an urgent necessity.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>In 1795 the magistrates of Speen in Berkshire had set up a system to deal with the growing problem or rural poverty. The <a href="http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/poorlaw/speen.htm">Speenhamland system</a> offered outdoor relief to those in paid </span><span style="font-size: large;">employment when they could not make ends meet. By the 1820s this was under attack. It was argued that the allowances merely encouraged large families and took away the incentive for individual endeavour. The 1824 parliamentary select committee argued that the system converted the labourer into ‘the degraded and inefficient pensioner of the parish’. (The modern term is ‘dependency culture’.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The Poor Law Amendment Act</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">By the 1820s <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/">utilitarian</a> reformers were arguing for a radical remodelling of the poor law. The able-bodied poor should be kept in workhouses in conditions ‘less eligible’ than those which might be enjoyed by the most wretched independent labourer. Such a sweeping objective could only be achieved by a rational administrative structure run from the centre. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Such centralisation was foreign to the traditions of the British state. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In February 1832 parliament agreed to the establishment of a Royal Commission to enquire into the poor law and suggest changes. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The Commission saw what it wanted to see and the evidence supported the case it had always wanted to make. </span><span style="font-size: large;">By a careful selection of evidence the Commission concluded that the primary cause of poverty was the old Poor Law itself. Its report contained sentences such as </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘With very few exceptions the labourers are not as industrious as formerly’. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">It had a case up to a point, but the solution was very drastic.</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">It was to reduce poor rate expenditure by forbidding outdoor relief for the able-bodied; the destitute would keep themselves alive by seeking relief within the workhouse, where they would receive food and shelter but their lives would be ‘less eligible’ than those of the lowest independent labourers. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Parishes would come together and form Unions for this purpose. The ratepayers would elect Poor Law Guardians in each Union in order to reduce the excessive powers of landowners and substantial tenant farmers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">A central board was to be set up in Somerset House, with power to appoint assistant commissioners and to frame and enforce regulations (this was a very Benthamite solution).</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Poor Law Amendment Act (which can be read <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/plaatext.html">here</a>) was passed in 1834, and based on these recommendations. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Results of the Act</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Act did not bring about an immediate centralisation - decisions continued to be made locally. Old style JPs became Guard</span><span style="font-size: large;">ians <i>ex officio </i>and continued to make vital decisions on the administration of relief. No clear central directions were forthcoming, and local </span><span style="font-size: large;">resources were the key determinants of policy. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Progress in implementing the policy was slow. In many areas no new workhouses were built (eg in Norwich, where the policy was very unpopular, and it would have been political suicide to bring a workhouse test to the city). Rural workhouse building proceeded apace in the 1830s and 1840s but not in urban areas until the 1850s. However by 1870 about four-fifths of the 647 Poor Law Unions had built new workhouses.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Workhouse scandals (such as at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andover_workhouse_scandal">Andover </a>and <a href="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Lancet/Farnham.shtml">Farnham</a>) were given wide publicity by the many opponents of the Act, but these were almost invariably the responsibility of sadistic workhouse masters or cheese-paring Boards of Guardians rather than the central administrators.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-21SXI9N5gbJsvutUT2_xxaKscoBUCn6SHN_EVY5ZdVVPnpqtrqNxuWs64Jz_XF_9UNsWqIw3FiPFQ52goB3wvMaYCmtTRZKoOHtKkSS6z8hBfkDNYlYY-oEaW1cs6cUYLUIS7RDWq_U4/s1600/The_Andover_Bastille.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-21SXI9N5gbJsvutUT2_xxaKscoBUCn6SHN_EVY5ZdVVPnpqtrqNxuWs64Jz_XF_9UNsWqIw3FiPFQ52goB3wvMaYCmtTRZKoOHtKkSS6z8hBfkDNYlYY-oEaW1cs6cUYLUIS7RDWq_U4/s1600/The_Andover_Bastille.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A newspaper illustration from The Penny Satirist <br />
(6 September 1845),<br />
depicting the inmates of Andover workhouse <br />
fighting over bones to eat.<br />
Public domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The ratepayer franchise for Board of Guardian elections often prevented local expenditure on pauper education, medical services and even basic workhouse sanitation. ‘</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Outdoor relief continued to be more or less freely available for destitute women and children at least until the 1870s. About 4 or 5 per cent of the population were in receipt of poor relief in the 1850s and 1860s, and of these more than four fifths were relieved outside the workhouse. However, men were finding it increasingly difficult to obtain relief, and in the industrial North where unemployment was high and workhouse accommodation inadequate large numbers of men were denied relief altogether. Outdoor Relief Orders of 1844 and 1852 allowed local Unions the discretion to provide fit men with outdoor relief.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">‘Less eligibility’ soon proved unworkable since the condition of so many independently supported labourers in the late 1830s and early 1840s was so low that it was almost impossible to have a ‘less eligible’ diet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Scandals, such as that at Andover, were very much the exception. However local Guardians had psychological weapons to keep the poor at bay: these included the wearing of uniform, the imposition of demeaning tasks and sexual segregation. As intended the workhouse came to symbolise degradation and shame, and, in particular, the break-up of families. Critics attacked the 'pauper Bastilles' and the injustices and cruelty of 'less eligibility', but in many cases the deterrence principle seems to have worked</span><span style="font-size: large;">. Nobody wanted to go to the workhouse.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For a possibly rose-tinted view of a visit to a pauper school in the Anerley workhouse, see <a href="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/lit/VisitToAPauperSchool.shtml">here</a>. There is an excellent post on workhouse education <a href="http://histed.squareeye.com/educating-workhouse-childrenin-during-the-victorian-era/">here</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">See </span><a href="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Bromley/" style="font-size: x-large;">here</a><span style="font-size: large;"> for the history of the Bromley workhouse.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">By the end of the century only about 20 per cent admitted to workhouses were unemployed or destitute, but about 30 per cent of the population over 70 were in workhouses. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Old age was clearly the greatest cause of poverty. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The whole system was dismantled in 1929 and most of the workhouses became hospitals.</span></li>
</ol>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-69646198160532846512017-01-04T13:10:00.002+00:002017-01-06T13:53:27.997+00:00The coming of the railways<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_38tnegjfzfHIWYq3YS8OKOkb2K2xCmB1_4t1U7Zmz8uwM0fNMZySLWZsISfETgAl5xP2BP6qUzotyjzfWYW8XSCGByescW66UoSvNBIe_9-BiS4qR9Kz_Tpb4MgfF0BCv7eP9rDJt18K/s1600/Euston_Station_-_1851_-_from_Project_Gutenberg_-_eText_13271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_38tnegjfzfHIWYq3YS8OKOkb2K2xCmB1_4t1U7Zmz8uwM0fNMZySLWZsISfETgAl5xP2BP6qUzotyjzfWYW8XSCGByescW66UoSvNBIe_9-BiS4qR9Kz_Tpb4MgfF0BCv7eP9rDJt18K/s1600/Euston_Station_-_1851_-_from_Project_Gutenberg_-_eText_13271.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Euston Station - 1851 - from Project Gutenberg - eText 13271". <br />
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">See <a href="http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/rlwytop.htm">here</a>, <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/SteamRailwayMania.htm">here</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_Great_Britain_1830%E2%80%931922">here</a> for some excellent sites.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This post is heavily indebted to Christian Wolmar, <span style="font-style: italic;">Fire and Steam. How the Railways Transformed Britain </span>(Atlantic Books, 2007) and Michael J Freeman, <span style="font-style: italic;">Railways and the Victorian Imagination</span> (Yale, 1999), Simon Bradley,<i> Railways: Nation, Network & People</i> (Profile Books, 2015); and also to Simon Garfield, <i>The Last Journey of William Huskisson</i> (Faber and Faber, 2002).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Origins</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The idea of putting goods in wagons that were hauled by people or animals along tracks built into the road is extremely old. In Britain the history of these ‘wagon ways’ stretches back at least to the mines of the 16th century when crude wooden rails were used to support the wheels of the heavy loaded wagons and guide them up to the surface. The logical extension of the concept was to run the rails out of the mine to the nearest waterway where the ore or coal could be loaded directly onto barges. By the end of the 17th century tramways were so widely known in the north east that they were known as ‘Newcastle Roads’.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the eighteenth century there were attempts both in Britain and France to put steam engines on wheels, but these failed because of technical limitations. The person with the strongest claim to the inventor of the steam locomotive is the Cornishman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Trevithick">Richard Trevithick</a>, who developed the concept of using high-pressure steam from which he could obtain more power in proportion to the weight of the engine. This opened up the possibility of making his device mobile as the engines could provide the energy to move themselves. In 1802 he put a steam engine on rails at Coalbrookdale and in 1803 his engine managed to haul wagons weighing nine tons at a speed of five miles an hour at the iron works at Pen-y-Darren in Wales – though the locomotive proved too heavy for the primitive rails.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Could passengers be carried along what, in every language other than English, came to be called ‘iron roads’? In 1807 the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, built originally to connect the docks at Swansea with the mines at Mumbles, carried passengers, charging a shilling for the ride. The wagons were pulled by horses and for a time even helped by sails. Would it ever be possible to harness the power of steam in order to transport people as well as goods?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The first lines</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The opening of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway">Stockton and Darlington Railway</a> on 27 September 1825 is usually regarded as the symbolic start of the railway era. This was the first public railway worked by steam and it set the pattern for the development of railway systems across the world. The prime mover was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stephenson">George Stephenson</a> (1781- 1848). He had developed the Locomotion, a pioneering mobile steam engine and it was the Locomotion 1 which pulled the freight train from Darlington to Stockton Quay.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwzfDUaUJeBi15G15YJldOaNVXNQk5K_HI98YOvKh36gXxTZzYSJdkAvmDyhR28qQL7SBc1kE3vqDA4RPe3qh4siwVAzZxoybVMzcONlgVD_vsbGowBLKSLbe_k5OESGba6ux4sxY6Hxb/s1600/The_Opening_of_the_S&DR_(crop).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwzfDUaUJeBi15G15YJldOaNVXNQk5K_HI98YOvKh36gXxTZzYSJdkAvmDyhR28qQL7SBc1kE3vqDA4RPe3qh4siwVAzZxoybVMzcONlgVD_vsbGowBLKSLbe_k5OESGba6ux4sxY6Hxb/s1600/The_Opening_of_the_S&DR_(crop).jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Opening of the S&DR (crop)"<br />
by Unknown - <br />
Thurston, Robert H. (1878) <br />
Licensed under Public Domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Stockton and Darlington line was followed by Stephenson’s second project, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway">Liverpool and Manchester Railway</a>. This was the first fully evolved railway as it was to carry passengers as well as freight and to rely on locomotive traction alone. The Rainhill locomotive trials were conducted in 1829 to assure that those prime movers would be adequate to the demands placed on them and that adhesion was practicable. Stephenson's entry, the Rocket, which he built with his son, Robert, won the trials owing to the increased power provided by its multiple fire-tube boiler. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The rail line began in a long tunnel from the docks in Liverpool, and the Edgehill Cutting through which it passed dropped the line to a lower elevation across the low plateau above the city. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navvy">navvies </a>raised embankments above the level of the Lancashire Plain to improve the drainage of the line and to reduce grades on a gently rolling natural surface. A firm causeway was pushed across the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chat_Moss">Chat Moss swamp</a> to complete the line's quite considerable engineering works. When it was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway">opened in September 1830</a>, the event was turned into a festival, with a reported 40,000 spectators lining the route. A trumpeter was appointed to every carriage or set of carriages and a full military band was stationed at the head of the procession. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Unfortunately the event also saw the first casualty of the railway age- the death at <a href="http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/p/parkside/">Parkside station </a>of the politician, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Huskisson">William Huskisson</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">London got its first railway in 1836 when the first part of the <a href="http://www.yellins.com/transporthistory/rail/l-and-g.html">London and Greenwich</a> Railway opened to the public. It marked a radical departure from all the earlier railways, as it was built in an already developed area with the idea of catering for commuter traffic. It also had to compete with well-established boat traffic on the Thames. The railway was only 3½ miles, but it was a remarkable achievement, built on top of 878 arches to avoid using up too much land and interfering with the street pattern below. It took five years to build, required 60 million bricks and 400 navvies and cost nearly £1million to build. The railway was soon joined by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_and_Croydon_Railway">London and Croydon Railway</a> with a separate station alongside at London Bridge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By 1840 the south east was developing its railway network. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYInIYAKS5UQWVw8ovc02s-7txiAZSpuiZaKhTLRta4i4h89iao8dwAoURHu9lSolfyPYW7lkldq_fzdd0xcEGTjuCZwA5nLlFM_MXAScgw_ShF_z5KdykMPf9rU8cSj_HSokJWk8D7Lb/s1600/S_E_London_railways_1840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYInIYAKS5UQWVw8ovc02s-7txiAZSpuiZaKhTLRta4i4h89iao8dwAoURHu9lSolfyPYW7lkldq_fzdd0xcEGTjuCZwA5nLlFM_MXAScgw_ShF_z5KdykMPf9rU8cSj_HSokJWk8D7Lb/s1600/S_E_London_railways_1840.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"S E London railways 1840" by Chevin<br />
at English Wikipedia - <br />
Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 <br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The railways extended</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1830 there were just under 100 miles of railway open in Britain. By 1852 there were some 6,000 and the main body of Britain’s railway system was in place. By this time London was linked to Bristol and most of the Channel ports. Robert Stephenson’s London and Birmingham lines linked London with the Midlands and the North. The Great Northern Line had reached Doncaster (following the line of the old Great North Road).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHQ4L_d-TxNVbunELS65hec8pT8qm5SHHNBHr95dSnlvXGo4bCRsvcCLzG7CBRPV1C5BW7eErK6mVWhK-Ki_U0QeKnATl2drtL-jajRHbNVPm3wnSK2nUaMBMR2BzAh2cAB4n2eGcgJkz/s1600/Newcastle_Central_Station_%2528Fordyce%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHQ4L_d-TxNVbunELS65hec8pT8qm5SHHNBHr95dSnlvXGo4bCRsvcCLzG7CBRPV1C5BW7eErK6mVWhK-Ki_U0QeKnATl2drtL-jajRHbNVPm3wnSK2nUaMBMR2BzAh2cAB4n2eGcgJkz/s320/Newcastle_Central_Station_%2528Fordyce%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newcastle Central Station, 1867.<br />Passengers entered the station via a classical<br />portico large enough to house a concert hall<br />Public Domain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Information about railway journeys was provided by ‘Bradshaw’. In 1842 the Quaker publisher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bradshaw">George Bradshaw</a> first printed a monthly timetable that quickly established itself as the only guide to set out all scheduled rail services in the country, in spite of the fact that its complexity made it difficult to follow. It survived until 1961!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiic9qGaoV7q_fcJJmX37Yo1SxW3WeX5tSPVHVtfMZPFJahyDw_hhUSTNRd2Xpz7bsOQPp9aj-KGv2qWgeyvg1LyiFYwmYTh8UrQiq6oKjb7Fn3yzmMeqK-aMWRSobyrtXB-HXV7cWj_xnB/s1600/1850_Bradshaw_Whitby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiic9qGaoV7q_fcJJmX37Yo1SxW3WeX5tSPVHVtfMZPFJahyDw_hhUSTNRd2Xpz7bsOQPp9aj-KGv2qWgeyvg1LyiFYwmYTh8UrQiq6oKjb7Fn3yzmMeqK-aMWRSobyrtXB-HXV7cWj_xnB/s1600/1850_Bradshaw_Whitby.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"1850 Bradshaw Whitby" by Original uploader <br />
was KF at en.wikipedia -<br />
Transferred from en.wikipedia; transfer <br />
was stated to be made by User:Matt.T.. <br />
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The free market</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This boundless energy was underscored by the free market. (Compare with Belgium, where the first line was opened in 1835; the Belgian government laid out the shape of the network and funded its construction.) By 1844 Britain had 104 separate railway companies. But the great railway entrepreneurs aimed at monopoly through amalgamation. By 1848 the great Victorian railway companies were in place: the London and North-Western, the Great Western and the Midland. Between them they accounted for slightly more than half the mileage then open.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the early 1840s there were tentative efforts at state control. Following a Select Parliamentary Committee in 1839 Acts were passed in 1840 and 1842, giving the existing legal powers of the state to a railway department of the Board of Trade. The department had the right of inspection, collected statistics of traffic and accidents, and could undertake legal proceedings for neglect or illegality. It also inspected new projects. In 1844 William Gladstone, the then President of the Board of Trade, brought in the Railway Regulation Act. Gladstone wanted to nationalize the railways and the original draft bill would have given the government sweeping powers of regulation. However, he backed down in the face of protests from the railway owners. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, the Act introduced an important provision: the train companies had to guarantee at least one train every day on every line running at a minimum speed of 12 mph and with a fare of not more than 1<i>d</i> a mile. This is the origin of the ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_train">parliamentary trains</a>’. The result was that within five years more than 50 per cent of passengers were paying the third-class fares of a penny a mile. Otherwise, most of the provisions of the Railway Act remained a dead letter. For practical purposes the work of the department ceased after 1845 though the Board of Trade retained a general responsibility for railway matters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Reaction to the railways</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Reaction to the railways could be one of fascinated horror. When Thomas Carlyle journeyed on the Grand Junction Railway in September 1839, he saw the railway as the devil’s mantle; a month earlier Lord Ashley, journeying from Manchester to Liverpool, remarked that if the devil had travelled he would have gone by train. Nothing in nature exceeded the speed of 30 mph. The railway companies had to alleviate people’s fears of travelling at ‘unnatural’ speeds through tunnels. This is why the interior of the Edge Hill tunnel was painted white and it was illuminated by gas jets at regular intervals. Dickens’s Mrs Gamp believed that the railways caused miscarriages.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As the navvies worked on the cuttings of Stephenson’s London and Birmingham trunk line (some of them 60 or 70 feet deep), they exposed fossils in the rocks and amateur geologists, already familiar with Charles Lyell’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Principles of Geology</span> (1830-33) flocked to view the rock exposures. One of Lyell’s correspondents wrote to him in February 1838 of the fascinating sections uncovered in making parts of the Forfar-Dundee railroad. In July 1845 the botanist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dalton_Hooker">Joseph Hooker </a>wrote to his friend Charles Darwin about the way cutting open railways caused a change of vegetation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The construction of the railways had many political implications. The authorising Acts gave the railway companies the novel right of compulsory purchase, which the Tory landowning class saw as an affront to their status. The Acts gave companies the authority </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘to enter, survey and even to excavate private land situated on a prescribed route’. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This was the most dramatic infringement of private property rights since the Civil War. Notices of intention to purchase were issued, and, failing a response from the landowner, the railway company were entitled to have the matter settled by a sheriff’s jury. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Illustrated London News</span> of 1845 compared the powers granted under the Acts to a Russian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukase"><span style="font-style: italic;">ukase</span>.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Landowners fought hard to block or frustrate the course of individual lines. For example, the earls of Sefton and Derby vigorously opposed the Stockton and Darlington Railway which was to run across their land. In the first survey of the line in 1822 the antagonism of the landed interest was such that the railway venturers resorted to hiring a prize-fighter to carry the theodolite. In subsequent surveys much of the levelling was done by moonlight and by torchlight. In one case, in the face of clerical opposition to the London and Birmingham Railway, the survey team had to carry out their work during the hours of church services when the opposition would be otherwise engaged. In many cases the landlords’ labourers and hired bullies fought pitched battles with the teams of surveyors. But George Eliot’s sensible Caleb Garth in <span style="font-style: italic;">Middlemarch</span> says: </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now, my lads, you can’t hinder the railroad: it will be made whether you like it or not.’ </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When he saw the first train pass through the Rugby countryside, Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby, remarked that feudalism had gone for ever. Wordsworth saw the railway capitalists as part of </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘the Thirst of Gold, that rules o’er Britain like a baneful star’. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was deep social unease about the fact that the railways were underpinned by industrial capital. The Doric portico entrance to Euston station (now much mourned!) was derided as the grandiose triumphalism of the new manufacturing class. It was also an engineering victory – celebrating the conquest of the engineers over the subterranean waters and quicksands of Kilsby near Rugby.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The railway mania transformed the English stock market. A few made millions, but many more were ruined. In the early 1850s the Darwin family’s portfolio ran to some £14,000 or railway stock. Having initially opposed the railways many aristocrats began to invest in them. The earls of Leicester invested in lines in Norfolk and the earls of Yarborough in Lincolnshire.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The early railway companies formed their own police forces modelled on Peel’s Metropolitan Police. The government began to use the railways to transport troops to sites of political demonstrations. In 1842 they embarked from Euston on trains of the London and Birmingham Railway for destinations in the northern manufacturing districts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Railways were initially viewed as the enemies of nature. Thomas Carlyle: they forced </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘a second or produced nature’. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">John Ruskin: the railways brutally amputated every hill in their path and raised mounds of earth across meadows faster than the walls of Babylon. Dickens in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dombey and Son</span>: </span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">the railway ‘was defiant of all paths and roads, piercing through the heart of every obstacle’.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When the London and Dover Railway Company’s works reached the Channel coast in February 1843, the engineers blew up part of a cliff and the nobility and gentry came to witness the event.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The railway telegraph</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The ultimate representation of the railroad’s war with nature was in the clocks which observed railway time. Initially it was a cumbersome process, involving the carrying of a watch the length of the journey in order to standardize time. But after the setting up of the Railway Clearing House in 1842 this practice gave way to the observance of Greenwich Time at stations around the country, a practice made easier by the spread of the telegraph. The first <a href="http://distantwriting.co.uk/railwaysignaltelegaphy.aspx">railway telegraph</a> seems to have been installed in the Great Western between Paddington and West Drayton and was operating by the spring of 1839. In 1842 and improved telegraph consisting of double-needle instruments and only two wires was ordered. The wires were suspended overhead on upright standards of cast-iron and at intervals of up to 150 yards. By 1848, 1,800 miles of railway were so equipped in the country as a while. Time could now be synchronised and by the 1850s Greenwich or ‘railway’ time had become standard in Britain.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">The Great Western Railway</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGsdKY74_YJJdfG_MkUDTv_SIOVSyTKLpuQaqFyLiH0HMYI8yvF5VencAQTpQC26fkLsoscY8nsIKgxGcpgPVNpOpJcRvZJZ4QeIhiYGdQFdeN86f3oVgMxfuCsZXKKBDS0XuD6FDzpYb/s1600/IKBrunelChains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGsdKY74_YJJdfG_MkUDTv_SIOVSyTKLpuQaqFyLiH0HMYI8yvF5VencAQTpQC26fkLsoscY8nsIKgxGcpgPVNpOpJcRvZJZ4QeIhiYGdQFdeN86f3oVgMxfuCsZXKKBDS0XuD6FDzpYb/s1600/IKBrunelChains.jpg" width="128" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"IKBrunel" by Robert Howlett <br />
Licensed under Public Domain <br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In March 1833, the 27 year old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel">Isambard Kingdom Brunel</a> was appointed chief engineer of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Railway">Great Western Railway</a>. The strategy was to build a railway that would link London and Bristol. The first section of the track that went from London to Taplow (Maidenhead) was opened in 1838. The line was completed to Bristol in 1841 and helped to establish Brunel as one of the world's leading engineers. Impressive achievements on the route included the viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham, the Maidenhead Bridge, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_Tunnel">Box Tunnel </a>and the Bristol Temple Meads Station.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"BoxTunnelWest" <br />
Original uploader was Cheesy mike at en.wikipedia - <br />
Transferred from en.wikipedia. <br />
Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The battle for the gauge</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Early British development was not characterised by a uniform gauge. Most of the initial lines were built to a gauge of 4 feet 8 ½ inches (1422mm), which accorded with the track dimensions used by the Romans. It was the preferred choice of gauge for George and Robert Stephenson. But in 1835 Brunel convinced the Board of the Great Western that a gauge of 7 feet 0 ¼ inches (2140mm) was technically superior. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As a result the ten years from the mid 1840s saw a dramatic struggle among railway proprietors. A Royal Commission tried to adjudicate. Though accepting the technical capabilities of the broad gauge, it viewed the narrow gauge as best suited to the general needs of the country and recommended the compulsory extinction of the broad gauge. But Parliament did not feel able to insist on this and the broad gauge continued to expand after the Gauge Act of 1846. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The ‘break of gauge’ created problems for passengers and goods as they had to be transferred from one train to another, especially Gloucester where the Great Western met the Birmingham and Gloucester line. By 1866 there were thirty places where ‘break of gauge’ occurred. Queen Victoria, travelling from Balmoral to Osborne had to change trains at Gloucester and Basingstoke. One of the consequences of using the broad gauge was that Great Western locomotives could not use Euston and Brunel had to build its own station at Paddington, which was not completed until 1854. But although passengers preferred the broad gauge, Brunel lost the war and by the end of the 1860s he was forced to start the process that ended in the adoption of the narrow gauge.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Thomas Cook</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUuMYufanC9BVIXv6K8zfkaY_-Iny1197BnDXd3NPvHs0Bl5HFTHGtaWPFFjlvX95elkPmor_2BVUezyt__6HPSDXcUXxg6_SxLqTWA6Ib_cV0wTZBX11GiGCJBTXYxChx-65AzLystri/s1600/Thomas.Cook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUuMYufanC9BVIXv6K8zfkaY_-Iny1197BnDXd3NPvHs0Bl5HFTHGtaWPFFjlvX95elkPmor_2BVUezyt__6HPSDXcUXxg6_SxLqTWA6Ib_cV0wTZBX11GiGCJBTXYxChx-65AzLystri/s1600/Thomas.Cook.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Thomas.Cook" by Unknown - <br />
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0<br />
via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1841 the Baptist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook">Thomas Cook</a> (1808-92) persuaded the Midland Counties Railway Company to run a special train between Leicester and Loughborough for a temperance meeting on July 5. It was believed to be the first publicly advertised excursion train in England. Three years later the railway agreed to make the arrangement permanent if Cook would provide passengers for the excursion trains. During the Paris Exposition of 1855, Cook conducted excursions from Leicester to Calais. The next year he led his first Grand Tour of Europe.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Excursions</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1850 in just one August holiday week, more than 200,000 people left Manchester by excursion train. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Fleetwood became a holiday destination when it was connected to the Preston and Wyre Railway. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In 1841 the railway reached Weston-super-Mare. Scarborough, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool">Blackpool</a>, Eastbourne and Torquay were all linked to the railway. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The seaside holiday became big business. Excursions helped to inculcate the railway habit in millions of people who would not have travelled otherwise.They provided a relief from the grind of factory life. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Many saw the sea for the first time though at resorts such as Blackpool the middle and working classes were segregated on different beaches. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The dangers of rail travel</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The most notorious railway accident was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Bridge_disaster">Tay Bridge disaster</a> of 28 December 1879 when as many as seventy-five passengers might have lost their lives.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Catastrophe du pont sur le Tay - 1879 - <br />
Illustration" by Unknown - <br />
Licensed under Public Domain <br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There were ten fatalities fro</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">m the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staplehurst_rail_crash" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Staplehurst rail crash</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> of 8 Ju</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ne 1865, in which Charles Dickens was embarrassingly involved.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmWohUUzdtSCpvBz3dGM34bPD0hFNDvhmvuWN2LDWW6nwPfkEqCV6TfgqJY7XXoEDT4ClG3fvvAoi2rRE-VWBjlDZUZI2vzy55xifZvorMLGd0E1yTa0kOFhCP4raicNJyMkca2LHvCWZ/s1600/Staplehurst_rail_crash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmWohUUzdtSCpvBz3dGM34bPD0hFNDvhmvuWN2LDWW6nwPfkEqCV6TfgqJY7XXoEDT4ClG3fvvAoi2rRE-VWBjlDZUZI2vzy55xifZvorMLGd0E1yTa0kOFhCP4raicNJyMkca2LHvCWZ/s1600/Staplehurst_rail_crash.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Staplehurst rail crash" <br />
Engraving in Illustrated London News. <br />
Licensed under Public Domain <br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Conclusion</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Before the invention of the steam engine, humans could travel no faster than the fastest horse. The railways </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">dramatically shortened journey times, and opened up for middle-income and even poor people experiences that previously had only been available to the rich. Both work and leisure were transformed.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-34618765279282698862017-01-03T20:06:00.001+00:002017-01-03T20:07:25.044+00:00Another look at the Industrial Revolution<span style="font-size: large;">This is <a href="http://www.historyextra.com/article/premium/industrial-revolution-age-opportunity?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter%20referral&utm_campaign=bitly">a very interesting post</a> on the Industrial Revolution and the new genre of working-class autobiographies.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-30174641710067762782016-12-14T16:42:00.000+00:002016-12-14T16:42:58.790+00:00Foundling children (update)<span style="font-size: large;">The Foundling Museum have released this fascinating story of how foundling children were robbed by an unscrupulous trader. See <a href="http://snip.ly/wbk0p#https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/01/foundling-hospital-milk-skimming-scandal">this report </a>in <i>The Guardian</i>. By bringing in Oliver Twist and workhouses the article muddies the waters somewhat but it's still a very interesting read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And also in <i>The Guardian</i> there's this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/12/in-defence-of-gruel-foundling-museum-christmas-spirit?CMP=share_btn_link">very interesting review</a> of the current excellent 'Feeding the Four Hundred exhibition'.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-32186095469900055102016-12-04T12:25:00.000+00:002016-12-04T12:25:00.962+00:00Making Georgian bacon<span style="font-size: large;">As we know, before the development of fodder crops allowed animals to be fed over the winter, most had to be slaughtered in the autumn. <a href="https://penandpension.com/2016/11/02/making-bacon/">This article </a>describes the laborious process of making bacon, a great staple of the winter diet. </span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-75928477727742607062016-11-22T20:30:00.000+00:002017-08-29T20:13:47.778+01:00The experience of industrialisation<h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhHWG7_h4kovZuh6NTBe6gCSP6RTnb4eQPpMUjz1sM8bxS0evks5_EN_hJuO4mFnyCaNKgNBkNI87-2PT9jBTsYb0zzMSNgLs5VwpR6RE3CPYQ4IPEcZ5p-YyJk4F2UtDW4kxFpDqTTPm/s1600/Cromford_1771_mill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhHWG7_h4kovZuh6NTBe6gCSP6RTnb4eQPpMUjz1sM8bxS0evks5_EN_hJuO4mFnyCaNKgNBkNI87-2PT9jBTsYb0zzMSNgLs5VwpR6RE3CPYQ4IPEcZ5p-YyJk4F2UtDW4kxFpDqTTPm/s1600/Cromford_1771_mill.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The world's first factory. <br />
Cromford mill, 1771<br />
Licensed under Public Domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution">‘Industrial Revolution’</a> was coined in 1884 by Sir Arnold Toynbee to describe the move from domestic to factory production, a process made possible by the application of water- and steam-power. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not all historians agree with this term. Those who prefer to think in terms of evolution point out that in the middle of the nineteenth century most people still worked on the land, or worked in unmodernised industries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, industrialisation should be seen as one of the great changes of history along with the prehistoric neolithic revolution. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.ukcensusonline.com/census/1851.php">census of 1851</a> revealed that the majority of British people were no longer living in rural areas but in towns and cities. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This had never happened before in human history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Industrial Revolution took place against the background of the <a href="http://europetransformed.blogspot.co.uk/2006/10/globalization-and-consumption.html">eighteenth-century consumer revolution.</a> The demand for more goods stimulated innovation, which then produced more goods at lower prices and provided a further stimulus to consumerism.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Cottage industry</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1700 industry was located in the countryside. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Between a sixth and a third of all men living in the countryside were primarily employed in non-agricultural jobs such as textile manufacture.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">These were independent artisans producing for local markets, or they were employed by clothiers who might have access to international markets. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Textiles:</span></b> In 1700 the largest item in British exports (70 per cent) was wool. Production was household production. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Weavers were usually men, working at (usually rented) looms in their homes. At least four women and children would be employed to prepare and spin enough flax or wool to keep a single loom at work. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The advantage of cottage industry was that it was cheap and flexible, not bound by guild regulations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Minerals:</span></b> Pre-industrial Britain also produced minerals in large quantities. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Weald of Kent produced iron-ore though production was being overtaken by iron-ore from Liège and Sweden. Swedish iron ore was imported to Hull and reached the rest of England through the great river system of the Humber basin. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Coal was mined in Fife, lead in the Mendips.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The first wave</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The first wave of industrialisation <a href="http://www.li.com/events/19th-century-industrialisation-why-britain-got-there-first">began in Britain</a> for a set of complex geographical, economic, cultural and political reasons. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was centred upon relatively simple and cheap innovations in two leading sectors, iron-making and cotton textiles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One of the motors for industrialisation seems to have been the combination of cheap power with relatively high wages.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Traditional sources of power were replaced by new ones, and these were applied to production. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Manufacturing was increasingly (though not uniformly) organised in large-scale units or factories.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The economy changed as the share in national wealth contributed by agriculture dropped back and that derived from industry and trade moved into the lead.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The reform of agriculture</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Industrialisation coincided with a demographic revolution as the population of Britain rose from 13 million in 1781 to 23 million in 1831. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The pressure of numbers meant that farmed land had to be made to produce food more efficiently. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Reform of agriculture enabled a higher proportion of people to leave the land. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The reform of agriculture involved<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure"> enclosure</a>, both of the common land and of open strips. Enclosure was usually done by Act of Parliament, following a petition from the local landowners.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Enclosure came with a high social cost, involving the destruction of communal and collective traditions and the conversion of small farmers into an agricultural proletariat. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Water and steam</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Steam engines were invented by Thomas Savery (1698) and Thomas Newcomen (1712) for pumping water out of mines.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmBsZ7Sq3I26EJSOn60lP7TlQee853bFInS_u88IQ__4JrWSjWX06FJKiOjKuvWvG3kw4A7uPU221J4O0kn0QuUOBUK4nKRzl49Q_7aK5y0pGyGA6abMJF8rYzMsOlkNnKBnP8C_bhENa/s1600/Sir_Richard_Arkwright_by_Mather_Brown_1790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmBsZ7Sq3I26EJSOn60lP7TlQee853bFInS_u88IQ__4JrWSjWX06FJKiOjKuvWvG3kw4A7uPU221J4O0kn0QuUOBUK4nKRzl49Q_7aK5y0pGyGA6abMJF8rYzMsOlkNnKBnP8C_bhENa/s1600/Sir_Richard_Arkwright_by_Mather_Brown_1790.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Sir Richard Arkwright' by Mather Brown 1790<br />
Licensed under Public Domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1769 the Preston barber <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Arkwright">Richard Arkwright </a>(1732-92) patented the spinning frame, which, because it was initially powered by water, became known as the water-frame. This machine produced a strong twist for warps, substituting wooden and metal cylinders for human fingers. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This shifted textile production from the home to factories. Arkwright created the world's first factory at <a href="http://www.cromfordmill.co.uk/">Cromford Mill</a> in Derbyshire. Three hundred 'hands', mainly women and children, were employed.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgff8kubGwjbUwouWQjkbF-c791Vc8e5BmdJkBsxy8M27X_OsqbSa4UTpDpTnMS2gGC7tBwLlbyWHZcYdK_njSUBvgrP9NIkFJinqwvP-yKkPnzVLd5dZ2M0lgnW28YNbVGP6MHJplQwb_N/s1600/Arkwright's_first_mill%2C_Cromford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgff8kubGwjbUwouWQjkbF-c791Vc8e5BmdJkBsxy8M27X_OsqbSa4UTpDpTnMS2gGC7tBwLlbyWHZcYdK_njSUBvgrP9NIkFJinqwvP-yKkPnzVLd5dZ2M0lgnW28YNbVGP6MHJplQwb_N/s1600/Arkwright's_first_mill%2C_Cromford.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arkwright's original mill, Cromford.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Because of this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_manufacture_during_the_Industrial_Revolution">change in production</a>, inexpensive yarns were able to manufacture the cheap calicoes on which the subsequent great expansion of the cotton industry was based.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By 1800 cotton had replaced wool as Britain’s major export. This transformation was made possible by the invention of the cotton gin in the US and by a series of inventions (the flying shuttle, the spinning jenny, the water frame, the mule).</span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">King Cotton</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Manchester was already a centre of textile production in the mid-eighteenth century. In 1761 the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_Canal">Bridgewater Canal</a> was opened. It was the first modern artificial waterway and linked Manchester to the the duke of Bridgewater's coalfields at Worsley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGo_WV9AeEyik9T__e1PRWpBF0-_GYZwjBx7JnE2CcXy5rbImFfBfsiYaR5x_GA8DVz6RwrMt3-5kq3uNuUIMql1wh_Se3u0YQCNZdyNDJ5DfVuH8mANhdPCGEKqMtCmT5dXNVul_l7oPk/s1600/Spinning_jenny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGo_WV9AeEyik9T__e1PRWpBF0-_GYZwjBx7JnE2CcXy5rbImFfBfsiYaR5x_GA8DVz6RwrMt3-5kq3uNuUIMql1wh_Se3u0YQCNZdyNDJ5DfVuH8mANhdPCGEKqMtCmT5dXNVul_l7oPk/s1600/Spinning_jenny.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Spinning jenny'. <br />
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0<br />
via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With easier access to coal and the patenting of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_jenny">spinning jenny</a> in 1770, the population of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Manchester">Manchester</a> took off, making it Britain's fastest growing city. The 1831 census revealed a population of 142,000.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghE870Tv_Cw6oXTPekZqEZzBHhFnRhnNN3kGU4-ks8uhxflUzSbFSkhHNG9JPCGd3R7Nmd9sjEMbkJJSuckpVpcNwYLzXFu_YJyxfCiI_rONkhbqZ0dlKS-wx0Miu8ioHOc1jacRQF_7so/s1600/800px-McConnel_%2526_Company_mills%252C_about_1820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghE870Tv_Cw6oXTPekZqEZzBHhFnRhnNN3kGU4-ks8uhxflUzSbFSkhHNG9JPCGd3R7Nmd9sjEMbkJJSuckpVpcNwYLzXFu_YJyxfCiI_rONkhbqZ0dlKS-wx0Miu8ioHOc1jacRQF_7so/s200/800px-McConnel_%2526_Company_mills%252C_about_1820.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cotton mills at Ancots, c. 1820<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The bulk of the population lived in dire poverty and squalor - conditions <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/">memorably described by Friedrich Engels</a>. However, alongside this went a genuine civic pride. Manchester was the up-and-coming town - the Singapore or Shanghai of its day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt93dwL2nY5PChVAXzIxizcEyF_LswJxae7N2rIAp_3-9Fa-bhGirQjmGofLt8BlkIOP4bhqUzSTnOYYZn1NQZFF9fRuDhvfSQnx72CcWZbpmE-S9mu5BysZlRc10I2K3DLvdUcTfFJIvo/s1600/800px-Manchester_from_Kersal_Moor_William_Wylde_%25281857%2529+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt93dwL2nY5PChVAXzIxizcEyF_LswJxae7N2rIAp_3-9Fa-bhGirQjmGofLt8BlkIOP4bhqUzSTnOYYZn1NQZFF9fRuDhvfSQnx72CcWZbpmE-S9mu5BysZlRc10I2K3DLvdUcTfFJIvo/s200/800px-Manchester_from_Kersal_Moor_William_Wylde_%25281857%2529+%25283%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manchester from Kersal Moor<br />
William Wyld, 1852<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Coalbrookdale</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1709 Abraham Darby I smelted iron from coke at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalbrookdale">Coalbrookdale </a>in the Severn Valley. With the invention of this process, iron manufacture could move from the Weald to the Severn Valley and South Wales, areas that combined rivers with reserves of coal and iron ore. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1760 steam power was first employed to provide the blast for a coal furnace. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1779 the world’s first iron bridge was constructed at Coalbrookdale.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayRHFL8zAioV8yq87_z3viJZmOqP2y_dGhgzfJIZEe26mOdG75udStJALtJRvS6-jtjI2BQCk-Mp6vLUrvtLTQlFU98AyHI4tAie5m0tGLv0PqGswuQo99skhyphenhyphen5JPGdb1LACAC0vIh09A/s1600/Ironbridge002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayRHFL8zAioV8yq87_z3viJZmOqP2y_dGhgzfJIZEe26mOdG75udStJALtJRvS6-jtjI2BQCk-Mp6vLUrvtLTQlFU98AyHI4tAie5m0tGLv0PqGswuQo99skhyphenhyphen5JPGdb1LACAC0vIh09A/s1600/Ironbridge002.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Sunset at Ironbridge'<br />
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0<br />
via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What about the workers?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Historians are continually debating about whether the lives of the workers improved or deteriorated in this period. Their lives differed in three different respects from those of the pre-industrial workers:</span><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They had no power to set their own working conditions. Their lives were dominated by the rhythm of the machine for twelve to fourteen hours a day.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They were dependent solely on wages.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They lived in a separate world from their employers.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Many working-class autobiographies paint a grim picture of life in industrial society. See <a href="https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/child-labour?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=disc_lit&utm_content=factory_act">here</a> for a useful BBC site about the grim conditions of child labour. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But wages were higher than for agricultural work or domestic service. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Concern for the working conditions of women and children led to a reduction in their hours. But for most of the nineteenth century the adult male worker was unprotected by law. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The plight of the weavers: </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">The handloom weavers were among the greatest casualties of industrialisation. As the cotton industry expanded in the late eighteenth century, there was a greater demand for weavers to weave the thread into finished cloth. Weavers earned good wages. They worked in their own homes, sometimes owning, sometimes renting their looms, but as the power of the clothiers grew, they lost the power to set their own working conditions. With the slackening of trade at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, their earnings declined dramatically, and their plight worsened with the introduction of the power-loom from the 1820s. A Bolton witness reported to a parliamentary Select Committee in 1835:</span></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'Since I can recollect, almost every weaver that I knew had a chest of drawers in his house, and a clock and chairs and bedsteads and candlesticks, an even pictures, articles of luxury; and now I find that these have disappeared; they have either gone into the houses of mechanics, or into the houses of persons of higher class.' Quoted E. P. Thompson, <i>The Making of the English Working Class </i>(Penguin, 1968, p. 319) </span></span></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-NwfTQHySvHu8UQ23o6aOlMxFKvnwAabPUAyPIxYm_GIHJT8uo5tJ1gIjpNyUVfK0Ihz1tLfB751darGI8Yhh9cGqJLeODYJcooC8hXMO40GB6RRV1a8sTTZ-11LKAKC9VMLaxHnG79-/s1600/122306a5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-NwfTQHySvHu8UQ23o6aOlMxFKvnwAabPUAyPIxYm_GIHJT8uo5tJ1gIjpNyUVfK0Ihz1tLfB751darGI8Yhh9cGqJLeODYJcooC8hXMO40GB6RRV1a8sTTZ-11LKAKC9VMLaxHnG79-/s200/122306a5.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A weaver's cottage in Yorkshire<br />
late nineteenth century</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1839 the writer, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle">Thomas Carlyle</a>, published an influential essay on ‘the Condition of England’. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The same concern was reflected in the ‘industrial novels’ of the 1840s and 1850s by Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens: <i>Mary Barton</i>, <i>North and South</i> and <i>Hard Times</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How much of a revolution?</span></h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">We need to be cautious in using the term 'revolution'. Most people did not see dramatic changes in their lives. Industrialisation was a long drawn-out process and was also a regionalised one. Urban Lancashire bore little resemblance to rural Dorset. Even in textiles only a relatively few operatives worked in large factories. The typical Lancashire worker in 1841 worked in a factory employing fewer than a hundred hands. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until the end of the nineteenth century capital was limited. The largest class of cotton mill in late 18th century Britain had a fixed capital of no more than £10,000. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The finances of these mills and factories were provided by the informal sources of family, congregational, local or partnership funds.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Traditional sectors composed of agriculture and non-factory craft manufactures survived down to 1914. Until the 1890s far more women worked in domestic service than in factories.</span></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The Industrial Revolution caused great hardship, but it brought about the production of cheap mass-produced goods.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">This enabled working-class people to accumulate a far greater range of goods than had been possible in the past. Over time, people were better clothed and their homes were better furnished. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">We can debate endlessly whether this was a price worth paying.</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-53581783109424739132016-11-15T17:49:00.000+00:002016-11-16T15:18:43.085+00:00Crime in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQeZH879vubEApqnKoxMQ5spbvpZM1DPBWzrifP1F1dOUOl-hXkEi3qqWp-G8EvhvLbpu4C5uy6i5daQWq22-NPJfuL2BCbdRLDJEduP_gdhwb1Zo3gM93rUCKWLlLBlLZwUFisPbMydS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-12-07+at+16.45.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQeZH879vubEApqnKoxMQ5spbvpZM1DPBWzrifP1F1dOUOl-hXkEi3qqWp-G8EvhvLbpu4C5uy6i5daQWq22-NPJfuL2BCbdRLDJEduP_gdhwb1Zo3gM93rUCKWLlLBlLZwUFisPbMydS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-12-07+at+16.45.53.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Tyburn tree" by Unknown<br />
Retrieved from National Archives website. <br />
Licensed under Public domain <br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Why study crime?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Crime is well-documented for this period, and digital material such as the wonderful <a href="https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/">Old Bailey Online</a> is now </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">making a vast mass of material widely available. A study of property crime shows us the range of consumer goods in a society. Changing attitudes to crime provide an insight into wider social attitudes. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Anxieties</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There have been anxieties about crime in most periods of history. Sometimes the anxieties were exaggerated but this is not always the case. In the eighteenth century there was anxiety about crime caused by the prevalence of cheap gin. In London in the 1850s and 1860s there was <a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/06/garrotting-panic-1850-insane-ways-public-reacted/">a panic about garrotting</a>. In the 1890s the word <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooliganism">'hooligan'</a> came into use.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The growth of crime was the obverse of the consumer revolution, fuelled by the increase in the volume and range of goods in circulation. T</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">o eighteenth-century social commentators like the novelist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fielding">Henry Fielding,</a> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">the key cause of crime was not poverty but ‘luxury’ - a word which symbolised the dangerous aspirations of those who sought material possessions and ‘diversions’ above their station. For example, the gin epidemic, made famous by Hogarth's print, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Street_and_Gin_Lane">'Gin Lane' </a>(1751) </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">was seen as a cause not a consequence of poverty. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7VVIknw2CoQ63i9aWYUwfWQUOMNtND7BmZLT_s24Y02Ns8l_rXPzRtHrEzYBLkt6LMPjEvehv5wCTpQ3BMww4rxQH7GFxozs3GoVvtLdXhuDPagKUhMWP34vhN5pNHDosBe318TuIjJc/s1600/GinLane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7VVIknw2CoQ63i9aWYUwfWQUOMNtND7BmZLT_s24Y02Ns8l_rXPzRtHrEzYBLkt6LMPjEvehv5wCTpQ3BMww4rxQH7GFxozs3GoVvtLdXhuDPagKUhMWP34vhN5pNHDosBe318TuIjJc/s1600/GinLane.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'GinLane by William Hogarth <br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Licensed under Public domain </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">via Wikimedia Commons </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One eighteenth-century strategy against crime, especially highway robbery, was the bill of exchange. But watches, silk handkerchiefs or even wigs could be stolen from individuals with relative ease from the swelling number of shops. The word shoplifting was first recorded in 1680. But property crime could not be prevented. It was the obverse of the consumer revolution.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The administration of the law</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Since the Glorious Revolution, English law was regarded as superior to all other systems. Torture was not allowed, legal proceedings were public, trial by jury was common, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus">habeas corpus</a></i> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">acted as a safeguard for liberties, and the judges were not subject to political intimidation. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Britain was a politically decentralised state and the law was administered locally. Prosecutions were brought by individuals, and the statistics show that the non-propertied as well as the propertied saw the law as the guarantor of their interests. Local law enforcement was in the hands of the</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Justices of the Peace, who heard cases and took it upon themselves to discharge suspects or to send them for trial. <a href="http://www.barwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com/5950.html">Parish constable</a>s, who were responsible for arrests, were either appointed or elected annually. </span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">There were two criminal courts of importance in the eighteenth century: the Quarter Sessions and the Assizes. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assizes">Assizes</a> were held by judges of the high courts who came into each county on circuit twice a year; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_session">Quarter Sessions</a> by the Justices of the Peace of the county four times a year. Both dealt with countywide business at each session.</span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">The extent of the powers of the Justices was vague until the Act of 1842. By this Act they could not try treason, murder, capital felony or a number of other offences regarded as especially serious. These became the responsibility of the Assize judges. The administration of the law was becoming more professional.</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">The offences dealt with by the courts can be divided into several broad categories:</span></span></div>
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<div>
<ol><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<li>Capital offences: several forms of treason, including offences against the coinage and ‘petty treason’; the most common were felonies (which included all other homicides, infanticide, rape, robbery, burglary, larceny and arson). All these were triable at the assizes where they accounted for the largest part of the court’s criminal work.</li>
<li>Lesser offences, dealt with by the courts of Quarter Sessions; these included assault, riot, petty larceny, fraud, embezzlement.</li>
<li>‘Social crimes’, not universally regarded as criminal and often carried out with the approval of the local community (smuggling, poaching, riot).</li>
</span></span></ol>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">The Bow Street Runners</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">London presented a different pattern from the rest of the country. In an anonymous shifting population, the parish system was no longer effective as a unit of law and order. </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the early eighteenth century felons were arrested by means of a general ‘hue and cry’ or through the action of professional thief-takers such as Jonathan Wild.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />In 1748 the novelist Henry Fielding was appointed justice of the peace in Westminster. On December 9 1749, he moved into the large house in Bow Street, an area notorious for its atrocious living conditions and its bawdy houses. The ground floor of the house served as his courtroom.<br /><br />Fielding set up a band of six constables, who were soon known as the Bow Street Runners. Their functions included serving writs, detective work, and arresting offenders. At first they worked for reward money, but they were later given one guinea a week plus a bonus for each successful prosecution. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbcz04gebWUJq9nm1xif7kYETmDTO3ftT1PSBiL0cnEc1WXwPsEB1hjEc2ZpBSr41N3lwRH8wYTb90gcimowmeSXe5AzTl1am4m36dH9FEpbWpyQrei1afpf_c1SByUoII6iOfsCtGD5k/s1600/John_fielding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbcz04gebWUJq9nm1xif7kYETmDTO3ftT1PSBiL0cnEc1WXwPsEB1hjEc2ZpBSr41N3lwRH8wYTb90gcimowmeSXe5AzTl1am4m36dH9FEpbWpyQrei1afpf_c1SByUoII6iOfsCtGD5k/s200/John_fielding.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir John Fielding (1721-80)<br />
By Nathaniel Hone<br />
NPG Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Henry Fielding died early in 1754 at the age of 47 his place was taken by his blind half-brother </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fielding" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">John</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> who was principal magistrate for Westminster from 1754 to 1780 and pursued criminals with a religious zeal. His 'runners' would pursue felons across the country and became widely feared, albeit they may have been little better than those they pursued. Fielding never tired of talking up the merits of his runners and was a tireless propagandist for the idea of a national police force, but his efforts were met with the familiar concerns about civil liberties and financial costs of such a scheme. He was knighted for his efforts in 1761.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 1792 an Act of Parliament (the Middlesex Justices Act) established seven more offices on the Bow Street model and enabled the Bow Street office to be called on by other parts of the nation, laying the basis for the future Scotland Yard.</span></span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Criminals</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Creative writers were fascinated by crime. The great fictional criminals of the eighteenth century are Daniel Defoe's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moll_Flanders">Moll Flanders</a> and Macheath, the anti-hero of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar's_Opera">The Beggars’ Opera</a></i> (1728). T</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">his was probably the most popular play of the 18th century. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWZ_Ogd7ZFGhU9X7VdSXvlqR75n_FqV-I5GPegnm1pEWPlTFw1cMNrPK1dWZ29-VPX_4CprzmU1o8KXqdIsITb-AoKvIAVkWRzIhKYoL7VXhAa4Iw9rqaiXQzMV3VZ3B5vmvIhyphenhyphenyPvQgq/s1600/Jack_Sheppard_-_Thornhill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWZ_Ogd7ZFGhU9X7VdSXvlqR75n_FqV-I5GPegnm1pEWPlTFw1cMNrPK1dWZ29-VPX_4CprzmU1o8KXqdIsITb-AoKvIAVkWRzIhKYoL7VXhAa4Iw9rqaiXQzMV3VZ3B5vmvIhyphenhyphenyPvQgq/s1600/Jack_Sheppard_-_Thornhill.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Jack Sheppard" by Sir James Thornhill - <br />
National Portrait Gallery. <br />
Licensed under Public domain<br />
in the United States via Wikipedia</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1724 the thief and escapee, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sheppard">Jack Sheppard</a>, was hanged. He is believed to have been the model for Macheath. After his second escape from Newgate and his subsequent recapture, many ballads were published about him. He received many distinguished visitors while in prison and his portrait was painted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thornhill">Sir James Thornhill</a>. He was used as a mouthpiece to denounce the hypocrisy of society. This glorification of the highwayman is especially associated with the corruption of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Walpole">Walpole era</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sheppard was captured by the thief-taker, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Wild">Jonathan Wild</a>. Wild was by origin a buckle-maker from Wolverhampton. He then became a pimp, a brothel-keeper and finally a receiver of stolen goods. Posing as a ‘thief-taker’ he set up an ‘Office for the Recovery of Lost and Stolen Property'. He apprehended wanted felons with a posse of assistants for the reward. However, the felons he passed on to trial were his victims, set up by him. In 1725 one of his own gang, Blueskin Blake, whom he had betrayed, attempted to cut his throat. Wild was convicted of taking a £10 reward for the return of some lace whose theft he had arranged, and hanged.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Turpin">Dick Turpin</a> (1705?-1739) was convicted at York for horse-stealing and hanged in 1739. He became a popular hero after Harrison Ainsworth’s romance <i>Rookwood</i> (1834)</span></span></span><br />
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<div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
</span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The penal code</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The 18th century penal code is notorious for the high number of capital statutes. In 1688 there were about 50, by 1800, 200. A statute of 1698 made the theft of goods worth more than 5/- a capital offence. The </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Act" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Black Act of 1723</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> created 50 capital offences. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Most of the Acts were specific: laws against damaging Fulham Bridge (1725), Westminster Bridge (1736) and forging an entry in the North Riding Land Register (1735). But people were usually executed for very traditional offences - forgery, sheep-stealing, theft from shops and warehouses. In fact there were probably fewer executions in the eighteenth century than the seventeenth. One reason for the huge number of capital offences lay in the conceptual poverty of English law. There was no overall criminal code, like those found on the Continent, and no general definitions of offences so separate statues were required for separate crimes.</span></span><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Trials</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Trials lasted half an hour on average and the same jurors would hear many causes. But from about 1700 it became the practice to take a verdict at the end of each trial instead of requiring jurors to hold several cases in their heads at once. Juries acquitted over a third of all prisoners.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the time of George I the Crown began to engage lawyers regularly in certain kinds of case. From the 1730s defence council was also increasingly employed though this was technically forbidden in cases of felony. By 1800 counsel was commonly retained.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Non-capital punishments</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Whipping:</b> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Corporal punishment was usually preferred to imprisonment. The offence that most often resulted in corporal punishment was petty larceny, the theft of goods worth less than a shilling, and the usual punishment was a whipping. The whipping of prisoners was carried out both in private (in a jail or house of correction) by the jailor or in public by the common hangman. The offence that most often resulted in corporal punishment was petty larceny, the theft of goods worth less than a shilling. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Parishes were supposed to provide ‘whipping posts’ at which the prisoner would be tied by the hands, but the most common method of public flogging was ‘at the cart’s tail’ ‘until his back be bloody’. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>The pillory</b> was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillory">one of the most feared punishments</a>. The experience of a criminal condemned to stand there was determined entirely by the crowd that came to watch. They might applaud the convicted person or pelt them with dirt and stones. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Men who had committed sexual crimes or crimes against children could even be killed. Women were occasionally pilloried for keeping bawdy houses.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJ8JrF7vDO3yWp6sETGVPnjdbSn902pA77bNNsL5tIBmrqX3mRPjLOXK-IbzN4d1sPBBC_3vwxdZGC6lYhww2GjDLdIRkdsJsM-KhqdcBFZb3YE5NcbR8sviavb-GKH-ccg_uoqyeAhzo/s1600/800px-Pillory_Charing_Cross_edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJ8JrF7vDO3yWp6sETGVPnjdbSn902pA77bNNsL5tIBmrqX3mRPjLOXK-IbzN4d1sPBBC_3vwxdZGC6lYhww2GjDLdIRkdsJsM-KhqdcBFZb3YE5NcbR8sviavb-GKH-ccg_uoqyeAhzo/s320/800px-Pillory_Charing_Cross_edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pillory at Charing Cross, 1808<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Houses of correction</b> had first been established in the reign of Elizabeth, specifically to punish the able-bodied poor who refused to work. In the 18th century they grew in number. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The majority of the inmates continued to be the vagrant and disreputable poor, prostitutes and street urchins, those who refused to work, servants and apprentices who disobeyed their masters, and unmarried mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Transportation</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This was a drastic punishment seen as killing two birds with one stone: getting rid of a criminal and importing a cheap (and expendable) labour into the colonies. In 1718 and 1719 Acts were passed which extended the use of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportation" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">transportation</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and placed the administrative arrangements to effect the sentence on the county or borough authorities concerned, whether the sentences were passed at Assizes or Quarter Sessions. Transportation was to be for seven years for offences without benefit of clergy and for fourteen years for those condemned to death and pardoned on condition of transportation. In the 50 years following the Acts some 50,000 convicts were transported to the American colonies. This rapidly became the preferred penalty for property offences. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With the revolt of the American colonies the government resorted by an Act of Parliament of 1776 to holding would-be transportees in the ‘hulks’, old moored ships. But these could have held only about 60 per cent of those under sentence of transportation, which left several thousand kept in gaols. From 1787 transportation was resumed – but to Australia (and with the Penal Servitude Act of 1857). The most famous transportee in literature is Magwich in Dickens' <i>Great Expectations</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Imprisonment</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Before the end of the 18th century prisons were primarily places of safe custody for those awaiting trial, or awaiting punishment in the form of execution of whipping, or in custody until fines, fees or debts were paid or sureties found. Prisons were run by the gaolers as a commercial enterprise, prisoners paying fees to the gaoler and also paying for their board and lodging if they could afford to. Gaolers made additional money selling liquor to their prisoners. But though local prisons were run for profit, they were provided for by the local authorities. In county gaols the prisoners were the sheriff’s responsibility and he appointed the gaoler. County justices were empowered to levy rates to give poor prisoners a small daily allowance of bread and beer. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With the loss of the colonies, imprisonment became more popular. From the 1770s and 1780s it became the key sentencing option. The 1770s saw experiments with solitary confinement. Attitudes to punishment were changing.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Capital punishment</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the end of the century two hundred people a year were executed in England and Wales alone, though the number actually sentenced to death was far higher. Between 1770 and 1830 7000 men women and children were executed out of 35,000 sentenced. But the figures varied wildly from year to year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Many judges sought strenuously to use mediation and negotiation and did not automatically reach for the most severe punishment and often sought a royal pardon for the condemned person. The number pardoned increased from around 50-60 per cent in the early to mid-eighteenth century to c. 90 per cent in the early nineteenth. Pardon was an assertion of the terrifying majesty of the law, but it was also a genuine attempt to take individual circumstances into account, such as the condemned person’s good record. Recent evidence suggests that judges weighed up the evidence very conscientiously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Only a small proportion of those executed were murderers: in London and Middlesex they comprised only 10 per cent of those executed between 1749 and 1771. Of the rest, forty-three had been convicted of burglary and thirty-one of highway robbery. </span><br /><br />
</span></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Tyburn tree</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Until the mid-nineteenth century executions and other punishments were public. All the participants at executions - the judge with his black cap, the condemned, the attendant clergyman, the executioner, and the spectators - were part of a theatrical spectacle in which they had assigned roles. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was a flourishing ‘confession’ literature.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In London the main place of execution was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyburn">Tyburn</a> in the parish of Marylebone. T</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">he notorious 'Tyburn Tree’ was erected near the modern Marble Arch in 1571. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was a novel form of gallows, consisting of a horizontal wooden triangle supported by three legs (an arrangement known as a 'three-legged mare' or 'three-legged stool'). </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Several felons could thus be hanged at once. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8moDCSSRDbJBhNSy3lLb3-3JyqBBKWxqr2Jzgjrh12LoE-AdIS1jiUHlOD-SclmiJmxaM3hLlhGc10_P4M1urFBvqlL76S8HkT2ygxIu-xgdICvJyvTBD7Ky0Hi9f7qd6_Y8VTlPrfT9/s1600/800px-William_Hogarth_-_Industry_and_Idleness%252C_Plate_11%253B_The_Idle_%2527Prentice_Executed_at_Tyburn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8moDCSSRDbJBhNSy3lLb3-3JyqBBKWxqr2Jzgjrh12LoE-AdIS1jiUHlOD-SclmiJmxaM3hLlhGc10_P4M1urFBvqlL76S8HkT2ygxIu-xgdICvJyvTBD7Ky0Hi9f7qd6_Y8VTlPrfT9/s320/800px-William_Hogarth_-_Industry_and_Idleness%252C_Plate_11%253B_The_Idle_%2527Prentice_Executed_at_Tyburn.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Hogarth, 'The Idle Apprentice Hanged at Tyburn' (1747)<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1783 the Newgate Act ended the procession to Tyburn. As fashionable estates developed north of Oxford Street and close to the Edgware Road local landowners petitioned for the removal of the gallows and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgate_Prison">newly rebuilt Newgate prison</a> was decided on as the new venue. The Newgate gallows was built with a ‘drop’ though this does not seem to have shortened the process. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJtRksoslW67DpHCkojyX3JjXwasfPdc6IluoOTOAQngE0frhRtn_7v5AWgCv9xYyFI3kOTtUfwLVGF1EFCL4xdahyphenhyphenEE1nPrbEk1sl7zznDJaIG7DN-JDv53kFlh0g7wUxccCzF6xicCP4/s1600/Old_Newgate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJtRksoslW67DpHCkojyX3JjXwasfPdc6IluoOTOAQngE0frhRtn_7v5AWgCv9xYyFI3kOTtUfwLVGF1EFCL4xdahyphenhyphenEE1nPrbEk1sl7zznDJaIG7DN-JDv53kFlh0g7wUxccCzF6xicCP4/s1600/Old_Newgate.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Old Newgate". <br />
Licensed under Public domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Newgate</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The chief prison in London was Newgate, </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">which remained in use from 1108 to 1902. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Work on the rebuilding of Newgate began in 1770 the designs of George Dance, but the incomplete building was burned down in the Gordon Riots of 1780. The new prison was finally completed two years later. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_terrible">whole philosophy of the new design</a> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">was to proclaim the majesty of the law and to inspire terror in the prisoners. The heart of the new building was a central courtyard. The prison was divided into two sections: a ‘Common’ area for poor prisoners and a ‘State area’ for those able to afford more comfortable accommodation. Each section was further sub-divided to accommodate felons and debtors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In November 1849 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Manning_(murderer)">Maria Manning </a>was executed at Newgate, along with her husband, for the murder of her lover, Patrick O’Connor. This was the first time since 1700 that a husband and wife had been executed together and the case aroused huge interest. <a href="http://www.executedtoday.com/2008/11/13/1849-frederick-and-marie-manning-a-dickensian-scene/">Dickens attended</a>, and wrote a vivid (and somewhat voyeuristic) account in a letter to <i>The Times</i>. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdFZ5u7CKG4dPPPwYvrQelzauRcwHYJC1eAtiJ8TnN8fdCEb_AH2HdqptpyiuBDV6sU_c9QSlsZeeIwkm7htIvnwhzdeRJp6KPt40uXRc2R73imXF8JIjkj5292G_4SQfH9iN42mKr5sV/s1600/Marie_Manning%252C_murderer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdFZ5u7CKG4dPPPwYvrQelzauRcwHYJC1eAtiJ8TnN8fdCEb_AH2HdqptpyiuBDV6sU_c9QSlsZeeIwkm7htIvnwhzdeRJp6KPt40uXRc2R73imXF8JIjkj5292G_4SQfH9iN42mKr5sV/s200/Marie_Manning%252C_murderer.jpg" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria Manning, the Bermondsey murderess<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The last person to be publicly executed was the Fenian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Barrett_(Fenian)">Michael Barratt</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">hanged outside Newgate for his part in the Clerkenwell explosion that killed twelve bystanders. After this executions took place inside the prison. Punishment was no longer seen as a public spectacle and Dickens was not alone in arguing that it was degrading to the spectators to witness a public execution.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The ending of public executions and the redesign of Newgate are testimonies to a new philosophy of punishment. It was not longer to be a public theatre but a private act. The purpose of prison was no longer mainly to house debtors and those awaiting trial, but a place of austerity and reflection where (it was hoped) those sentenced by the courts would come to see the evil of their ways.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Prison reform</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1767 an English translation popularised the pleas of the Italian jurist, </span><a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/beccaria/" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Cesare Beccaria</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> (1738-94) for consistent, predictable and non-retributive punishment. From the 1770s</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard_(prison_reformer)">John Howard</a> from exposed the dirt and disease in his reports on the 'State of the Prisons'. The prison reformer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Fry">Elizabeth Fry</a> worked among the female prisoners and their children at Newgate and presented evidence to Parliament about the appalling conditions in which they were housed. In 1858 the interior was rebuilt with individual cells.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrQcl1jFh226dh9zjRJLnnbcVYFL_0NE47PotmV6jlyW9wHZALK97gN1Plo5-pPiRDxYNc4GzS8g3hVcdPPjuX4GFu7vY5GSJA99NYZ4O4TVufaQkjc4ernl_i13KM_I9sMwjKYuGV_ql/s1600/Mrs._Fry_reading_to_the_prisoners_in_Newgate_John_Johnson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrQcl1jFh226dh9zjRJLnnbcVYFL_0NE47PotmV6jlyW9wHZALK97gN1Plo5-pPiRDxYNc4GzS8g3hVcdPPjuX4GFu7vY5GSJA99NYZ4O4TVufaQkjc4ernl_i13KM_I9sMwjKYuGV_ql/s320/Mrs._Fry_reading_to_the_prisoners_in_Newgate_John_Johnson.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Mrs Fry reading to the inhabitants of Newgate'<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This system was already in operation in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Pentonville">Pentonville,</a> opened in 1842. It was designed by Captain Joshua Jebb of the Royal Engineers, who subsequently became Surveyor-General of Prisons. The inmates were kept in solitary cells and wore a mask when they were moved round the building so that anonymity was preserved. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">These changes represented a new ideology of punishment, not necessarily more humane than the older one. The traditional forms of punishment were part of a theatrical performance in which the body was attacked. The new were private and aimed at changing the criminal from within. Prison was to be a time for reflection and though brutal corporal punishments continued to be inflicted in the prisons the new emphasis was on the prisoner’s inner nature. He was to be reformed through labour and religious instruction. The state was now actively involved in the administration of justice, which had become a uniformly administered national system.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Metropolitan Police</span> </h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1823 the new Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel dramatically reduced the number of capital statutes which had lingered on the statute book. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This was not because the he was soft-hearted but because he believed that the statutes were ineffectual. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The number of executions did not diminish during his period of office and he was criticised for dictating too much to magistrates and lessening their freedom of manoeuvre. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As Home Secretary, he was a rationaliser rather than a humanitarian. He represented a new approach to crime that focussed on prevention as opposed to the detection of criminals. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">New horse and foot patrols were introduced both at night and during the day, with the men involved frequently referred to as ‘police’ (a continental term that was controversial because of its association with repressive regimes in Europe). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Efforts to rationalise and further extend London's system of policing culminated with the passage in 1829 of Peel's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Metropolitan_Police_Service">Metropolitan Police Act</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Act set up a police force of 3,000 men under the control of the Home Secretary, with responsibility for policing the entire metropolitan area, except the City of London. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was expected that the frequency of their patrols would significantly reduce the opportunities to commit crime. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It followed the policy begun by the earlier Bow Street Runners, and in many respects the only really novel aspect of the Metropolitan Police was its centralised control by the Home Secretary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Uniformed and carrying only wooden batons, the new ‘Bobbies’ (referring to Robert Peel’s Christian name, and the most polite of the many nicknames the officers received) patrolled the streets on prescribed beats. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'Peeler' of the 1850s<br />
Public Domain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The advent of the Metropolitan Police was not as momentous a development as has sometimes been claimed. In some of the wealthier parishes the number of police officers patrolling the streets immediately after the Act was lower than the number of watchman previously patrolling those same streets. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Even after the creation of the Metropolitan Police the role of the individual victim remained central in identifying offenders to the authorities and prosecuting them. It was only very gradually that the police assumed full responsibility for prosecuting offenders.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The advent of the detective</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The police came to assume responsibility for the prosecution of offenders. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The police came to assume responsibility for the prosecution of offenders. In 1842 <a href="https://victoriandetectives.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/the-birth-of-detectives-in-the-met/">a new detective department</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">became the first centralised detective force in England. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A new genre of novels began to focus on crime and detection, with characters such as Sergeant Bucket in <i>Bleak House</i> and Sergeant Cuff in <i>The Moonstone</i> Sensational crimes such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Kent">Road Hill House murder</a> of 1860 were now investigated by professionals. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the beginning of the nineteenth century attitudes to crime and punishment were changing.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Prisons were replacing the older public and more violent forms of punishment. The emphasis now was on bringing about a change of heart. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The creation of the Metropolitan Police was a continuation of earlier reforms but it was a big step in the direction of centralisation. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the middle of the nineteenth century crime was investigated by professional detectives.</span></li>
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<br />Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-19533894340074966982016-11-12T21:17:00.003+00:002016-11-12T21:17:37.479+00:00Education in Norfolk in the eighteenth century<span style="font-size: large;">I've just come across a <a href="https://penandpension.com/2016/01/19/educating-the-norfolk-poor/">very good blog</a> post about education in eighteenth-century Norfolk, which throws more light on the varieties of educational provision in the period. It reinforces the growing view that more people might have been literate than was previously thought.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-33414080291828840972016-11-08T15:37:00.000+00:002016-11-08T15:37:04.899+00:00Religion in the eighteenth century<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Wesley</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Secularism: the debate</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Historians debate how far eighteenth-century England was moving towards <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularization">secularisation</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Compared with previous centuries, there was a greater range of leisure activities and reading materials, and this made people less reliant on religion that in the past. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On the other hand, the eighteenth century saw important religious movements and religion continued to play a major role.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Varieties of religion</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In his <i><a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1778voltaire-lettres.asp">Letters on the English</a>,</i> the French sceptical writer, Voltaire saw religious liberty as characteristic of England. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘Everyone is permitted to serve God in whatever way he thinks proper.’ </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He was struck by the variety of religious practice he had observed during his stay in England from 1726 to 1728. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Since the reign of Elizabeth I the Church of England had been the established religion of the country. Everyone was obliged by law to attend their parish church on Sundays and religious dissent was not tolerated. But during the Civil the machinery for enforcing uniform religious observance broke down. The Anglican monopoly was challenged, first by Presbyterians and Independents, and then by Baptists and Quakers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With the return of the Church of England in 1660 there was an attempt to restore the earlier monopoly and many Dissenters were imprisoned under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Uniformity_1662">Clarendon Code</a>. But the Toleration Act of 1689, which followed the Glorious Revolution, had allowed for freedom of worship, though under limited conditions. The Church of England had lost its monopoly power and its powers to compel church attendance, making England (and to a lesser extent Scotland) was a religiously diverse country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However this toleration was not absolute. The 1698 Blasphemy Act made denying the doctrine of the Trinity, the truth of Christianity, or the authority of Scripture punishable by law. However this law was rarely invoked.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Church of England</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The parish structure of the Church of England, which dated back to the Anglo-Saxons, was proving inadequate in an age of population growth and incipient industrialization. New, disorderly settlements, such as the mining community of Kingswood near Bristol, were not amenable to clerical control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The 27 Anglican dioceses differed in size and wealth. Rochester had fewer than 150 parishes, Lincoln over 1500. Sodor and Man was the smallest (no seat in the Lords). There were great variations in episcopal income. Bishops were increasingly aristocratic; the fathers of over twenty per cent of George III’s bishops were connected with the peerage, but the Church was also a career open to talent. The annual Parliamentary session kept the bishops in London for a considerable time each year. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Anglican public worship was uniform and followed the Book of Common Prayer: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Prayer_(Anglican)">mattins</a>, ante-communion, sermon; with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evening_Prayer_(Anglican)">evensong</a> in the afternoon. There was great regional variation over the practice of ‘double duty’ (taking services more than once a day). Very few parishes fell below the canonical minimum of three communion services a year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">An age of negligence?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The eighteenth-century church has been described as corrupt, materialistic and spiritually moribund. However, modern scholarship has found much evidence of conscientious administration, and the bishops' visitation returns suggests that the Church was more successful in maintaining frequent services than its critics claimed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Clergy were now almost entirely graduates, though they received no theological training. Rectors were supported by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe#Church_collection_of_religious_offerings_and_taxes">tithes</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Anne's_Bounty">Queen Anne’s Bounty</a> </span><span style="font-size: large;">relieved much clerical poverty. But <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefice#Pluralism">pluralism</a> and non-residence were constant problems and were an open invitation to Dissenters and anti-clericals to attack the Church. Few new churches were built, but many galleries were put in.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Voluntary activity</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EHEYg9mrUlGni1V_tyVMysBIgMPaKN5GRzi_JTecnojI6jSjWthyYlKkGtYtNzyC8hY9ffhEoA6vw14eo3avFTa9l8F6rIOaHeGprKnBF3AsYUTKXpCLuU-A6n9ctpetaZ1anGTf5I0K/s1600/Society_for_Propagating_the_Gospel_seal.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EHEYg9mrUlGni1V_tyVMysBIgMPaKN5GRzi_JTecnojI6jSjWthyYlKkGtYtNzyC8hY9ffhEoA6vw14eo3avFTa9l8F6rIOaHeGprKnBF3AsYUTKXpCLuU-A6n9ctpetaZ1anGTf5I0K/s1600/Society_for_Propagating_the_Gospel_seal.gif" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Society for Propagating the Gospel seal". <br />
Licensed under Public domain v<br />
via Wikipedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Voluntary religious activity was a remarkable feature of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Promoting_Christian_Knowledge">The Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge</a> (founded 1698) </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">printed Christian literature and promoted and co-ordinated the operation of hundreds of local charity schools. T<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USPG">he Society for Propagating the the Gospel in Foreign Parts</a> (founded 1701) </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">promoted overseas missions. The volume of religious publications remained high. On average nearly 100 sermons a year went into print during the first half of the 18th century. The hymns of the Dissenting preacher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts">Isaac Watts</a> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">were widely sung (though hymn singing was not an official part of Anglican worship until the 1820s).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Religious attitudes</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Personal religious attitudes are harder to quantify. But diaries, the contents of libraries and periodicals, literature painting and music show the evidence of Christian belief. Endowments of churches and schools are another form of evidence. There was still a large demand for religious chapbooks and ‘godly broadsides’. Popular superstition remained high – represented by almanacs and fortune-tellers. John Wesley - an Oxford graduate - continued to believe in witches. For most people there was still no coherent alternative to Christianity.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dissenters</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Dissenting denominations were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism">Presbyterians</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregational_church">Independents</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists">Baptists</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers#Beginnings_in_England">Quakers</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Toleration Act gave freedom of worship to all but Unitarians, but required them to register their places of worship and ensure that only officially licensed preachers conducted Sunday services. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dissenters were mainly based in urban areas and their meeting-houses were frequented by the middling sort.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3CjMkA93o907_DiYWezZCAKbyll0-BcL9y7gAV42ZV52lNRBW_RmRnR7Z9WC7X5YzqPMiyu3dOfBHo_IrJO-7uwIJxAoKjXacvUshnVAs7AKbURwplsZNMVgpY_T0_R24LHxwtPQ6f99/s1600/AssemblyOfQuakers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3CjMkA93o907_DiYWezZCAKbyll0-BcL9y7gAV42ZV52lNRBW_RmRnR7Z9WC7X5YzqPMiyu3dOfBHo_IrJO-7uwIJxAoKjXacvUshnVAs7AKbURwplsZNMVgpY_T0_R24LHxwtPQ6f99/s1600/AssemblyOfQuakers.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"AssemblyOfQuakers". <br />
Licensed under Public domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dissenters had a range of grievances about their place in society.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Act">Test Act of 1678</a> stated that only communicant members of the Church of England could hold public office. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However there were ways of getting round the Act and Presbyterian businessmen effectively dominated several towns. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dissenters could not matriculate at Oxford and Cambridge, as this required subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Besides supporting their own chapels and meeting-houses, Dissenters had to pay local church rates and tithes. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Following Hardwicke’s Marriage Act (1753) they could only be lawfully married in a parish church by a clergyman of the Church of England, yet they might be denied right of burial in a local churchyard.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dissenters had their own strategies for coping with their disadvantages. See <a href="http://www.english.qmul.ac.uk/drwilliams/academies.html">here</a> for the ongoing Dissenting Academies' project, which is providing a database for the many academies set up to train Dissenting ministers and to give an academic education to the sons of Dissenting families.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Roman Catholics</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Catholics were just 1% of the population (at most 60-80,000 people), clustered geographically in Lancashire, Staffordshire, the north-east, West Sussex and London. They were expanding at a slower rate than the population as a whole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Catholics had to pay a double rate of land tax, and faced numerous restrictions on residence and travel. Yet enforcement was always patchy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1778 the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papists_Act_1778">Roman Catholic Relief Act</a> allowed Catholics to purchase land and repealed the laws that made Catholic priests liable to the charge of felony. The act did not specifically grant freedom of worship, though by this time no Catholics were prosecuted from hearing mass. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Relief_Act_1791" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Act of 1791</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> licensed </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Catholic worship, though Catholics did not have their own hierar</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">chy </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalis_Ecclesiae" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">until 1850</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Gordon Riots, 1780</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqUDZQ7UtrLS-g5Q-2tc9G2Ma-C6eRoYGn0v0IgTfshfVhmcImp6C5KFDGx5izA3AgdPJVmfN7GSIPv_Vo2bDP6XMNvLDkF41n5IebxgS1v0tOqMXuwAADbhdrBVnEveflDQePGDP3OWf/s1600/LordGeorgeGordon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqUDZQ7UtrLS-g5Q-2tc9G2Ma-C6eRoYGn0v0IgTfshfVhmcImp6C5KFDGx5izA3AgdPJVmfN7GSIPv_Vo2bDP6XMNvLDkF41n5IebxgS1v0tOqMXuwAADbhdrBVnEveflDQePGDP3OWf/s1600/LordGeorgeGordon.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"LordGeorgeGordon" by <br />
Contemporary Portrait -<br />
http://lwlimages.library.yale.edu/</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The proposal to extend the 1778 Act to Scotland in 1779 led to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Riots">worst rioting ever seen in England</a>. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In June 1780, incited by the Scottish aristocrat, Lord George Gordon, crowds attacked the chapels of the Sardinian and Bavarian embassies, and destroyed the house of the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Mansfield.The Bank of England was briefly besieged. Newgate was set on fire. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The riots reached their peak on 7 and 8 June, with fresh attacks on Catholic property in Westminster, the City, and Holborn.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The King’s Bench prison and part of the Fleet prison, along with the new gaol, Southwark, and the toll houses on Blackfriars Bridge, were fired. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptWt39pctGeFxTxxp4teKQrxRTNylv7PveB-sCJuiIpKDZjmL_CYsZ-OgxpgGO4Fru2PSUiaJeCxAu_VV7Ssx7eBFdg3N5Cb1988IGEL9WEDpwMZS89M8SPGxlyfSnsH1HsK8m0ZIJSaN/s1600/4915_rioters_detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptWt39pctGeFxTxxp4teKQrxRTNylv7PveB-sCJuiIpKDZjmL_CYsZ-OgxpgGO4Fru2PSUiaJeCxAu_VV7Ssx7eBFdg3N5Cb1988IGEL9WEDpwMZS89M8SPGxlyfSnsH1HsK8m0ZIJSaN/s1600/4915_rioters_detail.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On 7 June the king issued a Proclamation giving authority to the army to quell the disturbances. The riot then ended quickly but the troops killed more than 200. 450 were arrested. 62 were eventually sentenced to death, of whom 25 were eventually hanged and 12 others imprisoned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Individuals received compensation to the value of over £70,000 and the damage to public buildings was estimated at over £30,000. </span><br />
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<h3>
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Methodists</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The first prominent Methodist was not John Wesley but </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">George Whitefield </a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(1714-70), who was converted in 1735, three years before Wesley, and who at the time of Wesley’s conversion was already using open-air preaching to dramatic effect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley">John Wesley </a>(1703-91) entered Christ Church, Oxford (a High Church stronghold), in 1720. He and graduated in 1724. In 1728 he was ordained priest. In 1729 he returned to Oxford to fulfil the residential requirements of his fellowship. There he joined his brother Charles and others in a religious study group, the ‘Holy Club’, one of a number of societies of devout young men. These societies were concerned with the ‘reformation of manners’ – attacking swearing, blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking. The ordered lifestyle and High Church piety of the Oxford club earned them the nickname ‘Methodists’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Following his father’s death in 1735 Wesley went to Georgia, to oversee the spiritual lives of the colonists and to missionize the Indians as an agent for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. While travelling out there he and Charles were much impressed by the piety and courage of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church">Moravians</a>, members of a German religious movement, who were also travelling there. Wesley’s stiff High Church piety antagonized many of the colonists, and many quarrels broke out. The worst concerned a naive attachment to the niece of the chief magistrate of Savannah. In December 1737 Wesley virtually fled from Georgia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Back in London he met a Moravian, Peter Böhler, who convinced him that what he needed was simply faith. On 24 May 1738, he attended a Moravian mission in Aldersgate - an experience that was a turning point for him. It added a Protestant Evangelical fire to the Anglican Catholicism of his youth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He then embarked on a lifetime’s mission throughout the British Isles in which he travelled over 200,000 miles and preached over 40,000 sermons. He quickly found that the ancient parochial structure of England was inadequate to his purpose and was not adapted to new population movements. In 1739 he was invited by Whitefield to come to Bristol and help preach to the colliers at Kingswood Chase. He came and found himself, much against his will, preaching in the open air. This enterprise was the beginning of the Methodist revival. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Wesley was astonished at the dramatic results that followed, and the mass emotion of the crowds. Soon he was building up ‘societies’ which took the Oxford nickname, ‘Methodists’. The Methodist society started at the Old Foundry, Moorfields, London and quickly spread to Bristol. As the new buildings went up the Methodists became institutionalised, though they were still part of the Church of England. Wesley always declared that the Methodists were a ‘society’ or a ‘connexion’ not a church but by 1771 Methodists numbered just over 26,000; by the time of his death in 1791 they were nearly 57,000.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the early days of Methodism, Whitefield was better known than Wesley. In 1739 he began the Methodist practice of open-air preaching when he preached to the miners at Kingswood, near Bristol. He established himself in London at the Moorfields Tabernacle (1741) and the Tottenham Court Chapel (1756). The two men worked together for a while but as early as the 1740s </span><br />
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differences surfaced over predestination. Whitefield and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selina_Hastings,_Countess_of_Huntingdon">Selina Countess of Huntingdon</a> (1707-91) were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism">Calvinists</a>. Whitefield became her chaplain in 1748. Following his death she set up her own chapels in the spa towns, Bath, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells. In 1768 she founded Trevecca College in Wales under the superintendence of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howell_Harris">Howel Harris</a> for the training of ‘her’ clergy. In 1779 the Consistory Court in London disavowed her claim to appoint as many</span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">chaplains as she chose ; she therefore seceded from the Church of England and set up her ‘Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion’. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Methodists in America found their work seriously affected when war broke out, and with the withdrawal of many Anglican clergy there was no-one to whom his followers could go to receive Communion. Accordingly in 1784 he took a stand on his own rights as an ordained priest of the Church of England to ordain men on his own initiative. With great inconsistency he was furious when the leaders of the American Methodists allowed themselves to be called bishops!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1784 Wesley drew up a Deed of Declaration; this appointed a Conference of 100 men (the ‘Legal Hundred’) to govern the Church after his death. In effect, the Methodists were now a separate denomination.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlVR6l92qK4UUErioJly1FXRdV5InHUHcDKYHi1O7MZiZsP33rc1Fnj3_2TB18k4RZs2O3JAVXjmcRvnge5Cz_QBn4qWiJh4URmqCtMR2yhYWPpyVvS1C9oF50N56DNUkl1Z30ga5XpS8/s1600-h/john-wesley-in-wednesbury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlVR6l92qK4UUErioJly1FXRdV5InHUHcDKYHi1O7MZiZsP33rc1Fnj3_2TB18k4RZs2O3JAVXjmcRvnge5Cz_QBn4qWiJh4URmqCtMR2yhYWPpyVvS1C9oF50N56DNUkl1Z30ga5XpS8/s200/john-wesley-in-wednesbury.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wesley confronts the mob<br />
at Wednesbury,<br />
Staffordshire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Hostility:</span></b> The Methodists aroused extraordinary hostility. In 1748, for example, Wesley received a physical battering at Calne when the local curate advertised for volunteers to attack him. The war waged on the Staffordshire Methodists in 1743 and 1744 was perhaps the most bitter of all such campaigns of intimidation. They were ‘irregular’, they conducted mass meetings, and they arose at a time of deep </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">political controversy. Their class meetings subverted the existing hierarchical society. They had (in their early days) women preachers. They were constantly accused of superstition, credulity, extravagant behaviour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Anglican Evangelicals</span></b></h3>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQZIhzxr2jjZldwc9fGpt58uCNGU_VDW2hfBWvJjVOQ-4L6V95X03sLnSvYAAsqSiFtqwm4A4Z29-vtHTbLyMsEn804OC8azgpSSF1_Vgrtb3c7amuCp0LKSSBe73J2VBdw-XmW3ECHXC/s1600/Wilberforce_john_rising.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQZIhzxr2jjZldwc9fGpt58uCNGU_VDW2hfBWvJjVOQ-4L6V95X03sLnSvYAAsqSiFtqwm4A4Z29-vtHTbLyMsEn804OC8azgpSSF1_Vgrtb3c7amuCp0LKSSBe73J2VBdw-XmW3ECHXC/s1600/Wilberforce_john_rising.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Wilberforce ' by John Rising<br />
Licensed under Public domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons -<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The awakening was wider than Methodism and included prominent clergy such as Samuel Walker of Truro and William Grimshaw of Haworth, who never adopted Methodist itinerancy. In Olney the poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cowper">William Cowper</a> and his friend, the curate of the village, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton">John Newton</a> produced the <i>Olney Hymns</i> (1779). Newton’s<i> Authentic Narrative</i> (1764) provided the record of his conversion and his previous life as a slave-trader. In 1785 Newton was instrumental in the conversion of William Wilberforce.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Religion might have been less important in the eighteenth century but it still played a major role in society.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">England's relative religious freedom allowed a variety of religious expressions and organisations not found in most continental countries.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Methodist revival had a major impact on English life. It was followed by the Evangelical revival in the Anglican Church and was one of the forces behind the movement to abolish the slave trade.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-50541292316717958932016-11-01T13:49:00.002+00:002016-11-03T17:29:39.077+00:00Philanthropy in the eighteenth century<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintiFEjxtFVsBNW2hRB2V0NTnDD3GMI13Iz3Pt10_pyIyPxgEKbtrwY_kji7BfQZzbVNuI-dpkXSVqXtzEjI2ceZttKw9Ceim_Ex0nDx-_dI3GP3Q7vMAhM-zw-8M0HI047uCLkYDMGvg2/s1600/St_Lukes_Hospital_for_Lunatics,_London.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintiFEjxtFVsBNW2hRB2V0NTnDD3GMI13Iz3Pt10_pyIyPxgEKbtrwY_kji7BfQZzbVNuI-dpkXSVqXtzEjI2ceZttKw9Ceim_Ex0nDx-_dI3GP3Q7vMAhM-zw-8M0HI047uCLkYDMGvg2/s1600/St_Lukes_Hospital_for_Lunatics,_London.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"St Lukes Hospital for Lunatics, London" by Unknown - <br />
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although the 18th century has a reputation for lax morals, it was also an age of profound moral earnestness and of burgeoning philanthropy. One of the key moral values was ‘benevolence’. Both the aristocracy and the middling sort founded and contributed to numerous and varied charities, which acted as a sort of proto-welfare state. See <a href="https://www.londonlives.org/static/AssociationalCharities.jsp">this site</a> for more information about the range of charities to be found in London.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Besides ‘benevolence’ there were other motives for charity. One was ‘social control’ – fears of a moral collapse among the ‘common people’ and the desire for trustworthy servants. Another was the fear that the population was declining and the consequent need to save lives – especially young lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The most modern forms of charity were subscription charities, which appeared in the 1690s alongside other forms of subscription association such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Promoting_Christian_Knowledge">Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge</a>. Certain features marked the new charities out:</span><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They were not linked by any formal ties to the apparatus of local government and they drew no revenue from any form of taxation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They devoted considerable care and energy to wooing subscribers, often publishing annual reports and subscribers’ names.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They commonly gave subscribers a voice, even outright control over management.<a name='more'></a></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Charity schools</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_school">Charity schools</a>, which emerged at the end of the 17th century and burgeoned in the 18th century, were the first widely popular form of subscription charity. They arose to supply the need for trustworthy servants and in early 18th century London they were the chief outlet of philanthropy. In the 1690s they were no more than a handful; by 1700 there were 112, educating 2597 boys and 1490 girls. In 1723 the high water mark was reached when 1,329 charity schools were recorded, though the numbers then remained static until the 1770s. On reason for the decline in growth lies in the fact that after 1714 they were suspected of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism">Jacobitism</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Education:</b></span> They provided education in the 3 Rs but at their heart was Christian instruction. They were established to give instruction in reading the Bible and the catechism and sometimes (in the cases of the boys) in writing and casting accounts. The children, who attended between the ages of 6 and 10, received instruction and clothing which marked them off from grammar school children and those in the private venture schools. On Sundays the teachers accompanied the pupils to church and sat with them in pews reserved for them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Teachers:</span></b> These were required by the SPCK to be communicant members of the Church of England, of ‘meek temper and humble behaviour’. London charity-school masters were full-time teachers. They had to be in school from 7 to 11 am and 1-5pm in summer (with shorter hours for winter). The men had to be able to ‘write a good hand’ and understand basic arithmetic. They had to be approved by the minister of the parish. Women teachers were not required to understand arithmetic. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Financing:</span></b> Some children paid a nominal sum, others had their schooling financed by charity. The subscription schools drew funds not only from the well-to-do but also from substantial numbers of the middling sort. The funds and the administration were vested in trustees, usually members of families resident in the neighbourhood. Charity sermons were an important money-raising device. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">From the mid 18th century subscriptions fell off and many schools had to depend on charity sermons and personal bequests. The decline was probably caused by minimal population growth and signs of a labour shortage in the 1730s and40s. By the end of the century, when the population began to rise, charity schools were overtaken by Sunday schools, which had the advantage of not taking the children away from work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Charity schools flourished in the provinces. The first parish based school in Bristol was sparked by a bequest in 1699, which allowed for the education of seven poor orphans of Temple parish. It was founded by Arthur Bedford, vicar of the Temple church; the patron was Edward Colston. Bedford was a correspondent for the SPCK. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Case study: Mary Webb’s school, Fishponds, Bristol</b></span>. <span style="font-weight: normal;">The school was set up following the will of Mary Webb, dated 15 October 1729. The school was to be in the parish of Stapleton (now a suburb of Bristol but then in Gloucestershire) for teaching ‘Twenty poor Boys and Ten poor Girls’ and the master was to be paid £15 pa.; the remaining part of the charity was to provide an almshouse and 12<i>d</i> a week for ‘three poor old Women’ of the parish. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnTteWmCo8wP_IT8ckK5Pzj5jh1opJsB1tB7-PJScMDzH8je7kK22EX6odP4aUKrcG5Jl-4NMTlUdF88ij4dP-qno027gNyu1194Fp-Oiw-EfCVcLtRFG8luCYvyWS8JzGvIw6JVpXCcDS/s1600/Fishponds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnTteWmCo8wP_IT8ckK5Pzj5jh1opJsB1tB7-PJScMDzH8je7kK22EX6odP4aUKrcG5Jl-4NMTlUdF88ij4dP-qno027gNyu1194Fp-Oiw-EfCVcLtRFG8luCYvyWS8JzGvIw6JVpXCcDS/s1600/Fishponds.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary Webb's school, Fishponds, Bristol<br />
my photograph</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hospitals</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For most of the 18th and 19th centuries hospitals were the resort solely of the poor; the better off were treated in their own homes. There is no evidence that hospital treatment improved the health of the patients!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The medieval foundation of <a href="http://www.thegarret.org.uk/stthomas.htm">St Thomas’s Hospital</a> had been refounded in Southwark in 1551 on a former monastic foundation. In 1693 the governors decided to rebuild and the rebuilding was completed in 1709. Over 250 patients could be accommodated in wards each containing 12 to 29 beds. The finest room in the hospital was the governors’ hall where gold-lettered wall tablets recorded the names of subscribers. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some of the earliest of the new general hospitals were foundation charities paid for by wealthy philanthropists. The physician <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Radcliffe_(physician)">John Radcliffe</a> (d. 1714) of Oxford left a bequest for both the extension of St Bartholomew’s in London and the erection of the Radcliffe Infirmary in his home town. Another physician John Addenbrooke of Cambridge (d. 1719) left a modest fortune ‘to hire, fit-up, purchase or erect a building fit for a small physicall hospital for poor people’—an intention only disclosed in his will. Though the master and fellows of St Catharine's were given responsibility as trustees, the will was only implemented with the aid of subscriptions and an Act of Parliament. The hospital was not completed until October 1766. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Guy’s Hospital was chartered by Act of Parliament following the will of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Guy">Thomas Guy</a> (d. 1724). He profited greatly from well-timed investments in South Sea stock and the hospital was founded from the bulk of his fortune of £200,000. It was intended for 400 sick persons deemed to be incurable for treatment elsewhere and took in 2,000 patients per annum. A ward for incurable lunatics was also established.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But Guy’s was not typical. The other general hospitals established at this time were subscription. They were entirely dependant on gifts and legacies and there were administered by governors appointed by the subscribers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1720: Westminster; this was largely due to the initiative of Henry Hoare, banker of Stourhead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1733: St George’s</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1740: London (by 1785, it was seeing 7,000 patients a year)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1745: Middlesex</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With very few exceptions the management and administration of provincial hospitals were entirely in the hands of all male subscribers of 2 guineas per annum and benefactors of £20, otherwise known as governors, each of whom had the right to recommend patients and to have a vote in the management of affairs. Women made up to 10-20% of annual hospital contributors and up to 25% of weekly ones, but they had to exercise their privileges by proxy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The potential for undue influence by the elites was circumscribed by the use of ballots during contested elections and second by the rule that the accounts had to be opened to any subscriber. Persons whose subscriptions were not paid up were excluded from privileges.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The enthusiasm of the medical profession aroused fears that infirmaries were being used to carry out experiments on the poor. But the main benefit for physicians lay in the fact that they were permitted and expected to have paying pupils of their own in attendance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The London hospitals carried out an increasingly specialized range of treatments:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1749: British Lying-in Hospital in Long Acre</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1750: City of London Lying-in Hospital</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1752: General Lying-in Hospital (later Queen Charlotte’s)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1746: two smallpox hospitals were founded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1746: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Lock_Hospital">Lock Hospital:</a> patients received moral instruction as well as medical care. It was closely associated with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countess_of_Huntingdon's_Connexion">Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion</a>. Her preacher, Martin Madam, was her chaplain until his public advocacy of polygamy in 1780 compelled him to resign. His assistant was Thomas Haweis, who was the executor of Lady Huntingdon’s will.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1751: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Luke's_Hospital_for_Lunatics">St Luke’s Hospital for the Insane</a> was established partly because the waiting lists for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlem_Royal_Hospital">Bedlam</a> were so long, partly because Bedlam’s constitution did not did not allow subscribers to share in its government. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Retreat">Retreat at York,</a> founded by Quakers and opened in 1796, pioneered humane treatment for the mentally ill.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjTuFqzMqCE8t5L-jXu4xz_Kw6OXGtK_BhG1sYHQGTfrVZ69ioUWw6zcQvBKAe0oNT4dEnwDWOB76emjoy25vBpyZJ-IuCwRcK_sQeSpW_8ljWoTC1mss9mMEmHu-l4eGXkgLGBpURxNh/s1600/RetreatOriginalBuildingssm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjTuFqzMqCE8t5L-jXu4xz_Kw6OXGtK_BhG1sYHQGTfrVZ69ioUWw6zcQvBKAe0oNT4dEnwDWOB76emjoy25vBpyZJ-IuCwRcK_sQeSpW_8ljWoTC1mss9mMEmHu-l4eGXkgLGBpURxNh/s1600/RetreatOriginalBuildingssm.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"RetreatOriginalBuildings" by Gemälde von Carve <br />
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Public viewing at Bedlam, made notorious by Hogarth, finally stopped in 1770 at considerable financial loss to the foundation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">See here for the excellent Bedlam <a href="http://museumofthemind.org.uk/">'Museum of the Mind' </a>website</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oNQifvvmd5smlxMy2ONuPX_yTYdSHWSXT7DUM1cCLl3YU5hhyphenhyphenMPWaUPa8Ee4aMba4U3GWK9oyZyriU6_YP1vk_i31Gz1bahX7DjLOZTN2eStn_Ac5elOImAZ4HDdGk6bhjUMLKINks7y/s1600/William_Hogarth_019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oNQifvvmd5smlxMy2ONuPX_yTYdSHWSXT7DUM1cCLl3YU5hhyphenhyphenMPWaUPa8Ee4aMba4U3GWK9oyZyriU6_YP1vk_i31Gz1bahX7DjLOZTN2eStn_Ac5elOImAZ4HDdGk6bhjUMLKINks7y/s1600/William_Hogarth_019.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rake in Bedlam, from 'The Rake's Progress' by William Hogarth - <br />
Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.. <br />
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The most successful ‘mad doctor’ at St Luke’s was the highly respected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Battie">William Battie</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1763: Newcastle asylum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1776: Manchester</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1777: York</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Provincial case study: The Bristol Infirmary</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The first voluntary general hospital in the provinces was the Winchester County Hospital, which admitted its first patient in 1736. This was followed by the Bristol Infirmary. In 1736, 78 people signed a memorandum promising subscriptions of from two to six guineas annually. The subscribers alone were to have the power to recommend one inpatient and two outpatients at a time for admission to the hospital. An initial £1,500 was provided by John Elbridge, the Controller of Customs. The Imfirmary’s motto was ‘Charity Universal’. The first patients, 17 men and 17 women, were admitted in December 1737. The opening of the Infirmary was celebrated by a church service at St James attended by the Mayor and Corporation, the medical staff and the trustees (the subscribers).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1788 plans for the enlargement of the Infirmary began.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">28 June 1788: <i>Felix Farley’s Bristol Journal</i>: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘The foundation Stone of the Centre Building of our new Infirmary was laid on Tuesday last when William Turner, Esq of Belmont, Somerset, nobly presented one thousand pounds to the Treasurer towards completing the benevolent design. __ May the opulent of our city and neighbourhood speedily follow so humane and liberal an example! and thereby prevent the capital stock of this excellent charity from being diminished, which otherwise must be the case before the building can be completed ... the increased size of the Hospital will require a great increase of income to support it, and the annual subscriptions for that purpose being extremely precarious, its permanent fund should be as inviolate as possible. ...’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">25 Oct: <i>FFBJ</i>: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘Last week died in College Green, Miss Turner, sister of Wm Turner, Exq of Belmont, near Wraxal, Somerset, __ who, we have good authority to say, has left a very handsome legacy to our Infirmary’.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital see the next blog.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Magdalen</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">At the onset of the Seven Years War moral outrage over prostitution helped lead to the foundation of the Magdalen in 1758. A number of businessmen were involved, including the Baltic merchant John Thornton. At the same time the Female Orphan Asylum was founded. The Magdalen preacher William Dodd was later hanged for forgery. In 1765 Queen Charlotte bestowed her patronage.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Marine Society</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1756 the philanthropist, J<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Hanway">onas Hanway,</a> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">a member of the Russia Company, approached his fellow member, the Hull merchant John Thornton, with a proposal to encourage the unemployed of London to volunteer for the Royal Navy with an offer of a suit of clothes, the Admiralty bounty and a religious tract. The Marine Society was founded on 25 June 1756, its (revealing!) motto: ‘Charity and Policy United’). In 1786 it commissioned the first pre-sea training ship in the world for poor boys of good character.</span><br />
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Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-62544274528187159892016-11-01T13:49:00.001+00:002016-11-01T13:49:33.841+00:00Sunday schools<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This post is based on:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">T. W. Laquer, <i>Religion and Respectability: Sunday Schools and Working-Class Culture,</i> 1780-1850 (Yale University Press, 1976)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Anne Stott, <i>Hannah More: The First Victorian</i> (Oxford University Press, 2004)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The rise of Sunday schools</span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9qLx4yTl7hrOF_koBn5li0k3LigPbCnSfNuTw9N2fRdVMQt481iauNdTHufn1ATxDTIXZPMY2v6GKmC5ve63IQk546EflIiYI_7JjOE7j0RvHouedbXfxQr_98hBNxClHEcKnwUf8JgT/s1600/Raikes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9qLx4yTl7hrOF_koBn5li0k3LigPbCnSfNuTw9N2fRdVMQt481iauNdTHufn1ATxDTIXZPMY2v6GKmC5ve63IQk546EflIiYI_7JjOE7j0RvHouedbXfxQr_98hBNxClHEcKnwUf8JgT/s1600/Raikes.jpg" width="151" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Raikes by W. J. Townsend,<br />
H. B. Workman and George Eayrs <br />
Licensed under Public domain<br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the 1780s Sunday schools were the latest fashion in philanthropy. They were not invented by the Gloucester printer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Raikes">Robert Raikes</a>, but it was Raikes who turned Sunday schools into a national movement. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> M</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">any of the schools were set up by women. Of these the most famous was the school set up by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Trimmer">Mrs Sarah Trimmer</a> at Brentford to the west of London, which was patronised by Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The rise of Sunday schools was part of the intensification of religion following the Methodist revival, and part as well of the new climate of moral earnestness that followed Britain’s defeat in America. In 1785 the inter-denominational Sunday School Society was founded. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The schools were popular because, unlike the existing charity schools, they taught poor children to read the Bible without taking them away from their weekday work. At a time when poor families needed the labours of their children in order to survive, this was an important consideration. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1800 there were 200,000 children in Sunday schools. There were 450,000 by 1818 and 1. 4 million in 1833.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The curriculum</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The children were instructed largely by teachers from their own class in reading, writing, religion and occasionally other subjects for periods of 4 to 6 hours each Sunday over a period of four years on average.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All the schools taught reading, but many refused to teach writing. There were two reasons for this. The first was that writing was regarded as 'work' and was therefore inappropriate for the Sabbath. The second was that by the end of the eighteenth century fears of radicalism sparked by the French Revolution meant that the schools had to tread carefully; it was seen as dangerous to be taking children out of their social class.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Case study: the Mendip schools</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In August 1789 William Wilberforce arrived in the Somerset village of Wrington to stay with his new friend, the Evangelical writer and philanthropist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_More">Hannah More</a>. He was persuaded to make a visit to Cheddar Gorge, already a tourist attraction, but when he arrived there he was struck, not by the spectacular scenery but by the poverty and ignorance of the people. Arriving back at his friend's house he said to her: 'Miss Hannah More, something must be done about Cheddar.' By 'something' he meant a Sunday school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hannah More quickly took up Wilberforce’s challenge and with her sister Patty, she set out on what she called a ‘canvass’ to persuade the local farmers, the main employers in the neighbourhood, to support a school for the children of the 1,000 inhabitants of the parish. The sisters hired a cottage and the Cheddar school opened in October 1789. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlkbWyJBJz0fRNqd18JB8HYgw_9-U1dUC4pRH5THY94be_LlE82dGgwwgSfo_XUQcZGVJMgNQiOUxbUBLcbyuFiF0gXXGMotomqG07MeFkPJZg0zb9XywDpBgkEIvKs7X8BSeRNxfClzl7/s1600/Hannah+More+cottage,+Cheddar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlkbWyJBJz0fRNqd18JB8HYgw_9-U1dUC4pRH5THY94be_LlE82dGgwwgSfo_XUQcZGVJMgNQiOUxbUBLcbyuFiF0gXXGMotomqG07MeFkPJZg0zb9XywDpBgkEIvKs7X8BSeRNxfClzl7/s1600/Hannah+More+cottage,+Cheddar.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hannah More cottage, Cheddar<br />
(my photograph)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Under the guidance of its inspirational teacher, Sarah Baber, the school prospered. In the following years the sisters opened ten further schools in the Mendips, which at the height of their prosperity were attended by about 1,000 pupils, the children of farm labourers and miners. Not all the schools proved viable but as late as 1824 when the then elderly sisters had delegated their work, 620 children were being educated in the remaining schools. Three of the schools survived into the twentieth century when they were absorbed into the state educational system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Mendip schools did not merely cater for children. From 1790 the sisters set up evening classes for adults, and women’s benefit clubs in two of the villages (Cheddar and Shipham), which provided contributors with sickness pay, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudle">caudle</a> (a spiced drink given to women recovering from childbirth), and a payment for their families after their deaths. 'Virtuous' brides received five shillings, a pair of white worsted stockings knitted by the More sisters, and a bible (provided they weren't pregnant!). The clubs, popularly known as the Hannah More Clubs, survived until the middle of the twentieth century. By any reckoning they were successful ventures.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In a period when the education of the poor was often spasmodic and informal Sunday schools taught reading (and sometimes writing) in a systematic fashion. In spite of fears that they were taking poor children out of their station, they overcame conservative opposition and grew in importance throughout the nineteenth century. Their peak decade was the 1890s, when, it has been estimated, most British children experienced Sunday school education for at least some period of their lives.</span><br />
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Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-27509689905017194472016-11-01T13:48:00.000+00:002016-11-01T13:48:29.653+00:00Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizd0DFvmTitfj83Y0D-vLC8palobwgvNWnzDhdvHmosgc1yWka8G1SDHymuv-OdMzRxCDrqHDnH4vv0Kr7maN_N66Dxp1J0EPPWVTCE4W5kkt2EB8TcSRAU17ovlzMtwXHTpMM6gfTbZR5/s1600/William_Hogarth_053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizd0DFvmTitfj83Y0D-vLC8palobwgvNWnzDhdvHmosgc1yWka8G1SDHymuv-OdMzRxCDrqHDnH4vv0Kr7maN_N66Dxp1J0EPPWVTCE4W5kkt2EB8TcSRAU17ovlzMtwXHTpMM6gfTbZR5/s1600/William_Hogarth_053.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Coram, by William Hogarth -<br />
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Coram">Captain Thomas Coram</a> (c. 1668-1751) retired to Rotherhithe in 1719 after achieving success in the New World, establishing a shipwright's business in Boston, and later in Taunton, Massachusetts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On his frequent walks through the City on winter mornings, Coram was appalled at the sight of dead and dying babies abandoned on the streets. This inspired him to take action. In 1722, inspired by the foundling hospitals on the Continent, he advocated one for London. His idea was to petition the king (George I) for a charter to create a non-profit-making organization supported by subscriptions, but at first this met with no success. He found it impossible to gain the support of anyone influential enough to approach the king and there continued to be great opposition to the idea of a Foundling Hospital established, partly because it was considered to encourage wantonness and prostitution.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The turning point in Coram’s campaign was the ‘ladies petition’ of 1729 signed by 21 peeresses, and the patronage of Queen Caroline (the wife of George II). His petitions came before the king in council in July 1737. Subscriptions poured in and on 17 October 1739 the King signed a Royal Charter for a hospital for the </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children’. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Governors and Guardians of this new enterprise met to receive the Charter on 20th November 1739 at Somerset House. The group included many of the important figures of the day: dukes and earls, magnates and merchant bankers. Supporters of standing included the physician, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Mead">Dr Richard Mead</a>, and the artist William Hogarth. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The first children were admitted on 25th March 1741, into a temporary house in Hatton Garden. Scenes of extraordinary drama and poignancy followed as the cries of the departing mothers and children echoed through the night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">See <a href="http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/collections/the-foundling-hospital-collection/">here</a> for a description of the present-day collection and in particular the poignant tokens left by the mothers in the hope that they might at some stage be able to reclaim their children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Governors began the search for a permanent site that would house the purpose-built hospital. A solution was found in the area known as Bloomsbury Fields, the Earl of Salisbury's estate, lying north of Great Ormond Street and west of Gray's Inn Lane. It consisted of 56 acres of land amidst green fields. The price was £7000, the Earl himself donating £500 of this to the Hospital. The first children were received on 1 October 1745. In 1750 a benefit concert of 'The Messiah' was performed there. Hogarth was both a governor and a benefactor.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPb4pp-0kcUhrGp1or1bukABaAPVaJMR1k8-RgTqS-pYw4Q-YktOaxr_QrJTS67XYe5t7mXQ5uPBlcFABuw1o4tLN75sAgQn98TnZF8TpNL5eDunCp_PBSdMydLNIRfwFxXmnmhFJfntIs/s1600/Foundling_Hospital.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPb4pp-0kcUhrGp1or1bukABaAPVaJMR1k8-RgTqS-pYw4Q-YktOaxr_QrJTS67XYe5t7mXQ5uPBlcFABuw1o4tLN75sAgQn98TnZF8TpNL5eDunCp_PBSdMydLNIRfwFxXmnmhFJfntIs/s1600/Foundling_Hospital.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Foundling Hospital<br />
(now demolished)<br />
Public domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The hospital quickly became one of the sights of London and wealthy ladies watched from behind screens as the mothers had their babies accepted or turned away. Babies had to be turned away because there were never enough places as women poured in from the provinces in order to place their children. By 1770 parliamentary grants had ceased and the hospital became a private establishment relying on voluntary subscriptions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This newspaper advertisement from <i>Felix Farley's Bristol Journal</i> shows how the charity had reached the provinces by the middle of the eighteenth century.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">19 May 1759: ‘This is to give notice that MARY CHAMBERS…late midwife to St Peter’s Hospital, carries or sends every week (as usual) CHILDREN to the Foundling-Hospital in London. At Two Guineas and a Half each – All Letters (Post Paid) will be duly answered. CERTIFICATES are given at the Hospital for every Child.</span></blockquote>
Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-76850813371239006532016-10-31T19:59:00.000+00:002016-10-31T19:59:00.015+00:00More on witch marks<span style="font-size: large;">A t<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/oct/31/witches-marks-historic-england-evil-spirits">imely Halloween article </a>in <i>The Guardian</i> about witch marks (see <a href="http://historyofenglishsociety.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/witchcraft-in-england.html">my earlier post</a> for information about them). Have you searched your house to see if you have any?</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1791650341301924745.post-14706752736020337062016-10-20T21:06:00.000+01:002016-10-20T21:06:51.906+01:00More on broadside ballads<span style="font-size: large;">Digital technology is transforming the study of popular culture. If you follow the links round <a href="http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ballads/">this site</a> you will learn about the fabulous collection of 30,000 broadside ballads in the possession of Oxford University's Bodleian Library.</span>Anne Stotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296864856365981820noreply@blogger.com0