The Early History of English Poor Relief

by of Girton College E. M. Leonard

In 1608 there is little evidence in this direction. A report however was sent from Colchester. There, the constables took an account of the number of persons that had corn by them; of the bargains they had made and of the number of acres they had sown, and in accordance with that survey every person was ordered to bring weekly to market so many bushels of corn unless they had already sold them to poor artificers and day labourers[421]. There were probably like reports from other places but there is nothing to make us think that the scarcity Book of Orders was better executed in 1608 than it had been in 1587 or 1597.

1. The methods in which the scarcity orders of the Privy Council were executed in 1623 and 1630-1.

But in 1623 and in 1630-31 there are returns from many different parts of the country, and these seem to show that the orders which were occasionally put in force under Elizabeth were frequently put in force under James I., and were usually well executed in the season of scarcity in the reign of Charles I.

a. The suppression of alehouses, and restrictions of malting.

The Book of Orders issued in each period of scarcity contained directions for limiting the quantity of malt and for suppressing unnecessary alehouses. This was the case because barley bread was the chief food of the poor, and they would be more easily able to obtain a supply if the barley which would have been used for malt was brought to the markets. The corn reports of 1623 and 1630-1 for the most part state in general terms that these directions had been carried out[422]. Moreover sometimes the justices enter into details and show that they had taken great care in putting this part of the Council's orders into execution. Thus in 1623 the number of alehouses in Banbury was reduced by one-third, in Ripon by a half, while in Wycombe only nine were licensed out of twenty-one[423]. In April 1631 also in Bradford, in Hertford, and in Stafford more than half the alehouses were suppressed[424].

Similar details show us that the making of malt was carefully regulated. In 1623 the justices of South Hampshire fixed the total quantity of barley that might be used for this purpose in the county and allotted a definite quantity to each division: a hundred quarters were allotted to each of the divisions of Andover and Fawley, eighty quarters to that of Alton, and in proportion to the other divisions[425]. At other times malting was suppressed altogether, as in three hundreds of Herefordshire in 1623[426] and at Taunton in 1631[427].

Occasionally malting was continued by some of the maltsters, but in order to counterbalance the injury to the poor they contributed in some special way to their support. Thus at Warwick in 1623 the maltsters brought corn to market and sold at a shilling a bushel under the market price to the poorer people, while at Stafford in 1631 the maltsters who had continued their trade in the town agreed to contribute a specified sum to the support of the poor in several of the surrounding country districts[428]. At Norwich some of the maltsters were disobedient, and they were there ordered as a punishment to bring corn to the public granary and sell it at low rates to the poor[429]. It is thus clear that this regulation of the consumption of ale was made in the interests of the poor, and that it was carefully executed in 1623 and 1631.

b. Regulations for serving the markets with corn and for supplying the poor in their homes.

As in 1586 and in 1597 elaborate surveys of the quantities of corn possessed by each owner were made both in 1623 and 1630-1, and in accordance with these surveys the farmers were ordered to bring a proportional amount of their produce to market[430]. Moreover in 1623 and in 1631 increased attention was paid to the difficulties experienced by the labourers who had not sufficient leisure to come to market for the small quantities they were able to buy at a time. In Babergh and Cosford and in Thingoe in 1623, arrangements were made for their supply at home[431]. In 1631 more organised plans were adopted. At Lewes a survey was made of the quantity of corn available and a reasonable proportion was then allotted to each householder: out of the residue the poor of every parish were to have enough to serve them, while any that was then left over was to be sent to market[432]: in the lath of Shepway two-thirds of the corn was sold to poor artificers at home, while only one-third was brought to market and there sold to the poor or to anyone who wanted to buy for his own consumption[433].

c. Selling corn to labourers under price.