Narratives of the Poor in Eighteenth-Century Britain
General Editor: Alysa Levene
Volume Editors: Steven King, Alannah Tomkins, Thomas Nutt, Peter King, Deborah A Symonds and Lisa Zunshine
978 1 85196 809 1: 234x156mm: £450.00/$795.00
The eighteenth century was a time of great change for the poor of Britain, yet their experience and the views of those who dealt with them have often been difficult to access. This five-volume reset collection of previously unpublished and rarely available primary source material significantly broadens our understanding of ‘poor reality’ by bringing together voices from all levels of society and from all over Britain; from those applying for assistance, through local officials and socially high-profile benefactors, lower class ballad-writers and established authors, to treatise writers on poverty and welfare. The language of pauper supplicants was often colourful and full of demands, while philanthropists and authors frequently wrote from a very different perspective.
The edition covers the period from the early eighteenth century through to the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and includes new transcriptions of hand-written first-hand representations of poverty to poor law officials, the London Foundling Hospital and the London Refuge for the Destitute, plus selections from literary tracts, ballads, court literature and other prose works. Importantly, much of the writing on the poor is written by the poor.
This collection will be invaluable for historians and literature scholars working on the economic and social history of early industrial Britain, pushing forward scholarship in the area with the new, wholly-transcribed documentary evidence it contains. Sources have also been selected for their use as accessible teaching materials.
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This is the first time that such a wide range of rare sources on poverty has been reproduced together, allowing the poor to speak for themselves
Includes unpublished sources from a variety of diverse British archives such as the Berkshire, Lancashire, Manchester, Northamptonshire, Somerset, and Essex Record Offices, as well as the Staffordshire and Shropshire County Archives, the Edinburgh City Library, the National Archives of Scotland, New College Library (Edinburgh), The London Metropolitan Archive, the British Library and the Hackney Archives (London) - Reset edition including new transcriptions from little-known sources
- Benefits from full editorial apparatus, including substantial general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes to each text and endnotes
- Fully consolidated index in the final volume
Contents
Volume 1: Voices of the Poor: Poor Law Depositions and Letters
Sickness and Old Age, edited by Steven King
These letters, comprising mainly a period from 1810–37, have all been transcribed from original manuscripts held in the Berkshire Record Office, the Lancashire Record Office, the Manchester Record Office, the Northamptonshire Record Office and the Somerset Record Office. Since both the experiences of sickness and old age are intertwined, no effort has been made to achieve an artificial separation of the two themes.
Bastardy, edited by Thomas Nutt
The documents reproduced in this section are all drawn from records of the Chelmsford Division Court of Petty Sessions (1814–34) held in the Essex Record Office. The documents are loosely ordered by theme, chosen primarily to reflect the contemporary concerns of the court, but also to illustrate the historical continuity of issues that remain relevant to twenty-first century unmarried parenthood. The themes tackled can be summarised as ‘Affiliation’, ‘Paternity’, ‘Payment’, ‘Punishment’, ‘Reputation’, ‘Social Relations’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Abortion’, ‘Cohabitation, Bigamy and Adulterine Bastardy’, ‘Malpractice’ and ‘Incest’.
Men’s Pauper Letters, edited by Alannah Tomkins
These letters have all been transcribed from original manuscripts held in the Staffordshire and Shropshire County Archives and comprise selected portions of much larger parish collections. The letters cover a period from 1784 to 1837.
Volume 2: Voices from the Street, edited by Deborah A Symonds
Ballads, Broadside Ballads and Petitions: A selection of Ballads from David Herd’s Manuscripts (1776), ‘"Daddy he stealt the Minister’s Cow" aka Lumps o’ Puddings’, ‘The Jolly Beggar’, ‘As I came in by Fisherrow’; Edinburgh City Library Collection: five broadside ballads covering the classic themes the widow, the ruined lassie, the beggar, the evil of poverty and the drunkard’s wife’s lament; National Archives of Scotland: ‘Petition by John Smith, weaver in Coatshade, …for remission of fines on grounds of poverty’ (1753); ‘Letter, John Cruickshank, Tillydesk, regarding "the clergy here are pinched with poverty"’ (1785); ‘Certificates "of persons desirous of obtaining the benefit of the Poors’ Roll"’ (1691–1837); ‘Forfeited Estates: MacKinnon. Declaration by tenants "of their extreme poverty occasioned by an unusual murrain"’ (1716); ‘Forfeited Estates: Sleat. Declaration by tenants of their poverty occasioned by a murrain in 1716’ (1721); ‘Letter of Andrew Murison, WS (1771), regarding his brother William, a beggar and vagabond’; ‘Estate Correspondence, letter regarding "a poor widow with six children who wishes an acre formerly leased by her deceased husband"’ (1794) Court Cases, National Archives of Scotland: Agnes Dugald , ‘West Circuit, Justiciary Court, trial record’ (1768); Janny Stewart, ‘High Court of Justiciary, Small Papers, Declaration and Indictment’ (1770); Elizabeth Wilkie, ‘Lord Advocate’s Records’ (1812); Sermons, Kirk Session Records and Other Provision for the Poor: William Thom, Seasonable Advice to the Landholders and Farmers in Scotland (1770); John Erskine, The Education of Poor Children Recommended (1774); ‘Tranent Kirk Session Minutes’ (1776); Rev. Edwin S Towill (ed.), ‘Extracts from Minutes of the Merchant Maiden Hospital’ (1694 –)
Volume 3: Institutional Responses: The London Foundling Hospital, edited by Alysa Levene
‘An Account of the Hospital…in which is the Charter, Act of Parliament, By-laws and Regulations’ (1749); ‘An Account of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children’ (1749); ‘An Essay upon Nursing and the Management of Children from their Birth to three Years of Age by a Physician. In a letter to one of the Governors of the Foundling Hospital. Published by Order of the General Committee for Transacting the Affairs of the said Hospital’ (1748); Psalms, Hymns and Anthems, Sung in the Chapel of the Hospital; Instructions to Apprentices (1769–71); Notes Accompanying Children (1741–60); Petitions to have Children Admitted (1760–99)
Volume 4: Institutional Responses: The Refuge for the Destitute, edited by Peter King
A Short Account of the Institution Called the Refuge for the Destitute Cuper’s Bridge (1806); A Short Account of the Institution Called the Refuge for the Destitute Hackney Road and Hoxton (1818); A Short Account of the Institution Called the Refuge for the Destitute (1831); ‘An Account of the Refuge for the Destitute originally Established at Cuper’s Bridge, Lambeth, but now Removed to Middlesex House, Hackney Road, Shoreditch’, The Philanthropist (1811); The Refuge for the Destitute: The Male Narratives (1812–1830); The Female Narratives (1812–1830)
Volume 5: Philanthropy and Fiction, 1698–1818, edited by Lisa Zunshine
Stephen Nye, The Life of Mr Thomas Firmin, late citizen of London (1698) full text; Robert Nelson, An Address to Persons of Quality and Estate (1715) excerpts; Henry Nevil, The Beauty and Excellence of Charity (1721) full text; W Howard, The Good Stewards: or, The Rewards of Benevolence (1730) full text; Sarah Fielding, The History of the Countess of Dellwyn (1759) excerpts; Sarah Fielding, The History of Ophelia (1760) excerpts;Charles Peter Layard, Charity: A Poetical Essay (1773) full text; Charles Dibdin, ‘Philanthropy’ (1795) full text; James C Cross, The Charity Boy, A Favorite Ballad (1796) full text; Anna Maria Bennett, The Beggar Girl and Her Benefactors (1797) excerpts; Robert A Anderson, ‘The Beggar Girl’ (1798) full text; Anon, Eccentric Philanthropy (1803) excerpts; Mary Belson, The Orphan Boy and The Orphan Girl (1818) excerpts
Reviews
'The introductions and bibliographies contained in the collection offer readers a well-balanced understanding of the current state of British social history. [The editors] provide the reader with a comprehensive picture of poverty in eighteenth-century Britain.'
– Benjamin Bankhurst, British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies
' ... all five volumes have much to offer the student of both eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century social welfare systems and cultures of everyday life. Taken individually, each volume provides not only a valuable research resource – which alone should justify the cost – but also a useful teaching tool. We should be grateful for the contributors' efforts and for their considerable foresight in choosing so diverse a range of materials.'
– Carl J Griffin, Journal of Historical Geography