Workhouses In Victorian England

Workhouses In Victorian England
During the time period known as Victorian England, the high unemployment rate caused England's
lower class to flood the streets with nowhere to live. Soon after, the construction of workhouses
began. Workhouses were built to accommodate the poor people in England. Here, they were housed,
fed, and forced to work. Workhouses were some of the most cruel and controlling places in
Victorian England.
Not only were conditions in the workhouse rough, but in order to continue living there you had to
work extremely hard. Men chopped wood, unraveled ropes, worked on plumbing, and were
sometimes involved in shoe making or tailoring. Women cleaned, did laundry, and assisted in the
kitchen. The workhouse inmates' only days off were Sundays, which
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Christmas Carol Essay
Christmas Carol
How does Charles Dickens convey the character of scrooge in the early pages of a Christmas Carol?
Charles Dickens, is best known for his host of distinctively cruel, repugnant characters.
His father was sent to a Debtors prison taken his son Charles with him maybe this is where some of
the ideas for characters came from. After a few years, Dickens left the prison to work in a blacking
factory.
Dickens started writing in prosperous Victorian England, where only the rich were cared for. He
grew up seeing what the poor people had to experience and how they had to live in this world.
The technique the writer uses is of a physical appearance. Describing
Scrooge he gives the readers an idea of what he looks ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The author tells us directly what Scrooge is,
" A tight–fisted hand at the grindstone. Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping,
clutching, covetous old sinner."
This is a very good description by Dickens showing us how horrible
Scrooge is, Dickens doesn't stop after a few lines he continues until the reader clearly gets the point.
To express Scrooge's meanness Dickens uses harsh words saying that
"Scrooge liked to edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to
keep its distance."
This shows that the human race didn't like Scrooge.
The author describes Scrooge by putting plenty of feelings into the lines. Dickens describes Scrooge
with feeling in the line,
"Oh! But he was a tight fisted hand at the grindstone."

This suggests that Scrooge makes people work very hard and doesn't give them a lot in return.
Another way Dickens uses to dramatise Scrooge's unpleasantness is by showing how the other
characters react to him and him to them. If he is asked a question the answer is always No. He never
reacts with kindness or politeness to other characters. Scrooge's nephew is one of the few characters
who makes an effort to be pleasant to him, but
Scrooge is always nasty to him. When Christmas is mentioned Scrooge becomes especially cross.
The time that Dickens has chosen, Christmas, is perfect for showing just how mean and nasty
Scrooge is. Scrooge hates Christmas and he also hates to see

The Fenian Movement Essay
The Fenian Movement
Fenian Movement, which was organized 1858, started as a secret revolutionary society in Ireland
and the United States. This movement was created in the honor of the Fianna, known as the ancient
Irish warriors. Fenians wanted to achieve Irish Independence from England by force. This
movement was also known as the Fenian Brotherhood, Fenian Society, Irish Republican
Brotherhood, and Irish American Brotherhood. The Fenians also had a very strong military force
located in Ireland. The reason for a strong army in the society was to gain independence from
England. This movement was led by James Stephens from 1825 to 1901. He founded the party, the
Irish People, in Dublin 1863. The Fenian Movement mostly appeals to ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
O'Brien and Meagher were charged with having made seditious speeches at a meeting (D'Arcy, 67).
This situation helped to the irritation and anger of the Irish people creating a tense atmosphere was
many rebellions took place. During this period Mitchel was an important figure that was fighting for
the Irish Independence like many other people in this era. One of the causes for this terrible events
was that "Mitchel had been imprisoned in Dublin's Newgate on 13 May, charged under the new Act,
and was tried on 25 May. He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years transportation" (D'Arcy 69).
Then his friends helped him escape prison to Spike Islands. Then he regained the confidence to
appear in front of the magistrate were he said to them: "I have come to tell you that I will no longer
be a prisoner on parole, I take back my word"(D'Arcy 71). Before the magistrate got the chance to
arrest Mitchel, he escaped. As Mitchel there are many important figures that are disappointed,
because they didn't have the opportunity to express themselves and make a difference fighting for
the Irish Independence. Dublin was a place in which things don't seem to get better. It is compared
to a place in which people can escape their destiny.
The Great Potato Famine truly affected the Fenian Movement reflecting the lost of supplies, money,
and military force. During the Great Potato

The Relationship between Oliver Twist and the Industrial...
Ernst Fischer, a renowned Austrian artist of the 19th century once said that, "In a decaying society,
art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function,
art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it for the better." Over the many years
since the publishing of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist in 1838, many have come to know it as not
only art but also as an account of the social and economic problems of the industrial revolution.
Along with his other works, he would eventually inspire others to put an end to child labour, one the
most horrific examples of human exploitation that went on in the industrial revolution. Oliver Twist
addresses three major themes of the 19th ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This passage praises the purity and health of the rural environment and claims outright that even a
lifelong city–dweller has in his blood a chance to better himself and society as a whole.
"Who can describe the pleasure and delight, the peace of mind and soft tranquility, the sickly boy
felt in the balmy air and among the green hills and rich woods of an inland village! Who can tell
how scenes of peace and quietude sink into the minds of pain–worn dwellers in close and noisy
places, and carry their own freshness deep into their jaded hearts! Men who have lived in crowded,
pent–up streets, through lives of toil, and who have never wished for change––men to whom custom
has indeed been second nature, and who have come almost to love each brick and stone that formed
the narrow boundaries of their daily walks––even they, with the hand of death upon them, have been
known to yearn at last for one short glimpse of Nature's face, and, carried far from the scenes of
their old pains and pleasures, have seemed to pass at once into a new state of being."
Dickens goes on to note that, in the country, even "the poor people" are "neat and clean." The
immorality and starvation that characterize urban poverty are not present in rural England. Although
this maybe a product of wishful thinking and the ideals of a utopian society, it does show the reader
a sense of hope for the future.
With the Industrial Revolution came about an unprecedented amount of

Purpose of the Construction of Wanstead Infant Orphan...
Purpose of the Construction of Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum in 1841
Andrew Reid was born in the year 1787. He was a Congregational minister and he was a non–
conformist, which meant he was not part of the Church of England. He was very hardworking and
committed. He started 7 charities which meant he was a very generous man. His farther was a watch
maker therefore he came from a lower middle class tradesman family. His first Asylum he opened
was in Dalston, Hackney. He attended the site everyday and got royal patronage which helped him
to raise funds. This shows that he is a very dedicated and caring person.
The Asylum in Hackney was for children over the age of seven which meant if there ... Show more
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So as the New Poor Law states people were extremely cruel and discriminated the "undeserving
poor" they said it was god who decided if you were poor or not even though the church did try to
help. For example the hymn all things bright and beautiful, includes the lines " The rich man at his
castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them high or lowly, and ordered their estate". However
most people felt pity on the 'deserving poor' an example of this was rich women that used to make
themselves look generous, in front of their rich women friends, these were the types of people that
Andrew Reid was particularly interested in and that was because they were the people that donated
the most money.
Andrew Reid put together many Asylum meetings where he would do speeches to rich people and
make them feel for the poor. An example of his speeches was one he done on the 3rd of July, 1927 at
the London Tavern "Let it be remembered that the case is for the infant orphan for which charity has
a yet done nothing; yet this case embraces a period of life in which innocence, helplessness and
misery are strangely commingled and most touchingly call for our aid". This speech was truly
inspirational to many people and was used just before the people choose who they wanted to vote
for using the voting system (explained in paragraph 6). Also he was respected for the work that he
did. Andrew

Oliver Twist By Charles Dickens Essay
Introduction
From the end of the eighteenth century to the start of the nineteenth century, London was a city with
a high wrongdoing rate. From 1745 to 1820, there were 115,000 individuals who made their living
by theft, prostitution, cheat and other criminal acts. It is terrible when we realize that the aggregate
populace of London around then was only 960,000.
Probably there was no other author in Victoria time that had such an in number worry about
wrongdoing, and fused such a great amount of depiction of wrongdoing in his functions as Charles
Dickens (1812– 1870) did. Oliver Twist was the second novel of Dickens distributed in a serial
structure in a magazine titled Bentleyʼs Miscellany run independent from anyone else from February
1837 to April 1839 when Dickens was still a columnist. In England, from the 1830s to the 1840s, a
lot of wrongdoing books were distributed. Oliver Twist was composed simply During that period.
Most faultfinders and book commentators of Dickens ' lifetime based their surveys of Oliver Twist
on one standard: how reasonable this novel was. Particularly, depictions of a group of lawbreakers
in London in this novel pulled in consideration and were the engaging point for quite a while.
Oliver Twist builds associations between the criminal characters themselves and additionally this
present reality conditions which motivated their generalizations. The states of destitution and an
absence of family being fixed to culpability are established

Development Of Social Welfare From A Historical...
Development of Social Welfare 1.1 Analyse the development of social welfare from a historical
perspective. During the early nineteenth century poverty was major issue, the Poor Law passed
earlier in the Tudor period put responsibility on local parishes to pay tax to help the poor. However,
over the years the financial strain on parishes became too much and in 1834 The Poor Amendment
Act was passed. This was to help reduce the cost of looking after the poor and it was to stop the
payment of tax unless you had special circumstances. If the poor wanted help they had to go in to
workhouses and work, in exchange for clothes, food, free healthcare and a few hours of schooling
for children. The poor had no choice but to go in there for help. On one hand The Poor Amendment
Act 1834 was good as it gave the poor free food, shelter, healthcare and education for their children.
However, the conditions in the work houses were made so awful that people would avoid going in
there unless they were really desperate. The diet was bad, families were spilt up and the people in
there had to wear uniform. At the same time, Britain became more industrialized, towns started to
grow and became over populated especially factory towns. Houses in these factory towns were close
together, and because of this the living conditions in these houses were overcrowded, damp and
dirty. People ate, slept and cooked in the same places. There were no sewers so there was human
waste everywhere, because of the

Victorian Society In The Victorian Novel By Charles Dickens
Many Victorian writers believed that their writings should illustrate social and political problems of
the country and that it should also serve as a code of conduct for readers. Therefore, writers of the
Victorian period dealt with topics concerning changes in society and they put emphasis on moral
propriety. Victorian literature is generally 4 characterized by a strong sense of morality and
depiction of social oppression. Dickens was one of those who felt that the Victorian society needed
reformation and he spread his feelings within novels. According to Fielding, the best writers on
Dickens realized his unique ability to depict the contemporary life and they appreciated his choice
of the Victorian society as a subject of his works.
Charles ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He believed that children were unsullied and uncorrupted, and the children in his novels are
frequently those who cast the right judgment on the adults and the society in which they appear.
With the portrayal of Oliver Twist– Dickens reveals his crusade against the abuses inflicted on
Victorian children. The novel focuses on this idea by portraying Oliver as a young, innocent child
who throughout the progression of the novel, is forced to cope with the gang of criminals as well as
interpreting their physical actions as being that of right or wrong. The famous scene in Oliver Twist
where the parish child is punished after asking for little more than the allotted bowl of thin gruel left
in his readers' minds the horror of man's inhumanity to children. A realistic description of the
workhouse conditions is gained through describing various kinds of sufferings that children had to
undergo. Apart from the fact that they were beaten and had to work hard, they suffered from
starvation. Children were not abused only physically but also mentally. Current social conditions of
the orphans in the workhouse are considered satisfactory and Oliver is considered to be of a
rebellious character. Even after his life with thieves he is presented as a naive, pure and innocent
child, who, despite his life experiences and

Poor Relief In The 19th Century
Introduction:
In British and Irish history, the term 'poor relief' is referred to the government and ecclesiastical
action to alleviate poverty. Throughout the centuries various authorities have needed to decide
whose poverty deserves relief and also who should finance the cost of helping the destitute. With
changing attitudes towards poverty over the years, many methods have been attempted to solve the
problem. Since the early 16th century legislation on poverty enacted by the English Parliament, poor
relief has developed from being little more than an organised means of punishment into a
compassionate government–funded approach providing support and protection, especially following
the creation in the 1940s of the welfare state.
In this essay I plan to discuss the rationale underpinning the provision of poor relief in the 19th ...
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This was because the rising costs of social welfare provision became a considerable amount and
there was a spreading disincentive to work as the relief provided was usually better than some jobs'
salaries. Also, providing relief to the able–bodied poor had pauperised a large section of the
population. The term 'pauper' comes from this era, describing a person who seeks welfare from the
state. There was a system of indoor and outdoor relief. Indoor relief, by means of entering the
workhouse to receive relief, and outdoor relief, without entering the workhouse. For obvious reasons
which will be stated in this essay, outdoor relief was the preferred of the two.
The law faced the dilemma of how to provide to the poor without encouraging their dependency of
the state. Later referred to as the 'New Poor Law', it had different guiding principles to that of past
poor laws. The new law stopped providing relief for the able–bodied poor except by offering them
employment in the workhouse (indoor relief), purely with the objective of stimulating workers to
seek regular employment rather than

Romanticism In Oliver Twist
Introduction:
In mid–19th century England, realistic literature came as a response to the preceding romantic
period. The romantic period was known to emphasize the experiences of the individual and was
regarded as a highly aesthetic period. It was related with the movement of sensibility or
sentimentalism, which stressed the importance of emotions and feelings of sympathy (Kitson 328–
329). Contrarily, realism during the Victorian age aimed to address economic and social issues in
society by depicting the struggles in the developing society as accurately as possible (Redd).
Consequently, in the 1830s, when Charles Dickens was writing Oliver Twist, it is justifiable that
elements of both realism and sentimentalism can be found in the novel. This ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Most notably, Dickens' depiction of London (in particular the workhouses and other social
institutions) and his criminal characters have a very prominent realistic effect. However before
going into detail about the realistic setting and characters, it would be beneficial to take a look at
Dickens' preface for Oliver Twist. In his preface for Oliver Twist, Dickens justifies his reasons for
writing about the criminals of London; he had the impression that real thieves and pickpockets were
not portrayed correctly in literature during that time. For that reason, he felt that it was necessary to
show these crooks as they really were, "for ever skulking uneasily through the dirtiest paths of life"
(7). He also believed that doing this would be "a service to society", and that he "did it as best as
[he] could". He explains that he won't be writing about appealing and pleasant situations; "...no
merry–makings in the snuggest of all possibly caverns, none of the attractions of dress, no
embroidery, no lace..." (8). In essence, this preface foreshadows the realistic elements in the novel
by telling the readers where to look. Clearly the characters and setting will be portrayed as honestly
and truthfully as possible, without overlooking even "one hole in the Dodger's coat, or one scrap of
curl–paper in Nancy's dishevelled hair" (9) and describing the "cold wet shelterless midnight streets
of London; the foul and frowsy dens, where vice is closely packed and lacks the room to turn [...]"

Social Work And The British Welfare Society
With reference to changes in government policy and ideologies of welfare, debate the significance
of the shift from the Victorian 'Mad pauper' to the 21st century 'Mental health service User' and its
impact on social work practice and values.
Since the 19th Century, professional social work and state allocation of resources has gone through
endless evolutions and revolutions, from deciding on the future of the Victorian's 'mad paupers',
those insane, idle, disabled or recipients of poor relief, (Thane, 1996), to supporting the 'service
users' of today to take charge of their own care. This essay will explore this evolution of social work
and the British welfare society, paying particular attention to the theories of Anti–discriminatory
Practice (ADP) and Anti–oppressive Practice (AOP), two fundamental aspects of modern day social
work; illustrated by the example of this shift in societal perceptions and treatment of the mad poor to
the mental health service user and consider throughout whether social work has maintained, or lost
its way from, its grounding philanthropic values.
The origins of the social work as a profession is typically accredited to the Victorian 19th Century as
a means of helping the those in need, whilst simultaneously easing the anxiety of social disorder at
that time (Payne, 2005b); however, the practice of social work can be seen much earlier on. If social
work is the compassionate response to an individual or group's need, crisis or problem

Tenant Farmers in Ireland and their Struggle to Survive
Ireland 1845, food was suddenly scarce, money was hard to earn, and what little was earned was
immediately spent for survival. The people of Ireland had grown up used to missing meals due to
crop failure. However, previous crop failures couldn't compare to the potato famine of 1845. For the
next five years, the blight destroyed nearly all the potato crops and killed many Irish. About one
million people died during this time in Ireland because of the starvation and disease. About two
million fled the lands of Ireland in hopes of escaping the starvation, disease, death, and poverty that
had taken over Ireland since the famine. The tenant farmers, who suffered would farm land that
belonged to the absentee landlords. They would grow many crops, most of which were very
successful. They were only allowed to keep the potato crops for their own; the rest of the crops
would be harvested and exported to England. The absentee landlords lived like kings while the
tenant farmers were forced to sell everything they owned so they could have money to purchase
food to stay alive. When they ran out of things to sell they were then forced to scavenge for food
scraps just to escape death for a while longer. The starvation and struggle of the Irish tenant farmers
could have been avoided if the absentee landlords hadn't been so greedy with collecting the rent.
England could have come to the aid of the Irish people sooner than they did if they weren't so
interested in staying true to their

Poor Law Amendment Act
Poor Law was the why in which poor people of the 19th century got help to survive either by
receiving money or recourses. Additionally, in the 19th century there was a prevailing emphasis on
individualism and non–intervention by the state. The way in which they received help was either
from the help of local parishes, churches or through self–help. Additionally, Poor Law was in place
to help people who could not work due to health or disability, and these people were considered the
'deserving' poor.
Also, people who chose not to work but could work, were classed as the 'undeserving' poor. Yet they
both still needed help to get the means they needed to get by in life. A royal commission was set up
in 1832 to investigate the Poor Law system. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Additionally, many local officials felt that the old system worked better and that there was no need
for a new one. Furthermore, the taxes that upper and middle–class people had to pay to look after
the poor were minor and the system was adapted to the local area. Likewise, people felt very
disconsolate with what they examined as interference by people from London. This led to Anti–Poor
Law committees being set up to dispute against the Poor Law Amendment Act. The committees
formed meetings and petitions calling for the act to be

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Essay
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens wrote his novels during the Victorian times. Britain was a harsh place at this time
with the upper and lower classes being clearly separated. Dickens himself grew up as part of the
lower classes, and so he knew what it was like. It was very hard for the poor to survive, many of
them having no alternative but to go into the workhouses. This seemed to be the worst place to end
up, as many people would rather have died than gone into the workhouses. When people went to the
workhouses, they were separated from their families, forced to work long hours and hardly fed at
all. The workhouse system was the upper classes solution to poverty, but it did not help at all. The
lower ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
From this, we can tell that Scrooge did not care about the situation of the poor in London at the time
and did not see any reason why he should help. This view was commonly held by Victorian people
when Dickens wrote the novel. I know this because if the upper did actually try to help the lower
classes, then the inhumane workhouse system would not have been in existence.
Scrooge's attitude towards Christmas completely contrasts to everyone else's attitude in the novel.
The ordinary people walking around on
Christmas Eve were 'jovial and full of glee' whereas Scrooge 'carried his own low temperature
around with him'. He said that they had nothing to be merry about because every Christmas they
found themselves 'a year older, and not an hour richer'. Nevertheless, the poor in this novel find their
happiness with the simplest things, as we are shown by the 'Ghost of Christmas Present'.
The 'Ghost of Christmas Present' is portrayed as a warm character with a 'jovial air' about him. This
particular spirit shows us that although 'there was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town',
'there was an air of cheerfulness' amongst the people in the streets
i.e. the lower classes. It is through this sprit that we see the lower classes that make do with what
they have, and are grateful and happy about the simple things in life. I think that Dickens is trying to

The Theme of Social Responsibility in Victorian England Essay
How does dickens explore the theme of social responsibility in
Victorian England?
Charles dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol' for a certain reason, and that reason was that he wanted
to make people aware of the terrible situation the children of the poor were in. He visited a school in
1843 and was appalled by what he saw there. It was a school for the poorest children to teach them
basic reading and writing skills. The children's employment commission had also shocked him. At
first dickens had the idea of writing a pamphlet called 'an appeal to the people of England on behalf
of the poor mans child' but soon realised that seen as he was the most popular novelist of the time
people would take much more notice he wrote about the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
All of this and the building of the new railroad made the population of Britain grow and it would
reach up to 4.5 million by
1889. The upper and middle class lived very near to unbelievable poverty and filth. The poor street
sweepers attempt to keep the streets clean of manure. There were pickpockets, prostitutes, drunks,
beggars and vagabonds of every kind to add to the everyday life of
Victorian London.
Up until the second half of the 19th century people were still drinking water from the Thames in
which raw sewage flowed into, causing several outbursts of cholera along with the great stink of
1958, the disease and sewage in the drinking water made a link with
Dr. John to find that all the victims of the cholera outbreak was connected with the same water
pump. A plan was put together by Sir
Joseph Bazalgette, completed in 1875, which finally provided adequate sewers to serve the city.
A new law was put into place 'the new poor law' enacted in 1834.
Before it had been burden of all the parishes to take care of the poor. The new law required that all
the parishes worked together to create regional workhouses where aid could be applied for. The
workhouse was little more than a prison for the poor.
Victorian children worked in manufactories. They worked long hard hours to satisfy the needs of the
parents because the families were so poor. The conditions of employment were terrible. They didn't
have any shoes because the

Causes Of The Fabian Movement
The economic climate of the latter half of the 19th century was one of upheaval. London was quite
influenced by several socialist thinkers during this time including Karl Marx. Marx passed away in
1883, leaving behind many radical socialists who influenced the burgeoning Fabian Movement.
H.M. Hyndman and Henry George were two important figures who wrote pivotal pieces of
literature. Henry George published Progress and Poverty in 1879 and greatly influenced many of the
socialists who came into the Fabian Society (Fremantle, 1961, p.20). Two years later, H.M.
Hyndman wrote England for All and later that year went on to found the Democratic Federation
(later called the Social Democratic Federation) (Fremantle, 1961, p. 22). Both George and Hyndman
were fans of Marx and believed in his violent revolutionary ideology yet, what helped form the
Fabians was their dislike of this particular tenet.
Laissez–faire Liberalism and its twin Capitalism were major sources of disproval for the individuals
who would go on to create the Fabian Society in 1884. Laissez–faire liberalism was seen to be the
source of much unrest and unhappiness among the impoverished in the world. They saw the system
of Capitalism to be an oppressive, tyrannical system. W.L. Phillips, the Society's only working class
member said the following, "The workers must and will shake off their blind faith in the
Commercial god Competition, and realize the responsibility of their unused powers" (Pugh, 1984, p.
5).

The Victorian Of Victorian Literature Essay
Introduction
Many Victorian writers believed that their writings should illustrate social and political problems of
the country and that it should also serve as a code of conduct for readers. Therefore, writers of the
Victorian period dealt with topics concerning changes in society and they put emphasis on moral
propriety. Victorian literature is generally four characterized by a strong sense of morality and
depiction of social oppression. Dickens was one of those who felt that the Victorian society needed
reformation and he spread his feelings within novels. According to Fielding, the best writers on
Dickens realized his unique ability to depict the contemporary life and they appreciated his choice
of the Victorian society as a subject of his works.
Charles Dickens is often devoted to be the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. His personality
and his work have attracted a wide range of biographical as well as critical writings. When Dickens
was twelve years old, his family's dire straits forced him to quit school and work in a blacking
factory, a place where shoe polish is made. Within weeks, his father was put in debtor's prison,
where Dickens's mother and siblings eventually joined him. At this point, Dickens lived on his own
and continued to work at the factory for several months. The horrific conditions in the factory
haunted him for the rest of his life, as did the experience of temporary orphanhood
Writings of Charles Dickens was significantly affected by his

The Effects Of Poverty In The Victorian Era
The average life a person lives in this time period comes easy. Though we may carry certain
struggles, they don't compare to the daily troubles of lower class throughout the Victorian Era. Of
course, there were countless successful people during this time, poverty became a huge predicament
for the common family. Shortage issues influenced adults as well as the children. All ages got the
enjoyment of life stolen from them in this rigid era. Lack of help would only ruin these people as
well as the time period as a whole. Poverty wasn't always an question, but came about with the
increase of industrialism (Swisher 42). It was during the middle of Queen Victoria's reign and was
labeled England's "biggest trouble" (Evans). The accumulation in population ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
This act puts unions in places called workhouses. Workhouses made men work and helped out by
having a place to stay. You would be separated from your family and forced into uniform(Evans).
Although it sounds generous, the people wanted to make a dreadful experience for the distressed
people living there. There was no mercy for any age group from youth to elderly. The treatment in a
workhouse was worse than the harassment of the other social classes to the untriving. It was often
even stated that the families and people living in these areas ate food worse than the kind served to
the criminals of the Victorian Era (Wood 92–93). The fact that they couldn't choose an improved life
was never a consideration of rulers in a workhouse. Once the point of cruelty for men was
intolerable, he received the choice to leave the workhouse. If you left the workhouse you wouldn't
obtain a place to stay and would still be poor. To try to fix this quandary, men would reside in asking
people for objects to see if they could acquire any help with their difficult circumstances (Avery
125). This method usually never worked out because of how no one truly cared to help the debtors
and there was nothing for them to go back

The Stereotypes Of Crime In Oliver Twist By Charles Dickens
From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, London was a metropolis
with a high crime rate. From 1745 to 1820, there were 115,000 people who made their living by
burglary, prostitution, swindle and other criminal acts. It is horrible when we know that the total
population of London at that time was just 960,000.
Presumably there was no other novelist in Victoria era that had such a strong concern about crime,
and incorporated so much description of crime in his works as Charles Dickens (1812– 1870) did.
Oliver Twist was the second novel of Dickens published in a serial form in a magazine titled
Bentleyʼs Miscellany run by himself from February 1837 to April 1839 when Dickens was still a
journalist. In England, from ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The theme of good versus evil runs through the novel; Dickens showed that no matter the difficulty
of various circumstances, good will prevail in the end. Dickens neither used the criminal's name to
be the title of the novel nor idealized the criminal characters in this novel. Those poverty–related
social problems, but not the criminal law system per se triggered his writing. Oliver Twist's
criminals are poor, ugly, and unroofed, and they serve as examples to where society steps back in its
commitment to social

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Apothecary
'The Dispensary is a very useful Institution, yet it leaves many wants unprovided for. According to
the established plan of the Bristol Dispensary an Apothecary prescribes for the great majority of the
Patients, and only calls in the aid of the Physician when he deems it advisable. This practice is
contrary to the routine of the Dispensaries in London, Liverpool and other large towns, where the
Physician prescribes for every Patient. Some benefits are probably obtained by this peculiarity, but
disadvantages are also attendant. At least a department is left void, which may be filled up with
good effect.
Influenced by considerations of this kind, the Physician who ventures to make the present proposal,
begun at the commencement of this year to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It is always difficult to know the motive behind such initiatives, but many were clearly a method of
attracting patients. For example in 1814 the Redcliffe–street Dispensary was opened by Dr Jordan
(late pupil to Mr Shannon, surgeon and man–midwife to the Middlesex Dispensary, London) for the
relief of the Poor and other afflicted, at his House, No 84 Redcliffe–street Bristol where he gives
Advice (to the poor GRATIS) in all cases of Physic and Surgery, from nine till twelve every
morning; and to others, from Five till Seven in the

The Victorian Era Of Victorian England
The Victorian era was between 1837 till 1901. It was a time of the industrial revolution, new
inventions and where the country earned the name Great Britain. But with all of these positive
events there were many downfalls such as the increase of poverty and disease. Many authors saw
this as an opportunity to show the reality of Great Britain , for example Charles Dickens wrote many
novels. He talked about differences in classes and that even with all the money in the world your
wealth has little to no value if you are not happy and healthy whereas the poor have to work harder
and earn their money for family with meagre financial rewards for the work they do. But all of this
aside what were the conditions like in Victorian England?
The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
They had long working hours the shifts tended to be between 12–14 hours long at the minimum and
extra time for busy periods, even with working these long strenuous hours they earned little to
nothing, on average the men earned 15 shillings a week whereas women earned 7 and children
earned 3 . They often employed more women and children as they were cheaper to pay. As well as
getting children to work in factories they also had orphans from the workhouses who also worked 12
hour shifts and who in barracks attached to the factory by beds. The health conditions in factories
were very low as well , for example cotton thread had to be spun in warm conditions and leaving the
factory in the night would lead to some people contracting pneumonia due to the sudden change in
temperature. Additionally, the air was full of dust which allowed some people to get chest and lung
diseases and the loud sounds coming from the machines impaired people 's ability to hear properly.
The population was also rapidly increasing due to industrialisation as people wanted to come to
London in hope of a new start. People in rural areas wanted to go to towns as in their area of living
they usually had seasonal jobs meaning they were unemployed most of the season and due to the
growing population there were no jobs

The Elizabethan Poor Law
The Elizabethan Poor Law was passed in 1601 as a state response to the dire need of the poor in
British North America and acted as "measures for the relief of destitution" (Fowle, 1881, p.55).
Previously, the Catholic Church was Britain's state church, but on the decision of Henry VIII, the
state would become the source of aid for the poor (Finkel, 2006). Simultaneously, the feudal system
was winding down in England along with the societal norm that serfs were the responsibility of
landlords so as the textile industry grew, tenants were evicted to create space for sheep due to the
demand for their wool (Finkel, 2006). As the changes in structures and industry took place, Finkel
(2006) notes that there was an increasing number of homeless ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
(p. 57)
A formal eligibility system would be enacted to establish who were the "poor in very deed" and the
Elizabethan Poor Law would be born.
Poor Laws, Politics, and Ideologies
Fowle (1881) notes that "at no time were the vagrancy laws more severe or more severely
administered than in the reign of Henry VIII" and this was also a time of great social and religious
hardship (p. 56). The change in the role of the Church in terms of aiding the poor as well as the
decline of the English feudal system, and the growing textile industry, created an increasing number
of poor and the need for inexpensive labour. With the varying societal changes as well as the shifting
relationship between Church and state, inevitably this caused a strain between labour and profit. The
ideas which influenced the Poor Law were that of a laissez–faire style government, the idea of "less
eligibility", and the principle of the "perception of needs". It was deemed that "state–aided workers
should earn less than privately employed workers...so as to avoid any upward pressures on wages in
the private sector" (Finkel, 2006, p. 50). The discrepancy between the wages of state labourers and
privately employed workers was supported by the laissez–faire government as well as neoliberalist
ideals. There was also the

Social Injustices Portrayed Through Characterization And...
Social Injustices portrayed through Characterization and Imagery The Industrial Revolution of the
Victorian Era was a time of development and underdevelopment. While the technology was
improving, the social class structure and treatment of the underprivileged were not improving.
Social injustices of the time were often overlooked, but there are many Victorian writers that wrote
social commentaries regarding to these issues and Charles Dickens is one of them. Dickens
sympathizes with the underprivileged of the society because he had experienced the injustice as a
child. His works were a form of direct appeal to society to take action against poverty, exploitation
of children, and the flaw of the judicial system. Through the use of ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Such a dreadful experience at a young age led Dickens to emphasize with the wretched conditions of
children in his novels, which was parallel to the actual state of the poor children in the Victorian era.
Dickens' ability to depict realistic situations was greatly influenced by his unpleasant experiences as
a young man. Later on, Dickens worked as a reporter which helped him develop a more critical
perception of society and enabled him to write from a realistic perspective, connecting real life
experiences with his characters.
During the Victorian age, England's industry was progressing and the need for extra laborers was on
high demand. Children became objectified as a form of cheap labor. In Great Expectations, Dickens
created the protagonist Philip Pirrip, referred to as Pip throughout the novel, who perfectly portrays
as a child that is suffering through abuse. His sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, is often described using
punishment on others and Pip knows "her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the
habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon" (Great Expectations 9). His sister's physical
abuse depicts the vulnerability of children who lack proper care and protection. Pip grew up in a
home that shows no love and affection. This was very common in Victorian England, where children
often considered miniature adults and only valued for their potential earning money power.
Like Pip, Estella is also introduced as an orphan,

Soceity In Oliver Twist
LONDON SOCEİTY İN VİCTORİAN ERA : OLİVER TWİST by CHARLES DİCKENS
'Ah, poor dear, so it is!' said the nurse, picking up the cork of the green bottle, which had fallen out
on the pillow, as she stooped to take up the child. 'Poor dear!
'You needn't mind sending up to me, if the child cries, nurse,' said the surgeon, putting on his gloves
with great deliberation. 'It's very likely it WILL be troublesome. Give it a little gruel if it is.' He put
on his hat, and, pausing by the bedside on his way to the door, added, 'She was a good–looking girl,
too; where did she come from?'
'She was brought here last night,' replied the old woman, 'by the overseer's order. She was found
lying in the street. She had walked some distance, for her shoes were ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Orphans who could not find a place in an orphanage sometimes had to live on the streets or in
workhouses. Workhouses provided food and shelter in return for hard, unpleasant work. Conditions
were very harsh and people would only go to workhouses as a last resort."(London musuem)
Based on this paragraph, we can state that people, especially children, die from starvation in
Victorian era.They have a little food and upper class do not give enough food
them.Already,quatation taken book shows children suffer from hungery. As historical context;
Dickens explores many social themes in Oliver Twist, but three are predominant: the abuses of the
new Poor Law system, the evils of the criminal world in London and the victimisation of children.
The critique of the Poor Law of 1834 and the administration of the workhouse is presented in the
opening chapters of Oliver Twist. Dickens gives the most uncompromising critique of the Victorian
workhouse, which was run according to a regime of prolonged hunger, physical punishment,
humiliation and hypocrisy.(Diniejko)
Social life in Victorian

How Charles Dickens’ Life Influenced Oliver Twist Essays
How Charles Dickens' Life Influenced Oliver Twist
"The range of his creative activity is, in the first place, limited to the world of his youth" (Cecil
169). This quote explains many people. What has previously happened to a person has a tremendous
impact on them. It can affect their decisions, emotions, and life. The life of a person can sometimes
be seen quite easily through what they do. Artists often reveal what their life has been like through
the works that they create. The same can be said about writers. Events in authors past often show up
in his works. The above quote is, in fact, made in regard to Charles Dickens.
Dickens had several real life experiences of poverty and abandonment in his life that influenced his
work, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Eventually, they saved him from the factory. Charles grew up and put himself through the education
he could manage to find. He got a job as a lawyer's apprentice, and then he worked as a
parliamentary reporter. Dickens began to do some freelance writings for several magazines. He
eventually became the editor of a magazine and an author of his own novels.
Throughout Dickens journey through life, the poor laws of Great Britain were closely intertwined.
The first major impact that his childhood experiences had on him was his exposure to the factory
system. The Industrial Revolution created large urban areas with a central factory that employed
most of the area's people. The factory was full of lower–class people in unsanitary conditions. In the
days of Dickens' factory experience the old poor laws were in effect. This helped Dickens' situation
greatly. His father lived in a fairly nice and sanitary prison, and was given time to find the money he
owed. The old poor law system of giving aid to the poor helped to save the Dickens family. When
Dickens grew up and was a parliamentary reporter, the new poor laws were about to be passed.
Dickens realized that the new poor laws would bring doom to many families. The new poor laws did
not help the poor but worsened their condition in order to drive them to work.
Dickens' experiences of living in abandonment and working in Warren's Blacking Factory, coupled
with his

The First English Poor Law Legislation
16th century – The first English Poor Law legislation.
According to Spicker (2014) the English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed until
the emergence of the modern welfare state after the Second World War. These laws purpose was
provision for 'setting the poor on work '. The parish was the basic unit of administration. People
were tied to particular locations. If they tried to get relief outside the parish of their birth they could
be 'removed' which means not given relief or transported to another parish. The Poor Laws relief did
not generally include accommodation but in 17th century first few workhouses were established. In
Scotland they were called 'houses of correction'.
Workhouse is 'a building where very poor people in Britain used to work, in the past, in exchange
for food and shelter' (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2015, available online at
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/workhouse, retrieved on 07 June 2015).
19th century – The increase of poor and working class population due to mass industrialisation and
capitalism leaded to development of more central and state–controlled but still basic welfare system.
1834 – The Poor Law Amendment Act sets up a national Poor Law Commission which was a start
point to state education and health care system.
1839–1840 – The Poor Law Commission enquiry identified disease as a major cause of 'pauperism'.
1842 – The Poor Law Commission report identifying sanitation as a principal issue for

Scrooge in A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens Essay
A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens Scrooge is represented from the beginning as a miserable
old man being described as a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old
sinner!" I think this a perfect description of him in one sentence. People know Scrooge well and
avoid him, this suites Scrooge because he does not like other people and not a big fan of being
sociable. The name 'Scrooge' was created by Dickens and is now well known in the dictionary as
someone that is mean, this is basically what Scrooge is in the novel, a symbol of meanness. It is
described that the people know Scrooge well and avoid him as much as possible. Although this
suites him well because he does not ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Dickens describes the weather to be "cold, bleak, biting" on Christmas Eve (The day in which the
story is set). The environment he's in is similar to his personality and it appears to be that he is
distant from everyone else; it is obvious that he prefers it this way. You can tell there is something
going to happen (but you don't know what) because the atmosphere is dark, candle lit, there is fog,
and by the sounds of it, it is fairly quiet, apart from the sound of people outside shuffling and
wheezing. This creates a little bit of suspense. In this paragraph I am going to look at is Scrooge's
actual description, the language Dickens uses in this emphasises his cold heartedness fantastically. A
quote from this describes his physical appearance "The cold within him froze his old features,
nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue;
and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." The language he uses here is very descriptive and he
describes each feature of Scrooge in a very unappealing way to the reader. Another quote from this
paragraph shows Scrooges personality "External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No
warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he," This
once again has very descriptive language used, basically

Social Policies In The Poor Law ( 1834.
Social policies the fundamental principles in which a society is based. Created to tackle poverty,
protect society addressing issues such as social welfare, justice and individual wellbeing. By 1834
the government were under fierce criticism due to rising and mounting costs of looking after the
poor, it became clear a change was needed to fix problems in society. The government brought in an
amendment act titled the Poor Law (1834) which was designed to reduce the cost of looking after
the poor, passed by parliament this new law meant anyone seeking relief from poverty had to now
enter a workhouse (BBC–Bitesize, 2017). In the early 1800's the population was rapidly rising, an
industrial revolution, the development of towns and the first experience of modern unemployment
caused problems within British society (Spicker, 2017). There was suspicion from middle and
upper–class taxpayers that their money encouraged the poor to be lazy and avoid work, Squandering
money on alcohol and tobacco. In addition, this encouraged the poor to have more children in which
they could not afford to support causing resentment and dividing society (Murray, 2013).
Prior to the Poor Law Amendment Act there was the Elizabethan Poor Law 1601 which was more
generous towards the poor. It was becoming impossible for the government to sustain this law due to
the growing costs. Statistics show that in 1802 the expenditure on poor relief was costing the
government £4,078,000, this figure continued to

How Did Workhouses Help Poor People Were Treated In The 1800s
During the Victorians period, around 1800, poor people were taking care by buying food and cloths
thanks to money collected from land owners and wealthy people. But when the Poor Law
Amendment Act were proclaimed in 1834, everything changed. The Poor Law mentioned that no
poor people could get help unless they went to live in special workhouses. The idea behind
workhouses was that poor people were helped and that they eventually supported themselves by
working in there. Poor people worked at workhouses in order to have food, a place to live, clothes,
education and medical care. In workhouses lived poor people, orphaned and abandoned children,
physically and mentally sick people, disabled ones, elderly people, widows and unmarried women.
Workhouses used to be very large. The idea sounded good: help poor people. But the reality was
different. In that period, people couldn't understand poor people. They couldn't realize why they
were poor, and poor population growth very fast, so, in order to control this situation, they created
the workhouses. They didn't wanted more poor people, so they made sure that people feared the
workhouses and that they would do anything to keep out of that places. And poor ones were right to
fear workhouses, because life in there was terrible. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
They were punished if they tried to communicate with their relatives in there, so most families never
saw again their relatives once their entered to workhouses. They had to wear a uniform in order to
outside people knew that they were poor. They even were stripped and bathed under supervision.
Education for children was poor and they couldn't learn to read and write, and some child were sold
to work in factories and mines. Workhouses were a tool to humiliate people, and most of this people
never get out of that places (at least not alive or

1601 Poor Law Essay
In the 16th century the Welfare State was non–existent in Britain. The result of this was the increase
in people subjected to living in absolute poverty due to them not having the basic living
requirements. They also had no access to services such as health care, or education as these were not
free institutions. The ruling era of Queen Elizabeth I identified that the paupers required some form
of help and as a result introduced the 'Act for the Relief of the Poor' in 1601. This was the beginning
of state intervention. It was a national policy set up, that was governed at local level. The purpose of
the act was to prevent the poor from becoming vagrants. This meant local parishes dealt with
providing a minute amount of support for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The conclusion on the '1601 Poor Law' was that the outdoor relief which was provided by through
local parishes was increasing and creating a generation of workers to endure an idleness attitude. So
consequently the 1601 Act was abolished after 200 years due to the effect of the Industrial
Revolution. It was then replaced with the 'Poor Law Amendment Act 1834' that was created to
reduce expenditure on aiding the poor apart from those in exceptional circumstances. The concept of
the act was to create a system based upon the workhouse. A workhouse was an institution built to
provide the paupers with accommodation, clothing and food in exchange for long hours of manual
labour. The families who entered the workhouse were segregated from one another, forced to oblige
by strict rules and wear uniform provided. The conditions within the workhouse were deliberately
inhumane and workers were treated terribly. However this was the only alternative for the poor as
they had no other means of receiving finical support. This was part of the procedure to reduce the
number of paupers from seeking support from the state and create

Why Was Your Event So Important In History?
(A)1) How did you decide on your topic? I knew it would be unique & I had learned about before
which made me interested in this topic.
()2) How does your topic relate to this year's theme?
()3) Why was your event so important in history? It Changed England forever & helped all of the
lower class people.
(C)4) What were the consequences of your event? Some consequences of this event were major
reforms for the poor people of Victorian England for instance the abolishment of the workhouses in
1930 and corporal punishment in schools in 1837.
()5) What is your thesis? Charles Dickens Helped poor people in Victorian England during the
Industrial revolution achieve human rights by writing stories to inform the public.
()6) How did you ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Where did you find them? For primary sources we found obituaries, speeches, which I found online,
and some of his actual books, which are on display here. (Gesture to books)
()8) How did your primary sources help you to better understand your topic?
Primary sources helped us understand the thoughts and ideas from that time.
()9) What was your most important source? Why? I think our most important source was BBC
News, it gave us the most information out of all our sources.
()10) Did you find good printed sources? Where did you find them? Yes, we ordered actual Charles
Dickens books online and Adam got one from his grandfather.
()11) What websites did you use? Some important websites we used were The Victorian Web, BBC
News, and Shmoop University.
(C)12) Do you think you showed both sides of your event? How? Yes, We told the opinion of the
people who were treating the poor badly which presented a few reasons they acted like that.
(A)13)
I wrote the process paper, did the planning, wrote/recorded these windows (Point to windows),

found the pictures, made the exhibit, and took my own notes and made my own bibliography.
Cameron Took his own notes and his own bibliography and helped a bit with

The Aims and Principles of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act...
The Aims and Principles of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act
In the decades prior to the national reform of the Poor Law in 1834, the characterisations of the
administration were of variety rather than uniformity. The social and economic changes at this time
produced many problems for those that were responsible for the social welfare. Many areas
throughout the country though found solutions to this problem within the legal frame–work of the
Elizabethan Poor Law of 1597–1601.
In the initial stages the amendment act was set up to reduce the amount of poor rates that were being
paid. In the first ten years of the amendment act the amount of relief being paid was reduced to a
national average of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The way to stop this from happening was to reduce the fifteen thousand parishes into six hundred
Poor Law unions. There was a great willingness to keep the poor in one place and so by 1843 there
was one hundred and ninety seven thousand one hundred and seventy nine poor incarcerated into the
workhouses. The workhouses were often described as bastilles.
"I do not agree with those who say that every man must look after himself, and that intervention by
the state, will be fatal to his self–reliance, his foresight and his thriftâ€¦. It is a mistake to suppose
that thrift is caused only by fear; it springs from hope as well as fear. Where there is no hope, be sure
there will be no thrift". (Winston Churchill, Liberalism and the Social Problems, 1909, p. 209).
Many administrators were outraged at the idea of Central Government becoming involved in the
Amendment Act because as far as they were concerned the old system was more than sufficient for
the needs of the poor. The Poor Law Guardians then set about obstructing the Poor Law Amendment
Act, as they thought it was an unnecessary addition to the current act. The worst of the activities to
block this new act was in Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. (As was).
The Amendment Act was supposed to help the poor but instead all it did was alienate those

Poor Law Amendment Act Research Paper
What, in your view, was the short term significance of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act?
The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act changed the law that was already in place, to centralise the
relief given, and bring in more regulations. Outdoor relief was abolished for the able–bodied, and
workhouses were to be established in parishes, or within unions of parishes. Under the Act,
ratepayers in each union or parish elected a board of guardians to supervise the workhouse and send
reports to the Poor Law Commissioners, who were appointed by the government and responsible for
overseeing the implementation of the Act across the countries. Furthermore, the Act aimed to create
workhouses as a last resort, and make the regulations and conditions dismal enough ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Nottinghamshire Guardian in 1849 reported an inquest at the Southwell Union Workhouse due
to the death of a 4 year old girl, due to her being with her mother in the workhouse and becoming
injured by the boiling water her mother was using. This shows how segregation was not being
practically used, even though it was outlined in the Act. This could show that there was not as much
of a significant different following the act, in many ways because of the lack of regulation and the
small amount of overseers. This source can be considered a more truthful representation of how
workhouses truly were than from the idea given by the official documentation that was published in
order to make the workhouses look successful. However, this is an independent event and does not
represent the conditions in every workhouse, and furthermore the conditions in the whole of the
particular workhouse. Therefore, segregation could have been apparent in many other places and
aspects, but not at this time, showing a potential lack of regulation and following of the rules
outlined by the Poor Law

The History Of Social Work
The history of social work demonstrates how statutory and voluntary agencies adapted to the
changing social conditions and increasing societal problems as a result of influence of
industrialization and urbanization (Red). Social and economic changes such as the Black Death that
severed the British populations, the closure of common land for self–profit in the 1530s, and unrest
and riots during the 1700s left many people in need alone and without care from their families
(lecture). Industrialization and urbanization created a widespread movement toward cities,
separation over wealth and classes, and caused challenges which established systems of care could
not longer cope with (lecture). During the late 16th century, the population in the United Kingdom
increased by 25% and widespread famine contributed to the increasing poverty rate, which called
for a new system of help for the poor (black). Over almost a 400–year period, poor laws were
established in the United Kingdom to provide systematic help for those facing poverty.
Within the United Kingdom, there was a division of approaches to address rising social problems
(lecture). England and Whales created the Elizabethan Poor Law Act of 1601 to classify the poor
into categories and allocate responsibility of care and control for these classifications. The poor law
separated those who could not work versus those who would not work in three ways: the 'impotent
poor', the aged, chronically sick, or mentally ill; the 'able–bodied poor', those who could work but
didn't; and the 'able–bodied poor' who absconded or refused work (red). The 'impotent poor' were
housed in voluntary institutions under the care of parishes and churches whereas the 'able–bodied
poor' were sent to statutory workhouses or 'house of correction' punishment facilities (red). The Poor
Law Act of 1601 sought to make a distinction between individuals who were poor by no fault of
their own and individuals who were to blame for there poverty, and thus putting them in the care of
either the state or private sectors (red).
Workhouses were some of the most inhumane aspects of history and a "dark space in the public
imagination" (red). Under public authority, these institutions had harsh conditions,

The British Welfare State Essay
The idea behind the welfare state was to relieve poverty, reduce inequality, and achieve greater
social integration and solidarity, and in Britain these aims were sorely wanted after world war two .
This desire for the welfare state was rooted in many causes. To fully understand these cause we have
to start out not at the 1941 beginnings of the large scale welfare state but to 1598.
One of the main motivating factors behind this desire towards a welfare state was the universal
hatred of the so called "Poor laws." These were a series of laws governing aid (feeding, education,
and health) to the poorest of society. The first passed in 1598 and not until 1948 did the last one of
them get eliminated. The basic idea behind these laws ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
A lot of people committed petty crimes so that they would be deported to the colonies as convicts
rather then go to these poor houses, as that still offered more hope of a better future. Free health care
was also subordinated to these poor laws, with a person having to be declared a pauper to be able to
receive it at an infirmary. So while there was a form of welfare that could be used as a last resort
under the poor laws a person had to give up a lot of his rights, his social status, and his hope of a
better future to be able to partake in this rudimentary and most basic form of welfare. The
importance of these poor laws on the future lay in the fact of how repulsive they were and how the
working classed revulsion of these laws led to them demanding a much fairer system.
Until 1905 this was the only form of welfare available. But in 1906 a Liberal government came to
power and decided that a larger section of society and not just the extreme poor were in need of
public services. An important social survey was carried out and the results were quite bleak. It
showed that a third of the population of London was living in extreme poverty, facing a daily
struggle just to survive. Conscription for the military during the Boer war(1899–1902) showed up
another large problem. A very large number of young men were shown to be not fit enough for
military service. This indicated poor public health and this was a serious concern to the

Essay about The Poor Law Amendment Act and Tackling Poverty
The Poor Law Amendment Act and Tackling Poverty
The Poor Law of 1601 was the first to codify the idea of the state to provide for the welfare of its
citizens. It distinguished between the 'deserving' and the 'undeserving' poor; relief was local and
community controlled.1 The 1834 Poor Law Act Amendment Act was an amendment to the Act for
the relief of The English Poor Law of 1601.
The Speenhamland System
The Speenhamland System first saw light of day in 1795. It was introduced by the magistrates in the
Berkshire village of Speenhamland in an effort to relieve the extreme poverty, which existed and
was adopted widely. It offered any one, or several forms of relief including:
(a) Allowances to supplement earned wages.
(b) ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It was a direct violation of the poor person's right to pursue the principle of pleasure; to exercise
mans' right to freedom and liberty. The Act was too narrow and far too severe in its remedies. Unlike
the more humane Speenhamland System the New Poor Law was inflexible and could not adapt to
differing situations. The most devastating remedy was that of the Poor Houses, which were
atrocious hellholes.
The Poor Law failed to represent the expectations of the poor community, when most members of
the Victorian working classes were likely to be in poverty at some point in their lives. It was
accepted that poverty was a natural part of the circle of their lives because of the fluctuations of the
environment that had a direct effect on the majority of employment available. Prior to the New Poor
Law, relief was seen as an expected right, when unemployed, to keep the able–bodied person fit and
well and able to resume expected work when trade resumed.
Victorian Class Structure
The belief systems of the classes need to be examined to explain some of the principles behind the
New Poor Law Act.
The Gentry, (Upper Class) usually by right of birth, the upper crust of society owned a large
proportion of the lands, held powerful positions within government and were rich. A central belief

system that this is their rightful place in society, to pursue and enjoy the pleasures of life, including
education and materials. To

The Poor Laws And The Problems Of The Old Poor Law
According to the University of York Social Policy is the "Study of the causes of social problems and
what Governments attempt to do about them." The Poor Law that was introduced in 1834 was a Law
that was put in place to support the poor. The law was introduced because it was getting increasingly
expensive to look after the poor so parliament introduced it in hopes it would diminish the cost of
looking after the poor and to get the poor out of the streets and into workhouses. Parliament
promised that this new law was to give the poor Clothes, free education, food and a place to stay.
The Poor Law was introduced because it was too much money to pay to look after the poor, so in
hopes to take the poor off the streets and to stop money going to the poor the government introduced
the law in 1834. The law was also put in place to embolden the poor to get back into work and
support themselves, There was a law before 1834 called the "Old Poor Law" this was found to be
insufficient because there was nothing in place to help the poor because even though they set up
workhouses for the poor they didn't offer accommodation for the poor. There was an act passed in
1795 called "The Speenhamland System" which allowed employers to pay their workers
exceptionally low wages during these years the middle and the upper classes were getting more
angry because they were the ones paying for the poor who would avoid not going to or do any work.
The two main principles of the Poor Law Commission

Public Health Policies In The 19th And 21st Century
This essay will describe public health policies within the UK from 19th, 20th and 21st century, to
show the development over these time periods to the health policies. The 19th Century The poor law
(1834 ) This was a law set up by the government as of many commissions made as
recommendations. This law stated that no one who was well able was allowed to receive any money
or any help from the authorities unless the person worked within a workhouses. However the
workhouses were in such poor conditions and harsh environments. In order of these harsh conditions
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The NHS would provide free services for all people and everyone can be privileged for care. The
NHS would be funded by the everyday general taxation and not by the national insurance. Moreover
the aims of the NHS would be to provide hospital services, a primary care and community services
like walk in clinics. However Donald Acheson (1997) was requested to review the un–equivalence
within the health and was to analyse area of priority for the development polices. Acheson report
came to conclude 39 different health inequalities. Therefore the main areas in which were identified
as the most important are that every policy that has an effect on the health can be evaluated in how
they can have their impact in the health unfairness. Another area that was a main concern families
containing children should be prioritised within health. 'Saving lives: our healthier nation (1999)'
was a health approach made by the labour government after the Acheson report. They made link in
which Acheson proposed about tackling ill health like the air pollution, poor housing and
unemployment. This lead the government to spotlight are main problems and kills like cancer, heart
problems like strokes and mental

Social Commentary In A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a beautifully crafted novel which symbolizes life in the Victorian Era where
class discrimination was a common practice and nearly no one would speak up against it – except
Charles Dickens. Social commentary is a skill used by artist of every deviation to making remarks
on sundry issues society faces and in Dickens case, he uses his words to lessen the social gap
between the poor and rich. Dickens leads the reader into his novel immediately by explaining that
Ebenezer Scrooge is a harsh miser whose only friend and partner, Jacob Marley, died 7 years ago on
Christmas Eve. After he spends his day at the counting–house, Scrooge returns to his house and as
he lies in bed, Marly burst into his chambers wearing, ""the chain I forged in life,"" (Dickens 16),
bestowing upon him a prophecy: 3 Spirits will haunt him, however his consent is paramount if
wants a proper afterlife. After each spirit, Scrooge learns about how his misanthropic actions
adversely affects others until he learns to honor the Spirit of Christmas year–round. Dickens used
social commentary to unearth the spirit of Christmas amongst all by using social commentary to
express that one's class should not have an effect on how someone is treated.
During the Victorian era, Dickens family was part of England's lower class who only had scraps of
food, few possessions, and had to work from dawn to dusk to survive the cruelty of the world. His
family, amongst many others of the lower class, lived in a

Workhouses In Victorian England

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Workhouses In Victorian England