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The different questionnaires recognised the differing needs of rural vs urban parishes
They had a lot of people to help gather evidence
Questionnaires and interviews are good techniques to find out information -It sets a precedent for future nationwide inquiries as it was the first of its kind
There were radical changes intended to save money and improve efficiency
Separate workhouses should be provided for the aged and inform, children, able bodied women and able-bodied men
Parishes should group into unions for the purpose of providing these workhouses
All relief outside workhouses should stop and conditions inside workhouses should be that no one would willingly enter them (less eligibility)
A new, central authority should be established, with powers to make and enforce regulations concerning the workhouse system.
It was not likely to the survey and the reports would be unbiased due to their own beliefs
They visited 3000 parishes which is only 1/5 of the Poor Law districts
The skewing made it possible to hide the complexity of the Poor Law in order to change it the way they want
There were limited responses to limited questionnaires
The complex nature of the evidence would make it difficult to make a challenge to these ideas -The inquiry was never meant to be impartial -The inquiry won't change the attitudes towards the poor
A central authority should be set up to supervise the implementation and regulate the administration of the Poor Law
Parishes were to be grouped together to form Poor Law unions in order to provide relief efficiently
Each Poor Law union was to establish a workhouse in which inmates would live in conditions that were worse than those of the poorest independent labourer
Outdoor relief for the able bodied was to be discouraged but wasn't abolished
The setting up of a string of workhouses offering relief to the able-bodied poor would drive potential paupers to find work in towns and cities
The programme of building deterrent workhouses worked on the assumption that outside relief would be stopped
The commissioners then tried to forbid outdoor relief by issuing specific parishes in the rural south with orders
The poor rates would be kept low and would not fall disproportionately on the towns in the settlement laws were stringently applied, returning seekers of relief to their home parish
The settlement laws were seen as necessary to ensure that the cost of maintaining paupers was equal and for workhouses to be true deterrents
By 1840, 40000 paupers had been removed from the parishes in which they were living and claiming relief back to their parishes of settlement
They wanted to avoid uproar from urban ratepayers from moving rural paupers into their areas
They can enforce the law by sending directives
They had a series of negative powers to make reluctant parishes do what they want
The fact that the commission was independent of parliament meant that no one could defend it in the Commons were it was initially attacked
The settlement laws are even more strict than the Old Poor Law which created more upheaval
There aren’t many officials to properly enforce and deal with all the issues and they were not respected in the public eye
The routine was designed to be unpleasant to deter people from claiming relief
Upon entry, the pauper family was given a radical inspection and then split up
Paupers had to wear the workhouse uniform and bathed once a week
No personal possessions were allowed
Each day started and ended with prayers
It had to be local and completed within the workhouse
It could not diminish the work available for able bodied paupers
The work done inside the workhouse could not pay more than it cost the workhouse to maintain the pauper
Made sacks
Unravelled rope
Chopped wood
Smashed limestone
Ground animal bones to be used as fertiliser
The supply of food was designed to be just enough to keep them alive while degrading them
The Poor Law commissioners issued model diets for guardians to choose
Until 1842 all meals were to be eaten in silence
The food was of poor quality and was often served stone cold
Some didn’t even initially allow paupers to use cutlery and they had to use their hands further perpetuating less eligibility
There were frequent records of both verbal and physical abuse as well as instances of sexual abuse
Some systems of punishments and rewards were set by the Poor Law commissioners with a standard punishment book
However, a lot more had their own system with no legal backing
The issue that they had was that the paupers were mobile and could drift in and out of workhouses as they pleased
This led to random influxes of crime
As soon as a child entered the workhouse, their parents had relinquished all responsibility for them
Attitudes towards children meant they could not be held responsible for their own poverty so the principle of less eligibility did not apply
They did recieve a better education and healthcare than on the outside
They were apprenticed to a trade aged 9
They often became institutionalised and could not cope with the outside world
It redistributed the seats to change for the industrialisation of some areas
The franchise was widened to include small landowners, tenant farmers and shopkeepers
A uniform franchise was also created
This was a reform o f Parliament and more diverse views would have to be represented
This would have worried those who were concerned about an English revolution like the one in France as more people became politicised
They were designed as a deterrent and to instil discipline
Splitting up families would have acted as a deterrent to many paupers
There was a Y form and cruciform which was centrally designed
They both felt quite prison like and dehumanising
George Catch who was a former policeman
He went from prison to prison inflicting terror
Boards of guardians gave him excellent testimonials to get rid of him
The Poor Law commissioners began reform here
There were small outbursts of opposition especially from local officials who saw the centralisation of the Poor Law as unneccessary and disliked the removal of the master-servant relationship
There was also opposition to the regime and institutionalisation of the workhouse
Newly built workhouses were attacked
Influential and wealthy citizens refused to apply the less elgibility rule strictly and instead continued with outdoor relief for able bodied poor
People protested against the transportation of paupers from St Giles to a new union workhouse in Amersham
The Riot Act was read and supported with armed Yeomanry and special constables to aid the transportation
Because while the economy was stable, there would be less need for relief so they could build the workhouses
It would also force less opposition if done in prosperous times and so when more people fell into poverty, they would already have the system
They were in a trade depression and so were not perceptive to new systems of relief
The local commissioners knew what worked in their region: short term outdoor relief and were not anxious to change this
