JPs & POVERTY

JPs per county in 1485 v 1603

~10/county v. 40-50/county, up to 90

Role of JPs in 1485

Justices of the Peace met and dispensed justice in local courts known as Quarter Sessions which met four times a year. Here they dealt with cases of:

• assault

• burglary

• riot

• witchcraft

• failure to attend church

• vagrancy.

JPs & more serious offences

JPs sent criminals to the senior courts, or Courts of Assize. The highest criminal court was the Court of the King's Bench.

JPs Administrative roles

Why was there greater poverty over the Tudor period

- increasing population, steady growth; only a decline in the 1550s due to influenza outbreak and bad harvests

- By 1601, population was at 4.1 million, 1525, 2.26 million

- Inflation and changing food prices due ti bad harvests put many into poverty

Vagabonds and Beggars Act (1495)

Ordered that beggars and the idle poor were to be put in the stocks for three days, whipped and returned to their original parish.

Poor relief still based on voluntary contributions from the parishioners.

Tudor Subsidy 1513

Prior to this date, subsidies had been levied on communities rather than individuals, which was unfair. In 1513 Cardinal Wolsey drew up a new system of taxation by which parliament granted taxes assessed on incomes.

The 1513 subsidy was the first major extension of the taxation system since the fourteenth century. The burden of subsidy collection fell on the county justices, which added to their steadily increasing workload.

Vagabonds Act (Poor Law) 1531

Ordered vagrants to be whipped, the impotent poor had to be licensed by the JP to beg.

Vagrancy Act 1547

Most severe treatment of the poor, vagrants were defined as able bodied people who had been unemployed for three days.

Harshest punishments including being branded with a ‘V’ and working as a slave for two years.

So harsh it was impossible to enforce.

Poor Law Act (1552)

Required the impotent poor to be registered for the first time.

Required parish priests and bishops to put pressure on those unwilling to make voluntary donations to poor relief.

Statute of Artificers (1563)

Marked a change in the treatment of the poor and vagrants, taking a holistic approach to all the problems affecting Tudor society.

• all unmarried under 30s had to work any job offered to them

• at harvest time, JPs could force those able to work to help bring it in, at risk of punishment.

• Everyone aged 12-60 had to work on the land unless a member of the gentry, already in work or school, an artisan or heir to a decent amount.

• All wages were to be set and assessed by JPs annually

• Hours of work were fixed

• Apprenticeships were set at 7 years

Significance of the Statute of Artificers 1563

Poor Law Acts (1572/76)

Further acts needed to improve on the Statute.

• recognised that sometimes there was not enough work for the able bodied poor

• encouraged parishes with excess funds to build ‘houses of correction’

Acts for Relief of the Poor (1598/1603)

Culmination of the previous Tudor legislation to deal with poverty.

• introduced an overseer of the poor in each parish, whose job included assessment of how much poor relief was needed, and to collect and distribute alms

• Unpaid overseer was to be supervised by the JPs, who were given additional powers to raise compulsory contributions to poor relief and to punish refusals

1598 Vagabonds Act

Combined with the Poor Laws, ordered most dangerous of vagrants to be banished or sent to the Queen’s galleys.

Result of the 1598 Poor Laws

Established a national system to deal with poverty

Made contributions to poor relief entirely compulsory

Lasted until 1834