1597-1644.
METHODS OF RELIEF.
A. _In Times of Emergency._
§ 1. The methods in which the Scarcity Orders of the Privy Council
were executed in 1623 and 1630-1.
_a._ The suppression of alehouses and restrictions of malting.
_b._ The regulations for serving the markets with corn and supplying
the poor in their homes.
_c._ Selling corn bought by the inhabitants to the labourers under the
market price.
_d._ Other special methods of providing food for the poor.
§ 2. Evidence as to the success or failure of the corn regulations.
§ 3. Reasons for their adoption.
§ 4. Bearing of the scarcity measures on history of poor relief.
_a._ Growth of organisation.
_b._ The standard of life of the poorer classes.
§ 5. Provision of fuel for the poor in winter.
§ 6. Help afforded in times of sickness or plague.
§ 7. Contributions to sufferers from fire.
§ 8. Two characteristics of seventeenth century poor relief accentuated
by this emergency relief.
_a._ Little distinction between paupers and non-paupers.
_b._ Little distinction between relief afforded by voluntary
contributions and that provided by poor rates.
The special emergencies in which the poor most often obtained relief in
the seventeenth century were those arising from bad harvests, sickness,
and fire.
We will first examine the methods of supplying the poor with corn
after bad harvests. We have already seen that in 1608, 1621-3, and
1629-31 the central government issued orders with this object, which
closely resembled the commands which had been issued during the reign
of Elizabeth. We have now to see how these orders were executed in the
early part of the seventeenth century.
In 1608 there is little evidence in this direction. A report however
was sent from Colchester. There, the constables took an account of
the number of persons that had corn by them; of the bargains they had
made and of the number of acres they had sown, and in accordance with
that survey every person was ordered to bring weekly to market so many
bushels of corn unless they had already sold them to poor artificers
and day labourers[421]. There were probably like reports from other
places but there is nothing to make us think that the scarcity Book of
Orders was better executed in 1608 than it had been in 1587 or 1597.
[421] Morant's _Essex_, p. 53.
[Sidenote: 1. The methods in which the scarcity orders of the Privy
Council were executed in 1623 and 1630-1.]
But in 1623 and in 1630-31 there are returns from many different
parts of the country, and these seem to show that the orders which
were occasionally put in force under Elizabeth were frequently put in
force under James I., and were usually well executed in the season of
scarcity in the reign of Charles I.
[Sidenote: _a._ The suppression of alehouses, and restrictions of
malting.]
The Book of Orders issued in each period of scarcity contained
directions for limiting the quantity of malt and for suppressing
unnecessary alehouses. This was the case because barley bread was the
chief food of the poor, and they would be more easily able to obtain a
supply if the barley which would have been used for malt was brought
to the markets. The corn reports of 1623 and 1630-1 for the most part
state in general terms that these directions had been carried out[422].
Moreover sometimes the justices enter into details and show that they
had taken great care in putting this part of the Council's orders
into execution. Thus in 1623 the number of alehouses in Banbury was
reduced by one-third, in Ripon by a half, while in Wycombe only nine
were licensed out of twenty-one[423]. In April 1631 also in Bradford,
in Hertford, and in Stafford more than half the alehouses were
suppressed[424].
[422] See reports from Newbury, six hundreds of Norfolk, Taunton, nine
hundreds of Somerset, Wentllooge in Monmouthshire, Bridgewater, the
soke of Peterborough and the wildish parts of Pevensey, all returned
between May 21st and May 31st, 1631.
[423] _Cal. of State Papers._ Ripon, Feb. 25, 1623, Banbury, Mar. 1st,
Wycombe, Mar. 12.
[424] _Dom. State Papers_, Chas. I., Vol. 189, Stafford, No. 1, I.,
Bradford and Haworth, No. 8, V., Hertford, Vol. 189, No. 79.
Similar details show us that the making of malt was carefully
regulated. In 1623 the justices of South Hampshire fixed the total
quantity of barley that might be used for this purpose in the county
and allotted a definite quantity to each division: a hundred quarters
were allotted to each of the divisions of Andover and Fawley,
eighty quarters to that of Alton, and in proportion to the other
divisions[425]. At other times malting was suppressed altogether, as
in three hundreds of Herefordshire in 1623[426] and at Taunton in
1631[427].
[425] _Dom. State Papers_, Jac. I., Vol. 138, No. 14.
[426] _Ib._, Vol. 140, 25. The three hundreds were those of Stretford,
Grimsworth, and Wigmore.
[427] _Ib._, Chas. I., Vol. 192, No. 34.
Occasionally malting was continued by some of the maltsters, but in
order to counterbalance the injury to the poor they contributed in some
special way to their support. Thus at Warwick in 1623 the maltsters
brought corn to market and sold at a shilling a bushel under the market
price to the poorer people, while at Stafford in 1631 the maltsters who
had continued their trade in the town agreed to contribute a specified
sum to the support of the poor in several of the surrounding country
districts[428]. At Norwich some of the maltsters were disobedient,
and they were there ordered as a punishment to bring corn to the
public granary and sell it at low rates to the poor[429]. It is thus
clear that this regulation of the consumption of ale was made in the
interests of the poor, and that it was carefully executed in 1623 and
1631.
[428] _Ib._, Jas. I., Vol. 138, No. 88; Chas. I., Vol. 192, No. 25.
[429] Court Book of Norwich for the Court held 1st Feb. 1630/1.
[Sidenote: _b._ Regulations for serving the markets with corn and for
supplying the poor in their homes.]
As in 1586 and in 1597 elaborate surveys of the quantities of corn
possessed by each owner were made both in 1623 and 1630-1, and in
accordance with these surveys the farmers were ordered to bring a
proportional amount of their produce to market[430]. Moreover in
1623 and in 1631 increased attention was paid to the difficulties
experienced by the labourers who had not sufficient leisure to come to
market for the small quantities they were able to buy at a time. In
Babergh and Cosford and in Thingoe in 1623, arrangements were made for
their supply at home[431]. In 1631 more organised plans were adopted.
At Lewes a survey was made of the quantity of corn available and a
reasonable proportion was then allotted to each householder: out of the
residue the poor of every parish were to have enough to serve them,
while any that was then left over was to be sent to market[432]: in the
lath of Shepway two-thirds of the corn was sold to poor artificers at
home, while only one-third was brought to market and there sold to the
poor or to anyone who wanted to buy for his own consumption[433].
[430] Thus in 1623 detailed returns were sent in by the constables of
Devonshire, Vol. 144, 32, V. to XXXIV., while an especially elaborate
report was sent from the hundred of Pider in Cornwall on Dec. 2nd,
1630. The bushel there consisted of twenty gallons, and a return is
made of the number of people in every household, of the quantity of
barley, oats and wheat possessed by every owner, of how much of it was
already sold, of the names of the brewers, bakers, and maltsters, and
of how much they brewed and baked every week. _D. S. P._, Jas. I., Vol.
176, No. 13.
It is perhaps interesting to notice that as early as 1613-14 a special
payment was made to Rich. Aucher, Sergeant-at-Mace, "for his attendance
at corne market in the deare yeares to see that such corne were brought
in as appoynted by the justices," _Hist. Man. Com._, Rep. IX., Appendix
I. 162 a.
[431] _D. S. P._, Jas. I., Vol. 142, 14.
[432] _Ib._, Vol. 189, 15.
[433] _Ib._, Vol. 189, 6.
[Sidenote: _c._ Selling corn to labourers under price.]
But in some respects the corn measures of 1623 and 1631 were not only
better executed but provided more direct relief than those of former
times. We know that the town rulers in 1586 and 1597 bought particular
quantities of corn for the inhabitants[434], and that individual owners
like the Duke of Rutland sold their corn under price. The reports of
1623 and 1630-1 indicate a great extension of this practice both in
London, in other corporate towns, and in the country.
[434] See pp. 123, 124 _supra_.
[Sidenote: Corn sold under price to the poor in London.]
Even before 1520 the City rulers possessed a magazine of corn. In
1622 a regular system of selling to the poor under price was so much
the usual plan that the Lords of the Privy Council complained of
the method by which the Companies furnished their quota of corn for
this purpose. Each Company contracted with the bakers to furnish the
quantity required from its members. The wardens however were told
that this course "would rather lessen the stoare than replenish the
markett"; they must import for themselves from abroad so that the
total supply in the City might be increased[435]. In 1630-1 even more
vigorous methods were taken. The population of London was numbered,
so that it was found that there were 130,280 people in the City, and
the Lord Mayor calculated that five thousand quarters a month would be
necessary to provide for all the inhabitants[436]. Each Company had to
provide a certain quantity at under rates for the poor and was required
to state how much of this supply they had in their granaries[437]. The
efforts made to lower the price were for a time successful, and in
December 1630 the Lord Mayor ordered the price of meal to be reduced in
proportion to the fall in the price of grain[438].
[435] _Privy Council Reg._, 23rd Dec. 1622, Vol. 5, p. 543.
[436] This amount was arrived at by calculating that eight ounces a day
would serve for each person, counting "the little" with "the great."
Remembrancia.
[437] _D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 197, 61. In July 1631 the Companies
had a very small proportion of the quantity they had to supply in their
possession.
[438] _Privy Council Reg._, 14 Dec. 1630. The Lord Mayor appears to
have fixed the price of grain. See the complaint of the badgers of
Chipping Wycombe.
[Sidenote: Selling under price in large towns.]
In other large towns similar plans were adopted both in 1621-1623
and in 1629-1631. In 1623 the Bailiffs of Derby report "wee have
alsoe at the charge of the cheife and ablest inhabitants of this
Burrowe provided 140 q^{ters} of corne w^{ch} wee weekely afford to
the poore as their necessities require under the comon price of the
markett[439]." In the later period, 1630 and 1631, Norwich spent £300
for this purpose and then borrowed more; Great Yarmouth, Leicester and
Buckingham made similar provision[440]. There is no reason to think
these towns were exceptional; there are comparatively few reports from
the corporate towns in 1630 but we have already seen that in Bristol
and Shrewsbury stores had been bought in earlier years, and their
action was probably similar now to that of London and Norwich.
[439] _Dom. State Papers_, Jas. I., Vol. 143, 35, 2.
[440] Norwich. Numerous resolutions are recorded by the Court Books,
18th Oct. 1630. "Some of the corne in the City Granary shalbe weekely
ground into meale and solde to the poore in the market."
14th Feb. Corn is bought for the poor and delivered to the aldermen of
each ward weekly to be sold.
6th Mar. The corn delivered to the poor to be two parts barley, one
wheat, and one rye.
8th June. Barley bought.
15th June. Rye bought.
2nd July. Wheat bought for 30_s._ the combe, rye 25_s._ and barley
16_s._ To be sold to the poor at 16_s._ the combe; the three grains
equally mixed.
Between 25th Feb. and 25th March, 1631. £114. 18_s._ 10_d._ "was given
towards buyeinge of corn for the poor."
See also _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 186, 26, 191, 54.
Great Yarmouth, _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 188, 80. "There hath beene
300^{li} laid out to buy corne w^{ch} hath beene brought into the comon
graineries of the towne and there by parcells delivered to the poore
inhabitants of this towne under the rate of the markett price which
hath beene a great releife to the poore."
Leicester, Vol. 191, 69.
Buckingham, Vol. 187, 2, i.
Ware, Vol. 189, 80.
"93^{li} to buy corne for the poore and sold them at iiijs the bushell."
[Sidenote: Stores of corn sold under price to the country labourers.]
The same plan was also adopted in the country. It was recommended by
the Council, but it is not one of the fixed regulations enforced by
them. In one case however we find that a small sum of money had been
collected for a magazine of corn in Suffolk, and that now the Council
ordered it to be used to supply the poor of Halesworth[441].
[441] _Privy Council Register_, 18th Dec. 1830.
In many other cases corn was provided by the inhabitants themselves
often by voluntary agreement made under the persuasion of the justices.
In 1623 this method of helping the poor was usual in Hertfordshire. In
March the Sheriff sends to the Council reports from the justices of the
greater part of the country. He states that the justices and gentlemen
have "by there good and charitable exsamples and perswasiones"
provided a quantity of corn at nearly half the market price in "euery
parish where neede requireth." There was enough to last until next
harvest and they hope "noe complainte of the pore shall hereafter
add any disturbance unto his Ma^{ti's} most graciouse pittifull, and
charitable minde[442]."
[442] _D. S. P._, James I., Vol. 140, 41. This statement is confirmed
by the reports enclosed by the Sheriff from the justices responsible
for the divisions of Braughin, of Hitchen, of Edwinstree and Odsey and
of Dacorum. These all state that in most of the "townes" the poorer
people have corn provided them far under the market rate.
In districts of Devonshire and Suffolk[443] also like plans were
tried in 1623, while in 1631 similar methods of relief seem to have
been universal in the counties of Essex and Norfolk, and to have been
adopted in some districts in almost every eastern county.
[443] At Crediton, West Budleigh and part of Wonford in Devon and in
several districts of Suffolk, _e.g._ in the hundreds of Blything,
Wangford, Mutford and Lothingland corn was sold to the poor under the
market price. _D. S. P._, Jac. I., Vol. 142, Nos. 37, II. and 14.
Thus in December 1630 in four of the hundreds of Essex arrangements
were made for supplying the people with corn at home. The chief
inhabitants "of theire owne accords" laid in a store for the poor
allowing 7_d._, 18_d._ or 2_s._ the bushel and giving an equivalent
amount in money to those that did not bake their own bread[444]. Next
month we hear that this plan had been adopted in most of the shire;
every parish had its store and the poor were served at 18_d._ and 2_s._
a bushel under the usual price. Sometimes when grain was scarce, bread
and money were given instead. Our informant states that this provision
of corn for the poor at cheap rates had had a considerable effect in
lowering the price of grain[445]. From every hundred of Norfolk a
report of the state of the corn supply of the poor was received, and
some arrangement of this kind is usually reported. In some hundreds
two degrees of poverty were recognised. The very poor only paid
half-a-crown a bushel for their barley, but "the labourers y^t had
nott so much neede" were served at three shillings[446].
[444] The hundreds of Dunmow, Uttlesford, Freshwell and Clavering. _D.
S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 177, 43.
[445] Jan. 7th, 1631. _Dom. State Papers_, Chas. I., Vol. 182, 20.
[446] Hundred of South Greenhoe and half hundreds of Grimshoe and
Wayland. Rye was also sold to the very poor at 3_s._ 4_d._ and to the
poor at 4_s._ May 1631, _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 191, No. 78. Other
stores in Norfolk are reported as follows:
i. At Blofield, Walsham and Taverham barley was sold to the poor for
2_s._ 6_d._ rye at 3_s._ 4_d._, and buck for 20_d._: all far under the
market rate, Vol. 186, 16, Vol. 190, 20.
ii. West Flegg, East Flegg, Happing and Tunstead a sufficient quantity
of barley and buck "for the most part in euery towne throughout all the
sayd hundreds is set aside to be issued to ye poore at a reasonable
rate." Vol. 192, 19, (_D. S. P._, Chas. I.).
iii. In Earsham, Diss, Deepwade and Henstead corn was provided for the
labourers in every parish. _D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 191, 79, Vol.
186, 16.
iv. A like arrangement was made in Forehoe, Mitford and Humbleyard,
Vol. 190, 8.
In this county therefore the store for the poor was probably generally
adopted all over the county.
This plan does not seem to have been general in Yorkshire, but it
was adopted by at least eight hundreds[447]. There are moreover many
examples of stores of this kind in Hertfordshire and some in every
Eastern county except Northumberland and Lincolnshire[448]. The fact
that special mention is made of poor labourers shows that relief was
not confined to the disabled or to paupers. It was given in the eastern
counties more than in the western probably because the scarcity was
more felt in the east and the poor were in greater distress[449].
[447] Eight hundreds of York, Vol. 177, 31. See App. XI.
[448] (1) Herts.: Edwinstree and Odsey. The poor were relieved at under
rates in their parishes. Vol. 182, 40, _D. S. P._, Chas. I.
Braughin, 189, 80, _D. S. P._, Chas. I. See Appendix.
Part of the Liberty of St Alban's and hundred of Cashio, 188, 43, _D.
S. P._, Chas. I.
Hertford. The poor are relieved by "corne or otherwise," 189, 79, _D.
S. P._, Chas. I.
(2) Sussex: Lewes, Vol. 189, 15. "Some charitable well-disposed persons
sell to the poore at lower rates."
Pevensey, Vol. 192, 99. The justices "dealt w^{th} the most
substantiall inhabitants ... who partly by the perswasions of us and of
theire ministers and of theire owne charytable disposition haue laid
corne in some one parish about 30 pounds, in another 20 pounds some
lese," and have sold it one shilling a bushel "better cheape than itt
did cost."
(3) Kent: Shepway, Vol. 187, 40. The parishes have provided a store of
corn for their own inhabitants.
(4) Suffolk: The Liberty of St Ethelred's, Vol. 187, 10. A supply
of corn was to be brought from Norfolk and sold to the poor 4_s._ a
quarter under cost price.
(5) Cambridge: Staploe, Cheveley, Staine and Flendish, Vol. 189, 81,
III.
(6) Berks.: Wantage and Farringdon, Vol. 191, 40, I. and III.
(7) Nottingham: charitable selling under price, Vol. 189, 12.
(8) Surrey: Rye was sold to the "poorer sorte" at 5_s._ the bushel,
_Dom. S. P._, Vol. 182, 7.
It is most probable that the poor were relieved in this way in many
other parishes though the justices' reports may not have been returned
or preserved.
[449] We hear in Nov. 1630 of Ireland that "that kingdome is for the
present so plentifully stored w^{th} corne that besides the feeding
of itselfe it may also in some measure supply the necessity of this
realme," _Privy Council Register_. In Cornwall, Flint and Hereford also
there was plenty of grain (_D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 176, No. 57, Vol.
184, No. 61, Vol. 183, 37) while the justices of Agbrigg report that
"Lancashire is a county this year able to help its neighbours."
[Sidenote: _d._ Other special methods of providing food for the poor.]
Sometimes other plans were adopted. The owners and dealers of corn were
expected to contribute to the need of their less fortunate neighbours.
At Reading the corn masters set apart a sack in every load to serve
for the poor at twelvepence a bushel under the market rate[450]. It
would seem that some allowance was usually made by dealers in corn, for
another dealer who was a victim of a riot at Woodchurch states that out
of ten quarters he left five to be sold to the poor[451].
[450] _Dom. State Papers_, Chas. I., Vol. 182, 81.
[451] _Ib._, Vol. 191, 4. See below for the custom of the badgers at
Chipping Wycombe.
Other expedients of this kind were adopted; in Devonshire the children
of the poor were billetted on those able to give relief[452], and at
Maidstone the town baked the bread and gave loaves to the day labourers
and poorest inhabitants[453]. Three of the hundreds of Cambridgeshire
tried a still more organised plan: "the poorer sort had weekly corne
delivered to them at home at twelvepence in the bushell in the least
under the market prices[454]."
[452] _Ib._, 189, 5.
[453] _Ib._, 186, 74.
[454] _Ib._, 189, 75, Whittlesford, Chilford and Radfield.
[Sidenote: 2. Evidence as to success or failure of the corn
regulations.]
We have very varied opinions as to the success or failure of the
organisation for supplying the poor with corn. The justices in several
instances state that the search raised prices, and ask that a second
search may not be made[455]. In a few cases they say the regulation
of the markets was injurious. The most decided of these is an account
from Edwinstree and Odsey, "And we humbly conceaue that o^r strickt
lookeing to the marketts by o^rselves and others, very sufficient and
diligent supervis^{ors}, whom we haue imploied w^{th} a great deale
of care in these businesses is an occacion that the marketts are
the smaller, the corne dearer and new shifts and devises are found
out[456]." In the autumn of 1631 inquiries as to the cause of the
scarcity were instituted, and the Bridport authorities candidly replied
that it was owing to the interference of the justices[457]. But perhaps
the most interesting protest is that from Chipping Wycombe. It was a
town on the borders of Buckinghamshire, which was largely inhabited
by dealers in corn and was the market for the neighbouring parts of
Oxfordshire and Berkshire. After the instructions of the Privy Council
had been followed, only a quarter of the usual quantity was brought
to the market. The dealers, the Mayor tells us, lost heavily because
the price of meal had been fixed by the Lord Mayor, and both they and
the farmers were disgusted at the lowering of prices in other parts of
the country. Formerly the badgers had set aside sacks for the poor,
and the farmers and others had provided stores for them. This they now
refused to do, but the justices did their best and themselves sold to
the poor under the market rates[458]. The dislike of the orders is very
apparent in this report, but it bears witness to the fact that they
were sometimes successful, since prices had been lowered in consequence
in other parts of the country. But as Chipping Wycombe was inhabited
largely by corn-dealers, and as it drew its supplies from other
counties, the orders failed there, and the fact that Chipping Wycombe
was such a town may have been not without its influence on the making
of history, for John Hampden, we are told, was one of the justices
present who witnessed the distress of this disastrous market-day. It
was not a position in which he would judge favourably of the effects
of governmental interference.
[455] _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 189, Nos. 11, 39, 92.
[456] _Ib._, Vol. 186, No. 98.
[457] _Ib._ Vol. 203, No. 30.
[458] _Ib._ Vol. 177, No. 50. See above.
Still the balance of evidence is in favour of the orders. When they
were first put in force they seem to have had a considerable effect in
lowering the price. Many of the reports sent in during the last half of
December and beginning of January tell us that this was the case[459],
though after the beginning of the year prices again rose, because the
corn was wanted for seed as well as for food. However even as late as
April 30th a report from the district of Horncastle in Lincolnshire
informs us that the writers have ordered the markets to be furnished
every week with a particular quantity, and that the price of oatmeal,
which was the chief food of the poor in that part of the country, had
been lowered from eight groats to one shilling and tenpence[460].
[459] _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 177. Contains reports between
Dec. 15th and 30th, 1630, and the following state that prices have
lessened:--
Dec. 20th, No. 29. Anderfield etc., Co. Somerset prices decrease.
Dec. 21st, No. 31. Eight hundreds of York. Wheat 7_s._ and 6_s._ 6_d._
where formerly 9_s._ 6_d._
Dec. 21st, No. 32. Hundred of Lexden etc. Essex, "So as whereas before
there was a great scarcitie and want of graine in every market and the
price every-daie risinge nowe by these endeav^{rs} the markets are
fully served w^{th}out any want and the prices of corne decreasinge."
Dec. 24th, No. 43. Dunmow etc. Essex. By means of "princely care" wheat
has fallen from 8_s._ 6_d._ to 7_s._
Similar reports occur from Jan. 1 to 14th, 1630/1, _D. S. P._, Vol.
182, No. 2, 7, 39, 81.
In 1623 the approval of the justices expressly concerns the suppression
of alehouses.
Feb. 14th, 1623, the Mayor of Launcester states that the price of a
bushel of wheat has fallen from 12_s._ to 10_s._ and that the quantity
of barley brought to market has doubled. (_Cal. of State Papers._)
The Mayor of Liverpool also reports that much good has been done by the
suppression of alehouses. _Ib._ 20th Feb. 1623.
[460] _D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 189, 58.
There are other statements of the same kind[461], but one of the most
strongly expressed of these is from the justices of Suffolk, "We giue
y^r lo(rdshi)ps many humble thanks for your great fauours shewed unto
vs and to the whole state of this county in these necessiteouse times
by those most prudent, compassionate and charitable considerations
deliuered in your bookes of directions and sent vnto vs w^{ch} we
haue w^{th} our uttermost endeauours laboured in euery parte to see
accomplished as well by o^rselues as others. And we must acknowledge
with o^r and the countryes great thankfulnesse unto y^r lo(rdshi)ps
that y^e benefit w^{ch} hereof hath arisen hath bine beyonde all
expectation inestemable and of wonderful effect[462]."
[461] _D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 187, 22; Vol. 189, 39. The High
Sheriff of Suffolk states that "much good haue ensued."
[462] _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 187, 12.
But the strongest argument that on the whole these measures were
beneficial is to be found in the fact that they were enforced
throughout the country by the justices with very few protests. The
justices would as a rule be landlords and generally corn owners; the
regulations were against their interests, and, unless they had thought
that they contributed to the public welfare, they would have complained
more and performed less. When they thought a course objectionable they
said so: many of them did not approve of a second search of the stocks
of corn[463]; in several instances they said that the order to prevent
millers from buying corn was not beneficial, because the millers sold
in small quantities to the poor who did not come to market[464]. But
the rest of the orders concerning corn were enforced nearly always
without comment or with approval.
[463] _Ib._ Vol. 188, 92, Vol. 189, 12, 29.
[464] _Cal. of State Papers_, Jan. 27, 1623, _Dom. S. P._, Chas. I.,
Vol. 182, Nos. 2, 1 and 67.
[Sidenote: 3. Reasons for the adoption of the corn regulations.]
It is not difficult to see reasons for the success of such an
organisation. Corn fluctuated violently in price because of the
narrowness of the area from which the supplies came. Even with our
own worldwide supply a corner in wheat has been attempted and for a
time maintained. When little corn was imported into England, and even
counties were largely self-supporting, farmers might easily raise the
price by keeping back their corn from market[465].
[465] The following examples show that prices varied considerably in
different parts of the country at the same date.
_Dom. S. P._, Chas. I. Price of bushel of wheat. Barley.
Cornwall, Feb. 5th, Vol. 184, 16 9_d._ a gall. or 6/- 5¼_d._ 3/6
for eight galls. for eight
Flint, Feb. 10, Vol. 184. 61 5/- a bushel 3/6 a bushel
Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke Devon, 8/- for 13 galls. 5/8 for 13 or
1630/1, Vol. 184, 3 or 4/11 for eight 3/7 for eight galls.
Edwinsey and Odsey, Feb. 18th 8/- a bushel 5/2 a bushel
Vol. 185, 27
Appletree, Derby, Feb. 21st, 8/- do. 6/- do.
Vol. 185, 41
Bulmer, N. Riding, April 26th 6/- to 7/- do. 3/6 to 4/4 do.
Vol. 189, 35
Westminster, April 28th, Vol. 12/8 1st qu., 11/8 2nd
189, 48
But the great price was not always the worst of the trouble. The
justices of Devonshire tell us that corn could not be had for money,
and the statement is confirmed by Fitz-Geffrie in his _Curse of
Corne-horders_, "O miserable condition! the poore man is put to a
double labour, first to get a little money for Corne and then to get a
little corne for money & this last is the hardest labour; he might haue
earned almost halfe a bushell while hee runnes about begging to buy
halfe a pecke[466]."
[466] Fitz Geffrie, _Curse of Corne-Horders_ (Printed 1631) p. 37.
We must remember the narrowness of the market; the excessive
fluctuations in price, and the difficulty of finding a seller willing
to sell a small quantity of grain, before we can criticise fairly the
organisation which was established during these years of high-priced
corn.
In any case the corn orders of the Government seem to have helped
to maintain the public peace. In 1527, in 1551, in 1587, in 1597,
and in 1623 the rise in the price of corn immediately occasioned
disorder[467], and even in 1630 attacks were made on the carts carrying
corn, and there were other signs of disturbance[468]. But in this
last season of scarcity there was no serious outburst. The orders of
the Government probably relieved the distress and certainly helped to
convince the people that their rulers were trying to help them.
[467] See above pp. 48, 85, 129, 145.
[468] As early as Nov. 18, 1630, the justices of Berkshire were uneasy
and ordered the constables of several parishes not to allow the people
to assemble, to charge the churchwardens and overseers to double the
poor rates; to forbid the brewers to serve the alehouse keepers and the
alehouse keepers to sell ale at all. (_Cal. of State Papers_, Nov. 18,
1630.)
In Kent the Sheriff reports signs of disorder; the people, he said,
fell on the carriers of corn and the following lines of doggerel were
picked up in the minister's porch:--
The corne is so dear
I dout mani will starve this yeare
If you see not to this
Sum of you will speed amis
Our souls they are dear
For our bodyes have sume ceare
Before we arise
Less will safise
Note. The poor there is more
Than goes from dore to dore etc.
_Cal. of State Papers_, Nov. 22nd, 1630.
There were several attacks on carts at Newbury and elsewhere; and there
were rioters at Gloucester.
[Sidenote: 4. Bearing of the scarcity measures on the history of poor
relief.]
[Sidenote: _a._ The training of the justices.]
The organisation for supplying the poor with corn in 1631 is both
indirectly and directly connected with the history of poor relief.
We have already seen that the orders for supplying corn seem to have
suggested the orders for the ordinary relief of the poor, and that
both sets of orders were worked by similar methods. The season of
1630-1 is the first in which the administrators seem to have properly
fulfilled their duties. Then the commands of the Government seem to
have been vigilantly enforced. This was not always easily accomplished,
rebellious inhabitants were coerced, negligent justices were
punished[469]. But on the whole the justices seem to have worked with
zeal, and the success obtained by them during this exceptional crisis
must have made it easier for them to cope with the relief of the poor
in more ordinary times.
[469] Thus at Doncaster engrossers of corn were made to sell their
stocks in bushels and peckes 7_s._ a load under the market price.
_Dom. State Papers_, Chas. I., Vol. 189, 8. III. At Ipswich, Edw. Man
refused to bring his corn to market when ordered to do so and was made
to submit and to sell sixpence a bushel under the market rate. _Privy
Council Reg._ 26th Dec. 1630, f. 256 and 272. Conners and bakers of
Colchester also were guilty of the same offence and were punished in
the same manner, _D. S. P._, Vol. 184, 30. At Uppingham, an Edmund
Wright refused to pay his rate and if still refractory was to be
ordered to appear before the Privy Council. _Privy Council Reg._, 24th
Feb., 1631/2. Two justices of Stamford were removed from their office
and one was sent to the Fleet because they opposed the Book of Orders.
3rd Dec., 1631, f. 286.
[Sidenote: _b._ The standard of comfort of the poorer classes.]
Moreover the direct relief afforded by the corn stores must be taken
into account when we attempt to estimate the amount of comfort enjoyed
by the manual workers in the reign of Charles I.
Prof. Rogers has compared the condition of the labouring population at
different times by estimating the amount of food which could be bought
by a labourer receiving average wages in each period. This method
of comparison leads him to the conclusion that the majority of the
population were in a very miserable condition before the outbreak of
the Civil War[470].
[470] _Hist. of Agric. and Prices_, Vol. V. p. 592.
But in 1630-1, and to some extent also in 1623, labourers did not
pay the market price for their food, and this fact must modify any
conclusion derived from such a source so far as the reigns of James
I. and Charles I. are concerned. Not only was corn sold under price
from public granaries and stores, but it is probable that whenever
arrangements were made to serve the labourers at home the prices were
somewhat reduced, as the sellers would then be saved the trouble of
taking the corn to market, and the expense of paying the market tolls.
Moreover it has often been pointed out that the relative comfort of
any class can be better ascertained if we consider the earnings of the
family rather than those of the individual[471]. This was a period in
which women could easily obtain work in spinning and when children were
apprenticed at an early age, and so required little support from their
parents. For these reasons it seems likely that the labourer of the
reign of Charles I. would be better off than the amount of his wages
would lead us to suppose, and this estimate is confirmed by the scale
of diet fixed for the boys in the Children's Hospital of Norwich in
1632.
[471] W. Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, Vol.
II. p. 688.
The boys in the hospital were between the ages of ten and fourteen. For
dinner they were always to have six ounces of bread and a pint of beer:
three days in the week they had also a pint of pottage and six ounces
of beef, and on the remaining four an ounce of butter and two of
cheese. For supper they had always six ounces of bread, a pint of beer,
an ounce of butter and two of cheese, and for breakfast every day three
ounces of bread, half an ounce of butter and half a pint of beer[472].
As this represents the food of the destitute orphans of Norwich it is
not likely to be much better than the usual standard of the poorest
class, and seems to compare very favourably with the food of a boy
in the same class in our own time. The ordinary standard of living
thus does not appear to be miserable, but the poor must have suffered
terribly, if there had been no exceptional relief, whenever there was
no work for them to do, and when corn was double the usual price.
[472] This table of food was approved by the city rulers on 30th June,
1632 (Norwich Court Books). The keeper of the orphanage was sold wheat
and rye from the granary at 12_s._ a combe and was given £4. 6_s._
8_d._ for each child every year. He had also their work and certain
allowances for their clothing.
It is these fluctuations that were the chief source of misery, and
by lessening their effect the scarcity measures of the time were of
enormous importance to the whole of the labouring class.
But relief in times of emergency was afforded to the needy in other
times of exceptional distress.
[Sidenote: 5. Provision of fuel for the poor in Winter.]
In Winter fuel was provided. Thus at St Albans, wood was bought for
the poor in the reign of Queen Elizabeth[473]. In London there was a
coal yard before 1590, and early in the reign of James I. the City
authorities obtained permission to import four thousand chaldron of
"sea cole" free of duty for the purpose of supplying those in need of
help[474]. Payments for fuel formed part of the regular organisation
at Norwich[475], and directions to secure a supply to the poor of
their district are contained also in the orders to the overseers of
1623[476]. This provision is another illustration of the fact that a
great deal of the relief given was designed to protect the people from
excessive fluctuations in price.
[473] _Corporation Records of St Albans_, A. E. Gibbs, June 10th, 1587,
p. 28.
[474] _Remembrancia_, I. No. 586, II. No. 255 and VII. No. 193. In
October 1630, the store of coal was larger than in former years. _Ib._
VII. No. 50.
[475] "Maioris Booke for the Poore" Norwich.
[476] See above chapter IX.
[Sidenote: 6. Help in times of sickness and plague.]
Methods of relieving the poor in times of sickness were also numerous.
The Great Plague of London was not an isolated attack; throughout
the seventeenth century few years pass without an outbreak in one of
the large towns. Special orders were drawn up to prevent the spread
of infection; watchmen were appointed to guard stricken houses, and
the inmates for the time had to be supported by the community[477].
The cost of this severely taxed local resources. At Cambridge we
hear that in 1630, 2800 claimed relief and only seven score were
able to contribute. In this case a brief was issued authorising
collections from other parts[478], and London and Norwich sent generous
contributions[479]. One town seems to have helped another frequently
when this scourge broke out: New Sarum sent aid to London, Norwich to
Yarmouth, and both New Sarum and Bury thanked the Londoners for the
help they had themselves received under like circumstances[480].
[477] In 1638 at Reading 4_d._ a day was allowed to each person shut
up in the Conduit Close and 3_d._ a day to each of those confined in
Minster Street. _Reading Records_, Vol. III. p. 421.
[478] The brief was issued 25th June, 1630. Cooper's _Annals of
Cambridge_, III. p. 223.
[479] Cooper, Vol. III. p. 225. Some thousands of pounds were collected
in London.
[480] New Sarum contributed £52 to London. _Remembrancia_, VIII. 180.
October, 1636. Bury, _Ib._, VIII. 207, April, 1638. Norwich, see
_Norwich Court Books_, 4th Feb., 1626.
Pest houses were often established; at Reading eight were built,
and we hear of their erection in Norwich, London, Cambridge and
Windsor[481]. The way the funds were raised for the plague-stricken
poor of Windsor is one of the many illustrations of the fact that
private charity and public rates were often used for the same purposes
and administered by the same officials. The site for the pest house
was given by an alderman, some of the money was raised for the relief
of the infected poor "by way of taxation," part was given by gentlemen
of the neighbourhood, and the rest was probably paid out of the town
chest[482]. At Hitchen and in other places relief was given to the
plague-stricken by means of the poor law organisation[483].
[481] Reading: 1639. More than £190 is spent in building eight pest
houses. _Records of Reading_, Vol. III. p. 454.
Norwich: _Court Books_. 12th May, 1630: a pest house was built. 24th
June, 1630: a separate pest house was built by the Dutchmen. 14th May,
1632: two more pest houses ordered to be made.
London: _Remembrancia_, 7, 19.
Cambridge: _Cooper's Annals_, III. p. 226.
[482] Windsor: Tighe and Davis, _Annals of Windsor_, Vol. II., p. 52,
1604. The site of the building was given by Thos. Aldem an Alderman.
Also "There was collected within the Towne for ye reliefe of infected
people by way of taxation £25. 11_s._ 1_d._ Given by divers gentlemen
and other neighbours £29. 6_s._ 6_d._ and paid them over and above
these two somes £17. 5_s._ 2_d._"
[483] The justices of Hitchen thus report their expenses in time of
plague. "By the ouerseers of the poore in this tyme of y^e visitation
128^{li}. Besides the charges of six watchmen and one officer with them
euerie night, And besides dailye reliefe from the houses of the able
and welldisposed. And xx^{li} taxed by us upon the halfe hundred the
greatest parte wherof is not yet payd in. And besides the charges in
setting of poore on worke etc." _D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 349, No. 70.
The Privy Council frequently made orders connected with the plague.
Sometimes they ordered the erection of pest houses, sometimes a special
collection. In Grantham and Worcester the rich fled from the infected
town, so that government was at a standstill; the absentees were
required to pay double rates and, if necessary, to return and help
govern the town[484]. At another time the paper-makers in Suffolk were
prevented from working because of the plague, and a special collection
was ordered for them[485]. All these orders illustrate the paternal
nature of the Privy Council government, and also seem to show that in
social matters it was exercised in favour of the poor.
[484] _Privy Council Reg._ 22nd April, 1636.
[485] _Ib._, 6th and 27th Nov. 1638.
But not only in time of plague was provision made for the sick. At
Norwich it was part of the regular organisation for the poor; in London
St Thomas's and St Bartholomew's hospitals were already in existence,
and in most towns there were numerous lazar houses. In some places the
help provided was even greater than that of to-day; a town physician
was appointed especially to look after the poor. Newcastle adopted
this plan in the reign of Elizabeth, and the practice was continued
down to the time of the Civil War, and in 1629 a "learned physician"
was engaged by the Mayor and Corporation of Barnstaple to give advice
gratis to the poor[486]. This happened just at the time when, as we
have seen, there was great activity in matters connected with the poor,
and is an illustration of the fact that the duties of the seventeenth
century municipality were very various, and that even in 1629 the town
authorities were sometimes pioneers in matters concerning the poor.
[486] 1599: the Town's physician was appointed at Newcastle. _Welford,
Newcastle and Gateshead_, III. p. 132. Seven years earlier a surgeon
obtained by grant of the mayor 40_s._ as his accustomed fee for helping
to cure the maimed poor folk. In 1599, a physician was paid his
quarter's fee and in later years was known as the town physician.
[Sidenote: 7. Contributions to sufferers from fire.]
Fire was another way in which sudden loss was caused to large numbers
of people. Houses were still built largely of wood and often very
close together. Whole towns were not infrequently destroyed. Tiverton
suffered twice in this way, and the suddenness of the calamity to so
flourishing a town seems to have especially struck men's imagination.
"He which at one a clocke was worth fiue thousand pound and as the
Prophet saith drunke his Wine in bowles of fine Siluer plate, had
not by two a clocke so much as a woodden dish left to eate his meate
in, nor a house to couer his sorrowfull head"[487]. In the second
destruction of 1612 three hundred of the poor people were boarded in
the shire, and collections to rebuild the town were made throughout
the country. Similar disasters happened to several other towns, to
Dorchester in 1613 and Hertford in 1637, and like collections were made
for them among charitable people.
[487] Pamphlet of 1598 reprinted in Harding's _Tiverton_, Appendix, p.
7.
1632: "Paid Mr Henderson the townes physician his ½ yeares stipend
due at lady-day 1632, 20_l._" A payment of £10 was also made in 1647,
to "doctor Samuel Rand the townes physition." M. A. Richardson's
_Tracts_, Vol. III. p. 47. Extracts from the municipal accounts of
Newcastle. Barnstaple, Nov. 24th, 1629: "Dr Symes a learned Physician
engaged by Mayor and Corporation to be resident in town and give advice
gratis to the poor at £20 per annum for two years to be paid out of
town stock if not raised by subscriptions." Wyot's Diary, Barnstaple
Records, _North Devon Herald_, April 21, 1881.
Relief was also given to individuals who suffered loss from fire,
sometimes by means of authorised collections and sometimes out of the
public funds[488]. Thus in the North Riding £20 was paid to twelve
persons of Thornton and Farmanby, on account of their losses caused by
fire[489].
[488] Circular letters or briefs were often issued by the Council
authorising collections for the sufferers. W. A. Bewes, _Church
Briefs_, p. 97.
[489] _North Riding Records_, Vol. IV. p. 27. Jan. 16, 1634/5.
[Sidenote: 8. Characteristics of seventeenth century poor relief.]
Thus in the first half of the seventeenth century relief in times of
emergency forms a considerable part of the assistance given to people
in distress.
[Sidenote: _a._ Little distinction between paupers and non-paupers.]
That provided in years of high priced corn was not distributed only
to those who were usually paupers but to the whole of the labouring
class; that afforded in times of fire or sickness affected all classes
of the community. There was thus much less difference between paupers
and the rest of the community than there is to-day. All classes were
relieved because poor relief was originally part of a paternal system
of government under which the rulers regarded the maintenance of the
usual prosperity of every class as a part of their duties. There is a
curious case of landlord and farmer relief during the season of plenty
in 1619. It was then stated that of late years there had been so much
corn that the farmers were impoverished. A letter was therefore sent to
the justices of every county ordering them to confer concerning some
fit place where a magazine might be provided for storing a quantity of
corn. The reason for this is stated to be that it is the "care of the
state to provyd as well to keepe the price of corne in tymes of plenty
at such reasonable rates as may afford encouragemt and lively good to
the farmer and husbandman as to moderate the rates thereof in time of
scarcitie for the releefe of the poorer folke"[490]. Few regulations
could make it clearer than this, that the paternal measures of the
Government were not confined to one particular class, but affected the
whole of the community.
[490] _Privy Council Registers_, 19 Jan. 1619/20.
[Sidenote: _b._ Little distinction between relief afforded by
voluntary donations and that provided by poor rates.]
The distinction between paupers and non-paupers therefore was much
less clear than it is to-day, and it is also true that the distinction
between voluntary contributions and compulsory poor rates was much less
rigidly defined. The supply of the poor with corn is nearly always
stated to have been a voluntary measure, but it was carried out under
very considerable pressure from the justices. Sometimes the pressure
amounted to compulsion. Thus in the Sarum division of Wiltshire some
gave "franklie and freely good quantities of their store" to the poor
but others were "wilfull." The justices "terrified them a little w^{th}
conventing them before the Lords of the Counsell and then they seemed
very willing and tractable"[491]. It is difficult to say therefore how
far the corn charities of the time were voluntary and how much they
were compulsory. There was also a close connection between private and
public charity in other forms of relief.
[491] _D. S. P._, Chas. I., Vol. 182, No. 2. I.
Probably in every town there were numbers of endowed charities
controlled by the municipal officers or by overseers or by some public
or semi-public authorities, which were practically a part of the same
system as that enforced by law. Such were the four royal hospitals of
London and the hospitals of Gloucester and Norwich. Such also were
the many almshouses under the management of corporations, as were the
almshouses founded respectively by Leche and by Kendrick at Reading,
and the many charities for apprenticing poor children and lending
money to poor tradesmen, which we shall afterwards consider in detail.
Sometimes the connection was closer still, and the workhouse like the
Free Library of to-day might be partly provided by private generosity
and partly by public rates. Such was the case with the Barnstaple
workhouse and the Jersey school of Newark[492].
[492] Barnstaple Records, _North Devon Herald_, Feb. 24th, 1881. Mr
John Penrose gave £200 to employ the poor in Bridewell. Shelton's
_Hist. of Newark_, pp. 38, 387.
The relief of the poor in times of emergency thus brings into
prominence two of the main features of the poor relief of the time.
First, that the public compulsory system was developed from a voluntary
system and that in the seventeenth century voluntary and public poor
relief were closely connected. Secondly, that the poor relief of the
time was intimately connected with the general system of government
under which all classes were compelled by Government to do their duties
and any class might be relieved that for the time failed to obtain its
usual degree of prosperity.