THEME The Law and History

Statute Punishment of Beggars and Vagabonds 1531

This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law

Was Henry VIII and his rule kind to Beggars? How does this act reflect the longer timeline of legislative events that lead to our current day Welfare State and how far back do the roots go, a snippet in a series of linked posts, designed to piece together the evidence that led to the British Welfare State. With great relevance and resonance with our current and hard pressed economic climate…

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Statute of Cambridge 1388

Statute of Cambridge
This entry is part 1 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law

The starting point the putting down by Richard II of the Peasants Revolt of imposing order and punitive conditions on the poor in what was to become known and codified as the Old Poor Law…follow this chronology and the related law provides a great source of information and the reason why our welffare state in the UK evolves as it does…

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Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages
This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Reforming Women
This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part 3 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals

Set in the stocks for even being suspected of being idle, puts in context ‘we don’t know just how lucky we are, part of the sequence of the Old Poor Law and certainly gives some insight into the plight of the poor and the conditions imposed on them by the ruling elite…

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Old Poor Law

This entry is part [part not set] of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

The Old Poor Law was the codified series of statutes that predated the draconian Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the timeline of this law casts some light on the origins of welfare and the plight of the poor in England for many years. If you have any reason to want to better understand the basis of society during the 19th century then some reference to these legal orgins will be helpful.

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Women and Suffrage

Women’s suffrage affected generation after generation of women. It took thirty years from the formation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society to the Representation of the People Act in 1928 for all women to have an equal right to vote in the UK

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Elizabeth Fry Reformer and Quaker

Elizabeth Fry social reformer

The work of Elizabeth Fry, Quaker and social reformer inspired others such as Florence Nightingale. Her courage and work was outstanding in a time when women were considered to have few roles outside of the family

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Thomas Telford London to Holyhead Road

The debate over the high speed rail link between London and Birmingham, made us think about Thomas Telford, building a slightly controversial high speed road between London and Holyhead in 1819

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