Why was Quarry Bank Mill so successful

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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Glossary
Poverty Not earning enough for food, clothing
and housing. Outdoor Relief Poor people were
given relief (from poverty) while they still
lived in their own homes. Workhouse A place
where poor people were given food and shelter in
return for work. Master and Matron The people
in charge of a workhouse, often husband and
wife. Board of Guardians Local people elected to
supervise the running of a workhouse. Less
eligibility Conditions inside a Workhouse had to
be worse than conditions for the lowest paid
labourer outside. Living wage When workers are
paid a wage that is sufficient to live in. Poor
Rate Money collected from local property owners
to support the poor. Monotonous Dull and boring.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step One The New Poor Law
Critic I am against the New Poor Law because it
has ended outdoor relief for poor people. This
helped them because they could get money for
short periods when they might be unemployed and
they could still live in their own homes. There
has been a lot of unemployment because of the
growth of factories and changes to farming.
Factory workers would not have any pay if there
was no work at the factory. Farm labourers are
being put out of work by machinery. On top of
this the cost of bread is going up, so many poor
people need help to feed their families. The New
Poor Law says that the only way that the poor can
get help is by going into a Workhouse. This has
got to be a more expensive way of helping them!
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step One The New Poor Law
Supporter I am in favour of the New Poor Law
because it will save money and encourage the poor
to work harder. The new law will save money
because the Workhouse will be less eligible.
This means that the poor will be less likely to
choose to go there, rather than to take the
lowest paid job and to live at home. To do this,
families will be broken up, inmates will have to
wear a uniform and they will be put to work. The
food they eat will be the cheapest and most basic
and they will have their lives organised for
them. Less eligibility means that the Workhouse
will be worse than conditions for the lowest paid
labourer outside its walls. This will stop those
lazy idlers from scrounging money by asking for
poor relief.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step One The New Poor Law
Critic By ending outdoor relief the poor will be
unfairly punished for their poverty. The real
causes of their poverty is not laziness, but low
wages, high food prices and under-employment. If
the poor were paid a living-wage then they would
not have to ask for help. No matter how hard a
man works he still never earns enough to support
his family. This has been made worse by the very
high prices of bread. Sometimes the poor do not
have regular work. When there is no work, factory
workers are laid-off, but they will not be paid.
Farm labourers have been put out of work by the
new threshing machines. The poor cannot do
anything about their low wages or their
unemployment. The New Poor Law punishes them for
their poverty. This cant be right.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step One The New Poor Law
Supporter I am in favour of the New Poor Law
because it will encourage employers to pay a
living wage and to help workers during periods of
unemployment. The old system of poor relief made
up a mans wages so that he had enough money to
feed his family. This encouraged employers to pay
the worker less than a living-wage. It also meant
that employers could lay workers off for short
periods, without having to pay them. It also kept
a lot of farm labourers in areas where there was
not enough work for them. The New Poor Law means
that the Poor will get back their self-respect,
because it will force employers will have to pay
a living wage and a man will be able to support
his family without having to beg for charity.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step One The New Poor Law
Critic The real causes of poverty are low wages,
unemployment and rising food prices. Wages are
particularly low in farming areas because there
are more workers than jobs. Things have been made
worse by the rocketing cost of food. This has
been caused by a shortage caused by war and the
population rise. You cant solve the problem by
treating the poor like criminals. Poverty is not
a crime!
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step One The New Poor Law
Supporter The real causes of poverty might be low
wages, unemployment and rising food prices, but
the Workhouses will solve the problem. The poor
are not being punished, they are being helped. By
being put to work in the Workhouse they are being
given back their self-respect. Less eligibility
means that we will help those who really need it,
not the scroungers. Employers will be forced to
pay a living-wage, or all of their workers will
end up in the Workhouse. They will also benefit
from harder working employees. We have solved
the problem by treating the scroungers like
criminals. We will give back the honest labourer
his self-respect.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Two Regulations
Critic I think that the Workhouses are too harsh
because inmates are forced to wear a special
uniform and that there are a lot of rules that
are designed to humiliate them. Paupers are given
only bread and potatoes for two days for (use
extreme examples from the less serious
offences) One of the punishments is to lock the
inmates up for a day. An inmate can be locked up
for (use extreme examples from the most serious
offences) These rules are far too strict.
Paupers should not be punished for their poverty.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Two Regulations
Critic I think that the Workhouses are too harsh
because inmates are forced to wear a special
uniform and that there are a lot of rules that
are designed to humiliate them. Paupers are given
only bread and potatoes for two days for making a
noise during silence, using bad language,
pretending to be sick, misbehaving during church
and returning late after an outside visit. One
of the punishments is to lock the inmates up for
a day. An inmate can be locked up for causing a
disturbance during prayers or disobeying the
master or matron. These rules are far too
strict. Paupers should not be punished for their
poverty.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Two Regulations
Supporter I think that the Workhouses are doing
a very good job of treating people properly and
encouraging good behaviour. As soon as a pauper
is admitted (explain about the medical
inspections) Punishments are used to encourage
good behaviour. An inmate can be locked up for
(use examples of the serious offences) One of the
punishments is to lock the inmates up for a day.
An inmate can be locked up for (use examples of
the most serious offences) . These rules have to
be strict. Paupers should not be taught how to be
responsible.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Two Regulations
Supporter I think that the Workhouses are doing a
very good job of treating people properly and
encouraging good behaviour. As soon as a pauper
is admitted Punishments are used to encourage
good behaviour. An inmate can be locked up for
using bad language, not keeping clean, entering
the wrong part of the Workhouse, refusing to work
and disobeying an officer of the workhouse. One
of the punishments is to lock the inmates up for
a day. An inmate can be locked up for insulting
the master or matron, disobeying the master or
matron, damaging workhouse property and getting
drunk. These rules have to be strict. Paupers
should not be taught how to be responsible.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Three Reality Gressenhall Workhouse
Critic I think that the Workhouses are too harsh
because inmates were treated badly. They had very
long hours of work and very little free time,
they were ounished harshly for minor offences,
were fed on a monotonous and basic diet and were
mistreated by the employees of the workhouse. For
example, in Gressenhall Workhouse (use some
examples of mistreatment from pages 53 and
54) These rules are far too strict. Paupers
should not be punished for their poverty.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Three Reality Gressenhall Workhouse
Critic I think that the Workhouses are too harsh
because inmates were treated badly. They had very
long hours of work and very little free time,
they were punished harshly for minor offences,
were fed on a monotonous and basic diet and were
mistreated by the employees of the workhouse. For
example, in Gressenhall Workhouse paupers rose at
545am and went to bed at 8pm. During this time
they were expected to work for ten hours. Their
food consisted of bread, gruel for breakfast
suet pudding, bread and cheese for dinner and
bread and cheese for supper. Once a week they had
meat and on three occasions they had vegetables.
It is not surprising that John and Anne Craske
were caught stealing bread! For this they were
locked up for twenty four hours and fed on bread
and water for the rest of the week. Thomas
Butcher, the porter, had to be dismissed because
There were complaints that he had sworn at the
inmates.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Three Reality Gressenhall Workhouse
Supporter I think that the Workhouses treated
people properly and encouraged good behaviour.
For example, in Gressenhall Workhouse (use
some examples of proper treatment from pages 53
and 54) The rules are far fair. Paupers are
being looked after and helped to find work.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Three Reality Gressenhall Workhouse
Supporter I think that the Workhouses treated
people properly and encouraged good behaviour.
For example, in Gressenhall Workhouse the paupers
are taught the discipline of early rising and
retiring to bed and the virtues of hard work.
Theft is discouraged by firm, yet fair
punishment. The paupers receive an adequate diet.
The dismissal of Thomas Butcher shows that their
complaints are acted upon. The excellent work of
Mr and Mrs Pinson shows successful a well run
workhouse can be. During their seven years as
master and matron, they reduced expenditure,
whilst showing great kindness to the inmates and
finding jobs for over a hundred orphan children.
In the workhouse school and excellent education
was provided for over eighty boys, for the cost
of a single schoolmaster. The rules are far
fair. Paupers are being looked after and helped
to find work.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Four Reactions
Supporter The new workhouses have improved the
morals of the poor. The public houses and beer
shops are much quieter and there is not so much
drunkenness. The poor rates have been greatly
reduced and the old and sick are still cared
for. The New Poor Law has saved huge sums of
public money. People who could not be made to
work have become good labourers. People are more
willing to look for work than they were in
1834. The workhouse is held in great dread. The
poor would rather die than go into the workhouse.
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Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the
New Poor Law?
Step Four Reactions
Critic Parents and children are dying in the
workhouse without seeing each other. The
separation of a man and wife are not what the
good Lord intended. The New Poor Law treats
poverty as a crime. The New Poor Law is cruel. It
should be called the starvation law. Freedom,
food and clothing are the right of every
Englishman. In the north of England the New Poor
Law is causing great distress. The mill workers
are rioting and many workhouses have yet to be
built. The workhouse is held in great dread. The
poor would rather die than go into the
workhouse.