Piece
See MH 82/12
Catalogue reference: MH 82/49
Date: 1954 Sept 16-1956 Nov 15
See MH 82/12
Item
Folios 120-121. Letter from Thomas Hopkins, Guardian of the Kidderminster Poor Law...
Catalogue reference: MH 12/14016/64
What’s it about?
This record is about the Folios 120-121. Letter from Thomas Hopkins, Guardian of the Kidderminster Poor Law... dating from 25 Jan 1837 in the series Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and.... It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- MH 12/14016/64
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Date (When the record was created)
- 25 Jan 1837
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Description (What the record is about)
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- Content
- Folios 120-121. Letter from Thomas Hopkins, Guardian of the Kidderminster Poor Law Union, to the Poor Law Commission, complaining about a recent article in the local newspaper, the Kidderminster Ten Towns Messenger, which he has sent separately by the same post [not included]. He refers the Commission to the third page of the newspaper, second column [no date given], an article headed 'Kidderminster Poor Law Union'. Hopkins, had raised the matter of the article with the guardians at a meeting the day before but they had considered it 'unworthy of attention'. His letter does not provide the content of the article but it seems to bring the Poor Law Union into disrepute. He states that, as a former overseer of the poor, the story is highly exaggerated and serious enough to report to the Commission. He requests the Commission, if they agree with him, to tell the Chairman of the Kidderminster Board of Guardians, 'Lord Mountnorris', to have it 'publicly noticed'. Hoskins then relates in detail what appears to be the background to the article. A 'number of men' had applied on 17 January 1837 for poor relief because they had had no work from their employer since Christmas. He explains that this is a normal situation, 'being a manufacturer myself I know from experience that little or no work is commenced for a week or more after Christmas', [and implies that this is not the same as being unemployed]. It seems that the men were expected to ask their employers to lend them money until the expected work recommenced and that they were told to do this to prevent them being registered as paupers, also they were asked to withdraw their applications [for poor relief]. However, the relieving officer was told that, if 'any one of them absolutely required relief before the next Board Day, to administer it', but none had applied. The relief would have been refused, Hoskins says, because it has since become clear that their employer had apparently loaned them £10, also that G A Philips, Medical Officer, had left them £20 [not clear when, nor how many men the sum is for]. The newspaper should have known or investigated all these circumstances before publication, therefore Hoskins considers that the article was calculated to do 'much mischief' regarding the new poor laws. Hoskins writes at some length about the great numbers of lazy people who, before and after the new Poor Law Amendment Act, have taken advantage of the system for poor relief. He believes, if this is allowed to continue, it will diminish the guardians' efforts to improve relief for 'the aged, infirm and deserving Poor'. He quotes a new case of a Kidderminster man [not named] living outside the Borough of Kidderminster area, who had been receiving poor relief of three shillings a week for four years but whose former employer now states, when asked to sign a certificate, that the man and his family 'had it in their power to earn regularly 31 19s 0d'. Annotation: the newspaper not yet been received. Paper Number: 660/C/1837. Poor Law Union Number 530. Counties: Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C10563180/
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Series information
MH 12
Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and...
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This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
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Within the department: MH
Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Health and successors, Local Government...
90,136 records
Within the series: MH 12
Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and...
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Within the piece: MH 12/14016
Kidderminster 530. (Described at item level).
You are currently looking at the item: MH 12/14016/64
Folios 120-121. Letter from Thomas Hopkins, Guardian of the Kidderminster Poor Law...
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