Piece
See MH 82/12
Catalogue reference: MH 82/49
Date: 1954 Sept 16-1956 Nov 15
See MH 82/12
Item
Folios 149-153. Letter from Robert Weale, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, to the...
Catalogue reference: MH 12/14016/81
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This record is about the Folios 149-153. Letter from Robert Weale, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, to the... dating from 14 Feb 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 12/14016/81
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Date (When the record was created)
- 14 Feb 1837
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Description (What the record is about)
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- Content
- Folios 149-153. Letter from Robert Weale, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, to the Poor Law Commission, enclosing a newspaper cutting and a copy of a letter, both received from Henry Saunders, Clerk to the Guardians of the Kidderminster Poor Law Union. They all concern a public meeting held in Kidderminster in January 1837 [23 January 1837] for the purpose of petitioning Parliament to repeal 'the obnoxious Clauses' in the Poor Law Amendment Act. Weale's letter is, apparently wrongly, dated 1836; it was received 15 February 1837 by the Commission. Weale's letter informs the Commission that, after seeing a recent article in The Times newspaper about the Kidderminster meeting, he had requested details from the Kidderminster Poor Law Union, in particular about who was involved and how many were ratepayers. Commenting on Saunders' response to this request, he discounts the validity of the numbers who signed the petition, quoted as 3,830, as he knows there are only about 578 ratepayers in the Borough of Kidderminster. From the meetings he has previously attended in the town, he has not seen evidence of opposition from the ratepayers in general. The newspaper cutting, from the Kidderminster Ten Towns Messenger, shows an article on one side titled 'KIDDERMINSTER. ANTI-NEW-POOR-LAW MEETING' (details below). The reverse side (summarised below) lists the prices of goods, the state of the markets, also the details of the newspaper owner and publication, including the date, Friday 27 January 1837. The main details of the 'Anti-New-Poor Law' meeting, as reported in the newspaper, are as follows: 1. The meeting was held on Monday evening [23 January 1837] at the Wheatsheaf Inn 'to consider the propriety of petitioning Parliament to repeal the obnoxious Clauses of the New Poor Law Bill' [Poor Law Amendment Act]. 2. There were three main speakers, Mr Tuck, Mr Stevens and Mr Regan, with six resolutions, all apparently carried unanimously and mostly accompanied by 'loud applause' and 'tremendous cheering', although there is no indication of the numbers at the meeting. 3. Tuck, the Chairman, claimed that the Poor Law Commission had too much power, many of the clauses in the Act were 'cruel and oppressive' to the 'working classes', and he urged people to show their opposition. All the speakers included reminders to their supporters to use only legal and peaceful means to make their objections known. 4.The six resolutions were as follows: Resolution 1: Proposed by Mr Stevens, seconded by Mr Thomas, 'That this Meeting feel the deepest regret at the introduction of a system of Poor Laws throughout this country, unjust in principle, oppressive in practice, and contrary to the laws of God'. From the article, it seems that Stevens spoke eloquently for the motion but said that he was not advocating support for the 'idle and disorderly, which was not likely in Kidderminster 'where almost every artizan was recognized, and his character well known to his superiors'. Resolution 2: Proposed by Mr Regan, seconded by Mr Richards, 'That this Meeting is of opinion that the power vested in the Commissioners is arbitrary and unconstitutional, inasmuch as the Poor are deprived of their natural rights, mothers separated from their children, husbands from their wives, and all confined in prison, enduring privations unparalleled in the history of this country'. Resolution 3: Proposed by Mr J Richards [John Richards], seconded by Mr Beaumont, 'That this Meeting view with alarm the dreadful consequences which may arise from the Law, by aggravating the distress of the Poor, rendering them discontented, and tending to alienate their affections from their Sovereign and Country'. Resolution 4: Proposed by Mr S Richards, seconded by Mr Long, 'That this Meeting feel the deepest disgust and indignation at the removal of the aged and infirm from their social comforts which they enjoyed under the fostering hand of the benevolent Rate-payers'. Resolution 5: Proposed by Mr Parsons, seconded by Mr Regan, 'That the thanks of this Meeting be given to the Magistrates and Rate-payers of this Borough for their opposition in vestry to the introduction of this degrading and oppressive Law into this town'. Resolution 6: Proposed by Mr Lucas, seconded by Mr Parker, 'That this Meeting do pledge themselves to use every legal and constitutional means in their power to obtain a Repeal of the obnoxious clauses in the New Poor Law Bill, and that a Petition be sent to the honourable the House of Commons, praying for a Repeal of those clauses'. The newspaper also reported that a Mr O'Leary had caused some trouble, interrupting the reading of the fifth resolution saying that he had been invited to read that resolution. He had made observations 'which savoured strongly of Radicalism' but did not seem to have much support from the other speakers, nor the 'working classes' present at the meeting. The reverse side of the newspaper cutting from The Kidderminster Ten Towns Messenger [also known as The Kidderminster Messenger], lists the prices of the following goods, with comments on the state of trade: Flour, in Kidderminster, Norfolk and Suffolk, Stockton and Yorkshire, Ireland, also wheaten bread in London. Tallow and candles, trade 'extremely lively this week'. Meat markets at Newgate, Leadenhall and Smithfield, trade 'moderate to middling'[London]. Hops, in Kidderminster, where there is very little business as 'the dense atmosphere with the prevailing illness has thrown a gloom on the market'. Seeds: clover seed from Rotterdam, Hamburg and Calais, a 'heavy trade', also in rapeseed, hemp, canary, turnip, linseed, mustard, trefoil, coriander, caraway, tares. Wool, in Liverpool [Lancashire], Bradford and Wakefield [Yorkshire West Riding], varying condition. Also included on the reverse of the newspaper cutting is an article on raspberry plants taken from the London Botanical Magazine, including comments from Mr Springer, a gardener, also details of the newspaper company and names of their agents. The title is given as 'Ten Towns Messenger and Gazette', the ten towns covered being Kidderminster, Bewdley, Bridgnorth, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Dudley, Ludlow, Stoubridge, Stourport and Tenbury. The proprietor is Arthur Brough of Church Street, Kidderminster, where the papers are printed. [Continued at MH 12/14016/] Paper Number: 1213/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/C10563197/
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MH 12
Local Government Board and predecessors: Correspondence with Poor Law Unions and...
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Kidderminster 530. (Described at item level).
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Folios 149-153. Letter from Robert Weale, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, to the...
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