Parish economies of welfare, 1650-1834

This article argues for a more holistic approach to understanding the Old P oor Law. Using three detailed case studies from southern England, it focuse s on the dynamics of differing social groups within the parish. It also loo ks at the role of the law, looking beyond the statutes to the parts played by King's Bench, Quarter Sessions and individual justices and petty session s in creating a diversity of experiences for the poor. However, it also str esses the differential access to charitable funds, common rights, and poor relief in individual communities, and the ways in which parish elites attem pted to put the total available resources to what they saw as the best uses . From 1650 to 1780 these combined resources allowed a generally humane app roach to the treatment of poverty and misfortune, and maintained the indepe ndence of the cottager and labourer in southern England. Only after 1780 wh en population rose sharply and rural employment shrank did the flexibility of combined charitable and rate-based relief founder and more drastic devic es were employed to cope with basic needs. In this process the independence of the labourer and cottager was undermined, charitable sources were margi nalized, and the seeds were sown for the acceptance of the New Poor Law.