Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. : Appendix Volume XXI. Report to the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress on an inquiry in certain unions into cases of refusal of out=relief / By Miss G. Harlock.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress.
Date:
1910
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. : Appendix Volume XXI. Report to the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress on an inquiry in certain unions into cases of refusal of out=relief / By Miss G. Harlock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    TOWNSHIP OF MANCHESTER. CASE-PAPER No. 27. E. J. (Widow). Age.—53, Earnings.—None. Attends women at their confinements. Character.—Unsteady. Children.—James, married, with three children, assists in iron works, paj^s mother Is. 6d. Abraham (13), lives with his brother, who keeps him. John, married, with one child, in jam works, pays mother Is. Daughter, married, no children, address not known. Housing.— General Conditions.— Poor Law Relief Granted.—Medical relief. Temporary relief, 2s. Out-relief, two weeks, 6s., December, 1907. Order for House, January 8th, 1908. Other Help.—None. Relations (other than children) legally liable or able to help.—None. Cause of Application for Relief.—Sickness, and want of employment. General Remarks. January, 1908.—I could not trace this case, but was informed that Mrs. J. has been a decent woman but has taken to drink and is deteriorating. She was staying with a friend when she applied for relief, but told the relieving oflScer that she was in lodgings and had a room there. When he went to see the room, he discovered that she had not spoken the truth. The woman with whom she had been staying told me that Mrs. J. used to be a very respectable woman but that she was going down. She often gives way to drink. She used to look after women at their confinements, but people won't have her now, on account of her unsteady habits. These facts Were corroborated by other inforihatioD which I obtained. March, 1908.—Address still unknown. TOWNSHIP OF MANCHESTER. CASE-PAPER No. 28. E. R. (Widow). Agl.—17. Earnings.—Actual, none. Normal, uncertain. Charwoman. Owes for rent. Health.—Good. Character.—Not satisfactory, always applying for relief, and not truthful. Children.—John (21), glass worker, 7s. Anna Jane, printers' assistant, 8s. Mary Ellen (18), printers' assistant, 7s. Walter (15), out of work. Mary Agnes (12). Catherine Batty, married, husband a packer, has four children. Mark, glass worker, married, has one child. Housing.—Live in two rooms in a tenement dwelling, converted from an old mill. Poor neighbourhood. Rent, 4s. 3d. weekly. Six inmates. General Conditions.—Fairly cl^an, furniture frugal, but comfortable. Poor Law Relief Granted.—Order for the Workhouse, January, 1908. Had relief twelve months since. Other Help.—None. Relations (other than children) legally liable or able to help.—None. Cause of Application for Relief.—Insufficient means. General Remarks. January, 1908.—Mrs. R. is trying to find work for herself. One son is out of work. Mary Jane (18) looks puny and undergrown. Mrs. R. is not a satisfactory character. She is evidently idle and untruthful. March, 1908.—John, 21, is now out of work. Mrs. R. is a strong, able-bodied woman. The two daughters have left the printers, and are now employed in a cotton mill. My impression of this family is the same as it was in January. Mrs. R. would not allow me to enter her room, but told me that it was inconvenient for me to do so. She gave as her reason for refusing, that her son was just going to bed, as he was working at nights at the glass-house. She stated that she could get no work to do herself, but I place no trust in anything she said to me. She told me she had applied for relief because none of the family had been earning on account of the Christmas holidays, and she thought some relief would just help them to pull round a bit. TOWNSHIP OF MANCHESTER. CASE-PAPER No. 29. J. C. (Widower). Age.—52= Earnings.—Actual, none. Normal, uncertain. Jobbing bricklayer, known locally as property repairer. Heavily in debt. Health.—Good. Character.—A thoroughly weak man, and terrified of his son (22), who is out of work. Children.—Mary (25), French polisher, 8s. Patrick (22), plasterer and slater, out of work. Margaret (17), French polisher, 3s. Martyn (14), works at glass-house, earns 5s. Mary (14). Joseph (10). James (8). Housing.—Live in house with four rooms. House situated in a side street. Fair neighbourhood. Rent, 4s. 6d. weekly. Eight inmates.