Corn Laws Economic History and Big Data

This entry is part 7 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

Learn a little and want to know more then this video by Cambridge University Expert D’Mariss Coffman can help. Find out how this humble grain and cereal returns lead to the “birth of political economy” and the start of Big Data as evidence for economic outcomes. Lecture given as part of the excellent Gresham College series.

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Statute of Labourers 1351

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Reforming Women
This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part 4 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

In 1351 following Plague and pestilence there was a shortage of Labour and the ruling elite were not happy to have to ‘suffer’ the inflationary costs that resulted as workers for the first time had the power to refuse to work for low wages. Was this the distant start of organised labour in Britain and a capsule that reflects the uneasy relationship between the monarch, parliament and the people…Will the Peasants Revolt?

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Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Reforming Women
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part 5 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

Set in the stocks for even being suspected of being idle, puts in context ‘we don’t know just how lucky we are, part of the sequence of the Old Poor Law and certainly gives some insight into the plight of the poor and the conditions imposed on them by the ruling elite…

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Old Poor Law

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

The Old Poor Law was the codified series of statutes that predated the draconian Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the timeline of this law casts some light on the origins of welfare and the plight of the poor in England for many years. If you have any reason to want to better understand the basis of society during the 19th century then some reference to these legal orgins will be helpful.

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Workhouse Test Act 1723

This entry is part 10 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

Workhouse Test Act of 1723 was more of the same in terms of oppressive laws thinly disguised as a programme of social welfare that worked in reality more as a form of repression and implied punishment. The plight of the poor was not as yet something that governments saw as anything but a problem and cost to be minimised. Find out more in this article and a series of connected posts tell the story of the history of lay in respect of the poor.

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