Constitutional Crisis People’s Budget 1909
What would cause a king to contemplate the end of the Monarchy and that his son might be the last King? When his Barons, the Lords would rise-up and revolt against the rule of democracy and seek to reinvent the will of the people via its commons from being fulfilled. Lloyd George and Winston Churchill would be the advocates for the poor and common man. Asquith would seek to calm the rage and the King would plead with the Lords to let the Bill pass but it would take two General Elections and never again would this unwritten convention be relied upon without statute to support it.
Read MoreWilliam Booth and the Inspiration behind the Salvation Army 1865
William Booth founder of the Salvation Army had a vision but what were his motivations and how did he achieve what he did. Explore the biography of William Booth.
Read MoreStatute of Labourers 1351
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?
Read MoreVagabonds and Beggars Act 1494
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…
Read MorePoor Law Amendment Act 1834
The draconian Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 was to seal the fate and abject misery of many poor people through the majority of the19th century. Find out here the basis of the law and how it was implemented in Victorian Britain.
Read More