THEMES
Hampshire ‘Feet of Fines’
‘Feet of Fines’ documents for Hampshire date back to 1199 and give surnames and placenames of people living in Hampshire in the Medieval period. These are important resources for Hampshire History and help to build a picture of community and settlement…
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 MoreThe Peasants Revolt Summer 1381
The peasants revolt took place in June in 1381 but a better name for it is probably the peoples revolt. It was the beginning of the end for the feudal system and a pivotal episode in English history.
Read MoreEdward VI and Vagrancy Act 1547 Poor Laws
The Vagrancy Act 1547 was an uncaring response to a complicated social and economic situation after the death of King Henry VIII. The poor were penalized for a series of poor decisions by the Privy Council.
Read MorePunishment of Vagabonds and Beggars 1536 Henry VIII
1536 Anne Boelyn executed. Dissolution of the Monasteries commences following Henry VIII’s declaration of Supremacy over the Church… Doesn’t bode well for the poor and idle if that is how you treat the people you love…Trace what happens next in the plight of the poor and the evolution of the wlefare state. It all goes back a lot further than you might think….
Read MoreStatute Punishment of Beggars and Vagabonds 1531
Was Henry VIII and his rule kind to Beggars? How does this act reflect the longer timeline of legislative events that lead to our current day Welfare State and how far back do the roots go, a snippet in a series of linked posts, designed to piece together the evidence that led to the British Welfare State. With great relevance and resonance with our current and hard pressed economic climate…
Read MoreStatute of Cambridge 1388
The starting point the putting down by Richard II of the Peasants Revolt of imposing order and punitive conditions on the poor in what was to become known and codified as the Old Poor Law…follow this chronology and the related law provides a great source of information and the reason why our welffare state in the UK evolves as it does…
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 MoreOld Poor Law
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.
Read MoreSalvador Dali and Edward James collaborated on two artworks together in West Sussex?
Mae west’s Lips, A Sofa, A Lobster Telephone known as the Aphrodisiac, West Sussex Dali Edwards and life in an english Country House, you have got to admit it is intriguing? Oh yes Edward the Prince of Whales, the Wellcome Foundation and just for good measure Somerset Maughan…oh what a tangled web the people and personalities spin throughout our history…
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