Researching English ancestors and their movements through various restrictions

Recently while doing some research for an assignment at uni, I found there was more happening in England than I had first realised. I did not realise the extent of the poor relief nor the other laws that were around during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. England itself was changing and the poorer people like the labourer were restricted with their movements more so than what we today think of freedom. Not all families you would find in the family tree would be rich ones and many would be very poor relying on the parish for money. The French Revolution in 1792 would have had the English government worried about the same thing happening there.

There were many things that were restricting the movement of people, although I will not include the rail line as it would have opened up the country to mass movements of sorts. Combination Acts, Settlement Acts and Enclosure Acts all played their part on the lives of the people who did not really have a voice. The restrictions might be helpful in researching your family tree or giving a better understanding of the world during this time period.

Through the Combination Acts that came into being around 1799, it meant unions were effectively illegal and meant people especially workers could not gather or combine to discuss their employment conditions especially their pay. The Acts might not have supported the employees, but they did support the cause of the employer. The Acts were used to suppress radicalisations in society. People could be charged under the Treason Act and Seditious meetings and assemblies Act. Some of the crimes like the Luddite machine breakings could be punishable by death, although many would be transported. Punishments could range from fines to death as said before.

Land enclosure was made through the General Enclosure Act of 1801. The main problem with enclosing land was the poor would be displaced as they did not own the land they lived on. They did not receive compensation and meant the way people farmed would change. The enclosure meant there could be an increased production in food for sale. People no longer had land on the commons that could be used for their general survival. New techniques appeared like the threshing machine, which decreased the need for labour during the winter months.

The Combination Acts were repealed in 1824, but that did not mean groups like unions were safe from prosecution. Other laws could be used against them and people like the Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced under Forbidden Oaths Acts and miners were viewed under ‘Master and Servant Acts’ with the impression they had broken their contracts of employment. The Tolpuddles were actually transported to Australia and were later sent back to England.

Movement of people were restricted especially those who could be considered to become a burden on other parishes. The Act of Settlement was used within two ways. Save the rate payers from Paupers and provide the local farmers with a guaranteed pool of local labour. Obstacles were placed in front of many people who were seeking settlement within a new parish. There was the constant threat of being sent back to the original parish they were recorded as being settled inhabitants. People who arrived within another Parish had forty days to prove they could survive within the parish they had settled in by making sure they did not become a burden or else they would have been sent back. When work was lean or during winter the labourer would be paid an allowance by the parish after being paid by the farmer for a smaller amount known as the Roundsman system. Every parish would be different as this did not always occur.

Poor Relief under the Poor Law could be considered to be a form of social control for the people who could not survive without it. The basic level of the Poor Law came from the Tudor Code, which meant the labourer could provide labour at fixed wages through magistrates. For reasons beyond the labourers control if they are unable to work, the community will maintain, educate and be cared for until they can work again. It did not mean the poor relief could not be used as an instrument for social control by discriminating against people. There were many circumstances when money needed to be paid out to the workers like winter months when there was little work, during agricultural downturns and when wages fell to the point labourers could not survive without the extra money. An idea that was adopted in 1795 by Oxford Quarter Sessions meant the poor would not starve, the authorities seen the need to use poor relief to subsidise the price of bread during periods of falling wages. The laws changed in 1834 after the Poor Law commission reviewed the system. It was felt the Poor relief caused more problems than expected like stagnating the market as people’s incentive to work was destroyed and lowered their productivity.

The hunting of game was restricted through game laws and game wardens were used to enforce the rules. The gentry could hunt on their own land, but the people who did not own land could not hunt on them. All wild animals including rabbits were considered to be game and anyone caught hunting without permission would be considered to be poaching. The laws did change around 1831, which included the smaller land owners with land worth under a certain amount. Poaching by day was let off with leniency, but being caught poaching at night meant when caught people could be transported.

There was plenty during the time period that could lead to transportation and the laws did restrict people. I have not covered everything and have only scratched the surface of what life would have been like. The life of a labourer would have been extremely tough. The government experienced wars with France and agricultural downturns along with many smaller riots like the Swing that I have not covered.

Sources

Armstrong, Alan 'The countryside', Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950, ed. F. M. L. Thompson, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 87-153.

Fox, Alan 'Alternatives and choices : the 1790s to the 1840s.', History and heritage : the social origins of the British industrial relations system, London, G. Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp. 68-123.

Hobsbawm, E. J. and Rude, George. 'The rural poor; The village world.' Captain Swing, London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1969, pp. 38-71.

Huzel, J.P. ‘The labourer and the Poor Law, 1750 – 1850’, The Agrarian history of England and Wales, VI, 1989, pp. 755 – 810.

Leeson. R.A.  ‘Association… the malady of our times’ – the Combination Acts and after 1800 – 1850’, Travelling brothers: the six centuries’ road from craft fellowship to trade unionism, London, Grenada Paladin, 1980, pp. 100 – 121.

Marshall, Dorothy ‘Rural England’, Industrial England, 1776 – 1851, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973, pp. 56 – 88.

Thompson, E. P. ‘The field labourers’, The making of the English working class, Hammondsworth, Penguin, 1968, pp. 233 – 258.

Wright, D. G ‘Introduction: Class and class consciousness’, Popular radicalism: The working class experience, 1780 – 1880, London, Longman, 1998, pp. 1 – 22.