Description
Book SynopsisThis edition of over 600 letters written by or for the poor in the early nineteenth-century Cumbrian town of Kirkby Lonsdale provides a unique window onto the experiences, views and conditions of a much-neglected group in English society. At the most human level, these letters are replete with sickness and suffering, the inability of mothers and fathers to fulfil their basic roles, claims that people were starving and naked, writers who were at death''s door and those who were homeless and desperate. The letters also provide a sense of the emotional landscape of those who have largely escaped the attention of historians of emotion. Here we find anger, suffering, gratitude, hopelessness, fear, humiliation and humility, largely in the words and voice of those who experienced such emotions. And above all we find agency - a group of poor people and their advocates who were willing and able, indeed saw it as their right, to challenge those who administered welfare and attempt to shape a sys
Trade ReviewAn impressively rich resource of primary sources ... It is simultaneously fascinating and depressing to see the historical problems of poverty that echo today ... providing an enriched understanding of the workings of an historic system of poor relief. * Gráinne McKeever, Journal of Social Security Law *
This edition of primary sources is a welcome addition to the history of English welfare... * Samantha Williams, Family & Community History *
This collection provides thought-provoking insights into the workings of the Old Poor Law. * Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History *
Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction THE KIRKBY LONSDALE LETTERS, 1809-1836 Bibliography Index
