In this paper, which is closely based on his 2009 BALH Annual Lecture, delivered at Local History Day in June, Professor Nigel Goose gives a broad-ranging and comprehensive overview of the development of almshouses, their significance in the context of charity and assistance to the poor, and their adaptation to the changing circumstances of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He begins with a discussion of their medieval origins, highlighting the rationale for the establishment and their relationship to a confusing array of other charitable institutions. Regional divergence is indicated, as almshouses were considerably more popular in some parts of the country than others. Consideration of the sixteenth century is in the context of emerging strategies towards poor relief and public assistance, a feature which the title of the paper—‘the mixed economy of welfare’—draws to our attention. This period is also notable for the attention given by historians, albeit with differing conclusions, to the general theme of the rise of philanthropy. Discussion of trends in the seventeenth century includes a wealth of statistical evidence which researchers have drawn from probate records, and indicates a blurring of the distinction between public and private assistance. For the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the trend was towards larger-scale giving, with private charity becoming a major—though remarkably unrecognised—force in overall welfare provision. The article discusses the circumstances of almshouses in the twentieth century, with the challenges that were posed by the advent of the Welfare State. Throughout, the article, which is eminently readable and accessible, gives statistical information and many local examples to illustrate the general patterns under consideration. The references signpost readers to key texts and sources, and the article is highly recommended to anyone wanting to investigate any aspect of charity, as well as of course almshouses, in their own area.

Dick Hunter, ‘Making ends meet: household survival strategies in the East Riding in the nineteenth century’, pp.20-28

The attention of historians who have investigated poverty after the passing of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act has tended to focus on the role of the workhouse and the official records of Poor Law Unions. In this paper Dick Hunter considers other dimensions to poverty, looking at the circumstances of individual households in an area of the East Riding between York, Selby and Market Weighton, with special reference to the Pocklington poor Law Union. . He introduces the concept of ‘survival strategies’, which relate to the economic cycle, seasonal employment, and the vagaries of weather, as well as to the immediate considerations of the ‘life cycle of the household’. He discusses wage levels and the potential household earnings of those involved in agricultural work, including the wage differentials between men, women and young people, and emphasises the vital role of casual labour and temporary employment. The application of the increasingly strict limits placed upon the payment of out-relief is noted, and the pressure placed upon the Union to build a workhouse in accordance with the 1834 Act. An important dimension to the analysis is that it places the role of the individual parish centre-stage—they remained significant units after 1834, but their role is often overlooked or dismissed. Attitudes of parish officers to poverty, and their espousal of solutions such as sponsored emigration, are considered. The article gives useful correctives to the over-simplistic view of post-1834 policies, and offers ideas and themes for local historians to explore.

A.D. Harvey, ‘Parish politics: London vestries 1780-1830 (part 2)’, pp.29-40

The first part of A.D. Harvey’s impressively-detailed and meticulously researched article was published in August 2009. This second section carries the story of the vestries of the London area into the reign of George IV. It begins with a discussion of the role of the parish clergy in local administrative affairs, and their very varied characters, powers and effectiveness. This is followed by an analysis of the parish clerk, a key figure who could potentially exercise considerable personal and administrative authority. This is demonstrated by specific examples, including attempts in the 1820s challenge the choice of clerk and to contest disputed elections. Because of its very nature, London was inextricably involved in national politics, to a degree unknown in other parts of the country. There is a lively and informative analysis of the loud voice of the parish vestries, as they campaigned for particular causes, engaged directly with ministers over political issues, and vocally supported Queen Caroline in the celebrated scandals of 1819-1821. The politicisation of vestry government included a concerted effort by radical elements to attack the select vestries, and to create open forms of administration. These are analysed in depth, placing those campaigns in the context of wider movements towards political reform, widely encountered during the 1820s. The article is a major contribution to our understanding of London and its government on the eve of the Victorian period, and is exemplary in its fluency and high standard of referencing.

Greg Finch, ‘Dotland deserted: enclosure, economic change and personal ambition in early modern Northumberland’, pp.41-56

This article was the outright winner of the British Association for Local History Publications Awards 2009. It first appeared in the Hexham Historian. Dotland is a tiny hamlet three miles south of Hexham, and Greg Finch has traced its history between the medieval period and the end of the eighteenth century, seeking to establish the reliability of claims that it was a deserted medieval village. Using a rich variety of primary sources, including the landscape of the community, he has analysed its agricultural history, including open fields and enclosure, and has teased out the details of the settlement patterns and forms. It was always a small community, but clearly had shrunk rapidly at some stage. The research increasingly focused on the period from the mid-seventeenth century onwards, which forms the core of the article. The key players were members of the Rowland family, the main landowners in the vicinity, but Greg Finch places them and their estates in the context of regional economic and social changes, of which the industrial and urban development on Tyneside was the most important element. John Rowland who inherited in 1666 as a small child, subsequently built up his estates but became mired in debt by doing so. Enclosure accompanied land purchases, triggering the start of depopulation, but in 1706 Rowland was forced to sell his entire holdings to his chief mortgagor, John Ord, a highly-ambitious Newcastle lawyer, financier and manipulator. The estates at Dotland, acquired purely for investment, were reorganised, and the hamlet became almost deserted as a consequence—by 1839 there was one very large farm where, three centuries earlier, 20 households had lived and worked. The article is a superb case-study, a model not only in its use of a very wide range of sources but also in the clarity and force of its analysis.