Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

On Tuesday last, a poor man, residing at Wortley near Leeds, but belonging to the township of West Ardsley, took his wife and five children to the latter place, in a hackney coach, for the purpose of procuring parochial relief. They left the coach at a distance from the overseer’s house, proceeded thither on foot, and were relieved in the most liberal manner, and after taking some refreshment at the inn where the coach waited for them, they returned home in that handsome and comfortable vehicle.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

I guess this anecdote, repeated in other papers, was grist to the mill of those who sought to reform the Tudor system of parochial social security, and a royal commission was set up just over three years later. But was it true?

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Original

On Tuesday last, a poor Man, residing at Wortley near Leeds, but belonging to the Township of West Ardsley, took his wife and five children to the latter place, in a hackney coach, for the purpose of procuring parochial relief. They left the coach at a distance from the Overseer’s House, proceeded thither on foot, and were relieved in the most liberal manner, and after taking some refreshment at the Inn where the coach waited for them, they returned home in that handsome and comfortable vehicle.

89 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601 (3) ·
• English Poor Laws (2) ·
• Hackney carriage (2) ·
• 📌Leeds (235) ·
• Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4) ·
• Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws 1832 (1) ·
• West Ardsley (1) ·
• Wortley, Leeds (4) ·

All tags.

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