Title Almshouses in early modern England : charitable housing in the mixed economy of welfare, 1550-1725 / Angela Nicholls

Published Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK : The Boydell Press, an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd, [2017] ©2017

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Description 1 online resource (278 pages) : illustrations, maps Series People, markets, goods: economies and societies in history ; volume 8 People, markets, goods ; v. 8. Contents Frontcover; Contents; List of Illustrations; List of Tables; Acknowledegements ; List of Abbreviations; Prologue; Introduction; 1. Housing Policy; 2. Chronology and Distribution of Almshouse Foundations; 3. Almshouse Founders and Their Motivations; Who were the donors?; The role of religion; Memorialisation; Status, reputation and responsibility; Religious identity; Order and good governance -- the Commonwealth and the Anglican Restoration; Conclusion; 4. Almshouse Residents and the Experience of Almshouse Life; Rules of eligibility; Age; Gender; Poverty; Rules of Behviour; Conclusion 5. The Material Benefits of an Almshouse PlaceAccommodation; Stipends and material benefits; The standard of living of almshouse residents; Conclusion; 6. Case Study: A Seventeenth-Century Welfare Republic -- the Parish of Leamington Hastings and its Almshouse; The founding of the almshouse; Gaining control of the almshouse; How the parish used the almshouse; Who were the almspeople?; The parish elite; The Poors Plot Charity; Parish housing; Conclusion; Conclusion; Appendix 1: Almshouse Foundations by County, 1550-1870; Appendix 2: Size of Almshouses in Eight English Counties, 1550-1725 Appendix 3: Almshouse Numbers and Places in Three Counties, 1550-1800Appendix 4: Minimum Subsistence Budget in 1690s Adjusted for Inflation; Bibliography; Index Summary This book is an examination of early modern English almshouses in the 'mixed economy' of welfare. Drawing on archival evidence from three contrasting counties - Durham, Warwickshire and Kent - between 1550 and 1725, the book assesses the contribution almshouses made within the developing welfare systems of the time and the reasons for the enduring popularity of this particular form of charity. Post-Reformation almshouses are usually considered to have been places of privilege for the respectable deserving poor, operating outside the structure of parish poor relief to which ordinary poor people were subjected, and making little contribution to the genuinely poor and needy. This book challenges these assumptions through an exploration of the nature and extent of almshouse provision; it examines why almshouses were founded in the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who the occupants were, what benefits they received and how residents were expected to live their lives. The book reveals a surprising variation in the socio-economic status of almspeople and their experience of almshouse life Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Almshouses -- England -- History -- 16th century Almshouses -- England -- History -- 17th century Almshouses -- England -- History -- 18th century POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Social Security. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Social Services & Welfare. HISTORY -- Europe -- Great Britain. Almshouses England Genre/Form History Form Electronic book Author Economic History Society, sponsoring body. ISBN 9781782049371 1782049371

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