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3.4 OPPOSITION TO THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, HOW EFFECTIVE WAS THE ANTI…
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In Buckinghamshire people took to the streets when they saw the paupers were being transported from the workhouse in Chalfont to the workhouse of Amersham.
- Special constables had to be sworn in and armed yeonmary were put on the street before they could be transported three miles to Amersham.
In East Anglia newly built workhouses were attacked, the one at ST Clements in Ipswich being badly attacked and officers were assaulted
While the paupers took to the streets those in higher positions used their power to impose the less elibigiblity rule less strictly.
-The more wealthy citizens used power to continue paying outdoor relief.
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Union workhouses were built far from the paupers seeking relief. Therefore, people believed workhouses were extermination centres in an effort to keep poor rate low.
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The Book of Murder circulated which was thought to be work of the Poor Law commsioners. It was suggested that there was intentions of gassing the pauper children.
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People believed that workhouses were an attempt to lower the national wage bill and offer cheaper labour.
Many people did not approve of the centralisation of the Poor Law. The commissioners were London based so they had no real understanding outside London.
Many people believed that getting rid of the Old Poor law would also erase the social contract between the rich and the poor.
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Ratepayers in Northern and industrial areas, prone to cyclical employment believed that it would be to costly to build a workhouse to accommodate for them all.
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Local magistrates and clergy were unhappy about the centralisation of the poor Law commission and the fact there was no longer the traditional master and servant relationship.
Guardians, Magistrates, mill and factory owners resented interference from Londoners as the Act was based on the rural south that had no relevance to them. Workshop factory and mill workers needed short-term relief not sending the whole family to the workhouse.
Those in the north also got behind the 10 hours movement to have hours in textile mills reduced to 10 hours a day.
There were Armed Riots in Huddersfield, Rochdale, Oldham and Bradford that were put down by local militia.
In Huddersfield the guardian George Tinker warned the commissioners in 1837 about introducing a Poor Law.
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