Famine; Speenhamland system of Poor Relief

Historical Context Note

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Paul Delaney (Trinity College Dublin), Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Domains

Economic Crises
Famine

Dates

Date of occurrence 1795-05-06-1834

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Location)
United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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The harvest of 1794 had been very poor, and agricultural prices had already been driven up by the war with France, so with the additional shortages the poor were on the brink of starvation by January 1795. By April a wholesale revolt of the militia, put in arms to defend the nation against the French and Revolutionary threat, was possible, as proved by the revolt of five hundred men of the Oxfordshire militia at Blatchington near Seaford who seized a vessel laden with flour at Newhaven. It was in this climate of public concern that the magistrates of Berkshire met on 6 May at the Pelican Inn in the village of Speenhamland and decided that, rather than just providing the workless with basic work in the workhouses and offering a bare subsistence, they needed to address the destitution of…

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285 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Famine; Speenhamland system of Poor Relief". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 May 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=374, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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