Past Talks
The Work of the Relieving Officer in Bletchingdon District
Date: 18th March 2024
Speaker: Charles Eldridge
The Work of the Relieving Officer in Bletchingdon District – Charles Eldridge –
18th March 2024
Charles Eldridge is completing a one-place study of Bletchingdon and, as part of his research, he has investigated the role of the Relieving Officer for Bletchingdon District, George James Dew, and the background to his work.
Before the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1536-9, responsibility for the poor lay principally with these religious establishments. Thereafter, this was replaced by parish poor relief.
The Elizabethan Poor Law 1601 sought to consolidate all previous legislation for the relief of the poor. It introduced outdoor relief which was designed to support people in the community and took the form of financial support or non-monetary relief, such as food and clothing. Indoor relief included taking the poor to local almshouses and a small number of workhouses were established at this time.
From around 1700, several factors influenced the fate of the poor. The Industrial Revolution resulted in a greater movement of the workforce, with the resultant negative effects of sub-standard housing in growing urban areas. The population doubled from 6 million due to larger families and fewer infant deaths. Enclosure, particularly of common land, meant less land for the landless poor of the countryside to grow food and raise animals. In the Bletchingdon district, half of the eighteen parishes were enclosed. Poor harvests and high grain prices in 1816 and in the 1820s exacerbated the situation.
The Swing Riots of 1830 followed a period of agrarian unrest and were protests against agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions. Help for the poor was disparate, with some being well-catered for, whilst others had barely enough money to survive. The Poor Law Amendment Act 1934 sought to address these inequalities and eradicate abuse of the system.
Under the Act (known as the New Poor Law), relief would only be provided within the workhouses. These workhouses were designed to be austere, discouraging all but the most destitute from seeking assistance, and encouraging those who could, to find employment. A Board of Guardians was set up to administer each workhouse, consisting of landowners and clergy. Forty members represented the thirty-eight parishes of the Bicester Poor Law Union.
Two Relieving Officers covered the Bicester Union: George James Dew (1846-1928) was the only one who retained his records. He was the son of a blacksmith and carpenter from Lower Heyford. He married the local schoolmistress in 1872. He succeeded James Hoare (1811-1847) and James Collingridge (1826-1879).
He walked most of the southern parishes; didn’t like alcohol and its effects on family life; he was sympathetic to the farmworkers’ trade union in the 1870s and argued with the Board of Guardians, who had to authorise relief. Dew often proposed to grant outdoor relief, whereas the Guardians favoured admitting paupers to the workhouse.
The Application and Report Books for Bletchingdon exist for the period from 1836 to 1920. Cases principally related to injury, illness, infirmity and old age. Hannah Bazeley (an ancestor of our speaker) was a widow with four children. The records indicate that she received some outdoor relief, but the Bletchingdon Charity moved her to one of its almshouses. The charity had four almshouses, sixteen cottages and supported twenty families prior to 1834. Those applying for relief, if successful, could expect it to be granted for a very limited period, commonly, for one week, so regular re-application was required. Assessment of income would include the children’s wages, even if those children were no longer living at home, thereby establishing the expectation that they would continue to support the family. Dew would submit these details to the Board of Guardians for a decision, but agreement was not always guaranteed.
The Bazeley family was sizeable and several members emigrated, as the village could not sustain everyone. In 1844, a dozen family members received relief and, as the years went by, most of the family received help in old age. Dew was keen for them to remain in the village, rather than being admitted to the workhouse in Bicester.
Where no support was forthcoming, villagers could apply to the Bletchingdon Friendly Society. Members paid into a fund that provided help when misfortune struck.
In the 18th century, smallpox was a deadly disease. It killed more children each year than any other disease and also killed thousands of adults. The wide use of the smallpox vaccine led to a fall in deaths. In 1853, the government made the vaccine compulsory and vaccination was organised by the Relieving Officer. Although not universally popular, after 1872, this was strictly enforced.
The Relieving Officer also took on the role of registrar of births, deaths and marriages, as the new registration districts were based on those of the Poor Law Unions.
Our speaker felt that George James Dew should be more widely recognised for the work that he did among the poor and for the records that he maintained that are so useful to us today.