The welfare system of the time, referred to as relief under the New Poor Law, was often forcefully contested between paupers and those who administrated the system. In this talk, you will meet ordinary people at the extreme lower strata of Victorian society, who campaigned to their social “betters” for more acceptable levels of poor relief.

This talk will examine how the Victorian poor tried to explain their poverty, the conditions in which they lived, and what they considered should be their rights to welfare in times of unemployment and/or sickness.

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In Their Own Write: The Testimony of the Victorian English and Welsh Poor