SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



were largely swelled by the surplusage of weavers, many of whom were 

 being gradually but hopelessly deprived of their occupation as cloth or 

 fustian weavers by the introduction of the power-loom.'"' So acute was the 

 distress both of the poor and of those who had to support them that a 

 Parliamentary committee was appointed to inquire into the working of the 

 poor laws in parts of Lancashire. The Reports of the Lords Committee/'* 

 which sat in July, 1817, and examined many witnesses from Manchester 

 and Bolton, revealed a very distressing and economically disastrous condition 

 of things. The number of applicants for relief in Manchester had increased 

 from 354 persons in March, 18 16, of whom 146 were Irish, to the alarming 

 number of 1,413 in the following year, 806 of these being Irish. The 

 Manchester Board, by way of following out the spirit of the Elizabethan 

 statute enjoining the local authorities to ' set the poor on work,' had provided 

 a factory where work was given to those who applied. In 1 8 1 6 out of 

 seventeen weavers working there the rates of pay per week were as follows : — 

 Four at 4J. ; two at 5J. ; one at ys.; one at 8j. ; four at gs.; and one at ioj. 

 In 1 8 17 there were nine at 4/. ; twenty-five at ^s. ; fourteen at 6s. 6d. ; 

 four at ys.; five at 8j.; three at gs.; and one at los. Other statements of 

 wages were, in 18 16 : — Batters, pickers, and reelers, from is. 6 J. to 5J. a 

 week ; carders, 2s. to 6^. ; labourers, 3J. to js.; tailors, 3J. 6d. to 5^. ; shoe- 

 makers, 3 J. to 5J.; joiners, 6s. to 8s.; spinners, 8j. to igs. These were 

 maintained in the local workhouse at a daily cost of 3/. loj^.*"^ 



The town of Manchester was described by the witnesses *"' as contain- 

 ing in the year 181 1 a population of 78 to 79,000 and Salford contained 

 from 19 to 20,000. The whole hundred of Salford is spoken of as embrac- 

 ing an extensive population of about 350,000 in this year, and of these 

 170,000 belonged to the parish of Manchester, which comprised no less 

 than thirty townships. A great number of the distressed poor were con- 

 tributed by the Irish who settled there, and the majority of the suffering 

 poor were weavers out of work. The greatest period of distress was the 

 month of December, in the last week of which 549 Irish and 484 English 

 had applied for relief. 



The main cause of distress appeared to be the rapid fall in the wages of 

 the weavers, who a few years before could earn 1 5J. a week, but now only 6s. 

 or ys., and often not more than 4J. The spinners on the other hand were 

 not in a state of depression. They were employed in factories, and earned 

 as much as i gs. a week. One reason assigned for the distress was the early 

 marriages of the working class : young married couples frequently applied 

 for relief. 



Questioned as to the food of the working class, it was stated to be 

 chiefly potatoes and oatmeal with some bacon. Wheat flour was only used 

 as a luxury when their means enabled them to obtain it. 



The poor law officers did their best to help the sufferers, in many cases 

 paying their year's rent to prevent the looms being seized by the bailiffs. 

 Soup kitchens were started also by private charity, and there were many 



"' Re/i. of Select Com. on Manuf. &c. 659, par. 1 1 1 10-12. ' I cannot name the year accurately, but I 

 should think they have been manufacturing fustians lo years by power ' (1833). 

 *" Pari. Rep. 179 ; Rep. from Select Com. on Poor Lam, 4 July, 1817. 



*"' The Report gives a list of the numbers maintained and the sex and employment of each ; ibid. 4.7. 

 "" Ibid. Pari. Rep. 



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