Poverty, Language and the New Poor Law in Wales, 1834-1871

The New Poor Law ”… is a sealed book”

Learn about the difficulties faced by the poor in England and Wales when dealing with a central poor law authority responsible for the high-level administration of poor relief for millions of poor people across a bilingual society.

How did the Welsh poor navigate legislation and policies developed centrally in London, primarily by Anglican English speakers? How did Welsh speakers react to this, and how did the London based central administration react to letters written in Welsh by local welfare officials and the poor alike?

Records specialist, Paul Carter will examine some of the issues faced by the Welsh poor and the ways in which Welsh culture was highlighted in the political battles around welfare. He’ll also discuss comparisons of Welsh pauper and advocate letters with their English pauper and advocate counterparts.

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