Women, Welfare and Local Politics, 1880-1920

This is an interesting local and biographical study, with a slightly misleadingly comprehensive title and rather marred by a bad-tempered attitude to other historians. Its chief focus is Mary Haslam, born in 1851 into a prominent Unitarian business family in Bolton, Lancashire, later a Poor Law Guardian, activist in a large number of philanthropic and campaigning organisations and founder of a suffrage organisation in the town. Her working diary as a Poor Law Guardian between 1893 and 1905 is reproduced here. Its brief, factual entries give a fascinating impression of the efforts of Haslam, as of many female Guardians, to improve conditions in the workhouse and of administration of outdoor relief. She inspected frequently and minutely every aspect of workhouse life: November 20 (1894): Visited Lock and Cancer wards, and interviewed the cook about the hash and tea. Consider that the time allowed for cooking the former (1 3⁄4 hours about) is not enough and this also true of the pea soup, the peas being usually quite hard. January 30 (1895): Enquired into under clothing of children and thought we had better speak with the matron, with a view to substituting drawers for stays for the girls

Administration (probate law · Clothing · Favourite · Genealogy · Guardian · Political science · Politics · Poorhouse · Sociology · Suffrage · Welfare · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Social Policy and Reform Studies

• Men of Yesterday

  Neil Quinn•Family & Community History•2015

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