Dates
1838: Poor Law Commission's Annual Report including reports from 3 doctors following a survey of some of the worst parts of London.
1839: Survey of sanitary conditions undertaken by Chadwick
1840s: lasting depression
1842: Chadwick's report published
1843: Royal Commission on the Health of Towns
1844: Health of Towns Association
1847: Poor Law Commision replaced by the Poor Law Board
1848: Public Health act
1849-1850: Henry Mayhew's letters to the Morning Chronicle
1850s: Sanitary Acts: Local Authorities given the power to check and regulate overcrowding.
1850-1873 The Golden Age
1853 : cholera epidemic
1859 : Smiles Self-Help
1862: Peabody Trust
1865: cholera epidemic
1867: Second Reform Act (the most stable of the urban working-class enfranchised)
1868: The Torrens Act: local authorities are given powers to demolish insanitary property
1869: COS Charity Organisation Society founded
1870s: Trade-Unions legalized.
1870s: Marshall & Green
1870s: outdoor relief curtailed as much as possible.
1873-mid-1890 the Great Depression
1875: Artisans’ Dwelling Act: allowed for a large clearance of slums in England.
1880s: Housing crisis in London
1881: Fair Trade League (FTL)
1884: 3rd Reform act = right to vote to 2 men in 3.
1884: Social Democratic Federation (SDF) led by Hyndman & The Fabian Society
The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman.
The party was originally known as the Democratic Federation, but changed its name in 1884, to make its socialist politics clearer following a merger with the Labour Emancipation League.
The SDF was an outwardly Marxist party but contained many members who, whilst being socialists, did not consider themselves Marxist. They took part in many elections but met with no success.
On November 13, 1887, the SDF organised and participated in the demonstration in Trafalgar Square that resulted in what became known as Bloody Sunday. Friedrich Engels severely criticised Hyndman for encouraging workers to take part in riots that he hoped would lead to revolution. Engels believed that British workers were not yet intellectually ready to take part in the uprising that would overthrow capitalism. The events did act as a recruiting agent for the party, and led to the formation of the Scottish Socialist Federation in 1888.
The Fabian Society during this period; subsequently, it affected the policies of newly independent British colonies, especially is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning in the late 19th century and then up to World War I.
1886-87: riots in London
8 February 1886: Black Monday
13 November 1887: Bloody Sunday
1886-1887: riots in London
1890s-early 1900’s: Age of Imperialism
1893: Independent Labour Party (J.K. Hardie)
1899-1902: Boer War
1901: Rowntree: A Study Of Town Life
1903: Booth: Life And Labour Of The People Of London
1904: Royal Commission's enquiry into the workings of the Poor Laws => Majority & Minority Reports.
1906: Labour Party created
1906-1912: Liberal Social Reforms
1906: victory of the Liberals
1909: William Beveridge: Unemployment: A Problem Of Industry
: Lloyd George: People Budget
From 1906 to 1912: A series of social reforms:
1908: Children Act: A series of measures for the welfare of children.
- Penalties on parents abusing or neglecting their children; Poor Law authorities to visit and supervise the victims of abuse and neglect.
- Nursing and private children's homes to be registered and inspected.
- Children under 14 banned from public houses and selling cigarettes to under 16 became illegal.
- Juvenile courts created and special institutions for young offenders.
1908: Old Age Pension Act by Lloyd Geaorge (chancellor of the exchequer in Asquith's government):
- A non-contributary pension of 5 shillings per week to be paid to everyone over 70 with an income of less than 8 shillings per week, smaller sums on a sliding scale to those whose income between 8 and 12 shillings per week.
1909: William Beveridge's Unemployment: A Problem of Industry
1909: Lloyd George's People's Budget
1909: Trade Boards Act
An important factor in the regulation of wages in England is now represented by the functioning of the trade boards. The Trade Boards Act of 1909 was passed, as a result of considerable agitation on behalf of workers who were employed under " sweated " conditions, with a view to providing machinery by which their wages might be raised to a more satisfactory level.
1909: Labour Exchanges Act
- Promote mobility of labour. Labour exchanges would advise the worker.
1909: A Development Fund set up
-> to stimulate employment through public works in times of depression.
1911: National Insurance Act
Part 1/ - administration of the scheme by friendly societiies, trade unions and commercial insurance companies approved by the government.
- Cost divided between the worker, the employer and the state.
- In return the insured worker entitled to free medical treatment + sick pay for the 1st 26 weeks of sickness. Maternity benefit for women, disability benefit to be established, patients suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases entitled to free medical treatment in a sanatorium.
- insurance compulsory for workers between 16 and 70 earning under £160 per year.
Part 2/ - a national unemployment insurance scheme for trades with a recurring problem of seasonal or cyclical unemployment.
1912: Minimum Wage Act For The Coal Mines
- Limited interference with wages
Important people and organizations
Sir Edwin Chadwick (January 24, 1800–July 6, 1890) was an English social reformer, noted for his work to reform the Poor Laws and improve sanitary public health conditions. One of the reasons why Chadwick believed in improvement to public health was because he believed it would save money.
Henry Mayers Hyndman (March 7, 1842 - November 20, 1921) was an English writer and politician, and the founder of the Social Democratic Federation in 1884 and the National Socialist Party.
Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 - 25th July 1887) was an English social researcher, journalist, playwright and advocate of reform. He was one of the two founders of the satirical and humorous magazine Punch, and the magazine's joint-editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days. He is better known, however, for his work as a social researcher, publishing an extensive series of newspaper articles in the Morning Chronicle, later compiled into the book series London Labour and the London Poor ; a groundbreaking and influential survey of the poor of London.
Samuel Smiles was a Scottish author and reformer. He wrote Self-Help in 1859.
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree was a British sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist. He wrote A Study Of Town Life in 1901.
Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher, most famed for his work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century- one of the most comprehensive social studies of London which has ever been undertaken. He was born in Liverpool, the son of a corn merchant. Booth was concerned about social problems and recognized the limitations of philanthropy and conditional charity in addressing these problems. He wrote Life And Labour Of The People Of London in 1903.
William Henry Beveridge was a British economist and social reformer. He wrote Unemployment: A Problem Of Industry in 1909.
David Lloyd George was a British statesman who guided Britain and the British Empire through World War I and the postwar settlement as the Liberal Party Prime Minister, 1916-1922.
1909: People's Budget.
J.K. Hardie: funded the Independent Labour Party in 1893
