A Pauper's History of England: 1,000 Years of Peasants, Beggars and Guttersnipes

by Peter Stubley

Overview

What would English history look like from the gutter? The past is traditionally told from the viewpoint of kings and queens, politicians and pioneers. But what about the people struggling to survive at the very lowest levels of society? Surely the poor are just as much a part of our heritage?

A Pauper’s History of England covers 1,000 years of poverty from Domesday right up to the twentieth century, via the Black Death and the English Civil War. It uses contemporary sources creatively to give the reader an idea of just what life was like for the peasants, paupers, beggars and the working poor as England developed from a feudal society into a wealthy superpower.

Experience the past from a different perspective:

• Tour the England of the Domesday Book
• Make a solemn Franciscan vow of Poverty
• Join the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381
• Converse with Elizabethan beggars’ and learn their secret language
• Meet the inmates of Bedlam Hospital and Bridewell Prison
• Enjoy a gin-soaked Georgian night of debauchery
• Spend the night in a workhouse
• Go slumming in Victorian London

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783376117
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	11/06/2015
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Peter Stubley is a crime journalist and historian. He was born and raised in the north of England but lives in London. This is his third book.

Table of Contents

List of Plates 7

Introduction 9

Chapter 1 Domesday 12

Chapter 2 The King of the Poor 19

Chapter 3 Mendicants 26

Chapter 4 Black Death 30

Chapter 5 Rebellion 35

Chapter 6 To the Spital House 46

Chapter 7 The Counterfeit Crank 50

Chapter 8 A Census of the Poor 59

Chapter 9 Bridewell 65

Chapter 10 Witch Hunt 72

Chapter 11 At the Fair 82

Chapter 12 Bedlam 86

Chapter 13 The Common Side 90

Chapter 14 Gin 94

Chapter 15 Foundlings 98

Chapter 16 Night Walkers 103

Chapter 17 The Black Poor 111

Chapter 18 Poor Stockingers 115

Chapter 19 The Workhouse 122

Chapter 20 Immigrants 129

Chapter 21 Street Orphans 134

Chapter 22 The Casual Ward 139

Chapter 23 Sleeping Rough 148

Epilogue 153

Notes and Sources 154

Index 162