Introduction

This volume explores questions surrounding what types of assistance were available to people out of work and who should receive that assistance during the nineteenth century. Documents on the Poor Law, voluntary organizations, and work relief schemes all demonstrate how central the work imperative was in the ways officials decided which applicants for assistance were deserving and which were not. Sources address many of the significant issues surrounding local relief to the unemployed, the growing influence of methodical approaches to charitable giving, and the use of measures of character embedded in the work imperative to choose worthy men to relieve. Accompanied by extensive editorial commentary, this volume will be of great interest to students of British History.