Clothing the poor in early-nineteenth-century England

Jones, P. (2006) Clothing the poor in early-nineteenth-century England. Textile History, 37(1), pp. 17-37. (doi: 10.1179/004049606x94459)

Abstract

In a pioneering study in this journal, Steven King suggested that parish clothing provision was of fundamental importance in the eighteenth century both in terms of local social relations and the perceived standing of parish authorities. This article tests his thesis for the first decades of the nineteenth century, confirming that parish clothing was indeed pivotal in maintaining a sense of local social justice. However, it takes issue with King's reasons for the relatively high levels of clothing provision enjoyed by the poor, suggesting that they had as much to do with a set of shared values between giver and receiver as they did with considerations of parish prestige or social order.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Jones, Dr Peter
• Authors: Jones, P.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Textile History
• Publisher: Informa UK Limited
• ISSN: 0040-4969
• ISSN (Online): 1743-2952
• Published Online: 19 July 2013