I am giving a talk this week (11 July 2024) to the Society of Genealogists about Genealogy and the Little Ice Age. You can still register to hear the presentation here.
Among the
many results of the climatic change from the bountiful times of the Medieval
Warm Period was the widespread migration of people, in many cases to far-flung
locations around the globe.
Because of the
harsh physical conditions that existed during the ensuing colder Little Ice Age,
employment in the agricultural sector was reduced. Large numbers of people, primarily
the poor and laboring classes, ended up moving to neighbouring communities and
into urban areas in search of new lives.
These
shifts into towns and cities resulted in a whole new dynamic in those urban
areas. The greater concentration of people with different backgrounds and
experiences forced into a large social and cultural melting pot led to
interpersonal conflicts, expanded political expression, property ownership
changes, spread of diseases and all the other good and bad things that go with
city life.
The timing
of the Little Ice Age, with the downturn in living conditions and initial
widespread death, was the catalyst for more government involvement, some of it
to provide welfare for destitute citizens, some of it to control the populace.
Initial efforts through the 16th century were directed to protecting employers and landholders from the loss of labourers as destitution led to mass migration into towns. It would be decades and intense suffering through the cold period of the Little Ice Age before specific acts to assist the poor were formulated.
All the early Poor Laws
attempted to restrict the movement of people and fix wages. They ended up being
pretty much ineffective as people invariably went where work was available and
employers who needed workers hired anyone they could find.
The Poor Acts of the 1550s were the first to formally
address poverty but these laws merely downloaded the responsibility, creating
collectors of alms in each parish. Local authorities and residents, primarily the churches, were obliged to
request, record, and distribute charitable donations for poor relief.
Note that
it was not until the early 16th century that parishes finally began
keeping records of marriages, baptism and burials that could be used to keep
track of people. The Poor Laws further provided that each parish
would keep a register of all its “impotent, aged, and needy persons” and the
aid they received. In all of this legislation, and in the parish lists,
then, both to control as well as assist people, it was required that
individuals could be identified which then stimulated the use of surnames begun
in the 14th century.
Important Acts of the British Parliament:
·
1494
Vagabonds & Beggars Act
·
1536
Act for Punishment of Sturdy Vagabonds & Beggars
·
1563 Act for Relief of the
Poor
·
1597
Act for Relief of the Poor
Get a copy of my book, Genealogy and the Little Ice
Age. Information about it can be found on this website here.
