The Speenhamland system was a form of outdoor relief intended to mitigate rural poverty in England and Wales at the end of the 18th century and during the early 19th century.

Speenhamland system, practice of economic relief for the poor that was adopted over much of England following a decision by local magistrates at the Pelican Inn, Speenhamland, near Newbury, Berkshire, on May 6, 1795.

The Speenhamland System was a method of providing relief to the poor in rural England that emerged in the late 18th century. Established by local magistrates in 1795, it aimed to supplement the wages of agricultural laborers based on the price of bread.

The idea spread rapidly in the south of England and it is thought that the system saved many families from starvation. Although Pitt attempted — and failed — to have the idea passed into legislation, this method of poor relief was not a national system.

“Speenhamland” was not created to support the unemployed or eradicate poverty. It aimed to provide a (mainly rural) labour force at low direct cost to employers, using local taxation (“poor rates”) as subsidies to supplement the poverty wages of farm workers.

Speenhamland poor relief system. Growth of population and acute distress during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars placed great strain upon the poor law system. In 1795 the price of bread, the labourer's staple diet, reached record levels.

The Speenhamland System was a method of giving relief to the poor, based on the price of bread and the number of children a man had. It further complicated the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law because it allowed the able-bodied - those who were able to work - to draw on the poor rates.

Mar 1, 2011 · Speenhamland was one of many similar systems in use throughout England, but has become the best known. The use of it and other bread scales for poor relief was abolished by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, which introduced the workhouse system.

Although it had its origins in the 1782 Act, the growing practice around this time of supplementing low wages from the poor rate became known as the Speenhamland system, named after the Berkshire parish of that name.

Mar 12, 2025 · A system of poor relief first adopted in the late 18th century and established throughout rural England in succeeding years, named after the village of Speenhamland near Newbury, Berkshire, where the system was adopted by the magistrates in 1795.