ABSTRACT
The historiography on the pre-1834 poor law represents the new style of Anglo-American history; it is dominated by the procedures of testing and the concepts of social science. This chapter considers this kind of history without theory, explains how it works and arrives at its conclusions; the historiography on the poor law after 1834 provides the material for a case study. It argues that this kind of historiography depends on received ideas and that, in this particular case, the received ideas are thoroughly confused and misrepresent the official strategy in the poor law after 1834. Since the early 1960s, there has been a flood of doctoral theses, articles, and books on the post-1834 poor law. The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act set up a central authority responsible for the supervision and direction of relief administration by local authorities. The key questions about workhouse construction are defined by our knowledge of the difference between post-1834 strategy and pre-1834 relief practice.
