ABSTRACT
The 1830s saw a profound change in welfare structures, with the introduction of the New Poor Law and the assessment of existing charity provision by the Charity Commissioners. A new network of charitable elites emerged, who in effect took over from the Poor Law administrators as arbiters of respectability of the poor and of their need within a local community. 1 Regulated charity was an important part of the Victorian welfare system, with the middle and upper classes benevolently helping those not so fortunate, but only those who were perceived to be deserving. The idea of self-help was also increasingly fundamental to charitable provision, whether in monetary contributions to a club or by receiving instruction in sewing, for future self-reliance. Such self-help initiatives sought to discourage dependence on welfare provision but were counter to the way that some poor had regarded their right to parish relief. 2
