Voices of Ulster's poor: charitable requests, c.1850-1920s

Abstract

This thesis explores the everyday experiences of the poor in Ulster between c.1850 and 1921, as they are described in requests for charity written by different members of the Irish family: women, the sick, children, and the aged. It examines the manner in which individuals constructed their arguments, including the language and rhetorical strategies that they employed as they sought to win the favour, and ultimately the assistance, of philanthropic organisations and individuals. This study is based on two rich collections of primary sources, namely 585 petitions sent to the Drapers Company in south County Londonderry between 1849 and 1902, and 1,554 applications to the Presbyterian Orphan Society in Belfast during the 1900-20 period. A case study based on the qualitative analysis of a sample of Drapers letters done utilising NVivo software argues the case for the adoption of a novel methodology for historical research. The remainder of the thesis draws upon the narratives found in both the petitions and the applications to the Presbyterian Orphan Society to access the voices, and the lived experiences of poverty, of some of the Province’s poorest inhabitants.

These narratives illustrate just how delicate the balancing act between impoverishment and survival was, and that when the scale was tipped in favour of poverty by a cataclysmic event such as a death or ill-health, no part of the family was immune to its effects. This gave rise to a number of important survival strategies, such as mothers entering into paid employment and older daughters assuming their role within the home, whilst other children were sent out to work as soon as they were old enough, so that their small wages could also be added to the household income. Widowed women and the aged in particular relied heavily upon wider networks of familial and community support. When these options failed to provide sufficiently for a family, their preferred final recourse was to a charity, with outdoor relief and the workhouse widely shunned by this distinct sub-section of the poor. Thus, this thesis counters arguments which have presented the nineteenth and early twentieth-century Irish poor as an inert, downtrodden mass who displayed little to no agency which has largely prevailed throughout historiography. Instead, it emphasises that despite experiencing significant vulnerability to poverty, women, the sick, children and the aged made themselves heard as they navigated the expanding Irish philanthropic landscape during these years. As such, the impact of this project is twofold. It both enhances current understandings of these groups through the addition of their first-hand accounts of poverty, and meaningfully adds to the scholarship on petitioning in nineteenth and early-twentieth century Ireland, which remains a relatively new and under-explored area.

Thesis is embargoed until 31st May 2027

Date of Award	May 2025
Original language	English
Sponsors	Northern Bridge Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership
Supervisor	Andrew Sneddon (Supervisor) & Leanne McCormick (Supervisor)