Wages were universally low and Agricultural Labourers and their families often flirted with poor relief, the workhouse and even theft. Illness was a constant fear and the death of the breadwinner could throw the whole family into destitution. Despite this, rural workers were considered to be among the healthiest in the country, the combination of hard exercise, fresh air and a healthy diet combining to good effect.
It was normal practice for children to be put to work almost as soon as they were old enough to walk. As such they received little education and soon became familiar with long working days. Agricultural Labourers and their families were often living hand-to-mouth and in poorer areas what money was available was sufficient only to feed the parents and the younger children. So once a child had reached the age of 13 or so they were packed off to work elsewhere as Farm or Domestic Servants. Given the ages of these employees, they were vulnerable to exploitation and the conditions in work-gangs, where children could be employed and housed in groups of 50 or more under adult 'gangers', caused a national scandal. On the other hand, this was before social support was available so parents felt the need to have large families so that they would be supported in their old age.
In the late 1700’s, the only education widely open to the poor was provided by Sunday Schools. These provided lessons in basic literacy with the aim of allowing individuals to read their Bibles. However, financial pressures at home meant that some children could not take advantage of even this basic education. Elementary education for all children became compulsory after 1870, but in the countryside this was often ignored. To try and encourage attendance, rural Schools worked to adapt their curriculum to the working year; the origins of the ‘6-week’ summer holiday being to free children to work at harvest time.
Before the Poor Law reforms of 1834, each Parish was responsible for looking after its own charity cases and each worker had a place of Settlement where they could seek Parish Relief in times of difficulty. For Agricultural Labourers and their families this realistically meant the Parish of their birth; with wives and children inheriting that of the breadwinner. The Parish authorities were obviously reluctant to take on the support of individuals or families unless they had to, so people attempting to claim Relief in the Parish of their residence would routinely be sent back to the Parish of their Settlement no matter how tenuous their current links were with it. This system became increasingly ineffectual as urbanisation and mobility grew. As a result, from 1834 several Parishes would be grouped together as a Poor Law Union to spread their liability. A report over 1776-7 recorded that around one in seven Parishes had established Workhouses to cater for their charity cases; the others instead offering Outdoor Relief. With the formation of the new Unions, however, Workhouses became central to the strategy for dealing with individuals unable to pay their way.
The increasing use of machines in the late 1700's and early 1800's reduced the need for agricultural workers; driving down wages and forcing many to seek work in the mills and factories of the new industrial towns and cities. Smaller farms were absorbed by bigger and more efficient neighbours, requiring a smaller number of hands to work the same area. In the second half of the 19th Century rural workers had the additional burden of the Great Agricultural Depression (1873 to 1896) in which cheap grain imports from the US destroyed the market for domestic farmers and further squeezed wages.
As the number of rural unemployed grew, emigration came to be seen as an obvious solution to the problem. Parishes and Unions actively encouraged the migration of their poor to the growing towns and cities, or to the Colonies. Sometimes they went as far as paying for the passage of their paupers, or took advantage of offers by the Colonial authorities to ship out new workers at discounted rates or for free.
To counter such problems, Friendly and Benevolent Societies sprang up to provide financial support if a member fell into difficulties. These were popular and well organised and proved to be a breeding ground for Trade Unionism.
At various times rural workers attempted to force changes in their working conditions. In 1830, ill feeling against increased mechanisation, low wages and inflated rents boiled over into the Swing Riots in southern and eastern England. The Riots had a profound effect on the new Whig Ministry of the time, but local responses were harsh; 19 rioters being hanged, 481 transported to Australia, and 644 imprisoned. Three years later, an attempt to use the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers to form a Union at Tolpuddle in Dorset led to 6 of the leaders being transported to Australia; though the ‘martyrs’ were pardoned in 1836 after mass protests. In 1866, the Agricultural Labourers Protection Association was formed in Kent, Bucks and Herts. This was a Union in all but name and led to the formation of the Agricultural Labourers Union (ALU) in 1873. ALU’s first demands were for a 9-and-a-half hour maximum working day and 16s. per week minimum wages. By 1873 it had 71,835 members organised into 982 Branches.
In religion, workers traditionally tended to follow the practices of their employers. So if a Labourer shifted employer he might also start attending a different Church and observing different religious practices. In the towns and cities, non-conformity took a firm hold during the 1700’s and 1800’s as it moved into voids left by the established Church; the Church was slow to recognise the growth in urban populations and so there was often an inadequate number of church buildings to meet the demands of a given area. Non-conformist chapels offered an alternative that was more easily accessed and, in addition, introduced beliefs that struck a chord with the labouring poor. The more static, conservative life in rural areas was not so affected, but non-conformity nevertheless took a hold as a reaction to the ‘status-quo’ policies preached by the established Church.
A study in 1850 showed a marked difference in the wages paid to Labourers in different parts of the country. In the North and North-West, where the mines and mills offered plentiful alternative employment, farmers were forced to pay a premium to keep their workers. So that men in these Counties were paid, on average, a third more than their southern counterparts.
Northern Counties Southern Counties
Midlands & North-West Weekly South-West Weekly
Wages Wages
Cumberland 13s 0d Warwick 8s 6d
Lancashire 13s 6d Northampton 9s 0d
West Riding, Yorks 14s 0d Buckingham 8s 6d
Cheshire 12s 0d Oxford 9s 0d
Derby 11s 0d Gloucester 7s 0d
Nottingham 10s 0d North Wiltshie 7s 6d
Stafford 9s 6d Devon 8s 6d
Average 11s 10d Average 8s 4d
North East South-East
Northumberland 11s 0d Norfolk 8s 6d
Durham 11s 0d Suffolk 7s 0d
North Riding, Yorks 11s 0d Huntingdon 8s 6d
East Riding, Yorks 12s 0d Cambridge 7s 6d
Lincoln 10s 0d Bedford 9s 0d
Average 11s 0d Hertford 9s 0d
Essex 9s 0d
Berkshire 7s 6d
Surrey 9s 6d
Sussex 10s 6d
Hampshire 9s 0d
South Wiltshire 7s 0d
Dorset 7s 6d
Average 8s 6d
Northern Average 11s 6d Southern Average 8s 6d
Average for the country as a whole was 9s 6d.
From ‘English Agriculture in 1850-51’ by James Caird
The above table can be put into perspective when the average weekly outgoings of even a small family are considered:
Weekly Expenditure of a Farm Labourer, his Wife, and Three Children.
Prices in shillings (s) and pence (d)
5 Gallons Bread 6s 3d
1/2 lb. Butter 8d
1 lb. Cheese 6d
1 lb. Bacon 8d
1/2 lb. Sugar 2d
Pepper, Salt, &c. 1d
2 oz. Tea lb. 4d
1/2 lb Candles 3 1/2d
Soap 2d
Soda, Starch, and Blue 1d
Coals 2s 0d
1 Faggot 2 1/2d
Rent and Rates 1s 6d
Man's Sick Club 6d
Boots 7d
Children' Schooling 3 d
14s 3d
(Note that there are no luxuries or clothing included)
From The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 29 (1874): 686-697
There were also marked regional differences in work practices. In the south farms covered an average of 100 acres and employed 5-7 Labourers. In the North, however, the average size was just 60-70 acres and only 2-3 Labourers were employed.