Abstract

Limited research has been conducted on the ways in which land agents were involved in the administration and management of poor relief on estates. Literature on the old poor laws has focused on the individuals vested with powers under law to administer poor relief (such as parish officers and magistrates) and literature on land agents has overlooked this role. In order to address this deficiency, this article examines the richly detailed correspondence of William Spencer, who worked in Leicestershire for John Frewen Turner, and his role in implementation of a deterrent workhouse system in the early nineteenth century. Spencer directed the establishment of the new institution, negotiated between the landowner and key individuals in the community, and gleaned information about poor relief practices in other locations. Spencer also held prejudices against individuals in the community, and reported their resistance to the new workhouse. This case study illustrates some of the ways in which land agents influenced and managed poor relief system in nineteenth-century rural England.