Agents in their own Concerns? Charity and the economy of makeshifts in eighteenth-century Britain

Abstract

In 1721, several 'Welsh gentlemen' complained to the governors of the Welsh Charity School in Clerkenwell, claiming that poor families were leaving Wales for London so that their children could benefit from the charity. Consequently, they said, agricultural labour was in short supply, damaging the country. Their objections challenged the institution's patriotic and utilitarian credentials and adapted general criticisms - that charity schools took poor children away from husbandry, among other evils - to a recent and distinctive foundation, which targeted the Welsh for financial and political support. What they understood by 'country' - was it Wales or Britain, for example? - was not stated in the school's minute books, and is one of a number of instances where institutional specificities cut across broader charitable discourse. The governors responded with a new rule, restricting admission to those children whose parents, friends or relations had lived in London or Westminster for at least three years. [opening paragraph]