Source A is by the Aberdeen Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor, in the late 19th
century. (6 marks
Our aims are to encourage, in every available way, the efforts of the poor to live sober lives and to
discourage idleness. In general, we want to help those who are sober and hardworking but who
through illness or accident are in danger of being plunged into poverty. These are the only people
who deserve our help.
How useful is Source A as evidence of attitudes to the poor at the end of the 19th century?
Source A is from a letter describing conditions in London around 1890 by a campaigner for change.
In one cellar a sanitary inspector reports finding a father, mother, three children and four pigs! In
another room a missionary found a man ill with smallpox, his wife just recovering from the birth of
her eight child, and the children running about half naked and covered with dirt. Despite efforts of
local charities, elsewhere was a poor widow, her three children, and a child who had been dead 13
days.
Evaluate the usefulness of Source A as evidence of the effects of poverty in Britain around 1900.
marks)
(6
You may want to say who wrote it, when they wrote it, why they wrote it, what they say or what has
been missed out.)
Source A is by the Aberdeen Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor, in the late 19th
century. (6 marks
Our aims are to encourage, in every available way, the efforts of the poor to live sober lives and to
discourage idleness. In general, we want to help those who are sober and hardworking but who
through illness or accident are in danger of being plunged into poverty. These are the only people
who deserve our help.
How useful is Source A as evidence of attitudes to the poor at the end of the 19th century?
Source A is from a letter describing conditions in London around 1890 by a campaigner for change.
In one cellar a sanitary inspector reports finding a father, mother, three children and four pigs! In
another room a missionary found a man ill with smallpox, his wife just recovering from the birth of
her eight child, and the children running about half naked and covered with dirt. Despite efforts of
local charities, elsewhere was a poor widow, her three children, and a child who had been dead 13
days.
Evaluate the usefulness of Source A as evidence of the effects of poverty in Britain around 1900.
marks)
(6
You may want to say who wrote it, when they wrote it, why they wrote it, what they say or what has
been missed out.)