Revolt against Poor Law Administration, Low Wages and the Tithe
Thomas Abell had now made himself particularly obnoxious to the poor by his high- handed and unsympathetic attitude towards them. During the summer of 1829 he attempted to discontinue the regular allowances for children, but the climax was reached when he introduced a heavy cart in which were harnessed men and women who dragged stone from the Brede Wharf up the steep hill to the village for road mending. Then it was that the labourers determined to have a reckoning with him!
From the Poor Law Commission Report of 1833 it appears that a few days before November 5, 1830, three men were working upon Steephill road and in conversation complained of Abell’s ill-treatment and abusive manner inwards them. One said: Let us see if we cannot get rid of this. Another suggested an appeal to a magistrate; to this proposal they disagreed as appeals had often been made without effect. Then it was decided to make an effort to turn Abell out of the parish. With this end in view they visited other labourers and agreed to meet at a cottage on the evening of November 4. At that meeting they failed to reach as agreement - some wished to turn out Abell, but others were afraid of laying themselves open to the law.
The determined party met early the next morning, November 5, and went round the parish and persuaded everyone to join them iii their purpose. The whole assemblage stopped at the Hundred Pound at Broad Oak and agreed to ask the farmers to come and speak to them. The following farmers then came to the assembly: Messrs. F. and J. Bourne, W. Coleman, John Ades, David Smith, senr. and junr., Henry Smith and others. A further conference was held on the same day at the Red Lion Inn when four labourers David Noakes, senr., Thomas Henley, Joseph Bryant and Thomas Noakes -were deputed to negotiate with the farmers, with the result that the following Resolutions were drawn up and signed by both parties:
1. The gentlemen agree to give to every able bodied labourer with wife and children 2s. 3d. per day from this day to the 1st March next, and from the 1st March to the 1st October 2s. 6d. per day, and to have 1s. 6d. per week with three children and so on according to their family.
2. The poor are determined to take the present overseer Mr. Abell out of the parish and to use him with civility.
Signed
G. S. HELE, Minister.
WILLIAM COLEMAN.
DAVID SMITH, Scar.
FRANCIS BOURNE.
DAVID SMITH, Junr.
J. BOURNE.
H. SMITH.
J. ADES.
J. BOURNE, Junr.
DAVID NOAKES.
T. HENLEY.
T. NOAKES.
Jos. BRYANT.
It was freely admitted by the labourers at the meeting that the farmers could not afford to pay the increased wages, but having agreed to it, they would join together to get rid of tithe and taxes so as to enable them to do so. The meeting over, the labourers with their wives and children and some of the farmers, proceeded to the workhouse. The farmers had in the meantime sent word to Abell and advised him to give himself up peaceably, as be had threatened to shoot the first man that meddled with him; in fact, he appeared at a bedroom window with a gun. Messrs. W. Coleman and J. Bourne told him to put the gun up and come out, and after a few minutes he obeyed; he afterwards falsely declared that some of the men came into his room with bludgeons, but no one had entered the doors.
Abell was forcibly placed in the stone cart and then drawn by women and children, accompanied by a crowd of 500, to the place of his choice - Vinehall, near Robertsbridge
- where he was deposited by the roadside. Abell then lodged a complaint with the nearest magistrate. The procession on returning passed the entrance gate to Chitcombe, where Mr. Wm. Coleman, the owner, refreshed the tired and thirsty men and women with half a pint of beer each, declaring he was never better pleased in his life then with the day’s work which had been done.
Mr. Reed, of Brede High, also provided, a barrel of beer, because they had done such a great thing in the parish as to carry that man away. The success of the Rising had an immediate effect on the neighbourhood, other parishes following the example of Brede.
In an historical survey of the Poor Law system in this country, Brede will for ever have as honourable place as being the first parish is the county to revolt against the iniquities of the old regime. The movement which started in 1839 spread like wild fire all over the country, and eventually led to the passing of an Act of Parliament some four years later reforming the Poor Law and abolishing parish workhouses.
From the Report of the Poor Law Commissioners, we find that the Brede farmers, as well as the labourers, were in a state of insubordination owing to the continuance of the war duty on hops. Not being able to obtain a reduction they diverted their hostility to the payment of tithe and demanded substantial reductions from the rector, and here the farmers needed the help of the labourers. The Advowson of Brede was part of the patrimonial estate of Dr. Horns, bishop of Norwich, and had been held for many years by some member of the family, and latterly by the Rev. R. H. S. Hele, the son-in-law of the bishop. He had always been on the best possible terms with his parishioners and had compounded the tithes on quite a generous basis.
Previous to the audit in November 1830, a tumultuous assembly of farmers and labourers gathered near the Rectory (where the curate, Mr. Hele’s son, was living during his father’s temporary absence), clamouring for an abatement of tithe. The rector, on his return to Brede, sent for two of the principal farmers and demanded full payment of the tithe. The farmers refused until they had the sanction of the labourers, alleging they feared some injury would be done them!
On the tithe audit day the rector met the farmers at the Red Lion Inn, which was surrounded by hundreds of excited labourers with their wives and children. The farmers demanded a reduction of tithe from £715 to £400. The rector said he refuses to give way under circumstances of intimidation. The farmers then replied that the mob outside was very impatient, and that the rector of Ewhurst bad been obliged to flee his house by night, and that the mob had threatened to hang over his door the farmer who managed his tithes for him. Mr. Hele persisted he would not yield to their demands, but they might pay what they pleased to his bankers. They paid £400 on account and after the special Commission the remainder.
Subsequently the rector met the farmers on the village green. He had buried his wife a short time before and on addressing the crowd burst into tears. He promised to reduce the tithe on condition that the men’s wages were raised. He was then cheered, the church bells were rung, and harmony again prevailed.
Let us return to Mr. Abell! After, his humiliating journey to Vinehall Mr. Abell, finding that the excitement at Brede had subsided somewhat, eventually made his way back to his old quarters at the Workhouse, none the worse for his rough treatment. However, at a Vestry meeting held on November 21, 1830, Abell was given three months’ notice terminating his appointment as Governor of the Workhouse, and Assistant Overseer - but a fortnight later, on December 5, the notice was withdrawn.
Abell’s bitter experience provided a salutary lesson which he never forgot; it certainly resulted in a much less arrogant attitude to those under his charge. During the next five years - until his death - the affairs at the Workhouse appear to have gone on smoothly; anyway, nothing of an unpleasant nature is recorded in the Overseers’ Minute books. On the contrary, there is striking evidence of a real reformation shown by the tribute paid him, soon after his death, by the Parish Meeting held at the Broad Oak Inn on May 6, 1836:
It was agreed to pay the funeral expenses of the late Mr. Abell as a public testimony to his abilities and good management while he filled the offices of Assistant Overseer and Surveyor of the Highways. The expenses to include the coffin and the clerk’s fees, the same as if he had been buried at Brede. It was also agreed to allow £5 to his widow, being money lent by Mr. Abell to poor persons in his public capacity as a Parish Officer.
A report was issued by the Poor Law Commissioners in 1835 recommending the abolition of parish workhouses and the formation of a union of parishes with Rye as its centre. This took effect on July 27 the same year. The first meeting of the Rye Board of Guardians was held two days later, on July 29, 1835, at the old workhouse, adjoining the Dolphin Inn, then situated near the Gun Garden.
As the Guardians could not immediately accommodate the additional members at Rye they hired the Brede workhouse until new premises could be erected.
On May 14, 1836, the Poor Law Commissioners of England and Wales ordered the churchwardens and overseers of Brede within 30 days to arrange the sale of the Workhouse premises and the proceeds of such sale should, after the payment of expenses incidental thereto, be paid into the hands of the Treasurer of Rye Union. The amount realised was £263 0s. 10d.
The Rye Board of Guardians were evidently the purchasers of the Workhouse for during the same year they paid the valuation of the furniture and effects - stock of provisions, ready-made clothing, firing and tools -amounting to £287 7s. 0d.
In 1838 the Rye Guardians applied the purchase money (£263 0s. 10d.) from the sale of the Workhouse in paying off the notes of hand held by Messrs. Wm. Coleman, Thos. Aden and John Ades for money advanced by them in 1819 for the building of a new part of the Brede Workhouse, and now due.
During the same year, 1838, the Rye Guardians spent £136 6s. 9d. on the Workhouse buildings. On August 14, 1843, the foundation stone of the new Union Workhouse on Rye Hill was laid by Mr. Pix, and during the following year the Brede inmates were probably removed to the new building at Rye.
The old Brede Workhouse was subsequently sold to Mr. Lazarus, who divided the premises into several tenements and a grocer’s shop and called it Alpha Place. The property was recently condemned by the Battle Rural District Council, and a Demolition Order served on the owners, which took effect during January, 1939. The displaced tenants were provided with new Council houses at Broad Oak.
Extract from Brede: The Story of a Sussex Parish by Edmund Austen (reproduced by kind permission of Adams of Rye)
