Striving for a world transformed by justice and peace - a TL from 1827

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The Mothers Allowance Reform Act 1887 restricted the Mothers Allowance of twelve shillings a week to a maximum of four children up to the age ten. It provided that the allowance would be payable only to mothers who were married and living with their husbands, and to widows, and who were not in paid employment, including self employment. The Act applied to Britain and the five counties of northern Ireland, but not to the rest of Ireland.

The Act was defended by government ministers on the grounds that it would substantially reduce public expenditure, and encourage marriage. It was a much needed blow against immorality. Women had been getting themselves pregnant with men whom they had no intention of marrying, in order to receive the allowance. A married couple should only have the number of children they could afford. If they could not afford more than four children they should practice restraint. No one mentioned contraception. The allowance was withdrawn from mothers in paid work, because they already had an income,

It was passionately opposed by the Commonwealth and Irish National parties. They condemned it as a vicious attack on working class women and children, Restriction of the allowance to a maximum of four children and abolishing it for unmarried mothers, would cause much distress and hardship, and greatly increase poverty. Children should not be punished for the sins of their parents. Mothers with young children went out to work only because of economic necessity.

Commonwealth Party women MPs and Peers were in the forefront of the opposition to the Mothers Allowance Reform Bill when it was going through Parliament, They said that mothers who had left violent husbands, single women who became pregnant by rape, and mothers whose husbands had deserted them, would no longer be entitled to the allowance. They referred to mothers in those situations who had written to them. The opposition to the bill in the House of Commons was led by Sarah Taylor. She pledged that the next Commonwealth government would repeal the Act in its entirety.

 

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The Mothers Allowance Reform Act 1887 came into force on Friday 1 April 1887. From that date the allowance was withdrawn from women who were not eligible to receive it, or had more than four children.

Maire Griffiths had seven children under ten years old. So from 1 April she was entitled to receive Mothers Allowance for only four of them. She was not entitled to any allowance in respect of Sian Owen's children whom she and Aneurin were bringing up. So she no longer received 84 shillings a week, that is four pounds and four shillings.

 

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Nia Price gave birth to a baby girl on 8 February 1886, She and her husband, Tom, named her Angharad. She was their tenth child and sixth daughter. On 1 April 1887 they had five children under 10 years old, so Nia would not be paid Mothers Allowance for Angharad. Nia was four months pregnant on 1 April 1887. Her baby was due to be born in August 1887.

Caitlin Kelly (a sister of Maire) gave birth to a girl on 21 February 1886. She and her husband, Stephen, named her Eluned. She was their third daughter and sixth child. They now had five children under 10 years old, so Caitlin would not be receiving Mothers Allowance for Eluned. She was nine weeks pregnant, with her baby due to be born in October 1887.

Siobhan Aherne (another sister of Maire) gave birth to a son on 5 January 1886. She and her husband Martin, gave him the name Aengus (pronounced engiss). He was their third child and third son.

 

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Siobhan was a singer at the Star Theatre in Swansea. She also sang in pubs and clubs in Swansea. She was not on fixed contracts, but was paid for each performance. She sang when she could fit it in with her childcare responsibilities. She enjoyed singing and had a good alto voice. She specialised in Irish and Welsh folk songs.

When she went to collect her Mothers Allowance at her local post office on Saturday 2 April 1887, she was told by the clerk that she was not entitled to any payment because she was in paid employment. All employers were legally obliged to provide the Health and Local Government Board with the names of all their female employees who had children. If they refused they would be heavily fined. She explained to the clerk that she did not work the same number of hours each week, but when she could. The clerk told her that because she was paid for her singing, she was not entitled to receive the allowance.

When she got home she told her husband. Martin. They discussed whether or not she should give up singing for pay. She was receiving £1 and 16 shillings a week for Mothers Allowance for their three children. She earned no more than 15 shillings a week from her singing, and that was in a very good week. So they decided she would give up paid singing, though she would still sing for family and friends for free. She would resume singing for pay when a Commonwealth government restored the right of mothers in paid employment to receive the Mothers Allowance.

Siobhan and Martin had agreed that when they had two girls, she would use contraception, like her sister Maire was using.

 

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On Sunday 3 April, Siobhan and Martin visited Rhiannon and John Davies, their sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Rhiannon was a solicitor's clerk. Siobhan told her that she was refused Mothers Allowance because she was paid for singing in public. Rhiannon told Siobhan that if sang in clubs and pubs and put a basket, or other container, next to her for people to put in money in appreciation of her singing, then she would not be regarded as a paid singer under the provisions of the Mothers Allowance Act 1887. Her performances could not be advertised. She would need letters from the owners of the pubs and clubs stating that they were not paying her for her singing. She must take these letters to the post office. This is what she did and from 9 April payments of her Mothers Allowance were resumed. Rhiannon did not receive the allowance because all her children were over ten years old.

On Saturday 2 July 1887, before her gig at the Irish club in Swansea, Siobhan told the people there that she was giving up singing for the next few weeks until after her baby was born. She was obviously pregnant, Contributions were generous that evening and amounted to eight shillings and four pence.

Siobhan gave birth to a boy on Tuesday 12 July, her fourth son. She and Martin named him Niall. He was a brother for Liam, Tadg and Aengus. He was baptised in St.David's Priory Catholic Church on Sunday 17 July. Martin and Siobhan and their four children were living in a two bedroom council house in Swansea.

 

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Nia Price gave birth to a baby girl on Saturday 6 August 1887. She and Tom named their new daughter Ffion (pronounced Fee-on). She was their eleventh child and seventh daughter.

Nia and Tom and their eleven children all lived in a five bedroom council house in Swansea. Five was the maximum of bedrooms in council houses.

 

[pipisme]

The Young Italy movement sought to end Austrian rule in North Italy, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian-North Italian Empire.. They organised peaceful demonstrations against the imperial government. North Italy comprised Piedmont, Lombardy, and Venetia. It had its own parliament and internal self government. Franz Josef was King of North Italy as well as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary in what was known as the Triple Monarchy. Young Italy was financed by Italy, which comprised central Italy, Liguria, Sardinia, and Nice.

After central weeks of border incidents, Italy and its ally France invaded North Italy on 22 April 1887. Franco-Italian victories at the battles of Asti and Trinor in Piedmont in May 1887, and at Orzinuovi in Lombardy in June, were followed by an Imperial victory, supported by Polish troops, at San Bonifacio in July.

Peace negotiations were brokered by Pope Leo XIII, and a ceasefire was agreed on 27 August 1887. By the treaty of Milan signed in October 1887, Austria- Hungary-North Italy ceded Piedmont to Italy. In return Italy ended its support for Young Italy, and pledged to respect its border with North Italy. A pact of mutual friendship was signed between the two nations. Italy ceded Nice to France, as agreed in return for its support in the war.

 

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Caitlin Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 18 October 1887. He was their seventh child and fourth son. She and her husband, Stephen, named him Alun. They all lived in a three bedroom council house in Swansea.

 

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In June 1888 a book of recipes by Catherine Morgan was published. (1) It was called A Black Woman's Cookbook . In addition to Jamaican cuisine, it offered traditional British recipes. (2)

Sarah Taylor wrote a foreward to the book, in which she strongly recommended it, and said that Morgan was her cook. There was photograph of Catherine, and she wrote that she was born in Jamaica and her parents were slaves until they were freed in 1833. She wrote that she told her children that black people were as good as white people.

The book had a mixed reactions. It was mostly received well, but it and Catherine were subject to racist comments. An interview with Catherine was published in the Daily Beacon , the Commonwealth Party newspaper. The fictional women in this TL, who live in Swansea, bought the book and cooked the recipes in it. It was also bought by Commonwealth MPs, Peers and party activists.

(1) For Morgan see post # 1794 page 90.

(2) For Jamaican cuisine see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_cuisine.

 

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The Housing Act 1888 transferred all council housing to private landlords. This meant that rents were now increased to market levels. Local councils were also forbidden from building any more houses or flats. The government argued that local authorities had no business in providing housing. The Act did not apply to Ireland, though it did to northern Ireland. It was bitterly opposed by the Commonwealth Party because it made working class people poorer and was an attack on local government. The opposition was led by Sarah Taylor.

In Britain 21 per cent of housing was council housing. This ranged from very low in rural areas to 47% in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

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The Housing Act 1888 came into force on Tuesday 1 May 1888. On that date Caitlin and Stephen Kelly and their seven children, Nia and Tom Price and their eleven children, and Siobhan and Martin Aherne were all living in council houses in Swansea. The rent in council houses or flats was two thirds of the market rent.

The rent on Stephen's and Caitlin's three bedroom house was ten shillings a week. The market rent was fifteen shillings a week. Tom and Nia paid thirteen shillings and four pence a week for their five bedroom house. The market rent was one pound. For their two bedroom house, Martin and Siobhan paid eight shillings a week rent. The market rent was 12 shillings a week.

 

[Archangel]

This (along with other anti-social spending measures) is likely to cause social discontent and may generate long lasting ill feelings from a section of the population towards TTL Conservative and Liberal Parties.

 

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In the days after 1 May 1888, Commonwealth Party controlled local councils met and voted to transfer all their housing stock to newly created local housing co-operatives. Their tenants would be elected to the management committees of the co-operati ves. This policy was proposed in a pamphlet written by William Morris and published in October 1887, which he advocated as co-operative socialism, as opposed to state socialism.

These transfers were not forbidden by the Housing Act 1888. However housing co- operatives must not receive any money from local councils, cannot meet on council premises, and their management must not be local councillors. In other words they must be independent of local councils, Their tenants would have the same security of tenure as council tenants. Housing co-operatives were permitted to build new housing.

Council house rents were subsidised by Commonwealth controlled councils, but not by Conservative and Liberal councils, at least to the same extent. The Housing Act did not oblige housing co-operatives to charge market rents, but they must operate at a minimum level of profit.

Swansea Borough Council met on 3 May 1888 and voted to transfer all their housing stock to Swansea Housing Co-operative with effect from 1 June 1888.
Conservative and Liberal councillors voted to transfer the housing to private landlords. Rents would be increased by 20 per cent, then frozen for the next three years until June 1891.

Stephen and Caitlin's rent increased from ten shillings to twelve shillings a week. Nia and Thomas would be paying sixteen shillings a week in rent, up from thirteen shillings and four pence. Martin and Siobhan's weekly rent went up from eight shillings to eight shillings and ten pence. They could all afford the new rents which were still significantly lower than the market rents.

 

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Bristol was a politically divided city. In the April 1886 general election the Commonwealth Party won the East and South constituencies, while North and West went Conservative. Control of the city council fluctuated between Commonwealth and a Conservative/Liberal coalition, called the Citizen Party in Bristol. The Citizen Party won control of the city council in the November 1885 election, and kept it in the 1886 and 1887 election, There was a large and active Commonwealth Party and Commonwealth Womens Fellowship in the city.

At its meeting on 8 May 1888, the council voted, against Commonwealth opposition, to sell its housing stock to private landlords with effect from 1 June 1888. 24 percent of the city's housing was council housing. A Commonwealth motion to transfer council housing to a housing co-operative was rejected. The rent for a two bedroom council house was nine shillings a week. The market rent was thirteen shillings and sixpence a week. Rents were higher for houses with more bedrooms. In June 1888 the Commonwealth Party and Commonwealth Women's Fellowship in Bristol were active in establishing the Bristol Tenants Defence League.

 

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Helena Born was born on 11 May 1860 at Coham Farm near the small village of Black Torrington in Devon. Her parents were Richard and Elizabeth Born. By the 1871 Census the Borns were living with relatives, the Southcombes, at Moorhead Farm near the Devon market town of Hathersage. Richard had acquired capital, was living on the interest and no longer worked on the land. Shortly after the 1871 Census the Born family moved to Stoke St. Mary, near Taunton, Somerset. Helena went to school at an 'academy' in Taunton. In February 1876 the Borns moved to the upmarket Bristol suburb of Clifton. Richard having become wealthy enough to move there. The 1881 Census states that Richard derived his income 'From House', which meant from investment in land and property. Elizabeth Born died early in 1884. She and Helena had been close, almost like sisters. [1]

In September 1884, Richard committed suicide by shooting himself, having become bankrupt. A middle class woman, Helena never had a job. She could no longer afford to pay the rent for Richard's house. She needed to find work and somewhere to live.

[1] Up to here was as in OTL. See the book Rebel Crossings: New Women, Free Lovers, and Radicals in Britain and America by Sheila Rowbotham, London and New York: Verso 2016.

 

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Helena Born found lodgings with Francis and Lizzie Owen. They were a middle aged couple who lived in a three bedroom terrace house near Bristol city centre. Their children had left home and so had room to spare. They worked at the Great Western Cotton Factory in Bristol. [1] They got Helena a job there. Working in a factory was a completely new experience for Helena.

Francis and Helena were active members of the Commonwealth Party and Lizzie of the Commonwealth Women's Fellowship. Helena had supported the Liberal Party and voted Liberal in the 1882 general election, and Citizen in the November 1881, 1882, 1883, and 1884 local elections. However working in the cotton factory and living with the Owens radicalised her. In February 1885 she joined the Commonwealth Party and the Commonwealth Women's Fellowship. She campaigned with the Owens for Commonwealth candidates in Bristol in the April 1886 general election.

When Helena lived in Clifton she spoke at her local Unitarian church's debating society, though she was shy and diffident. When she moved from Clifton she stopped attending that church. The Owens were Methodists and through their influence and their living of their faith, she became a Methodist.

[1] For the Great Western Cotton Factory see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Western_Cotton_Factory.

 

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Helena Born spoke in support of Commonwealth candidates in Bristol in the April 1886 general election. She was a Commonwealth candidate in the November 1887 local elections in Bristol, in a safe Citizen Party ward. She did not win, but she more than halved the Citizen majority. In June 1888, she became active in the Bristol Tenants Defence League. A plain woman, she did not have a boyfriend.

 

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Siobhan Aherne gave birth to her fourth child and fourth son on 19 July 1887. She and her husband Martin named him Sean.

Nia Price gave birth to a baby boy on 11 August 1887. She and her husband Tom named him Myrddin (pronounced Mur-thin), the Welsh for Merlin. He was their eleventh child and fifth son.

Caitlin Kelly gave birth to a daughter on 16 October 1887. She and her husband Stephen gave her the name Winifred. She was their seventh child and fourth daughter.

 

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The management committees of the Tenants Defence Leagues comprised 75% tenants and 25% other representatives, In September 1888 Helena Born became the Treasurer of Bristol Commonwealth Women's Fellowship. In the November 1888 Bristol City Council elections, the Commonwealth Party gained control of the council from the Citizen Party, and Helena was elected to the council.

 

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During 1888 Helena Born and Enid Stacy became close friends. Stacy was the daughter of Henry Stacy. He was a former principal of Weston-super-Mare art school until it closed. From the early 1880s he gave private lessons to girls in Bristol. Enid joined Bristol Commonwealth Women's Fellowship in 1887. She was a teacher at a grammar school in Bristol.

In September 1889 the workers at Fry's chocolate factory in Bristol went on strike for better pay and conditions. Enid and Helena wrote a pamphlet setting out the strikers case. It was published by Bristol Commonwealth Party. It described working conditions in the factory.

The working hours were from 8am to 5pm. The men who worked in the factory yard carried sacks weighing one to two hundredweight, stacking them seven feet high. Chocolate grinders and pressers worked in continuous dust, and the operators of the pans and rollers worked in extreme heat. Women and girls who produced the mint cream for Fry's chocolate bars had to swing constantly from side to side, lifting bars weighing up to thirty pounds. The workers were paid the living wage, but this had not been increased since January 1886. Also loyal workers were rewarded with extra pay. Commonwealth Party members distributed copies of the pamphlets all over Bristol.

The striking workers demanded an eight hour day, an increase in pay and an end to favouritism in wages. Joseph Storrs Fry, the owner of the factory, prided himself on being an enlightened employer. The Fry family were prominent in the Bristol Liberal Party.

Although the strikers received strike pay, this was much lower than their wages. Also Mothers' Allowance was removed from women strikers who had been receiving it. The Mothers' Allowance (payment to strikers) Act 1887, removed payment of the allowance from women who were on strike. The Commonwealth Party gave financial help to families in need.