This early work by Beatrice Potter Webb was originally published in 1906
and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography.
'English Poor Law Policy' is a fascinating work on social history and
public policy in relation to the lower classes. Beatrice Potter Webb was
born in Gloucester, England in 1858. Both her mother and brother died
early in her childhood leaving her to be raised by her father, Richard
Potter. He was a successful businessman with large railroad interests
and many influential friends in politics and industry whose company the
young Beatrice would become accustomed to. Upon reaching adulthood,
Potter moved to London and helped her cousin, Charles, a social
reformer, research his book The Life and Labour of the People in London.
It was during this time that she was introduced to Sidney James Webb,
who later became her husband and collaborator. The Webb's, together,
wrote eleven volumes of work which arguably shaped the way subsequent
scholars thought about sociology. They also collaborated on more than
100 books and articles on the conditions of factory workers, and the
economic history of Britain, among other subjects.