Old Poor Law in Scotland: The Experience of Poverty, 1574-1845

by Rosalind Mitchison

This is a history of the Old Poor Law in Scotland, which existed from 1574 to 1845. It is also a history of the poor and of the experience of poverty. In describing how Scottish society's less fortunate members were dealt with the author is able to reveal much about the values of that society and the links and barriers between classes.

Paperback

First published January 14, 2000

About the author

Rosalind Mary Mitchison FRSE) was a 20th-century English historian and academic who specialised in Scottish social history. She was affectionately known as "Rowy" Mitchison.

She was educated at Dragon School in Oxford then studied history at Lady Margaret Hall and went to the University of Manchester as an assistant lecturer, working under Sir Lewis Namier, in 1943.

In 1953 her husband was appointed to a professorship at the University of Edinburgh and they moved to Scotland. Mitchison taught history, initially part-time, at Edinburgh until 1957. In 1962 she began teaching at the University of Glasgow where she remained until 1967, latterly as a full-time lecturer. Her first work, Agricultural Sir John (1962), broke new ground in the history of 18th-century Scotland, hitherto mainly studied, when studied at all, from the perspective of the Acts of Union 1707 or the Scottish Enlightenment.

She returned to the University of Edinburgh in 1967 as a Reader, and was by 1981 Emeritus Professor of Social History, a post she held until 1986.

Reviews

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a key text in understanding the poor law in Scotland. Mitchison writes well and obviously enjoys the subject. The important thing to remember is that the Scottish poor law developed in a different way to that of our southern neighbour, England. The involvement of the established church () is emphasised and clarity is found for many strange happenstances in family matters.