Technologies of identification under the Old Poor Law

In this important article Steve Hindle, the leading historian of the local state and the pre-1834 Poor Law, considers the different ways in which parish and township authorities labelled and identified paupers. His paper is closely based upon the lecture which he gave to the British Association for Local History in June 2006. Steve Hindle gives an accessible and comprehensive explanation of the background and rationale for the various ways in which the poor could be categorised, and discusses in fascinating detail the methods which were used, drawing his evidence widely from different parts of the country. His review covers four main categories of identification: first, licences to beg, which were issued to paupers and provided them with the means to obtain an ‘honourable’ livelihood; second, the vagrant’s passport, which was a means of allowing a pauper to move, or be moved, from one part of the country to another; third, the settlement certificate, which specifically identified the place which was legally responsible for a pauper; and fourth, the parish badge, an outward physical identifier of pauper status. He makes clear the administrative procedures whereby these four methods were implemented, and emphasises the advantages and disadvantages of each for the pauper and the ‘system’ alike. In this article Hindle gives prominence to the pragmatic and responsive nature of the Old Poor Law. The article is a major contribution to the literature on the functioning of the Poor Law as it affected individuals, and as such deserves to be widely-read by local historians

Keepers of the Flame: the Role of Fire in American Culture, 1775-1925

Review of: Keepers of the Flame: The Role of Fire in American Culture, 1775-1925. Hazen, Margaret Hindle and Hazen, Robert M

Indigenous entrepreneurship as a research field : developing a definitional framework from the emerging canon

This study investigates the possibility and utility of clearly defining Indigenous entrepreneurship as a distinct disciplinary field of science and charting for it a preparadigmatic framework that distinguishes this field of scholarship from all others. This study uses a strategy of literature search and examination to argue that Indigenous entrepreneurship, as a research area, is sufficiently distinguished from both mainstream entrepreneurship and other social and management sciences to constitute a legitimate, well defined sub-field of research in its own right. The study provides both a formal definition of the field and an illustrated theoretical framework to describe it.<br /

Finding and filling the gaps in the Australian governments\u27 innovation and entrepreneurship support spectra

A national innovation system is concerned with the full process of converting new knowledge into commercially viable results. Governments are policy-active in trying to create productive national innovation systems. This paper reviews ways of thinking about entrepreneurship as the commercialisation component of Australia&rsquo;s innovation system. The paper explores the impact and relevance of selected existing Australian Commonwealth, and to a lesser extent State government, programs for the commercialisation channels so identified, using four frameworks for the analysis: financial, management/start-up, innovation and entrepreneurial. The analysis indicates program initiatives covering the later development and commercialization phases, but serious gaps in the support available for the entrepreneurship phase involving the act of new entry. This gap is covered by research provider business development people and to a limited extent by incubator and State government initiatives. A critical issue has been and is access to smaller amounts of seed finance. The critical human component is the education of public servants and politicians about the nature and operation of entrepreneurship.<br /

Dependency, shame and belonging : badging the deserving poor, c.1550-1750

The badging of the poor under the terms of the statute of 1697 has long been regarded as the most visible expression of the repressive and discriminatory nature of the welfare regime established by the Elizabethan poor laws. In a historiographical tradition stretching back to the Webbs, pauper badges have been regarded as weapons of deterrence in the campaign against a nascent 'culture of dependency' among the able-bodied poor who had come to believe that they were entitled to parish pensions. Even the Webbs, however, remained unconvinced that the 1697 statute was effectively enforced, and more recent revisionism in the historiography of welfare has not only welcomed but amplified their scepticism in its attempt to rehabilitate the old poor law as benevolent and sympathetic in operation. There has, however, been little attempt to measure the enforcement of the policy in the archives of county and parish governance, and even less to reconstruct the negotiations that took place over the wearing or removing of these symbols, which at the same time implied both belonging to, and yet paradoxically also exclusion from, the local community. This paper rehearses the discourses which gave rise to the badging of the poor in the years before and after the 1697 statute, and analyses the politics of identity among paupers, parish officers and magistrates as they actively debated if, when and by whom badges should be worn

From a "Gin Palace" to a "King's Palace?" The Evolution of the Music Hall in Preston c1840-1914

This thesis adopts a chronological approach to the development of Preston's music halls between 1840 -1914. It was partly inspired by the apparent lack of similar academic work having been undertaken. Nevertheless comparable studies of other provincial towns have provided valuable models against which the Preston experience can be tested. Through documentary analysis, based particularly on the local press and music hall trade press, the principal aims are to place Preston within the historiography of the music hail genre; to evaluate the evolution and growth of the Preston Victorian and Edwardian music hall and its relationship with rival forms of entertainment and to assess the impact of reformers on the social class composition of audiences in their quest for moral and legal reform. Research has revealed several significant findings: Preston was at the forefront of music hall development and by 1839 its first concert hall was established. The movement against music hall was strengthened because of the local influence of Joseph Livesey and his followers who advocated total abstinence and promoted counter-attractions. Nevertheless the 1860s and early 70s was a particular boom time for Preston Music Hall with the opening of several new concert halls. Preston broadly follows the national pattern of growth but with a notable exception: there was no major variety theatre or properly constructed pub music hall in the town between 1889-1905. The years between 1905 and 1914 represents a second period of music-hall resurgence with three established variety theatres filling the void in music hall provision. However, a suggestion of a surplus of seats for music hall coincides with the opening of Broadhead's vast King's Palace Theatre in 1913 and rival cinema entertainment. Part of the Broadhead syndicate's management philosophy was that in case of poor box office returns their music halls could be re-designed for use as factories. Neither Preston theatre found this adaptation necessary and both survived to present the genre of inclusive music hall entertainment until the 1950s

A critical evaluation of the standardisation potential of business plan evaluation aids (BPEA) used in venture capital investment decision-making

The research objective was to perform a critical evaluation and comparison of four, representative Business Plan Evaluation Aids (BPEA) to facilitate constructive discussion of the proposition that greater standardisation of venture capital decision-making might be both desirable and possible.The four BPEA were systematically compared using a structured, taxonomic process employing seven key criteria. The evidence of this investigation suggests a clear superiority for BPEAs, which are based on the known attributes of successful ventures and use actuarial modelling. Discussion centred on the importance of using BPEAs in a quest for greater consistency of venture capital investment decision-making.<br /