What is a pauper

[sallysmum]

2xgt grandmother's husband is listed as a 'pauper cordwainer' on the 1851 census.  They are not in the workhouse so I'm rather in the dark as to what this description means.

Sallysmum

[lizdb]

Perhaps they were on Parish Relief of some sort.

[sillgen]

Pauper means exactly what it means today - penniless and without the means to support yourself so I expect Liz is right and they were receiving parish relief or living with relatives.  Cordwainer (or shoemaker) was presumably the occupation they followed before they fell on hard times.
If the Parish Chest records exist for that particular area then you might be able to get further details about them from that.   The local record office will know.
Andrea

[yn9man]

Agree with sillgen. Without the means to support oneself.

yn9man

[sallysmum]

Hmm It's interesting that they had staying with them their 10 year old grandaughter.  The granddaughter's mother lived 2 doors away with her husband and rest of the family. 

Did the workhouse not replace poor relief or was poor relief tendered aswell?

sallysmum

[yn9man]

Wonder if the granddaughter was just visiting the day of the census?

yn9man

[RJ_Paton]

Did the workhouse not replace poor relief or was poor relief tendered aswell?

It would have been cheaper to support a person with parish relief in their own home rather than taking them into the workhouse ... often many people refused to go to the workhouse partially because of their reputations and partially because of a fear of never getting out of there

some articles can be read at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~todmordenandwalsden/parishes.htm

[stanmapstone]

Many paupers receiving out-relief still had some employment, hence 'pauper cordwainer'.
Stan

[stanmapstone]

A pauper was a  recipient of relief under the provisions of the Poor Law or of public charity. The workhouse was not considered an appropriate remedy for short periods of industrial distress, and at such times out-relief was resorted to, while charitable responses such as the soup kitchen were common. Until the passage of the 1908 Old Age Pensions Act, which gave people aged 70 and over, a pension if they filled certain criteria, these were the only options available.
Out- relief was also cheaper than the workhouse. For every £1 spent on out-relief in 1902-3 no less than £7 12s. 4d. was expended on in-maintenance.
Stan