The Age of George III

ENGLAND

IRELAND

• Parliament initiated and passed legislation freely

• Dublin parliament had to have proposed legislation approved of by Westminster (1494 Poynings’ Law); Westminster could legislate for Ireland (1719 Declaratory Act)

• Majority of population is Anglican; Williamite Penal Laws apply to very few

• Majority of population is Catholic; Penal Laws apply to most people

• Agricultural labourers are reasonably well paid, looked after in times of hardship and usually have sufficient food

• Peasant class exists; cottage tenancies and root diet.

• Well established system of poor relief

• No system of poor relief.  People starve

• Times of scarcity are few and far between

• Annual food scarcity is normal

• Absentee landlords are a minority

• 50% of landlords are absentees

• well developed banking/fiscal system (private banks, Bank of England)

• no banking system; fiscal system depends on England

• System of fair rents, fixity of tenure and compensation for improvements to rented land

• Rack renting, no fixity of tenure or compensation for improvements

• Agricultural revolution

• No agricultural revolution

• Industrial revolution beginning

• No industrial revolution

• Manufacturing output increases and provides employment for agricultural labourers

• Manufacturing industry is controlled by and destroyed by Westminster: no alternative employment for labourers

• MPs come from England, Scotland and Wales to represent English, Scottish and Welsh constituencies

• Many MPs in Dublin are English or Anglo-Irish

• English is the dominant language of the country and of government

• English is the language of government; most people speak Gaelic

• Developments in transport (better roads, start of canals) reduces prices of goods

• No improvements in the infrastructure

• Most people live in reasonable dwellings; animals are separate

• Most people live in hovels along with their animals

• Many large centres of population

• Anywhere with 20 houses is classed as a “town”

• Diversification of employment absorbs population increase

• Population explosion but no diversification of employment; starvation results

• Last conquest of England was in 1066

• Ireland was a conquered country ruled by an alien aristocracy

• Taxation remained in the country to be spent in Britain

• Taxation left Ireland for England; removal of specie caused problems for the Irish who had no means of exchange

• The law of primogeniture held sway

• Primogeniture applied only to Protestants; Catholics had to share out land equally between sons

• Tenants usually had written agreements with landlords so eviction was rare

• Few tenants had written agreements so eviction was easy and frequent

• Little sub-letting of land

• Frequent sub-letting of land (and sub-sub-letting…)

• General elections every 7 years, by law

• General election only on death of a monarch (changed in 1768 with the Octennial Act)

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