In this talk and the accompanying workshop, Dr Hitchcock will explore the historical experiences of begging and vagrancy across more than three centuries. Together we will look at how the image of "rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars" disguised the harsher realities of mobile poverty, and talk about what the poorest did to survive, and sometimes even to thrive, in an uncertain world of strangers. Britain developed an early example of a welfare state, but did it reliably help the very poorest? What constituted "social justice" for vagrants, and did wealthier Britons pursue it? Come along to this session for some answers.