Figure 1.-- The original workhouse which Dickens had in mind in 'Oliver Twist' is still standing. It is located in Nottinghamshire and is now a museum opened to tourists. Two children (a girl and a boy) dressed up in workhouse costumes of the late 19th century as part of the display (figure 1). This would be several decades after the time in which the Dickens book is set. We are unsure just how accurate the costumes are, but as it is a museum assume some care was taken as to historical accuracy. Image couresy of James Alcock image collection.

The institutions established in London and Westminster during the reign of Charles II, which are commonly referred to as the first English work-houses, were in reality houses of correction to which vagabonds and other petty offenders were committed. The 1601 Poor Law Act gave responsibility to local parishes for looking after very poor people, who were able to claim assistance from the parish's householders. Poor people were able to live at home when they were getting parish relief. The The idea was common at that time that a workhouse, in the literal sense of the word, could be made an effective discouragement of unnecessary pauperism. In 1676 John Gary, a merchant of Bristol, brought about the building and opening of a workhouse in that city. Gary's experiment was so successful that it was followed in many other cities. The abuses of outdoor relief resulted in the appointment of the Poor Law Commission of 1832 and the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. With the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act people receiving help from the parish had to live in a workhouse and could no longer live at home. This began the era which most think of when the image of the workhouse comes up. In return for parish relief, they would be made to work hard in the workhouse; which is how the term originated. The principal was laudiable and enlightened. The British Government in threory accepted responsibility for providing shelter and food for every man, woman and child who was destitute. Unfortunastely they fulfilled this responsibility in such a way that poverty was even further more stigmatized than it already was. The English work house endured into the 20th century. As late as 1926 there were 226,000 inmates and around 600 workhouses with an average population of about 400 inmates each. I have no information on the workhouse situation, but while they were still teribly depressing places, presumably conditions were much improved. Parliament in 1929 passed the Local Government Act which abolished workhouses. Responsibility for the poor was given to county borough and county councils.

Chronology

Penology

The institutions established in London and Westminster during the reign of Charles II, which are commonly referred to as the first English work-houses, were in reality houses of correction to which vagabonds and other petty offenders were committed.

Poor Law (1601)

The 1601 Poor Law Act gave responsibility to local parishes for looking after very poor people, who were able to claim assistance from the parish's householders. Poor people were able to live at home when they were getting parish relief. William III, in creating the Board of Trade, instructed its members to "consider the proper methods of setting on work and employing the poor, and making them useful".

First Workhouse (1676)

The The idea was common at that time that a workhouse, in the literal sense of the word, could be made an effective discouragement of unnecessary pauperism. In 1676 John Gary, a merchant of Bristol, brought about the building and opening of a workhouse in that city.

Spread

Gary's experiment was so successful that it was followed by the cities of Plymouth, Worcester, Hull, and Exeter. John Locke, about this time writing the first report of the Board of Trade, made a strong plea for technical instruction as well as the compulsory industry of the dependent elements of society, but the public was well enough satisfied with a scheme of segregation and hard work so long as it diminished the burden of the sup- port of the poor.

Parliamentary Act (1722)

And so remarkable in fact was the suppression of vagrancy and the lowering of the poor rate by those workhouse experiments that in 1722 a general Act of Parliament authorized parishes, singly or in unions, to build workhouses and to refuse relief to all who would not enter them. For nearly 50 years the dread of the workhouse stimulated the poor to provide for themselves.

Gilbert's Act (1783)

This condition was completely changed by a period of sentimentalism wherein a statute during the reign of George III, in 1783, known as Gilbert's Act, practically broke down the workhouse principle. From this time began abuses of outdoor relief.

Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)

Until the 1830s, relief to the poor was provided to them in their homes. There was no centralized effort. It was up to the individual parishes to decided who required assistance. Many compalinded of abuses of the system. Revered Thomas Malthus conceived wof what is now known as the Malthusian that the expanding popuklation of the world would some outrun agricultural production and the result would be mass stavation. He complained that the relief laws were creating a culture of dependency among the poor perpetuating poverty. [Malthus] The aledeged abuses of outdoor relief resulted in the appointment of the Poor Law Commission of 1832 and the resulting Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. With the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act people receiving help from the parish had to live in a workhouse and could no longer live at home. This began the era which most think of when the image of the workhouse comes up. A system of workhouses was constructed throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In return for parish relief, they would be made to work hard in the workhouse; which is how the term originated. The Act also allowed parishes to club together into unions responsible for building workhouses and administering them. In the next few years hundreds of workhouses were built at a typical cost to the union of £5,000. The apauling plight of the poor in England during the late 19th century was in part due to the administration of the Poor Law which was susposed to aleviate their plight. The principal was laudiable and enlightened. The British Government in threory accepted responsibility for providing shelter and food for every man, woman and child who was destitute. Unfortunastely they fulfilled this responsibility in such a way that poverty was even further more stigmatized than it already was. Those unfortunates who found themselve homeless were provided shelter. Families were separated. Adults were made to pick oakum or break stones--the traditional tasks prisoners were set to. These tasking labors caused great strain on the homeless who were often already weaked with hunger. Usually individuals did not turn to the work house unless hunger dove them there. The additude of officials was to make life at the workhouse for the poor so intolerable that they would seek employment more diligently. One clergyman, Rev. H.H. Millman, writing to an aquaintence explained the basic philosophy, "... the workhouse should be a place of hardship, of course fare, of degradation and humility; it should be administered with strictness--with severity; it should be as repulsive as is consistent with humanity". [Millman] Of course the fact that most homeless paupers would have liked nothing more than a secure job did not seem to dawn on British officials who administered the Poor Law. Only those with nothing left but the clothes on their back were admitted to workhouse. It was certainly a dubious achivement--work house conditions brought many to despair.

Mid-19th century

Conditions in the early wotrkhouses defy belief, especially in the mid-19th century. By the late 19th century conditions had improved somewhat, especially after the investigation of the Andover Workhouse (1845-47). The investigations into the Abdover Work House had resulted in some impoivement in conditions. Andover had been the workhouse investigated but there were manh that were not much better and some probably worse. The accounts coming from these institutions sound more like accounts from NAZI concentration camps. Here some caution must be used. From the beginning, there were elements in England that opposed the Poor Laws and the workhouses in particular. A frequent critic was The Times. They reprorted Oliver Twist and from 1839-42 printed any account of poorhous abuse no matter how lirid and normally without any attemo to verify them. May of these accounts were later proved exagerated or unfounded. Yet there is no doubt that conditions in these institutions were abodominal. [Roberts]

20th century

The English work house endured into the 20th century. As late as 1926 there were 226,000 inmates and around 600 workhouses with an average population of about 400 inmates each. I have no information on the workhouse situation, but while they were still teribly depressing places, presumably conditions were much improved. Probably the diet was better than during the 19th Century and perhaps the isolation and strict separation relaxed somewhat. A reader writes, "Conditions in the workhouses got better as the years went by and schoolrooms were opened for the children. The workhouse system was finally abolished in 1930 and the buildings became shelters and residences for homeless people. These were also abolished in 1948 when the welfare state was set up and people could get council housing and unemployment insurance. Many of the workhouse buildings were put to other uses such as hospitals, and almost all have closed and been demolished since the late 1950s." [Alcock]

Abolition (1929)

Parliament in 1929 passed the Local Government Act which abolished workhouses. Responsibility for the poor was given to county borough and county councils.

Schools

Parliament in 1834 passed the Poor Law Amendment Act whuch contained provisions for the daily instruction of pauper children. The Act proposed the establishment of district schools away from the workhouse premises. The idea was to bring together children from workhouses in different parishes. Few such schools were actually established. One report indicated that by 1859, 25 years after the Act, only six such schools had actually been opened. Apparently the parishes were relucatnt to allocate additional resources for the education of children that they were already feeding and housing. An inspection during 1847 of 41 workhouses in the northern counties found the workhouse children being taught in internal schools. The teachers involved were almost always paupers, most of wom were barely literate literate and usually unable even write, lert alone teach.

Selling Children

Orphanages and work houses appear to have made a practice of selling the children intrudsted to their care. Readers will remember how Oliver in Oliver Twist was sold by the work house. The children were not legally sold as slaves, rather they were apprenticed to the buyer. The buyer paid an initial fee for the children. There were often subsequent payments, but few details are availble. They were referred to as pauper aprentices. he practice appears to have been most common in rural areas. Often the purchaser was a mill or some kind of factory. The burgeoning textile mills of th Industrial Revoluion were especially active buyers of these children. Thus the children unlike real appreticeships did not receive instruction in a trade, but often worked in jobs requiring only basic skills. These children as far as we know did not attend school after they were sold. In some cases they would be apprecticed until the age of 21 and the result was much likec slavery. Often only parents who were desperate wanted their children at young ages to work in the mills. Thus the work houses were conventient places to obtin workers at very low cost. At this time we do not know how extensive this practice was. There are many accounts of it in the 18th and erly 19th century.

Individual Work Houses

There were large numbers of workhouses in England, scatered all over the country. We have very limited information on individual English work houses at this time. We would be very interested in any informatuion here that our English readers could provide. Some became notorious throughout the country. Others are only known locally.

Andover Workhouse

Perhaps the most notorious of the English workhouses was the one at Andover. The supervisor was a a Scottsman Colin McDougal (1793- ). He had fought under Wellington at Waterloo (1815). He retired from the army as a staff seargent (1836). He was a drunkard who regukarly fought with his wife, also a onerous person. McDougal would beat children as young as 3 years old for soiling their beds. He limited food and people at the Andover Workhouse would near stavation. Some ate candals if they could find them. The men and boys were employed in disagreeable job of bone grinding, making fertilizer out of dead farm animals. The job was disagreeable because the carcases were usually decaying by the time they reached the workhouse. Even so, the starving inmates would often gnaw the bones. One inmate remembers seeing his children devouring the potato peelings fed to chickens. Women wore corse grey gowns. Thise with illigitimate children would have to wear a yellow stripe on their gowns. I'm not sure how the men and boys were dressed. Conditions were so bad that the MP for Andover demanded an inquiry into operations (1845). [Anstruther] The Poor Law Commission that administered the workhouses was abolished in 1847. Workhouses continued, however, to operate for decades.

Blackburn Workhouse (Lamcaster)

A Blackburn resident writes, "I can tell you that the thought of going to it was something very fearful. I know old people telling me how scared they were of going to a hospital in Blackburn. It seemed that the building was a former workhouse and had been turned into a hospital. Hense their dread of going there. Even today the building sits on a hilltop overlooking Blackburn and it still sends a shiver down the spine of Blackburn's older citizens." [Fergusson]

Figure 3.--This photograph was taken at the Crumpsall Workhouse about 1910. These boys who look about 8-11 years old wear identical long dresses and pinafores. They are playing in the courtyard of the workhouse, note how stark it is. As this photograph was taken about 1910, conditions are far better than would be the case during much of the previous century.

Crumpsall Manchester) Workhouse (Lancashire)

We note that workhouses began to appear in Manchester early in the Indistrial Revolution (late-18th century). Manchester in the heart of the industrial Midlands was at the center of the Britishg industriak revolution. The most important workhouse in Msnchester was built at Crumpshall. The Manchester Board of Guardians erected a new union workhouse to meet the needs of thge expanding industrial city. This was adecade after the Potato Famine in Ireland which had greatly enlarged the need for work house spaces. They chose a site at Crumpsall to the north of the city, up the Irwell valley (1855-57). Presumably land there was less expensivec than in the city center. The workhouse bukldings were designed by Mills and Murgatroyd. They were built to accommodate 1,660 inmates, comprising: 745 able-bodied men and women; 152 women including 76 with infants; 248 idiots, imbeciles and epileptics; 255 children under 16; 60 probationers; 200 sick. he first inmates were able-bodied males who worked on the workhouse farm. Inmates only began living in the main workhouse lster (August 1858). The new workhouse buildings originally consisted of large T-shaped main block facing to the south-east. We note a photograph taken about 1910 at the Crumpsall Workhouse with boys wearing simple frocks for the summer. They were simple and inexpensive to purchase. The girls wore similar frocks (Figure 3). Other photigraphs show the boys wearing corduroy suits.

Eton Workhouse

One account from the Eton Workhouse shows what the unfortunate inamates endured. As was the case of all workshops, families were separated. The children, men, and women were all housed seapately in baracks. Mrs. Elizabeth Wyse was permitted to comfort his ailing 2 1/2 year old daughter on Christmas Day, December 25, 1840. The next day she was denied permission to do so. The Superintendant, Retired Seargeant Major Joseph Howe, then found Mrs. Wyse bandaging her little girl's feet, he ordered her tom immrdiately stop. When she refused he dragged her in a cage maintained at the institution for disciplinary purposes. She was left there overnight in below freezing temperatures without a coat or bedding and no chamber pot. The next day her breakfast was cold gruel left by the inmates. She then had to clean the cage where she had been confiined, but without any claening utensils. [Wilson, p. 29.]

Fareham Workhouse (Hampshire)

One of the most heart wrenching accounts comes from the Fareham Workhouse. Three boys from Bishops Watham were sent to the Fareham Workhouse for special tuition at the school maintained there. The boys were named Withers, Cook, and Warren and they were quite young, aged 3 1/2 to 5 years old. One of the boys after arriving wet the bed. To cure this, the boys were put on half rations. (The normal weekly food ration was 2 lb 10 oz of bread, 5 oz of mutton, 1 lb of potatos, 3.5 oz of cheese, and 12 oz of pudding.) When the cut in rations did not stop the bed wetting, the children were placed in specially designed stocks and watch the other children eat. As the boys began to smell, they were made to sleep outside in an unheated shed even though it was winter. When returned the boys were so weak as the result of limited food, diarrhoea, and disease that they could barely stand. [Wilson, p. 30.]

Southwell Work House (Nottinghamshire)

A reader writes us, "On my last vacation to England in October, 2002, I discovered that the original workhouse which was the one in 'Oliver Twist' on which 'Oliver!' is based. The Southwell Work House. It was built in 1824 and is still standing. It was scheduled to be demolished and replaced by luxury apartments, after standing empty for many years. The e U.K. National Trust bought it and restored it to its original looks due to its historical literary significance. It is located in Nottinghamshire and is now a museum opened to tourists. I was lucky enough to take one of the tours and it was fascinating. They do sell copies of 'Oliver Twist' in the bookshop. Two children (a girl and a boy) dressed up in workhouse costumes of the late 19th century as part of the display (figure 1)." [Alcock] We are unsure just how accurate the costumes are, but as it is a museum, we assume some care was taken as to historical accuracy.

Other workhouses

A list of English workhouses is available at Workhouses in England.

Sources

Alcock, James. E-mail message, August 20, 2003.

Anstruther, Ian. The Scandal of Anover Workhouse (Bles: London, 1984).

Crompton,Frank. Workhouse Children: Infant and Child Paupers Under the Worcestershire Poor Law 1780-1871. While this study covers conditions in only one area, unlike many other tudies, it focuses on the children.

Fergusson, William. E-mail message, August 25, 2003.

Malthus, Thomas. An Essay on the Principle of Population (1806).

Millman, H.H. as cited in Ian Anstruther, The Scandal of Andover Workhouse (Bles: London, 1984).

Roberts, David. "How cruel was the Victorian Poor Laws, " Historical Journal (1963), pp. 97-107.

Wiklson, A.N. The Victorians (W.W. Norton: New York, 2002), 724p.

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Created: September 12, 2002
Last updated: 11:26 PM 2/25/2012