ACCOMMODATING THE POOR

Workhouses were austere forbidding places and deliberately unconvivial, so much so that those who entered the workhouse were designated as inmates, a term more commonly associated with prisoners. Admission and discharge from the workhouse were both voluntary acts but most people in poorer communities looked upon the workhouse as a last resort for help.

Union workhouses were governed by a Board of Guardians; there was usually one member from each parish in the union on the board. Each workhouse was run my a master and matron - very often a husband and wife.

Where records survive, documentary evidence of life in a workhouse can be really enlightening. Life was hard and reading old records about workhouses helps us understand the reality of our ancestors' experiences. Records of the workhouse provide the following information:

·         Admission and discharge registers

·         Creed registers

·         Emigration books

·         Punishment books

·         Masters' journals

·         Guardian minute books

·         Apprenticeship books

Most surviving records have been deposited with local record offices but some records for London workhouses are online at ancestry.co.uk.

.Workhouse were not all bad because access to the infirmary was often the only way poorer people could receive medical treatment. This was particularly essential in old age and for single girls giving birth to an illegitimate child.

This website - www.workhouses.org.uk - is also a mine of useful workhouse information.

The clue is in the word! As the name suggests, it was a house of work, so able-bodied inmates spent most of their time working. They were allocated a variety of tasks most of which were mundane and necessary for the running and upkeep of the workhouse. The female inmates were involved in domestic chores such as cleaning, helping in the kitchen or in the laundry. Some workhouses contributed to the local economy and had weaving sheds and sewing rooms; not only was this a way the workhouse could supplement its income, but it also gave an inmate the opportunity to learn a new skill to help them survive outside the system. If the workhouse had a garden, the female inmates grew vegetables to supplement the bland diets.

If a male inmate had any trade skills, they would be allocated tasks around the house such as mending and repairing things. Most of the male inmates were involved with more mundane jobs such as stone-breaking, which was physically demanding. The stones were then used locally for the upkeep of roads. Corn-grinding, bone-crushing to make fertilizer or wood-chopping were also undertaken.

Oakum picking also took place and was carried out by both men and women. Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Picking oakum was particularly rough as it involved teasing out the fibres of old hemp rope and appying tar or pitch. Oakum was used to seal joints in wooden hulled navy ships.

The diet to be followed in workhouses was laid down in detail; the food was very plain and the portions meagre. The Poor Law Commissioners issued six sample dietary tables; the amounts of food given at each meal depended upon whether the inmate was a man, woman, or child and whether able-bodied or infirm. Most breakfasts consisted of bread and milk gruel; dinner was normally meat pudding or suet pudding served with potatoes. Supper was bread and cheese.

Children and the infirm had slightly different diets usually inclding milk or tea, and special medical cases might have received alternative food.

No one ever starved in the workhouse. As nutrition became better understood, a greater variety of food formed part of the menu. If the workhouse had a garden, then they grew vegetables to supplement the substantial stodgy food.

With the advent of the Children’s Act 1908, the old age pension and National Insurance, the workhouse system fell into decline just before the First World War. Many workhouse buildings became poor law institutions and then general hospitals when the NHS was established in 1948. Some were renovated completely and became luxury flats or quality nursing homes.