Workhouses in Victorian England

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the parish workhouse in Britain was a place where - often in return for board and lodging - employment was provided for the destitute.

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Southwell Workhouse

See the following lists for the shocking number of workhouses.

Workhouses ~• Bermondsey Workhouse, Tanner Street [1888] • Bethnal Green Workhouse, Bishops Road [1888] • Brentford Union Workhouse, Union Lane [1888] • Bromley Workhouse, Love lane, off St Leonards Street [1888] • Camberwell Workhouse, Camberwell, CAMBERWELL [1861] • Camberwell Workhouse, Havil Street [1888] • Camberwell Workhouse, Nazareth House, Gordon Road [1888] • Chelsea Workhouse, Chelsea, CHELSEA [1861] • Chelsea Workhouse, Arthur Street [1888] • Christchurch Workhouse, Blackfriars Road, Christchurch, Southwark, ST SAVIOUR SOUTHWARK [1881] • City of London Union Workhouse, part of, Bromley St Leonard, Bow, POPLAR [1861] • City of London Workhouse, part of, MILE END OLD TOWN [1861] • City Union Workhouse [1888] • Clerkenwell Workhouse, Farringdon Road [1888] • East London Union Workhouse, Hackney, HACKNEY [1861] • Fulham Union Workhouse, Fulham, KENSINGTON [1861] • Fulham Workhouse, Hammersmith Road [1888] • Greenwich Workhouse, Woolwich Road [1888] • Hackney Union Workhouse, Hackney, HACKNEY [1861] • Hackney Workhouse, Sidney Road [1888] • Holborn Union Workhouse, St Andrew, HOLBORN [1861] • Holborn Workhouse, 158 Gray's Inn Road [1888] • West London Union Workhouse, Cornwallis Road [1888] • Islington Workhouse, St John's Road [1888] • Islington Workhouse, Holy Trinity, ISLINGTON [1862] • Islington Workhouse, ISLINGTON [1861] • Kensington Workhouse, Marloes Road [1888] • Kensington Workhouse, Wright's Lane, St Margaret, WESTMINSTER [1861]

• Lambeth Old Workhouse, Princes Road, Lambeth Church, LAMBETH [1881] • Lambeth Workhouse Industrial Schools, Norwood, LAMBETH [1861] • Lambeth Workhouse School, Elder Road, Norwood, LAMBETH [1881] • Lambeth Workhouse, LAMBETH [1861] • Lambeth Workhouse, Renfrew Road [1888] • Lambeth Workhouse, Renfrew Road, Lambeth Church, LAMBETH [1881] • Lewisham Workhouse, Lewisham Road [1888] • Limehouse Workhouse, Rope Makers Field [1888] • City of London Workhouse, Homerton, Cliften Road [1888] • London Workhouse, Shadwell Road [1888] • Mile End Old Town Workhouse, MILE END OLD TOWN [1861] • Mile End Old Town Workhouse, Bancroft Road [1888] • Newington Workhouse, St Peter Walworth, NEWINGTON [1861] • Paddington WorkhoSt George's Hanover Square Workhouse, Mount Street, [1888]

• St George's Workhouse, ST GEORGE IN THE EAST [1861] • St George's-in-the-East Workhouse [1888] • St Giles Workhouse, St Giles South, ST GILES [1861] • St Giles's & St George's Workhouses, Endell Street [1888] • use, Harrow Road [1888] • Pancras Workhouse, Camden Town,

PANCRAS [1861] • Poplar Workhouse, High Street [1888] • Richmond Union Workhouse, Grove Road [1888] • Rotherhithe Workhouse, Deptford Lower Road, Rotherhithe, ST OLAVE SOUTHWARK [1881] • Shoreditch Workhouse, Kingsland Road [1888] • St George's Workhouse, Fulham Road [1888] • St George's Workhouse, Mint Street [1888] • St Georges Workhouse, Mint Street, Borough Road, ST SAVIOUR SOUTHWARK [1881]

• St George's Hanover Square Workhouse, Mount Street, [1888] • St George's Workhouse, ST GEORGE IN THE EAST [1861] • Stepney Union Workhouse (commonly called the Children's Establishment), Limehouse, STEPNEY [1861] • Stepney Workhouse, St Leonard Street [1888] • The Shoreditch Workhouse, Haggerstone West, SHOREDITCH [1861] • The Union Workhouse, York Street West, Ratcliff, STEPNEY [1861] • The Workhouse belonging to St Luke's Parish, Hoxton New Town, SHOREDITCH [1861] • The Workhouse, Rectory, MARYLEBONE [1861] • St Giles Workhouse, St Giles South, ST GILES [1861] • St Giles's & St George's Workhouses, Endell Street [1888] • St John's Hampstead Workhouse, New End [1888] • St Luke's Workhouse, Shepherdess Walk [1888] • St Mary Abbotts Workhouse, Kensington Town [1888] • St Marylebone Workhouse, Northumberland Street [1888] • St Mary's Islington Workhouse, Upper Barnsbury Street [1888] • St Olave's Union Infirmary, Deptford Lower Road, S.E. London [1888] • St Olave's Union Workhouse, Parish Street, St John, Horseleydown, ST OLAVE SOUTHWARK [1881] • St Olave's Union Workhouse, St John Horeslydown, ST OLAVE SOUTHWARK [1861] • St Olave's Workhouse, Lower Road [1888] • St Olave's Workhouse, Parish Street [1888] • St Olave's Workhouse, Russell Street [1888] • St Pancras Workhouse, King's Road [1888] • St Saviour's Union Workhouse, Christchurch, ST SAVIOUR SOUTHWARK [1861] • St Saviour's Workhouse, Marlbro' Street [1888]

• Union Workhouse, Greenwich, GREENWICH [1861] • Union Workhouse, Lewisham Village, LEWISHAM [1861] • Union Workhouse, Mile End New Town, WHITECHAPEL [1861] • Union Workhouse, POPLAR [1861] • Wandsworth & Clapham Union Workhouse, Battersea, WANDSWORTH [1861] • Wandsworth & Clapham Workhouse, Usk Road [1888] • West Ham Union Workhouse, Union Road [1888] • Westminster Workhouse, Marloes Road [1888] • Westminster Workhouse, Poland Street [1888] • Westminster Workhouse, York Street, St Margaret, WESTMINSTER [1861] • Whitechapel Union Workhouse, Charles Street, WHITECHAPEL [1871] • Whitechapel Workhouse, South Grove [1888] • Woolwich Union Workhouse [1888] • Workhouse belonging to St George Hanover Square, Chelsea, CHELSEA [1861] • Workhouse Infirmary, Pleasant Place, Lambeth Church, LAMBETH [1881] • Workhouse, Borough Road, ST GEORGE SOUTHWARK [1861] • Workhouse, Charing Cross, ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS [1861] • Workhouse, Golden Square, ST JAMES WESTMINSTER [1861] • Workhouse, Green, BETHNAL GREEN [1861] • Workhouse, Hampstead, HAMPSTEAD [1861] • Workhouse, Mount Street, Mayfair, ST GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE [1861] • Workhouse, Rotherhithe, ROTHERHITHE [1861] • Workhouse, Russell Street, St Mary Magdalen, ST OLAVE SOUTHWARK [1881] • Workhouse, St James, CLERKENWELL [1861] • Workhouse, St Mary Magdalen, BERMONDSEY [1861] • Workhouse, Wapping, Shadwell, STEPNEY [1861] • Workhouse, West London North, WEST LONDON [1861]

To understand Scrooge, we must understand just where

Scrooge thought the poor should go.

“Are there no prisons? No

workhouses?”

Debtor's Prisons

The English practiced a peculiar form of punishment for someone who could not pay their bills; a special prison where the offender was incarcerated indefinitely until his creditors could be satisfied. The fact that a person in prison was unable to work to earn the necessary money to repay those debts did not enter into their logic. Debtors often died in these prisons due to the terrible living conditions.

In 1824, Dickens’ father was imprisoned in Marshalsea debtor's prison. Dickens, age 12 was sent to work in a boot blacking factory.

What Was A Workhouse?• A prison like place to house the poor and force

them to work for their food.

• A place to discourage the poor from claiming poor relief.

• A place where conditions so harsh that people would try to manage outside, rather than enter them.

• Those who claimed poor relief and entered the

workhouse were called 'inmates' -- a term also used for criminals who were in prison.

Two Workhouse Designs

Hexagonal

Cruciform

Design PurposeDesigned to separate different groups.Families were split up!

Prevented more children Turn the children into useful human beings

--which, it was thought, their parents were not People in the same family might see each other during

meals or in the chapel but they were not allowed to speak to each other.

A well known story tells how a laborer gave notice to leave the workhouse with his wife & children - only to be told: "You cannot take your wife out. We buried her three weeks ago".

Separation of Workhouse Inmates

Separation of Workhouse Inmates

Workhouse ClassesClassification of Inmates

• After 1834, inmates were strictly segregated into 7 classes:

1. Aged or infirm men. 2. Able bodied men, and youths above 13. 3. Youths and boys above seven years old and under 13. 4. Aged or infirm women 5. Able-bodied women and girls above 16. 6. Girls above seven years old and under 16. 7. Children under 7 seven years of age.

Entering the Workhouse

• You were stripped, searched, washed

• Had your hair cropped.

• Made to wear a prison-style uniform.

• Personal belongings were confiscated

• Women were at all times kept separate from the men, including their husbands.

• Children were kept separately from adults - even from their own parents.

Children’s Uniforms

Women’s Uniform

Workhouse Meals Until 1842 •all meals were taken in silence•no cutlery was provided •inmates had to use their fingers•meals were kept dull, predictable & tasteless.

There were 6 official diets which were so meager that they were described as "a slow process of starvation".

A typical meal was:- BREAKFAST 6 oz bread; DINNER 4 oz bacon and 3 oz bread or potatoes; SUPPER 6 oz bread & 2 oz cheese.

The official ration in prisons was 292 ounces of food a week. The workhouse diet was between 137 and 182 ounces a week only.

Workhouse Diet

7 Ounces of Meat when dressed, without Bones, 2 Ounces of Butter,4 Ounces of Cheese,1 Pound of Bread,3 Pints of Beer

The diet fed to workhouse inmates was often laid down in meticulous detail. For example, the workhouse rules for the parish of St John at Hackney in the 1750s stipulated a daily allowance of:

Workhouse Dining

Workhouse Dining Hall

A Day in the Workhouse Summer Winter  

5 a.m. 6 a.m. Rising bell6 a.m 7 a.m. Prayers and breakfast7 a.m. 8 a.m. Work12 noon Dinner1 p.m. Work6 p.m. Prayers7 p.m. Supper8 p.m. Bed

Work in the WorkhouseIn rural areas, inmates were sometimes used for agricultural

labor. Other more menial work included: • Stone-breaking — the results being saleable for road-making

•Stone-breaking was a task often given to male inmates. It was physically demanding, the amount performed could be readily measured, and the results could be sold for road-mending.

Work Con’t.• Oakum-picking

Oakum-picking involved teasing out the fibres from old hemp ropes — the resulting material was sold to the navy or other ship-builders — it was mixed with tar and used to seal the lining of wooden ships.

Wood Chopping

• Gypsum-crushing — for use in plaster-making • Corn-grinding — heavy mill-stones were rotated by four or more men turning a capstan

Name Offence Date PunishmentElliott, Benjamin Neglect of work 31 May

1842Dinner withheld, and but bread for supper.

Rowe, Sarah Noisy and swearing 19 June 1842 Lock'd up for 24 hours on bread and

water.Aplin, John Disorderly at Prayer-time 22 July

1842 Lock'd up for 24 hours on bread and water.

Mintern, George Fighting in school 26 July 1842 No cheese for one week.Greenham, Mary

and Payne, Priscella

Quarreling and fighting 14 Dec 1842 No meat 1 week.

Bartlett, Mary Breaking window 21 Mar 1843 Sent to prison for 2 mths.

Park, James Deserted, got over wall 4 Sep 1843 To be whipped.

Hallett, Isaac Breaking window 25 April 1844

Sent to prison for 2 months hard labor.

Staple, John Refusing to work 7 Jany. 1856 Committed to prison for 28 days.

Johnson, John Refusing to work 19 Oct 1858

Cheese & tea stop'd for supper. Breakfast stop's altogether.

Soaper, ElizabethMaking use of bad language in bedroom.Trying to excite other inmates to insubordination. Refusing to work.

17 Jany. 1863

Taken before the Magistrate & committed to prison for 14 days hard labor.

Note by Chairman of the Guardians: "Would not 28 days be better—J.F.?"

Discipline in the workhouse.

Refactory Cell for Punishment

Tour the Workhouse

Click the workhouse to enter.