The Workhouse

• The design/structure of the workhouse was designed to be a deterrent. Sampson Kempthorne was appointed architect to the Poor Law Commission in 1835. He produced designs as indicative of the standards to which they should work when commissioning new workhouses or altering existing ones.
• Kempthorne produced two basic designs. One of these was the Y-shaped workhouse:

  • two or three storeys high
  • inside a hexagonal boundary wall = workrooms
  • one wing of the Y = kitchen, dining hall and chapel
  • other two wings = dormitories and day rooms
  • Master's rooms in the middle
  • Could accommodate around 300 paupers

  
• The other design produced by Kempthorne was the cruciform-shaped workhouse:

  • two storeys high
  • inside square boundary - held workrooms
  • shape split space into four exercise yards
  • each 'arm' held dormitories, dining rooms, chapel, kitchens, schoolrooms and stores
  • could accommodate between 200 and 500 paupers

  
• Kempthorne's designs provided the segregation of paupers, adding to the deterrence factor by splitting up families and preventing moral 'contagion'.
• Paupers were required to do an interview before entering the workhouse, in order to assess an applicant's circumstances. Upon entering, pauper's legal status was changed and they lost the right to vote (until 1918). On entry to the workhouse, the pauper family was given a medical inspection and then split up, although mothers did usually stay with their children until they were about 7. Children were sent to the workhouse school and when they were 9/10, they were apprenticed without their parents' consent and sometimes without their knowledge.
• Paupers had to wear a workhouse uniform that sometimes fitted them and sometimes did not. Men were given razors to shave once a week and all paupers had a weekly bath. Workhouse staff watched as this happened.

  No personal possessions were allowed in the workhouse and there were no lockers or cupboards where paupers could put their clothes and shoes.
• The daily routine was designed to be boring and monotonous:

  • 7 - 8 breakfast
  • 8 - 12 work
  • 12 - 13 dinner
  • 13 - 18 work
  • 18 - 19 supper
  • 20 bedtime
  • Each day began and ended with prayers
  • The routine was set to start an hour earlier in the summer
• It was essential that paupers within the workhouse worked, but there were some problems/constraints:

  • the work had to be done inside the workhouse
  • it could not diminish available employment outside the workhouse
  • philosophical stance - it could not pay more than it cost the workhouse to maintain the pauper
• Work for male paupers included:

  • stone-breaking
  • oakum-picking
  • bone-crushing
• Women did domestic jobs such as:

  • cleaning
  • helping in the kitchen
  • laundry
• The supply of food to paupers, while it was just about what kept them alive, served also to degrade and to discipline. The Poor Law Commissioners issued 6 model diets for boards of guardians to choose from. The aim of the published dietaries was to sustain and maintain life, while also making mealtimes as boring and tedious as possible.
• The way meals were taken was designed to instill repressive uniformity. Until 1842, there were eaten in silence and many workhouses even delayed the serving of food until it was stone cold. The meat (typically cheap cuts of beef and mutton), oatmeal, cheese and bread were of poor quality and often adulterated. In terms of food, there was some local variations with the Cornwall unions using fish for meat instead. The meals were also poorly and carelessly prepared and cooked. In the 1830s, some workhouses didn't even allow cutlery.
• Workhouses were rowdy places. Staff and paupers frequently hurled verbal and physical abuse. There was also frequent outbreaks of bullying and blackmail, and there are even recorded instances of sexual abuse.
• Workhouse staff used a system of rewards and punishments to maintain order. Paupers could be punished for being in the wrong part of the building, making too much noise, working too slowly or cheeking a member of staff. Paupers could also be rewarded with food, 'clean' jobs or pocket money. Often systems of rewards and punishments had no legal backing, however there were specific punishments laid down by the Poor Law Commissioners, and a standard punishment book to record all the punishments formally.
• Punishments included:

  • most workhouses had punishment cells
  • forcing paupers to spend a night in the workhouse mortuary
  • reduction of rations
  • more serious crime = processes of law (e.g. offences against property was treated with a short prison sentence)
  • however - girls and women couldn't be beaten
• However, paupers were free to come and go as they pleased with only 3hrs notice to have their clothes returned so they could leave. Workhouse staff couldn't prevent them from leaving and nor could they refuse to readmit them. Many paupers exploited this. Although, if a man had a family, the family would also have to leave.

  Although, an Act of Parliament in 1871 gave guardians the power to limit the number of times a pauper could leave the workhouse.

  If paupers left the workhouse without permission, they would be charged with theft of union property (the workhouse uniform).
• By entering the workhouse, a pauper child's parents had relinquished responsibility for that child. It was believed that children could not be held responsible for their own poverty, which is why they received a basic education, better medical attention and were even apprenticed into a trade. However, unlike pauper adults, they would not leave the workhouse, meaning they became institutionalised and were unable to cope with life outside of the workhouse.
• Workhouses provided both short and long term care, with around 1/5 of all inmates being inside for five or more years. Paupers within the workhouse included:

  • young people - temporary shelter (seasonal employment etc)
  • vagrants - overnight accommodation in a 'casual ward'
  • elderly - mainly old men, as women could be of domestic use to their families
  • children - between 25 - 40% of all admissions - most abandoned, orphans or ill
  • single women - included widows, abandoned wives, single mothers and prostitutes
  • mentally ill - grew from 1/100 to 1/8 of inmates as century progressed
• The workhouse, like any large institution, required staff to run. They often hired the poor who lived outside the workhouse and did menial work for long hours and low pay.

  Key individuals included the master and matron. The master was responsible for the discipline and economy of the workhouse whereas the matron was for the female paupers and the domestic side of life. They had tremendous power and could decide if the workhouse was a place of grim terror and dread, or a place where the most vulnerable are helped.
• • At Ashford (Kent), the union workhouse was run by a retired naval officer and his wife. It was well known for its efficiency and compassion.
  • George Catch, an ex-policeman, moved from workhouse to workhouse, inflicting terror and cruelty wherever he went.
  • The master of Cerne Abbas workhouse in Wiltshire lasted for just 2 weeks. This was due to his lack of education and inability to cope with the paperwork.