The diary of Edith Lorrimer, England 1871
Edith Lorrimer is the sixteen years old daughter of a wealthy widow who is on the Board of Governors at a workhouse for the destitute. Whilst visiting the workhouse, Edith is shocked at the conditions because she has led a very sheltered life. Just to think of life in the workhouse filled her eyes with tears.
The story tells of her meeting with one of the orphans, Rosie Chubb, who lives in the workhouse. They make friends and she meets Rosie's cat Oddie. Edith discovers how difficult Rosie's life is....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workhouses were very unpleasant institutions where poor people who had no job or home lived. They earned their keep by doing jobs in the workhouse.
The laws of the time declared that able-bodied people could get poor relief unless they went to live in these special workhouses. The idea was that the poor were helped to support themselves. They had to work for their food and accommodation. The truth was that the people who ran then were cruel, harsh and unkind and the workhouses were more like concentration camps.
The government discouraged people from being lazy and taking advantage of workhouses and so these places were very unpleasant. Families were split up and not allowed to mix, food was little and poor such as gruel (a thick porridge-like sludge), conditions were harsh, everyone had to wear uniforms and they worked long, hard hours. Children in workhouses were not taught to read and write and so they could not get other jobs. It was a very unpleasant life that poor people could not escape from.
By 1839, the 15,000 parishes of Britain had been grouped into 600 unions and 350 workhouses had been built
Conditions were so bad that unrest started and eventually the laws were changed.
Many workhouses developed and became hospitals in the 20th century.
Dr Thomas Barnardo was a man who felt that children should not be in workhouses. From 1867 onwards, he led the way in setting up proper children’s homes.
Read more about it here: http://www.cottontimes.co.uk/poorlawo.htm, http://www.harrison-associates.co.uk/prescot/workhouses.html, http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide19/part06.html, http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/victorians/workhouses.html
No comments:
Post a Comment