| Notes |
Taken from www.workhouses.org.uk
Classification of Paupers
The indoor paupers shall be classed as follows:
?Aged or infirm men
?Able-bodied men, and youths above 13.
?Youths and boys above 7 years old and under 13.
?Aged or infirm women.
?Able-bodied women, and girls above 16.
?Girls above 7 years of age and under 16.
?Children under seven years of age.
To each class shall be assigned by the Board of Guardians that apartment or separate building which may be best fitted for the reception of such class, and in which they shall respectively remain, without communication, unless as is hereinafter provided.
In addition to the separate accommodation for each class of pauper, a number of rooms for other staff had to be included in the workhouse. The Master and Matron were always resident, and porters, schoolmistress and schoolmaster might be employed if not chosen from the pauper inmates. Offices also had to be built for use by the Clerk and a meeting room for the Board of Guardians. A waiting room was required for the applicants requesting relief.
"The Workhouse should be a place of hardship, of coarse fare, of degradation and humility; it should be administered with strictness, with severity; it should be as repulsive as is consistent with humanity."
The Revd. H. H. Milman to Edwin Chadwick, 1832
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 stated that Parishes were to be grouped together into Unions. The Commissioners reported that the Old Poor Law was inefficient, and Parishes were too small to operate efficiently. Each Union was to provide a Workhouse which was to be a large grim building built to look like a Prison. A Local Board of Guardians would be elected from the ratepayers to run the Workhouse, supervised by the Central Poor Law Commission set up by the Government. The Poor Law Commission was headed by three Commissioners and Edwin Chadwick was appointed Secretary.
The principle of Workhouses was that conditions were less comfortable than conditions outside the House, so that only those really desperate would seek relief. This became known as "The principle of less eligibility".
Workhouse Rules and Regulations
Workhouse orders and regulations were compiled and printed by the Poor Law Commissioners, and published in the first annual report, a small sample is shown below:
Rules and Regulations to be observed in the Workhouse of the (name) Union.
I. Paupers are to be admitted into the workhouse in any one of the following modes, and in no other, viz-
?By am order of the Board of Guardians, signified in writing by their Clerk.
?By a provisional order in writing, signed by an overseer, churchwarden or relieving officer.
?By the Master of the workhouse, without any such order, in case of any sudden or urgent necessity.
IV. As soon as a Pauper is admitted, he or she shall be placed in the probationary ward, and shall there remain until examined by the Medical Officer of the workhouse.
VII. Before removal from the probationary ward, the pauper shall be thoroughly cleansed, and shall be clothed in the workhouse dress; and the clothes which he or she wore upon admission shall be purified and deposited in a place to be appropriated for that purpose; to be restored to the pauper on leaving the workhouse, or else to be used by the pauper as the Board of Guardians shall direct.
XIII. All the paupers in the workhouse, except the sick, the aged and infirm, and the young children, shall rise, be set to work, leave off work, and go to bed, at the times mentioned in the accompanying table "A", and shall be allowed such intervals for their meals as therein are stated; and these several times shall be notified by ringing a bell, and during the time of meals, silence, order and decorum shall be maintained.
XIV. Half an hour after the bell shall have been rung for rising, the names shall be called over in the several wards provided for the second, third, fifth and sixth classes, when every pauper belonging to the ward must be present, to answer to his or her name, and to be inspected by the Master or Matron.
XVIII. The boys and girls who are inmates of the workhouse shall, for three of the working hours at least every day, be respectively instructed in reading, writing, and in the principles of the Christian religion; and such other instruction shall be imparted to them as are calculated to train them to habits of usefulness, industry and virtue.
XIX. The diet of the paupers shall be so regulated as in no case to exceed in quantity and quality of food, the ordinary diet of the able-bodied labourers living within the same district.
XXII. Any pauper may quit the workhouse, upon giving the Master three hours previous notice of his wish to do so; but no able-bodied pauper having a family shall so quit the house without taking the whole of such family with him or her, unless the Board of Guardians shall otherwise direct; nor shall any pauper, after so quitting the house, be again received into the house, unless in one of the modes prescribed in rule 1 for the admission of paupers.
XXVI. Any pauper, who shall neglect to observe of the foregoing rules as are applicable to him or her; who shall make any noise when silence is ordered; use obscene or profane language; by word or deed insult or revile any other pauper in the woorkhouse; who shall not duly cleanse his or her person; neglect or refuse to work; or pretend sickness; disobey any of the legal orders of the Master or Matron, or other superintendent; will be deemed disorderly, and shall be placed in apartments provided for such offenders, or shall otherwise be distinguished in dress, and placed upon such diet, as the Board of Guardians shall prescribe.
The Daily Routine
The daily routine to be followed by inmates of workhouse was stipulated by the Poor Law Commissioners in the first Annual Report.
Hour of Rising - 6 o' clock
Interval for Breakfast - 6.30 to 7.00
Time for setting to work - 7 o' clock
Interval for Dinner - 12.00 to 1.00
Time for leaving off work - 6 o' clock
Interval for Supper - 6.00 to 7.00
Time for going to bed - 8pm
The Workhouse Day
The model timetable devised by the Poor Law Commissioners meant that the workhouse day began when the rising bell rang out at 6am from March to September and at 7am for the rest of the year. After prayers, breakfast followed from 6 to 7 am. They then worked from 7 until noon. After an hour for lunch work resumed until supper from 6 to 7pm. This was followed by more prayers and then bed, by 8pm at the latest.
The daily routine was designed to be dull and repetitive to remind inmates of their situation and discourage other paupers from entering the workhouse. In the same way, the work which filled the day was made hard and disagreeable. The Poor Law Board recommended tasks such as stone-breaking, oakum-picking, sack-making, corn-grinding, laundry work and gardening. Workhouse paupers were also hired out as a cheap form of labour.
Classification of Paupers
The indoor paupers shall be classed as follows:
?Aged or infirm men
?Able-bodied men, and youths above 13.
?Youths and boys above 7 years old and under 13.
?Aged or infirm women.
?Able-bodied women, and girls above 16.
?Girls above 7 years of age and under 16.
?Children under seven years of age.
To each class shall be assigned by the Board of Guardians that apartment or separate building which may be best fitted for the reception of such class, and in which they shall respectively remain, without communication, unless as is hereinafter provided.
In addition to the separate accommodation for each class of pauper, a number of rooms for other staff had to be included in the workhouse. The Master and Matron were always resident, and porters, schoolmistress and schoolmaster might be employed if not chosen from the pauper inmates. Offices also had to be built for use by the Clerk and a meeting room for the Board of Guardians. A waiting room was required for the applicants requesting relief.
Admission to a Workhouse
A Pauper that wanted to request relief would have to sit in the waiting room at the Workhouse prior to being interviewed. The other methods of gaining admission was to apply to the relieving officer, or in cases of emergency to the Master of the workhouse.
Once admitted they would be taken to the receiving ward. There were separate receiving wards for men and women, and in some workhouses, for children. Families would be split up from this point.
Paupers were stripped, searched and washed and then issued with a workhouse uniform. Their own clothes would be removed for washing and then stored for when they left the workhouse. They would usually stay in the receiving ward for a couple of days until they had been examined by the Medical Officer, who would determine which category they were in. The Pauper would then be taken to the appropriate ward.
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1808 - 1888 (80 years)
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