Victorian Work House [Part One]

The working house was built for the poor and needy and was designed to be so harsh and hostile that only the real disadvantaged will seek refuge there. It was hoped that this would solve the problem of poverty, since many rich people believe that people are poor because they avoided work, but for many it is simply not the case. For example, a family could survive very well, until the head of the house died suddenly, perhaps in a work-related situation, such as an accident of a pit, some other injury or illness. Mother and children could very well end up in the working house, as there were too many mouths to feed, and they could not survive in the ward. Once there, the whole family will be separated from each other, divided into the following categories.

Men suffering from age or illness

Women are age-weak or sick

Able-bodied men over 15 years old

Able-bodied women over 15 years old

Boys from 7 to 15 years

Girls from 7 to 15 years

Children under 7 years old

The idea of ​​this was that people did not multiply, even the elderly were divided. Each section had its own training yard, and there were separate schools for boys and girls.

The buildings themselves were harsh, premonitory places, untidy and very similar to prisons. High walls surrounded the workhouse, carving out prisoners from the outside world.

Labor houses contained dormitories, toilets, workshops, a “fireproof section” for solitary confinement, a morgue, a bakery, reception rooms, canteens and a chapel. Any sick or elderly person located on the upper floors will become imprisoned in the ward because he or she will not be able to cope with the stairs.

The space was supreme. Too many people were packed into the smallest possible space: for example, eight beds could be placed in a narrow dormitory just sixteen feet long; thirty-two people were placed in a dormitory 20 feet long; ten children and their attendants were placed in a room 10 feet by 15 feet.

In all cases, the hospital ward took part, so at any moment there could be patients suffering from any variety of complaints: from dysentery to diphtheria, and let us not forget that during the Victorian era there were several outbreaks of cholera up and down the earth, But sometimes people were better at working in the home if they were sick than if they were out of it, as they might not be able to afford good medical care otherwise.

The furniture was basic: cheap wooden beds, filled with chopsticks as mattresses, only two or three blankets would be provided, and pillows were considered a luxury, sheets were not provided. Most prisoners share beds. There were no comfortable chairs, only wooden benches, tables and stools. The seats were not upholstered. The walls were bare except for lists of rules and regulations, and various biblical passages were shown.

The day started early at 5.00 with a bell tolling. Prayers and breakfast were between 6.00 and 7.00. The prisoners were supposed to work from 7.00 to 18.00, but they would be allowed a lunch break for lunch from noon until 13.00. Prayers were pronounced from 6 to 19 hours. Dinner took place between 7 and 20 o'clock in the evening, after which they had to go to bed and sleep, when the whole company began again with the bell at 5 am the next morning.

The work that men had to undertake was: chopping bone, breaking stone, collecting oak [which was untying threads from ropes used on ships etc',] and sometimes working on a corn mill or vegetable plots in the workplace.

For women, this is often associated with household duties, such as working in the laundry room, cleaning the floors, painting the leading fire grates, etc.

Upon admission, the prisoners' own clothes were removed and disinfected. They were searched, washed and put on uniforms, and their hair was cut to prevent infection of head lice. Women wore a shapeless dress that reached the length of the ankle, long stockings and crank cases and hood. Men wore striped shirts and loose-fitting trousers that were made shorter, tying pieces of rope at the knee, a thick vest, woolen boxes and socks and a scarf, and in winter a coarse jacket.

The food did not contain food for the prisoners, and often the Board of Guardians was going to have dinner like kings and queens, while the prisoners did this with thin watery cereal for breakfast, and sometimes with thin vegetable soup and a piece of bread. Sometimes they had meat, but it was very rare.

Sometimes children were brought up inside a working house, where there was a school for boys and a school for girls, so in this regard, children from a working house could be better educated than those who did not receive any education in the community. As children grew older, they learned new skills and became learners to learn crafts such as carpentry or obstetrics. And in some work houses there were industrial schools where children learned such skills.