Figure 1.--Note how at this English work house that the older boys wear frocks just like those of the infants. Notice that all of the children wear the same simple frock, infants and boys alike. In addition there appears to be only one or two sizes and as a result, the older boys' frocks were quite short. There was no attempt to give more mature clothing to the boys as they grew up. |
Work houses were established in many European countries, Canad and America. Most of the information we have been able to obtain, however comes from British sources. This is because the workhouse system was much more developed in Britain than anywhere else in the world. iThe British sources also cover Ireland which was part of the United Kingdom in the 19th century. The English workhouse dates back to the 17th century, although it is the 19th century workhouse that is most in the popular mind. The workhouse in Englnd was not abolished until 1929. Conditions in Irish work houses were even more horendous than in England. The situation in America was somewhat different than Britain, in part because the the Frontier and a less strict class system offered opportunities that were not available to the British poor. Several other countries had workhouses or similar facilities to care for the destitute. We know little about these institutions in other countries, but have begun to acquire some informaion.
We have no information on workhouses in Bitish colonies like Australia. We do not know if any existed.
There were five workhouses in Belgium: La Cambré, Bruges, Hoogstraeten, Mons and Reickheim.
Workhouses existed throughout all of the United Kingdom, in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Unlike Ebgland, workhouses in Canada are not well known. We suspect that this reflects the fact that they were less important than in England. One Canadian reader tells us that he has seen no evidence of them in Canada. Another reader tell us that they did exist and were called 'Houses of Industry'. We have very littlke infornation on these Canadian facilities. We know that there was one in Totanto, located on Elm Street in downtown. It was demolished in the early 1950s and was replaced by modern office
buildings. [Alcock]
The institutions established in London and Westminster during the reign of Charles II, which are commonly referred to as the first English work-houses, were in reality houses of correction to which vagabonds and other petty offenders were committed. The 1601 Poor Law Act gave responsibility to local parishes for looking after very poor people, who were able to claim assistance from the parish's householders. Poor people were able to live at home when they were getting parish relief. The The idea was common at that time that a workhouse, in the literal sense of the word, could be made an effective discouragement of unnecessary pauperism. In 1676 John Gary, a merchant of Bristol, brought about the building and opening of a workhouse in that city. Gary's experiment was so successful that it was followed in many other cities. The abuses of outdoor relief resulted in the appointment of the Poor Law Commission of 1832 and the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. With the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act people receiving help from the parish had to live in a workhouse and could no longer live at home. This began the era which most think of when the image of the workhouse comes up. In return for parish relief, they would be made to work hard in the workhouse; which is how the term originated. The principal was laudiable and enlightened. The British Government in threory accepted responsibility for providing shelter and food for every man, woman and child who was destitute. Unfortunastely they fulfilled this responsibility in such a way that poverty was even further more stigmatized than it already was. The English work house endured into the 20th century. As late as 1926 there were 226,000 inmates and around 600 workhouses with an average population of about 400 inmates each. I have no information on the workhouse situation, but while they were still teribly depressing places, presumably conditions were much improved. Parliament in 1929 passed the Local Government Act which abolished workhouses. Responsibility for the poor was given to county borough and county councils.
We have no information on French poor houses at this time.
Germany until 1871 and te formation of the short-lived German Empire was divided into many different countries and principaities. The two most important were Austria and Prussia, but there were other states of some importance such as Bavaria. Workhouse and poor relief efforts thus varied among the many principalities. We have no information, however on German work houses at this time.
Workhouses existed throughout all of the United Kingdom, in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (all of Ireland was part of the U.K. during the 19th century when the work houses were estanloished. Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom until the formation of the Irish Free State in the 1920s. Thus British law was in force during the 19th centurirs. Conditions at Irish workhouses could be wretched, even worse than in England. This was of course especially the case in the 1840s during the Great Famine. The following is a description of conditions in the Clifden Workhouse on Christmas Day 1847, taken from a report by John Deane, Poor Law Inspector for the Clifden Union, to the Relief Commission dated 25th December, 1847 and reproduced in Connemara's own Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill's book "Patient Endurance: The Great Famine In Connemara."
"The inmates of the house are crowded together in a day-room breathing a tainted atmosphere. There is an insufficient supply of bedding and clothing. The rain pours down through the ventilating turrets into the rooms and the paupers are thus subjected to increased liability of infection. Directions have been given to provide increased accommodation, such as can be obtained. The contractor has been directed to supply additional bedding. A minute appears on the proceedings of the Guardians directing advertisements to be issued for tenders for the keeping in repair of the house according to the printed specifications furnished to me. All this has been formally done and yet I can tell the Commissioners from the experience I have obtained since my residence here, that it will be no easy matter to determine when these orders shall be completed.
The contractor for clothing must be paid a portion of his debt before he gives any additional credit. The slatier, carpenter, mason, etc. will urge the state of the weather as being against their respective operations and while this delay is being experienced pestilence rages among the wretched inmates. On visiting the house a few days ago I was disgusted at learning that the dormitories (particularly those appropriated for children) are not supplied with night buckets. I forbear to describe the abominations consequent to this. The buckets had been long since ordered by the Guardians but the idle laziness of the tradesmen occasioned a delay in the execution of the order and the result was as I have stated.
Now setting aside that the Guardians have no visiting committee, bearing in mind that they had actually ordered these articles, had also directed their contractor to supply bedding and had issued advertisements for tenders, I cannot attach blame to them since my official connection with their Board. The Commissioners will, I trust, agree with me that the difficulties I have to meet are associated with and almost inseparable from the locality in which the workhouse is placed in the Union; so distant as it is from towns where the Guardians could supply themselves with materials and contractors for executing necessary works. I regret to state that Dr. Bodkin's brother who accompanied him to the workhouse hospital about a week since, for the purpose of assisting him in his medical duties, died today of malignant typhus fever. I mention this fact with the view of assuring the Commissioners that I shall now find it still more difficult to induce the Guardians to visit the house. Within the last week the weather has been most inclement and has brought with it a vast increase of disease and misery"
The Poor Law Act was introduced in 1838 to provide relief for the poorest and most destitute people in Ireland. From it's narrow social base, it expanded to become the major source of Ireland's social services in the last century. Between 1838 and 1852, 163 workhouses were built throughout the country, each at the centre of an area known as a Poor Law Union. The workhouses were normally situated in a large market town, and the Poor Law Union comprised the town and its catchment area, with the result that the Unions in many cases ignored the existing boundaries of parish and county.
The workhouse in the town provided relief for the unemployed and destitute, generally under very harsh conditions. The philosophy of the workhouse system was that life should be unpleasant for the inmates. This was achieved by a very strict, sometimes inhuman regime. The workhouses were places of last resort, an option only to be considered as an alternative to starvation. Therefore, they were extremely busy during the Great Famine (1845-1848) which celebrates it's 150th anniversary during 1995. Large numbers of Irish people emigrated to the New World at this time.
Like Gernmany, until the 1860s Italy was not unified. We have no information on Italian workhouses at this time. The Santa Maria Della Scala hospice and hospital in Siena dates
back to the 11th century. This institutions provided care for poor and abandoned children. It appears to have been orpganages, hoever, rather than workhouses.
The Dutch had three workhouses: Amsterdam, Nieuwe Pekela and Middleburgh.
We have no information on workhouses in Bitish colonies like Ne Zealand. We do not know if any existed.
)Norway had a women's workhouse (the Manufakturhuset) in Bergen.
Workhouses existed throughout all of the United Kingdom in the 19th century, in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. We have limited specific information on Scottish workhouses at this time. The system develooped in Scotalnd to provide relief to the poor was quite different than the Engklish system. The Scottish system was based on voluntary giving. In Scotland legal assessments to find the work houses could be enacted, but were mostly introduced in the larger towns during the 1830s when the English Poor Law Amendments created tge workhouse system. Many Scottish Parishes refused to give any allouances.
Scotland created a Royal Commission as a result of a report. The result was the 1845 Poor Law Act was passed requiring that all those entitled actually received an allowance. A Board of Supervision was set up, but in Scotland poorrelief continued to be administered by each Parish. Some information is available at Workhouses in Scotland.
The situation in America was somewhat different than Britain, in part because the the Frontier and a less strict class system offered opportunities that were not available to the British poor. There was no national workhouse system in America. This was an issue addressed by local governments. The workhouse or house of correction in the United States is not a feature of the poor-law system of a commonwealth, but of its system of penology. It is usually a developed or modified county jail. The nearest American approach to such a test of aid-deserving poverty as the English workhouse is found in the woodyards and laundries maintained by charity organization societies. We have also noticed the term "poorhouse" being used, but have little information about actual facilities. Municipal or county officials in the second quarter of the 19th century began opening poorgouses. This was most common in areas being affected by the industrial revolution. Many believed that the workhouses opened in England were a progressive approch to the problem of poverty that should be followed in America. The proponents believe that it would be an inexpensive way of dealing with the problem of poverty as well as offer an opportunity to reform the poor. These optimistic projections proved to be eronious. The poorhouses proved to be more expensive to operate than had been anticipated. In addition, the same kind of abuses that occurred in the English workhouses also occurred in America. The poorhouse system declined after the Civil War (1861-65). This was because laws were passed mandating that veterans be cared for by other means. Many states all prohibited the care of children in poor houses. These steps were taken because poorhouses were seen as as coersive facilities to reformed individuals that because of character faults or bad habbits were poor. Such facilities were inappropriate for both veterans and children.
Workhouses existed throughout all of the United Kingdom in the 19th century, in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. We have no specific information on Welsh workhouses at this time. We believe that the Welsh system was essentially the same as that in England. Some information is available at Workhouses in Wales.
Alcock, James. E-mail message, August 21, 2003.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main work house page]
[Return to the Main institutional charity page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits]
[Sailor hats]
[Buster Brown suits]
[Dresses]
[Rompers]
[Tunics]
[Smocks]
[Pinafores]