Table of Contents
What was work like in the workhouses?
The women mostly did domestic jobs such as cleaning, or helping in the kitchen or laundry. Some workhouses had workshops for sewing, spinning and weaving or other local trades. Others had their own vegetable gardens where the inmates worked to provide food for the workhouse.
What would children do in workhouses?
Furthermore, children were made to work, often doing manual labour and occasionally ‘hired out’ to factories and mines. Living in the workhouse meant that the basic physical needs of the children at the time were accounted for but it also meant sacrificing a childhood through no fault of their own.
What were the rules in the workhouse?
Rules: The daily work was backed up with strict rules and punishments. Laziness, drinking, gambling and violence against other inmates or staff were strictly forbidden. Other offences included insubordination, using abusive language and going to Milford without permission.
What was life like for an orphan at the workhouse?
However, most children in a workhouse were orphans. Everyone slept in large dormitories. It was common for girls to sleep four to a bed. Every day for three hours, children were expected to have lessons in reading, writing, arithmetic and Christian religion.
What punishments were there in workhouses?
Punishments inside of Victorian Workhouses ranged from food being withheld from inmates so they would starve, being locked up for 24 hours on just bread and water to more harsh punishment including being whipped, being sent to prison and meals stopped altogether.
What were the punishments in a workhouse?
Rules and Punishment
| Name | Offence | Punishment |
|---|---|---|
| Rowe, Sarah | Noisy and swearing | Lock’d up for 24 hours on bread and water. |
| Aplin, John | Disorderly at Prayer-time | Lock’d up for 24 hours on bread and water. |
| Mintern, George | Fighting in school | No cheese for one week. |
| Greenham, Mary and Payne, Priscella | Quarreling and fighting | No meat 1 week. |
What was the life like in a workhouse?
Aspects such as education, medical care or diet may actually have been better inside The Workhouse than for the poor in their own homes. The Workhouse could house up to 158 paupers. In comparison, the numbers of staff were tiny, comprising a Master, Matron, schoolteachers and a part-time Clerk.
Where can I go to see life in a workhouse?
One of the very best places to get a feel for life in a workhouse is the National Trust workhouse at Southwell which is kept as a memorial to the workhouse system. When I visited it, I found it a dismal place.
What did the poor do in the workhouse?
The ‘idle and profligate’ (another name for unemployed) were occupied with dull tasks, such as breaking stones for roads and pulling rope apart. Aspects such as education, medical care or diet may actually have been better inside The Workhouse than for the poor in their own homes. The Workhouse could house up to 158 paupers.
What was life like in the Southwell Workhouse?
Families were allowed to meet for a short time in a common room on Sundays. The top floor of the Southwell workhouse was for people who were too old or ill to work or be looked after in their homes. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was not intentionally made unpleasant, as was so much in the workhouse system.