The Workhouse in C18th London: Reconstructing a `Total Institution`

The London Workhouse:

A ‘Total Institution’ for the C18th? http://research.ncl.ac.uk/pauperlives/

Peter Jones

Defining the ‘Total Institution’ • P. O’Brien, The Promise of Punishment: Prisons in C19th France (1982) • Sean McConville, A History of English Prison Administration (1981) • Andrew Scull, Museums of Madness: the Social History of Insanity in C19th England (1981) • M. A. Crowther, The Workhouse System 1834-1929 (1981),

‘…any attempt to reconstruct workhouse life must be a patchwork, selected from the letters and reminiscences of the literate poor, or gleaned from middle class accounts’ – Crowther, p.193 ‘[The image of the workhouse] has been created by outsiders, who usually condemned it either for harshness or laxity’ – ibid.

The C18th London Workhouse • c1800: 50 workhouses in the London metropolitan area • Diverse institutions: between 10 and 1,000 inmates • Diversity of experience: between 89% and 19% of parish poor relieved indoors • In total, almost 12,000 of London’s inhabitants resident in workhouses in 1801

The Project Jeremy Boulton, Leonard Schwarz, John Black http://research.ncl.ac.uk/pauperlives/

The Workhouse in 1871

Admission and Residency

1800

St Martin's Workhouse: admissions and inmates 1725-1824 1600

Admissions per year Total Inmates in the House 5 per. Mov. Avg. (Admissions per year)

1400

5 per. Mov. Avg. (Total Inmates in the House)

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0 1725 1729 1733 1737 1741 1745 1749 1753 1757 1761 1765 1769 1773 1777 1781 1785 1789 1793 1797 1801 1805 1809 1813 1817 1821

Percentage length of stay in St Martin's workhouse in days by gender, 1738-1824 Female Male

20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0

0

1-5

6-10

11-20

21-30

31-60

61-90

91-120

121-150

151-180

181-360

361-720

721+

Pregnancy and Birth 1725-1824

Pregnancies and Births in the Workhouse 1745-1819 (5-yearly aggregates) No. of Births in Workhouse

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

No. of Pregnant Admissions to Workhouse

1815-19

1810-14

1805-09

1800-04

1795-99

1790-94

1785-89

1780-84

1775-79

1770-74

1765-69

1760-64

1755-59

1750-54

1745-49

Known Illegitimate Admissions

•1,376 women heavily pregnant or in labour at admission • Over 4,000 children born and baptised

Neo-Natal Deaths in the Workhouse, 1740-1819 (5-yearly aggregates)

16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0%

Deaths within 24 hours Deaths within 7 days

1815-19

1810-14

1805-09

1800-04

1795-99

1790-94

1785-89

1780-84

1775-79

1770-74

1765-69

1760-64

1755-59

1750-54

1745-49

1740-44

Early Childhood

11,155 children 1

• 206 bound apprentice

Percentage length of stay in St Martin's workhouse in days by gender, 1738-1824 Female Male

20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0

0

1-5

6-10

11-20

21-30

31-60

61-90

91-120

121-150

151-180

181-360

361-720

721+

Adolescence

Destination of Children (7-14yrs) Apprenticed Outside London County

Number of Apprentices

Manchester

141

Lancashire

40

Flintshire

34

Hertfordshire

32

Sheffield

29

Staffordshire

21

Yorkshire

16

Cheshire

10

Nottinghamshire

8

Derbyshire

8

Jamaica

5

Kent

4

Essex

3

• 50 sent to Hungerford School

Worcestershire

2

Durham

2

• 8 boys sent to sea

Monmouth

1

Huntingdonshire

1

Hampshire

1

Cumberland

1

Berkshire

1

7,515 children aged 7-14 admitted • 3,376 (44.5%) entered with another family member • 270 (3.5%) died in the workhouse • 2,316 (30.5%) either bound apprentice or sent ‘on likeing’ • 80% apprenticed in London • 20% further afield

Early Adulthood Women admitted to the workhouse aged 20-40 • Constitute 80% of all admissions in this age range • 70.5% of all women admitted aged 20-40 years are ‘single independents’ • Average length of stay = 111 days (216 for all admissions) Yearly Admissions of Females aged 20-40yrs (as % of total admissions) 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

1820

1816

1812

1808

1804

1800

1796

1792

1788

1784

1780

1776

1772

1768

1764

1760

1756

1752

1748

1744

1740

Old Age Percentage Length of Stay in the Workhouse (in days) of Infants 60 yrs, 1725-1824

11,023 Over-60s Admitted

20.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00

Infants 60 years

• Average length of stay = 431 days

721+

361-720

181-360

151-180

121-150

91-120

61-90

31-60

21-30

11-20

6-10

1-5

>1

Percentage length of stay in St Martin's workhouse in days by gender, 1738-1824 Female Male

20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0

0

1-5

6-10

11-20

21-30

31-60

61-90

91-120

121-150

151-180

181-360

361-720

721+

Sickness Percentage of discharges sent to medical institutions, St Martin's workhouse, 1725-1824 10.00 9.00 8.00 7.00

% sent to medical institutions 5 per. Mov. Avg. (% sent to medical institutions)

6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.00

1824

1821

1818

1815

1812

1809

1806

1803

1800

1797

1794

1791

1788

1785

1782

1779

1776

1773

1770

1767

1764

1761

1758

1755

1752

1749

1746

1743

1740

1737

1734

1731

1728

1725

Death Water in the Head Thrush Inflammation Measles Whooping Cough Smallpox Decline Convulsions Fits Teeth Childbed Apoplexy Palsy Mortification Abortive/Stillborn Sudden death Consumption Asthma Jaundice Gripes Fever Dropsy Aged

Total Deaths in the Parish 467 356 1699 791 963 3119 274 8697 212 1058 353 225 101 363 646 111 8144 728 113 509 4757 1465 2629

Total Deaths in the Workhouse 1 9 44 26 43 140 16 528 13 79 28 19 12 46 89 17 1627 160 27 136 1282 447 900

Workhouse Deaths as % of Total Deaths 0.2 2.5 2.6 3.3 4.5 4.5 5.8 6.1 6.1 7.5 7.9 8.4 11.9 12.7 13.8 15.3 20.0 22.0 23.9 26.7 26.9 30.5 34.2

To Conclude… • Ann Ashton, admitted November 1765, ‘her husband paying 2s. 6d. for her keep’ • Jane Graham, admitted October 1800, ‘on condition that he husband pays 5s. per week’ • Charlotte Sowley, admitted June 1795, aged 9, ‘her father paying 3s. a week’ ‘…any attempt to reconstruct workhouse life must be a patchwork, selected from the letters and reminiscences of the literate poor, or gleaned from middle-class accounts…’ - Crowther, p.193