Source A

An extract from an official report that shows the rules that workhouse inmates were expected to abide by.

Any pauper who shall neglect to observe the following regulations shall be considered disorderly

• Make any noise when silence is ordered to be kept
• Use obscene language
• Refuse to work
• Play cards or other games of chance.

It shall be lawful for the master of the workhouse to punish any disorderly pauper by substituting, during a time not greater than forty eight hours, for his or her dinner, a meal consisting of 8 ounces of bread, or one pound of cooked potatoes, and withholding all butter, cheese, tea, sugar or broth.

Seventh Annual Report, Poor Law Commission, 1836

Source B

An extract from the autobiography of John Castle, a silk weaver from Essex, who was forced to enter a workhouse in 1837.

We were ordered to strip and put on the regimentals (uniform) of the workhouse, which were composed of a pair of thick leather breaches, leather coat, low shoes, ribbed stockings, and a heavy cap with peak. We were then ordered to go to work, cutting into ribbons very greasy, old carpets. We then carded (combed) the ribbons and others used the pieces to make fillings for bed mattresses. When work was done we had a large room with a good fire where 30 or 40 of us sat round talking about days gone by or singing. After remaining at the workhouse 14 days, orders came that I was to be moved on to Buckinghamshire.

John Castle, Experiences in the Workhouse, 1837

Source C

A socialist commentator and friend of Karl Marx describes conditions in workhouses in the 1840s.

In the workhouse at Greenwich, in the summer of 1843, a boy five years old was punished by being shut in a dead room (mortuary), where he had to sleep upon the lids of the coffins. In the workhouse at Herne, the same punishment was inflicted upon a little girl for wetting the bed at night. In the workhouse at Bacton, in Suffolk, in January 1844, an investigation revealed the fact that a feeble-minded woman was employed as nurse and took care of the patients accordingly; while sufferers, who were often restless at night, or tried to get up, were tied fast with cords passed over the covering and under the bedstead to save the nurse the trouble of getting up at night.

F. Engels, The Condition of the Working Classes, 1844

Source D

Part of the evidence resulting from an official investigation of the Andover Workhouse, 1846.

Evidence of Charles Lewis, labourer

Q (Investigator) What work was you employed in when you were in the workhouse?
A (Lewis) I was employed breaking bones
Q How did you break them?
A We had a large bar to break them with
Q During the time you were so employed did you ever see any men eat anything from those bones?
A I have seen them eat marrow out of the bones
Q Have you often seen them eat marrow?
A I have
Q Did they state why they did it?
A I believe they were hungry
Q Did you see any of the men gnaw meat from the bones?
A Yes
Q Did they use to steal the bones and hide them away?
A Yes
Q Was that a regular thing?
A Yes, while I was there

Report from the Select Committee on the Andover Union, 1846

Source E

A modern historian summarises his views on the purpose of workhouses under the New Poor Law.

The workhouse system inflicted a form of psychological as opposed to physical cruelty. Silent mealtimes, monotonous work and the absence of even the smallest of extra comforts were all matters of deliberate policy, not accident. The petty rules, strict discipline and prison-like uniforms all combined to deny the identity and dignity of the pauper and take away his or her individuality. Moreover, in the interests of deterrence the commissioners were thus responsible for creating a climate of fear, which pervaded working class life for over a century.

P. Murray, Poverty and Welfare, 1999