In the 19th century, rapid changes in employment, housing and social welfare brought about a huge change in people’s lives.
Victorian Workhouse at Southwell in the UK © AboutBritain.com
The period of adjustment led to many workers living in extreme poverty and even dying on city streets of starvation in Victorian times.
The population of Great Britain actually trebled during the 19th century. People were living longer, having larger families, infant mortality was down and immigrants escaping from the potato famine in Ireland all added up to a huge population explosion in Victorian times.
Employment
Most employment was to be found in the newly industrialized cities, so many people abandoned their rural roots and converged on the urbanized areas to seek work.
Industrial Machinery as used in Victorian Times © AboutBritain.com
Skilled and unskilled workers alike were paid subsistence-level wages.
If the work was seasonal or demand slumped, when they were laid off they had no savings to live on until the next job opportunity could be found.
Mill Machines © AboutBritain.com
Poor Victorians would put children to work at an early age, or even turn them out onto the streets to fend for themselves. In 1848 an estimated 30,000 homeless, filthy children lived on the streets of London.
Boys became chimney sweeps, worked the narrow shafts in coal mines or were employed beneath noisy weaving looms retrieving cotton bobbins.
Children were expected to work on dangerous machinery in textile mills © AboutBritain.com
Others would shine shoes or sell matches to earn a crust.
People working long hours in Victorian times had to live close to their employment and available housing became scarce and highly-priced.
Workhouse bedroom © AboutBritain.com
Tenants would themselves let their rooms for 2d to 4d a day to other workers to meet the rent.
Hideously overcrowded, unsanitary slums developed, particularly in London. They were known as rookeries.
Workhouse conditions were very spartan © AboutBritain.com
Sanitation
Streets would have a flowing foul-water ditch into which the sewers and drains emptied. In some cases, this was the only source of drinking water too.
As well as disease, these miserable Victorian poor suffered starvation and destitution.
In many cases, their only choice was to turn to crime - another major problem in the cities.
Reconstructed Workhouse Bedroom © AboutBritain.com
It became clear to many that something had to be done about poverty in Victorian England, but there were opposing thoughts and opinions.
Workhouse inmates were expected to break rocks © AboutBritain.com
The sheer scale of the problem must have seemed overwhelming to even the most well-meaning benefactor.
Ragged Schools
Some Victorians thought that education was the answer and ragged schools were set up to provide basic education.
Ragged schools provided basic education © AboutBritain.com
Others argued that crime was not caused by illiteracy; it was just encouraging a more skilful set of criminals!
Others still thought that any money given to the poor was simply squandered on drink and gambling and did not solve the underlying social problems at all.
Ragged schools were set up to educate poor children © AboutBritain.com
Overall the Victorian times produced one of the most intense periods of philanthropy and charity to help the plight of the poor, the destitute and the street children.
The Workhouse was a gloomy place © AboutBritain.com
Many modern-day charities, such as the Children’s Society, began their work combatting poverty in the Victorian era, and continue to address more modern concerns of poverty even in the 21st century.
In 1834 a new Poor Law was introduced. Some people welcomed it because they believed it would:
- reduce the cost of looking after the poor
- take beggars off the streets
- encourage poor people to work hard to support themselves
The new Poor Law ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. Children who entered the workhouse would receive some schooling. In return for this care, all workhouse paupers would have to work for several hours each day.
However, not all Victorians shared this point of view. Some people, such as Richard Oastler, spoke out against the new Poor Law, calling the workhouses ‘Prisons for the Poor’. The poor themselves hated and feared the threat of the workhouse so much that there were riots in northern towns. Use this lesson to find out how some people felt about the new Poor Law of 1834.
Tasks
Background
Before 1834, the cost of looking after the poor was growing more expensive every year. This cost was paid for by the middle and upper classes in each town through their local taxes. There was a real suspicion amongst the middle and upper classes that they were paying the poor to be lazy and avoid work.
After years of complaint, a new Poor Law was introduced in 1834. The new Poor Law was meant to reduce the cost of looking after the poor and impose a system which would be the same all over the country.
Under the new Poor Law, parishes were grouped into unions and each union had to build a workhouse if they did not already have one. Except in special circumstances, poor people could now only get help if they were prepared to leave their homes and go into a workhouse.
Conditions inside the workhouse were deliberately harsh, so that only those who desperately needed help would ask for it. Families were split up and housed in different parts of the workhouse. The poor were made to wear a uniform and the diet was monotonous. There were also strict rules and regulations to follow. Inmates, male and female, young and old were made to work hard, often doing unpleasant jobs such as picking oakum or breaking stones. Children could also find themselves hired out to work in factories or mines.
Shortly after the new Poor Law was introduced, a number of scandals hit the headlines. The most famous was Andover Workhouse, where it was reported that half-starved inmates were found eating the rotting flesh from bones. In response to these scandals the government introduced stricter rules for those who ran the workhouses and they also set up a system of regular inspections. However, inmates were still at the mercy of unscrupulous masters and matrons who treated the poor with contempt and abused the rules.
Although most people did not have to go to the workhouse, it was always threatening if a worker became unemployed, sick or old. Increasingly, workhouses contained only orphans, the old, the sick and the insane. Not surprisingly the new Poor Law was very unpopular. It seemed to punish people who were poor through no fault of their own.
Teachers' notes
The poster in this lesson is an excellent piece of evidence showing opposition to the new Poor Law and public conceptions of life inside the workhouses. One way of encouraging pupils to analyse this rich source is by helping them to see that the poster is really made up of smaller pictures. By dealing with one small picture at a time, commenting on and analysing the poster can become more manageable.
To extend their work, pupils can create their own new Poor Law poster, either for or against the law. Or they can be asked to write to the government complaining about the harshness of the new Poor Law. They could also work in groups to create an alternative plan to deal with the problem of the rising cost of looking after the poor.
The lesson can also be used as a starting point for investigating the new Poor Law in more depth and discussing attitudes to the poor in 19th century Britain.
Sources
Source 1 : HO 44/27/2
External links
The Workhouse
The Workhouse often conjures up the grim world of Oliver Twist, but its story is a fascinating mix of social history, politics, economics and architecture.
//www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/oliver-twist-and-the-workhouse
Find out about Oliver Twist and the workhouse
Connections to curriculum
Key stage 1 Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally
Key stage 2
Changes in an aspect of social history; a significant turning point in British historyKey stage 3
Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901: party politics, extension of the franchise and social reform. Back to top