16-02-2017, 06:28 PM
13
Re: Workhouses
I look back with disgust at our governments and councils , I can't Immagine the horrors of the workhouse , those poor souls , those poor children . Those responsible for the horrors and cruelty , for the pain loss and hunger , I wonder if they can rest .The fear the workhouse put into people , even just the threat of it .
16-02-2017, 06:40 PM
15
Re: Workhouses
Originally Posted by JBR
->
I know of several hospitals which began life as workhouses which, I suppose, makes you wonder whether those hospitals would ever have existed if it hadn't been for the pre-existing workhouses.I can see how workhouses would have provided some sort of safety-net for people who would otherwise have died. On the other hand, I have never really understood the need to break up and separate families.
Even if they were obliged to sleep in separate quarters, why couldn't they at least have been allowed to meet with each other for non-working hours?
17-02-2017, 01:29 AM
16
Re: Workhouses
Originally Posted by Older git
->
I have no family history of the workhouse but I have visited one-now a museum. Bloody grim. But it`s all in context,times were hard for the poor.
The hospital where my sons were born, had previously been a workhouse. At the time I didn't know, which makes me feel better.
17-02-2017, 07:22 AM
17
Re: Workhouses
Originally Posted by susan m
->
I look back with disgust at our governments and councils , I can't Immagine the horrors of the workhouse , those poor souls , those poor children . Those responsible for the horrors and cruelty , for the pain loss and hunger , I wonder if they can rest .
17-02-2017, 10:25 AM
18
Re: Workhouses
Originally Posted by MickB
->
Of course they can rest. You can judge past practices, policies and institutions by our standards, but it is foolish to judge the people of the time by the same standards. Most of those who either instituted or administered workhouses (or other Poor Law institutions we now see as barbaric) were fine upstanding Christians who saw themselves as doing the best they possibly could for the undeserving poor. Indeed, the workhouses were seen as a great and beneficial improvement to the previous systems.
17-02-2017, 11:08 AM
19
Re: Workhouses
Has anyone heard of the Williamson Tunnels , created by philanthropist, Joseph Williamson ?He was responsible for a labyrinth of tunnels which are still being discovered, under Liverpool. No one knows where they go to or how far. There are tunnels built on top of tunnels. Quite amazing.
It is a strange story indeed and so far, nobody really knows the reason why they were built or by whom, but it is suggested it could have been the men returning from the Napoleonic wars.
That could fit in with the workhouses in Liverpool , he may have provided employment for the men from the workhouses, or simply for the men returning so that they didn't have to enter the workhouses.
At some point in the 1800's ,Brownlow Hill workhouse, housed almost 2000 people. The stench must have been heavy.
Smithdown Lane , where the tunnels began , was only a stones throw from the workhouse.
17-02-2017, 05:40 PM
20
Re: Workhouses
Brighton had a huge workhouse - converted into a hospital. During WW1 it was used by the Indian army as a hospital for the Indian troops, but my Grandmother knew it for what it was - the workhouse.When my Grandmother was taken ill in 1972, she was terrified of being taken into the hospital always saying she didn't wantto be taken to the workhouse!!!
Here are some of the photos of the place:
http://search.aol.co.uk/aol/image?q=...ustomffocuk-ff
|
|
