Beneath the Surface: A Country of Two Nations

Page 7 of 11

• 1. A country of two nations
• 2. Optimists and pessimists
• 3. The labouring poor
• 4. Rural and urban poverty
• 5. Official attitudes to the relief of poverty
• 6. Lowest standard of living
• 7. The workhouse
• 8. The Scottish Poor Law
• 9. Charity and self-help
• 10. Conclusion
• 11. Find out more
• Print entire article

The workhouse

Many workhouses had a significant transient population, being under obligation to provide for anyone who applied. These wards appear to have provided shelter for many others, including those 'tramping poor' searching for seasonal work, although it is difficult to know exactly how the casual wards were used, or when and how often an individual or family entered a workhouse. In these casual wards vagrants were housed separately from longer-term residents as they were deemed to be the most workshy and had, it was feared, a potential for violence and criminal behaviour, and the potential to corrupt the deserving poor.

'...by the end of the Victorian period the largest group of inmates was elderly men...'

What is clear from official records is that a high proportion of women were forced to resort to the workhouse - not only the 'fallen women' characterised in some Victorian novels but also deserted wives, widows with young children and unemployed servants. However, by the end of the Victorian period the largest group of inmates was elderly men, often long-term residents, along with the infirm and young orphans, although many of these youngsters were increasingly sent to 'foster homes', a practice which had first been widely adopted in Scotland.

NextPrevious

Published: 2001-01-01