Northfleet History Group - September 2011 Meeting.
LIFE IN THE WORKHOUSE
Helen Allison
At the September meeting of the Northfleet History Group Helen Allison gave an interesting talk on “Life in the Workhouse”.
The people of Northfleet did not fare well following the 1834 Poor Law Reform Act. Northfleet was part of the North Aylesford Poor Law Union along with the parishes of Chalk, Cliffe, Cobham, Cuxton, Denton, Frindsbury, Halling, Ifield, Luddesdown, Meopham, Nurstead, Shorne and Strood. The residents of all these parishes were expected to go the workhouse in Gun Lane, Strood should they wish to claim assistance.
Those considered fit enough were expected to walk to the workhouse so the poor of Northfleet had a long walk. When they arrived, husband, wives and children were housed in different areas of the workhouse and very rarely saw one another.
The diet of the workhouse was basic and boring but we have to remember that many would have had even less to eat before being admitted. In 1850 John Day, the Vestry Clerk of the parish of St George the Martyr, Southwark , describing himself as an occasional inhabitant of Northfleet took up the cause of the poor diet at the Strood Workhouse. The inmates received three meals a day, of which eighteen a week were bread and cheese without tea or beer. There was meat pudding on Sundays and suet pudding on Tuesdays and Fridays. He compared this to the diet of the inmates of the Gravesend Union who received three meat dinners plus one meat pudding meal a week.
Those receiving relief in their own homes fared little better and once again John Day proved that people who received bread instead of money received short weights. Some died through lack of medical attention and the death of John Tuckwell in 1843, from smallpox, was reported fully in The Times as part of their campaign against the Poor Law.
Food and living conditions gradually improved over the years. Medical care began to improve following campaigning by Louisa Twining of the Workhouse Visiting Society and Florence Nightingale. From the 1860s couples over 60 years of age were able to stay together, the 1870s saw the introduction of books, newspapers and toys for children.
Workhouses were officially abolished by 1930 but the stigma remained with many of those that had at one time lived in one. Many of the buildings continued to be used as “Public Assistance Institutions”.
The Infirmary built in 1869 is the only surviving building of the Strood Workhouse. The Workhouse, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, managed by the National Trust, is the most complete workhouse in existence and well worth a visit.
The people of Northfleet did not fare well following the 1834 Poor Law Reform Act. Northfleet was part of the North Aylesford Poor Law Union along with the parishes of Chalk, Cliffe, Cobham, Cuxton, Denton, Frindsbury, Halling, Ifield, Luddesdown, Meopham, Nurstead, Shorne and Strood. The residents of all these parishes were expected to go the workhouse in Gun Lane, Strood should they wish to claim assistance.
Those considered fit enough were expected to walk to the workhouse so the poor of Northfleet had a long walk. When they arrived, husband, wives and children were housed in different areas of the workhouse and very rarely saw one another.
The diet of the workhouse was basic and boring but we have to remember that many would have had even less to eat before being admitted. In 1850 John Day, the Vestry Clerk of the parish of St George the Martyr, Southwark , describing himself as an occasional inhabitant of Northfleet took up the cause of the poor diet at the Strood Workhouse. The inmates received three meals a day, of which eighteen a week were bread and cheese without tea or beer. There was meat pudding on Sundays and suet pudding on Tuesdays and Fridays. He compared this to the diet of the inmates of the Gravesend Union who received three meat dinners plus one meat pudding meal a week.
Those receiving relief in their own homes fared little better and once again John Day proved that people who received bread instead of money received short weights. Some died through lack of medical attention and the death of John Tuckwell in 1843, from smallpox, was reported fully in The Times as part of their campaign against the Poor Law.
Food and living conditions gradually improved over the years. Medical care began to improve following campaigning by Louisa Twining of the Workhouse Visiting Society and Florence Nightingale. From the 1860s couples over 60 years of age were able to stay together, the 1870s saw the introduction of books, newspapers and toys for children.
Workhouses were officially abolished by 1930 but the stigma remained with many of those that had at one time lived in one. Many of the buildings continued to be used as “Public Assistance Institutions”.
The Infirmary built in 1869 is the only surviving building of the Strood Workhouse. The Workhouse, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, managed by the National Trust, is the most complete workhouse in existence and well worth a visit.