FEBRUARY HISTORY REPORTAt this meeting we talked about Workhouses and why they were introduced.
Up to the reign of Henry the VIII the Church undertook to look after the poor and the Monks and Nuns did a very good job, as they adhered to the Bible instructions given in Matthew Chapter 25 which stated that all Christians shall:
# feed the hungry.
#give drink to the thirsty.
#welcome the stranger.
#clothe the naked.
#visit the sick.
#visit the prisoner
#bury the dead.
However this all changed when Henry VIII closed all the Monasteries and a decline in Christian values took place , when all these charitable acts of Mercy towards the unfortunate were no longer seen as a duty nor were they undertaken.
However in Elizabethan times they realised that something had to be done ,and as a result of 6 acts the last being in 1601, the Government formalised a National system for looking after the poor based on “Outdoor Relief “ where help was given in their homes and this carried on with some changes until the Reform Act of 1834.
The Reform Act of 1834 changed everything, as it made parishes group together and build Workhouses where the poor could be looked after. However the system was designed so that the Workhouses would be worse than Hell and people would only go in as a last desperate measure , and it was all run by a board of Commissioners.
The system was not good and after the Andover Workhouse scandal in 1845, the Commission was finally abolished in 1847, but in spite of the shaming of the Poor Law Commission, and the resolution of Parliament to improve conditions in workhouses, these institutions remained grim for many decades to come.
By the end of the century. local councils began to take over the work of the boards of guardians, public attitudes had started to change and although the act remained in force until 1929, it was gradually superseded by other forms of welfare.
Michael Page
