Grim insight into the daily grind of life in a workhouse sheds new light on 'Oliver Twist' ; HOME

From: The Independent - London | Date: May 17, 2007| Author: Cahal Milmo | Copyright information

Thomas Marriott took a suitably dim view of the behaviour of the 796 "vagrants and trampers" who benefited in 1870 from the generous care offered by the Southwell Workhouse.

As the man entrusted with ensuring standards in this Nottinghamshire bastion of Victorian social engineering, Mr Marriott indignantly reported that in one month alone four paupers had set fire to their bedding. Writing to the guardians of the workhouse, he added: "Twelve were committed to prison for destroying the...

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