workhouse

workhouse Former institution in England for the unemployed. Workhouses originated from the houses of correction provided for vagabonds by the Poor Law of 1601, but officially they date from 1696, when workhouses were established by the Bristol Corporation. A general Act permitting workhouses in all parishes was passed in 1723. The Act denied relief to those people who refused to enter a workhouse. Workhouses declined in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but were revived by the Poor Law of 1834. With the advent of welfare reforms, workhouses fell into disuse by the early 20th century.

workhouse A public institution in which people unable to support themselves were housed and (if able-bodied) made to work. The 1601 POOR LAW Act made parishes responsible for their own workhouses, but often they were hard to distinguish from the houses of correction, set up to discipline vagrants. The 1723 Workhouse Act denied relief to able-bodied paupers who refused to enter workhouses.

workhouse. The workhouse system was introduced to Ireland under the Poor Law Act of 1838. In appearance and administration workhouses reflected the ethos of the act, being designed to deter anyone not in dire need from entering. The buildings were constructed according to standardized plans drawn up by the English architect George Wilkinson, and furniture was kept to a minimum. Families were required to enter the workhouse together, individual members being ineligible for relief. Once admitted family groups were split up, with men, women, and children over 2 years of age being assigned to separate wards. Food was limited and monotonous, consisting primarily of porridge, potatoes, and milk; discipline was strict. Inmates were required to work at breaking stones, or at manual tasks about the house. Children were required to attend workhouse schools. Many workhouses also contained hospitals in which, from 1862, the non‐destitute could also receive treatment. In independent Ireland, following the abolition of the workhouse test for relief in the period after 1921, many workhouses were converted into county homes for the elderly or into hospitals; others were closed. In Northern Ireland, although the system survived until 1946, the number of workhouses declined; 20 were converted into district hospitals during the 1920s and 1930s.

Virginia Crossman