The Workhouse: The People, the Places, the Life Behind Doors
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Overview
“A poignant account” of the reality behind these famous Victorian institutions where the poor resided (The Independent).
During the nineteenth century, the workhouse cast a shadow over the lives of the English poor. The destitute and the desperate sought refuge within its forbidding walls. And it was an ever-present threat if poor families failed to look after themselves properly.
In this fully updated and revised edition of his bestselling book, Simon Fowler takes a fresh look at the institution that most of us are familiar with only from Dickens novels or films, and the people who sought help from it. He looks at how the system of the Poor Law of which the workhouse was a key part was organized, and the men and women who ran the workhouses or were employed to care for the inmates. But above all this is the moving story of the tens of thousands of children, men, women and the elderly who were forced to endure grim conditions to survive in an unfeeling world.
“Draws powerfully on letters from The National Archives ... brings out the horror, but it is fair-minded to those struggling to be humane within an inhumane system.”—The Independent
“A good introduction.”—The Guardian
During the nineteenth century, the workhouse cast a shadow over the lives of the English poor. The destitute and the desperate sought refuge within its forbidding walls. And it was an ever-present threat if poor families failed to look after themselves properly.
In this fully updated and revised edition of his bestselling book, Simon Fowler takes a fresh look at the institution that most of us are familiar with only from Dickens novels or films, and the people who sought help from it. He looks at how the system of the Poor Law of which the workhouse was a key part was organized, and the men and women who ran the workhouses or were employed to care for the inmates. But above all this is the moving story of the tens of thousands of children, men, women and the elderly who were forced to endure grim conditions to survive in an unfeeling world.
“Draws powerfully on letters from The National Archives ... brings out the horror, but it is fair-minded to those struggling to be humane within an inhumane system.”—The Independent
“A good introduction.”—The Guardian
- Title: The Workhouse: The People, the Places, the Life Behind Doors
- Author: Simon Fowler
- Publisher: Pen & Sword History
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 224
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781473840843, 9781783831517, 1783831510, 1473840848
- Resource ID: LLS:9781473840843
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-21T16:05:40Z
Simon Fowler is a professional writer, researcher and historian, specializing in family and military history. He has made a particular study of the First World War, and has long been interested in how Britain, and Europe, readjusted to post-war conditions. Daniel Weinbrens PhD concentrated on the impact of the First World War on British society. His historical publications include The Open University. A History and The Oddfellows 1810–2010. He has taught courses on war and society at several universities and currently teaches this subject at The Open University.