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Papers > History > Andover Workhouse Scandal Assignments two and three
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Andover Workhouse Scandal Assignments two and three |
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1) Study source A What can you learn from source A about the workhouse at Andover? (5) Source A shows a plan of Andover workhouse, the key below it names the rooms and parts of the buildings. ... B is the masters quarters, this shows that the master of the workhouse lived there and was always on hand. C shows the dead-house which is where the bodies of deceased inmates were kept until burial, this implies that the workhouse experienced a large amount of deaths and was prone to outbreaks, contamination, and witnessed accidents, also you might get the impression that a lot of people died of exhaustion or starvation. ... This evidence shows me that the workhouse conditions were harsher than the poorest agricultural labourer, which is what they were intended to be. ... How useful is source B for a local study of Andover workhouse? ... A single parish ( but more likely a group of parishes) came together to form a Union, they were then required to build a workhouse which was run by paid officials. ... The rules and regulations, put down in the Act, had to be given out by a Central Board of three commissioners. ... If an able-bodied man asked for assistance he and his family would be forced into a workhouse. ... The living conditions inside the workhouse had to be worse than the lowest-paid labourer’s living conditions. ... A National study of the New Poor Law would be different than a local study, a local study probably would have revealed more on the reality of the conditions on the workhouses, on what they were actually like in different areas, for example, the system didn’t work well in the industrialised North as many labourers were only unemployed for a short time, small amounts of money would have been more suitable, as it was very difficult to get back to the factories when they were in a workhouse. ... I think that the source would not be useful for a local study of Andover as it gives information on what workhouses were supposed to be like and the procedures that took place and not on what things were actually like. The source doesn’t give information on what Andover workhouse was like or any workhouse for that matter. ... Which of sources C and D provides the most reliable evidence about conditions in the workhouse at Andover? ... (8) Source C is a comment made by L T Nayle, a doctor who visited Andover Workhouse in the early 1840’s. The doctor comments that Andover is a good place for industry, it was clean and that everybody was well behaved and happy as they could be, all inmates appeared to be healthy. ... He only ever saw two men eat horseflesh uncooked. This account is from the Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee into Andover Workhouse, 1846. The Andover workhouse scandal showed how harsh paupers were treated in workhouses although the workhouses needed a bad reputation to discourage ‘lazy’ labourers the conditions that people were living in were extremely cruel and inhumane. It was actually reported that prisoners in jail were allowed more food than the inmates at Andover. ... On admission to Andover the clothes were stripped and a prison like uniform was given to wear, the hair was cropped, the person was washed and all men, women and children were given hob nail boots. The typical workhouse day : 5am Rising Bell 6am - 7am Prayers and Breakfast 7am - 12 noon Work 12 noon - 1pm Dinner 1pm - 6pm Work 6pm - 7pm Prayers 7pm - 8pm Supper 8pm Bed (Taken from www.andover. ... uk) The typical workhouse diet: Monday 1½ pints of gruel; 8 oz bread, water 7 oz. ... andover. ... Sergeant Colin McDougal (pictured below) and his wife Mary Anne were employed as the master and matron of the Andover workhouse. ... These are just an example of some of the atrocities that took place in Andover. Soon enough the rumours of the horrors that occurred reached the ears of one of the Guardians of Andover Mr. Hugh Mundy and after inspection of the workhouse he found the rumours to be true. ... Source C I think is most likely bias, firstly it goes against the facts about Andover and my own knowledge, the doctor who wrote this comment could have been paid to write it. ... Therefore as there was generally such a harsh attitude towards poverty I think that the doctor who wrote this opinion/comment about Andover was bias and I don’t think it’s very reliable. ... 4) Study Sources C,D and E Historians often refer to the events at Andover Workhouse in the mid 1840’s as the ‘Andover Scandal’. ... (8) Source C a primary source written in the early 1840’s by a doctor L T Nayle, who visited the Andover workhouse. This source gives the general impression that the Andover workhouse was clean, inmates were healthy and the treatment of the inmates was fair. Source D (also a primary source) however is a paupers account of the conditions inside the workhouse. This statement was taken for the Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee into Andover workhouse in 1846. ... The source basically describes a short history of Andover, when it was built (1836), who was the chairman (Reverend Christopher Dodson , who the master of the workhouse was (Colin McDougal) and what regulations the workhouse was supposed to follow (regulations set by the Poor Law Commissioners in London these were uniform throughout the country). The extract then goes on to describe how in 1845 the Andover workhouse became the subject of a national scandal. ... A guardian reported this to the MP for Andover, who then raised the issue in the House of Commons. The Times newspaper sent a reporter to the workhouse and soon were publishing articles on the conditions of the scandal. ... From the historical knowledge I have gained from my own research and from what the sources suggest, I believe that there was a scandal at the Andover Workhouse. ... The doctor may have visited the workhouse before the scandal began, perhaps when the workhouse first opened and it did not deteriorate until after his visit. Another possibility is that he may have visited many different workhouses and become mixed up as to which workhouse was which, the doctor may have been tired from travelling and only took a first glance at the workhouse and just wanted to get home and therefore was negligent. The master of the workhouse may have been made aware of the doctor’s visit and in order to make a good impression and to cover up the scandal he may have covered the evidence, for example feeding inmates more food, hiding unhealthy inmates etc… The doctor may have been bribed to write a good comment about the workhouse. ... So when a pauper is suddenly asked by someone who is of a higher class to tell their story of what Andover was like, he may have become overwhelmed and exaggerated his story to impress his listener, or to gain sympathy instead of being told he deserved his treatment. ... This tells me that the source is reliable and therefore there was a scandal at Andover workhouse. ... There is a consideration that the author was not there at the actual time of the scandal but he extracts his information from reliable primary sources to form a balanced view, as the source is for use in teaching in secondary schools. Source E agrees greatly with the view that there was a scandal at the Andover workhouse In conclusion sources D and E agree greatly with the view that there was a scandal at Andover, they are also reliable evidence. Source C however, is unreliable and does not agree with the view that there was a scandal at Andover. ... ‘Interpretations like these are of little use to an historian studying the Andover Workhouse. ... (8) Source F is a painting of inmates eating their Christmas dinner in a workhouse (it does not state which or at what date it was painted). ... Source F is an artists interpretation of inmates eating a Christmas dinner in a workhouse. ... Bumble, the master of the workhouse. ... The idea was to make the living conditions inside the workhouse poorer than the poorest labourer’s living conditions. ... This disallowed outdoor relief (where money was distributed to households), it stated that if people were really desperate for help, then they had to live in a workhouse and work for their keep. |
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Title: Andover Workhouse Scandal Assignments two and three
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