Recent Workhouse-Related Books

This is the first full account of the origins and introduction of the Irish Poor Law. Ireland had no national system for the relief of poverty before 1838. Following the enactment of that year, the island was covered by a network of 130 union workhouses, charged with the relief of destitution. These rapidly became notorious for the harshness of their internal regime, and for their catastrophic failure during the Great Famine. However, the Poor Law also represented the first official acknowledgement of state responsibility for social welfare and of the entitlement of the poor to some public assistance. It also created the first form of responsible local government in the Irish countryside. This book examines the debates preceding and surrounding the 1838 act on the nature of Irish poverty and the responsibilities of society towards it. It traces the various campaigns for a poor law from the later eighteenth century. The nature and internal frictions of the great Irish poor inquiry of 1833-36 are analyzed, along with the policy recommendations made by its chair, Archbishop Whately. It considers the aims and limitations of the government's measure and the public reaction to it in Ireland and Britain. Finally, it describes the implementation of the Poor Law between 1838 and 1843 under the controversial direction of George Nicholls. It will be of importance to those with a serious interest in the history of social welfare, of Irish social thought and politics, and of British governance in Ireland in the early nineteenth century.

Published 2009 by the Manchester University Pres at £65. ISBN 0719076498.

In Fearnought - Poems for the Southwell Workhouse by Mario Petrucci (2006). In 2004-6, Mario Petrucci was poet-in-residence at the National Trust's wonderfully preserved workhouse at Southwell in Nottinghamshire. This delightful book is the result. More information and extracts.....

Published 2006 by the National Trust at £6-95. ISBN 1843592517.

In Life in the Victorian and Edwardian Workhouse, Michelle Higgs takes a wide-ranging look at the post-1834 workhouse through the eyes of each classs of its inmates (the able-bodied, children, the elderly, infirm, lunatics, and vagrants) and the staff who ran it (maaster and matron, medidical officer, nurses, porter, schoolteachers, clerk, and the board of guardians). The book is well illustrated and includes many personal stories of the many different people who were connected with the workhouse.

Published May 2007 by Tempus Publishing at £16-99. ISBN 0752442147.

Ray Whitehand's new book At the Overseer's Door takes a look at Suffolk's Parish Workhouses which, I discovered, date back to at least the 1570s. As well as an introductory overview, it includes chapters on topics such how the establishments were set up, their equipment and maintenance, and what life was like for their inmates. An appendix provides a gazetteer of the 170 or so parish workhouses with their dates of operation.

Published May 2007 by Historical Suffolk at £9.95. ISBN 005555630-9. Available online, or direct from the author at 28 Lincoln Avenue, Saxmundham, Suffolk IP17 1BZ (P&P £2.00, cheques payable to Ray Whitehand).