Crime and Punishment / 1870-1900
Crime and Punishment: Workhouse
The workhouse offered survival, but its harsh discipline made many poor people avoid it until desperate.
What To Remember
- Whitechapel had a workhouse infirmary and a Casual Ward on St Thomas' Street.
- The Casual Ward had space for only about 60 people for one night.
- Strict rules help explain why many poor people preferred doss houses or the street.
The workhouse
The workhouse was meant for people who could not support themselves, including the sick, elderly, young and unemployed.
It provided basic food and shelter, but at the cost of discipline and loss of independence.
Families were separated, husbands and wives could not talk freely, and parents might only see children once a day.
The Casual Ward
The Casual Ward was for short-term homeless people needing a single night's shelter.
Inmates had to earn their bed through work such as picking oakum, cleaning, kitchen work or other hard tasks.
Jack London's 1902 account described inmates paying for thin soup and a canvas bed with exhausting and unpleasant labour.
Crime and source value
The system was harsh because Victorian poor relief was designed to discourage dependency on ratepayer-funded help.
Some people chose begging, theft, prostitution or unsafe lodging houses rather than entering the workhouse.
Official records show rules and capacity, while reformers such as Jack London show experience but may emphasise suffering to persuade readers.
Revision Prompt
Why might poor people have avoided the workhouse or Casual Ward even when they needed shelter?