LIFE OF THE POOR

BY M A L I N H A RV E Y A N D C I A R RA H U S T O N .
 THE ANDOVER WORKHOUSE
SCANDAL, 1845-6

The Andover scandal of 1845-6 highlighted the hardship of the workhouse

regime. McDougal, the Master of the Andover workhouse, had a reputation
for inhumanity; rumours of excess cruelty eventually led to a public enquiry.
Bone crushing was a normal occupation for paupers. The bones of horses,
dogs and other animals (and there were hints that some from local
graveyards) were crushed for fertiliser for local farms. The paupers were so
hungry that they scrambled for the rotting bones. Bone-crushing became the
focus of a case which was reported extensively by The Times and was
followed avidly by the public. Edwin Chadwick emerged particularly well and
reached the height of his prestige and power at this time. Andover was only
the most notorious example of workhouse cruelty. There were several other
major scandals and incidents, all recorded by the press in minute detail.
THE ANDOVER WORKHOUSE SCANDAL, 1845-6
Report from the Select Committee on the Andover
Union: Evidence of Charles Lewis, a labourer
(Mr Wakley) What work were you employed about when you were in the workhouse?
I was employed breaking bones.

Were other men engaged in the same work?

Yes.

Was that the only employment you had?

That was the only employment I had at the time I was there.

Was the smell very bad?

Very bad.

Did it appear to affect your health?

It did a great deal mine, and appeared to affect the others.

How many men were so employed?

Whether it was nine or ten boxes round the room, I don't recollect.

Was it a close room or shed?

It was a very close room.

How did you break them?

We had a large iron bar to break them with.
 THE ANDOVER WORKHOUSE SCANDAL, 1845-6
Something like a rammer?
Yes.

Had you no other employment at all?

No, not while I was there, but breaking the bones.

What sort of bones did they appear to be?

All sorts.

During the time you were so employed, did you ever see any of the men gnaw anything or eat
anything from those bones?
I have seen them eat marrow out of the bones.

You were not examined before Mr Parker, the Assistant Commissioner?

No.

Have you often seen them eat the marrow?

I have.

Did they state why they did it?

I really believe they were very hungry.

Did you yourself feel extremely hungry at that time?

I did, but my stomach would not take it.

You could not swallow the marrow?

No.

Did you see any of the men gnaw the meat from the bones?
Yes.
 THE ANDOVER WORKHOUSE SCANDAL, 1845-6

Did they use to steal the bones and hid them away?
Yes.

Have you seen them have a scramble and quarrel amongst the bones?
I do not know that I have seen them scramble, but I have seen them hide them.

And when a fresh set of bones came in, did they keep a sharp look-out for the best?
Yes.

Was that a regular thing?

While I was there.
 POOR HOUSES BEFORE 1834
In 1601 the Elizabethan Poor Law was passed, making provision for
the relief of poverty. One of the instruments by which this was to be
done was the establishment of poor houses. By the 1830s, these
were often less than satisfactory. However, the situation became
worse after the passing of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act.

In parishes overburthened with poor we usually find the building called

a workhouse occupied by 60 or 80 children (under the care, perhaps,
of a pauper), about 20 or 30 able-bodied paupers of both sexes, and
probably an equal number of aged and impotent persons, the proper
objects of relief. Amidst these, the mothers of bastard children and
prostitutes live without shame and associate freely with the youth,
who have also the examples and conversation of the frequent inmates
of the county gaol, the poacher, the vagrant, the decayed beggar, and
other characters of the worst description. To these may often be added
a solitary blind person, one or two idiots and not unfrequently are
heard among the rest, the incessant raving of some neglected lunatic.
In such receptacles the sick poor are often immured.
Report from the Commissioners Inquiring into the Administration and
Practical Operation of the Poor Laws, 1834, p. 303.
John Leech, Cheap Clothing, Punch Magazine
(1845)
 SUMMARY
The Andover Workhouse scandal was in 1845-6, and it took place in Andover. The
investigation was either one on one, or in a type of courtroom. While the author could
have been Edwin Chadwick, it could have been someone else. The Poor Houses before
1834, was a report made by the Commissioners Inquiring into the Administration and
Practical Operation of the Poor Laws in 1834. The political cartoon, was made by John
Leech for the Punch Magazine in 1845. The Political cartoon was showing that poor
workers didn`t earn enough money to survive, showing that they were worked till their
death.

We think that life was rather bad for the poor in the industrial revolution, because
the poor had rather bad jobs, such as bone crushing in the Andover Workhouse
scandal. The poor would have to live off any scraps they could find, which in the
workhouse scandal, was bone marrow. The poor also seemed to have a bad
name, like decaying beggars. The poor were also were worked really hard, some
would possibly die. In conclusion, the poor had the most harsh lives out of each
class.
Sources.

http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/poorlaw/poorhs.htm
http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/poorlaw/andover.htm