Andover workhouse scandal

The Andover workhouse scandal occurred following events at the workhouse in Andover, United Kingdom, in the 19th century.

Background

The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 formalised a system of workhouses and attempted to abolish "poor relief", which was the practice of giving money and help to the poor on an ad hoc basis. Prior to the act, poor relief was provided by each individual parish, but the act attempted to standardise provision for the poor, in order to discourage able-bodied people relying on the easy option of poor relief instead of working.

As a result, the Act ensured workhouses were unpleasant places where only the truly desperate would apply. Families were split up, food was bland and insufficient, there was hard monotonous work and paupers were subject to numerous petty indignities.

The scandal

In 1846, a Select Committee of the House of Commons investigated alleged abuses of paupers in the workhouse in Andover, Hampshire. The Master, an ex Sergeant-Major called M'Dougal, was known as a drunken bully who mistreated and starved his charges. Many paupers were so hungry they ate the peelings left for the pigs and even sucked the bones they were grinding up for fertiliser. Paupers were locked in the mortuary as a punishment and female paupers were subject to sexual abuse by M'Dougal and his son. The workhouse system ensured that similar events would occur from time to time. The low rates of pay offered by the Commissioners meant that the job of Workhouse Master often attracted the brutal or the inept.

M'Dougal was sacked but not punished further. As a result of the investigation, the Poor Law Commissioners were replaced by the Poor Law Board in 1847. This put the system under closer public scrutiny and government control.

Report from the Select Committee on the Andover Union

Charles Lewis, a labourer, gave this evidence to the House of Commons select committee that looked into the Andover workhouse scandal (Lewis is person B):

A - What work were you employed about when you were in the workhouse?
B - I was employed breaking bones.
A - Were other men engaged in the same work?
B - Yes
A - Was that the only employment you had?
B - That was the only employment I had at the time I was there
A - Was the smell very bad?
B - Very bad
A - Did it appear to affect your health?
B - It did a great deal mine, and appeared to affect the others
A - How many men were so employed?
B - Whether it was nine or ten boxes round the room, I don't recollect.
A - Was it a close room or shed?
B - It was a very close room
A - How did you break them?
B - We had a large iron bar to break them with
A - Something like a rammer?
B - Yes
A - Had you no other employment at all?
B - No, not while I was there, but breaking the bones
A - What sort of bones did they appear to be?
B - All sorts
A - During the time you were so employed, did you ever see any of the men gnaw anything or eat anything from those bones?
B - I have seen them eat marrow out of the bones
A - You were not examined before Mr Parker, the Assistant Commissioner?
B - No
A - Have you often seen them eat the marrow?
B - I have
A - Did they state why they did it?
B - I really believe they were very hungry
A - Did you yourself feel extremely hungry at that time?
B - I did, but my stomach would not take it.
A - You could not swallow the marrow?
B - No
A - Did you see any of the men gnaw the meat from the bones?
B - Yes
A - Did they use to steal the bones and hid them away?
B - Yes
A - Have you seen them have a scramble and quarrel amongst the bones?
B - I do not know that I have seen them scramble, but I have seen them hide them.
A - And when a fresh set of bones came in, did they keep a sharp look-out for the best?
B - Yes
A - Was that a regular thing?
B - While I was there.

ee also

*The Huddersfield workhouse scandal (1848) - [http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/poorlaw/huddscand.htm]

External links

* [http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/peel/poorlaw/andover.htm An article on the scandal]
* [http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/andover.html Victorianwebs article on the Andover workhouse scandal]
* [http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Andover/Andover.shtml Workhouses.org showing images of the workhouse]
* [http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/poorlaw/andover.htm Historyhome's article on the Andover workhouse scandal]
* [http://www.andover.towncentral.co.uk/Andover/workhouse/Workhouse1.asp Andover Town's website with detailed information on the scandal and the history of the workhouse itself.]