Post by slightlyfoxed on Aug 19, 2010 19:38:02 GMT
Details of the Victorian poor, including people in workhouses are now availiable online
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11021423
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/workhouse.asp
Records detailing the lives of the Victorian poor, including those in workhouses, have been published online.
The National Archives project involves letters and reports passed between poor law authorities in England and Wales.
Project director Dr Paul Carter said the records were "unrivalled" as an important source for examining the lives of the Victorian poor.
The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 centralised the way poverty was managed and relieved, and set up workhouses.
Conditions were intentionally harsh because workhouses were designed as a deterrent. Dr Carter said the newly published records showed people often felt they would "rather starve than go to the workhouse".
Access to the records is free to the public, who can search for them on the National Archives website
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11021423
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/workhouse.asp
Records detailing the lives of the Victorian poor, including those in workhouses, have been published online.
The National Archives project involves letters and reports passed between poor law authorities in England and Wales.
Project director Dr Paul Carter said the records were "unrivalled" as an important source for examining the lives of the Victorian poor.
The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 centralised the way poverty was managed and relieved, and set up workhouses.
Conditions were intentionally harsh because workhouses were designed as a deterrent. Dr Carter said the newly published records showed people often felt they would "rather starve than go to the workhouse".
Access to the records is free to the public, who can search for them on the National Archives website