TALES FROM THE WORKHOUSE

Rough treatment for the elderly

The dreadful conditions in the workhouses of England during the 19th century have been described in detail by Victorian writers such as Charles Dickens and John Mayhew yet still more revelations surface as research into this period of our social history continues.

The workhouse in Bourne was typical of those that existed elsewhere in the country with appalling accommodation, poor food and an uncaring staff so we may assume that what happened there in the winter of 1849 was not an isolated incident despite the shocking nature of what occurred, one that illustrated the fact that officialdom regarded life as cheap among the impoverished working class.

The workhouse or union was situated in what is now St Peter’s Road, a dim and dark building with only the minimum of the conveniences that we know today and many of the inmates should have been in hospital rather than confined to this dismal place. One of them was William Gilbert, aged 62, who was described as being “very infirm and almost imbecile” and who died there in disturbing circumstances.

The story of his death in the Stamford Mercury on Friday 9th February 1849 caused some alarm in Bourne and especially in his home village of Baston, because of the events leading up to his passing. “Gilbert was seized with a violent purging”, reported the newspaper, “and it seems that he was so circumstanced that washing and a change of clothing were necessary. One of the officers of the establishment and one of the inmates took him into the yard where they stripped him quite naked and mopped him by the side of a tub of cold water and they kept him in that horrible state for nearly ten minutes although it was the coldest day of the present winter. The man was then led back to his room and shortly after he ate some dinner. But next day he was unable to leave his bed and just a week after the treatment referred to, he died. We hear that the medical officer was not made acquainted with the facts of the case and that he gave a certificate of death to that effect.”

There the matter would have ended but by now gossip had become widespread, particularly at Baston where Gilbert had lived, and the incident was eventually brought to the attention of the Board of Guardians who ran the workhouse and they held an inquiry at one of their meetings. “But they decided it was not thought advisable to pursue the case to any extent after hearing the opinion of the medical referee as to the cause of death”, reported the newspaper, “although we are told that the officer and the pauper who mopped the deceased in the open yard were severely reprimanded.”

The newspaper pointed out that the public would hardly be content with an internal investigation by the Board of Guardians and suggested that further inquiries should be made by the Poor Law Commission Board at Somerset House in London, the authority which was then responsible for local workhouses and the administration of relief through regular inspections, but their concern came to nothing and the case of William Gilbert was quietly forgotten.

Despite this horrific incident, cases of ill treatment involving elderly people in care continue to surface even today but fortunately there is a new vigilance among administration and staff to prevent it and bring the culprits to justice and we should be thankful for that, even though it has taken two centuries to bring about this awareness of human dignity.

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