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Love the descript ion but think the poor folk in the workhouse would have been grateful for a just a taste I had a look at this, oh my, makes me ashamed to think how often I have a scrabble through the overloaded freezer and cant find anything I really fancy or can be bothered to cook
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/dietwh.html
Originally posted by meg72
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I think there's a lot of over-emotional bull put round about workhouses.... it will depend on the individuals running it and the general location and area. Where my lot lived/died the workhouse seemed quite a "good place" to find yourself. And many had special Christmas dinners and treats. Most seemed to have meat and plum pudding.
Many people in the Workhouse were funded by relatives. e.g. if your mum was in there and you were, say, a lad of 18+ and working, they'd expect you to pay for your mum's keep. So, in the main, a lot of people were self-funded, and a lot of Workhouse managers were good people.
A random entry plucked purely at random, for Derby in 1905 says "The inmates of the Workhouse had their usual dinner on Christmas Day, comprising beef, pork, rabbits, plum pudding, and most of them beer tea and they had plum cake. The smokers were given pipes, tobacco and oranges. The women had tea....."
Or, similarly, Newcastle in 1862
"The inmates of the Alnwick Union Workhouse were regaled with roast beef and plum pudding, New Years day, at the expense of a few of the guardians and tradesmen of Alnwick, through the exertions of Mr Young, the master"