ABSTRACT
Context and social background Until 1834, there was little organised care for the poor. Parishes could build workhouses and make inhabitants work for their keep or they could distribute money directly to the poor, although this was at the discretion of the parish officers. In 1834, the Poor Law stated that all parishes must build a workhouse to care for dependent people. Whole families had to go into the workhouse if the father was ill, died or was unable to earn enough money to provide for the family. Men, women and children were split up, given uniforms to wear and had their hair cut short. Disease was common and spread quickly. When Dickens put the words ‘I want more’ into the mouth of Oliver Twist, those words represented to the Victorian social conscience not just more food, but also more clothes, more warmth and more care than was given to workhouse children.
