Workhouse, A Victorian Girl's Diary 1871 by Pamela Oldfield

Now the library is closed I'm going through books I have at home and found a collection of Scholastic My Story books I bought for the grandchildren. I was particularly interested in Workhouse, A Victorian Girl's Diary 1871 as another pastime I have these days is genealogy. An ancestor of mine died in 1875 in the Union Workhouse in London at age 52, two years after her husband died.

Pamela Oldfield has written many books for children and has a gift for writing the stories in diary form. Workhouse is written from Edith Lorrimer's point of view. At age 15 her mother, who is on the Board of Guardians at a local workhouse, takes Edith with her to a meeting. There  Edith meets an inmate, Rosie Chubb. Rosie is rebellious and despite harsh punishments, tells Edith of all the added suffering put upon the people living in the Workhouse. Blankets donated to keep the inmates warm were sold by the workhouse manager, food is meager and heating non existent. Boots given to Rosie by Edith are taken from her to stop her from running away. Although the manager often asks for payment of bills for doctors visits, this money he often pockets too as doctors are rarely called for even in the worst situations. The argument presented by the manager is that if life is too comfortable in the workhouse then everyone would want to live there. This is very reminiscent of London in Charles Dickens' novels.