The Andover scandal

Your challenge: 1. Read the information about the Andover Workhouse scandal

2. Highlight the information that would go into a newspaper report, such as the 5W’s, the introduction, body and tail and any other relevant information.

3. Write a short newspaper report exposing the terrible events that were happening in the workhouse – it was first published in The Times!

Background: In the early 1800’s, England had many problems. The population had increased rapidly and many people were living in total poverty. Food was scarce and many years of bad weather and poor harvests had left hundreds of thousands of people close to starvation. Disease and illness were rife, with cholera spreading fast. These conditions meant that it was extremely challenging for people to work or earn money. Life was becoming increasingly difficult. After the Napoleonic Wars, which ended in 1815, many discharged soldiers returned home, adding to the numbers of unemployed throughout the country. After a long period of poverty, and little access to food or proper healthcare, the people started to gather and make their grievances known. In their desperation and anger, they began to break farm machinery apart as they blamed it for replacing their jobs. Barns and stables were set on fire and landlords and farmers were robbed and attacked: the trouble continued to build and spread right across southern England. Many poor people were hanged for their crimes, however the numbers of destitute, starving and homeless people continued to grow. The In 1834, The Poor Law Commission was introduced; a national system which was terribly unfair to those living in poverty. It was decided that these people should be removed from their homes and placed into institutions where they would work in exchange for food and shelter. Families were split up, marriages were separated, family possessions were taken and people were stripped of their individual rights and dignity. In August of that year, the workhouse was born. These institutes sprang up all around the country. Those who were poor had no choice but to accept their fate, which included insufficient food sources, family separation and the enforcement of brutal and unnecessary rules and regulations. However, there were people who opposed the commission such as John Walter, owner of The Times newspaper. He fought relentlessly to bring the system to an end.

The 1840’s (known as the Hungry Forties) The plight of the poor during the early 1840’s is difficult to imagine now. Unemployment stood at its highest level, conditions in the became worse and worse and Walter’s newspaper exposed more and more scandals in the workhouse system. He was slowly but surely uncovering the workhouse system for what it really was: exploitative, inhumane and cruel. The Andover Workhouse Andover’s labourers had been some of the fiercest bands of men during the . They had been a violent and desperate group and had managed to create mayhem and damage throughout the area. They took their punishment but when the Andover workhouse was established in 1835, the Guardians (the people who were put in charge of the Workhouse and those within it), many of whom had suffered arson and robbery at the hands of such poor, took their revenge and conditions at the Andover workhouse were appalling. Abuse of all kinds took place over the years, with no action being taken by the workhouse governors to improve matters. The Scandal The Master and Mistress of the workhouse ran it like a prison. They stole food rations from the inmates and brutal physical punishments were inflicted on the workers. Their jobs were to crush bones to make fertiliser – this was done with no protective equipment so many of the workers suffered serious injuries to their faces and hands from flying bone shards. The long-term injuries and spread of infection led to further disease and death among workers. Furthermore, the labourers were starving. They fought over the bones they were forced to pound to make fertilizer, in order to eat any meat left on them. Many of the bones were in a decayed state and from all sorts of animals, including some from a local graveyard on which a new church was being erected. The impact of this on the health of the workers was devastating, more died and became incredibly ill. After all his years of campaigning, John Walter exposed this story in The Times newspaper. It shocked the public and Government sufficiently for the system brought in by the Poor Law Commission, to be scrutinized and stripped down. The Poor Law Commission was finally dismissed in 1847 and a new board took its place. The workhouse system continued well into the 20th century with enhanced control from the Government, who appointed a Minister of State with a seat in the House of Commons. The Andover workhouse continued to run until the late 19th century.