"Voices from the Workhouse" tells the real inside story of the workhouse in the words of those who experienced the institution at first hand, either as inmates or through some other connection with the institution. Using a wide variety of sources including letters, poems, graffiti, autobiography, official reports, testimony at official inquiries, and oral history, Peter Higginbotham creates a vivid portrait of what really went on behind the doors of the workhouse--all the sights, sounds, and smells of the place, and the effect it had on those whose lives it touched. Was the workhouse the cruel and inhospitable place as which it's often presented, or was there more to it than that? This book lets those who knew the place provide the answer.

A survey in 1776 recorded almost 2,000 parish workhouses operating in England, while the number in Wales was just nineteen. The New Poor Law of 1834 proved equally unattractive in much of Wales - some parts of the country resisted providing a workhouse until the 1870s, with Rhayader in Radnorshire being the last area in the whole of England and Wales to do so. Our image of these institutions has often been coloured by the work of authors such as Charles Dickens, but what was the reality? Where exactly were these workhouses located - and what happened to them? People are often surprised to discover that a familiar building was once a workhouse. Revealing locations steeped in social history, Workhouses of Wales and the Welsh Borders is a comprehensive and copiously illustrated guide to the workhouses that were set up across Wales and the border counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. It provides an insight into the contemporary attitudes towards such institutions as well as their construction and administration, what life was like for the inmates, and where to find their records today.

Our image of workhouses has often been coloured by the writings of authors such as Charles Dickens. But what was the reality? Where exactly were all these institutions located - and what happened to them? You might be surprised to discover that a building in your own town, now transformed into flats or part of a local hospital, was once a workhouse. Revealing buildings steeped in social history, Workhouses of London and the South East provides a comprehensive and copiously illustrated guide to the workhouses that were set up across London and the neighbouring counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire.

This fascinating, fully illustrated volume is the definitive guide to every aspect of workhouse life. Compiled by Peter Higginbotham, one of Britain's foremost experts on the subject, it covers everything from the 1725 publication An Account of Several Workhouses to the South African Zulu admitted to Fulham Road Workhouse in 1880. With hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, plus priceless information for researchers including workhouse addresses, useful websites and archive repository details, maps, plans, original workhouse publications and an extensive bibliography, it will delight family historians and general readers alike.