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West London

[Up to 1834] [After 1834] [Staff] [Inmates] [Records] [Bibliography] [Links]

Up to 1834

The pre-1834 operation of the poor law and workhouses in the City of London is described in two separate pages on:

• The City of London Corporation of the Poor
• Parish workhouses in the old City of London

After 1834

West London Poor Law Union formally came into existence on 13th December 1837. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 20 in number, representing representing its 7 constituent parishes as follows (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one): Bridewell precinct; St Andrew, Lower or City Liberty (4); St Bartholomew the Great (2); St Bartholomew the Less; St Bride's, otherwise St Bridget, Fleet Street (5); St Dunstan's West (2); St Sepulchre, Newgate (5).

The population falling within the new Union at the 1831 census had been 27,825 with parishes ranging in size from Bridewell precinct (population 456) to St Sepulchre, Newgate(7,710). The average annual poor-rate expenditure for the period 1834-36 had been £17,522 or 12s.7d. per head of the population.

The West Street Workhouse

Initially, the West London union took over the former St Sepulchre's parish workhouse at the north side of West Street, near Smithfield Market. Its location is shown on the 1862 map below.

West London Union workhouse site, c.1862.

In 1848, a parliamentary survey of the workhouse provision for vagrants included a survey of the individual vagrants being accommodated at the West London workhouse on a number of days in March 1848. A typical day's entry is shown below:

In February 1857, the Lord Mayor of London made an unannounced visit to the West London workhouse casual ward, as part of a series of such inspections. The Mayor, together with the Recorder and the City Architect, arrived at the union's workhouse, only to be told that the casual ward was some two-and-a-half miles away at Battle Bridge. Like any applicants for accommodation at the casual ward, the mayor and his party then had to make their way through the city's streets to reach their final destination. They found that the men's accommodation conisted of a twelve-stall stable. Their report noted:

West London workhouse men's casual ward, 1857.

West London workhouse women's casual ward, 1857.

Edmonton Children's Workhouse

The West London union operated a separate children's establishment, sometimes referred to as a children's workhouse, in Edmonton. It was located at the south side of Meeting House Lane (later Bridport Road and Church Road) which ran from the west side of Upper Fore Street. In 1849, the workhouse was said to house up to 150 children.

The Cornwallis Road Workhouse

In 1864, the union erected a new workhouse for 500 inmates at the west side of Cornwallis Road in Upper Holloway. The architects were Searle, Son and Yelf, and the builder was Henry Hart. The cost of the building contract was £23,492. The workhouse was a T-shaped building with administrative offices and the Master's quarters at the centre, male accommodation in the southern wing, and female in the north. A dining-hall with chapel above lay to the rear. The site location and layout are shown below on the 1873 map below.

West London Union workhouse site, 1873.

An view published in 1864 shows the front facade of the proposed design.

West London workhouse proposed design from the north-east, 1864.

West London Union was wound up in 1869 with its constituent parishes being transferred to the City of London Union. By 1895, the Cornwallis Road workhouse had been taken over by St Mary's, Islington. The building was used to house prisoners of war during World War One. The site is now occupied by housing.

Staff

• (To be added)

Inmates

• (To be added)

Records

• London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R OHB. (Many viewable online via Ancestry) Holdings include: Guardians' minute books (1839-1869); etc.

Bibliography

• None.

Links

• None.

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