1894 At Lincoln City Police Court, John Seymour, a labourer from Grimsby, was charged with setting fire to wood-sheds at the Lincoln Union workhouse in the early hours of 21st September. The sheds, used to store firewood chopped by male inmates, had contained about 33,000 bundles at the time of the fire, of which 17,600 had been destroyed or damaged.
Seymour, who had entered the workhouse casual ward on several occasions, had made a statement confessing to the crime. After hearing the police evidence, he asked, 'Has it done much damage?' After being told that it had burnt most of the bundles of firewood, he replied, 'That's a good job, too. There's a good many men working there for nothing, and it prevents people getting a living outside.'