15 OCTOBER

1894 A man named James Mariano Williams applied this evening for admission to the Lewisham workhouse. It was not his first experience of the establishment. After a previous stay a few months earlier, Williams, a former journalist, had published an unfavourable description of the dying moments of inmates in the workhouse infirmary, leading to criticism of the establishment by the Local Government Board. His latest admission was to prove equally controversial. Williams claimed that he received no supper and at 9 a.m. the next morning was given gruel and dry bread but was by then too ill to eat. The master had said to him, 'I think I have seen your face before. As you are so ready with your pen you shall not pick oakum or break stones, but I will give you some writing to do.' The medical officer then examined Williams and certified him as lunatic, whereupon he was transferred to the lunatic ward where he was, he said, subjected to the ravings of a dying man. The next day, according to Williams, he was dragged me from his sick bed, and forcibly removed to the Cane Hill lunatic asylum, although the medical staff there could find no trace of insanity in him. His subsequent complaints about his treatment resulted in a lengthy inquiry by the Local Government Board where it was revealed that he drank alcohol to excess, had talked about killing himself, and had been sleeping rough prior to entering the workhouse. In their report, the Board concluded that the workhouse officers had acted in good faith and with due care in dealing with Williams.