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.

For two centuries, the shadow of the workhouse hung over Britain. The recourse of only the most desperate, dark and terrible tales of malnutrition, misery, mistreatment and murder ran like wildfire through the poorer classes, who lived in terror of being forced inside the institution's towering walls. This book contains 365 incredible tales of fires, drownings, explosions and disasters, infamous scandals such as the Andover affair – where inmates were forced to eat the bones they were supposed to be crushing to ward off starvation – and sickening tales of abuse, assault, bodysnatching, poisonings, post mortems and murder. Accompanied by 70 rare and wonderful illustrations, this book will thrill, fascinate, sadden and unnerve in equal measure. DID YOU KNOW? In the early hours of 31 August 1888, the mutilated body of Mary Ann Nichols – the first generally accepted victim of Jack the Ripper – was discovered in Buck's Row, Whitechapel, just a little way from the Whitechapel workhouse infirmary. Nichols, aged forty-two at her death, had been a regular habituée of London's workhouses. On 30 May 1896, at the age of seven, future Hollywood star Charlie Chaplin entered the Newington workhouse in south London, together with his mother, Hannah, and his older half-brother Sydney. On 19 March 1834 a revolt took place amongst the juvenile female paupers of St Margaret's workhouse, Westminster. A young man named Speed, appointed as their superintendent, provoked their wrath by his alleged tyrannical behaviour. He was unmercifully thrashed by the girls who tore his clothes nearly off his back and beat him until his cries raised the alarm and the police were sent for to quell the disturbance.

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 — 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.

Did You Know? Wales is the only nation in the United Kingdom not to be represented on the Union Jack. During the First World War, Cardiff was the largest coal port in the world. Guglielmo Marconi sent the first ever wireless communication over open sea – from Wales. The Little Book of Wales is an intriguing, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of places, people and history in Wales. Here we find out about the country's food, sports, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia). A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped into time and again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of Wales. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Fast-paced and fact-packed, this compendium revels in the history, places and people of Wales’ largest county. Carmarthenshire’s rich heritage is explored within, including sport, industry, religion, education and the arts. This whistle-stop tour through the ‘Garden of Wales’ covers both celebrated characters and murky pasts, taking in the county’s breathtaking castles, nature reserves and famous landmarks along the way. From the county gaol and asylum to school strikes and industrial riots, this is a book you won’t want to put down.

This fascinating, fully illustrated volume is the definitive guide to every aspect of the workhouse and of the poor relief system in which it played a pivotal part. Compiled by Peter Higginbotham, one of Britain's best-known experts on the subject, this A-Z cornucopia covers everything from the 1725 publication An Account of Several Work-houses to the South African Zulu admitted to Fulham Road Workhouse in 1880. With hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, plus priceless information for researchers including workhouse locations throughout the British Isles, useful websites and archive repository details, maps, plans, original workhouse publications and an extensive bibliography, it will delight family historians and general readers alike. Where was my local workhouse? What records did they keep? What is gruel and is it really what inmates lived on? How did you get out of a workhouse? What famous people were once workhouse inmates? Are there any workhouse buildings I can visit? If these are the kinds of questions you've ever wanted to know the answer to, then this is the book for you.

A new perspective on the place of the workhouse in the history and geography of nineteenth-century society and social policy.