History - Poverty and The Poor Law

Teaching Idea

Were workhouses built and run by cruel people?

Ask students to look at the photograph above of the former Leeds New Workhouse and then look through the Images by theme 'Poor Relief'  for images of other workhouses. Ask them to write down their impressions of the buildings and look for any common features. Students can then use information taken from the image captions, Teachers' notes, the Workhouse website and a Workhouse masters journal to find evidence for and against the question and record it in the table provided in the worksheet. They could use this evidence to produce a piece of persuasive writing or for a group debate.

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Learning Aims and Outcomes

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• Students will demonstrate skills in gathering, assessing and using primary evidence
• Students will gain an understanding of the values of Victorian society
• Relates to;
• History A [AQA] Option B Why was reform of the Poor Law needed?
• History C [AQA] Option B Poor Law and Poverty 1834-1900
• History A [OCR] Study in depth B How were the poor regarded and treated?
• History B [Edexcel] Option H Poverty and Poor Relief

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Prior Knowledge

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• Some knowledge of the Old Poor Law and reasons for reform
  

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Extended Learning and Useful Links

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• An in depth study of your local workhouse based initially on information in the History of Workhouses website and reinforced with primary sources from your local archives.
• This could focus on the motives of the Board of Guardians and other civic leaders as expressed in old newspapers and minute books.
• Link; For further information see the Teachers' notes
• Link; The Workhouse website
• Link; How to find your local archives
• Link; The National Archives Learning Curve