PONTEFRACT UNION WORKHOUSE

PONTEFRACT UNION WORKHOUSE photo

PONTEFRACT UNION WORKHOUSE

In April 1871 tenders were invited for the erection of a new hospital and lunatic ward for the Pontefract Union at Paradise Gardens, Back Northgate. The workhouse had been built in 1867 to accommodate the increasing number of vagrants.

At this period 7 ounces of bread and 3 gills of porridge were allowed per head. For this allowance the male vagrants were required to work in the quarry for a specified time. Females had to assist in cleaning the floors. The house was divided into separate, central wards, each ward accommodating 10 males or 10 females. Wooden platforms raised about 12 inches from the floor served as beds. The men’s ward was provided with rugs, the women’s with rugs and straw mattresses. No doubt the wooden platforms were considered sufficiently comfortable for the males who the authorities were desperate to discourage. A visit to the police office was the first for each vagrant applying for admission. After an examination by the police they were taken to the Union where they were searched before admittance. During 1870, 2035 vagrants had been admitted to the Union.

At the April meeting it was considered by the Board of Guardians that it should be within their power to administer some form of punishment as a deterrent to the number of vagrants applying for admission.

In the Pontefract Advertiser dated June 1871 an article states:

Discussion about introducing a sewing machine into the House. At the moment three nine-year old girls and one a little older though slightly defective, could sew. As soon as the children were able to hold a needle they were taught. At the moment, plus older women, they could only produce enough clothing for the children of the House.

There was a school in the Union House with an average of 27 scholars attending.

In the Pontefract Advertiser dated December 1871 an article states:

At a meeting of the Board of Guardians for the Union Workhouse, Dr Kemp was censured for authorising the burning of a bed used by a smallpox patient. Dr Horsfall said that he should have used disinfectant. After a heated discussion the subject was dropped.

In the same newspaper it is reported that:

A shocking disaster at Wakefield. Two military-type hospital tents caught fire. They were used as a smallpox hospital. Two patients and one nurse were burnt to death. Wakefield was threatened with a smallpox epidemic.

Also, at Whitwood, Martin Murphy, aged ten years, had a leg crushed by a full wagon at the pit bottom. He was employed as a hurrier at the colliery. His leg was amputated at Leeds Infirmary.

Hurriers were often boys from the Union Workhouse who would be apprenticed to a collier by the Board Of Governors until they were eighteen years of age. They were employed and paid by the collier, not the Mine Owner. Some of the mine roadways were extremely low in height. Some only sixteen inches. Therefore children or women were smaller and needed to haul the wagons.

This working practice was in use in the 1920’s although the children had to be no younger than fourteen years of age.

An estimate of the quantity of provisions required for two weeks consumption in the Union House was as follows:-

Beef, Mutton and Suet          420 lbs

Flour (seconds)                         80 stones

Oatmeal                                     50 lbs

Rice                                             30 lbs

Peas                                               2 stones

Potatoes                                       32 stones

New Milk                                   250 quarts

Sugar                                            10 lbs

Tea                                                40 lbs

Butter                                              2 stones

Soap                                                 2 stones

Coals                                                5 tons

The churning of butter was one regular task with 10 lbs per

fortnight being the average churned.

The inmates over the years would be many and varied, from all walks of life and in all sorts of conditions. On 8 April 1871 one local eccentric died in the Union House aged 71 years. He was Robert Naylor, better known as ‘Eye Naylor’. He was a pig doctor, formerly of Ferrybridge. Robert was well known in almost every town in the West Riding. When attending markets at Pontefract he would ride his horse through the streets whilst standing on its back. On other occasions he would dance his way through the town.

One Guardian, occasionally two, from each township in the Union was elected to serve on the Board of Guardians. There were 34 Townships in the Union:-

Ackton, Balne, Beaghill, Birkin, Byram-cum-Poole, Burton Salmon, Brotherton, Castleford, Carleton, Cridling Stubbs, Darrington, East hardwick, Eggborough, Featherstone, Ferry Fryston, Fairburn, Glass houghton, Heck, Hensall, Kellington, Knottingley, Methley, Monkhill, Monk Fryston, Pontefract, Pontefract Park, Purston Jaglin, Sutton, Snydale, Stapleton, Tanshelf, Whitwood, Whitley, Womersley.

In 1989 I was passing the site of Headlands Hospital, a name which had superseded the earlier ‘Northgate Lodge’ in 1948 when the National Health Service took over the administration, and saw that the demolition men were busy.

Now, in the 21st century, Paradise Gardens is the location of a smart complex of apartments.

STONEBREAKING FOR VAGRANTS