A workhouse was a place where jobless or homeless individuals had to live in exchange for work. The theory was that by working for their accomodation people would learn to support themselves. The workhouses were also home to the sick and disabled, the elderly, and orphaned or abandoned children. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)
They were deliberately designed to be unpleasant, to dissuade people from going to them for an easy life. The work was hard, the food was tasteless and everyone had to wear a uniform. Children were often sent out to work in factories. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)
The origins of workhouses could be traced back to the Poor Relief Act in 1601, which created a national poor-law system in England and Wales. By the 19th century, however, the old system of caring for the poor needed overhauling. The Poor Law Amendment Act was passed in 1834, meaning that anyone without a job or home had to live in a workhouse. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)
The Retreat was a workhouse that was converted into an asylum in the 19th century. (PROSE: The Sleep of Reason)
In 1851, Mercy Hartigan used children from St Joseph's Workhouse to operate machinery that generated electricity to power the CyberKing. (TV: The Next Doctor)
In the 1890s, Henry Gordon Jago feared being sent to the workhouse if he could not gain employment as the master of ceremonies of a theatre. (AUDIO: The Mahogany Murderers)