Unit 34.2 - Poverty, public health and the state in Britain, c1780-1939
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A* A-Level Poverty and Public Health Source Response on Andover Workhouse
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Unit 34.2 - Poverty, public health and the state in Britain, c1780-1939
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This A* source question response focuses specifically on conditions inside of the Andover Workhouse. This meticulously crafted source question response will provide you with a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the time period and conditions making it an invaluable resource for those striving...
Unit 34.2 - Poverty, public health and the state in Britain, c1780-1939
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Pearson Edexcel A* Poverty Source A-Level History
Question
Q) Assess the value of the source for revealing how workhouses were regulated and the
significance of the experiences of paupers in the Andover workhouse. Explain your answer,
using the source, the information given about its origin and your own knowledge of the
historical context.
The source is greatly valuable for a historian making an enquiry into the regulations of the
workhouse and the experiences of paupers particularly as a result of its discussion concerning the
Andover workhouse scandal, an institution which had been viewed as a model for workhouses in
Britain. However, the source is limited to an extent as a result of its nature origin or purpose
which deducts from its credibility to an extent but does not jeopardise its value as a whole.
Firstly, the source is extremely valuable for a historian making an enquiry into the experience of
paupers possessing instrumental significance. The source discusses the “employment of boys as
young as 13 in the same disgusting work. This refers to the practice of bone crushing, a type of
work that paupers were undertaking during their time in the workhouse. Historically, this has
been proven to include the practice of bone crushing which included the collection of horse,
dogs, or other animals’ bones, even some from the local graveyard which were supposes to be
crushed and later turned into fertilisers which the local farmers could use. Such a practice was
very lucrative for the workhouse since bones could be bought at 20 shillings a ton and sold at 24.
Guardians particularly, had been exposed during the 1845-1846 scandal to have bought bones as
cheap as 17 shillings explaining their willingness to provide paupers with the opportunity to
engage in such work. This dehumanising work reflected the prevailing orthodoxy of the time
centred on villainising paupers and blaming them for their own misfortunes whilst treating them
as an unfortunate tax the wealthy subsidised for. This makes the source’s discussion of it useful
as it exposes the prevailing attitudes of overseers towards paupers on a national scale exposing
the degrading environment of the workhouse. However, the source is vague in its discussion of
said degrading work which deducts from its value ever so slightly. In addition, the source
discusses the horrible treatment of paupers inside of the workhouse especially in regards to their
nutrition. The source reveals that “[the paupers] were constantly in the habit of eating the
marrow and gristle from the bones.” This refers to the appalling experiences of the paupers in
regards to their dietary requirements. Historically, Andover had been praised as a model
workhouse, yet the investigation found that Colin M’Dougal, the master of the workhouse, was
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