Author Archives: Bob Goodenough

Local Oxfordshire talks – September 2014

A list of local talks provided by History Societies in September provided by the Oxfordshire Local History Association (please check with the relevant Society before attending).

3rd – Otmoor – John Smith “The Roman Army: Fact or Fiction”. Islip Village Hall, 8:00pm.

8th – Chipping Norton – Hugh Grainger “Famous Spies”. Methodist Church, West Street, 7:30pm.

8th – Radley – AGM, and John Foreman “Horatio David”. Radley Primary School Hall, 7:00pm for 7:30pm.

9th – Marcham – Members’ Evening. Marcham Church, 7:45pm.

9th – Thame – Liz Woolley “Children’s Experiences of the Second World War in Oxfordshire”. Barns Centre, Church Road, 7:30pm.

10th – Deddington – Richard O Smith “Oxford’s Eccentricity over 900 years”. Windmill Centre, Hempton Road, 7:30pm.

11th – Wootton & Dry Sandford –  Richard O Smith “Local English Eccentric Sports”. Community Centre, Lamborough Hill, Wootton, 7.30pm.

12th – Wallingford – Ben Ford (Oxford Archaeology)  “Winchester: A City in the Making”. Town Hall, 8:00pm.

15th – Adderbury – Hugh Cockwill “The History of the Painted Dial”. Methodist Church Schoolroom, 7:30pm.

15th – Bicester – Liz Woolley “Children and War: Experiences of WWII in Oxfordshire”. Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road, 7:30pm.

15th – Goring & Streatley – Shaun Morley “From Time Out of Mind: Custom and Ritual in 19th Century Oxfordshire”. Goring Village Hall, 8:00pm.

15th – Kennington – Julie Summers “Jambusters: The WI in Wartime”. Methodist Church, Upper Road, 7:45pm.

17th – Bloxham -Stephen Barker “The Ox and Bucks on the Somme, 1916”. Jubilee Hall, off Brickle Lane, 7:30pm.

17th – Littlemore – Wendy Morrison “Roman and Anglo Saxon Digs at Dorchester”. Littlemore Community Centre, Giles Road, 7:30pm.

18th– Eynsham – Tim May “Winston Churchill and the Oxfordshire  Yeomanry”. Church Hall, Thames Street, 7:30pm.

18th – Sibfords – Mark Davies “Artists in Wonderland: Alice and the Pre-Raphaelites”. Village Hall, Sibford Gower, 8:00pm.

22nd – Oxfordshire Family History Society – Dave Annal “Brick Walls and Lost Ancestors: Problem Solving for Family Historians”. Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington, 8:00pm.

23rd – Enstone – Richard Thorpe “My Historical Biographical Books, including the Life of Harold Macmillan”. Venue tbc, 7:30pm.

23rd – Hanney – William Wintle “Becoming Romano-British: The Landscape of the Late Prehistoric and Romano-British Periods in the Vale of the White Horse”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.

24th – Dorchester on Thames – Edward Metcalfe “The Dorchester Allotments, their Changing Role in the Village Over Centuries”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.

26th – Bloxham – Liz Woolley, guided walk around Folly Bridge and Grandpont, South Oxford. 10:30am.

30th – Launton – Rowena Archer “Trying to understand Joan of Arc”. Grange Farm Mews, 7:45pm.

Wantage Poor Law Union & Workhouse 1835-1900

On Thursday 13th March the History Society listened in quiet reverence whilst Hazel Brown explained what it was like to be poor in the 19th Century and what conditions were like in the workhouse. She also brought with her samples of expected daily rations for the inmates. Gruel, bread, cheese, lard and bacon.

If you could manage with handouts from the Parish you were considered Poor but if you were so desperate that you had to go into the workhouse you were considered a Pauper. Whilst you were well cared for in the workhouse with a uniform, food, a bed and regular, but boring, work the stigma associated with the workhouse was not one that even the poorest of the Parish aspired to. As the population increased in the mid 19th Century the burden on the Private Property owners to pay rates to pay for the poor became more demanding and change was necessary. The Country was divided into Unions and each Union had a workhouse. The Parish had elected Guardians and the poor had to report to the Receiving Officers to make a case for them to be considered for Handouts or for Work in the workhouse. Some journeyed for ten miles in each direction and even then not all were accepted for poor relief. It was far better to stay out of the workhouse if at all possible but the sick and elderly found it increasingly difficult to manage. Everything in the workhouse was regulated but tedious. It was not intended to be comfortable and the work was boring. Typically the work involved making sacks, breaking flints for road mending and separating the strands of rope to make caulking for boat builders. The day started at 5am with breakfast at 6am. Work was from 7am till 12noon with an hour for lunch and then finishing at 6pm. Supper was between 6-7pm and to bed at 8pm. No talking was allowed during meal times. Some of the men and boys cultivated the gardens for vegetables and pigs were kept. The women and girls did housework and assisted with nursing. A visiting Medical Officer cared for the sick and a Chaplin visited twice a week. A hospital catered for the very sick and there was a school for the children. Sanitation was a constant problem with no running water and the constant stagnant smell was most unpleasant. Drinking water was best taken from the roof storage tanks that collected rainwater as the water from the well was often contaminated.

Hazel ended her talk with the story of a 71 year old women who committed suicide rather than go back into the workhouse.