Since the National Trust reopened Southwell Workhouse to the public, there has been a renewed interest in workhouses. In addition, the tracing of one's family history has also become hugely popular and more and more people are finding that their ancestors' lives were touched by the workhouse in one way or another.

 

This book is written for the non-academic audience and uses testimony, photographs, oral history and workhouse records to tell the stories of both inmates and staff. It uses original research into key workhouses in England and Wales, together with published case studies of other workhouses, to build up a picture of life in the workhouse.