Established in 1834 as a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act of that year, the Ongar Union comprised some 26 parishes under the control of a Board of Guardians. The workhouse was established at Stanford Rivers and was to remain in use until 1930 when the inmates were transferred to the workhouse at Epping. The building still stands, Piggotts Factory, the legacy of a sad chapter of social welfare in C19th Britain.
The Essex Record Office at Chelmsford has the minute books from 1834 until 1930 which give detailed descriptions of life within the workhouse. Here is just a sample of the entries to be found in the records:
Entry for 4 May 1847
“We have today visited the workhouse and personally examined all the weak minded and idiotic paupers now in it. They were in a tranquil and comfortable state and appeared to be kindly treated.....”
1882
Outbreak of smallpox reported at the workhouse. Nurse Bowman is suffering from the disease. [In April 1883 Bowman is awarded £5 to pay towards her medical expenses when she caught smallpox.] In July 1882 she resigns (I’m not surprised).
1883
September - 4 cases of typhoid reported. Inspector describes the sleeping apartment of the schoolmistress as ‘injurious to health’
1905
“The coffins had no name plates, were made of unplaned wood and unlined, nor did contractors always use a hearse as specified; the contract was altered in 1897 and an additional clause added “and otherwise carried out in a decent manner”. However a clerical Guardian in 1905 said of a funeral that ‘there was no one to take the coffin out of the hearse - or box on wheels I should call it - but the Clerk of the church, the driver and some fellow they scraped up of from the road. I do not see that because it is the body of a poor old pauper who had been in the Union-House for years, a decent burial should not be given him.”
1910
A Guardian saw a hearse standing outside a public house in which the contractor was taking refreshment, for which he was called to account!