May speaker meeting

​We all have our in our minds a stereotype of the consequences of the New Poor Law of 1834, but Stuart Newstead will examine the actual situation for the poor of our district. Stuart says - "Our views of the Victorian workhouses is very much based on how Charles Dickens portrayed them in his novels. Oliver twist asking for more gruel is perhaps the best known image. Dickens related stories of misery, cruelty and desperation. But was Dickens correct or was the real situation more nuanced?  In south Westmorland the workhouses at Kirkby Lonsdale, Milnthorpe and Kendal had been founded under the Old Poor Law. They were brought together when the Kendal Poor Law Union was established under the New Poor Law. Tensions existed between the Kendal Union Guardians and the National Poor Law Commission about how these workhouses should be run. This presentation will explore these tensions and how the running of the South Westmorland workhouse compared to Dickens's portrayal.”