Union Workhouses

Question 1

Why were the separation categories so classified?

Answer 1

Enabled the workhouse officers to provide appropriately for each class of pauper
It added to the deterrence factor by splitting up families
Prevented the moral ‘contagion’ that would occur if the different categories mixed freely

Paupers, as soon as they entered the workhouse, would begin to lose their individuality and begin to be treated as impersonal units