General Chat

Agree with you all on this programme and also
looking forward to next weeks programme.
Brian Cox very over the top reaction imo and can
remember my mother and others speaking about
the poorhouse and not wanting to end their days in
one. BTB gave me the impression that her mother
should have told her as it looked like she did not
appreciate hearing where she came from and that
she was also illegitimate.

Emma

I am glad that others had the same reaction as myself to the celebs on the programme.

What precious flowers they all were. So easily shocked, and Fern crying because her ancestor had died!

I did not know that the paupers were sent for dissection, but it does not surprise me. On the one hand it is shameful, but doctors then had to learn on someone!

Old Coxey was atrocious, he should be ashamed of himself.

The interim information about the Workhouses was fascinating, I would have preferred the whole programme to be factual, instead of all the blubbing and snivelling.

My gt.grandfather died in the workhouse. His wife died a few years before him, and he presumably fell on hard times.

I cant say that I beat myself up about it on a daily basis!

Final part tonight.

Emma

http://www.jacklondons.net/writings/PeopleOfTheAbyss/chapter25.html

This is an interesting read.............very sad and puts my moaning into perspective.

I am so glad that any hunger I feel is swiftly and easily rectified.

Some of my ancestors suffered in workhouses and prisons ..(one for stealing food, another for hitting a man who stole a chicken from him).... through no fault of their own, life dealt them a very tough hand :-(

Brian Cox falls into the emotional trap of many people who are new to historical research. He has judged the past by today's standards. Yes times were very hard in those days, but that is how it was.
Not many years after the period Brian was talking about the first Old Age Pension was paid. (1908). And don't forget it was not until after WW2 that health treatment was free with the coming of the NHS. I can remember in 1946, my mother crying over a doctor's bill for £11. She paid it off at 5 shillings a week, all the time dreading that someone else in the family might require medical treatment.

I have no doubt that in 150 years time people will read the history of the 20th and 21st centuries and say with horror, "They did what with schoolchildren!" "They did that with old people?". etc.

Every age stands on its own, the main thing is that we progress and become more humane.

Good points Barney............when I was a child, caning was still used to punish sometimes trivial poor behaviour.

Today it is not allowed.

When we are old we will regret not fighting harder to get the aged a better deal, we will, with luck be one of that group.

The same people, just older.

I am already in that group Kitty. I am one of the lucky? ones who had the chance to pay into a pension fund. I am not a rich man but I have few money worries. I must admit a lot of this is due to the fact that my wife and I have simple tastes. We eat well and keep our home warm but we prefer a quiet caravan holiday to five star hotels and for a meal out, the local pub suits us much better than nouveau cuisine.

So today I have money to spare to spoil my grandkids; a generation before, my poor Mum cried over a Doctor's bill, and a generation before that, the last words of my poor Grandmother in 1972, as she was dying at the age of 84 were "Don't put me in the workhouse". Bless her, the workhouse was finished by the time she died but to her and her mother's generations it was the only thing if your family were out of work. Then there were three choices: work, starve or go to the workhouse.

Today we are all much better off and I have no doubt in 2 generations time things will be even better.

Nudge

Emma :-)

Thanks for the reminder Emma, I am hopeless at remembering when these programmes are due to be shown as have the tele on rarely (though did see The Stones at Glastonbury on Saturday) and did watch the first part of this one last wk.

Have to agree with all that others have said about it, the only revelation (to me) being the bodies used for autopsy if the families didn't claim the body :-(

Your welcome Lolly.

Emma :-)

I already have it recorded from after last weeks episode and am looking forward to watching this interesting programme again tonight, but thank you for the reminder.

:-) :-)

You beat me to it Emma, I was gonna nudge this thread.

So, Felicity Kendall tonight amongst the celebs.

Cue. Shock

Cue. Outrage

Cue. Tears.













Oh dear.

:-D :-D

Tonight we were reminded again of the poor children who Barnados' transported to Australia, must have been an ordeal for them all to leave families behind.
Barbara T. Bradford was very upset wasn't she? when she read her mother Freda's letter asking to have her sister back to live with her.
Sad when she didn't have the money at that time to pay her sister's fare back to England and so she never saw her again.

Mau

Very interesting I thought, I haven't seen the first episode so will catch up with that next.

My gt grandmother's two sisters were sent to Canada via Barnardo's, so BTB's story was of particular interest. Good narrative by 'Mr Carson' lol'. ( or should that be 'narration'..yes it should I think lol)

BTW just goes to show I should have read thread from beginning, I thought the Brian Cox referred to in later posts was the physicist...I was disappointed lol as I was intrigued by the idea of him shouting...he is always so calm :-)

lol ...ah you would have been so disappointed then Rose...seeing Brian 'the craggy' Cox instead of the lovely calm Brian :-D

Mau

Why isn't it on catch-up? :-(

OK found it....I was searching for....Shadows of the workhouse......Dur!