hea 3 Longe Report 1862 employment of children – Potteries.

The Potteries, as an industrial conurbation consisting mainly of tightly knit groups of hovels, no sanitation, no clean running water and loads of cesspits plus the constant pollution caused by its native industry. Smallpox became almost a never-ending pandemic with no cure, the problem with the sick and dying became an unsolvable problem and the cause then still a mystery. It was not until 1798 that Edward Jenner discovered that a vaccination could prevent smallpox, but the reality was to get people, especially children vaccinated in the 19^th century.

Stoke-on-Trent did not escape the infections, in fact it suffered badly because of its poor cramped accommodation, mostly owned by pottery manufacturers for their workers. For the vast majority of those infected the only accommodation was the workhouse where accommodation was limited to just a few wooden huts with a limited number of beds separated some distance from the main buildings. Care was provided by the odd female inmate who had suffered the disease previously and therefore immune from in getting it again. For this they would receive a payment of a few shillings or a half-bottle of gin. However, the one thing both had in common as the only way to stop its advancement was isolation.

So, from this position came the thought of Isolation Hospitals and the towns of Fenton, Stoke and Hanley combined to solve the problem. Longton did not join them. From this came the search for land isolated which was the all-important factor and finally accepted a large plot in Eaves Lane, Bucknall.

Through the years it treated thousands of patients for the districts who supported it. Later it became a hospital that catered for infectious dieses and finally a hospital for elderly people. Now it has become a large housing estate and all signs of its previous life no longer exists.

An important study for those researching early medicine and treatments in industrial towns.

For children of measles, mumps and rubella in the middle ages and Victorian times caused considerable concern to medical professionals who rightly feared a major outbreak with terrifying consequences including the loss of life. Since 1796, when Edward Jenner an English country doctor introduced a vaccine for smallpox it has saved more lives worldwide than any other vaccine to date. However, in the case of measles in was not until 1963 that a vaccine became available to protect mainly children but also adults.

The use of historical data used in this article helps us to evaluate and understand this importance of vaccination today. It shows that every town in the potteries was affected by measles in epidemic proportions every few years during the 19^th century.

Stoke and Wolstantion workhouses population. A study of the trends within the inmate population of both Stoke and Wolstanton workhouses and their causes.

This essay is twenty-seven pages long and containing nearly twelve thousand words. It is one of my major studies on the poor law of Stoke-on-Trent with two workhouse one at Stoke south, the Spittals operated  under the Stoke upon Trent Poor Law Union and the other in the north under the Wolstanton and Burslem Poor Law Union called Chell workhouse. The statistical information is extracted from the census enumerators returns and is an important ingredient into the study of Poor Law and for the purpose of an accurate analysis. The data extracted presents statistical information upon which conclusions are drawn on each workhouse illustrating areas of conformity and the differences found. Each entry was meticulously copied from census enumerators returns directly into spreadsheets where an analytical approach gives up their secrets to identify facts, figures, and trends. This contextualised data provides the means of assessing both the social history perspective and the influences of the Local Government Board and guardians of the poor placed into their care.

The period reflects that of six decades for the Stoke and Wolstanton Workhouses (1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901) providing a prospective between two locations situated six miles apart but serving one industrial conurbation. The findings will be evaluated for the relevant years (1871-1901). The 1851 census will be used as a benchmark for this data.  Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme workhouse figures for 1881 will be used as a comparison. It is argued by Goose that despite the census returns are only factual once in every ten years that in fact variations during that period can be considerable producing a very different set of figures:

The Census returns provide us with information at one fixed point in time a perfectly valid historical perspective in its own right but one that masks the considerable coming and goings that the admissions register reveal, either through seasonal fluctuations or because of the activities of incorrigible individuals. As the census will capture higher proportions of long-term residents, it will undoubtedly tend to understate the proportions of individual working age, which feature in greater numbers in the admissions registers but who individually remained in the workhouse for much shorter periods.

This is a short evaluation of what it is all about, not only is it an insight to life in the workhouse system of the time but the basis for a student to formulate their own conclusions of what trends and qualities that each workhouse shared etc. Make a great project for a local history club.It is a perfect example for 6th form or university humanities studies. Also a great asistance to tutors.

This essay is ten pages long and a huge word count of over 12,000 words.