The Lamerton Workhouse Orphanage

by S G Read

  ‘I spoke to Eliza but it seems that when she told Ezekiel about the punishment, they themselves started to explore the situation and it turns out that he is most likely to be the father of Eliza’s baby.’ He said as Andrew dismounted.

  ‘We have news for you as well father.’ He said as he walked over and helped Beth down.

  ‘About the Lady Dymonds shooting?’

  ‘Yes she is dead now but it was not the ball which killed her it was the knife Jenkins plunged into her wicked heart, soon after you had him released.’ Andrew answered as Beth went in to freshen up. ‘I seems he was learning to read and write using the lessons Beth was teaching and writing on the back of the boys work. Lady Dymonds caught him and sacked him. He came up with his plan to get the eldest Dymonds blamed.’

  ‘Well I never, now I have heard it all. Is the boy being released?’

  ‘They both are. It seems they found Hugo leaning over his dead mother when she had the knife sticking out of her and assumed he had done. They had to use a straight jacket to get him into the jail.’

  ‘The sooner I get back to London the better, I think. We will be over directly to say our farewells and Alice to remind you about young Tom’s leg again, I think.’

  ‘I have asked William to look at it when he can but money is an issue.’ Andrew called after his father who was retreating over the road.

  ‘She will still keep asking.’ Clarence called back.

  An hour later there was a gathering as they said goodbye and boarded the coach. Andrew allowed the children to stop work to wave as the coach left and was forced to help them later on to try to catch up with the extra washing that arrived.

  Ann Webber continued to improve and Tom was soon able to take them home at night, he also collected them both in the morning. They still ate at the orphanage but now Andrew charged a little money for the service. The little room, next to the room Andrew and Beth had slept in before Ann moved out, was turned into a repair room and Mrs Oldray would turn up while Ann was working; not to do repairs but to get sewing done when she had other work that she could not finish. She started spending a lot of time there and even just brought her work there to do it and talk to Ann while she worked. They both liked that and as the work was still finished on time, Andrew voiced no complaint; he even fed Mrs Oldray for a few pennies a week.

  Beth and Andrew were happy to be in their own bedroom now, although the cottage was now available; they did not want to be over the road. The atmosphere in the orphanage was much better now.

  The weather grew slightly warmer and work on the garden grew more intense with every part of the extra field being used. Andrew did not know when Mr Doble the builder would start teaching the two boys he was going to send to him. He planned to start him building the houses, soon after they started, as money allowed.

  One day while Andrew was working in the second field Beth, Ann and Mrs Oldray walked over toward him. He saw them coming and waited to find out what they wanted but did not move toward them as he did not want to stop work.

  ‘And to what do I owe this pleasure?’ He asked as he straightened his back with a struggle.

  ‘We think your good wife has news for you.’ Mrs Oldray declared. ‘Having had children ourselves.’

  Andrew heard the word children and looked at Beth who merely nodded. Now he stopped work. He was by her side in an instant.

  ‘Children; does that mean we are going to have a baby?’ He asked, just to make sure.

  ‘We are husband; according to my friends here, as I do not really know. They have listened to what I have said and both agreed that I am expecting a baby.’

  ‘I hope it is a girl and as pretty as you.’ Andrew declared.

  ‘Whereas I hope it is a boy and as clever and good as you are.’ Beth replied.

  ‘Twins it is then.’ Andrew exclaimed.

  ‘Not at my first attempt I hope, Mr McDay.’ Beth retorted.

  ‘Doctor Knight will tell you if he can hear more than one heartbeat but not yet.’ Ann Webber declared. ‘It needs to grow a bit, before that can happen.’

  ‘Should you have walked out here?’ Andrew asked, suddenly afraid that it might have hurt the baby.

  ‘Doctor Night will tell her what she can and cannot do.’ Mrs Oldray replied. ‘We have sent for him to make sure all is well; I hope that was alright.’

  ‘That was more than alright Mrs Oldray.’ Andrew answered and they all started back to the house, Andrew would do no more work today.

  Clarence knew nothing of the baby as he was now back in London but Andrew thought it propitious to write him a letter to address him of the new facts and let him tell Mrs McDay senior.

  Edgar and Hugo were shipped off to their aunt in London after they were released, where it was hoped that they would stay. Jenkins was buried in a pauper’s grave with no marker and no one attended the funeral apart from the preacher, who took as little time as he could to say his words and depart.

  A week later Mr Doble arrived, he had hurt his hand and was finding it hard to do his work. Andrew signed the papers and paid his money. Ezekiel and William Rice were indentured to Mr Doble. They were still to sleep at the orphanage when they finished their work and be schooled by Beth in the evening to make sure they did receive an education.

  Now Henry Ball took over the task of getting everything washed, dried and ironed. Ezekiel had been showing him the way things were done, for some time now and he kept things running smoothly, after a few slip ups where Andrew and Tom from the stable had to help to get the work done.

  The new whip soon learnt not to be too easy going; the work had to be done!

  The garden took shape, with anyone who was not involved in washing out there, in between lessons. They all sat in the evening while Ezekiel, who was now called Zeke for ease, told the others what they had been doing during the day. For Doble it was a life saver, as he could now do more work and still not have to use his bad hand. The two boys were willing workers who never complained at all and he did not have to pay them.

  One day they both displayed a shilling which Mr Doble had given them it was a sign that he thought they worked well and it pleased Andrew.

  ‘Is this yours?’ Zeke asked offering the shilling to Andrew.

  ‘No Ezekiel it is yours you earnt it, so you keep it to do with as you will but as you are a proud father, you might well consider saving for a wedding before the baby is baptised.’

  ‘What me get wed to Eliza?’

  ‘If she says yes, when you ask her.’

  ‘I wouldn’t know what to say.’

  ‘I am sure you will think of something Zeke as you are a working man now.’

  The following day Andrew looked long and hard at the mill wheel which was showing signs of decay and would soon need patching up. He knew of steam engines and was considering buying one to replace the ailing mill wheel. A steam engine would mean they could work faster and with fewer children so the outlay would soon be replaced. A visit from Easterbrook was immanent and he hoped to take very little of the stipend as even Lady Lamerton had paid her account up to date. With the money came an invite for him and Beth to attend her wedding, which he answered quickly in the affirmative. Beth was soon talking about a new dress but Andrew expected nothing less.

  Things settled into a pattern and washing arrived, was washed and ready to go in two days. The washing increased weekly until they were working longer hours to keep up. This had an adverse effect on the main workhouse orphanage in Tavistock as they were taking washing they had done up to now. One day a wagon arrived and unloaded fifteen, very thin tired children. Tom opened the gate and let them walk in and the wagon trundled away. He took the letter into the washroom where Andrew had his sleeves rolled up and was busy washing clothes.

  ‘We had a delivery Mr McDay.’ He said holding out the letter.

  ‘If it is more washing then it will have to go into the livery stable.’

  ‘Not washing sir.’

  The word sir made him loo
k up. He took the letter and read it.

  ‘Stop work.’ He called loudly and waited until all was quiet.

  Faces appeared up stairs, looking through the banister, including Beth.

  Andrew waved the letter. ‘It appears we have been working so well we have taken work from the main orphanage in Tavistock. He has chosen to send us fifteen children, who he maintains that he can no longer afford to feed.’ He turned to Tom. ‘Bring them in Tom.’

  Tom limped out and led the new arrivals inside. By the time they came inside Andrew had rolled down his sleeves and put on his coat.

  ‘Come here.’ He said in a booming voice and they all hurried to obey. ‘Do you see what that is?’ He asked the smallest child and pointed to the whip which was still coiled up on the wall like a trophy.

  ‘Yes sir a whip.’ The girl replied.

  ‘Have you been whipped?’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘Well here, as long as you do your best, the whip stays up there and no one gets whipped. If things start to go wrong then the whip will come down to say hello to you.’

  The girl looked suitable frightened.

  ‘Now Mrs Fearon, have we some food we can give these new arrivals? They certainly look like they need it.’

  Ruth gave him a stern look as all the food was spoken for but she did what he asked. She did not over feed them, however, as it was likely to make them sick. They ate what was put in front of them at speed. Ruth watched and was immediately sorry for her uncharitable thoughts, she would make the food stretch some how.

  There were no beds for the new arrivals apart from three spare beds which had not yet been pressed into use and the vacant double bed in the little room, which until very recently had been Andrew and Beth’s marital bed. That could be used to sleep four of the smaller children and the little room next to it still be used by Ann Webber during the day. Andrew left the children to finish the washing and walked upstairs to see what might be done but no ideas were forth coming. He saddled Hopscotch and rode down to Bill’s house to ask his advice, if Bill was at home. If he was not there then Mary might have some ideas.

  Bill walked out of his workshop when he heard the hooves and then walked over to meet him.

  ‘To what do I owe this pleasure?’ He asked.

  ‘Tavistock have just unloaded fifteen children on to me and most of them are not the fully fit hard working ones.’ Andrew declared as he swung down of his horse.

  ‘Sounds like you need refreshment.’ Bill answered wisely and led him inside. ‘Have a seat.’

  Mary tut tutted at his off handedness but said nothing while she poured drinks for all of them.

  ‘So you need more beds.’ Bill declared.

  ‘And more uniforms.’ Mary added.

  ‘And more food.’ Andrew exclaimed. ‘It came right out of the blue.’

  ‘Not really Andrew.’ Bill replied. ‘The beadle in Tavistock has been complaining at your prices and the amount of customers you have now, a lot from him which means he has less money to spend on his niceties or the children have to suffer even more and you can guess which it is.’

  ‘Nothing is easy is it?’ Andrew complained.

  ‘I take it you are against straw on the floor again?’ Bill asked.

  ‘Oh yes that is out even if I have to give up my bed.’

  ‘And you with a pregnant wife.’ Mary retorted. ‘What about Mrs Oldray?’

  ‘What about her?’ Bill asked.

  ‘You know, those swinging things she bought from that sailor.’ Mary added not knowing what they were called.

  ‘Hammocks.’ Bill cried. ‘By the stars I did marry above myself. Mrs Hodgson has the answer. Oldray has hammocks and she will be only too willing to sell to you.’

  ‘Hammocks from a ship?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘The very same, only from several ships which foundered and were plundered.’ Bill explained.

  Andrew finished his drink. ‘I will go and see her now.’

  ‘Not on the horse though or you will not be able to bring them back with you. I will take my cart up to the orphanage and try to find places to attach them.’ Bill replied.

  Andrew returned to the orphanage, collected the cart and some of his precious money then started for Tavistock. He passed Bill going the other way and they waved to each other.

  It took time to reach Tavistock in the cart a lot longer than if he had ridden Hopscotch but he understood Bill’s reasoning. He stopped in front of Mrs Oldray’s shop and walked in to find Jane behind the counter.

  ‘Good day Mr McDay, how can I help you today?’

  ‘I would like to discuss buying some Hammocks from Mrs Oldray which I understand she has in storage.’

  ‘Them things. Bought them a while back she did, thinking she could sell them on but no one has been interested in them up until now. I will fetch her for you.’ Jane replied and disappeared through the curtain behind her.

  Andrew waited patiently until Mrs Oldray came through the curtain.

  ‘Mr McDay it is so nice to see you.’ She greeted.

  ‘Especially as I want to buy those hammocks, the ones you have been unable to sell.’ Andrew answered.

  ‘I cannot agree more but I will have to ask money for them as I bought them. I will sell them to you for ten pounds.’

  ‘They seem a little expensive.’ Andrew replied.

  ‘I am charging you two shillings each and I cannot go any lower.’ Mrs Oldray declared.

  ‘How many have you to sell?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘One hundred.’

  Andrew stopped to think and came to the conclusion that he would always have a spare bed if he bought them all.

  ‘Ten pounds it is then.’ He replied.

  ‘How many did you think you were buying for ten pounds?’ Mrs Oldray asked as she took the two five pound notes he offered her.

  ‘Mr Hodgson thought you had ten.’

  She laughed. ‘I did try to sell him ten once but I did not get far.’

  The hammocks were loaded into the cart and tied down to make sure none fell out on the way back and Andrew started back to Lamerton.

  Bill watched him turn into the courtyard and walked out to help him unload.

  ‘How big are they?’ He asked when he saw how full the cart was.

  ‘Normal size for a hammock I’ll be bound.’ Andrew answered. ‘But then there are a hundred in there.’

  ‘A hundred! I thought she had ten for sale.’

  ‘I thought about it and now I will have spare beds, just in case the same thing happens again.’ Andrew explained.

  They unloaded the hammocks and took them inside. Bill led Andrew to a room upstairs. They turned left at the top of the stairs and walked past the room where the babies were asleep and into another room which had been hastily cleared of rubbish in it and dusted. Bill had put hooks in the wall on one side and a long piece of timber stretched from one side to the other to take the other end of the hammock.

  ‘This will take six across there and four on this side where the door is.’ Bill explained and they started putting up the hammocks.

  The new children were sitting quietly, as Beth was reading them a story but the idea of putting the newcomers into the hammocks soon changed when the children helping, tried them out and found them comfortable.

  ‘Can we sleep in here and them new ones use our beds?’ Henry asked.

  William Rice and Ann Portbury both nodded enthusiastically.

  Andrew tried one for size and comfort. ‘I suppose they might fall off if we made them sleep on the hammocks.’ He said quietly.

  Ann gave him a hug something never heard of before.

  ‘I take it you are pleased.’ Andrew said looking down at her. ‘Just make sure the work is done and I will be pleased.’

  She stepped back a step. ‘I will work twice as hard tomorrow.’ She exclaimed and climbed on ‘her’ new bed.

  ‘It looks like the new children will sleep in the school beds but we need two more hammocks up a
s well as the three other beds I see you put together Bill.’

  ‘What about the double bed in the little room?’ Bill asked.

  ‘If we leave it out of the planning we do not have to disturb Ann’s work so we need two more hammocks up somewhere.’ Andrew answered.

  ‘I know just the place.’ Bill answered.

  With two more Hammocks up and the story ended the new children were taken downstairs for something they had not met yet, in their young lives, a bath. As there were no new clothes for them yet, their old clothes were washed so that they could put them back on when they were dry. For now all they wore were a towel but they were allowed into the parlour in front of the fire there.

  ‘Right Henry, start them all working tomorrow and see who can do what then let me know what you think.’ Andrew said when the last newcomer was washed and in front of the fire.

  ‘Yes Mr McDay.’

  ‘Good, now you will need to go and catch up your lessons as it has been a long day.’

  Henry put down the mop and hurried upstairs, he wanted to know how to read and write; from the time he had spent with Beth their teacher, he knew it was the way to get out of the circumstances he was in now.

  Andrew watched him go and walked in to where the children were sitting in front of the blazing fire with Ruth making sure they were behaving but they were too discouraged to be any trouble.

  ‘Now you are here you will do certain things differently.’ He said as he sat in his armchair. ‘You will bathe regularly, you will have a proper bed to sleep on and you will be taught to read and write.’

  Heads lifted as he spoke.

  ‘The work has still to be done and we do more work here than you did at Tavistock but with the use of the waterwheel, it takes less hard work. Mrs Fearon will feed you and look after you when you are ill and you will be fed a meal like you had today everyday with a breakfast in the morning, which varies in composition depending on what is available. You saw the clothes the other children are wearing and you will get similar clothes as soon as they are ready. When you are dry and warm Mrs Fearon will escort you to your beds where you will spend the night. You will not be woken early in the morning as we were not expecting you and we have to make preparations. We will wake you when we have breakfast prepared for you but you will not work tomorrow, you will rest.’