The Lamerton Workhouse Orphanage

by S G Read

  A collection of mouths fell open.

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes. Well I agree and you can sleep up there but all the hammocks must be slept in up there, it will not be your little hideaway. Do you understand?’

  A short discussion between the children ensued, something which had never occurred before in the orphanage, them deciding on something.

  ‘We will make sure all the hammocks are filled with the children already in here starting with the oldest until we have enough.’ Zeke affirmed after the discussion.

  ‘Eldest.’ Beth corrected from the armchair she sat in.

  ‘I accept your decision and will await your written list of children who will be sleeping up there.’ Andrew added.

  The children turned to go but Henry turned back. ‘We need some paper and a quill.’ He said hopefully.

  ‘And you shall have it Henry.’ Andrew confirmed, selected what was required to make the list, from his desk and gave it to Henry.

  ‘You seemed to accept that very easily.’ Beth said accusingly.

  ‘I wanted the newcomers down where they could be watched but I did not want to force the others up there.’ Andrew admitted. ‘I did however count up how many girls would be needed to go up there and we segregated them accordingly with a wooded screen. Some of them are getting old enough to need privacy.’

  ‘Some are definitely developing, you are right.’ Beth agreed. ‘We do not want any more unwanted pregnancies.’

  Peter Doble arrived in the morning and Andrew paid him for his work which no longer surprised the builder.

  ‘I have more work for you Mr Doble.’

  ‘To build on more rooms is it Mr McDay?’ Mr Doble asked in reply.

  ‘I take it you and Mr Hodgson have been talking?’

  ‘We have. What did you have in mind?’

  Andrew took the builder round the back of the stable and pointed to the outside wall of the parlour.

  ‘I want two rooms equal in size to the parlour and the bedroom next to it added on as well as two equal rooms above. At the same time I want a wall to extend from the new wall down to the low wall on the Tavistock road. I want the wall to be seven feet in height and from what I understand of bricklaying from Zeke I want it to be a nine inch solid wall.’

  ‘I will have William and Zeke measure it and mark it for foundations and we can start on it in the middle of this week.’

  ‘Good the sooner the better.’

  ‘In fact I will let them build it all under my supervision so that all you have to pay for is my time and anything we use.’

  ‘That I appreciate.’ Andrew replied knowing well that the builder would charge for his apprentices work if he was working anywhere else.

  Andrew saw Mr Doble onto his horse and watched him ride away then walked into the parlour and flopped into his armchair. The strain because of his lack of money was starting to take its toll. He had no idea how he would pay Mr Doble, if it was finished too quickly but he wanted it to be started so that Beth and he could have two more rooms if not more. It would also mean a bedroom for the baby when it arrived. He sat back and closed his eyes, whether or not he wanted to sleep; he did.

  Morning found Zeke there marking out the foundations for the new building and the wall down to the Tavistock road.

  Andrew saw him working and walked round the stable to see him.

  ‘I thought you were busy until the middle of next week Zeke?’ He said as a question.

  ‘We were talking last night in the Attic and Henry reckons he and his boys can dig the foundations by then and do the washing, so I am marking it out for them.’ Zeke explained.

  ‘Probably by missing lessons but this time I will talk to Mrs McDay about it, as it will save us money.’

  Andrew left him marking the foundations out, walked back inside and up the stairs to where Beth was teaching. He was surprised to find the older boys up there and returned to the top of the stairs to see who was washing. Below the smaller children were working the machinery together. When one could not manage another would help and that way the machines kept working and the washing was done. After their lesson the bigger boys walked round to where the foundations had to be excavated. Zeke had gone by now but there were a pile of digging implements for the boys to use. Andrew watched them for a while then joined in for an hour, to help them. Even for him it was hard work but knowing that it had to be done drove him on until he was called away to deal with a customer.

  In the evening the older boys walked in stiffly and filled the large tub with the remainder of the hot water to soak in it. After the soak and their meal they all went up to bed. Andrew took a lantern and walked round the back of the stable to inspect the work. One side was finished and the back was well on the way to joining the other side but after that there were the foundations for the wall to dig. Lying on the trench was a piece of wood with another piece of wood pegged to it at a right angle. When the piece of wood sticking down did not touch the bottom of the trench it was deep enough. He smiled; the foundations would be ready when the boys came to work in the middle of the week.

  He walked back round and into the warm washroom, extinguishing the lantern, as he kicked the door closed.

  When the boys were ready to start laying the foundations for the new building, the foundations for the wall were half way along. Zeke and William started work as soon as they were up and long before Mr Doble arrived; they worked along side the other orphans who were digging the wall foundations. Mr Doble took his time looking round and seeing what they were doing and how they were doing it and made comments as he did so. He made sure they allowed provisions for the wall to be keyed into the building brickwork to help it stay up and then sat down to rest. Ruth or Eliza brought him out refreshments when she brought the boys theirs and they ate them in two groups. Zeke and William with Mr Doble listening to his advice and the bigger boys digging the wall foundations sat talking to whoever brought out the food and drink.

  The older boys knew about hard work by the time the foundations were finished and as if to say you should have been quicker with them the children from Tavistock turned up on the same day. They were walking with some holding babies while the whip was on a donkey making sure they kept moving. To top it off they were all tied and linked together by the neck so that no one could run away.

  Tom opened the gate to let them in and closed it again before the whip on his donkey could come inside. He glowered and rode away. Two bigger children looked on Tom as a hero from then on the rest were too tired to notice anything. Tom called into the washroom and Ruth came running with Eliza and Beth following.

  The babies were taken upstairs to be cleaned and to make sure there were well fed. Some were very malnourished and did not have the energy to cry whereas the others were making enough noise for the rest.

  Beth took the ropes of the children who stood where they had stopped and led them inside.

  Henry was filling the long tub as the diggers were in need of a bath; he looked up as the new children came in.

  ‘The tub will be ready soon.’ He said realising that they were more in need of a bath than they were.

  ‘Thank you Henry.’ Beth answered. ‘Sarah fetch the towels please.’

  ‘Yes Mrs McDay.’ Sarah called down with out bothering to come to the top of the stairs.

  The new children were lined up in front of the long tub ready for something they had never experienced before, a bath!

  Sarah clattered down the wooden stairs with some of the towels and laid them in a pile then she ran back up to get more until there were enough for all the children.

  While they were waiting for their bath Mrs Webber came out with Alfred and measured each one for their new clothes. Alfred wrote the measurements on a slate but as the children were just called boy or girl it would be hard to get it exactly right. Tom stood just in the doorway waiting for orders.

  ‘Tom can you send a rider to Mrs Hodgson and let her know the new children have arrived.’ Mrs Webber cal
led across without stopping from her work.

  ‘Yes Mrs Webber.’

  While she was measuring each child held his or her arms above their heads to enable her to measure. One who carried a bundle of papers wrapped in brown paper and tied with string held that above his head.

  The parlour door opened and Andrew came out and heads which had started to lift were quickly lowered to make sure they were not singled out for a whipping. Andrew walked up to the boy with the package and waited until Mrs Webber had finished measuring him.

  ‘I believe that is for me.’ He said when the boy was able to lower his arms.

  The boy held the package out, glad to be rid of it.

  ‘Thank you.’ Andrew said politely. ‘Martin where are you?’ He called loud enough for Martin to here unless he was in the garden.

  ‘Up here Mr McDay.’ Martin called down from up stairs.

  ‘Well come and show your friends a friendly face.’ Andrew replied loud enough for him to hear.

  ‘But I haven’t got any clothes on!’ Martin answered.

  ‘Then put some on or I will send Henry and his friends up to drag you down.’

  ‘I’m coming.’ Seconds later Martin walked down the stairs.

  ‘Good look after your friends and then you can have a bath Martin.’ Andrew said quietly and returned to the parlour.

  The new children found out what a bath was and their hair was combed for head lice. Those who had head lice were soon hairless; it was the easiest way to be sure of getting rid of them. The bald head was washed with carbolic soap to kill off any left and the head would be washed again the next day in case of eggs which had not been dislodged. After the bath they were taken, wrapped in a towel, to sit in front of the fire in the parlour.

  This was something more they had never encountered, a fire they were allowed to sit in front of, rather than worship from afar. Hands were proffered forward to collect the heat and faces glowed red.

  Martin helped Mrs Fearon bring in food for them as they were all starving and they were allowed to sit up at the dining table although it was a bit crowded. He left them eating to go and have his bath when Andrew came out of the office.

  Andrew waited until they had eaten before he spoke and he did not raise his voice.

  ‘If you are of a mind to run away the door is not locked and nor is the gate but to make sure you do not starve to death on the first night tell Mrs Fearon and she will make you up some bread and cheese to take with you. Those who are staying I have papers with dates of birth and names on them which I somehow have to match to you children, so if any of you know your name it will help me a lot if you can tell me.’

  No one spoke but they all listened with their still red faces pointed toward him.

  ‘Tomorrow you will either learn to work the machinery and Martin will show you that, or you will start learning to read and write with Mrs McDay. When you are dry, those that have been issued clothes will wear them and those who have not will have to wear the towel until clothes are made for you.’ With still no answer he walked back into the office. He had sorted out which ones attested to the babies, the rest he laid out from the oldest to the youngest to try to match them by size although it would not be one hundred percent correct. He thought about writing a letter to the main orphanage at Tavistock for help but he did not want to seem unable to cope. He settled for working on his books to make sure that clients who had their clothes washed today were noted down and charged. Later on there was a knock on the office door.

  ‘Come in.’ Andrew called and Martin came in wrapped in a towel with five of the new children.

  ‘I have written down all they know about themselves on the slate they are carrying and I will do the same with the others in the morning, the little ones are dead on their feet Mr McDay.’

  ‘Thank you Martin, see that they are put to bed then.’

  ‘Yes Mr McDay.’ Martin left and the five went to follow.

  ‘You five stay while I try to work out what your names are.’ Andrew said quietly but with authority.

  The five stayed. Andrew read the slates with what information they knew and wrote their name on a piece of paper.

  ‘Carry that about until you can write it yourself and then you can embroider it on your clothes.’ Andrew said as he passed them out.

  One boy looked at the paper. ‘Is that my name then sir?’

  ‘It is. It says Joshua Smith, that is your name.’

  They filed out and were met by Mrs Fearon.

  Later when Beth came in Andrew stood to greet her. ‘You have some new students Mrs McDay.’ He said and put his arms round her.

  ‘So I have Mr McDay and there will come a time sooner than later when you may not be able to reach round me like that.’

  ‘Then I will do it while I can.’

  They sat and talked until a knock on the door interrupted them.

  ‘Come in.’ Andrew called and James came in.

  ‘Hello James how can I help.’

  ‘I was thinking sir; now that you have more workers, you could do with more vats to wash the clothes.’

  ‘Will the wheel be able to cope?’ Andrew asked with interest.

  ‘If we made the buckets bigger all round we could make it work harder and if the long tub is made smaller and moved into the area behind the new bedroom and a new end put on it the children could bath in there and a door could be put on so that it was less open.’ James said spewing out the words in case he was stopped.

  ‘And you could cut the tub down and make it waterproof James?’

  ‘Yes sir and the water goes right by it so there is no problem in getting Mr Sloley to put a tap in there for it and the water can go where all the other water goes when it is dirty.’

  ‘Come we will walk round there and see what is possible James, pick up that lantern.’

  They walked round the room Bill had made for them to sleep in after the wedding, while Mrs Webber was recovering in their bed. Behind it was part of the old sleeping quarters which used to run with rats but they were now a thing of the past and all the rat holes had been blocked up.

  ‘If we put the tub there and Mr Sloley puts in a tap like he did with the vats then everyone can bath in here.’ James declared. ‘And there would be room for two new vats out there at least.’

  ‘It is a sound idea James and I will come and look in daylight tomorrow, if I agree to it I will send a note to Mr Sloley and he will put a tap in here for us. Have you thought about how you will get the old tub in here?’

  ‘Yes Mr McDay.’

  ‘Good.’

  They walked back to where there was light and James hurried upstairs. Andrew returned to the parlour and was soon in bed with Beth.

  When he found the time to walk into the room where James proposed to put the bath in daylight he could see it made sense and it made room for at least two more vats. As James was doing it there would be no charge except for the wood, which was a gain and then they could wash more clothes. He decided to go ahead with it and at the same time that the extension was built the long tub was altered and moved. James took it to pieces with Bill there giving him advice on how to put it back together in the room but James also had his own ideas and even Bill was banned from seeing his work until it was finished.

  Hugh Sloley was allowed into the room to cut through the piping to fit a tee with a tap on it to fill the new bath. He was impressed with what he saw but he was also sworn to secrecy which he abided by. The new vat arrived and with it came Bill. He and James cut it in half but no one went into the little room while he was out of it as the door was nailed shut. James left Bill to install the half vats where they were destined to be and Hugh Sloley had to put in two more taps.

  The new half vats had to remain out of use while James was busy fitting the bath but Andrew decided that now was a good time to try to bring in more washing. He took paper upstairs and Beth helped the better writers make posters, so that they could put them up in places they did not have all the c
ustom yet. Then Tom and Alfred left in the cart to post them. Tom took Alfred because he did not care where he went to put up a poster, even into inns!

  The posters did the work and washing arrived from Plymouth and from Exeter before they were ready for it. For the week before the mill wheel was enlarged the machines had to go all day and most of the night but they were earning money.

  Finally the day came when James was prepared to show off his work. Bill, Andrew, Ruth, Beth and Eliza waited outside while he opened the door. The new bath fitted from wall to wall but had divisions in it and they were watertight! You could fill just one section to bath one person and use a lot less hot water than filling the whole tub. James demonstrated and despite a few drips coming through the division it worked well.

  Bill looked it over with his expert eye before passing comment. ‘With work like that I think it is time I started you on harder things James.’ He said after his inspection. ‘That is as good as my work in my younger days.’

  James was pleased that Bill liked his work. Over the next few days the mill wheel had bigger boxes fitted and the new half vats installed. The new rooms were well on the way to being built and the wall to the road was completed.

  Two of the bigger boys built the new wall with Peter Doble showing them how to do it and he made sure it went up as it should do.

  The new rooms were soon up to roof level and they started putting the roof on after making a hole through from the other roof where the Hammocks were located. They chose to knock through where there was a gap in the hammocks to leave them all in use. The boys sleeping in there soon covered the hole with some thick curtains while they were in the room, as it made it very cold.

  The roof was fitted and the tiles added to make it waterproof then James covered the rafters with planking to stop any draughts.

  Downstairs there were two rooms which were accessed through the parlour and two more bedrooms above, now they had enough room and all they had to do was to pay for it. The boys were working long hours washing, after Andrews advertising but the machines did all the hard work.