Together Trust Archive

When a family history request is made there are often a number of documents that have been kept within a case file which can be provided to researchers. Material such as application forms, visitor reports and indenture forms have been mentioned on this blog before. What are not included in these files however, often to the dismay of the genealogist, are individual images of the children. Leap frog in the garden

“The care and training of children are matters which should receive the anxious attention of Guardians. Pauperism is in the blood, and there is no more effectual means of checking its hereditary nature than by doing all in our power to bring up our pauper children in such a manner as to make them God-fearing, useful and healthy members of society.” - Poor Law Handbook of the Poor Law Officers' Journal (1901) Many Victorians believed that pauper adults bred pauper children. There was a strong fear around social disorder and the effects of pauperism in England. In 1870 when the charity was founded, Manchester and Salford still accommodated quite a few workhouses in its midst. Although they had improved from the archetypical image of a place of cruelty, hunger and squalor, most people still saw admission as a last resort.