In Britain, the workhouse was an institution that was intended to provide work and shelter for those unable to support themselves financially. The workhouse system in England and Wales evolved in the 17th century and was designed to deal with the pressing issue of pauperism. But the workhouse quickly became a byword for cruelty, and the harsh institutionalized life within its walls, where forced child labor, malnutrition, beatings, neglect, and physical and mental hardship were commonplace, became synonymous with the Victorian era of the 1800s.
Click through the following gallery and be reminded of the hardship endured by those ensconced in a Victorian workhouse.