Books like Shadows of the workhouse by Jennifer Worth

A memoir of the author's experiences as a nurse and certified midwife in 1950's London. She worked in the poor sections of the Easy End, and lived in a convent with nuns and other lay nurse/midwives. The nuns belonged to an Anglican order which was dedicated to bringing modern nursing/midwifery skills to the poor.

An in-depth examination of 19th‑century London’s street economy, detailing the lives of sellers, buyers, performers, artisans, and laborers, and the social and economic forces that shaped the city’s poor.

This fascinating, fully illustrated volume is the definitive guide to every aspect of the workhouse and of the poor relief system in which it played a pivotal part. Compiled by Peter Higginbotham, one of Britain's best-known experts on the subject, this A-Z cornucopia covers everything from the 1725 publication - an account of several work-houses to the South African Zulu admitted to Fulham Road Workhouse in 1880. With hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, plus priceless information for researchers including workhouse locations throughout the British Isles, useful websites and archive repository details, maps, plans, original workhouse publications and an extensive bibliography, it will delight family historians and general readers alike. Where was my local workhouse? What records did they keep? What is gruel and is it really what inmates lived on? How did you get out of a workhouse? What famous people were once workhouse inmates? Are there any workhouse buildings I can visit? If these are the kinds of questions you've ever wanted to know the answer to, then this is the book for you.

A 19th‑century diary entry from Edith Lorrimer, daughter of a workhouse governor, that exposes the grim reality of the workhouse laundry and introduces her troubled orphan friend Rosie Chubb.