Labour Stories – The St Marylebone Workhouse

Lecture

Victorian workhouses are remembered as institutions of destitution and dehumanisation, but what can archival sources tell us about the reality of the workhouse? This talk will explore the establishment and evolution of the Victorian workhouses of London and daily lives of the inmates. From the spatial experience of the workhouse buildings to the taste of gruel, original archival sources will be used, with a special focus on St Marylebone Workhouse, to reveal the experiences of the destitute Victorians forced to enter these dreaded institutions.

Speaker

Rachel Barrett is an Archives Officer at The London Archives where she co-curated the ‘Lost Victorian City’ exhibition which ran until February 2025. She has delivered talks on Victorian workhouses, the removal of Irish paupers from London, and the history of telegraphy. Rachel has a background in archaeology, receiving her Master’s in the Archaeology of Egypt and the Middle East from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology in 2021, and has excavated British and Serbian sites. Her interests now focus on late 18th to early 20th century Irish history, researching Ireland’s coastal signal stations.

Image courtesy of the London Archives.

£5

Wednesday 2nd July

6:30-7:30pm in the Crypt

(with time after for questions and discussion)

2025 Lecture Series: Sights and Sounds of Marylebone

In celebration of St Marylebone’s rich heritage, the 2025 Lecture Series returns, inviting you on a sensory journey that brings the past to life. Through a series of evening talks, we offer you the opportunity to explore history not just as events, but as experiences.  

We have an incredible selection of historians and educators who will each give the audience the opportunity to engage with visuals, audio, and even tastes, textures and smells…