Study sources J, K, L and M and apply your wider knowledge of the new poor law. How useful are these extracts from the minutes of the meetings of the board of guardians for a historian investigating conditions in Uckfield Union Workhouse?

relieve his wife and family out of the house” this shows generosity because usually the whole family would have to enter the workhouse! The source also says that the guardians decide “to offer William Horsecroft, George Hemsley and Richard Medhurst a small relief in flour by way of loan” this is another generous offer because most people were forced to enter the workhouse. Source K suggests that many people had the wrong idea about the workhouse and that there were rumours about the conditions inside the workhouse that weren’t true. Source K says “ordered that the clerk do inform Mr Gell that there has not been any such order or regulation by the Uckfield Board that women should be allowed to have their infants to suckle only three times each day.” It also states that there was no discrimination between the treatment of married and unmarried mothers. The information in this source would tell a historian that the conditions in the workhouse weren’t bad and they were fare. Source L would again would suggest that the conditions in the Uckfield workhouse were quite good because it says that 10 cheeses had to be returned because they were considered to be of inferior quality, this shows that conditions were good because the food was checked then sent back because it wasn’t good enough. The final Source, source M would also tell a historian that the conditions in Uckfield workhouse were good because it is describing “the return of the greatest number of paupers the union and pest houses are capable of accommodating” this information could show that the conditions in the workhouses were good because so many people were returning to them! All the sources seem to suggest that the conditions in the Uckfield workhouse were very good and all the accusations were just stories and rumours about the workhouse. So a historian investigating conditions in the Uckfield workhouse would find the sources very useful because they should be accurate as they are minutes from meetings and they give a good description of the way the workhouse was run and what it was like to be part of it. But, it is possible that a historian would not find the sources useful at all because they are all from one point of view! Because they are minutes from a meeting of the board of guardians there aren’t any views or comments from the paupers themselves. So the sources are probably bias and wouldn’t give a historian a true idea of the conditions inside Uckfield workhouse. For example, source K explains that the rumours that mothers were only able to suckle their children 3 times a day was not true, but how do we no this? It could have been happening without the guardians themselves knowing as they had nothing to do with the everyday running of the workhouse. Source L says that 10 cheeses are sent back because they were of “inferior quality”, but this statement doesn’t tell you the condition the cheese was in. We don’t no what the guardians considered as being inferior for the paupers, the source doesn’t say weather the cheese was simply a bit mouldy, which would suggest the conditions in the workhouse were good, or weather it was putrid, which would suggest the conditions in the workhouse were bad because the paupers would probably eat off, or mouldy cheese but putrid cheese could be the “inferior quality cheese!” So I think that some of the information in the sources could be useful to a historian investigating the conditions in the Uckfield workhouse but the sources on there own would not be useful to the historian because they don’t contain enough information to be able to make an accurate conclusion and if he/she did make a conclusion on the conditions it would be a bias one as there aren’t any opinions, views or comments from the paupers inside the workhouse and as they were the ones who actually lived and worked there, their opinions, views and comments would be essential to a historian investigating the conditions in Uckfield workhouse to make sure the conclusion was a true and non bias one.